The Ancient Prophecies
The Easter story is not just a story of 3 days, but a one spanning millenium. It’s a story which starts at the beginning of time and spans to the end. This story is a true account of the circumstance leading up to Jesus’ death and the real people and emotions involved. An anger from the religious leaders, a fear from the romans, a betrayal from friends, a sadness from Jesus’ mother, and love from Jesus.
THE ANCIENT PROPHECIES
The story of Easter doesn’t start with Jesus though, but starts 2000 years earlier. Around 1850 BC, God made a promise to Abraham (The Israeli leader at the time). The promise was the nation of Israel would finally have their own country. Having been a nomadic people, God had decided to give them their own resting place as a nation. This country would include parts of modern day Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
“I’m giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria”
Israel lived happily settled in this country until about 700 BC when they were invaded and conquered by the Babylonian Empire. This was the first of a series of invasions which led to Israel being politically run by the Persian empire, the Egyptian Empire and the Roman Empire amongst others.
However, just before the Babylonian invasion, there was a new prophecy. The prophecy was that within the bloodline of King David (Israel’s most famous king), a virgin would give birth to a boy. This boy would grow up to be the new leader of Israel. He would free them from their oppressors. They would no longer live under oppression but live with freedom. A conquering king was promised.