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The Predicted Messiah
In hindsight, a good mystery fits together perfectly, like the various
pieces of an intricate puzzle that need but one final piece to link the
parts that form the completed magnificent panorama. Until that final
piece is added, the mystery is virtually impossible to grasp in its
entirety. In fact, while the mystery is developing, the inquisitor’s
greatest challenge is to assess correctly which pieces of information or
evidence are of significance and which are the banal elements that add
nothing of consequence to the story. Is it important that Mr. Brown
forgot his hat at the train station? Does it matter that the water
faucet in the kitchen suddenly is not working properly? Inevitably, the
astute inquisitor accurately pinpoints those elements in the story that
are of great import. The less astute inaccurately labels ordinary events
as important, or fails to understand fully events that were of major
consequence.
Such is the case when approaching the study of the predicted Messiah,
or, as it were, when solving the mystery of the Messiah. Anyone familiar
with New Testament writings is quite familiar with the term “mystery”
as it is applied to God’s plan for the redemption of the human race
through the predicted Messiah. Paul wrote concerning this mystery: “But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
ordained before ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7). In his letter
to the Colossians, he stated: “I became a minister according to the
stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word
of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from
generations, but now has been revealed to his saints” (1:25-26). Paul’s
epistle to the Ephesians contains similar comments: “[I]f indeed you
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me
for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery...which
in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been
revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (3:3,5).
The New Testament writers identified for us several characteristics of
this Messianic mystery: (1) The mystery revolves around the prophesied
Messiah and the redemption of mankind; (2) The mystery is one that has
been hidden in various ways from all generations of people prior to the
time of the New Testament; (3) The various tenets of the mystery are
divinely revealed and made known only through divine communication; (4)
During the times of the New Testament writers, God revealed the final
piece of the mystery to the New Testament writers themselves.
The intention of this discussion is to trace out the various divinely
revealed tenets of the Messianic mystery. Upon completion of that task,
we must then determine if, in truth, the New Testament writers did
possess the final, completing piece of that mystery. We have dealt in
other places with the traces of a Savior originating from various
sources outside the biblical writings (see
Butt and Thompson,
2001). Therefore, since the Hebrew Scriptures are renowned for being
the most complete repository of Messianic predictions available, we will
focus our attention upon them.
OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES
In contemplating the Old Testament, Jewish Scriptures, it would be
beneficial for us to consider several important features of the
writings. First, the opening eleven chapters of the first book, Genesis,
do not relate to the Hebrews only, but to the broader scope of humanity
as a whole. These chapters describe the creation of the Universe, the
fall of man from his perfect state of innocence, the wickedness of man
and the destructive, world-wide Flood, and the repopulation of the
Earth. They contain approximately 2,000 years of history, not a year of
which necessarily has anything to do with the Jewish nation, any more
than with any other nation.
Second, the remainder of the Old Testament, from Genesis 12-Malachi,
focuses primarily on the descendants of Abraham. Note that the
narratives and terms often used to describe these descendants are none
too flattering. They are called stubborn, stiff-necked, sinful,
rebellious, and a host of adjectives equally as caustic (see Deuteronomy
9:7; Ezekiel 2:3-10; Hosea 4:16). And yet, these descendants of Abraham
are the ones responsible for preserving the very Scriptures that
repeatedly rebuked them for their idolatrous backsliding from God.
Remember, too, that they could have altered and preserved these writings
in a more flattering form. From archaeological finds we have learned
that other nations surrounding ancient Israel often chose to embellish
their history, intentionally excluding derogatory remarks or events
concerning themselves.
Why did the Israelites preserve the writings as they did? The answer to
this is actually twofold. First, they believed the particular writings
that they preserved to be inspired by God, a belief that can be proven
beyond doubt (see Thompson, 2001). But secondly, each of the 39 books
contains a calculated revelation describing some aspect of the coming
Messiah, who, according to these Scriptures, is not only destined to
save the nation of Israel, but the entire world. In fact, the reader
cannot progress far into the Old Testament writings before he is
inundated with descriptions of, and predictions concerning, the coming
Messiah.
WERE THE JEWS LOOKING FOR A MESSIAH?
It has been suggested that the ancient Jewish scribes, rabbis, and
general population were not really looking for a personal Messiah.
Eminently respected Messianic Jewish author David Baron first published
his work,
Rays of Messiah’s Glory, in 1886. In that volume, Baron wrote:
I am aware also that in recent times many intelligent Jews, backed by
rationalistic, so-called Christians...deny that there is hope of a
Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures, and assert that the prophecies
on which Christians ground such a belief contain only “vague
anticipations and general hopes, but no definite predictions of a
personal Messiah,” and that consequently the alleged agreement of the
gospel history with prophecy is imaginary (2000, p. 16).
In his statements that refute the “non-Messianic” view of Old Testament
Scripture, Baron wrote: “Even Maimonides, the great antagonist of
Christianity, composed that article of the Jewish creed which unto the
present day is repeated daily by every true Jew: ‘I believe with a
perfect faith that the Messiah will come, and although His coming be
delayed, I will await His daily appearance’ ” (p. 18). He commented
further: “Aben Ezra, Rashi, Kimchi, Abarbanel, and almost every other
respectable and authoritative Jewish commentator, although not
recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, are yet unanimous that a personal
Messiah is taught in the Old Testament Scriptures” (pp. 19-20). Baron
also noted that only an “insignificant minority of the Jews” had dared
to suggest that the Old Testament lacks definitive predictions of a
personal Messiah. He then eloquently stated: [W]ith joy we behold the
nation [Jews—KB], as such, still clinging to the
anchor which has been the mainstay of their national existence for so
many ages—the hope of a personal Messiah, which is the essence of the
Old Testament Scriptures” (2000, p. 20).
In his volume,
The Messiah in the Old Testament: In Light of Rabbinical Writings,
Risto Santala wrote: “If we study the Bible and the Rabbinic literature
carefully, we cannot fail to be surprised at the abundance of Messianic
interpretation in the earliest works known to us.... [T]he Talmud
states unequivocally: ‘All the prophets prophesied only for the days of
the Messiah’ ” (1992, p. 22).
In regard to specific Old Testament prophecies, a plethora of
rabbinical commentary verifies that the nation of Israel certainly had
in view a coming Messiah. Concerning Genesis 49:10, the noted author
Aaron Kligerman wrote: “The rabbis of old, though not agreeing with each
other as to the meaning of the root Shiloh, were almost unanimous in
applying the term to the Messiah” (1957, pp. 19-20). Immediately after
this statement, Kligerman listed the Targum Onkelos, Targum Jerusalem,
and the Peshito all as referring to Genesis 49:10 as a Messianic
prophecy pointing toward an individual, personal Messiah (p. 20). With
reference to Genesis 49:10, David Baron wrote:
With regard to this prophecy, the first thing I want to point out is that all antiquity agrees in interpreting it of a personal Messiah. This is the view of the LXX Version [Septuagint—KB];
the Targumim of Onkelos, Yonathan, and Jerusalem; the Talmud; the
Sohar; the ancient book of “Bereshith Rabba;” and among modern Jewish
commentators, even Rashi, who says, “Until Shiloh come, that is King
Messiah, Whose is the kingdom” (2000, p. 258, emp. added).
Concerning the book of Isaiah and the predictive, Messianic prophecy
contained within it, Santala stated: “The Messianic nature of the book
of Isaiah is so clear that the oldest Jewish sources, the Targum,
Midrash and Talmud, speak of the Messiah in connection with 62 separate
verses” (1992, pp. 164-165). Santala then, in a footnote, proceeded to
list several of those verses, including Isaiah 4:2, 9:5, 10:27, 11:1,
11:6, 14:29, 16:1, 28:5, 42:1, 43:10, 52:13, and 60:1 (p. 165).
The prophet Jeremiah contains material that has long been recognized as
Messianic in nature. Concerning Jeremiah 23:5-6, David Baron wrote:
“There is scarcely any contrary opinion among ancient and modern Jews
but that this is a Messianic prophecy” (2000, p. 78).
In truth, statements that verify that the ancient Israelite nation
recognized certain passages in the Old Testament as Messianic are
legion. Regardless of what a person believes about the identity of the
Messiah, it cannot be gainsaid that the nation of Israel, through the
influence of the Old Testament writers, has been waiting for His coming.
THE PROTEVANGELIUM
Virtually from the first glimpse of human life on the Earth, traces of
the predicted Messiah were divinely revealed to mankind. All too
familiar is the tragic story of the fall of man. Under God’s gracious
care, Adam and Eve were specially designed to suit each other’s needs
and were ushered into the Edenic Paradise, the joys of which humanity
has not seen since nor will see again this side of eternity. God gave
the first family only one prohibitory commandment—that they should not
eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they chose to
rebel against this lone prohibition, God informed them that the
consequence would be death. Yet despite God’s gracious warning, Eve’s
senses were dulled by her evil desires, and she soon fell prey to the
deceitfulness of sin, convincing her husband Adam to join in her
rebellion.
Into this scene of shame and sin, God brought judgment upon all parties
involved. Death would be the consequence of this sinful action, as well
as increased pain in childbirth for the woman and increased hardship
and toil for the man. Yet in the midst of God’s curse upon the serpent,
He included a ray of glorious hope for humanity. To the serpent he said:
“And I will put enmity between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise
your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). This brief
statement made by God to the serpent concerning the Seed of woman is
often referred to as the protevangelium. J.A. Huffman commented on the
passage:
Here the prophecy of a deliverer is unmistakably uttered. Even a
temporary bruise, that of the heel, suggesting the apparent, momentary
defeat of the deliverer is predicted: but, at the same time, the
deliverer’s ultimate and final triumph is prophesied, in his bruising of
the serpent’s head, which means a fatal blow (1956, p. 38).
The Jewish scholar, Aaron Kligerman, noted that three things stand out
in this first prediction of the Messiah, “namely that the Deliverer must
be—(A) of the
seed of woman and (B) That He is to be
temporarily hindered and (C)
Finally victorious
(1957, p. 13, italics in orig.). Kligerman further noted that the
ancient rabbinical opinions found in the Palestinian Targum testify
“that in Genesis 3:15 there is promised a healing of the bite in the
heel from the serpent, which is to take place ‘at the end of the days,
in the days of King Messiah’ ” (p. 14). [NOTE:
The Targums “are interpretive renderings of the books of Hebrew
Scriptures...into Aramaic” (Metzger, 1993). Such versions were needed
when the major populations of the Jews no longer spoke Hebrew as their
primary language. Metzger further explains that the oral Targum began as
a simple paraphrase of the text, “but eventually it became more
elaborate and incorporated explanatory details.” John Stenning, in his
detailed article on the Targum, explained that oral Targum was
introduced several years prior to the first century A.D. in connection
with “the custom of reading sections from the Law at the weekly services
in the synagogues” (1911).]
Of the protevangelium, Charles A. Briggs, in his classic work,
Messianic Prophecy, noted:
Thus we have in this fundamental prophecy explicitly a struggling,
suffering, but finally victorious human race, and implicitly a
struggling, suffering and finally victorious son of woman, a second
Adam, the head of the race.... The protevangelium is a faithful
miniature of the entire history of humanity, a struggling seed ever
battling for ultimate victory.... [U]ntil it is realized in the sublime
victories of redemption” (1988 reprint, p. 77).
Briggs went on to comment that the protevangelium “is the only
Messianic prophecy which has been preserved from the revelations made by
God to the antediluvian world” (p. 77).
Here, then, is the seminal prophecy made to pave the way for all others
that would deal with the coming of the great Deliverer of mankind.
Several qualities of this coming Deliverer are readily apparent. First,
He will come in human form as the seed of woman. Second, He will defeat
the effects of sin brought about by the fall of man and the entrance of
sin into the world. Third, He will be hindered in His redemptive
activity by the serpent, Satan, who will inflict upon Him a minor wound.
Fourth, He will ultimately overcome the wound of Satan and finally
triumph. In this first prediction of the Messiah, we catch an underlying
theme of a suffering, victorious redeemer—a theme that will be fleshed
out in the remaining pages of the Old Testament.
THE SEED OF ABRAHAM
The protevangelium in Genesis 3:15 predicted that the conquering
Messiah would belong to the seed of woman, taking on a human form. But
that feature alone, admittedly, does not help much in identifying the
Messiah, since billions of people have been born of woman. In order for
Messianic prophecy to prepare its readers for the actual Messiah, the
scope would need to be narrowed.
Such narrowing of the Messianic scope can be seen in God’s promise to
the patriarch, Abraham. In Genesis 12, the Bible records the fact that
God specifically chose Abraham from among all the peoples of the world
(Genesis 12:1-3). Through Abraham, God promised that all the nations of
the world would be blessed, and that Abraham’s descendants would
multiply as the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky. As Huffman
noted, “It was to Abraham, the son of Terah, a descendant of Shem, that
God gave a peculiar promise, one which could not be omitted in any
serious effort to trace the Messianic hope” (1956, p. 41). For many
years, this promise of progeny remained unfulfilled due to the fact that
Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was barren. In order to “help” God fulfill His
promise, Abraham and Sarah devised a plan by which Abraham could have a
child. Sarah sent her handmaid, Hagar, to serve as a surrogate wife to
Abraham. As a result of this union, Hagar conceived and gave birth to a
child named Ishmael.
In Genesis 17, God renewed His covenant with Abraham and instructed
Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the covenant. In Genesis
17:19, God informed Abraham that Sarah would have a son named Isaac. In
an interesting conversation with God, Abraham petitioned God to let
Ishmael be the son of promise and the heir of the covenant that God
made. Yet God insisted that Ishmael was not the son of promise and that
the promise of all nations being blessed through Abraham’s descendants
would not pass through Ishmael, but would be fulfilled only through
Isaac. God said: “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom
Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year” (Genesis 17:21).
James Smith, in writing about God’s promise to bless all nations through
Abraham, noted that this promise “has Messianic implications. Both the
Church Fathers and Jewish Rabbis so interpreted it” (1993, p. 47). Aaron
Kligerman concurred when he wrote about God’s promise to Abraham: “This
is more than the promise of ‘The Hope of a Prosperous Era.’ It is a
promise of the coming of a ‘Personal Messiah’ ” (1957, pp. 17-18). At
this point in human history, then, the Messianic implications fall to
the descendants of Isaac. It is important not to miss the significance
of the Messianic hope through Abraham and Isaac. The scope of the
Messiah has been narrowed from all other peoples and nations of the
world, to a single nomadic family. And yet, not just to Abraham’s family
in its entirety, but to only one of Abraham’s sons—Isaac.
But the picture becomes even clearer with the birth of the twin sons of
Isaac and Rebekah. Because of abnormalities with her pregnancy, Rebekah
went to inquire of the Lord about her situation. To answer her
questions, the Lord said: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples
shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the
other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).
Concerning this passage, Briggs noted: “This prediction breaks up the
seed of Isaac into two nations, assigns the headship with the blessing
to Jacob, and makes Edom subject to him” (1988, p. 90). The fact that
the promised Messiah would come through Jacob’s descendants becomes
increasingly clear throughout the Genesis narrative that tells the
stories of Jacob and Esau. God confirmed the promise to Jacob in Genesis
28:14, when He said to the patriarch: “Also your descendants shall be
as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the
east, to the north and the south; and
in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed”
(emp. added). The picture of the Messiah continues to become
increasingly focused: The seed of woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed
of Isaac, the seed of Jacob.
TWO MESSIAHS:
A SUFFERING SERVANT AND REIGNING KING
Throughout the Old Testament, various Messianic passages refer to a
majestic, glorious King who will reign over a never-ending kingdom. Yet,
at the same time, other Messianic prophecies depict a suffering Messiah
who will bear the guilt and sin of the entire world. Because these two
aspects of Messianic prophecy seem contradictory, many in the ancient
Jewish community could not understand how such diverse prophetic
sentiments could be fulfilled in a single individual. Due to this
conundrum, ancient and modern Jews have posited the idea that two
Messiahs would come: one would be the suffering Servant, while the other
would be the glorious King.
Concerning this separation of the Messiah into two different
individuals, John Ankerberg and his colleagues John Weldon and Walter
Kaiser wrote:
[T]hey (early Jewish rabbis—KB) could not
reconcile the statements that so clearly spoke of a suffering and dying
Messiah with those verses in other passages that spoke of a triumphant
and victorious Messiah. What is important to note is that they did
recognize that both pictures somehow applied to the Messiah. But they
assumed it was impossible to reconcile both views in one person. Rather
than seeing one Messiah in two different roles, they saw two
Messiahs—the suffering and dying Messiah, called “Messiah ben Joseph,”
and the victorious conquering Messiah, called “Messiah ben David” (1989,
pp. 57-58).
Jewish rabbi Robert M. Cohen stated:
The rabbis saw that scripture portrayed two different pictures of King
Messiah. One would conquer and reign and bring Israel back to the land
by world peace and bring the fullness of obedience to the Torah. They
called him Messiah ben David. The other picture is of a servant who
would die and bear Israel’s sin that they refer to as the “leprous one”
based on Isaiah 53 (Cohen, n.d.; also see Parsons, 2003-2006).
It is evident, from the rabbinical view of two Messiahs, that the
themes of suffering and regal authority were so vividly portrayed in Old
Testament Messianic prophecy that both themes demanded fulfillment. To
suggest two Messiah’s provided such a fulfillment. However, the dual
Messianic idea failed to comprehend the actual nature of Messianic
prophecy, and missed a primary facet of the Messianic personality: that
the Messiah would be
both a suffering Servant and a
majestic King. As Huffman rightly observed: “The theme of Messianism is
composed of two inseparable strands or threads—the scarlet and the
golden, or the suffering and the reigning, or the priestly and the
royal” (1956, p. 7). To misunderstand or miss either of these two
interwoven threads would be to miss the Messiah completely.
REGAL KING
Genesis 49:10—Shiloh
The Lord kept His promise to Jacob and multiplied his descendants
exceedingly. His twelve sons and their wives and children escorted him
to Egypt to live in the land of Goshen at the behest of Joseph, who had
been elevated in Egypt as the Pharaoh’s chief advisor. As Jacob neared
the end of his rather long life (over 130 years, Genesis 47:9), he
gathered his sons around his death bed, and stated: “Gather together,
that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis
49:1). Following this introductory statement, Jacob proceeded to address
each of his sons and bestow blessings (or in some cases, curses) on his
descendants.
In the midst of his final speech, in his blessing on Judah, Jacob
stated: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience
of the people” (Genesis 49:10). The Messianic nature of this statement
has long been recognized and discussed in ancient Jewish circles. As
previously stated, David Baron wrote: “With regard to this prophecy, the
first thing I want to point out is that
all antiquity agrees in interpreting it of a personal Messiah. This is the view of the LXX.
Version; the Targumim of Onkelos, Yonathan, and Jerusalem; the Talmud;
the Sohar; the ancient book of ‘Bereshith Rabba;’ and among modern
Jewish commentators, even Rashi, who says, ‘Until Shiloh come, that is
King Messiah, Whose is the kingdom’ ” (2000, p. 258, emp. added). Aaron
Kligerman added: “The rabbis of old, though not agreeing with each other
as to the meaning of the root Shiloh, were almost unanimous in applying
the term to the Messiah” (1957, p. 19-20). Santala, in his discussion
of several of the oldest Jewish documents available, wrote:
Targum Onqulos says of Judah’s scepter that it will not depart “until the Messiah comes, he who has the power to reign.” Targum Jonathan puts it that the verse refers to “the age of the Messiah-King, the King who will come as the youngest of his children.” Targum Yerushalmi speaks of the ‘time’ when “the Messiah-King will come” (1992, p. 50, italics in orig.).
Much commentary and debate surrounds the “Shiloh” prophecy found in
Genesis 49:10. It is often viewed as an indication of the time that the
Messiah should arrive on the scene. As can be deduced from Kligerman’s
quote, the actual origin and exact meaning of the word Shiloh are
disputed in many scholarly circles. Yet, despite the controversy in
reference to this prophecy, the one aspect of it that stands out is the
central idea that this is a Messianic Prophecy. As such, it narrows the
identity of the Messiah even further to a descendant, not just of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but to the house of Judah.
The Son of David
Of all the monarchs that possessed the throne of Israel, none is as
storied as King David. From his youth he proved himself to be a
courageous, valiant warrior who trusted in the Lord. He was described as
a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He wrote many of the
Psalms, and ushered in a united kingdom that paved the way for the
majestic reign of his son, Solomon.
David’s relationship to the Messiah is a rather interesting one. First,
Jewish antiquity recognized the fact that Messiah would be the Son of
David. Santala commented: “
Tradition ascribes 73 of the 150 psalms to King David.
In the Rabbinic literature the Messiah is constantly referred to as the
‘Son of David.’ For this reason, everywhere the future blessing of the
house of David is described, the Sages saw Messianic material” (1992, p.
109, italics in orig.).
Such Messianic sentiments in regard to David find their seminal origin
in the promise made by God to David through the prophet Nathan. In 2
Samuel 7, the text narrates the events that lead to this promise. David
had become a great king and his reign had spread far and wide. Due to
his love for the Lord, he wanted to show honor to God by building a
glorious temple in which the Ark of the Covenant could be housed. He
mentioned his idea to the prophet Nathan, who immediately encouraged the
building plans. But soon after Nathan had told David to do all that was
in his heart, God conveyed to Nathan that He did not want David to
build a temple. Instead, God would commission David’s son, Solomon, to
construct the magnificent edifice. Yet, in God’s message to David, He
promised: “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever
before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).
In later Psalms, the promise of David’s descendant reigning over an
eternal Kingdom is expanded and given more substance. Psalm 89 contains
several Messianic aspects, not the least of which is the following
statement: “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My
Servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your
throne to all generations’ ” (vss. 3-4). Psalm 132 contains a very
similar statement: “The Lord has sworn in truth to David; He will not
turn from it: ‘I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If
your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach
them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
Along with the various inspired psalmists, other Old Testament writers
noted the Messianic lineage through David and his throne. One of the
most memorable of all Messianic predictions from the Old Testament,
Isaiah 9:6-7, mentioned the Messianic reign upon the throne of David:
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the
government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon
the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it
with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal
of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Yet, along with the fact that the Messiah was to be of the seed of
David and reign on His throne, at least one Psalm places David in a
subservient position to this majestic Messianic ruler. Psalm 110 opens
with the statement: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand,
till I make Your enemies Your footstool’ ” (Psalm 110:1). In regard to
Psalm 110, Briggs noted: “The 110th Psalm is in the form of an utterance
from Jahveh respecting the son of David. It is therefore a prediction
that unfolds the prediction of Nathan” (1988, p. 132). Walter Kaiser, in
his discussion of Psalm 110, wrote: “While the external evidence that
this psalm is Messianic is large, the internal evidence is just as
overwhelming” (1995, p. 94). In reference to the Messiah mentioned in
the first verse, Kaiser stated: “That unnamed Lord is a royal person,
for he was invited to ‘sit at [God the Father’s] right hand....’ If the
God of the universe invited this other Sovereign to take such a
distinguished seat alongside himself, then we may be sure he was no one
less than the promised Messiah, invited to participate in the divine
government of the world” (p. 94).
Psalm 110 adds an interesting aspect to the character and position of
the Messiah. Not only would the Messiah be born from the seed of David
and reign on the throne of David, He also would be exalted to a position
far above David, to such an extent that David called him “Lord” in
Psalm 110. David’s statements in this Psalm not only speak to the
pre-existence of the Messiah before David, but also to the pre-eminence
that the Messiah would assume.
With these details, the portrait of the Messiah becomes increasingly
sharp. He was to come from the seed of woman and crush the power of
Satan. He was to be of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and now
David. He would rule on the throne of David, yet He existed before David
and was so preeminent that David called Him Lord. And there would be no
end of His glorious, majestic kingdom.
THE SUFFERING SERVANT
Anyone who reads the Old Testament would be hard pressed to miss the
idea of the Messiah’s glorious regal prominence. Yet, as equally
transparent is the idea that the Messiah was to suffer. The
protevangelium in Genesis 3:15 makes reference to this suffering in the
statement about the heel of the Seed of women being bruised, but it does
not include the details of this suffering. The theme of suffering
introduced in Genesis 3:15 is expanded in the remainder of the Old
Testament.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
The passage of Scripture found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 stands as a somber
reminder of the horrendous suffering that the Messiah would endure. The
text mentions that He would be highly exalted and extolled (52:13). And
yet His appearance would be marred more than any man (52:14). He would
not be physically attractive (53:2), and He would be despised and
rejected by men, familiar with sorrows and grief (53:4). He would be
perfect and without sin (53:9), and yet He would be beaten, suffer, and
die for the sins of the Lord’s people (53:5-6,11). This suffering
Servant would be killed among the wicked, but buried among the rich
(53:8-9). Yet, in spite of His death (or even because of it), He would
be numbered among the great and divide the spoil with the strong
(53:12).
Needless to say, this picture of the Messiah seems to stand in stark
contrast to the glorious King on David’s throne. As has been mentioned,
this contrast has caused some to concoct two Messiahs to accommodate the
prophecies. Still others have attempted to discount Messianic
prophecies such as Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Some have suggested that this
passage of Scripture is not Messianic in nature, but that the servant
under discussion represents the collective nation of Israel. Along these
lines, David Baron noted: “Modern Jews, in common with a number of
rationalistic so-called Christians, are trying hard these days to weaken
the Messianic application of this remarkable prophecy” (2000, p. 225).
James Smith stated:
The Messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53 was acknowledged by Jewish
authorities until the Middle Ages. Almost all Christian leaders until
the beginning of the nineteenth century saw in this passage a clear
picture of the suffering, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Jews
and some Christian scholars now hold primarily to the collective view of
the Servant: The Servant is Israel as a whole, or the remnant. The
traditional view, however, has much to commend it (1993, p. 307).
That the ancient Jewish community, and the bulk of scholars for the
last 2,000 years, have recognized Isaiah 53 as a prophecy concerning a
personal, individual Messiah cannot be questioned. Baron correctly
commented regarding this sentiment:
That until recent times this prophecy has been almost universally
received by Jews as referring to Messiah is evident from Targum
Yonathan, who introduces Messiah by name in chapter lii 13, from the
Talmud (“Sanhedrin,” fol. 98, b); and from Zohar, a book which the Jews
as a rule do not mention without the epithet “holy...” (2000, p. 226).
The recent view that Isaiah 53 refers to the nation of Israel not only
garners little (if any) support from ancient Jewish commentators, it
collapses under the scrutiny of critical examination. The foremost
objection to the view that Israel collectively is the Servant in Isaiah
53 is the fact that the Servant is described as perfect and sinless
(53:9), not deserving the punishment that He willingly accepts for the
sins of God’s people. No one remotely familiar with the nation of Israel
as portrayed in the Old Testament would dare suggest that they were
sinless. From their first few steps out of Egypt and into freedom they
began to provoke God and bring judgment upon themselves. On numerous
occasions the Old Testament depicts the Israelites’ sin of such a
rebellious nature that God executes thousands of them. One fundamental
aspect of an atoning sacrifice in Old Testament literature was its
condition of spotless perfection. No nation of mere mortal men,
including the ancient Israelite nation, could suffice as an atoning
sacrifice for sins, as the Servant does in Isaiah 53. Nor could a sinful
nation make another group of people “righteous” as the Lord’s Servant
would. Furthermore, the Servant of the Lord is depicted as being
stricken for “transgressions of my people.” If the Servant was
collectively depicted as the nation of Israel, then who would be the
Lord’s people in 53:8? [NOTE: For a more complete refutation of Israel
as the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53, see Baron, 2000, pp. 225-251.]
Indeed, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the fact that Isaiah 53
stands as one of the most poignant portrayals in all of the Old
Testament of an individual, suffering Messiah. As Smith correctly noted:
“The Servant of the Lord here is portrayed in a strongly
individualistic way. It takes rich imagination or strong prejudice to
see the Servant here as a symbol for Israel, the remnant, the prophets,
or any other group” (p. 1993, 307). Kaiser similarly commented:
“Undoubtedly, this is the summit of OT prophetic
literature. Few passages can rival it for clarity on the suffering,
death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah (1995, p. 178).
VARIOUS SPECIFIC MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
In addition to the broad strokes portraying the Messiah as a reigning
king and suffering servant, there are a host of more specific, detailed
prophecies that relate to His coming. In regard to the number of
Messianic prophecies, Sintala wrote: “It is estimated that the Old
Testament contains altogether some 456 prophecies concerning Christ. Of
these 75 are to be found in the Pentateuch, 243 in the Prophets and 138
in the ‘Writings’ and Psalms” (1992, p. 149; cf. Free and Vos, 1992, p.
241).
Space prohibits a listing of all of these prophecies, but a
representative sampling is appropriate. The Messiah was to be born in
Bethlehem in Judea (Micah 5:2) of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). He was to be
betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9) for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah
11:13). The Lord’s Ruler would come into Jerusalem riding on the foal
of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). He would be buried with the rich (Isaiah
53:9). During His suffering, His clothes would be distributed to those
who cast lots for them (Psalm 22:18). His attackers would pierce Him
(Zechariah 12:10). Even though His physical suffering would be severe,
His bones would not be broken (Psalm 34:20). And in spite of His death,
His physical body would not experience decay (Psalm 16:10). This small
sampling of specific prophetic details is only a fraction of the many
Old Testament prophecies that exist. The prophecies were specifically
designed to be an efficient mechanism by which the Jewish community
could recognize the Messiah when He arrived.
WHO IS THE MESSIAH?
When all of the pieces of the Messianic puzzle are put together, one
individual stands out as the only person who fulfilled every single
prophecy in minute detail—Jesus Christ. The life and activities of Jesus
Christ as recorded in the New Testament documents blend the theme of a
regal monarch and a suffering servant into one magnificent portrait of
the triumphant Jesus who was the sacrificial lamb at His death on the
cross, and Who became the triumphant Lion of Judah in His resurrection
from the grave. The lineage of Jesus Christ is meticulously traced in
order to show that He qualified as the Seed of Abraham, of Isaac, of
Jacob, of Judah, and of David (see Matthew 1 and Luke 3:23-38). The
narrative detailing His birth verifies that He was born in Bethlehem of
Judea, from which city the Messiah would arise (Luke 2:1-7). The birth
narrative also intricately portrays the pre-existence of Jesus before
time began, fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would come before
King David. Furthermore, Jesus did, in fact, enter Jerusalem riding on
the foal of a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11).
The New Testament narratives depicting the death of Jesus Christ verify
that Jesus was betrayed by His friend and sold for exactly 30 pieces of
silver (Matthew 24:14-16). At His death His bones were not broken,
soldiers cast lots for His garments, and His side was pierced with a
spear (John 19:33-37 and Matthew 27:35). During His suffering, He was
numbered with the transgressors as Isaiah 53 predicted by being
crucified between two thieves, and at His death He was buried in the
tomb of a wealthy man as was also foretold (Matthew 27:57). This type of
verification could continue for many pages. The life of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, as depicted in the New Testament documents, was designed to
fulfill the Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament.
Due to this overwhelming congruence of the life of Jesus Christ with
the predictive Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament, some have
suggested that Jesus was an imposter who was able, by masterful
manipulation, to so artificially organize His life as to make it look
like He was the Messiah. Such a contention cannot be reasonably
maintained in light of the fact that many of the prophecies were far
beyond His control. Obviously, it would be impossible for a person to
arrange where he would be born. Furthermore, it would be impossible to
coordinate events so that He could ensure that He was buried in the tomb
of a rich man or crucified among thieves. How could the betrayal price
of Judas be manipulated by Jesus? And how, pray tell, would Jesus have
managed to arrange it so that soldiers cast lots for His clothing? The
idea that Jesus manipulated events to make it appear as if He was the
Messiah not only is indefensible, but it also speaks to the fact that
Jesus obviously was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, Messianic
prophecies.
Others have objected to Jesus as the Messiah based on the idea that the
New Testament documents are not reliable, and were artificially
concocted to describe things that Jesus never really did. This objection
also falls flat in light of the actual evidence. It cannot be denied
that the New Testament has proven itself to be the most reliable book in
ancient history. When it records people, places, and events that are
checkable using archaeological means, those people, places, and events
invariably prove to be factual and historic (see
Butt,
2004). Again, the abundant evidence verifies that the New Testament is
accurate and factual. Many of the Messianic prophecies documented in the
New Testament do not describe anything inherently miraculous. There was
nothing miraculous about Jesus being buried in a rich man’s tomb. Nor
was there anything miraculous about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the
foal of a donkey, or being betrayed by His friend for 30 pieces of
silver. These events are, if not ordinary, at least very plausible,
everyday events that theoretically could have happened to anybody. And
yet, due to the fact that such everyday events had been predicted about
the Messiah
hundreds of years before the arrival of Jesus,
the fulfillment of the events becomes one of the most amazing miracles
recorded in the Bible. It is no wonder that Jesus, the apostles, and the
early church used fulfilled Messianic prophecy as one of its
foundational pillars of proof and evangelistic tools.
APPEALING TO PROPHECY
Even a slight familiarity with the New Testament texts sufficiently
demonstrates the idea that Jesus, the apostles, and the other New
Testament writers used the Old Testament Messianic prophecies as one of
their main apologetic tools to prove the deity and Messianic role of
Jesus Christ.
The Writers of the Gospel Accounts Applied Messianic Prophecy to Jesus Christ
The Gospel writers repeatedly peppered their narratives of the life and
actions of Jesus Christ with allusions, quotes, and Messianic
prophecies from the Old Testament, which they applied to Jesus. Mathew 1
includes the Messianic prophecy taken from Isaiah 7:14 in which a
virgin is predicted to bear a son. Matthew applies this virgin-birth
prophesy to the birth of Jesus Christ. In chapter 2, Matthew references
Micah 5:2, in which the birth city of the Messiah is named, again
applying the prophecy to Jesus. In Matthew 3, the Bible writer notes
that John the Baptizer was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in 40:3,
indicating that John was the forerunner of the Messiah which, again, is
Jesus Christ. Matthew 4:15-16 references another Messianic prophecy
that discusses the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, again applying the
prophecy to Jesus Christ. Looking, then, at the first four chapters of
the book of Matthew, one is forcefully struck with the fact that one of
the Bible writer’s primary apologetic tools used to confirm that Jesus
was (and is) the Messiah was a fervent appeal to Messianic prophecy as
fulfilled in the life and actions of Jesus. Furthermore, Matthew’s
pattern of applying Old Testament, Messianic prophecy to Jesus continues
throughout the remainder of his account.
Mark’s gospel account, although not as replete with such prophecies,
nevertheless includes appeals to Messianic prophecy and applies those
prophecies to Jesus. Mark chapter 1 begins with quotations from Malachi 3
and Isaiah 40 that predict the forerunner of the Messiah. Mark applied
these passages to John the Baptizer as the forerunner of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, during the crucifixion account as recorded in Mark, the
Bible writer noted that Jesus was crucified between two thieves, and
then he commented, “So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He
was numbered with the transgressors’ ” (15:28). In addition, Mark
included instances in which Jesus applied Messianic prophecy to Himself.
As with Matthew and Mark, Luke and John also included numerous
Messianic prophecies and appeal to them as proof of the deity of Jesus
Christ. Luke chapter three cites the prophecy from Isaiah 40 concerning
the Messianic forerunner and applies it to John the Baptizer, the
forerunner of Christ. John does the same in 1:23. During Jesus’
triumphal entry into Jerusalem, John records that Jesus rode into the
city sitting on a donkey. John then commented on the situation by
saying: “as it is written: Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King
is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” His reference was a clear
appeal to the Messianic nature of this prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9.
Again, in John 12:37-38, the Bible writer refers to a Messianic prophecy
in Isaiah 53:1, and applies its fulfillment to the ministry of Jesus.
During the crucifixion of Christ, John records that the soldiers cast
lots for Jesus’ clothing. John then references Psalm 22:18 as a
Messianic prophecy: “They divided My garments among them, and for my
clothing they cast lots.”
Only a few of the many Messianic prophetic references in the gospel
accounts have been documented here. Yet, even with this small sampling,
the reader is struck with the clear conclusion that the gospel writers
appealed to Old Testament, Messianic prophecy as proof of the deity of
Christ.
Jesus’ Appeal to Prophecy as it Applied to Him
On multiply occasions, Jesus directed His listeners to certain
Messianic Old Testament scriptures, and applied those scriptures to
Himself. Luke records an incident in the life of Jesus in which He
visited a synagogue on the Sabbath in His hometown of Nazareth. While in
attendance there, Jesus read a passage from Isaiah 61:1-2, and
commented to those in attendance that the particular Scripture He had
just read was fulfilled in their hearing.
During His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus addressed those
who had come to arrest Him, asking them why they did not apprehend Him
while He was with them daily teaching in the temple. He then stated:
“But the Scriptures must be fulfilled” (Mark 14:49). His statement
implied that this deed they were doing was a fulfillment of Old
Testament Scriptures as they related to His Messianic role.
Again, in Luke 24, the resurrected Jesus appeared to two of His
disciples on the road to Emmaus. They treated Him as a stranger, because
they did not recognize Him. Upon striking up a conversation with Jesus,
they began to discuss the events of Christ’s death and burial in
Jerusalem only a few days earlier. After the disciples related the
events of the women at the empty tomb, Jesus began to speak to them with
these words: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that
the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these
things and to enter into His glory” (Luke 24:25-26). The verse following
Jesus’ statement explains: “And beginning at Moses and all the
Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.”
A few verses later, in the same chapter, Jesus appeared to several more
of His disciples and applied the Old Testament prophecies to His
activities again: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I
spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). Such statements made by Jesus
show that one of the main lines of evidence that He used to establish
His identity as the Messiah was the application of Old Testament
Messianic prophecy to Himself.
Messianic Prophecy Applied to Jesus in the Book of Acts
The recorded writings and sermons of the apostles after the ascension
of Jesus are replete with appeals to Messianic prophecy as proof of the
Messianic identity of Jesus Christ. In the first recorded gospel sermon
on the Day of Pentecost, Peter explained to those in Jerusalem that the
resurrection of Christ was a fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy
uttered by David in Psalm 16:8-11 (in which the Lord would not allow His
Holy One to see corruption). In Act 3, Peter addressed another
multitude of those dwelling in Jerusalem. In his sermon, he stated: “But
those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that
Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (vs. 18). In that same
sermon, Peter referred his audience back to Deuteronomy 18, in which
Moses had foretold the coming of a prophet like himself, which Peter
applied to Jesus (as did Stephen in his sermon in Acts 7:37). In the
next chapter, Peter is arrested and allowed to speak to the high priest
and his family. In Peter’s statements to these leaders, he again
referred back to the Old Testament, quoted Psalm 118:22 about the stone
that was rejected by the builders, and applied the prophecy to Jesus.
In one of the most memorable conversion accounts, Philip the evangelist
is called to meet with an Ethiopian treasurer on the road to Gaza. As
Philip approached, the Eunuch was reading a passage from Isaiah 53. Upon
their meeting, the Eunuch asked Philip about the prophecy, wondering
whether the prophet was speaking of himself or someone else. From that
text, the Bible says that Philip preached Jesus to the Eunuch, applying
the passage from Isaiah as a Messianic prophecy with its fulfillment in
the person of Christ (Acts 8:26-40). In another memorable conversion
account, Peter visited the house of Cornelius and preached the Gospel to
him and all his household. Included in Peter’s message was the
following statement concerning Jesus: “To Him
all the prophets witness, that through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43, emp. added).
As one continues through the book of Acts, it becomes evident that Paul
often appealed to prophecy as evidence of Christ’s deity. In Acts 13,
while preaching to those in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, he
commented that those responsible for killing Jesus did so because they
did not know “the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath”
(Acts 13:27). In the same verse he concluded that because of their
ignorance of the prophetic message, the murderers of Christ actually
fulfilled the prophecies concerning Jesus in their abuse of Him. Paul
further quoted from Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 55:3, and Psalm 16:10, noting
these Old Testament passages as Messianic prophecy and applying them to
Jesus Christ. In a separate sermon, delivered much later, Paul stood
before King Agrippa and told him that Jesus is the Christ. In his
oratory to Agrippa, Paul acknowledged that the king was “expert in all
customs and questions which have to do with the Jews” (Acts 26:3). Paul
further noted that in his teachings concerning Jesus as the Messiah, he
was saying to Agrippa “no other things than those which the prophets and
Moses said would come” (26:22). In his concluding remarks, Paul said to
the king, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you
do believe.” Agrippa responded to Paul with these words: “You almost
persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:27-28).
Examples of Messianic prophecy applied to Jesus by the early
propagators of Christianity as recorded in the book of Acts could easily
be multiplied further. These few instances suffice to establish the
fact that, throughout the book of Acts, predictive prophecy as it
applied to Jesus as the Messiah stood as one of the foundational pillars
upon which Christianity was based and spread.
Messianic Prophecy Applied to Jesus in the Epistles
Without providing an exhaustive study of every instance of Old
Testament prophecy applied to Jesus in the epistles, this brief section
will provide enough examples to establish the fact that the epistles, in
similar fashion to the other books of the New Testament, rely heavily
upon Messianic prophecy to establish the deity of Jesus Christ.
The book of Romans begins with a section discussing the Gospel of God,
“which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of
David according to the flesh...” (1:2-3). In the book of Galatians, Paul
refers back to the promise made to Abraham, that through the seed of
the patriarch all nations would be blessed. Paul then applies that
promise to Jesus, stating that Jesus is the Seed of Abraham through whom
the world would receive the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:15-18).
The writer of the book of Hebrews opens his book discussing the merits
of Christ, applying many Old Testament passages such as Psalm 2:7 and
Psalm 110:1 to Jesus. In Hebrews 5, the writer argues the case that
Jesus is a priest after the order or Melchizedek as prophesied in Psalm
110:4. He repeats these sentiments in 7:17 and 7:21.
The epistles of 1 and 2 Peter contain numerous examples of such
prophetic application to Jesus. One of the most potent passages along
these lines in found in 1 Peter 1:10-12, in which Peter wrote:
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully,
who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or
what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating
when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories
that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but
to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to
you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit
sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.
In 1 Peter 2:6, the apostle applies Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22 to
Christ, describing Him as the chief cornerstone rejected by the
builders. Again in 1 Peter 2:22, the apostle applies Isaiah 53:9 to
Jesus, referring to the fact that the Messiah would be sinless as was
Jesus.
It becomes readily obvious, then, that the New Testament writers and
apostles frequently referred to Old Testament, Messianic prophecy and
applied the fulfillment of such prophecies to the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ. It is impossible to deny that one of the main
lines of reasoning upon which the Christian faith was founded from its
inception is the idea that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament
prophecies that looked forward to a coming Messiah.
CONCLUSION
In the Old Testament, it is almost as if we have a satellite picture
from space of the Messiah many thousands of miles away, yet with each
new prophecy, the picture continues to move nearer, until at last we are
able to view a complete close-up of the Messiah—Jesus Christ. As the
distinguished Hebrew scholar Charles Briggs noted: “In Jesus of Nazareth
the key of the Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament has been found.
All its phases find their realization in His unique personality, in His
unique work, and in His unique kingdom. The Messiah of prophecy appears
in the Messiah of history” (1988, p. 498).
In Acts 8:26-40, Philip the evangelist approached the Ethiopian who was
riding in a chariot reading the Old Testament Scriptures. As Philip
approached, he heard the man reading a section from Isaiah 53 in which
the sufferings of the Messiah are depicted. Upon entering into a
conversation with Philip, the man asked Philip, “[O]f whom does the
prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Immediately after
this question, the Bible says that Philip “opened his mouth, and
beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35). In
truth, Jesus is the sum total of every Old Testament, Messianic prophecy
ever uttered. From any single one of those ancient Scriptures, the
honest, informed individual could open his or her mouth and preach
Jesus, the Messiah.
REFERENCES
Ankerberg, John, John Weldon, and Walter Kaiser (1989),
The Case for Jesus the Messiah (Chattanooga, TN: John Ankerberg Evangelistic Association).
Baron, David (2000 reprint),
Rays of Messiah’s Glory (Jerusalem, Israel: Kern Ahvah Meshihit).
Briggs, Charles A. (1988 reprint),
Messianic Prophecy: The Prediction of the Fulfillment of Redemption through the Messiah (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson).
Butt, Kyle (2004), “Archaeology and the New Testament,” [On-line], URL:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2591.
Butt, Kyle and Bert Thompson (2001), “Jesus Christ—Unique Savior or Average Fraud?”, [On-line], URL:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/156.
Cohen, Robert M. (no date), “Why I Know Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah,” [On-line], URL: http://www.imja.com/Atonem.html.
Free, Joseph P. and Howard F. Vos (1992),
Archaeology and Bible History (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Huffman, J.A. (1956),
The Messianic Hope in Both Testaments (Butler, Indiana: Higley Press).
Kaiser, Walter (1995),
The Messiah in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Kligerman, Aaron (1957),
Old Testament Messianic Prophecy (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Metzger, Bruce (1993), “The Jewish Targums,”
Bibliotheca Sacra, 150 (January 93), pp. 35ff., [On-line], URL: http://www.bible-researcher.com/aramaic4.html.
Parsons, John (2003-2006), “Hebrew Names of God: The Mashiach as
Revealed in the Tanakh,” [On-line], URL:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Messiah/messiah.html.
Santala, Risto (1992),
The Messiah in the Old Testament: In the Light of Rabbinical Writings, trans. William Kinnaird (Jerusalem, Israel: Keren Ahvah Meshihit).
Smith, James (1993),
What the Bible Teaches about the Promised Messiah (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson).
Stenning, John F. (1911), “Targum,”
Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh edition [On-line], URL: http://www.bible-researcher.com/aramaic3.html.
Thompson, Bert (2001),
In Defense of the Bible’s Inspiration (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), second edition.
Even
individuals with only a nodding acquaintance of the Bible are aware of
how Goliath died: “David killed the giant with a sling and a stone, of
course.” Indeed, that is what 1 Samuel 17:48-50 indicates:
Anthropologists
who study legends and folktales from different geographical locations
and cultures consistently have reported one particular group of legends
that is common to practically every civilization. Legends have surfaced
in hundreds of cultures throughout the world that tell of a huge,
catastrophic flood that destroyed most of mankind, and that was survived
by only a few individuals and animals. Although most historians who
have studied this matter estimate that these legends number into the
200s, according to evolutionary geologist Robert Schoch, “Noah is but
one tale in a worldwide collection of at least 500 flood myths,
which are the most widespread of all ancient myths and therefore can be
considered among the oldest” (2003, p. 249, emp. added). Schoch went on
to observe:
