"The prophecy about Messiah, based on books of Daniel, Isaiah, Zachariah"
"The One coming back"
Prophet Daniel had a vision "I
kept looking into the night visions, and behold with the clouds of
heaven One like a son of man was coming and he came up to the Ancient
of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion,
glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every
language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which
will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be
destroyed."
But then we also know from the prophets that
the Messiah will have to meet the other requirements ;he will be the
descendant of David, born from a woman, one from among his brothers,
born in Bethlehem. How is that all possible, prophet Daniel showing
him coming in the clouds of heaven to conquer and rule , as the one to
whom was given everlasting dominion and a kingdom. Prophet Isaiah
talks about the one who will be born of a woman ( Isaiah 7;14),
having the earthly life like ours, coming in a gentle and humble way to
suffer (Isaiah 53) . The only way for all these verses to be true is
that there would have to be two separate comings. The first followers
of Jesus didn't understand that either, until after Jesus' death and
resurrection when he told them that the Messiah came to suffer first
before entering his glory.
Isaiah 53 talks about a servant who had to suffer and die before he was glorified and gives a purpose for that;
v.3 " the one despised and rejected by men" v.5 “wounded for our transgressions, crushed because of our sins, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wound we are healed“
The verse .6 explains ; ” 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."v.7 "led as a lamb to the slaughter....he opened NOT his mouth"
v.8. "cut off from the land of living, for transgressions of my people he was stricken”,
v.11. ” My righteous Servant shall justify many , for he shall bear their iniquities“
As the verse 10 says; He made his soul offering for sin
.He made his life a quilt offering, sacrificed for us so that we may
have God's forgiveness and life. Forgiveness of sins that we have in
his blood shed for us.
Isaiah talks about him having his life back; " He shall see the labor of his soul, and be satisfied."
In the verse 12 Isaiah said; ”
Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the
spoil with the strong for having exposed himself to death and being
counted among the sinners."
Some Jews saw that the
Messiah would have to suffer but they did not see his death and
resurrection. Just before what we now clearly see as a classic prophecy
about his suffering and death, comes Isaiah 52;13 which speaks of the
exaltation of the Messiah " See my servant will act wisely, he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted"
While
Daniel 7;13 speaks of 'son of man' coming in the clouds of heaven to
bring justice, Isaiah also talks about the same suffering servant who
will bring justice (verse 42;1 ) says; "Behold my Servant
whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom my soul delights! I have put my
Spirit upon Him, He will bring justice to the gentiles. He will not cry
out, nor raise his voice to be heard in the street (...) He will bring
justice for truth."
We will read later about why all the scriptures haven't been fulfilled yet. All the great promises are still to come.
Old
Testament scriptures talk about Messiah' glorious time in the future
to come. Why couldn't it all together be accomplished at once? Had he come to bring justice right away, nobody would stay alive!
For
it says; "all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God." We had
to be justified by him to have clean heart, he had to die in our
place, by that sacrifice we are saved from God's wrath. Restoration of
hearts by forgiveness of sin comes first. He said himself " This is my body given for you ...this cup is a new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" Luke 22;19-20
We can rejoice in the hope and peace we have in his salvation, many people are lacking living without Christ.
Ignoring that fact, we wonder why ALL the prophecy about Christ hasn't
been fulfilled yet . Even Jesus' disciples asked him the same question;"
When they had come together, they asked him saying "Lord will
you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' And He said to them '
It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put
in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." Acts 1;6-8
So 'Now' it is time of salvation. He took upon himself the sins of us freeing all who would accept His payment.
Who would be just enough to live forever? Without the Savior, nobody would!
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that
whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have everlasting life" John 3;16
His
promise about everlasting life to those who trusted in Him was
supported by his authority to give life; apart from healing others, he
raised Lazarus and Jairus' daughter back to life. He was risen back to
life after his death on the cross.
" John 10;17-18
"Therefore my father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may
take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself I
have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again."
The
roots for our beliefs are the same ; God's promise about the Messiah to
come who would 'save ' their people. We can choose to see only one
side of the whole picture skipping the suffering part, and expect only
the glorious future or we choose to see the whole picture- all
scriptures put together like a big puzzle. The first followers of
Jesus were Jews who watching Jesus' life were able to see in him the
lamb of God. They saw him being ascended to heaven on clouds, and angels
coming down saying; " Man of Galilee, why do you stand gazing
up into the heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into
heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven." Acts
1;11 " Behold he is coming with clouds and every eye will see Him,
even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him.Even so, Amen." Revelation 1;7
Look also how does Zachariah talk about the Messiah coming as the deliverer of Israel.
Zachariah 12-8-11
"
In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the one
who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the
house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before
them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of
David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and
supplication then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem."
The question is 'why would they cry and mourn? Who was pierced??? Who
suffered like the Isaiah 53 talks about? Who justified many by
suffering for our sin? (Isaiah 53;11) By whose wounds we are healed??
Based on Isaiah 53;5, who would have to be "raised and lifted up
and highly exalted " ? If the only one thing the Messiah was to
accomplish was to come as the glorious deliverer of the nations, why it
talks about him first raised and lifted up?
All scriptures in the
Old Testament are pointing to Christ, all events relate to Him, all
stories written have a meaning so that we would recognize Him; Abraham
willing to offer his only Son as the sacrifice, Joseph' life in
affliction, rejection by his own, saving their family and people when
they came to him in need in the 'trouble years' and at the end he
revealed himself to his family that he was one of their own.
The
same it says about the Messiah; before he comes there will be really
bad times, nations gathering around Jerusalem, his own people will
finally recognize Him; Zachariah 12;10 " They will look on Me , whom they pierced..."
He is like an Noah's ark -in Him everybody can hide before the coming
wrath of God.He is our Passover lamb, his shed blood for us keeps us
from eternal death. The Jewish feast of Bikkurim ( first-fruits)
points to Him. Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus raised from the
dead is the 'first-fruits' of those who have fallen asleep." 1 Cor
15;20
Feast of Unleavened Bread points to Him as Jesus called Himself " the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." John 6;50 "Eating" as the symbol of trusting in him.
All about the truth - is a blog with Biblical teaching to help you to grow in faith and understand what Christianity is about. To know what the Bible says about salvation, sin and eternal life. It is to encourage you to walk with Jesus closely and hold on to His word. It helps you to see the great authority of Christ that God gave Him and that your relationship with Him is what brings the meaning to your life.
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