See Psalm 132:11–12
God’s promise to King David would find its fulfillment a thousand years later in a small town on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Prophets who lived after David’s time told of signs that would confirm the coming of the Messiah. One sign was told by Isaiah: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Another prophet, Micah, said that the Messiah would be born in the city of David: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be a shepherd of my people Israel” (Micah 5:2). Other prophecies include the flight into Egypt (Hosea 11:1) and the slaughter of the innocents (Jeremiah 31:15).
Christmas Day has been celebrated for nearly two thousand years, but the advent of the child named Jesus was anticipated for a full thousand years before it actually occurred. All the Scriptures point to this child as the one Israel had been waiting for. Later, during Christ’s three-year public ministry, John the Baptist asked, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:20).
Jesus answered John, but the question still stands for each one of us: Do we believe the weight of all the evidence—the prophets, the Scriptures, the apostles, the words of Christ Himself, or do we believe something else?
—Eric Kampmann, Signposts