WHAT THE ANCIENT JEWS BELIEVED

ABOUT THE MESSIAH

 

A Study by

Gary Ray Branscome

 

          Everyone familiar with the Biblical record of Christ’s birth knows that the wise men were told that the Messiah (Christ) would be born “In Bethlehem of Judea” (Matthew 2:5). However, the High Priest’s directive to Jesus, “Tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God,” reveals the fact that the Jewish scholars of that time also believed that the Messiah (the Christ) would be the “Son of God” (Matthew 26:63).

 

The Son of God

          Their belief that the Messiah would be the Son of God came from the second Psalm, where we read. “The rulers conspire together, against the LORD [Jahweh], and against His Messiah… The LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will smash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel. Therefore be wise, O you kings, be warned, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and… embrace the Son, lest He be angry… Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2:2-12). In those verses, the two that the rulers are conspiring against are the LORD and His Messiah. And, the LORD says of His Messiah, “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you”.

The High Priest was well aware of these verses when he asked Jesus if He was “the Messiah, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). And, Christ’s answer to the High Priest’s question “It is as you say” affirmed the fact that He was the Messiah spoken of in the second Psalm. However, His words, “After this you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,” also claimed that the words of Daniel 7:13-14, spoke of Him: “I saw one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven… And He was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, so that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him;” and having heard that, “the high priest tore his clothes, yelling, He has spoken blasphemy” (Matthew 26:65).

 

What I have just said makes it clear that the ancient Jews regarded both the second Psalm and Daniel 7:13-14 as references to the Messiah. The second Psalm identifies the Messiah as the Son of God, Daniel seven as the son of man, but both describe Him as wielding the power and authority of God. For that reason, the words, “You, who are a man, claim to be God,” tell me that the Jews Justified their rejection of Christ’s claim by assuming that the Messiah could not possibly look like an ordinary person (John 10:33). However, the motivation for their rejection was envy (Mark 15:10, Matthew 27:18).

 

The Son of David

The ancient Jews also believed that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David (both true God and true man). For it is written, “Behold, the days come, says the LORD, when I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who will reign as King and prosper, and will execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely: and this is the name by which He will be called, THE LORD [Jahweh] OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

 

Because they believed that the Messiah would be both a descendant of David and the Son of God, they knew that the words of Isaiah 9:6-7 were speaking of the Messiah. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” [They also wrongly assumed that this child [the Messiah] would begin to reign visibly not long after His birth.]

A similar reference to the deity of the Messiah is found in the words of Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, a virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel, [Which being interpreted means, God with us.]” (Isaiah 7:14 — see Matthew 1:23). [NOTE: When God instructed Ahaz to ask for a sign, Ahaz arrogantly told God that he did not want to see a sign. Therefore, God gave him a sign that he would never be able to see, the sign of Christ’s virgin birth Isaiah 7:10-14.]

 

The Promised Redeemer

One well known prophecy of the Messiah comes from Job, who said “I know that my redeemer lives, and that He will stand at a future time upon the earth” (Job 19:25). At the same time, the words, “You, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting,” identify that redeemer as God (Isaiah 63:16). As do the words, “I JAHWEH am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob” (Isaiah 60:16). And, the phrase “mighty one of Jacob” identifies Him as a descendant of Jacob (Isaiah 60:16).

 

Regarding the time of the Redeemer’s advent, Daniel wrote, “Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to bring an end to rebellion, and a finish to sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity… Know therefore and understand that there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks from the time the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem goes forth to the Messiah the Prince: the streets and walls will be rebuilt, in a time of trouble. But after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself [for the sins of the world]: (and the ruling people who shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it will be as by a flood, until at end of the war it shall be cut off with desolation)” (Daniel 9:24-26). [The command to rebuild Jerusalem came before Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem in 444 BC.]

This prophecy uses the cryptic phrase, “Seventy weeks,” to identify a period of time that was to remain undefined until the events took place. However, the important thing to notice is that the Messiah was to be “cut off” before the temple (sanctuary) was destroyed, and it was destroyed in 70 A.D.

 

The Salvation of Our God

          Of the Messiah Isaiah wrote, “All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God… My servant will be successful, He will rise, be lifted up on high, and exalted. Many were amazed at Him; His appearance was more disfigured than any man, and His form more than the sons of men… He is despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, who knew suffering: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not value Him. Surely He has taken on himself our pains, and carried our sorrows: yet we regarded Him as condemned, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed. Like sheep we have all 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 He was mistreated, 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. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who at that time understood? For He was cut off from the land of the living: and struck down for His people’s sins. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had not committed any crime, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise Him; He has caused Him to suffer: and when you make Him an offering for sin, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will succeed by His hand. He will see it out of His anguish, and will be satisfied: by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many; for He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give Him many people as His share, and He will divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His life in death: and lets Himself be numbered with the transgressors; while He takes on Himself the sins of many, and makes intercession for the those who rebel” (Isaiah 52:10 - 53:12).

 

Conclusion

          The enemies of God falsely claim that Christ’s followers invented everything the New Testament says about His deity. However, the passages that I have just quoted show that to be a lie. Not only does the Old Testament clearly reveal the deity of Christ, but it was written to testify to His deity (John 5:39).

I quoted the second Psalm in which God says of the Messiah, “You are my Son, this day have I begotten you.” And in the third chapter of John, Christ identifies Himself as that Son. For He said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes on Him is not condemned: but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:14-18). [See 1John 2:22.]