Anticipating Jesus: The Teacher & The Breaker
Finding Jesus in unexpected prophecies
I’ve been discussing where we find Jesus in the Old Testament. Last week, I explored an example of typology when the Israelites question God’s goodness in the wilderness and God tells Moses to strike the rock. You can catch up on the series here:
Finding Christ in the Old Testament
Creation and the Promise to Come
A Type of Christ in the Wilderness
Beyond Christophanies: Finding Jesus in Prophecy
So far, we’ve looked at Christophanies where Jesus made cameo appearances before his birth in Bethlehem. We’ve also seen an example of typology that foreshadows Christ. I want to look at some examples of Messianic prophecies that we might not usually discuss.
The first example is in the book of Joel. Joel prophesies in a time of calamity, and he calls the people to repent and turn back to the Lord. He points toward what he calls the Day of the Lord.
Joel writes:
The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. 20 "But I will remove the northern army far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up, For it has done great things." 21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the LORD has done great things. 22 Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. 23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. (Right there in your Bible you may have a footnote that says “the teacher of righteousness) And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. (Joel 2:19-24)
The people have been afflicted by the plague of locust. Grapes and grain have been destroyed. Everything has been taken away. But they are promised deliverance if they repent. It’s not just for the people. In verse 21, he tells the land to rejoice. In verse 22, he tells the beasts not to fear. Verse 23 tells the people of Zion to rejoice and be glad because God is sending the early rain.
When Rain Becomes Teaching
In a brilliant wordplay that Hebrew readers would immediately catch, Joel connects two things they desperately need with nearly identical sounds: ‘moreh’ (rain) and ‘moreh’ (teacher). Just as the land thirsts for life-giving rain, Joel points out that the spiritually barren people thirsts for righteous teaching. The prophet intertwines these physical and spiritual droughts, showing how both the land and the people’s hearts are barren without proper nourishment.
The Hebrew construction here reveals something fascinating—this isn’t just any teacher, but ‘the teacher of righteousness,’ where righteousness becomes the very essence of the teacher. This connects perfectly with how other prophets described the coming Messiah: Isaiah’s ‘righteous servant’ who bears our iniquities, Daniel’s figure who ‘brings in everlasting righteousness,’ and now Joel’s ‘teacher of righteousness.’ These aren’t random titles. They’re puzzle pieces forming a consistent portrait across centuries of prophetic literature, all pointing to Jesus as the embodiment of divine righteousness who would not only teach it but perfectly live it.
So, the blessing of God on a devastated people who turn back to Him is the Messiah who will teach them righteousness, which will be like rain in a dry land.
A Modern Drought of Truth
We currently live in a world starved for truth and righteousness. We’re transitioning from the Information Age to the Age of Artificial Intelligence. There’s a lot of information, but it’s not the information we most long for and need. As Neil Postman wrote, we are entertained to death, but there’s no sustenance in it. It’s all junk food for our souls. You can’t tell what’s true or false or facsimile. What’s truth today is cancelled two weeks from now and mocked.
People are desperately trying to find something true and good. What Joel prophesied is that for the people who repent, God is going to send a teacher of righteousness who is going to teach us exactly what we need, and it will be like rain in a drought. This is the promise of the Messiah.
He goes on—
It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)
After the teacher of righteousness comes and pays for our sins on the cross, rises from the grave, and ascends in to heaven; He sends his Holy Spirit. The poetry connects the rain with the pouring out of the Spirit. Peter helps with this connection in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit is poured out on the apostles and they speak in tongues and everyone is amazed.
Joel’s prophecy is fulfilled in the New Testament with Jesus who is the embodiment of the long-awaited Teacher of Righteousness.
Micah’s Hope: The Divine Breaker
Another example of Messianic prophecy that we probably don’t think of very often is in the book of Micah. Micah prophesies from the southern kingdom of Judah during the 8th century when the Assyrians are a constant threat. Like most of the prophets, Micah proclaims God’s judgement on the people for being unfaithful to Him. He’s calling the people to repentance.
Suddenly, in the middle of those proclamations, Micah gives a word of hope:
I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture. They will be noisy with men. 13 "The breaker goes up before them; They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, And the LORD at their head. (Micah 2:12-13)
Breaking Through the Confusion
Micah is using metaphors with all kinds of connotations. There are two participants in these two verses (three if you include God who is the “I”): The remnant of Israel, referred to as sheep in verse 12, and someone referred to as “the Breaker” in verse 13. The Breaker is later referred to as LORD which is God’s covenant name,Yahweh.
The remnant of Israel are the sheep. Sheep are penned to protect them from predators, but also to sort them. It says in the NASB “they will be noisy with men.” A better translation is probably they will be thrown into confusion. There will be a lot of noise with no one to lead them.
This is similar to what I discussed in Joel and with what’s happening today. There’s a lot of noise, a lot of information, but no one really knows which way to turn. They need a leader.
In verse 13 the Breaker goes up. He’s given three titles here. The Breaker who breaks open the pen. Their king who goes on before them. Finally, He’s called LORD or Yahweh.
This should remind us of the fulfillment of this prophecy in the New Testament. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. The sheep know his voice and follow Him. We don’t typically call him the Breaker, but Micah is looking at it from the perspective of the Messiah breaking us out of the pen and leading us into the pasture.
We need someone to break through the noise and confusion and lead us into life. The pasture symbolizes food and nutrients.
When Human Failure Cannot Stop Divine Promise
In the midst of Micah proclaiming that God is going to judge sin, calling the people to repent, we get these two verses of hope saying that ultimately sin will not prevent God from fulfilling His promise to Eve, Abraham, and David. Man cannot stop God’s ultimate plan. The message powerfully demonstrates that Israel’s failures—and human failure broadly—cannot nullify God’s covenant commitment.
He sends Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who leads us into green pastures, as David says in Psalm 23. He is our King who goes before us. He is God Himself.
As we continue this journey of finding Christ in the Old Testament, we discover that Jesus is woven into its very fabric from Genesis to Malachi. In Joel, we meet Him as the Teacher of Righteousness who satisfies our spiritual drought. In Micah, He is the divine Breaker who shatters our confining pens and leads us to abundant pasture. Jesus remains the divine answer to both ancient and modern spiritual hunger—the One who not only breaks us out but also breaks in to transform us from within.
Next week, we’ll wrap up the series on finding Jesus in the Old Testament. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a post!