|
Hebrew Promises of a Jewish Messiah |
|
|
|
Isaiah 53 in Hebrew |
 |
|
 Definition of MessiahThe word Messiah, to both Jews and Christians, means "anointed one." In Judaism the term refers to the expected king and deliverer of the Jews, which many believe to be a future event. Some believe the Messiah will bring physical and spiritual deliverance through the establishment of an earthly kingdom, while others only look for a messianic age of peace and prosperity. Christians believe that the promised Jewish Messiah has already come.
Mankind has and is suffering the consequences of a problem called "sin," which means "independence or separation from G~d." All have experienced this problem. "For there isn't a righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Genesis 1 and 2 indicate that G~d created mankind with the power of choice, desiring mankind to live in relationship with His laws of life. But mankind chose to break the relationship with G~d, and the consequences of sin are evident everywhere. Isaiah 53:6 says, "We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way." Isaiah 64:5 states, "All of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags."
In Genesis 3, G~d told Adam and Eve that if they chose to "sin," they "would surely die." Their decision has resulted in deceitfulness, selfishness, theft, murder, immorality, war, persecution, and death. Sinful rebellion will ultimately destroy us, ending in eternal separation from G~d. Ezekiel 18:26-27 says, "When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die for it (eternal death); for the wickedness he commits he will die. And when the wicked person turns away from all the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he will save his life" (eternal life). David wrote in Psalm 49:14-16, "This is the manner of life of the foolish and those who come after, approving their words. Like sheep, they are destined for Sh'ol; death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning; and their forms will waste away in Sh'ol, until they need no dwelling. But G~d will redeem me from Sh'ol's control, because he will receive me" (the resurrection of the righteous). David, Isaiah, and Micah knew of G~d’s love, forgiveness, and restoration from sin. They wrote the following testimonies. "G~d, in your grace, have mercy on me; in your great compassion, blot out my crimes. Wash me completely from my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin... Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my crimes. Create in me a clean heart, G~d; renew in me a resolute spirit. Don't thrust me away from your presence, don't take your Ruach Kodesh (Holy Spirit) from me. Restore my joy in your salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me. Then I will teach the wicked your ways, and sinners will return to you" (Psalm 51). "‘Come now,’ says Adonai, ‘let's talk this over together.’ ‘Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; even if they are red as crimson, they will be like wool’" (Isaiah 1:18). "Who is a G~d like you, pardoning the sin and overlooking the crimes of the remnant of his heritage?... You will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:18-19). Only G~d can cleanse and restore us from our sinful conditions. We are saved through his unfailingly love and mercy when we repent and return to him. "If you return, if I bring you back; you will stand before me" (Jeremiah 15:21). "There is no other G~d besides me, a just G~d and a Savior; there is none besides me. Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am G~d; there is no other" (Isaiah 45:21-22).
Right after the sin of Adam and Eve, G~d instituted the ceremony of sacrificial offerings (Genesis 4 and 8) to continually remind people that there is a price for sin. After the covenant at Sinai, G~d required daily sacrifices of an unblemished animal to be offered for the sins of the people. "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life" (Leviticus 17:11). "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). However, the daily sacrifices were not a permanent solution, and no animal could ever be the final sacrifice for sin. But G~d provided the ultimate solution and sacrifice for sin by giving the Messiah as the perfect and complete atonement for all our sin. And just as G~d instructed the Israelites to place the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their houses, so now G~d desires us to cover us with the blood atonement of the Messiah. It is this ultimate blood atonement that gives us forgiveness of sin and life eternal. |
| The prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah chapter 53 that Messiah would become the final sacrifice for sin. "He had no form or beauty. We saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. He was despised and shunned by men, a man of pains and familiar with illness; like one from whom we would hide our faces. He was despised and we had no regard for him. In truth, it was our infirmities he bore, and our pains that he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished and afflicted by G~d. |  |
|||
| He
was wounded because of our sins and crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement he
bore made us whole, and through his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way. Yet Adonai laid on him the guilt of all of us.
Though mistreated, he was submissive - he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb to be
slaughtered, he did not open his mouth. After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was
taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the
living for the crimes of my people, who deserved punishment themselves. He was given
a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man... After this ordeal,
he will see satisfaction. By his knowledge my righteous servant makes many righteous; it
is for their sins that he suffers. Therefore I will give him a share with the mighty; for
he exposed himself to death and was numbered among the sinners. For he bore the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Daniel prophesied over 500 years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. that Messiah would appear. In Daniel 9:25-27 we read, "Mashiach (Anointed One) will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." History well documents that these events occurred. The sacrificial system ended after the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) and was supernaturally stopped by G~d. There has not been a holy of holies or offering of sacrifices among the Jews since that time to the present. 2
During the Second Jewish Revolt against the Romans in 132-135 C.E., Simon, Bar Kochba, was proclaimed by Rabbi Akiba to be the messiah. Because of those claims, Messianic Jews felt compelled to disassociate themselves from traditional Judaism. During the first four centuries, the Church at Rome began to teach that G~d had forsaken the Jews. This evidence is found in the writings of early theologians such as Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Origen, Jerome, Irenaeus, Marcion, Chrysostom, and Augustine. We hear similar rhetoric today among those who proclaim that the Church is the new Israel, teaching that G~d’s promises to Israel now belong to them. This is "replacement theology," anti-Judaic, and a contradiction of G~d’s Word (Psalm 83:1-5). "And I will pour out on the house of David and on those living in Yerushalayim; a spirit of grace and prayer; and they will look on me, whom they have pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son; they will be in bitterness on his behalf like the bitterness for a firstborn son. When that day comes, there will be great mourning in Yerushalayim." Zechariah 12:10-11
Below are a few of the hundreds of messianic promises found in the Tanakh (Hebrew Covenant) describing Messiah’s appearance. After each promise is a Brit Chadashah (New Covenant - Jeremiah 31:31) fulfillment. |
||||
|
| How marvelously the Jews have been
preserved throughout the centuries. No other nation has had such a history. It is one of
the supernatural proofs of the truth of the Bible and G~d’s faithfulness to His
promises.4 G~d’s plan of redemption came through Israel. No one, other than Yeshua (Jesus), has fulfilled the messianic promises found in the Tanakh. No where does the Bible say or even suggest that Yeshua was not Jewish. He was born to Jews in Bethlehem, grew up among Jews in Nazareth, ministered to Jews in Galilee, and died and rose from the grave in the Jewish capital, Jerusalem—all in the land of Israel which G~d had given to the Jewish people. Moreover, Yeshua ascended into heaven as a Jew. 5 Many ignore the "Jewishness" of the Messiah. Instead they focus on their own religious traditions and teachings, producing further separation among believers. The atonement for sin, by Yeshua, is for everyone—Jews and non-Jews.
|
|
|
|
| 1. "Share the New Life," Moishe and Ceil Rosen, 1976, p.58-60 | |
| 2. "Christianity is Jewish," Edith Schaeffer, 1975, p.153 | |
| 3. "Return of the Remnant-the Rebirth of Messianic Judaism," Michael Schiffman, 1992, p.42 | |
| 4. "Christianity is Jewish," p.108 | |
| 5. "Jewish New Testament," David H. Stern, 1989, p. x | |
|
|
 |