In summing up the
contents of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, we see that the
Jews, possessing such an abundant and thorough description of His character and
many events of His life, could without difficulty acquire a true faith in Him.
In part they should have known, that the Messiah was
to have two natures: human and Divine, that He would be the greatest
Prophet, King and High Priest, anointed by God (the Father) for these services,
and would be a Good Shepherd.
The prophecies also attested to the fact, that the main objective of the
Messiah would be the defeat of the devil and his servants, the redemption of
mankind from sins, the healing of their spiritual and physical ailments and
reconciliation with God; that He will sanctify the faithful and establish a New
Testament, and His spiritual blessings will extend to all humanity.
The prophets also revealed many events in the life of the Messiah,
specifically: He will be descended from Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, from
the line of King David, will be born to a Virgin in the city of Bethlehem, will
preach peace to people, heal illnesses, will be meek and compassionate, will be
betrayed, condemned though innocent, will suffer, will be pierced (by a spear),
will die, will be buried in a new grave, during the time of His crucifixion
darkness will descend. Then the Messiah will descend into hell and will lead
the souls of people from it, after which He will rise from the dead; they also
predicted that not everyone will recognize Him as the Messiah, but some will
even feud with Him, though without success. The result of His redemption will
be the spiritual renewal of the faithful and the outpouring of the grace of the
Holy Spirit on them.
Finally, the prophets determined that the time of His coming will coincide with
the end of the political independence of the tribe of Judah, which will occur
no later that 70 “weeks” (70x7= 490 years) after the issuance of the
decree to restore the city of Jerusalem, and no later than the destruction of
the second Temple in Jerusalem, that He will destroy the antichrist, that He
will come again in glory. The final result of His activity will be the
attainment of justice, peace and happiness.
Also, those names, which the prophets gave to Him, attest to the nature of the
Messiah and the greatness of His deeds, such as: Lion, David, Branch, Mighty
God, Emmanuel, Adviser, Leader of the World, Father of the future age,
Conciliator, Star, Seed of the Woman, Prophet, Son of God, King, Anointed
(Messiah), Redeemer, God, Lord, Servant (of God), Righteous, Son of man, Holy
of Holies.
All this abundance of prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament Holy books
reveal to us the great significance the prophets assigned to their mission of
teaching the Jews to believe correctly in the coming Christ. In addition, the
hope that at some time an extraordinary Person will come, Who will deliver
people from disasters, spread from the Jews among many nations, which is why
Haggai call Christ “Desire of all nations.” Truly, among many ancient
peoples (Chinese, Hindus, Persians, Greeks and others), there existed a legend
about the coming of a God-person into the world long before the birth of
Christ. Some called Him “Holy,” others — “Savior.”
Thus the Old Testament prophets prepared the necessary conditions for the
successful spreading of the New Testament faith. Truly, many ancient written
monuments of the time period between 200 BC until the beginning of the 2nd
century AD witness that, during that time, the Hebrew nation intensely awaited
the coming of the Messiah. Among these written monuments can be mentioned the
Book of Enoch, the Book of Baruch, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sibyl Oracles, the
ancient parts of the Talmud, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the notes of Joseph Flavian
(a Jewish historian of the 1st century of our era) and others. Quotes from
these sources would require too much space. Reading these ancient written
monuments, it may be concluded, that the faith of the Jews in the Messiah
sometimes reached amazing proportions. Thus, for examples, several ancient
writers called the coming Messiah the Son of Man and the Son of God, existing
prior to the appearance of the world, king and judge righteous, rewarding the
good and punishing the evil (in the second part of the book of Enoch).
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