What God Promised Through the Prophets

THE ancient prophets showed faith in God. They believed his promises and built their lives around them. What did those promises include?

Immediately after Adam and Eve rebelled in Eden, God promised that he would appoint someone to crush the head of “the serpent,” representing “the great dragon . . . , the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan,” destroying him forever. (Genesis 3:14, 15; Revelation 12:9, 12) Who would that Coming One prove to be?

Some 2,000 years after giving that first prophecy, Jehovah promised the prophet Abraham that the Coming One would be a descendant of his. God told Abraham: “By means of your seed [or, offspring] all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.”​—Genesis 22:18.

In 1473 B.C.E., God gave the prophet Moses further information about the “seed.” Moses told the children of Israel: “A prophet from your own midst, from your brothers, like me, is what Jehovah your God will raise up for you​—to him you people should listen.” (Deuteronomy 18:15) The coming prophet like Moses would thus come from among the children of Abraham.

That prophet would also be a descendant of King David and would himself become a great king. God promised King David: “I shall certainly raise up your seed after you [and] establish the throne of his kingdom firmly to time indefinite.” (2 Samuel 7:12, 13) God also revealed that this descendant of David would be called “Prince of Peace,” adding: “To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite.” (Isaiah 9:6, 7) Yes, that righteous Leader would restore global peace and justice. But when would he arrive?

The angel Gabriel later told God’s prophet Daniel: “You should know and have the insight that from the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.” (Daniel 9:25) Those were 69 weeks of years​—7 years each—​that totaled 483 years. They ran from 455 B.C.E. to 29 C.E.a

Did the Messiah, the prophet like Moses and long-awaited “seed,” really come in 29 C.E.? Let us see.