Romans 1:2

Which He had promised afore by His prophets.

The Messiah predicted

The Jews, throughout their history, differed from every other nation in their expectation of a Messiah. While heathen kingdoms decayed and fell without hope of deliverance, in Israel political decline was attended by an increasing expectation of a high and God-sent deliverer. This idea was always referred by the prophets to Divine revelation, and we have every reason to receive their testimony; for it is contrary to the very nature of things that such golden fruit as this should grow on the barren thorn of the simple human heart. Could this have been, surely the great and noble spirits of other nations would also have confidently expected salvation, whereas we only hear from the lips of a few some dim and obscure yearnings of this kind. It was only as a vanished epoch, a poetical dream, or a political panegyric, that heathen poets ever sang of a golden age. The heathen were “without hope” because they were without God in the world. (Professor Auberlen.)

Christ foretold by the prophets

I. Who they were. Persons--

1. Speaking by special Divine impulse (1 Samuel 10:6; 1 Corinthians 14:1).

2. Employed by God to reveal His will and to foretell future events.

3. Moved to compose and sing hymns to God (Exodus 15:20; 1 Chronicles 25:1).

4. Living in habitual communion with God.

II. What they promised. Christ and His salvation (Luke 24:27; Acts 3:18; Acts 10:43).

1. By Moses as--

(1) The woman’s seed (Genesis 3:15).

(2) Abraham’s seed (Genesis 22:18).

(3) Shiloh (Genesis 49:10).

(4) The prophet like unto Himself (Deuteronomy 18:15).

2. By David as--

(1) His son (Psalms 132:11).

(2) His Lord (Psalms 110:1).

(3) The Anointed (Psalms 2:2; Psalms 84:9).

(4) The Priest-King (Psalms 110:1).

(5) The Pierced One (Psalms 22:16).

3. By Isaiah as--

(1) The Virgin’s Son (Isaiah 7:14).

(2) Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6).

(3) Rod out of the stem of Jesse. (Isaiah 11:1).

(4) Man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3).

(5) Wounded and bruised Surety (Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 10:1; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 12:1).

(6) God’s righteous Servant (Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 53:11).

4. By Jeremiah as--

(1) The righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:5).

(2) The Lord our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6).

5. By Ezekiel as the true David, the Shepherd King (Ezekiel 37:24).

6. By Daniel as Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:25).

7. By Micah as the Judge of Israel (Micah 5:2).

8. By Haggai as the Desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7).

9. By Zechariah as--

(1) The Pierced One (Zechariah 12:10).

(2) The Man who was Jehovah’s Shepherd and Fellow (Zechariah 13:7).

10. By Malachi as--

(1) The Messenger of the Covenant (Malachi 3:1).

(2) The Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:3). (T. Robinson, D. D.)

Messianic prophecy

The prophets had foretold concerning the Messiah--

1. His Divine and human natures (Isaiah 9:6).

2. His descent (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:3, Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 11:1; 1 Samuel 16:11).

3. The time of His appearing (Genesis 49:10; Daniel 9:24; Haggai 2:6).

4. The place of His birth (Micah 5:2).

5. The virginity of His mother (Isaiah 7:14).

6. The Forerunner who should prepare His way (Malachi 3:1).

7. The special scene of His ministry (Isaiah 9:1).

8. The miracles that should accredit His mission (Isaiah 35:5).

9. His sufferings and death (Psalms 22:16, etc.; Zechariah 13:7; Isaiah 53:5).

10. Jeremiah His resurrection (Psalms 16:10).

11. His ascension (Psalms 68:18).

12. His sitting down at the right hand of the Father (Psalms 110:1).

13. His effusion of the Holy Ghost (Joel 2:28).

14. His second coming in judgment (Daniel 7:13). (T. Robinson, D. D.)

The gospel is no afterthought, but the forethought of God

God sees the end from the beginning. All things in nature and grace are working out one grand scheme, which God before the creation of heaven and earth designed. The gospel was but a further and fuller development of God’s plans in Old Testament times. The stem is no afterthought; the leaves and buds are no afterthought; the flower is no afterthought; the fruit is no afterthought; for they were all wrapped up from the first in the seed, or cutting, or bulb. Or, to take another illustration, it is of no unfrequent occurrence that the architect designs a Gothic church which is not to be built all at once, but as sufficient funds are forthcoming, or as the congregation increases. At first the nave is constructed, then one aisle after another is added; and afterwards the chancel is built, and last of all is erected the spire--whose “silent finger points to heaven.” The pulling down of temporary walls and hoardings, and the additions from time to time made, are no afterthought, but only the carrying out of the original design. Thus the doing away with the ceremonial law and Jewish ritual, and the bringing life and immortality to light through Jesus, are no afterthought, but the forethought of God--the revealing of His glorious scheme of grace designed before the foundation of the world, and previously promised by His prophets. (C. Nell, M. A.)

In the holy Scriptures.

The Old Testament Scriptures called holy from

I. Their Author, God the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:1).

II. Their matter, God’s holy will, thoughts, words, and works.

III. Their design and tendency, to make man holy (2 Timothy 3:17; John 17:17).

IV. To distinguish them from all other books. (T. Robinson, D. D.)