Lord Jesus, Sovereign of the Universe, thank You for coming 2,000 years ago. Lord, our prideful hearts are so stubborn. May the hearts of many

become broken before You, yielding to You in true faith and repentance. This world is a mess. Imagine, I heard one of the two Presidential

candidates say that a woman should have the right to kill her own child even the day of or day before the child’s birth. Lord, help us as a nation to

repent of this huge evil. Lord, please intervene. Break into our blindness. Help us see You, the Light of the World. Send Your Holy Spirit to effect a

huge awakening all over the world. You are worthy of our utmost devotion and love. Help us to have hearts prepared for Your eventual Second

Coming.

Many followers of Christ are aware of Old Testament passages that predict His suffering, but not so many are aware of

passages that predict His resurrection. It is the purpose here to share 17 passages from the Old Testament that point to

the resurrection of the Messiah. Following His resurrection, the Lord Jesus said “’that all things which are written about

Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand

the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the

third day’” (Lk 24:44b-45). The approach here is to start from Genesis and traverse though the Old Testament

sequentially, as arranged in most Bibles.

1. The first passage for consideration is Genesis 22:5, “He said to his

from the dead, but God did raise His own Son, Jesus, from the dead. There

is also a subtle picture here of Abraham’s heart of faith in a future

resurrection, and this may have been part of what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Abraham rejoiced at the thought of

seeing My day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).

2. The second passage

is from Leviticus 23:9-11, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel

and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the

firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On

3. A third passage is from Job 19:23-27, “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they

were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the

rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the

earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

disciples on the Emmaus Road the necessity both of His suffering and resurrection?

4. The fourth passage is Psalm 6:4-5,10, “Turn, O LORD, deliver My life; save Me for the sake of Your steadfast love.

For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who will give You praise? // All My enemies shall be ashamed

and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.” Is this another passage the Lord might

have referred to when He said to the Emmaus disciples, “’Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things

and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the

things concerning himself” (Luke 24:26-27)? He spoke of suffering and also of glory. Was the psalmist asking for

deliverance from death? Some of the enemies of Christ were indeed “greatly troubled” by His resurrection which

occurred “in a moment” – at the crack of dawn.

5. The fifth passage is Psalm 9:13, “Be gracious to Me, O LORD! See My affliction from those who hate Me, O You who

lift Me up from the gates of death….” The Father did indeed see Christ’s “affliction from those who” hated Him and

lifted Him “up from the gates of death.” David’s experience was but a foreshadowing of Messiah’s experience on the

cross and Resurrection Sunday.

groaning “needy” and arose from the tomb on Resurrection Sunday to place believers in “safety.”

7. The seventh passage is Psalm 16:8-11, “I have set the LORD always before Me.

Because He is at My right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore My heart is glad and

My tongue rejoices; My body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon Me

to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to Me

the path of life; You will fill Me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at

Your right hand.” This is about Messiah Jesus! Listen to the Apostle Peter speak about

Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before Me. Because He is at My right hand, I will not be

shaken. Therefore My heart is glad and My tongue rejoices; My body also will live in hope, because You will not abandon

Me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to Me the paths of life; You will fill Me

with joy in your presence’” (Acts 2:22-28). Peter continued, “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David

died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on

the Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we

they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to

have Him executed. When they had carried out all that was written

about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.

But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days He was seen by

those who had traveled with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are

now His witnesses to our people. We tell you the good news: What God

promised our fathers He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up

Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have

become your Father’ (Psalm 2:7). The fact that God raised Him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: ‘I

will give You the holy and sure blessings promised to David’ (Is.55:3). So it is stated elsewhere: ‘You will not let Your Holy

One see decay’ (Psalm 16:10). For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was

buried with his fathers and his body decayed. But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him

everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:26-39).

8. The eighth passage is from Psalm 30:1-5, “I will extol You, O

is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of

joy comes in the morning.” This psalm is prophetic of the

Messiah. David was indeed lifted up—but not like his greatest

son. The Lord Jesus did indeed cry to His Father “for help, and

You healed Me. O Lord, You have brought up My soul from Sheol; You have kept Me alive, that I would not go down to

the pit.” Jesus’ bones did not decay in the tomb. His Father’s “anger” was “but for a moment,” but “His favor is for a

lifetime.” Weeping did “last for the night, but a shout of joy” came “in the morning” when His followers saw Him alive

from death.

destruction, out of the miry bog, and set (His) feet upon a rock, making (His) steps secure.” The Father also “put a new

song in” the Messiah’s mouth, “a song of praise to our God.” God the Son had never before experienced death and

triumphing over it! Indeed, many have seen it and have “put their trust in the LORD”!

10. The tenth passage is Psalm 41:11-12, “By this I know that You delight in Me: My enemy will not shout in triumph

over Me. But You have upheld Me because of My integrity, and set Me in Your presence lastingly.” David could not

really speak of his own “integrity,” for David was a sinner and knew it. Regarding the Messiah, however, Christ had

Him from “Sheol” because the Scriptures said so.

the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an

offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the

LORD shall prosper in His hand.” Here we see a life beyond death. Though this Messiah

would die (verse 9), we see that “He shall see His offspring.” How can a dead man see

offspring unless He is brought back to life? Yes, Jesus did see the one thief repent and

place trust in Him, but that was just moments before both died. The prophecy says that

“Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied.” How can a dead man “see” unless He is made alive again?

Second, notice that the Messiah is called the “Righteous One.” He, in fact, is the only “Righteous One” in all history –

from Adam & Eve to you & me. But notice finally, His righteousness is imputed to “many.” Sins of sinners were imputed

to the Messiah. In a magnificent reversal, His righteousness is imputed to those who trust in Him.

15. The fifteenth passage is Jeremiah 15:21, “I will deliver You out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem You from

the grasp of the ruthless.” God’s promise here to Jeremiah foreshadows His promise to His Son, the Messiah. Jesus

would indeed be delivered “out of the hand of the wicked.” This happened especially on Resurrection (Sunday) Morning.

order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk

in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Albert Barnes wrote, “After two days will He revive us (or

quicken us, give us life,) in the third day He will raise us up - The Resurrection of Christ, and our

resurrection in Him and in His Resurrection, could not be more plainly foretold.”

may be an overstatement; nevertheless, Barnes does have a point. Also, Matthew Henry wrote,

be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39,40). Jonah was vomited

out upon the dry land, and Jesus came forth from the mouth of a tomb. Scoffers deny the reality

of Jonah’s remarkable deliverance and Jesus’ triumphant resurrection. At the same time, they

affirm that all the complexity of life and the order of the universe came into being without

governance or design—from nothing. Jonah, as a type of the greatest prophet, was sent on a vital

mission. So was the Lord Jesus (cf. John 3:16). Each preached repentance, and each prayed in

distress (Jonah 2 and Mark 14:32-39). Jonah was displeased with God’s compassion toward his

enemies. The Lord Jesus, however, became the embodiment of God’s compassion toward

sinners. The lesser prophet was concerned for a mere, physical vine (Jonah 4:8,9), but the Lord of

glory was concerned for people who could not “discern between their right hand and their left

hand” (Jonah 4:11). His aim was and is to engraft people into the true vine, Himself (John 15:1). Great was, and is, His

love for people! Nineveh repented at the preaching of the lesser prophet, and Jonah had no rest until he rested in the

Lord’s will. The Lord Jesus, however, calls to sinners, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will

give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).