Jesus—the Real Messiah
Everything you are about to read here was written hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was ever born. Conservative scholars believe the Old Testament was written from 1400 to 400 BC. But even the liberals must admit that the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew—dates to about 270-160 BC. Look at the picture we see of Jesus Christ as found in the Old Testament:
“…in you [Abraham] all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, c. 1 400 BC). “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs” (Genesis 49:10, c. 1400 BC, NIV). “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding”” (Isaiah 11:1-2, 750 BC). “I will raise up your offspring after you [David], who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13, 1000 BC). “The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7, c. 1000 BC). “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us]” (Isaiah 7:14, c. 750 BC). “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2, c. 720 BC). “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6, c. 750 BC). “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me” (Malachi 3:1, c. 425 BC). “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3-4, c. 750 BC). “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your brothers–it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15, c. 1400 BC). “The people [of Galilee of the nations] who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Isaiah 9:2, c. 750 BC). “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14, c. 550 BC, NIV). “Behold, your God…will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:4-6, c. 750 BC).
“I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us” (Psalm 78:3-4, c. 1000 BC). “Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:1-3, c. 750 BC). “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Should aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9, c. BC, 500 BC). “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:1-2. c. 425 BC). “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9, c. 1000 BC). “And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. so I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter” (Zechariah 11:12-12, c. 500 BC). “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5, c. 750 BC). “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?…. All who see me mock me…they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!’ my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones–they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 15-18, c. 1000 BC). “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen. 3:15, NIV, c. 1400 c. 4000 BC). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth….Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;” (Isaiah 53:6-7, 10, c. 750 BC). “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5, c. 1000 BC). “…when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child” (Zecharaiah 12:10, c. 500 BC). “…and you shall not break any of [the Passover Lamb’s] bones” (Exodus 12:46, c. 1400 BC). “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9, c. 750 BC). “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:10, 11-12, c. 750 BC). “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10, c. 1000 BC). “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4, c. 1000 BC). “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) Genesis 14:18, c. 1400 BC). “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23, c. 1000 BC). “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Psalm 110:1, c. 1000 BC). “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:8-12, c. 1000 BC).
Here are the main points about the Messiah from the above: He will come from the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. He will come from the house of Jesse, from the house of David. Through this son of David, God will build an everlasting kingdom. This son of David who will be begotten (begotten, not created) will be born in Bethlehem. He will be called the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will have a forerunner who will prepare the way. The Messiah will be the Prophet predicted by Moses. We are to listen to Him. The people in Galilee will see a great light. God the Father will give to God the Son, whom He calls “the Son of Man,” the nations. People from every tongue and tribe will worship Him. This Son of Man will give sight to the blind and will heal the lame. He will teach in parables. But He will be rejected by men; He will be a man of sorrows. He will come to Jerusalem with great fanfare, riding on a donkey never ridden before. He will come into the Lord’s temple in judgment. He will be betrayed by a close friend for 30 pieces of silver—money which will instead be used to buy a potters’ field (a graveyard for poor people who can’t afford graves). By His stripes we are healed. He is forsaken by God the Father, while a band of evildoers surrounds Him and mocks Him. “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” They divide His garments among them and cast lots for His cloak. Jesus is the seed of the woman who crushes the Devil’s head, even as the Devil strikes His foot. He dies for our sins and commits His Spirit into God’s hands. They then will look at Him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him. He dies among the violent, but is buried among the rich. He is a priest in the line of Melchizedek, who gives us bread and wine. He is the stone that the builders rejected, but which has become the cornerstone. He is building His temple, His kingdom on earth has begun. It is an everlasting kingdom. God is making the enemies of Christ a footstool for His feet. He will give the nations as His inheritance. We should revere the Son of God, lest He be angry and we die. All those who trust in Him will be blessed.
Jesus is indeed the real Messiah.
The preceding was based on the book: D. James Kennedy, Ph.D. and Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., “The Real Messiah: Prophecies Fulfilled” (Boca Raton: D. James Kennedy Foundation, 2008). All verses are in ESV (English Standard Version, unless otherwise noted).