The One the Prophets Promised
Month 2: The King Steps Forward · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: Isaiah 40:3 & Matthew 3:3
3 A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. — Isaiah 40:3
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” — Matthew 3:3
Memory Verse
“And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!””— Matthew 3:17 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Leviticus 15-18
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Day 33 of 365 — the Day of Atonement points ahead to the perfect cleansing Jesus brings.)The Heart of It
Around seven hundred years before John the Baptist was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about "the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD'" (). Seven centuries later, Matthew looks at John out in that very wilderness. And he says plainly, "This is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah." God didn't make this up as He went along. The arrival of the King was written down generations in advance. So when it happened, people could check it against the Scriptures and know.
This is one big reason we can trust the Bible. It is full of promises made long before and fulfilled exactly on time. No human can guarantee what will happen centuries later. But God can. He is outside of time, and He keeps His word. When John showed up matching Isaiah's description, it was like a key sliding into a lock God had cut hundreds of years earlier. Our faith isn't a leap into the dark. It stands on a God who promises and then delivers, again and again, all the way to Jesus.
Around the Table
A long, long time before John was born, God told a prophet, "A voice will say, 'Get ready for the Lord!'" And it came true! God always keeps His promises.
Let's do it: Hold up your fingers and count "1... 2... 3..." Then say, "God keeps every promise, every time!"
Isaiah wrote about John about 700 years early. Why do you think it matters that the Bible predicted things before they happened?
Let's talk: What's a promise someone made to you? How did it feel when they kept it?
Fulfilled prophecy is real evidence. Isaiah wrote it centuries before, and John matched it precisely. The Bible invites you to check its claims, not just feel them.
Let's go deeper: Imagine a book made dozens of specific predictions centuries early, and they all came true. What would that tell you about its author?
💬 Conversation Starter
If you could write a note today that wouldn't be opened for 100 years, what's one thing you'd predict about the future?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says, "The Gospel writers just made Jesus 'fit' the prophecies on purpose," kindly point out that they couldn't fake everything. John was a famous public figure many people had seen. The place and timing of Jesus' birth, His family line, and His crucifixion were all matters of record. No one writer could control them. And think about the most powerful prophecies. describes a suffering servant pierced for our sins. That was copied into the scrolls we call the Dead Sea Scrolls before Jesus was even born. So no Christian could have edited it afterward. The honest explanation is that God said it in advance and then kept His word. We always answer "with gentleness and respect" (). We do it not to win an argument, but to point a friend to the trustworthy God who stands behind the page.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Your kids are growing up in a culture that treats faith as a private feeling, immune to evidence. Days like this one matter, because biblical faith has always been an evidenced trust. Luke wrote so his reader might "know the certainty" of what he was taught (). Fulfilled prophecy is one of God's gifts to a doubting age. It lets a thinking child see that Scripture's claims can be tested against history and against the Old Testament itself. Don't be afraid of your children's questions. Welcome them. A faith that has been allowed to ask hard things and has found God faithful is a faith that will stand when they leave your home.
Draws on: J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that You promised the King long before He came, and You kept every word. Help us trust Your Bible. And give us answers when friends ask why we believe. In Jesus' name, amen."
God said it centuries early and kept His word. I can trust the God who keeps every promise.