Prophesies of the Messiah
Christians owe the Jews a tremendous debt. It was the Jewish people through whom God first revealed himself, and their faithful preserved God's revelation. It was from the Jewish people that the Christ (from the Greek for 'annointed' = Hebrew 'messiah') came.
In token of repayment of that debt, we provide here some of the prophecies of the Messiah from the Jewish Scriptures (RSV), in the hope that they can someday come to share fully in the greatest of almighty God's gifts, Christian faith.
Emphases added (of course).
The New Covenant Foretold
The New Covenant does not replace the Mosaic Covenant, but fulfills it and brings it to perfection.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31"Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32 not like the
covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke,
though I was their husband, says the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant
which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no
longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying,
'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to
the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their sin no more."
Ezekiel 16:59-60
59 "Yea, thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you
as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,
60 yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth,
and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.
61 Then you will
remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take your sisters, both your
elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters, but not on
account of the covenant with you.
62 I will establish my covenant with
you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,
63 that you may remember and
be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame,
when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord GOD."
The Incomprehension of the Wise and Learned
The Incomprehension of the Wise and Learned
Psalms 143
2 Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for no man living is righteous before thee.
Psalm 118
21 I thank thee that thou hast answered me and hast become my
salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the head
of the corner.
23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Note: the builders are the leaders of the people
Note: the builders are the leaders of the people
Isaiah 29
13 And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with
their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far
from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote;
14 therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people,
wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid."
A Man of Peace
A Man of Peace
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.
Note: whereas the horse is used for war, the ass symbolizes peace
Son of David and Son of God
Isaiah 11
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a
branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
2 Samuel 7
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your
fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth
from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for
ever.
14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of
the sons of men;
15 but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I
took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
16 And your house
and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne
shall be established for ever.'"
17 In accordance with all these words,
and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
1 Chronicles 17
11 When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your
fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons,
and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build a house for me, and
I will establish his throne for ever.
13 I will be his father, and he
shall be my son; I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took
it from him who was before you,
14 but I will confirm him in my house
and in my kingdom for ever and his throne shall be established for
ever.'"
15 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with
all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
The Divinity of the Messiah
The Divinity of the Messiah
Isaiah 40
9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good
tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good
tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your
God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for
him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his
arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are
with young.
The Time of the Messiah
The Time of the Messiah
Daniel 9:20-27
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin
and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before
the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God;
21 while I was speaking in
prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first,
came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He
came and he said to me, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you
wisdom and understanding.
23 At the beginning of your supplications a
word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly
beloved; therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
24
"Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy
city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision
and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
25 Know therefore and
understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build
Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be
seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with
squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
26 And after the sixty-two
weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the
people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall
be war; desolations are decreed.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant
with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause
sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall
come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the
desolator."
The Messiah as Suffering Servant
The Messiah as Suffering Servant
Isaiah 52:8-53:12
8 Hark, your watchmen lift up their voice, together
they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to
Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of
Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed
Jerusalem.
10 The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the
nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God.
11 Depart, depart, go out thence, touch no unclean thing; go out
from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of
the LORD.
12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in
flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be
your rear guard.
13 Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be
exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
14 As many were
astonished at him--his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the sons of men--
15 so shall he startle
many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that
which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have
not heard they shall understand.
1 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up
before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had
no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we
should desire him.
3 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.
4 Surely he has borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
6
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.
7 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 dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and
judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people?
9 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.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to
bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering
for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will
of the LORD shall prosper in his hand;
11 he shall see the fruit of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the
righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he
shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion
with the great, 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 made intercession for
the transgressors.
Notes
52:13 "exalted and lifted up": a euphemism for crucifixion
53:5-6,11-12 point to vicarious atonement: the Messiah's suffering will redeem us.
53:8 "he [was killed] for the transgression of my people": eliminates the common rabbinical interpretation that the servant represents the people of Israel: 'he' is distinct from 'my people'
53:12 says "he poured out his soul to death" yet v. 10 "he shall prolong his days"? Does this point to the Resurrection?
Notes
52:13 "exalted and lifted up": a euphemism for crucifixion
53:5-6,11-12 point to vicarious atonement: the Messiah's suffering will redeem us.
53:8 "he [was killed] for the transgression of my people": eliminates the common rabbinical interpretation that the servant represents the people of Israel: 'he' is distinct from 'my people'
53:12 says "he poured out his soul to death" yet v. 10 "he shall prolong his days"? Does this point to the Resurrection?
Psalm 22
1 To the choirmaster: according to The Hind of the Dawn. A
Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou
so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry
by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet
thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In thee our
fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 To thee
they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not
disappointed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and
despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at
me, they wag their heads;
8 "He committed his cause to the LORD; let
him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
9 Yet thou
art he who took me from the womb; thou didst keep me safe upon my
mother's breasts.
10 Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my
mother bore me thou hast been my God.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble
is near and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me, strong
bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a
ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my
breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue
cleaves to my jaws; thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
16 Yea, dogs
are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have
pierced my hands and feet--
17 I can count all my bones--they stare and
gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment
they cast lots.
Zechariah 12:10
"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.
Resurrection of the Messiah
Psalms 16 9
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body
also dwells secure. 10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy
godly one see the Pit.
Hosea 6
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may
heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he
will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live
before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going
forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the
spring rains that water the earth."
4 What shall I do with you, O
E'phraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning
cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them
by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my
judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not
sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
7 But at
Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with
me.
Salvation of the Gentiles Through Him
Salvation of the Gentiles Through Him
Genesis 22:18
and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."
Micah 4:1-5
1 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain
of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the
mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills; and peoples shall
flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he
may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He
shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations
afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more;
4 but they shall sit
every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make
them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
5 For all
the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the
name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
Psalm 22
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the
LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28
For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 Yea,
to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down; before him shall bow
all who go down to the dust, and he who cannot keep himself alive. 30
Posterity shall serve him; men shall tell of the Lord to the coming
generation,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that
he has wrought it.
Other Passages
Other Passages
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Micah 5:1-4
1 Now you are walled about with a wall; siege is laid
against us; with a rod they strike upon the cheek the ruler of Israel.
2
But you, O Bethlehem Eph'rathah, who are 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.
3 Therefore he
shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail has brought
forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of
Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the
LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall
dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman [or virgin] shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el.
Isaiah 9:2-9
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great
light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light
shined.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy;
they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when
they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for
his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as on the day
of Mid'ian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government
will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
7 Of the
increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the
throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for
evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
8 The Lord has
sent a word against Jacob, and it will light upon Israel;
Psalms 69
21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
