Section 2 Nature of the Messiah as foretold in the Jewish Scriptures
Bible Prophecy Ten
The Messiah was to be One who existed before anything was created.
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
Many people believe that there will be a Messiah, a deliverer coming to save the human race, but many of those people do not believe that the Messiah will be God Himself. If you are one of those, just hang on, there will be more revealed about this. We are not saying that there is more than one God! "I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior " (Isaiah 43:11).
"He [Jesus] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter 1:20).
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus] was in the beginning with God." "And the Word became flesh [Jesus] and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,2,14)
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"In the beginning God... " (Genesis 1:1).
Just before the birth of Jesus, there was an older Jewish priest named Zacharias. His wife 's name was Elizabeth. They had no children.
One day as he was doing his duties in the Temple before God, an angel appeared to him. He was afraid, but the angel told him to "fear not."
The angel told Zacharias that he and Elizabeth would have a child, that they should name the child John and that he will be a servant of God filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
The angel also told Zacharias that John would be the messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah (Luke 1:5-25).
The last statement the angel made must have made both Zacharias and the angels in heaven amazed. He said that the Messiah would be God Himself! The people were looking for a man, but God said He would come.
"And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17, NIV).
Notice in Isaiah 43:11 and Micah 5:2 it says that John, the messenger, will go before the Messiah, who will be the Lord Himself, even God, the One who existed from everlasting!
The
people were looking for someone to deliver them from Rome. However
their real enemy was not Rome, but Satan. No ordinary man could
deliver us from Satan, sin, and death.
The Messiah was to be called Lord.
"The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool '" (Psalms 110:1).
King David said this in Psalm 110. If you really look at it there is an interesting idea in it. "The Lord said to my Lord÷" God spoke to the Messiah, and called Him Lord.
On the Day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter quoted this in Acts 2:33-36.
"Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool. ' ' Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
This Scripture in Acts 2 takes place after Jesus has been raised from the dead and ascended back to Heaven. Peter who knew Jesus personally spoke this.
The Messiah was to be called Immanuel; meaning God is with us.
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
This is nothing less than an amazing statement, no wonder so many people do believe it! How could God be with man? God is in Heaven and man is on earth!
"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us '" (Matthew 1:22,23).
When the angel spoke the Word of God into Mary, she gave birth to a person that was all human, and yet all God! This is the mystery. God became a man.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [the Word, Jesus] was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1,2).
"And the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
The Messiah was to be a prophet of God.
"I will raise up for them a Prophet like you [Moses] from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him" (Deuteronomy 18:18,19) [Spoken through Moses].
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This is what Peter said in the New Testament. "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. '" (Acts 3:22-23).
This is what Moses said in the Hebrew Scriptures. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).
This is what Jesus said - the same thing that Moses said.
"Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?' Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these '" (Mark 12:28-31).
Unlike many people believe, the New Testament does not promote a "multiple God theory." Jesus was not claiming to be another God other than the God the Hebrews worshipped. However that is what they thought. That is one reason they did not believe in Him.
What Jesus taught was that God was ONE, but that He made Himself known in three ways - The Creator (Father), The Word (Son), and The Spirit. Even humans make themselves known as more than one. A woman is a woman, a mother and a wife. Yet, she is still just one person.
Bible Prophecy Fourteen
The Messiah was to be a priest of God.
"The LORD has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek. '" (Psalms 110:4).
"So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ' As He also says in another place: 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek '" (Hebrews 5:5,6).
The Messiah was to be our judge.
"(For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us)" (Isaiah 33:22).
Yes, the Messiah was to become our judge! Notice it also says that the Lord is our judge! That could be a fearful thought, God becoming our judge. Most people cannot believe that because they know they are not worthy to be judged by God.
They feel that God will just have mercy on their faults, sins and mistakes. This kind of thinking is what keeps most people from the truth, that God is a judge! He does have mercy but only through His blood and His life as a substitute for our life of failure and sin. He is a God of judgment, yet because of His love, He Himself has taken the judgment due to you and to me on Himself! However you must accept the exchange.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified [called innocent] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23,24).
It is true that all men have sinned and deserve to spend eternity in Hell. However God sent Jesus His Son, to come to earth to stand in our place before God in His courtroom, and plead guilty for us. He took our penalty of death. We can go free, however we are not free unless we accept the judgment that was put on Jesus for us.
Jesus went through several courtroom trials and was sentenced to death. Yet He never did anything against the law, He never sinned. We deserved death; He did not. It is a swap, a trade.
"For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:22,23).
No matter how bad you have been, God no longer will judge you if you accept Jesus as your Lord and allow Him to take your place.
The Messiah was to be a King.
"Yet
I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the
decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have
begotten You '" (Psalms 2:6,7).
"Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, 'Are You the King of the Jews? ' Jesus answered him, 'Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me? ' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done? ' Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here. ' Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are You a king then? ' Jesus answered, 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice '" (John 18:33-37).
Many people were confused about Jesus, and many people are still confused about Him. Kings rode into battle on a majestic white horse; Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Jesus was not coming to battle against flesh and blood, but against evil spiritual powers that were holding mankind in slavery. He was coming to set men free from Satan.
