Any Prophecies Concerning Christ’s Death And Resurrection In The Old Testament?

Any Prophecies Concerning Christ’s Death And Resurrection In The Old Testament?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, March 5, 2026 (Donate)

The death and resurrection of Jesus was long foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. The resurrection stands solidly in those prophetic expectations.

In other words, the resurrection is not an invention of the New Testament but a fulfillment of what was expected. One of the clearest resurrection prophecies is:

“For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10, NKJV)

Peter explicitly applies this to Christ in Acts 2, arguing that David’s body did see corruption, but Christ’s did not. The resurrection fulfilled this prophecy literally. 

Image of Isaiah in a discontinued display at the Creation Museum; Photo by Bodie Hodge

Another prophecy is that of Isaiah when the Holy Spirit spoke through him to say:

“And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.” (Isaiah 53:9–11, NKJV)

“He shall prolong His days” implies life after death. Burial “with the rich” was fulfilled in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb (John 19:38-42). 

Jonah being regurgitated; Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

Jesus Himself pointed to Jonah as prophecy:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40, NKJV)

This prophecy is stated as a simile and one can easily see how on the 3^rd day Christ would resurrect (e.g., Luke 18:33, 24:7; Acts 10:40. This same style of literature is used in Esther when she said that after 3 days and 3 nights, she would approach the king—and she did so on the 3^rd day (Esther 4:16-5:1). 

Even the sacrificial system foreshadowed resurrection. The Passover lamb, the Day of Atonement, and the sacrificial offerings all pointed forward—consider that Jesus is the final perfect Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Paul calls Christ “the firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20), invoking Levitical imagery.

Besides these prophecies, Christ fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies. Here is a chart of just 20 of them: 

	Messianic Prophecy	OT Reference	NT Reference
1	Seed of the Woman	Genesis 3:15	Matthew 1:20; Galatians 4:4
2	Line of Abraham	Genesis 12:3, 22:18	Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–34
3	Line of Isaac	Genesis 17:19, 21:12	Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–34
4	Line of Israel	Numbers 24:17	Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–34
5	Line of Judah	Genesis 28:14	Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–34
6	Heir of David	2 Samuel 7:12–13; Isaiah 9:7	Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–34
7	Eternal Throne and Everlasting Kingdom	2 Samuel 8:13–16; Psalm 45:6–7; Daniel 2:44, 7:13–14	Luke 1:33; Hebrews 1:8–12; 1 Peter 5:11; Jude 1:25; Revelation 1:6
8	He will be a Prophet	Deuteronomy 18:18	John 8:28–29;
9	Savior of both Israel and Gentiles	Isaiah 49:6	Luke 2:29–32; John 8:12; Acts 13:46
10	Called the Son of God	2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7	Matthew 3:16–17
11	He will be King	Psalm 2:6; Zechariah 9:9	Matthew 27:37; Revelation 7:14, 19:16
12	He will resurrect	Psalm 16:10	Matthew 28:2–7; Acts 2:22–32
13	Sits on the Throne of God	Psalm 68:18, 110:1	Matthew 22:44; Mark 16:19
14	He would be a sacrifice for sin	Isaiah 53:5–12	Romans 5:6–8
15	He would be pierced in His side	Zechariah 12:10	John 19:34
16	As in a proper Passover sacrifice, His bones would not be broken	Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:20	John 19:33–36
17	His hands and feet would be pierced	Psalm 22:16	John 20:25–27
18	Born in Bethlehem	Micah 5:2	Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4–6
19	Born of a virgin[1]	Isaiah 7:14	Matthew 1:22–23
20	Called Immanuel (God with us)	Isaiah 7:14	Matthew 1:22–23

From a presuppositional perspective, prophecy shows the power of God in His divine sovereignty over history. Only the God who ordains the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) can declare specific details centuries or a millennium beforehand. The resurrection is therefore not merely an event—it is the vindication of God’s Word regarding these specific prophesies.

Christ’s fulfillment of them is what we expected from an all-powerful and perfect God who upholds and sustains all things into existence by his sovereign power.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields. 

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[1] Those in the Judaism camp often suggest that “virgin”  merely meant a “young woman.” John Calvin refuted this in Isaiah 7:14, “Although the word המלע, (gnalmah,) a virgin, is derived from םלע, (gnalam,) which signifies to hide, because the shame and modesty of virgins does not allow them to appear in public; yet as the Jews dispute much about that word, and assert that it does not signify virgin, because Solomon used it to denote a young woman who was betrothed, it is unnecessary to contend about the word. Though we should admit what they say, that המלע (gnalmah) sometimes denotes a young woman, and that the name refers, as they would have it, to the age, (yet it is frequently used in Scripture when the subject relates to a virgin,) the nature of the case sufficiently refutes all their slanders. For what wonderful thing did the Prophet say, if he spoke of a young woman who conceived through intercourse with a man? It would certainly have been absurd to hold out this as a sign or a miracle. Let us suppose that it denotes a young woman who should become pregnant in the ordinary course of nature; everybody sees that it would have been silly and contemptible for the Prophet, after having said that he was about to speak of something strange and uncommon, to add, A young woman shall conceive. It is, therefore, plain enough that he speaks of a virgin who should conceive, not by the ordinary course of nature, but by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit.”