Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh (Old Testament)
Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh
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Messianic Predictions in the Torah, written by Moses, 1500 BCE.
1. The Most High God made himself known to Abraham, an Aramean from Ur of the Chaldees, and made an unconditional promise to him. God promised that from Abraham’s descendants, an individual or a group would bless all the nations of the world. Bereishit / Genesis 12:3, 22:18
2 . The same promise is repeated to Abraham’s son Isaac, and then to
Isaac’s son, Jacob. Bereishit / Genesis 26:4 and 28:14
3. Jacob, on his deathbed, prophesied that the promise would come through a person in the family of Judah, one of Jacob’s 12 sons. Bereishit / Genesis 49:10
4. According to Jacob, the promised one would arrive prior to the demise of the Family of Judah as a ruling, law-giving entity. The promised one would be a gathering point for peoples or nations, yet be found with a donkey. He will dip his garments in the blood of grapes. Bereishit / Genesis 49:10-11
5. God gives a message through Baalam who predicts “a Star will come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. ” Bamidbar / Numbers 25:15-17
6. Moses states that God will raise up a future prophet who will be like himself (like Moses). This future prophet will speak the words that God puts in his mouth. And God will require everyone to obey the words which this future prophet speaks in God’s name. D’Varim / Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Conclusions from the Torah:
1. The nations of the world can expect God’s favor from someone who will come from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and from the family of Jacob’s son, Judah.
2. The promised one must appear during the time when the tribe of Judah exists as a ruling and law-giving entity. Judah’s ruling authority was finished by 70 CE. The promised one will be a leader of men but also a humble person.
3. The promised one, in order to be like Moses, will be a deliverer, will establish a covenant between God and man, will be a judge, will be a miracle worker, will be a leader, and will speak with the authority of God. At the same time, he will be the meekest on earth, as was Moses.
4. The Torah gave us the first glimpse of the special promised individual who will give God’s favor to the world. The promised one is described in greater detail in the following sections of the Tanakh called the Writings and the Prophets, written 1200-400 BCE.
Messianic predictions from the Tanakh grouped according to the Promised One’s Identity, Mission, and Arrival.
A. Predictions regarding the Promised One’s Identity:
Messenger / Verse / The Prediction
Jacob, 2000 BCE / Gen 49:10 / He will be a scepter, a ruling authority.
Balaam, 1500 BCE / Num 24:17/ He will be the Star of Jacob
Moses, 1500 BCE / Deut 18:18 / He will be “like Moses,” who was a Deliverer, a Miracle Worker, a Leader, a Judge, a Mediator of a covenant between God and man, yet be meek as was Moses.
Nathan/David, 1000 BCE / I Chron 17: 11-14/ He is a son of David.
David, 1000 BCE/ Psalm 110 / He is David’s Lord.
David, 1000 BCE/ Psalms 2/ He is Jehovah’s Anointed. He is Jehovah’s Son
Isaiah/700BCE/Isaiah 9:6/ He is a Child, a Son, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah/700BCE/Isaiah11:1/ He is the Rod, a Branch of Jesse.
Isaiah/700BCE/Is40:10-11/ He is the Lord God, and a Shepherd
Isaiah/700BCE/Is42:1/ He is God’s Servant, His Elect One.
Isaiah/700BCE/Is49:6; 52:13 / He is God’s Servant.
Isaiah/700BCE/Is59: 15-17/ He is a man, an intercessor, brought by Jehovah
continued,
Isaiah/700BCE/Is59:20 / He is the Redeemer.
Isaiah/700BCE/Is 61:1-3 / He is an anointed preacher, a proclaimer.
Jeremiah, 600 BCE / Jer 23:5-6, Jer 33:15 / He is the Righteous Branch of David, a King, and the Lord our Righteousness.
Ezekiel, 575 BCE / Ez 37:24-25 / He is a shepherd and a prince forever.
Daniel, 550 BCE / Dan 7: 13-14 / He is the Son of Man
Daniel, 550 BCE/ Dan 9:25 / He is the Messiah the Prince
Zechariah, 600 BCE/ Zech 9:9 / He is Israel’s King
Micah, 700 BCE/ Micah 5:2 /He existed from old, from everlasting.
B. Predictions regarding the Promised One’s Mission and Actions:
Messenger / Verse / The Prediction
Abraham, 2000 BCE / Gen 12:3 / He is a benefactor to all nations
Jacob, 2000 BCE / Gen 49:11 / He will come handling a donkey
Moses, 1500 BCE / Deut 18:19 / He speaks for God.
Nathan/David ,1000 BCE / I Chr 17:11-14 / He rules on the throne of David.
David/1000/BCE/Psalm2/ He will be in conflict with world rulers and prevail over them.
David/1000BCE/Psalm16/ He will not experience the corruption of death.
David/1000BCE/Psalm45 / His throne of righteousness will last forever.
David/1000BCE/Psalm110:1 / He sits at the right hand of Jehovah.
David/1000BCE/Psalm110:4 / He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and like Melchizedek is:
King of Peace
King of Righteousness
Priest of the Most High God
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 9:6 / He will rule forever over a government of peace and justice.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 11:2 / The Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and of the Lord.
continued,
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 42:1 / He will bring justice to the nations.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 42:2 / He will not cry out or raise his voice, he will be gentle.
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 49:6 / He will be God’s Servant who raises up the tribes of Jacob and who restores Israel.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 50:6 / He will give His back to the smiters, and His face to shame and spitting.
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 52:13-14 / He is exalted, and assaulted.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 53:3 / Men despise and reject Him.
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 53:5 / He suffers wounds for our transgressions.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 53:10 / Jehovah allows His suffering.
Isaiah/700 BCE / Isaiah 53:11-12 / His suffering will result in triumph.
Isaiah, 700 BCE / Isaiah 61:1-3 / He will preach good tidings, will bind up, will proclaim liberty and freedom, will proclaim the year of the Lord, and the Day of God’s vengeance, will give beauty and joy for mourning, and praise for heaviness.
Isaiah.700 BCE / Isaiah 63:1-7 / He travels through Edom in strength and splendor, but have the mark of suffering and blood.
Jeremiah, 600 BCE / Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:15 / He executes judgement and justice in the land.
Ezekiel, 575 BCE / Ezekiel 21: 25-27 / He inherits the diadem of fallen Israel.
Daniel, 550 BCE / Dan 7: 13-14 / He is given the Eternal Kingdom by the Most High.
Daniel, 550 BCE / Daniel 9:26 / He was “cut off.”
Zechariah, 600 BCE / Zech 12:10, 13:6 / He was pierced and wounded in the house of his friends.
C. Predictions regarding the Promised One’s Arrival:
Messenger / Verse / The Prediction
Jacob, 2000 BCE / Gen 49:19 / He will come prior to Judah losing its governing authority. (Judah lost its ruling authority to the Romans in 70 CE)
Micah, 700 BCE / Micah 5:2 / He will come out of Bethlehem.
Daniel, 550 BCE / Daniel 9:26 / He appears prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (70 CE). He is “cut-off.”
Zech 600 BCE / Zech 9:9 Israel ‘s King is lowly, arrives on a donkey.
Conclusions for Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh
With all of the above references to Messiah in the Tanakh (Old Testament) we can arrive at the following conclusions:
1. There are hundreds of prophetic statements in the Tanakh regarding a coming messiah.
2. Jewish prophets spoke the prophetic statements during the
period 2000 – 400 BCE.
3. The prophetic statements were sometimes uttered within the context of a local circumstance and time-frame. At other times the statements have only a future time-frame.
4. These prophetic statements are “internally consistent” with each other in great detail, despite being spoken by individuals who were separated by centuries and who did not know each other. When two prophets, separated by hundreds of years, each speak of the same messianic detail in total agreement, the case is very strong for a divine author who is prompting their utterances.
5. The role and function of messiah is described as dual. He is described both as a “reigning king” and also as a “suffering servant.” In some of the prophetic passages, both roles are assigned to the same individual, which negates the theory that there might be two separate messiahs.
continued,
6. Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth satisfied every criteria spoken by the Prophets concerning messiah’s genealogy, identity, role, and time and place of arrival.
7. Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled all of the prophetic descriptions of the “suffering servant,” but not those of a “reigning king.” He stated that his “suffering servant” days were finished, and that his “reigning king” days were still in the future. He also stated that His kingdom was “not of this world.”
8. There will never be any other future individual who can meet all the requirements established by the Jewish Prophets in order to qualify as the Jewish Messiah. It would be impossible for any future individual to rearrange modern life in order to meet every detailed criteria of Messiah given by the Jewish Prophets. The time limit for Messiah’s appearance has past(70 CE) The proof of genealogy to David has disappeared.
9. Because Yeshua/Jesus the Christ completely fulfilled all of the prophetic statements that were written of him as the “suffering servant” messiah, and because there can never be another who can fulfill that claim, we can conclude that Yeshua is the Messiah spoken of in the Tanakh, and we can also conclude that He will one day fulfill His other role, that of a “reigning king.”
RELATED COMMENTS:
1. Belief in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah was not a Christian invention. Belief in Yeshua as Messiah is entirely Jewish in its origin and early history as found in this study of the Torah and Tanakh.
2. The first church was not a Christian development. The first Church was entirely Jewish in its origin and early development. The Jewish Church was based on scriptures regarding Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh. The Jewish Church allowed Gentiles to join at a later date.
3. The Talmudic commentaries on the Tanakh show that many Jewish sages and scholars from the “pre-Christian Era,” agreed that these prophecies of Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh, applied to their coming Messiah.
4. The mathematical probability that hundreds of detailed predictions in the Tanakh about a future Messiah were fulfilled “by chance” in Yeshua of Nazareth after more than 400 years, is a number so small it is proof that the Bible and Yeshua are of Divine origin.
Suggestions for Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh:
1. Investigate Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh by obtaining a Bible and reading the passages above. Ask God for help in understanding the Bible.
2. The Bible is available on the internet at www.biblegateway.org
3. Sites of interest for Jewish seekers:
Guy Cohen and Messiah’s donkey
Video: Why Messiah must be God
4. Sites of interest for non-Jewish seekers:
http://www.y-jesus.com/body_count1.php
5. E-mail inquiries can be directed to: dave@themosthighgod.info
Messiah in the Torah and Tanakh, 2019