NOTE: The following is a slightly
condensed,
and formatted version of an article written by Sam Shamoun
entitled 'The
Identity of the Jewish Messiah Revealed.'
We have been granted
permission to host this article on the Jesus Plus Nothing website,
for
which we are very grateful!
| Contents Include:
|
Check
these out
also:
This article makes reference to the
following
resources which are very interesting articles and well worth
reading
-
- Dear Rabbi - a series of letters
between a
Jewish Believer in Jesus and a Rabbi concerning the person
of
Jesus.
- Talmudic evidence which shows that God
stopped
accepting the Jewish sacrifices 40 years before the
destruction of
the second temple in 70AD. Definitely worth
reading!
|
The following study will be a comparison between the concept
of
Messiah as outlined in the Hebrew Scriptures and that of the
Christian New
Testament documents. The purpose of this exposition will be to
expound
upon the Jewish teaching on Messiah in contrast with that of
Christianity.
The Hebrew Bible gives a clear outline as to who, what, where and
how the
Messiah will appear. For this reason, we begin with an examination
of the
Hebrew Scriptures in order to see if whether the Tanakh supports
the fact
that the Messiah of God is both divine and human, one Person
having two
natures. We will also examine the Hebrew Bible for the evidence
that the
Messiah would not only reign as king, but also die a
substitutionary death
on behalf of sinners, making atonement for sin. As this is being
done, we
will see if Jesus fits the outline of Messiah presented to us in
the
Hebrew Bible.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to
us a son
is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will
be
called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince
of Peace."
This verse points out the
inescapable fact
that the Messiah is God Almighty appearing in human form. That
this
passage was considered Messianic is evident from the fact that
verse7 says
that the Child would sit on the throne of David forever, a
description
which only fits the Messiah.
In the Targum of Isaiah we
read:
"His name has been called from old, Wonderful
Counselor,
Mighty God, He who lives forever, the Anointed One
(Messiah),
in whose days peace shall increase upon us."
Pereq
Shalom: R. Yose the Galilean said: "The name of the
Messiah is
Peace, for it is said, "Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace."
Midrash Mishle, S. Buber
edition: The Messiah is called by eight names:
Yinnon,
Tzemah, Pele ["Miracle"], Yo'etz ["Counselor"], Mashiah
["Messiah"],
El ["God"], Gibbor ["Hero"], and Avi 'Ad Shalom
["Eternal
Father of
Peace"] |
Whoever this Child is one thing remains certain - This Child
must shine
forth from Galilee according to Isaiah 9:1:
'Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for
those who
were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and
the land
of Naphtali but in the future He will honor Galilee of the
Gentiles, by the way of the sea along the
Jordan...'
NOTE: In an attempt to avoid the
impact of
this passages significance to the divinity of the Messiah,
certain Jewish
Publications have translated it in a way as to suggest that the
divine
titles are not messianic in nature. Rather, they are descriptions
of
God:
For a child has been born to us, a son has been
given to us,
and the dominion will rest on his shoulder; the Wondrous Adviser,
Mighty
God, eternal Father, called his name Sar-shalom [Prince of peace].
(This
appears as Isaiah 9:5 in the Stone Edition Tanakh, Arts Scroll
Series,
published by Mesorah Publications Ltd.; Brooklyn, NY,
1998)
The great rabbi Ibn Ezra responds: There
are some
interpreters who say that91wonderful, counselor, mighty God,
everlasting
Father are the names of God, and that only91prince of
peace is the name
of the child. But according to my view, the right
interpretation is
that they are all the names of the child. (Walter Riggans,
Yeshua Ben
David [Wowborough, East Sussex; MARC, 1995], p. 370)
Jeremiah 23:5-6 'The days are coming,'
declares the
Lord, 'When I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a king
who will
reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His
days Judah
will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by
which He
will be called; The Lord our Righteousness (YHVH
Tseidkeynu).'
The Targums concluded that this
passage
was speaking of Messiah.
For instance, the great
Rabbi David
Kimchi wrote in reference to this verse, 'By the
righteous Branch
is meant Messiah.' The compilers of the Targum agreed
with
Kimchi since they introduced Messiah by name in this
passage. (David
Baron, Rays of Messiahs Glory: Christ in the Old
Testament [Grand
Rapids, MI; Zondervan, 1886], p. 78)
Hebrew
scholar
Alfred Edersheim quotes other Rabbinic writings in reference
to this
passage:
On Jer. xxiii, 5, 6 the Targum has it:
=91And I will
raise up for David the Messiah the just. This is one of
the
passages from which, according to Rabbinic views, one of the
names
of the Messiah is derived, viz.: Jehovah our Righteousness.
So in
the Talmud (Babha Bathra 75b), in the Midrash on Ps. xxii.1,
Prov.xix.21, and in that on Lamentations I 16. (Edersheim,
Life and
Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids, MI; Eerdmans,
1972], pt.
2, p.
731). |
Hence, we find the Hebrew Scriptures testifying to the
fact that
Messiah would be the Lord Himself. (Hebrew YHVH /
Adonai)
Psalm
2:7-8 "I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me,
'You
are My Son; Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me and I will make
the
nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.'
"
The above passage tells us that the Messiah
would be
the Son of God.
This fact is also related in
the
Talmud, Sukkah 52a, Soncino translation:
"Our
Rabbis
taught, the Holy One blessed be He, will say to the
Messiah,
the Son of David (may He reveal Himself speedily in our
days), 'Ask
of Me and I will give to Thee,' as it is said [Psalm 2:7-8]:
'I will
tell of the decree; the Lord hath said unto Me, "Thou art My
Son;
This day I have begotten Thee, ask of Me and I will give the
nations
for thy inheritance." ' "
The Midrash
reaffirms the
view that Messiah is Gods Son when commenting on another
messianic
Psalm:
Rabbi Nathan said that God spoke to
Israel
saying,91As I made Jacob firstborn, for it is written
Israel is My
son, even My firstborn" (Exodus 4:22), So also will I
make
Messiah My firstborn as it is written, " I will make Him
My
firstborn. (Commentary on Psalm 89:27 taken from Midrash
Rabbah
Shebot ) |
Micah
5:1 "But thou Bethlehem Ephratha, which art little to
be among
the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall One come forth unto Me
that is
to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from old, from
Ancient of
Days."
This verse emphatically states
that
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem while also having been existing
from
eternity.
The Targum Jonathan (second
century A.
D.) :
And You Bethlehem Ephrath, you who were too
small to
be numbered among the thousands of the house of Judah,
From you
shall come forth before Me The Messiah, to exercise
dominion
over Israel, He whose name was mentioned from before, from
the Days
of
Creation. |
Zechariah 3:8-9 NIV 'Listen, O high priest
Joshua
(Heb.- Yeshua) and your associates seated before you, who are men
symbolic
of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the
Branch. See,
the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on
that
stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the LORD
Almighty,91and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
Zechariah 6:9-13
NIV The word of
the LORD came to me:91Take silver and gold from the exiles
Heldai,
Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to
the
house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take the silver and gold and
make a
crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son
of
Jehozadak. Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says:
Here is the
man whose name is the Branch and he will branch out from his
place and
build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple
of the
LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit on his
throne.
And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be
harmony
between the two.
Joshua is portrayed
as a type of
the Messiah who was to come. Hence, just as Joshua is pictured as
being
both a priest and king, the Messiah would also be a priest who
reigns on
Gods throne as king. In fact, the nameJoshua is the same
Hebrew name
forJesus, Yeshua!
The fact that these passages
are
clearly messianic in nature can be seen in the title given
to the
one to come, i.e. the Branch.
The rabbis
universally
have held that this title refers to the Messiah-King.
|
Another passage indicating that the Messiah would be both
priest and
king is Psalm 110:1, 4:
The
LORD said to
my Lord:91Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a
footstool for
your feet The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind:
=91You are a
priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
NIV
In fact, Davids sons were also called
priests:
9avid reigned over
all Israel,
doing what was just and right for all his people. Joab son of
Zeruiah was
over the army; Jehosphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Zadok son of
Ahitud
and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary;
Beniaha
son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and
Davids
sons were priests (cohanim).94 2 Samuel
8:15-18
Since the Messiah is Davids son,
this would
indicate that he too would be a priest much like his ancestors
that
preceded him.
While the
Hebrew
Scripture portrays the Messiah as a glorious King as well as both
a human
and divine figure, the Bible also indicates that He will suffer
and be put
to death only to rise miraculously:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 See my servant will act
wisely; he
will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there
were many
who were appalled at him - his appearance was disfigured beyond
that of
any man and his form marred beyond human likeness - so will he
sprinkle
many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For
what
they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard,
they will
understand.
Who has believed our message and to whom
has the
arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a
tender
shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or
majesty to
attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire
him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows, and
familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their
faces he
was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up
our
infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him
stricken by
God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced
for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed. We
all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way,
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. He was
oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led
like a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
silent, so he
did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was
taken
away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off
from the
land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was
stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and
with
the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was
any
deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORDS will to crush
him and
cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt
offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of
the LORD
will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul,
he will
see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my
righteous
servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he
will
divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life
unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the
sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Amazingly, this passage declares the fact
that the
suffering servant is being crushed for the sins of Isaiahs
people,
eventually being put to death. Yet, vv. 10-11 emphatically state
that this
servant would once more seethe light of life and reign in
order to
justifyhis offspring and prolong his days, and thatthe
will of the
LORD willprosper in his hand. This seems to imply a
bodily
resurrection. The only way for the servant to beassigned a
grave with
the wicked and with the rich in his death and thensee the
light of
life is if He were to be miraculously raised from the
dead!
NOTE: That this too was considered a
messianic
prophecy becomes obvious when one reads the rabbinic commentaries.
However, in order to avoid the obvious Christian implications,
rabbis such
as Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Izaak, circa 1040-1105 A. D.) referred
this
passage to the sufferings of the nation of Israel, despite the
fact that
rabbis such as the great Maimonides and Crispin thought it was
wrong to
apply this to Israel. They rather maintained the belief that this
passage
of Scripture was about Messiah. The reason for Rashis attempt
to make
Israel the central focus of this passage was due to his seemingly
anti-Christian bias, a fact to which he freely
admitted:
Since Christians interpret Isaiah 53 as
being a
prophecy concerning Jesus, we maintain that this is a prophecy
concerning
the people of Israel. (Steve Schwarz,9ear Rabbi,
p.15)
Rabbi Moishe Alshekh, famous
rabbinic
scholar who lived in 16th century Sfat states: "Our
Rabbis with
one voice, accept and affirm the opinion that the Prophet
(Isaiah)
is speaking of King Messiah."
Furthermore,
Rabbi
R. Elyyah de Vidas sights, The meaning of91he was
wounded for
our transgressions, ... bruised for our iniquities is,
that since
the Messiah bears our iniquities, which produce the
effect of
His being bruised, it follows that whoever will not admit
that
the Messiah suffers for our iniquities must endure and
suffer for
themselves.
Ninth century poet, Eliazer
Hakalir,
paraphrases Isaiah 53 in a prayer that comprises a part of
some
Jewish sects traditional liturgical prayers recited on
Yom Kippur
(the Jewish Day of Atonement). The prayer begins: We
are
shrunk up in our misery even until now! Our Rock hath not
come nigh
to us; Messiah our righteousness, hath turned from us; we
are in
terror, and there is none to justify us! Our iniquities
and the
yoke of our transgressions He will bear, for He was wounded
for our
transgressions; He will carry our sins upon His
shoulder, that
we may find forgiveness for our iniquities; and by his
strips we are
healed ... (Baron, Rays of Messiahs Glory, pp.
225-230)
Midrash Tanhuma and Yalkut, vol. 2, par. 338
on Isaiah
52:13 states that the expressions "exalted, and extolled and
be very
high" indicates that,Messiah shall be more exalted than
Abraham...
more extolled than Moses... and be very high; that is higher
than
the ministering angels...
This again
demonstrates
that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 was viewed by rabbis as a messianic
prophecy.
Also: the weight of
Jewish authority
preponderates in favor of the Messianic interpretation of
this
chapter that until recent times this prophecy has been
almost
universally received by Jews as referring to Messiah is
evident from
Targum Jonathan who introduces Messiah by name in chp.
LII.13; from
the Talmud (Sanhedrin vol. 98b); and from the Zohar... In
fact,
until Rabbi Rashi [Rabbi Solomon Izaak (1040-1105)],
considered the
originator of the modern school of Jewish interpretation],
who
applied it to the Jewish nation, the Messianic
interpretation of
this chapter was almost universally adopted by Jews..."
(Baron,
Rays of Messiahs Glory, pp. 225-229)
|
Interestingly,
Isaiah
53 is almost never read in the synagogues, as it is consistently
neglected
during the Haftorah readings. This is amazing in light of the fact
that
the chapters preceding and following Isaiah 53 are recited during
these
special readings. The following list illustrates this
point:
Haftorah for Ekeb - Isaiah
49:14-51:3
Haftorah for
Shofetim - Isaiah 51:12-52:12
Haftorah for Noah - Isaiah
54:1-55:5
Haftorah for Sephardi ritual - Isaiah
54:1-10
Haftorah for
Hi Tetze - Isaiah 54:1-10
Haftorah for Reeh - Isaiah
54:11-55:5
Herbert Lowe, a Cambridge University Rabbinics
Professor
notes: Quotations from the famous 53rd chapter of Isaiah
are rare in
the Rabbinic literature. Because of the Christological
interpretation
given to the chapter by Christians, it is omitted from the series
of
prophetical lessons (HAFTORAH) for the Deuteronomy Sabbaths.
The
omission is deliberate and striking. (Schwarz,9ear
Rabbi,
p.16)
It should also be pointed out that the Haftorah
readings are the same throughout synagogues and temples all over
the
world.
NOTE - There is evidence
that the
servant of Isaiah 53 was believed to be referring to national
Israel by
the Jews even before Rashi. The Church Father Origen
writes:
I remember that once
in a
discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I used these
prophecies. At this the Jews said that these prophecies referred
to the
whole people as though of a single individual, since they were
scattered in the dispersion and smitten, that as a
result of
the scattering of the Jews among other nations many might become
proselytes. [Origen, Contra Celsum, I., p. 55 A.D.
248]
Hence, Rashi was seemingly
not the
first rabbi that tried to apply Isaiah 53 to national
Israel.
Zechariah 12:10
"And I
will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Israel
a spirit
of grace and supplication. They will look to Me, the One they
have
pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for an only
child and
grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn Son."
An astonishing prophecy indeed! God claims
that they
will personally pierce Him. Yet, at the same time God refers to
the
pierced One as someone that is personally distinct from Him for
whom the
nations mourn and weep as for a firstborn Son.
This prophecy is confirmed
by the
Rabbis to be referring to the otherMessiah which the
Talmud
calls Messiah Ben Joseph, the suffering Messiah. (T.V.
Moore,
Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi [Carlisle, PA; Banner of Truth
Trust,
1974], p.199)
Edersheim states that this
prophecy
is applied to the Messiah the son of Joseph in the
Talmud
(Sukk.52a) and so is verse 1285 (Edersheim, The Life
and Times
of Jesus the Messiah, [one volume edition], p.737)
T.V. Moore substantiates Edersheims
statement by
declaring: the later interpreters explaining it
of Messiah
Ben Joseph, or the suffering Messiah, whom they invented to
meet the
passages of Scripture that speak so clearly of this
characteristic
(i.e., the sufferings) of the promised redeemer. But as
they
believed that this Messiah son of Joseph was a mere man, the
difficulty met them that Jehovah declared 91they shall
look on ME
whom they have pierced, so that if it refers to the
Messiah he
cannot be a mere man, but must be divine.94 (Ibid.,
pp.199-200)
Rabbi Moshe Alshekh also confirms the
messianic
overtones of this prophecy:
I will do yet a
thing, and
that is, that91they shall look unto me for they shall lift
up their
eyes unto me in perfect repentance, when they see Him whom
they have
pierced, that is Messiah, the son of Joseph; for our
Rabbis, of
blessed memory, have said that He will take upon Himself all
the
guilt of Israel, and shall then be slain in the war to make
atonement in such manner that it shall be accounted as if
Israel had
pierced Him, for on account of their sin He has died;
and
therefore, in order that it may be reckoned to them as a
perfect
atonement, they will repent and look to the blessed One,
saying,
that there is none beside Him to forgive those that mourn on
account
of Him who died for their sin: this is the meaning of
=91they shall
look upon me. (Schwarz,9ear Rabbi,
p.10) |
The only person who ever claimed to be both God and the Son of
God, as
well as being the only self-professed Messiah that was pierced,
was Jesus
Christ. (cf. John 10:30; Mark 14:61b-62; Luke 24:44-47).
He
is the only self-professed Messiah to be born in Bethlehem and to
come
forth from Galilee. (cf. Matthew 2:1,22; Luke 2:4-7; Mark 1:9)
The
life of Jesus the Messiah is the only one that bears an amazing
correlation to the Hebrew passages being studied. An examination
of Psalm
22 and the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus as recorded
in the
New Testament solidifies this point:
| Old
Testament
Prophecy - Psalm 22 |
New
Testament
Comparison |
| v. 1: "My
God, My God why
have you forsaken me?" |
Matthew
27:46: "About the
ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi lama
sabacthani?,' which means, 'My God, My God why have you
forsaken
Me?' " |
| 6-8: "But I
am a worm and
not a man, scorned by men and despised by people. All who
see me
mock me. They hurl insults shaking their heads; 'He trusts
in the
Lord, let the Lord rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He
delights in Him.'" |
Matthew
27:41-44: "In the
same way the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the
Elders
mocked Him. 'He saved others.' they said, 'But He can't save
Himself! He's the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from
the
cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God, let God
rescue
Him now if He wants Him, for He said "I am the Son of God."
' In the
same way the robbers who were crucified with Him also heaped
insults
on Him." |
14-15: "I am
poured out
like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart has
turned
to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried
up like a
potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you
lay me
in the dust of death."
(NOTE
- This is a precise description of the crucifixion
process where
the hanging weight of a person's body would eventually cause
his
bones to come out of joint, and would make him as one lying
in the
"dust of death")
|
John 19:34:
"Instead one
of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a
sudden
flow of blood and water."
(NOTE - Medically the flow of blood and
water would
mean that the heart of the person had literally burst , i.e.
had
"turned to wax" and "melted away", in complete fulfillment
of this
verse of the Psalm!)
John
19:28: "Later, knowing that all was completed, and so that
the
scripture may be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' "
|
| 16: "Dogs
have surrounded
me; a band of evil men have encircled me; they have pierced
(kaaru)
my hands and feet."
(NOTE - This prediction was made
when
crucifixion did not even exist at the
time!)
17-18: "I can count all my
bones;
people stare and gloat over me. They have divided my
garments and
cast lots for my clothing." |
John
19:23-24: "When the
soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes, dividing
them into
four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment
remaining.
This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to
bottom.
'Let's not tear it,' they said to one another, 'let's decide
by lot
who will get it.' "
|
Even more amazing still is the fact that the Psalmist indicates
that
after suffering all this pain and torture which eventually causes
the
sufferer to lie in "the dust of death", the sufferer will then be
able to
proclaim the name of God in the sacred assembly:
"I declare your name to my brothers; in the
congregation I
will praise You" (v. 22)
The only way for the
sufferer to die and yet give glory to God in front of his brethren
is if
he were to be resurrected! Jesus Christ is the only man in history
to have
been raised from the dead to immortal glory. In fact, upon
rising
from the dead Jesus proceeded to declare God's name to His
unbelieving
brethren who became the Apostles that helped evangelize the world!
Therefore, He is the only one who has fulfilled this prophecy.
The Pesikta Rabbati, Piska
36: 1-2:
affirms that Psalm 22 was viewed as a messianic prophecy:
"(At the time of the Messiah's creation) the
Holy One,
blessed be He, will tell Him (Messiah) in detail what will
befall
Him: There are souls that have been put under My throne, and
it is
their sins which will bend Thee under a yoke of iron and
make thee
like a calf whose eyes grow dim with suffering... During the
seven
year period preceding the coming of the Son of David, iron
beams
will be brought and loaded upon His neck until Messiah's
body is
bent low... It was the ordeal of the Son of David that
David
wept, saying, 'My strength is dried up like a
potsherd.'94
In refutation of certain Jewish claims that
Psalm
22:16 should more correctly read as lions (kaari), instead
of
pierced (kaaru), we find this passage in the Yalkut Shimoni
(687):
"'Many dogs have encompassed me'- this refers to
Haman's sons.
'The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me'- this refers
to
Ahasuerus and his crowd. 'Kaari my hands and feet'- Rabbi
Nehemiah says, 'They have PIERCED my hands and feet in
the
presence of Ahasuerus.'
(NOTE- It should be
stated
that the early Greek Septuagint [compiled nearly three
centuries
before the birth of Christ], Syriac and Latin versions of
the Hebrew
Scriptures all readpierced.)
Alfred Edersheim
observed a
remarkable comment in Yalkut on Isaiah 60 which applies
this
passage in Psalm 22 to the Messiah, and uses almost the
same
words as the Gospel writers in describing the mocking
behavior of
the surrounding crowds. (Edersheim, The Life and Times of
Jesus the
Messiah, p. 718)
|
This is a clear indication that certain rabbis viewed Psalm 22
as a
messianic prophecy.
This apparent paradox has puzzled
the
Jews from the very beginning, since they could not understand how
a
triumphant King-Messiah could suffer and die. As noted earlier,
this
paradox led to the belief that there would be two distinct
Messiahs to
fulfill two distinct roles; the Suffering-Messiah Ben Joseph, and
King-Messiah Ben David. Yet the truth is that there is only
Messiah,
Yeshua ha-Mashiach whose mission has been to fulfill both these
roles. The
first mission was to fulfill the role of the Suffering Servant,
while his
role as reigning King is to be fulfilled at his Second Coming.
(Cf.
Matthew 24:27-35).
Through
the prophet
Daniel we receive a timeline of when Messiah would
appear:
(Daniel
9:24-26) "Seventy
sevens are decreed for your people and the Holy city to finish
transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to
bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to
anoint
the most Holy. Know and understand this; from the issuing of
the
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One
(Messiah), the Ruler comes, there will be Seven sevens and
Sixty-two
sevens. After the sixty-two91sevens, the Anointed One will
be cut off
and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come
will
destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a
flood: War
will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. "
Daniel is given the allotted time for a) the decree
of the
rebuilding of both the city and the temple, b) the time it would
take for
the Messiah to appear after this decree, as well as c) the
destruction of
the temple and the termination of the Messiahs
life. Several dates
have been given as a starting point for the period of time stated
in the
book of Daniel (7 * 7 49 + 62 * 7 434 - total 483).
One such date is King Cyruss decree to rebuild
the temple
in 539 B. C. Yet, none of these dates are correct since the dates
that are
commonly given refer to the rebuilding of the temple, not the
city. The
prophecy clearly states that the time frame would begin only when
the
decree goes forth for the rebuilding of the city and its walls.
The only
decree that fits the context of the prophecy is that of Artaxerxes
to
Nehemiah in 444 B. C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8), since this decree included
the
restoration of the city and the city gates as well as its walls.
The following quotation from the bookEvidence That
Demands a
Verdict by Josh McDowell, helps illustrate Daniels amazing
timeline:
JPN
Note:
The Hebrew and Babylonian calendar at that
time used a
360 day year. The use of this 'prophetic year' in these
prophecies
is confirmed by comparing the 1,260 days (Rev 11:3, 12:6)
with the
42 month (Rev 11:2, 13:5) and with the 'time, times, and
half a
time' or three and a half years of Dan 7:25, 12:7, Rev
12:14).
|
If Daniel is correct, the time from the edict to restore and
rebuild
Jerusalem (Nisan 1, 444B.C.) to the coming of the Messiah to
Jerusalem is
483 years (69 * 7), each year equaling the Jewish prophetic year
of 360
days (173,880). The terminal event of the 69 weeks is the
presentation of
Christ Himself to Israel as the Messiah as predicted in Zechariah
9:9. H.
Hoehner, who has thoroughly researched this prophecy in Daniel and
the
corresponding dates, calculates the date of this
event:
91Multiplying the sixty-nine weeks by seven
years for
each week by 360 days gives a total of 173,880 days. The
difference
between 444B.C. and A.D.33 then is 476 solar years. By multiplying
476 by
365.24219879 or by 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45,975 seconds
(there
are 365BC days in a year), one comes to 173,885 days, 6 hours,
52 minutes,
44 seconds, or 173,885 days. This leaves only 25 days to be
accounted for
between 444B.C. and A.D.33. By adding the 25 days to March 5 (of
444B.C.),
one comes to March 30 (of A.D.33) which was Nisan 10 in A.D.33.
This is
the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. (McDowell,
p.
173)
This prophecy once again predicts Messiahs
brutal
death:
"After the sixty-two
sevens, the
Anointed One will be cut off (yikaret) and have nothing. The
people of the
ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary
(temple)."
(cf. Daniel 9:26)
The Hebrew term, yikaret,
implies a
sudden, violent death. This is a precise description of Jesus
brutal
death on the cross. Another astonishing aspect deals with
the fact
that the Temple was destroyed some forty years after Christ's
crucifixion;
clearly fulfilling Daniels prediction of the "sanctuary" being
demolished
right after the death of the Messiah! Hence, Jesus must
be the
Messiah since the prophecy clearly states that the Messiah must
appear
before the destruction of the second Temple. The only person
who fits
the bill is Jesus Christ, since He is the only one who claimed
that his
death was essential in providing the atonement that was both
necessary to
usher in Gods everlasting righteousness and to eradicate
sin.
Furthermore, any denial of Jesus Messiahship
is
essentially a denial of Daniels authenticity as a prophetic
book since
the condition of the prophecy rests upon the arrival of the
Messiah before
the Temples destruction. Yet, if Jesus is not Messiah then
Daniel is
proven to be a false prophet since the Temple has been destroyed
and the
Messiah has not come. Hence, once the weight of historical
occurrences and mathematical calculations is thrown behind the
prophecies
of the Bible, it becomes increasingly impossible to deny the fact
that
Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Additional confirmation of
the
messianic overtones of Daniel 9:25-27 comes from the Talmud
itself:
In Daniel is delivered to us the
end [=91the
time of His appearance and death - Rabbi Jarchi] of the
Messiah. The Talmud also records that about the time
of the
Roman general Titus destruction of the Temple (70 A. D.),
the
Messiah was believed to have already come, yet His
identity was
concealed from the Jews until they were rendered more worthy
of His
appearance!94 (Frank Delitzch and Paton Gloag, The
Messiahship of
Christ / The Messianic Prophecies of Christ [Minneapolis,
MN; Klock
& Klock, 1983 rpt.], pt. 2, p. 226)
Rabbi
Moses
Abraham Levi stated: I have examined the Holy
Scriptures, and
have not found the time for the coming of the Messiah,
clearly
fixed, except in the words of Gabriel to the prophet
Daniel,
which are written in the ninth chapter of the prophecy of
Daniel.
Rabbi Azariah states in the
words of
Daniel: To seal the vision and prophecy, and to
bring in
Messiah our righteousness.
Rabbi
Nachmonides
claims: This Holy of Holies is the Messiah who is
sanctified
more than the sons of David.
Finally, in
the words of
Jonathan ben Uzziel: That the91vision and
prophecy may be
fulfilled even unto Messiah, the Holy of the
Holies.
This again strengthens the case for
the
Messiahship of Jesus since He is the only person that both
claimed
to be the suffering Messiah that was to die and who appeared
before
the year 70 AD.
In fact Rabbi Nehumias, who
lived 50
years before Christ, is cited as saying that the time given
by
Daniel for the Messiahs appearance could not go beyond
fifty
years! (Ibid.)
LOOK: Another
amazing fact is
that the Talmud admits that forty years prior to the
destruction
of the Temple, God refused to accept the high priestly
sacrifices:
Our Rabbis taught that
throughout the
forty years that Shimon the Tzaddik served ... the
scarlet cloth
would become white. From then on it would sometimes become
white and
sometimes not ... Throughout the last forty years, before
the
Temple was destroyed ... the scarlet cloth never turned
white.
(Yoma
39a-39b) |
Is
it then a mere coincidence that approximately forty years prior to
the
Temples destruction, Yeshua the Messiah offered himself as the
final and
perfect sacrifice, making void all other sacrifices offered up by
the
cohen ha-gadol (the high priest)? The Talmud alludes to the
reason
why God allowed the Temple to be destroyed:
Why
was the
Second Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied
themselves with studying Torah, obeying mitzvot and practicing
charity?
Because in it prevailed hatred without a cause. (Yoma
9b)
This echoes Jesus very own words as recorded
in the
Gospel of John:
But now they (the Jewish ruling
council)
have seen these miracles and yet they have hated both me and my
Father.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:91They
hated me
without reason.94 John 15:24b-25
Thus, the
evidence from
the rabbinic commentaries points to the same inescapable
conclusion.
Namely, that Jesus of Nazareth is the prophesied Jewish
Messiah. To
make the case for the Messiahship of Jesus that much stronger, we
provide
the additional prophecies and their fulfillment in the life of
Jesus.
Genesis 49:10: The scepter shall
not depart
from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between His feet until Shiloh
come.
Targum Onkelos
states: He who
excerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of
Jehuda,
nor the saphra from his childrens children until the
Messiah
come.94
Additionally, the Targum Jerusalem
declares
that, Kings shall not cease from the house of
Jehuda until
the time that the King Meshiha shall come85 How
beauteous is the
King Meshiha who is to arise from the house of Jehuda.
Finally, the Targum Palestine indicates:
Kings
shall not cease, nor rulers from the house of Judah ... nor
sapherim
teaching the Law from his seed, till the time that the
King the
Messiah shall come, who will arise from
Jehuda.
in
fact one of the names of Messiah is Shiloh, a name derived
from this
very passage: R. Johannan asked what was the name of
the
Messiah; they of the school of R. Schilo answered,His
name is
Shiloh, according to that which is written,91until Shiloh
come.
(Sanhedrin
98b) |
Thus, according to this passage, two things would take place
following
the appearance of the Messiah:
1. Removal of the
scepter or
identity of Judah.
2. Suppression of the judicial
power.
NOTE: Although Israel suffered 70 years
of
captivity under Babylonian rule, it never ceased from having its
tribal
staff, since they still had their own lawgivers and judges.
(cf. Ezra
1:5, 8) The removal of Judahs scepter came during the
reign of Herod
the Great who, having no Jewish blood, succeeded the last reigning
Jewish
leaders in Jerusalem; the Maccabean princes of
Judah. Secondly, the
legal right of pronouncing death upon criminals was stripped away
from the
Jews in 7 AD., approximately 23 years before Christs
crucifixion. This
nullified their judicial authority to execute lawbreakers.
The Talmud itself admits
this:
a little more than forty years before the destruction of the
Temple,
the power of pronouncing capital sentence was taken away
from the
Jews.94 (Sanhedrin, Fol. 24, recto.)
NOTE:
The Jews realized the significance and impact of the
situation as
Rabbi Rachmon notes:
When the members of
the
Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life
and
death, a general consternation took possession of them;
they
covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with
sackcloth,
exclaiming: Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed
from Judah,
and the Messiah has not come! (Babylonian Talmud,
San. Chpt.
4, Fol. 37,
recto.) |
The fact of the matter was that the Messiah had already arrived
and was
a young 12 year old Jewish boy living in Nazareth whose name was
Jesus!
(For further reading see Evidence That Demands a Verdict,
vol. 1,
pp.168-170)
| Jewish
Scriptures
& Thought |
New
Testament
Comparison |
| Other quotations taken from
the Jewish
Scriptures include the promise of Isaiah 42:1-9 that Gods
Spirit
would dwell on the Messiah. One Targum state "Behold my
Servant
Messiah, I will draw Him near, My chosen One, in whom my
Memra (Aramaic-word94) is well pleased."
|
The identification of Gods
Word with
the Messiah is similar to what the Apostle John states in
his
prologue:
"In the beginning was the
Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God85
and the
Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
John 1:1,
14 |
Another tradition states that
the World
was created for Messiah:
"Rabbi Yohanan
taught that
all the world was created for Messiah. What is His name?
The
school of Sheeloh taught; His name is Shiloh as it is
written (Gen.
49:10)." Sanhedrin 98b |
This also agrees with what
the New
Testament states:
"For by Him (Jesus) all
things
were created: Things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities;
all things were created by Him (Jesus) and for Him
(Jesus)."
Colossians 1:16-17 (cf. John 1:1-4; Hebrews
1:2) |
The Yalkut states:
" 'And
God saw the light and it was good.' This is the Light of
the
Messiah... to teach you that God saw the generation of
Messiah
and His works before He created the universe, and He hid the
Messiah... under His throne of Glory. Satan asked God,
Master of the
Universe: 'For whom is this light under your throne of
Glory?' God
answered him, 'It is for... [the Messiah] who is to turn you
backward and who will put you to scorn with shamefacedness."
(Sanhedrin 99a; Berachot 34b; Shabbat 63a)
|
Compare this with Jesus
statements:
"While I (Jesus) am in the world, I am the
Light of
the world." John 9:5 (cf. John 1:4-5)
|
Finally, the Rabbis confirm
that the
prophets wrote only in regards to the future advent of the
long-awaited Messiah:
Rabbi Chiyya ben-Abba
said in
Rabbi Yochanans name:91All the prophets prophesied
[the good
things] only for the days of the Messiah92
(Sanhedrin 99a;
Brakhot 34b) |
In the words of Jesus Christ
himself:
You diligently study the Scriptures because
you think
that by them you possess eternal life. These are the
Scriptures
that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have
life. John 5:39-40
|
From the preceding examples and prophecies one thing remains
certain.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. As the High Priest
himself
found out when questioning Jesus at His trial:
Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed
One?
To which Jesus
replied:
"I AM, and you will see the Son of Man sitting
at the
right hand of the Mighty One and coming with the clouds of
heaven.
Mark 14:61b-62
He's coming back! Are you
prepared to
meet Yeshua ha-Mashiach, Ha Adonai, Ben Elohim? We pray that you
are.
Appendix
A
Isaiah 53: Of Whom Does The Prophet
Speak?
We present additional Jewish
references
that uphold the messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53.
According to an ancient
Jewish tale,
God asked Messiah if he wanted to take upon himself the
suffering
for Israels sins. The Messiah
replied,
With gladness
in my soul and with joy in my heart I accept it, so that not
a
single one of Israel should perish; and not only those who
will be
alive should be saved in my days, but even the dead who have
died
from the days of Adam the First man until now. (Raphael
Patai, The
Messiah Texts, citing Pesikta Rabbati, pp.
161a-b)
Sanhedrin 98b:The rabbis say:The
Leprous of
the House of study is his name, as it is said, verily he has
borne
our diseases and our pains - he carried them and we thought
him
stricken, smitten of God and
afflicted.
According to
another legend, Elijah will take the head of the dead
Messiah Ben
David, placing it on his lap and say: Endure the
suffering and
the sentence of your Master who makes you suffer because
of the
sin of Israel.
The story then concludes
with a
quotation from Isaiah 53:5: he was wounded for
our
transgressions. (Patai, The Messiah Texts,
p.115)
Midrash Rabbah on Ruth 2:14: He is
speaking
of the King Messiah:Come hither draw near to the
throne and9ip
thy morsel in the vinegar, this relates to the
chastisements as it
is said,But he was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for
our iniquities.94
Midrash Tanhuma, Parasha
Toldot,
(end of section), states: Who art thou, O great
mountain?
(Zech. 4:7) This refers to King Messiah. And why does he
call him
thegreat mountain? Because he is greater than the
patriarchs, as
it is said,My servant shall be high, and lifted up,
and lofty
exceedingly. He will be higher than Abraham who said,
I raise
high my hand unto the Lord (Gen. 14:22), lifted up above
Moses, to
whom it is said,Lift it up into thy bosom (Num.
11:12), loftier
than the ministering angels, of whom it is written,Their
wheels
were lofty and terrible (Ezek. 1:18). And out of whom
does he come
forth? Out of David.
Jewish educator Herz
Homberg
(1749-1841) states: According to Ibn Ezra, it relates
to Israel
at the end of their captivity. But if so, what can be the
meaning of
the passage, He was wounded for our transgressions?
Who was
wounded? Who are the transgressors? Who carried out the
sickness
and borne the pain? The fact is that it refers to the
King
Messiah.
Nachmanides (R. Moshe ben Nachman)
(13th
c.) notes: The right view respecting this Parasha is
to
suppose that by the phrase91my servant the whole of
Israel is
meant... As a different opinion, however, is adopted by the
Midrash which refers to the Messiah, it is necessary
for us
to explain it in conformity with the view there maintained.
The
prophet says, The Messiah, the son of David of whom the text
speaks,
will never be conquered or perish by the hands of his
enemies. And,
in fact the text teaches this clearly... And by his stripes
we are
healed - because the stripes by which he is vexed and
distressed
will heal us; God will pardon us for his righteousness,
and we
shall be healed both from our own transgressions and from
the
iniquities of our fathers. (S. R. Driver and A.
Neubauer, ed.,
The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish
Interpreters [2 volumes, NY; Klav, 1969], p. 78
f.)
The
Karaite Yefeth ben Ali (10th c.) states: As to myself,
I am
inclined, with Benjamin of Newahend to regard it as alluding
to the
Messiah, and as opening with a description of his condition
in
exile, from the time of his birth to his ascension to the
throne:
For the prophet begins by speaking of his being seated in a
position
of great honour, and then goes back to relate all that will
happen
to him during the captivity. He thus gives us to understand
two
things: In the first instance, that the Messiah will only
reach
his highest degree of honour after long and severe
trials; and
secondly, that these trials will be sent upon him as a kind
of sign,
so that, if he finds himself under the yoke of misfortunes
whilst
remaining pure in his actions, he may know that he is the
desired
one... (Ibid., pp.19-20)
Again from
Ali: By the
wordssurely he hath carried our sicknesses, they mean
that the
pain and sickness which he fell into were merited by them,
but that
he bore them instead... And here I think it necessary to
pause for a
few moments, in order to explain why God caused these
sicknesses to
attach themselves to the Messiah for the sake of Israel...
The
nation deserved from God greater punishment than that which
actually
came upon them, but not being strong enough to bear it...God
appoints his servant to carry their sins, and by doing so
lighten
their punishment in order that Israel might not be
completely
exterminated. (Ibid., p. 23,
f.)
And, And the
Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. The prophet
does not
say avon meaning iniquity, but punishment from iniquity,
as in
the passage,Be sure your sin will find you out. (Num.
Xxxii. 23)
(Ibid., p. 26)
Maimonides himself affirmed the
messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53. (Ibid., vol.1, p.
322)
Finally, the idea that God would place the
sins of
Israel upon an innocent man is alluded to in this
Midrash: Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be
he,91Will
not a time come upon when Israel will have neither
Tabernacle nor
Temple? What will happen to them (as regards atonement)?
He
replied,91I will take a righteous man from amongst them
and
make him a pledge on their account, and I will atone for
their
iniquities. (Midrash on Exodus
35:4) |
Hence,
there can be not one single doubt remaining as to whom Isaiah
speaks of:
namely, the Messiah whose name is Jesus. Another attempt to
avoid
the messianic overtones of these biblical passages is the argument
that
the passages in question speak of these events as having already
been
transpired. These prophecies are in the past, and therefore cannot
be
referring to the future advent of the Messiah. The problem
with this
argument is that biblical Hebrew does not have a past tense since
it is
not atense language. Hebrew scholars have come to recognize
that
biblical Hebrew is anaspectual language. This implies that
the same
form of the verb can be translated as past, present, or future
depending
on the context and various grammatical
constructions.
Hence,
it is simply wrong to argue that because these prophecies are
spoken of as
having already transpired that it does not refer to the Messiah.
In fact,
there are many examples in the Hebrew Bible where thepast
tense form
(calledthe perfective orperfect) is used for future
time. In support
of this, we quote the following Rabbis and
Grammarians:
David Kimchi on the
prophets use of
the perfect tense for future events: The matter is
as clear as
though it had already transpired. (Kimchi, Sefer Mikhlol
as cited
in Bruce K. Waltke and Michael Patrick OConnor, An
Introduction to
Biblical Hebrew Syntax [Winona Lake, IN; Eisenbrauns, 1990],
p.64,
n. 45)
Rabbi Isaac Ben Yedaiah (13th
c.): [The
rabbis] of blessed memory followed, in these words of
theirs, in the
paths of the prophets who speak of something which will
happen in
the future in the language of the past. Since they saw in
prophetic vision that which was to occur in the future, they
spoke
about it in the past tense and testified firmly that it had
happened, to teach the certainty of his [Gods] words-
may he be
blessed- and his positive promise that can never change and
his
beneficent message that will not be altered. (Marc
Saperstein,The
Works of Rabbi Isaac b. Yedaiah. Ph.D. dissertation,
Harvard
University, 1977, pp. 481-82 as cited by Robert Chazan in
Daggers of
Faith [Berkeley; UC Press, 1989], p. 87)
Contemporary Jewish
commentator Nahum Sarna on Exodus 12:17: This is an
example of
the91prophetic perfect. The future is described as
having
already occurred because Gods will inherently and
ineluctably
possesses the power of realization so that time factor is
inconsequential. (Exodus: The Traditional Hebrew Text
with the New
JPS Translation [Philadelphia; Jewish Publication Society,
1991], p.
59)
Gesenius Hebrew Grammar (sec. 106n, pp.
312-3113): More particularly the uses of the perfect
may be
distinguished as follows:-... To express facts which are
undoubtedly
imminent, and therefore in the imagination of the speaker,
already
accomplished (perfectum confidentiae), e.g., Nu 17:27,
behold we
perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Gn 30:13, Is. 6:5
(I am
undone), Pr 4:2... This use of the perfect occurs most
frequently in
prophetic language (perfectum propheticum). The prophet
so
transports himself in imagination into the future that he
describes
the future event as if it had been already seen or heard by
him,
e.g. Is 5:13 therefore my people have gone into captivity;
9:1ff.,
10:28, 11:9...; 19:7, Jb 5:20, 2 Ch. 20:37. Not infrequently
the
imperfect interchanges with such perfects either in the
parallel
member or further on in the
narrative. |
 =
;
20
Appendix B
The Messiah and the Second
Temple
As we have already indicated, the
Hebrew
Bible in such passages as Daniel 9:26 clearly place the appearance
of the
Messiah before the destruction of the second temple. This fact is
clearly
brought out in the following two passages:
Zech 2:1-9On the twenty-first day of the
seventh month,
the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:91Speak to
Zerubbabel
son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak,
the high
priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them,Who of you
is left
who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you
now? Does
it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, O
Zerubbabel,
declares the LORD.Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the
high priest.
Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD,
and work. For
I am with you, declares the LORD Almighty.This is what I
covenanted
with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among
you. Do
not fear. This is what the LORD Almighty says:In a little
while I will
once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry
land. I
will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will
come,
and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD Almighty.
The
silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD
Almighty.
Haggai 2:1-9 NIVThe
glory of
this present house will be greater than the glory of the former
house,
says the LORD Almighty.And in this place I will grant
peace, declares
the LORD Almighty.
God declares
that the
second temple would be greater in glory than that built by
Solomon. This
is due to the coming of the one who is calledthe desired of
the
nations. Some translators view the statement in v. 7 as not
referring to
the Messiah, but rather the splendor in which the second temple
would be
adorned with, i.e. the gold and silver of the nations. The
only
problem with this view is that this in no way would make the
second temple
greater than the first. The reason is that Solomons temple was
also
arrayed with the finest and most precious materials. Furthermore,
the
visible manifestation of the glory of God appeared in the form of
a cloud
and filled the entire sanctuary. (Cf. 1 Kings
8:10-11)
Yet,
God specifically states that the glory of the second temple would
be
greater than the first. What could possible be greater than the
cloud
descending on Solomons temple than God appearing as man in the
person of
the Messiah at the second one? In the words of
Yeshua:
I tell you that one greater than the temple
is here.
Matthew 12:6
That Haggai 2:6-9 was viewed
as a
messianic prophecy can be seen in this citation from
Sanhedrin
97b:
Rabbi Akibah made the inference, from the
verse,91Yet
once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens,
and the
earth, and the sea, and the dry land (Haggai 2:6), that
Simon
Bar Koziba was the Messiah, though he reigned only for
two and
half years.
In spite of Akibahs error
that Koziba
was the Messiah, his usage of Haggai 2:6 clearly affirms
that at
least one rabbi understood this passage as
messianic.
The prophet Malachi predicted
that God
would personally appear at the second temple:
See I will send my messenger who will
prepare the way
before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come
to his
temple; the messenger of the covenant whom you desire will
come,
says the LORD Almighty. Malachi
3:1
According
to this prediction, the Lord himself was to come and enter
his
temple.
Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon applied this to
the
Messiah: What is to be the manner of Messiahs
coming,
and where will be the place of his first appearance? He will
make
his first appearance in the land of Israel, as it is
written,
91The LORD whom ye seek will come suddenly to his
temple.
In fact, some rabbis were of
the opinion
that the Messiah had even been born during the destruction
of the
second temple:
Rabbi Shemuel bar Nehmani said:
On the day
when the Temple was destroyed Israel suffered much for their
sins...
And from whence do we know that on that day (when the Temple
was
destroyed] Messiah was born? For it is written,91Before
she
travailed, she brought forth [the Messiah].94 Bereshit
Rabbati 133
(Isaiah 66:7)
The Talmud of Babylon
declares: R.
Hillel says there will be no Messiah for Israel, because
they have
enjoyed him already (fol. 99, col. 1) in the days of
Hezekiah. Said
Rav. Joseph, may God pardon R. Hillel. When was Hezekiah? In
the
first house, but Zechariah (9:9) prophesied in THE SECOND
HOUSE Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout O
daughter
of Jerusalem; Behold thy King cometh unto thee; He is
just and
having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, and upon a
colt, the
foal of an ass. (Sanhedrin fol. 99, c.
1) |
The only person who claimed to be the divine Messiah and
appeared while
the second temple was still standing is Yeshua
Messiah:
When the time
of their
purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed,
Joseph and
Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord Now there
was a man
in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He
was
waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was
upon
him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he
would not
die before he had seen the Lords Christ. Moved by the
Spirit, he went
into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child
Jesus
to do for him what was the custom of the Law required, Simeon took
him in
his arms and praised God, saying:91Sovereign Lord, as you have
promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen
your
salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a
light of
revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people
Israel.
Luke 2:22, 25-32
After the feast
was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus
stayed
behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was
in their
company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for
him among
their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went
back to
Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the
temple
courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking
them
questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his
understanding and
his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished.
His
mother said to him,91Son, why have you treated us like this?
Your father
and I have been anxiously searching for you.91Why were you
searching for
me? he asked.91Didnt you know I had to be in my
Fathers house?
But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Luke
2:43-48
When it was
almost time
for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple
courts
he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting
at tables
exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all
from the
temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the
money
changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he
said,91Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Fathers house
into a
market! His disciples remembered that it is written:
=91Zeal for your
house will consume me. John 2:13-17
Hence, if Jesus is not the Messiah there will
be no
Messiah. This is based on the testimony of the Hebrew Bible
that
the Messiah had to come before the destruction of the second
temple. We
are thankful to God that he did arrive before the temples
destruction, as
was predicted.
AMEN, COME LORD JESUS.
|
