In the 1st Century AD it was commonly understood and taught by the Jews that the Messiah (Anointed One, Christ/Chistos, Savior) would come as a mighty King to crush down the nations around them (especially the Roman Empire). They believed that he would be the almighty King, who would come to rule the world and destroy every opposing power! What a hope they longed for, as a way to be free from the oppression of the Roman Empire towards them. However, they were deadly wrong on their understanding of prophecy. Instead, in AD 70 the Roman armies under the leadership of General Titus, came and crushed Jerusalem, their Temple, and all that the Jewish nation had held dear, and had hoped for. With incredible accuracy, Jesus of Nazareth actually foretold the destruction of the icons of the Jewish religion and nation nearly 40 years before it ever happened! (See Matthew 24:1-3, 15-20 and Luke 21:20-24; This was also foretold by Daniel the prophet nearly 600 years earlier, Daniel 9:26). How could they have miscalculated things? What did the prophecies, penned hundreds of years earlier by God’s Prophets, actually say in regard to the Messiah? In this article, we are going to discover the message of the Hebrew prophets, written from ancient times!
Did the Jewish teachers in the 1st Century AD have any basis for understanding the Messiah to come as a conquering King? Yes, absolutely! However, it was a misguided understanding that fit well the sentiments of the time. Upon closer inspection of the prophecies and the whole Jewish system of worship, it would have been discerned that their understanding and emphasis was actually quite flawed. Let’s examine first a prophecy that foretold of the coming powerful conquering King, Messiah! Then we’ll look at several other prophetic texts that would have put everything into far better perspective for us all!
For sake of convenience, the prophetic text will be placed in full below for your careful study, and annotated (in blue) to point out various key items to take notice of.
A Prophecy of the Conquering King (fierce as a Lion) (Psalm 2) – Written Cir. 1000 BC:
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King (God’s Anointed King would rule over His people)
On My holy hill of Zion.”7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son, (This son or King would be born into the world)
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You (Vs.8-12, Messiah will destroy all rebellious nations)
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break[a] them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
If Psalm 2 was all that the Jewish prophets had foretold, then the 1st Century Jewish teachers would have been fully justified in their interpretation of events in regard to the Messiah. However, Psalm 2 is NOT the only prophetic text giving us information in regard to nature of the work of the Messiah! This is where we must be careful to prayerfully study and “rightly divided the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Now we will explore just two of the many other prophetic texts which were given in regard to the mission and the work of the Messiah! That of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, specifically.
A Prophecy of the Suffering Servant, to be Slaughtered as a Lamb (Isaiah 53) – Written Cir. 800 BC:
(Beginning at Isaiah 52:13-15)
Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; (the same servant who would eventually be raised above all, as seen in Psalm 2)
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man, (He would be hurt and insured more than all)
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. (the report of Him would go to all the world!)
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.(Now begins chapter 53 of Isaiah)
Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, (He would even be rejected by His own people, the Jewish nation, because he did not meet their proud expectation)
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.4 Surely He has borne our griefs (He would be punished for our sins, taking our place, vs.4-6)
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;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by 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, (He would die for our sins as a sacrificial lamb – this was the entire foretelling of the Jewish system of sacrificial offerings for sin, in worship, which had been practiced for nearly 4000 years, since even before Abraham. Back to the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, Genesis 3:21; 4:1-10).
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth. (Jesus did not open his mouth, Mark 15:2-5)
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked— (Jesus was crucified with criminals, Luke 23:32-33, and laid in a rich man’s tomb, John 19:38-42)
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin, (Messiah was to be the “Sin-offering” – He had to die as a suffering Lamb)
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, (Messiah had to die first, but He would live again, resurrect, to “see” His “seed,” and the blessing of His “labor.” Therefore, God the Father would “divide him a portion with the great,” vs.10-12, “because he poured out His soul unto death.”)
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, (It’s very clear that the conquering King first had to die as a Lamb, and then resurrect, before He could fulfill the prophecy of being the King over all nations in power – First as the Lamb, then after, as the Lion)
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
Finally, we will look at one last prophecy – the Prophecy of Psalm 22 – Written cir. 1000 BC:
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Also, these are words Jesus spoke on the cross, in remembrance of this Psalm, and agony of separation from God His Father, because of the sins of the world which had been laid upon His soul, Matthew 27:46)
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people. (Even as was said in Isaiah 53:3-4)
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, (This was said of Jesus, as He was dying on the Cross. They ridiculed Him. See Matthew 27:39-43).
8 “He trusted[b] in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth. (As was Jesus, Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20-21)
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint; (as would happen upon a cross, but which NEVER happened at all to King David, the human who prophetically wrote this Psalm by the Holy Spirit, in regard to the coming Messiah)
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, (Jesus’ mouth was dry and thirsty during the crucifixion; he was brought to the point of death, Mark 15:34-36; John 19:28-30)
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet; (The VERY WAY in which Jesus died, nearly 1000 years after this was written, Luke 24:39-40, his hands and feet were pierced)
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them, (They both divided the garments of Jesus and cast lots for them, Matthew 27:35)
And for My clothing they cast lots.19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth (That is, from the devil’s attacks, 1 Peter 5:8)
And from the horns of the wild oxen!You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren; (The Father answered Jesus, and He was resurrected from death to continue His righteous work, Matthew 28)
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; (Though men despised Jesus, God the Father did not! He honored and resurrected Him and has set Him above all! See Philippians 2:5-10)
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; (the “good news” of Jesus was preached to the poor – “in spirit” and in goods of this world – they ate the satisfying spiritual bread of life, Jesus (John 6:32-35, 40), and His truth, Luke 4:18; 7:22)
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s, (Here is the fulfillment of Psalm 2! So, first He dies as the suffering servant, as the Lamb for slaughter, and then afterwards He will come a 2nd time to rule the nations with a rod of iron, that is, to overpower all of His enemies and to crush down the rebellious nations – You can see it is very important to “rightly divide” the word of God, to compare scripture with scripture, prayerfully, to grasp it rightly!)
And He rules over the nations.29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust (the nations will be resurrected to face God, the judge, Christ/Messiah/Jesus on His eternal throne, See John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:4-6, 11-15)
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this. (the truth of His Sacrifice for us and final coming would be told to all future generations, even as it is now told to us, nearly 2000 years after his death and resurrection – He is yet to come in Power and Glory, but will soon, just as surely!)
What we hopefully realize very clearly now from these passages is that the ancient writings of the Bible prophets regarding the Messiah were perfectly fulfilled in His suffering and death on the Cross. And furthermore, that just as certainly, He will be coming again in power and glory, very soon, and we need to be ready to meet Him! We need to know Jesus, to love Him, to follow Him and to serve Him! Those who stand in rebellion to God, His righteous Son, and His righteousness will be taken out of the way by His glory and power once His Kingdom does in fact come in that power (and it is surely coming! Just as we have seen Jesus fulfill the Lamb prophecies, He will also fulfill the Lion prophecies as well). The word of God both can and should be rightly understood by careful and prayerful study. We cannot merely rely upon the fanciful interpretations and false slants that men have put upon God’s word (by neglecting the whole counsel of God), no matter how popular such ideas might be, or however prestigious and learned such men appear to be! Let us not fall into the delusions of false teachings around us (in prophecy or otherwise), but instead, let us study God’s word more deeply. And as said before, let’s get right with God and have life through Jesus, the Messiah! Will you put your faith and trust in Him and His truth, as found in the Bible?
