The Everlasting Covenant - 14.0 Messiah Prophesied

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14.0 The Messiah Prophesied
by Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, March 2009

Topics:
In Expectation
What were those Prophecies?
The Coming Messiah!
Dual Expectations of the Messiah
Messiah ben Yosef and Messiah ben David
A Conquering King
Moses Maimonides
The Suffering Lamb of God
The Passover Visit
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In Expectation

For centuries, Israel had been sacrificing animals pointing forward to a Redeemer who would sacrifice His life to pay for their sins. Sins cannot be forgiven from the sacrifice of an animal. All these sacrifices would have been to no avail if the true Sacrifice had not come, or if for any reason He had failed. But the centuries had passed, and now it was time .....

At the Jordan, John the Baptist’s powerful preaching, “Repent ye! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) rang in the ears of the people as they flocked to hear him. The time for the promised Messiah (Daniel 9:24-27) was near. “And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not” (Luke 3:15).

Over three hundred prophecies in the Old Testament pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah. The everlasting covenant made with Abraham and the sacrifices made for centuries all pointed to the real sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. The ten commandment law was perfectly fulfilled by His sinless life. He came to show that the Father is a God of love and is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”

When Jesus came to be baptized, John used covenant terms to describe Him: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Messiah had come!
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What were those Prophecies?

The Bible is a book of prophecy. Here is revealed the origin of mankind, his history, and what will take place in the future. It is God’s purpose to reveal truth to His people.

7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”  Amos 3:7

Prophesies are given to reveal things that we would not otherwise learn. Our learning process must begin and be guided by the written Word of God, guided by the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer. The Holy Spirit teaches the true meaning of what we read in the Bible and applies it to our lives.

   12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
   13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”
(John 16:12-13).

Prophecy also gives important information as to coming events. In Matthew 24, prophesying of the end time, Jesus four times warned His disciples “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Knowing the truth is a strong barrier against being deceived. Prophecies are not always easily understood, but when the prophesied event occurs, it will be recognized and faith strengthened.

The Old Testament is important too. Actually, the New Testament is built upon the foundation of the Old Testament. And New Testament writers quoted liberally from the Old. It is there that much of God’s will for our lives is revealed. It is there that we find the prophecies of the coming Messiah!

   29 “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29).
   11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
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The Coming Messiah!

After Adam and Eve sinned, God spoke to them and gave them a hope and a promise. They were given a desire to do what was right, a conscience. The seed of the woman (Jesus Christ) would eventually “bruise the serpent’s head,” destroy evil, and restore all that was lost. This was the first promise of a Redeemer to come.

   15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

The covenant was later given to Abraham in some detail. Promises to Abraham included very important details: “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3); and “thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;.... and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:17-18). These phrases are made significant by this New Testament verse:

   16 “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).

Hidden in the promises and in the renewals of the covenant through out the Old Testament is the golden thread of the promised Redeemer to come. There are 300 promises of the Messiah. Listed here are some of them:

          O.T Prophecy N.T. Fulfillment
  Born of a virgin: Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:18, 24-25
              Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 Matthew 2:1
  Time of His birth Daniel 9:24-27 Luke 1:5; 2:1
  Son of God Psalm 2:7 Matthew 3:17
  His Divinity Psalm 45:6-7, 11; 102:
24-27; Isaiah 9:6; 25:9		 Matthew 16:16; John 8:51,
58; 10:30
  His Pre-existence Micah 5:2; Psalm 40:7-10; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 1:17;
John 17:24
  Anointed by the Holy Spirit Isaiah 11:2 Matthew 3:16, 17
  Ministry of Miracles Isaiah 35:5-6 Matthew 9:35
  Teaching in Parables Psalms 78:2 Matthew 13:34
  Seed of Abraham Genesis 22:18 Galatians 3:16
  Tribe of Judah Genesis 49:10 Hebrews 7:14
  Preceded by Messanger Isaiah 40:3 Matthew 3:1, 2

The above prophesies are easily seen as Christians look back on Jesus, the Christ. What did the Jews understand before He came? What were their expectations?

The prophecy of His coming from Bethlehem was easily understood.  Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the virgin birth. The Jews did not expect a prophet to come from Nazareth of Galilee. And how about the crucifixion on Calvary? The resurrection?

Not clear also was that Messiah would be divine. The Jews were and are strongly monotheistic. To accept a Messiah who was divine would be to accept another person who was God. After centuries of struggle against idolatry, after 70 years captivity because of idolatry, they had learned their lesson all too well. Simply and humanly, it was too much to accept this concept.

However, the Messianic prophecies did include some that depicted His suffering and death.  Yet there were others that described a conquering king who would take the throne of David and live forever. This raised a problem that was difficult to solve. Would Messiah be the suffering servant, “Messiah ben Joseph;” or would he be the conquering king, “Messiah ben David” and take the throne of Israel and restore her past glory?

In looking for the fulfillment of prophecies, one must be careful and humble. It may be more important to recognize prophetic events when they happen, than to predict them in detail ahead of time. A good illustration is Peter, when he affirmed,  “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said that Peter, a Jew, could know this only by direct revelation from God!
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Dual Aspect of the Messiah

The Tanakh contains seemingly conflicted views of the Mashiach as Israel’s Deliverer. On the one hand, Messiah is portrayed as coming in great triumph “in the clouds” (Daniel 7:13), but on the other he comes riding a donkey, lowly and humble (Zechariah 9:9). This “dual aspect” of Messiah lead to the idea that there would be two Messiahs: Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David.
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Yeshua is Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David

As Christians, we believe that Yeshua is both Mashiach Ben Yosef (the suffering servant, at His first coming) and Mashiach Ben David (the reigning King, at His second coming. See Isaiah 52:13-15 - 53:12, Psalm 22). He is also the Anointed Prophet, Priest, and King as foreshadowed by other m’shichim (other anointed prophets, priests, and kings) in the Tanakh.
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A Conquering King!

Here are some of the Jewish concepts of Messiah. From this one can have a more sympathetic understanding of their reactions when Jesus actually came. Here are some prophecies, gleaned from the Internet, of the conquering king (Mashiach Ben David):
                He would be a king: Jeremiah 23:5-6; Psalm 2; 110; Matthew 27:37
  He would live forever: Psalm 102:24-27; 89:4;
  On throne of David forever: 1 Kings 2:45; Is 9:7; Jeremiah 17:25; Luke 1:32
  His kingdom forever: Daniel 2:44; 4:3,34; 6:26; 7:14
  To rule the world: Psalm 2:6-9; ch 72;
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Moses Maimonides, is ascribed to have said the following about the Messiah:

      “If a king will arise from the House of David who is learned in Torah and observant of the mitzvot (‘commandments’, 613 in the law of Moses) as prescribed by the written law and the oral law, as David his ancestor was, and will compel all of Israel to walk in the way of  the Torah and reinforce the breaches; and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him the Messiah. If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Messiah. ... If he did not succeed to this degree or he was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah...” (Mishneh Torah).

      “The concept of the King Messiah, the ‘Anointed One’ who would one day come to deliver his people from oppression at the beginning of an era of world peace had been the sustaining hope of the Jewish people for generations. King Messiah was the instrument by whom God's kingdom was to be established in Israel and in the world. This hope ran throughout the entire Tanakh (the Hebrew ‘Bible’ or Old Testament). This unique Messiah seems to be identified with the Moshia’ and would be anointed by God to:

       1. Restore the Kingdom of David (see, for example, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 30:9, Ezekiel 34:23)
       2. Restore the Temple (Isaiah 2:2, Micah 4:1, Zechariah 6:13, Ezekiel 37:26-28)
       3. Regather the exiles (as described in Isaiah 11:12 and 43:5-6)
       4. Usher in world peace (Isaiah 2:4)
       5. Spread Torah knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: ‘God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One’ (Zechariah 14:9)”

      “In the Tanakh, the key passage on which the idea of the Messianic king who would rule in righteousness and attain universal dominion is found in Nathan's oracle to David (2 Samuel 7:12-13). This covenant cannot have been fulfilled by Solomon, and therefore the Seed of which the oracle refers is another anointed King who would sit on the throne forever and ever.”

   12 “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
   13 “He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
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The Suffering Lamb of God!

Equally prominent are references to a Messiah who would be a sin bearer and would suffer (Mashiach ben Yosef):
    Isaiah 53; Psalm 18:4-6; 35:11-12; 69:7-9; Psalm 22:1-18 about the crucifixion
    Mark 8:31 Son of man must suffer, be rejected, killed, and rise again.

The Suffering Messiah was prefigured by Joseph (Genesis 37-50) in the oral traditions of Judaism. Mashiach ben Yosef was considered to be a forerunner and harbinger of the final deliverer, Mashiach ben David.  Mashiach ben Yosef suffered for the sins of Israel (Isaiah 53). Christians see Yeshua as the fulfillment of Mashiach ben Yosef in the Tanakh and the oral tradition. Yeshua the Messiah in His first coming is the Suffering Servant.

          “Messiah son of Joseph was slain, as it is written, ‘They shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son’ (Zechaariah 12:10).”
          The Talmud explains: “The Messiah—what is his name? Those of the house of Rabbi Yuda the saint say, the sick one, as it is said, ‘Surely he had borne our sicknesses’ (Sanhedrin 98b).”
   
          Referring to Zechariah 12:10-12, “R. Dosa says: ‘(They will mourn) over the Messiah who will be slain.’” (B. Suk. 52a; also Y. Suk. 55b)
          “But he was wounded . . .” meaning that since the Messiah bears our iniquities which produce the effect of His being bruised, it follows that whosoever will not admit that Messiah thus suffers for our iniquities, must endure and suffer for them himself” (Rabbi Elijah de Vidas).
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The Passover visit

As Jesus grew “in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52), he was taught the prophecies of the Messiah. His mother certainly presented the prophecies as they were recorded in the Bible. While faithful in her teaching, her understanding of the mission of the Messiah was limited (Matthew 12:46-47). When Jesus was twelve years old He observed the Passover in Jerusalem for the first time. See Luke 2:42-48.

The Passover was in memory of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12 - 14). On the eve of the fourteenth day of the first month, the passover lamb was killed, roasted and eaten with unleavened bread. The blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the lintel and the two side posts of the door of the house. This was the sign of protection. The destroying angel passed over the marked doors, and the firstborn houses so marked were saved from death.

This was followed by the feast of unleavened bread lasting for a total of seven days. In Jesus time, the passover was celebrated at the temple in Jerusalem. At the age of twelve, he witnessed this ceremony for the first time.

     “For the first time the child Jesus looked upon the temple. He saw the white-robed priests performing their solemn ministry. He beheld the bleeding victim upon the altar of sacrifice. With the worshipers He bowed in prayer, while the cloud of incense ascended before God. He witnessed the impressive rites of the paschal service. Day by day He saw their meaning more clearly. Every act seemed to be bound up with His own life. New impulses were awakening within Him. Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great problem. The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour” (The Desire of Ages, 78).
Even from His teen years, Jesus knew what His ministry was to accomplish. He knew that He would die a sacrifice for the sins of men. Furthermore He knew when He would die. Satan in his malignant hatred for Christ tried repeatedly to kill Him. He tried without success to cause Jesus to make a mistake that would bring retribution upon His head. But Satan failed at every point to cause Jesus to sin. Jesus knew the prophecies. He knew the people and the times.

Jesus also avoided situations that might precipitate a crisis. Even in the ordinary course of His mission, crises arose where evil men tried to kill Him. He had laid aside His divinity and was living as a man. He depended on the Father for protection. Through frequent and close communication with the Father through prayer, He received guidance for his daily life and quite likely received information as to expected events for the following day. He was also very much aware of timing and of the prophecies.

But why, in the sacrifices, does a lamb have to die? A lamb cannot save a person from sin. It must mean something. Christians today recognize that the sacrificial lamb pointed forward to the Redeemer who would suffer and die for the sins of man.

Isaiah 53 showed what the death of the lamb accomplished. And not just death, but there would be suffering, opposition, and rejection. What could  a twelve year old boy think, seeing His life in this way. But He did not flinch. When His parent’s questioned His staying behind at the temple, His answer showed acceptance of the will and plan of God: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2: 49)?

   “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
   “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:7,11).

From the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 Jesus knew when His ministry would begin and when it would end. He knew when His hour would come and that His ministry would be short. He would have to use every minute and every day.
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