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Prologue · Prophecies of His Coming

Prophecies of the Son of God

The prophets knew Him — from the seed of the woman to the messenger of the covenant, the Son was foretold from the beginning.

Genesis — Malachi

From the fall onward the Lord kept the promise of a Redeemer before His people. To Eve He named the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent; to Adam He gave the sacrifice as a similitude of the Son; and through every prophet after — Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaiah, Micah, Malachi — the testimony was renewed. The Gospels do not introduce the Son of God; they record the keeping of a promise the prophets had carried for ages.

To write · the prophets all testified of Christ

A short essay: how Joseph Smith learned, in translating the Book of Mormon, that all the prophets testified of Christ from the beginning — and how his work on the scriptures restored that witness where it had been lost.

From the beginning · the Covenant Christian Edition
The seed of the womanGenesis 3:15 (CCE 2:18)
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
Read in the Covenant Christian Edition ↗
The gospel preached to AdamJST Genesis 4:7 (CCE 3:3)
This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, who is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, you shall do all that you do in the name of the Son.
Read in the Covenant Christian Edition ↗
Prophecy & fulfillment
Further witnesses
Enoch sees the day of the Son of ManJST Genesis 7:54 (CCE Genesis 4)↗Enoch beholds the coming of the Son of Man in the flesh, and the redemption He would work.Noah and the covenant lineGenesis 6–9↗The covenant preserved through the flood, that the promised seed might yet come through it.The promised seed of AbrahamGenesis (Abraham)↗In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed — the covenant carried toward Christ.The man of sorrowsIsaiah 53↗The suffering servant, wounded for our transgressions — the plainest prophecy of the atoning Son.The messenger of the covenantMalachi 3↗The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple — the close of the prophets’ witness before the Gospels.

Passages are quoted verbatim from the Covenant Christian Edition (Old Covenants) on scriptures.info; numbering is traditional-first with the CCE reference in parentheses.

Margaret Barker · the prophets’ Son

Immanuel and the Begotten Son of Psalm 2

Barker reads the great messianic prophecies through the first temple — Isaiah’s Immanuel as the Davidic king, son of the Lady of Zion, and Psalm 2’s “today I have begotten you” as the proof text the early Christians used of the divine Son.

The Lady known to IsaiahTemple Studies Group, 2013
Both knew that there was a Lady in Zion who was the Mother of the king… “Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel.” (Isa.7.14)… Isaiah gave king Ahaz the assurance that there would be another king in the house of David. A boy would be born who would have the royal title “God with us”, Immanuel.
The Dominion of AdamUniversity of Nottingham, 2009 ↗
Two key proof texts used by the early Christians were also based on this story. “For to what angel did God ever say, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee’?” (Heb.1.5) quotes Psalm 2.7, which describes how the LORD set his human king on Zion, and established him as his son.

Ellipses mark omissions within Barker’s own sentences.

Points to Ponder
  • The prophets testified of Christ for ages before He came. What does it mean that the Gospels record the keeping of a promise rather than the start of one?
  • Does it change anything to see Jesus not only as Savior, but as the God of the Old Testament whom the prophets foretold?