Part Two: Jesus Christ Described in the Old Testament

 Jesus: Man or God?

When we begin considering the question of the nature of the Messiah (Christ), the New Testament clearly says that Jesus Christ is God:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The question is, does the Old Testament agree with this? Let’s look at some Old Testament verses:

Proverbs 30:4 (NIV) “Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!” This verse is obviously talking about the creator, notice that it asks “what is the name of his son?”

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth… In Hebrew, this literally says “creators”.

Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” A child would be born who would be called God?

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” In The Search For Messiah, Eastman and Smith make the point that Immanuel (or Emmanuel) means (with us is God, or, God with us). “However, the controversy regarding the identity  of the person called, “God with us,” begs the question, “If this is not the Messiah [Jesus], then whom else?” To ascribe such a supernatural birth and title to a mere mortal is ridiculous. Since angels aren’t conceived in the womb, they can’t qualify. Therefore, the only logical candidate is the Messiah.” (p. 39).

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD  our God, the LORD is one."

Thus begins the most significant passage in the Old Testament.  It commands us that there is One God, and he is Echad (we’ll see why this word is so important in just a moment), and we are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and might. In the original Hebrew, the Hebrew word “echad” is used, which often refers to a “unified one” (to illustrate, “echad” is the same word used in Genesis 2:24, when it talks about man and wife becoming one flesh), as opposed to a numeric one. Sometimes Jewish people will argue that it is also possible for “echad” to apply to numeric oneness (which is true), but ask yourself: why would God have used the word “echad” here which often refers to “oneness in unity” instead of “yachid” which is always “oneness in number”. HE cold easily have used “yachid” instead of “echad” but He didn’t. For more information on a comparison of these two Hebrew words, go to: “Trinity: Oneness in unity not in number: Yachid vs. Echad” http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-yachid-vs-echad.htm.

Another interesting article on this subject is “Elohim= The Plural God” at http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=823.

This article discusses the use of the plural word for God in Deuteronomy 6:4, and how Jewish leaders changed “echad” to “yachid” in their “Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith”, thereby changing the meaning of the original text.

We also see this illustrated in the Book of Daniel. “According to Daniel 7:14, the group that will serve the Messiah is composed of “all the peoples, nations, and languages.” That is, every person on earth will serve him. However, Daniel 7:27 states that the same all inclusive group will be serving “the Most High” God. Here we encounter a serious dilemma. If everyone on earth is serving the Messiah, who is left to serve the “Most High” God? Has Daniel contradicted himself? How do we reconcile this dilemma? The obvious solution is that in some supernatural way, the Messiah will be a physical, spiritual and literal manifestation of the eternal God.” (The Search For Messiah, p. 158)

As an interesting side note, look again at Deuteronomy 6:4, at the word “LORD”. In many translations “LORD” in caps is used to replace the Tetragrammaton (Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh), the personal name of God, sometimes translated as “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”. Translated, the Tetragrammaton means something like : “I am that I am”. In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself by God’s personal name in the following verse:  John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. [emphasis added]

If you’ve ever wondered why they wanted to stone Him at that point, it’s because he had just referred to himself by the personal name of God.

Finally, we can see that the claim that Jesus was only a man simply doesn’t make sense. As a mere man, how could His life be a ransom for everyone else’s? Hebrews 9:15 (NIV)  For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. As only a man, even a completely sinless one, his life could only be worth one other life (“eye for eye, tooth for tooth”) . The only way the Jesus’ life could be a ransom for all humanity, is if He were the eternal son of God and Creator of all.

Table of Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus (from: The Complete Jewish Bible):                                                                         

 The Timing of the Messiah

In the book of Daniel the timing of the Messiah, the Anointed One, is given: Daniel 9:24-26 (NIV) “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until, the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty two ‘sevens’. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens’, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing…”. A time period, seventy ‘sevens’, is described here. The seventy ‘sevens’ refers to years, and is broken up into an initial seven ‘sevens’ (49 years), a subsequent sixty-two ‘sevens’ (434 years) after which the Messiah is cut off, and then a final seven. This prophecy specifies that the Messiah will be cut off after an initial seven ‘sevens’ and a sixty-two ‘sevens’ has passed, a total of 483 years. So, from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 483 years would pass until the Messiah was “cut off”. So, all we need to know in order to calculate from the Old Testament when Jesus would die, is the date of the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. We have a few possibilities to choose from: 1) 537-538BC- the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple; 2) 519-520 BC- Darius’ confirmation of Cyrus’ decree; 3) 457-458 B.C. – the decree of Artaxerxes I to Ezra to go take offerings and sacrifices in accordance with the will of God; 4) 444-445 BC- the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. Whether or not we agree on which of these is the starting point, and whether or not we agree on whether to use a 365-day year to calculate this or a 360-day prophetic Hebrew year, we can arrive at a very short time period within which the Messiah was prophesied to be cut off: 58BC- 38AD. Other than Jesus Christ, who else within this time period could have been the Messiah? Are there any other possibilities?

God’s Prophetic Plan Illustrated In the Feasts of Israel

In the 23^rd chapter of the book of Leviticus, God lays out a prophetic picture of the lifework of Jesus the Messiah, and he does so…in the feasts of Israel?

What do these ancient “Jewish” feasts have to do with anything? Let’s take a look:

*Spring Feasts are in Green, Fall Feasts are in Red.

*Much of this graph is from Spangler and Tverberg’s “Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus” (Zondervan, 2009, p. 220-221).

Take a moment to study the graph. First, look at the green section and compare it to the red section. Do you notice anything?

The events in Green (the Spring Feasts) all occurred at Jesus’ First Coming! Passover represents His Sacrifice on the cross, Unleavened Bread represents His sinlessness, Firstfruits represents His resurrection, and the Feast of Weeks represents Pentecost, when the believers received the Spirit of God!

The Spring Feasts have already been fulfilled by Jesus (and the Spirit of God) and the fulfillments occurred on the exact days of the original feasts. Notice how the true meanings of each Feast, as fulfilled by Jesus Christ, neatly correspond with the symbolism and meaning of the original Feasts.

Now, look at the Fall Feasts. We see the blowing of a trumpet, the atonement of sin, and God dwelling with His people. What do these represent? The second coming of Jesus Christ (Hebrew: Yeshua Ha Mashiach- Yeshua the Messiah)! In Leviticus chapter 23, in the seemingly innocent descriptions of the feasts of Israel, God had laid out His prophetic plan for all to see.

*Side Note* An interesting question is: “Why are so many Christians unaware of these Old Testament feast days, which paint such a clear picture of Jesus and His work?” The answer lies in the early days of Christianity. At that time, anything which looked too “Jewish” was not wildly popular. To encourage non-Jewish converts, Church leaders “Christianized” popular pagan holidays, which resulted in the hybrid holidays which many Christians celebrate today (Christmas and Easter). Unfortunately, Christians who are unaware of the history of these holidays are susceptible to attacks from anti-Christian works like “The Da Vinci Code” and “Zeitgeist” , which claim that the pagan roots of these holidays prove that Christianity is a false religion. The Da Vinci Code and Zeitgeist mix in a little bit of truth with Satan’s Big Lie. It’s time for Christians to become knowledgeable about God’s Feast Days!

The Book of Isaiah

The book of Isaiah describes the Messiah in detail: Isaiah 42: 1-4 (NIV)“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.”

Jesus was gentle.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus did not come to condemn, but to call sinners to repentance. His message was not condemnation, but reconciliation. The Feasts of God illustrate this message. At Passover the blood was shed, making it possible for sins to be forgiven, and at the Atonement is reconciliation- life and access to the Father.

Isaiah 42:18  “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!” Jesus gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.

Isaiah 42:19 “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send?” Jesus himself was not deaf and blind, so why does it use this metaphor? Isaiah 11:1-4 (NIV) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord- and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. Jesus didn’t judge by appearances, but by righteous judgment.

Isaiah 11:4 (NIV) But with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Many of Israel’s religious leaders didn’t accept Jesus at his first appearance because they were unwilling to face the wicked nature that they (and we all) have.

Isaiah 43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you… Jesus came to do away with their sins, because ALL have fallen short of the glory of God.

Isaiah 6:9-10 (NIV) He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.‘” Many of them didn’t want to hear or repent because of pride.

Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” Sometimes Jewish people will say, “If Jesus was really the Messiah, why was he rejected by the religious leaders?”  The answer is: Scripture prophesied that He would be rejected. They rejected Jesus because it was prophesied that they would reject Him. They wanted the physical, everlasting kingdom set up, but didn’t realize that every single one of them had a death penalty hanging over their head from the Fall, and additional curses from the Sinai covenant. They failed to realize it, or repent.                                                               

Isaiah 52: 15 9 (NIV) …so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. The question is, if it’s not Jesus, who else could it possibly be? Who else ever fulfilled these scriptures?

Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Jesus was despised, betrayed even by people close to him. He experienced severe suffering and pain.

He didn’t fulfill the expectations of the people at that time, appearing to die in disgrace. But the amazing truth is that He accomplished far more than they were expecting. Many of them simply lacked the discernment to understand He was doing.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, 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. Do you remember how amazed Pilate was? John 19:10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. Jesus the Messiah was cut off for the sin of God’s people. It’s ironic that some Jewish people will claim that this verse isn’t talking about the Messiah, but about the nation of Israel. They claim that this verse is talking metaphorically about Israel as a suffering servant. But ask yourself:

How can Israel be an atonement for Israel?

When was Israel ever a sinless guilt offering for anybody? They were cast out of their land due to their sin, often reaping the curses that were a result of failing to keep the Law. Israel could never be that guilt offering. Jesus had to come to earth to be that guilt offering.

Isaiah 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death… He was crucified next to two criminals, and a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, gave him his own tomb.

Isaiah 53:9-10 …though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering… God put him as a guilt offering. Because of that sacrifice: Philippians 2:10 (NIV) … that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Isaiah 53:10 (KJV)…he shall see his seed…  Sometimes, Jewish people question this verse because Jesus was never married, but every one of us that confesses that Jesus is Master of all, our Redeemer, is the seed of Him. John12:24 (NIV) I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Isaiah 53:10-11 (KJV) …he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. This is referring to one person, Jesus the Messiah, who bore the iniquities of Israel.

Isaiah 53:12 (KJV) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors (he died with two robbers); and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.