Who Is the True Messiah? Is Jesus The Jew, Born About 2,000 Years Ago, Really The Promised Messiah Of Israel?

[WalterandDebbie]

Saturday 1-6-24 7th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Tevet 23 5784, 17th. Winter Day​

By William F. Dankenbring/Mystery Of The Bible/Chapter 22 Who Is The True Messiah?

Is Jesus the Jew, born about 2,000 years ago, really the promised Messiah of Israel?
Modern and historic Judaism has denied this claim. The great Jewish scholar Maimonides
pointed out the major reason Jews reject Christ is because (they believe) He taught the Torah
is abolished, and no such teacher could possibly be the Messiah! He also said that since Jesus
of Nazareth did not become “king,” He failed to fulfill most of the prophecies referring to the
coming Messiah.

Maimonides seemed to confuse the state of the self-professed “Christian” Church in
his day with the teachings of Christ. Since the Church rejected God’s Torah, and claimed to
represent Christ, Maimonides repudiated Christ as the Saviour. However, Christ did NOT
abolish or deny the Torah – the Law of God. God forbid! Rather, He stated very positively,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to
fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the law [Torah] till all is fulfilled” (Matt.5:17-18, NKJV).
Maimonides claimed that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies of becoming a great
“King”. However, Pontius Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Yeshua
confirmed that statement, saying: “It is as you say” (Matt.27:11). Jesus continued, “You
say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into
this world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My
voice” (John 18:37).

But, as Yeshua went on to explain, “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” (John 18:36). The Greek word used here for “world” is
cosmos and means of this present “system” of things. As He showed elsewhere, His kingdom
will come in the future – in fact, every evidence is that He will fulfill all the Messianic
prophecies relating to the establishment of God’s Kingdom very soon, in our age, TODAY!
(For example, see Matt.24:1-31; Matt.25:31-32; John 14:1-2; Acts 1:6-7).

Therefore, the charges of Maimonides do not carry any weight, when we look at the
FACTS! Jesus never taught against the Torah. He never instituted the Church which claims
to represent Him in the world – that is an apostate, fallen, Babylonish “Church”
masquerading as the Church of God! And He will come again, as “King of kings, and Lord
of lords” (Rev.19:11-16; 17:14).
Maimonides was faced with a paradox. The so-called Church, which was attempting
to “convert” the Jews, was an apostate Church which itself rejected God’s laws and the

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Torah, and had even replaced the Messiah, the true Jesus Christ, with a PAGANIZED
“Jesus,” in the image of Apollo – just as the apostle Paul had prophesied would occur (II
Cor.11:1-4).

Just who was Jesus Christ – whose Hebrew name was Yeshua the Anointed One, or
“Messiah”? What did He teach? And was He – or was He not – the true Messiah, the
Saviour, Redeemer, and promised “King” of Israel?
Did He – or did He not – fulfill the promises and prophecies which relate to the
Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures?
A Fascinating Observation
Writes Randolph Parrish in “The Fourth Jewish Sect,” concerning the Nazarenes:
“The Nazarenes were a Jewish sect of the late Second Temple period.

They were
the followers of Yeshua of Nazareth. They believed that a mocked and ridiculed rabbi,
who had been executed under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, was actually the
promised Redeemer of Israel. They expressed great confidence in this view, because
they asserted that everything which had happened to him, including his rejection, had
been foretold and outlined long before in the Tenach, and that it was, therefore their very
belief in the Jewish scriptures, which compelled them to recognize him as the promised
Messiah.”

In fact, Parrish says, the Nazarenes found evidence that Jesus was indeed the
promised Messiah, or Christ (“Messiah” and “Christ” both mean “Anointed One”) in the very
first pages of the Old Testament! He continues:
“It was clear to them that the scriptures talked of nothing else, quite literally from the
very beginning. For example, the opening words of Genesis 1:1 are usually translated
as ‘In the beginning . . .’ But the Hebrew word ‘reshith’ (beginning) can also have the
meaning ‘firstborn son.’ And so, one could translate this passage as ‘In the firstborn son
God created the heavens and the earth.’ Jerome quoted Aristo of Pella, who, according
to Origen, was a Nazarene (Quaest.heb.Gen.1:1) as stating in the ‘Dialogue of Jason and
Papiscos’ that the verse should be translated in this way. Iraneus also translated this as
‘The son in the beginning; then God created the heavens and the earth’ (Dem.43). Ter-
tullian noted the same possible interpretation (Adv. Prax.5).

Hilary said that ‘b’reshith’
could have three possible meanings: ‘in the beginning’; ‘in the head’; or ‘in the son.’
(Tract. Psalm 2:2). The modern French author Danielou noted the comparison between
these meanings and Col.1:15-18, where Paul seems to write of the same three meanings:
‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him were all
things created . . . And he is the head of the body . . . he is the beginning and the firstborn
. . .’ This would suggest, according to Danielou, that there was perhaps an already extant
rabbinical tradition of explaining the passage in these several ways, which Paul
employed” (quoted from The Messianic Outreach 1996).

How interesting! When properly understood, the opening of the book of Genesis is
actually a prophecy and a description of the Messiah -- the Son of God!
But is this possible translation really true? What is the evidence that Yeshua was
really the Christ? Let’s examine the possibilities, and weigh the evidence without prejudging

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the case, one way or the other!
Isn't it about time we open our eyes, and rub out the sleepiness and fog of ignorance,

and admit the TRUTH of the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures about the pre-
existence of the “Son of God” -- the Messiah?

Proof from Isaiah's Testimony
Further proof of Christ's Messiahship comes from the Dead Sea scrolls, and textual
revisions of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 which are indicated as being necessary, based on the
Dead Sea scroll evidence.

Professor James Tabor has for some time been studying the photographs of the Great
Isaiah Scroll found in Cave 1 at Qumran near the Dead Sea, comparing it with the standard
Massoretic text. For some time he has pointed out in lectures and in undergraduate classes
that the Qumran scroll contains the word “LIGHT” following the verb in Isaiah 53:11. Thus
the text should read: “from the travail of his soul he will see LIGHT.” Says Dr. Tabor:
“The word ‘light’ drops out of the Massoretic text, leaving the verb without an object,
and thus making the standard KJV and other translations rather meaningless: ‘he will
see [what??] from the travail of his soul.’ I have speculated that the rabbis might have
dropped this word in response to Christian polemics, since the Nazarenes would be trying
to apply Isaiah 53 to Yeshua, with the references to ‘death,’ ‘grave,’ and ‘seeing light’ as
paralleling the ‘death, burial, and resurrection’ idea that Paul claims to find ‘according to
the Scriptures’ (I Cor.15:1-3).”

Prof. Tabor shows another illustration of a variant reading in Isaiah which seems to
bolster the Christian view of Jesus being the Messiah of Israel! He goes on:
“I now discover that there is an equally significant variant reading in Isa.53:8. As you know
late Jewish interpretation has applied this entire section of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 to the Nation
of Israel. In contrast, as the Lubavitch have most recently reminded us, the Talmud under-
stands the sufferings of this ‘servant’ to be none other than the Messiah, i.e., a specific
individual, not the entire Nation, and even says he might well be one who ‘comes from the
dead,’ that is, someone who has already lived and died, but is resurrected (see Sanhedrin
98b). Verse 8 has always been somewhat crucial in this discussion, since it says that this
Figure is ‘cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of MY people.’

This verse
is quite a problem for those who want to understand the Servant Figure himself as the People
of Israel, since he clearly suffers for them -- so much so that the Koren English translation
(Jerusalem English-Hebrew Bible) which many of you have, puts here ‘cut off . . . for the
transgression of THE people’ -- a blatant and misleading translation. Well, as it turns out
the Qumran Isaiah scroll provides us with an even different reading: ‘for he was cut off . . .
for the transgression of HIS people.’ The difference in Hebrew is merely between a yod
and a vav, but the Qumran text is absolutely clear: the reading is vavsamechayin not
yodsamech ayin: On the face of it, this is no major change.

However, one of the problems
with this whole section of Isaiah is determining VOICE -- that is, who is speaking to whom?
Who is the ‘our’ and ‘we’ that runs through the chapter? If the reading is MY people, in
verse 8, then the speaker might well be YHVH, but if the speaker is the ‘All WE like
sheep have gone astray’ of verse 6, which seems most natural -- then clearly the speaker
is the people, and the reading of ‘HIS people’ in verse 8 is quite natural. Also, this DSS
reading of Isaiah 53:8 is quite significant in that it calls into question Moshe Guibbory's
interpretation of Isaiah 53 as a negative character -- the Azazel ‘abominable branch’

To Continued

 

[WalterandDebbie]

1-6-23

Continue from: Who Is the True Messiah? Is Jesus The Jew, Born About 2,000 Years Ago, Really The Promised Messiah Of Israel?

355 Mystery of the Bible
who bears final responsibility for the sins of humanity (Lev.16:21-22; Isa.14:12-21).

If our text reads ‘his people,’ then obviously this has to be a ‘good’ Figure, who suffers
in the positive sense, bringing kipurim -- covering -- to his people Israel. This surely
fits the entire context of Isaiah, where the ‘servant’ of YHVH is clearly either the nation
Israel, or the anointed figure of chapters 42 and 49, and appears to be so delineated as
a suffering, rejected one in Isa.50:4-9, which is then parallel to the thought of Isa.52:13-
53:12. Further, that this Figure suffers death, is buried, but then subsequently sees
LIGHT, also appears to indicate that he is seen in a positive, not a negative way.

“Also, it should be noted that both of these readings in the Great Isaiah scroll are confirmed
in the second, more fragmented copy of Isaiah (1QIsab), also found in Cave 1. I have care-
fully checked the original photographs published in 1955 by Prof. Eliezar Sukenik of Hebrew
University. These readings are perfectly clear and unambiguous. This is particularly signi-
ficant, since for the most part, this second copy of Isaiah tends to agree with the traditional
Massoretic text. On this basis I think we can say with some assurance that these readings
are more reliable and authentic, most likely reflecting the original text, while the Massoretic
text was altered by copyists at a much later time for theological reasons.”

Here, then, is further evidence that Isaiah's prophecy in chapters 52 and 53, describing
a suffering servant who is rejected of men, despised, and who is killed by his enemies, but
comes back to life, is literal and applies to the Messiah -- not to the nation of Israel as a
whole. What other “suffering servant” in Jewish history fulfills this role, other than Jesus
Christ, put to death by His enemies in the time of Pontius Pilate? What other “suffering
servant” was killed, buried, and then “saw LIGHT” -- i.e., was resurrected to new life? What
other historical figure even remotely begins to fulfill these qualifications and aspects of the
prophesied Messiah?

Proof from Psalm 22
Dr. Tabor then discusses another prophecy of the Messiah -- Psalm 22. Notice! We
read:
“Finally, I have just confirmed with Peter Flint, who is the member of the Official Team
who has custody of the yet unpublished Psalms scrolls from Qumran, that Psalm 22:17
also reads differently in the Scrolls. Of course here again we have another verse that has
been the focus of heated Jewish-Christian polemics.

The Hebrew Massoretic text has a
rather impossible reading, lacking a verb: ‘Like a lion (yodrishallephcah) my hands and
my feet.’ In the Qumran fragment the word clearly ends in a vav, not a yod -- reading ‘they
have pierced (vavreshalephcah) my hands and my feet,’ as the Septuagint (LXX) has it
(vavreshalephcah Qal Perfect 3rd plural form from reshvavcah, or hereshcah ‘to bore, dig’).
Some scholars had argued that the LXX was merely influenced/altered by Christian apolo-
gists, but it now turns out that the Hebrew Qumran text of Psalms, which is from the 1st
century BCE, indeed reads: ‘they pierced.’”
The LXX for the Messianic passage in Psalm 22 reads:

“But I am a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and scorn of the people. All that
saw me mocked me; they spoke with their lips, they shook the head, saying, He hoped in
the Lord; let him deliver him, let him save him, because he takes pleasure in him. . . .
They have opened their mouth against me as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured
out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly is become
like melting wax. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my
throat; and thou hast brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have

356 Mystery of the Bible
compassed me; the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced
my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon
me. They parted my garments among themselves, and cast lots upon my raiment” (Psa.
22:6-18, LXX).

The Jewish rabbis still, as a whole, refuse to face up to these striking predictions and
prophecies regarding the Messiah of Israel. In the newest English translation of the Hebrew
Tanakh, the passage in Psalm 22:15-17 is made to read: “My life ebbs away: all my bones
are disjointed, my heart is like wax, melting within me; my vigor dries up like a shard; my
tongue cleaves to my palate; You commit me to the dust of death. Dogs surround me; a pack
of evil ones closes in on me, like lions [they maul] my hands and feet.”

This seems like an obvious attempt to deny the Messiahship of Christ, whose hands
and feet were literally pierced by the nails of the Roman soldiers, as they nailed Him to the
tree. The prophet Zechariah also predicted the same thing regarding the Messiah's suffering.
He wrote: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon ME whom they have
PIERCED, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son . . .” (Zech.12:10).
Here the Hebrew word for “pierced” is daqar, number #1856 in Strong's Concordance, and
means “pierce, strike (thrust) through, wound.” There is absolutely no question Christ
fulfilled this prophecy, having had His feet and hands pierced with nails, and His side pierced
by a Roman sword as He hung on the tree! (John 19:32-34).

The “Son of God” in the Old Testament/Tanakh
Since the apostle John records that the Word or Logos of God was with the Father, or
God, “in the beginning,” and took an active role in the creation of all things -- that is, the
Universe -- does the Old Testament/Tanakh also use this expression “The Word of God”?
Indeed! The Targums -- translations of the scriptures into the Aramaic dialect used by
the common people in the time of Christ and before -- show that the expression “Word of
God” was often used in Old Testament times, and in Scripture. According to Alfred
Edersheim, author of Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, a leading Messianic, Christian Jew
of the 19th century, the substitution of the phrase “Word of God” for “God” occurs more than
600 times.

In Exodus 19:7, for example, instead of reading that “Moses brought the people out of
the camp to meet God,” the Targum has: “to meet the Word of God.”
Also, according to the Targum, in the passage in Genesis 22 where Abraham takes
Isaac to mount Moriah to sacrifice him there, and Isaac asks his father where the sacrificial
lamb is, Abraham replies: “The Word of God will provide me a lamb. . .” (v.8).
Amazingly, also Genesis 1:27 reads, in the Targum: “And the Word of the Lord
created man in his likeness . . .”

Throughout the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we read often, “The Word of the
357 Mystery of the Bible
LORD came” unto them (see Jer.1:4, 11, 13; 2:1; 7:1; 9:20; 10:1; 11:1; 14:1; 16:1; 18:1; 21:1;
25:1; 26:1; 30:1; 32:1; 33:1; 34:1,12; 35:1,12; 36:1; 40:1; 44:1; 45:1; 46:1; 47:1; 50:1; also,
Ezek.1:3; 3:16; 6:1; 7:1; 12:1; 13:1; 15:1; 16:1; 17:1; 18:1, 20:2; 21:1; 22:1, etc.).

To be continued

 

[WalterandDebbie]

1-6-23

Continue:
The Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament Scriptures uses the very same
word used by the apostle John for “Word” in John 1:1-3 in these verses! Was this not the
same Person -- the Logos -- who spoke with the prophets, and delivered to them the “Word of
the Lord”?

But there is another amazing mystery in the Word of God which relates to the
prophecies of the Messiah.

The Curious “Closed Mem” in Isaiah 9:6
The letter mem in Hebrew corresponds to our English letter “M.” It is one of five
letters in the Hebrew alphabet that take a different form when occurring as a final letter of a
word. When it occurs in the beginning or middle of a word, it has an opening at the lower left
side.

But when it occurs as the final letter of a word, it is fully enclosed.
In words like “Messiah,” (Moshiach, in Hebrew), or “truth” (emet in Hebrew), the
letter “mem” is “open.” This is sometimes called the “open mem,” since it has a little
opening on the lower left side of the letter. When the letter “mem” ends a word, however,
such as “mother” (em in Hebrew), or “peace” (shalom in Hebrew), it is made with its final
form, closed in on all sides. This is referred to as the “closed mem.” Note that the word
“shalom” -- NK* -- ends with a closed “mem” (read word from right to left).
According to the rules of Hebrew grammar, the closed mem can only occur at the
END of a word, as the final letter of a word.

However, in one place in the Hebrew Bible, this rule is violated in the text. There is
one place where a “closed mem” occurs within a word, and not at the end. This peculiar
oddity is found only in a prophecy in Isaiah -- a famous prophecy of the coming Messiah.
We read in Isaiah 9:6-7, in the KJV --
“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, upon the throne
of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and establish it with judgment and with
justice for henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
The “closed mem” appears in the word translated “of the increase” -- l'marbeh in
Hebrew. In Hebrew, the word is VCRNK (read the word from right to left). The first letter of
this word, in Hebrew, is lamed, and is translated “to the,” or “of the.” The main part of the
word marbeh, which means “increase,” begins with the letter mem. But it is a CLOSED
MEM!

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This word marbeh is found in several other places in the Old Testament. It always
has an “open mem” at the beginning, as one would expect, due to the rule of grammar. The
only place where the word marbeh begins with a “closed mem” is in this Messianic passage
dealing with the birth of the Messiah who will rule the world and bring true peace to the
earth! Interestingly, rabbis associate this letter “mem” with the “womb.” Rabbinic sources
are Sefer Yetzira 3:4; Bahir 85; Etz Chaim, shaar Ha Yereach 3. So says Daniel Botkin in his
article “The Mystery of the Closed Mem” (published in Gates of Eden, May-June 1995).
Botkin goes on to say:

“A closed mem is a closed womb; an open mem is the womb opening to give birth (Bahir
84). What does this tell us about the child in Isaiah's prophecy? It tells us that this Child
will be concealed inside a closed womb, i.e., the womb of the Virgin spoken of in Isaiah
7:14: ‘Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child
and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).’

“It is interesting to note that there is a Hebrew word for womb which begins with mem -- he
ayin mem (me'eh = ‘womb’). This word appears in the story of Ruth, one of the few women
listed in the genealogy of the Messiah in Matthew chapter 1. It is also interesting that the
Virgin Mother, who descended from Ruth, had a name that begins and ends with the letter
mem. Christians know her as Mary, but her Hebrew name was Miriam.

“Of course the rabbis don't see any hints of Miriam in Isaiah’s prophecy, but they are aware
of this mysterious closed mem and of its Messianic implications. The rabbis teach that when
it is time for the redemption, the closed mem of Isaiah's l'marbeh will open for the
coming of the Messiah (Radak, Isa.9:6).

“In light of all this, we can see why the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to break the rules
of Hebrew grammar and spelling by writing (l'marbeh). The purpose is to draw our
attention to the letter mem, where we see the initial of Miriam, the mother of this Child.
We also see it as the initial for me'eh, 'womb,' which in this case is a closed mem -- the
closed womb of the virgin Miriam , which opened at the time of Redemption to give
birth to the Child spoken of in this prophecy.”
“Virgin Birth” Prophesied

How ironic! Here hidden in a Messianic passage in Isaiah 9, is a clear hint that the
Messiah would be “born” of a VIRGIN -- a woman with a “closed womb” -- that is, a woman
who had not had sexual intercourse with a man. This, of course, merely reiterates the plain
prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 -- where we read this amazing prophecy:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat,
that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good” (Isa.7:14-15, KJV).
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin shall be with child
and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (NIV).
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive
in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel”
(LXX).

359 Mystery of the Bible

The Greek word for “virgin” in the Septuagint is the same word used in the New
Testament for virgin -- parthenos in the Greek (#3933 in Strong's). This word means “a
virgin” or “young maiden.” The prophecy of Isaiah 9:6, with the implications of Isaiah 7:14,
indicates that this woman would supernaturally conceive. Everyone knows that a “closed
womb” cannot bear a child, and yet that is exactly what happened in the case of Jesus Christ!
We read in Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ:

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public
example, was minded to put her away privily.

But while he thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son
of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:
for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be ful-
filled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us” (Matt.1:18-23).

Consider: Throughout all history, has any other Messiah figure come, who fulfilled
these amazing prophecies? Was born of a virgin? Was despised and rejected of men? Who
was killed for the sins of the world, as a “sin offering”?
What more striking fulfillment of these prophecies could there have been? Isn't it
time we acknowledge the truth -- and admit and confess that Jesus Christ IS the Messiah, sent
into the world?
The translators of the Jewish Tanakh, however, have again tried to minimize this
evidence, and to obscure this proof of Jesus’ Messiahship. Notice how they have translated
the passage in Isaiah 7:14:

“Assuredly, my Lord will give you a sign of His own accord! Look, the young woman
[notice -- not a ‘virgin’ at all] is with child [at that present time, not a future event!] and
about to give birth to a son. Let her name him Immanuel.”
Looking at the Jewish version of this passage, one would hardly think anything of it.
Would the God of heaven and earth really give such a weak and insipid “sign” that occurs
ninety million times a year, around the world? And roughly half of those births are boys!
Such a “sign” would be no sign at all! Isaiah’s Predictions

Isaiah also predicted His death and resurrection from the grave. He wrote:
“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
. . . He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows [pains] and acquainted with
grief [sickness]. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we
did not esteem Him.

To be continued

 

[WalterandDebbie]

1-6-23

Continue: Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses] and carried our sorrows
360 Mystery of the Bible
[pains]; yet we esteemed [reckoned] Him stricken, smitten [struck down] by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded [margin, pierced through] for our transgressions, He
was bruised [crushed] for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him;
and by His stripes we are healed. . . He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He
opened not His mouth; He was led as a LAMB to the slaughter [on Passover Day, even
as all the Passover lambs were being slaughtered!], and as a sheep before its shearers
is silent, so He opened not His mouth. . . For He was CUT OFF from the land of the
living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave
with the wicked

[He was crucified with several robbers] – but with the rich at His death
[He was buried in a rich man’s grave – that of Joseph of Arimathea]. . . . When You make
His soul an offering for sin, He shall SEE His seed, He shall PROLONG His days, and
the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hands” (Isaiah 53:1-10, NKJV).
David also prophesied of His resurrection in the Psalms! David foretold of the
Messiah: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol [the abode of the dead – the grave], nor
will You allow Your Holy One [the Messiah] to see [undergo] corruption” (Psalm 16:10).
Says Henry R. Halley in his Bible Handbook:

“The Old Testament was written to create an anticipation of, and pave the way for,
the Coming of Christ. It is the Story of the Hebrew Nation, dealing largely with
events and exigencies of its own times. But all through the Story there runs unceas-
ing Expectancy and Prevision of the Coming of ONE MAJESTIC PERSON, who
will Rule and Bless the Whole World. This Person, long before He arrived, came
to be known as the MESSIAH.

“The Predictions and Foregleams of His Coming constitute the Thread extending
through, and binding together, its many and diverse books, into One Amazing Unity.
“Starting with Vague Hints, there soon begin to appear Specific Definite Predictions,
which, as the story sweeps onward, become more Specific, more Definite and more
Abundant.
“And, as Definite Predictions multiply, accompanying Symbols, Pictures, Types,
and indirect Foregleams, also increase.

“So that, by the time that we come to the end of the Old Testament, the entire Story
of Christ has been Pre-written and Pre-Figured in Language and Symbol, which,
taken as a whole, Cannot Refer to Any Other Person in History.
“In addition to Predictions and Types which are most evident, there may be many
Hidden Messianic Intimations which are not clearly visible on the surface" (p.387).
Halley goes into many of these types and predictions in his Bible Handbook. I don't
have space or time to do it here, but I will list some of the basic Messianic Scriptures, which
you can study further on your own.

Fore-Shadows of the Messiah

Here is a listing of some of the most important Old Testament or Tanakh references
to the coming of the Messiah:
Genesis 3:15, the “seed of the woman”;

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Gen.4:3-5, Abel's offering of a slain sheep;
Gen.12-22, Abraham's promise that all nations would be blessed through his “seed,”
and the ram slain in place of his son Isaac, showing the Lord would provide for
human redemption by allowing His own firstborn Son to be slain for us;
Gen.14, the story of Melchizedek, the bread and the wine, prefiguring the broken
body and shed blood of the Messiah;
Exodus 12, the whole Passover story, with the sacrifice of the redemptive lamb;
Leviticus 16, the slaying of the goat “for the Lord” as propitiation for sin;
Num.21:6-9, the fiery serpent lifted up on a cross (see John 3:14);
Num.24:17-19, a “star” rising out of Jacob;
Deut.18:15-19, another prophet “like unto Moses”;

Joshua himself, a “type” of the Messiah, bringing us into his Kingdom;
the story of Ruth, a type of the Believers, and Boaz, a type of Christ;
I Sam.16 forward -- the life of David, and his trials, as a type of the Messiah;
II Sam.7:16, David's promise of an eternal throne, a type of the Messianic throne;
II Kgs.9:5, same promise to Solomon;
Job 19:25-27, prophecy of Redeemer who lives and who will come to deliver and
redeem His people from death;
Psalm 2 – the anointed Messianic king who will rule all nations;
Psalm 16 -- prediction of the resurrection of the Messiah, the “Holy One”;
Psalm 22 – the prediction of Messiah's crucifixion, being jeered at by sinners, His
suffering, bones exposed, hands pierced, and even His garments being parted and lots
cast for His cloak;
Psalm 41:9 -- betrayal by a close friend (Judas Iscariot);
Psalm 45 – the future reign of the Messiah;
Psalm 69:21 – His being given vinegar and gall to drink (compare Matthew 27;34,
48);
Psalm 72 – His glorious reign;
Psalm 78:2 – He was predicted to speak in parables;
Psalm 89 – David’s throne and Messianic throne;
Psalm 110 -- Messiah to be king and priest, after order of Melchisedek;

Psalm 118:22 – Messiah the corner stone to be rejected by rulers.
In the book of Isaiah are many other Messianic predictions:
Isaiah 2 -- the Messianic age;
Isaiah 4:2-6 – the “Branch of the Lord”;
Isaiah 7:14 -- Messiah to be born of a virgin, and named Immanuel, “God with us”
(see Matthew, chapter 1);
Isaiah 9:1-7 -- Messiah to be born as a child, yet also be called “Mighty God,”
“Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace” thus to be Divine;
Isaiah 11:1-10 -- Messiah to be the offshoot or descendent of David, reign over whole
world, usher in peace; this chapter shows He was to be descended from David's
family;
Isaiah 25-26 – Messiah being our God, bringing salvation, the One for whom we’ve
waited, who will establish peace and teach the nations righteousness;

362 Mystery of the Bible
Isaiah 35:8-10 -- prediction of Messiah's many miracles, healing deaf, blind, dumb;
Isaiah 40:5-11 -- predicts His tender-heartedness and lovingkindness;
Isa.42:1-11, shows He was to be “light to Gentiles”;
Isaiah 52-53 -- reveals in advance the sufferings of the Messiah, His death for us, His
death alongside thieves, His burial with the rich, and his resurrection -- many explicit
details predicted, and all fulfilled in Yeshua -- Jesus Christ!

To be continued

 

[WalterandDebbie]

1-6-23

Continue:
Other key Messianic prophecies are given in the rest of the Prophets:
Jeremiah 23:5-6 -- refers to Messiah as “the Branch”; says His name would be “The
LORD our Righteousness,” indicating His ultimate divine origin;
Ezekiel 34 -- speaks of Him as being a “Prince forever” over the house of David;
Ezekiel 47 -- predicts the life-giving stream, a type of Messiah;
Daniel 2 -- predicts the “rock” which will smash this world's kingdoms and replace
them;

Daniel 7 -- predicts the Kingdom of Messiah, ruling with the saints;
Daniel 9:24-27 -- the awesome prediction of the “Seventy Weeks,” which predicts the
very exact time Messiah would come, preach, be “cut off,” and be “hidden” from
view (in grave, and then rise to throne of God);
Amos 4:13, in the Septuagint, God says: “For behold, I am he that strengthens the
thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims to men his CHRIST, forming the
morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earth, The Lord
God Almighty is his name.”
Jonah 1:17 -- the sign of Jonah the prophet, who was a type of the Messiah, 3 days
and 3 nights in the heart of the fish, as Messiah was in the heart of the earth!
Micah 5:2-5 -- predicted Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, just as Jesus Christ
was!

Zechariah 11:12 – Christ being “sold” for 30 pieces of silver, and the money being
used to buy a potter’s field (compare Matt.27:3-10);
Zechariah 12:10 – Israel to look upon the One whom they pierced, Yeshua, and mourn
for what they did to Him.
There are many more allusions, indications, hints, and “types” one could refer to, but
to sum it all up, as Edward Halley puts it:
“Near the beginning of the Old Testament it is stated that the Hebrew Nation was
being founded for the purpose of Blessing All Nations. Then there begins to loom
the figure of ONE PERSON through Whom the Nation will accomplish its mission.
“First He is called Shiloh, to arise in the Tribe of Judah, and Rule the Nations. Then
He is called a Star, Who will have Dominion. And next, a Prophet, like unto Moses,
through whom God will Speak to Mankind.
“And then, over and over, He is spoken of as a King, to arise in David's Family, to be
called The Branch, The Prince, The Anointed One, God's First-Born, Wonderful,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
“The Exact Time of His Coming was Foretold. He was to be born of a Virgin. At
Bethlehem. Part of His Childhood to be spent in Egypt. He would be brought up at Nazareth.

363 Mystery of the Bible

“He would be introduced to His Nation by an Elijah-like forerunner. Galilee to be the
scene of His Ministry. He would work Miracles of Healing. And Speak in Parables.
Be rejected by the Leaders of His Own Nation. Be a Smitten Shepherd, a Sufferer,
a Man of Sorrows. He would enter Jerusalem riding on a Colt. He would be Betrayed
by a Friend, for thirty pieces of silver, the thirty pieces of silver to be spent for a Potter's
field. He would be led as a Lamb to the Slaughter.

“He would Die with the Wicked, opening a Fountain for Sin. Removing Sin in One Day.
Even His Dying Words Foretold. He would be given Gall and Vinegar in His Agony.
His Hands and His Feet would be Pierced. Not a Bone to be Broken. Lots to be cast
for His Garments. To be Buried with the Rich. To be in the Tomb Three Days. To
Rise from the Dead, and Ascend to Heaven at God's Right Hand. . . .
“This Pre-Written Story of Jesus, recorded Centuries Before Jesus came, is so Astonishing
in Detail that it reads like an Eye-Witness Account of His Life and Work.
“Suppose a number of men of Different Countries, who had never seen, nor in any way
communicated with, one another, would walk into a room, and each lay down a piece of
Carved Marble, which pieces, when Fitted Together, would make a Perfect statue -- how
account for it in any other way than that Some One Person had drawn the Specifications,
and had sent to each man his part? And how can this Amazing Composite of Jesus’ Life
and Work, put together by Different Writers of Different Centuries, Ages Before Jesus
Came, be explained on any other basis than that ONE SUPER-HUMAN MIND supervised
the Writing? The Miracle of the Ages!” (Halley's Bible Handbook, p.400-401).

The Footprints of the Messiah
When we realistically and honestly evaluate all the evidence, without presumptions
and bias, there can be no other conclusion: No other historical figure even REMOTELY came
close to fulfilling all the Old Testament predictions and prophecies of the appearance of the
Messiah!
No one else even came CLOSE! Where does this leave us?
Many Christians are still waiting for the Messiah – but He wont be anything like the
individual they think He will be!
Many Jews are also waiting for their Messiah – but they will be shocked to see who
He really is!
In a fascinating book written by newspaper reporter Lee Strobel, titled The Case for
Christ, the author discusses mountains and reams of incredible evidence, all demonstrating
beyond any doubt that there is only ONE true Messiah – the historical Jesus Christ, Yeshua
the Messiah!
The evidence he discusses with theologians, archaeologists, scientists, medical
examiners, historians, and others authorities, includes what he calls the “fingerprint
evidence.” In other words, he compares the life and actions of Jesus Christ, and the eye
witness accounts of His life, with the Old Testament prophecies, in order to “profile” what

364 Mystery of the Bible
the Messiah was supposed to be, and whether Jesus “matched up” to the prophetic profile.
Did His “fingerprints” fit and match up with those of the Old Testament prophecies?
In many criminal cases, the author points out, fingerprint identification is the pivotal
evidence. Today, criminologists are also beginning to use “DNA” evidence to conclusively
prove the identity of rapists, murders, or other criminals. In some cases, convicted felons
who have served years have been set free due to “DNA” evidence which proved they were
innocent of the crimes with which they were charged.
How does Yeshua match up to the profile – the fingerprint evidence – of the
prophecies of the Messiah?

Louis S. Lapides is of Jewish descent, yet his family never discussed the subject of the
“Messiah.” Later, through an amazing turn of events, he became a believer in Christ. He had
been challenged to study the Old Testament Messianic prophecies, and when he came to
Isaiah 52-53, he was astonished. He knew to whom these clear prophecies referred – Yeshua
Himself!
Lapides was asked by Lee Strobel, in an interview, about the possibility that Jesus
fulfilled many of the Old Testament prophecies by “accident.” Could He have
“coincidentally fulfilled the prophetic fingerprint”?
Declared Strobel:

To be continued

 

[WalterandDebbie]

1-6-23

Conclusion:
“ ‘Not a chance,’ came his response. ‘The odds are so astronomical that they rule that
out. Someone did the math, and they figured out that the probability of just eight
prophecies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred billion billion [that is one in
100,000,000,000,000,000,000, or 10 to the 20th power!]. That number is millions
of times greater than the total number of people who’ve ever walked the planet!
“ ‘He calculated that if you took this number of silver dollars, they would cover the
state of Texas to a depth of two feet. If you marked one silver dollar among them
and then had a blindfolded person wander the whole state and bend down to pick up
one coin, what would be the odds he’d choose the one that had been marked?’
“With that he answered his own question: ‘The same odds that anybody in history
could have fulfilled just eight of the prophecies’” (p.183).

Strobel goes on, analyzing this same mathematical evidence, saying:
“I had studied this same statistical analysis by mathematician Peter W. Stoner when
I was investigating the messianic prophecies for myself. Stoner also computed that
the probability of fulfilling forty-eight prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion!” [see Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks, Moody Press, Chicago: 1969, p.109.]
Strobel continues this fascinating discussion of “probability” when it comes to the
“probability” of Yeshua having fulfilled the Messianic prophecies, by sheer “chance,” saying:
“Our minds can’t comprehend a number that big. This is a staggering statistic that’s

365 Mystery of the Bible
equal to the number of minuscule atoms in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, billion
UNIVERSES THE SIZE OF OUR UNIVERSE!

“The odds alone say it would be IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to fulfill the Old Testament
prophecies,’ Lapides concluded. ‘Yet Jesus – AND ONLY JESUS THROUGHOUT
ALL OF HISTORY – managed to do it” (The Case for Christ, p.183, emphasis mine).
There it is! Can you imagine it? Can you wrap your mind around it? The chances of
fulfilling just 48 of the Old Testament prophecies, predicting the coming of Christ, then,
would be as follows:
1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!
That would be 10 to the 156th power! That number is utterly incomprehensible!
In other words, we are talking about the ridiculous, here! Scientists estimate the total
number of elementary particles in the Universe as being 10 to the 80th power. The chances of
Jesus Christ fulfilling all the Old Testament prophecies, as He did – including the vast
majority which were totally outside and beyond His human control – by accident would be
less than a snowball surviving a nuclear atomic bomb explosion while resting at ground zero!

Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt

The New Testament is the record of all these magnificent prophetic predictions being
fulfilled! That is why the New Testament is the capstone – the crown – of the Old Testament
Scriptures. They finish the testimony. They comprise the Word of God, which endures
forever.

As Peter declared of Jesus Christ, in powerful testimony to the Jewish people of his
day: “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ
would suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18, NKJV).
The Old Testament prophecies are the PROOF of the Messianic credentials of Yeshua
the Messiah! They PROVE BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that HE IS THE
MESSIAH, IN DEED AND IN TRUTH!
When the resurrected Jesus encountered two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus,
the day of the resurrection, and joined with them, He listened as they told Him with
astonishment about the recent events which had happened, including the trial and death of
Jesus, whom they had thought was a powerful prophet of God and whom they hoped was the
Messiah. He then said to them:
“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets
have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things to
enter into His glory!

366 Mystery of the Bible
“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-26).
The apostle Paul used these same proofs and arguments, to explain to the Jews and
Gentiles that Jesus was indeed the authentic Christ – the true Messiah.
“Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths
reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating
that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying,
‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ [Messiah]” (Acts 17:2-3).
Think about it! Ponder it over in your mind! Do not let these things pass you by, and
neglect the extreme importance they have to your life – your family – your salvation!

Yeshua – Jesus from Nazareth – IS THE MESSIAH-SAVIOUR-CHRIST-
ANOINTED ONE OF GOD!

Halleluiah! Praise God, He has fulfilled His promises – and He is about to fulfill
many more of them very soon, in our day, when the Messiah returns from heaven to
RESTORE HIS KINGDOM ON THE EARTH!
As the apostle Paul declared, in powerful, confident faith, so I say boldly, and
unashamedly, with him:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and
also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
"I AM NOT ASHAMED; I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED,
AND AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE TO KEEP THAT
WHICH I HAVE COMMITTED UNTO HIM AGAINST THAT
DAY" (II Tim.1:12).

What about you? How well do you know Yeshua the Messiah?
How well do you know, personally, the REAL Jesus Christ -- YESHUA HA
MOSHIACH -- the true SAVIOUR AND MESSIAH?
You get to know Him by studying His Word. You learn about Him by READING
the New Testament -- regularly, daily, together with the Old Testament, which was written
as a prelude for Him -- to prepare the way and introduce Him.
How well do YOU know the true MESSIAH?
Isn't it time to take a careful new examination of this subject? Isn’t it time to stop
fooling around, wasting your life, frittering away your spiritual opportunities, and get to know
the TRUE Messiah, Saviour, Redeemer and Holy One of God?