About Jesus Steve Sweetman
The New Testament View Of Old Testament Prophecy
We now turn to the New Testament approach to the prophetic books of the Old Testament. In brief many theologians believe that much of the prophetic passages that were directed specifically to Israel had their fulfillment in Old Testament times. Yet beyond their Old Testament fulfillment, these prophecies have a New Testament fulfillment as well. Simply put, there’s a double fulfillment to many of these prophecies. This of course presents a problem in that there are many different interpretations to these prophecies.
You may not think of the Psalms as being prophetic, but many of them are. Many Psalms appear to be written about David’s life, which they are, yet beyond their present day meaning in David’s life, they have a Messianic significance as well. Psalm 22:1 says, "my God, why have you forsaken me". David cried these words out to God in a time of need, but do you recognize these words in the New Testament? Jesus cried out these same words while on the cross, making this verse a Messianic prophecy.
Verse 8 says, "He trusts the Lord, let the Lord rescue Him". People may well have spoken these words about David in his day, but once again, while Jesus was on the cross these same words were spoken about Him, making this verse a Messianic prophecy.
Verse 18 says, "they divided my garments among them…" David may have had his clothes divided but while Jesus hung on the cross He watched the soldiers divide His clothes among themselves. This verse also has a double meaning, speaking both of David and Jesus.
As a matter of fact, whether David realized it or not, all of Psalm 22 is a picture of Jesus’ death on the cross, and if you read this chapter in this light, you’ll gain great insight into what took place on the cross.
Without going into great detail, much of Old Testament prophecy had a present day fulfillment in Old Testament times, but also has a New Testament fulfillment as well. One needs to take this into consideration when interpreting Old Testament prophetic passages.