I am so glad that God allowed me to be born in the New Testament era and not the Old. Now, I know that God did not love me any more than He did those in the Old Testament. It is obvious that men like Abraham, Moses, and David had the affection of our Lord in a special way. They shared in a relationship with Him that is enviable.

However, though God revealed significant truth to each of those men, much of what was in the future they had to accept by faith; and though each of them knew of a coming Messiah who would save the world from their sins, there was much they did NOT know.

God revealed to us in the New Testament that the knowledge He gave regarding His Messiah was only in part. In fact, much of the knowledge that we currently take for granted was kept hidden from the great men of old. They were forced to take what was given them, though they could not fully understand how their Messiah would have to suffer and die. They had to accept it all by faith.

Peter wrote of this dilemma in…

1 Peter 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

Here Peter described the diligent search the Old Testament prophets made to try and understand more about the Christ who would come. They searched the Scriptures diligently, looking for any clues that might shed light on the exact timing and manner in which He would be manifested.

We have the benefit of looking back on the Lord’s coming as a baby in Bethlehem, and can compare the details given us in the Gospels with prophesies in the Old Testament. Before Christ came, the saints of old were forced to accept passages that foretold the time and location of His birth simply by believing.

We can read that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as a result of Mary and Joseph taking a mandated trip there to pay their taxes. Those of the Old Testament were forced to accept that their Messiah would come from Bethlehem Ephratah, according to Micah 5:2.

We can also read of a special star that led the wise men from the east to the place where they could find their King. Before Christ’s birth, however, they were limited in their knowledge of the star to passages like Numbers 24:17, where it reads, ‘…there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…’

I’m glad for the faith of our forefathers who without all the information we have, could look by faith and be excited in the coming of their Messiah.
I’m also glad that we can glory in His coming, and look with much anticipation for His Second.