O.T. Messianic Prophesies Home
Old Testament Prophesies of the Messiah
The following Old Testament prophesies pin down the timing, location and
events that would occur in the life of the Messiah. There is only one
person in history who has met all these prophesies, and that is Jesus Christ.
Timing of the Messiah
Manner of the Messiah's Death
1. He would appear before the scepter departs from Judah:
Genesis 49:1 - And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days… v.10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him [shall be] the obedience of the people.
This prophecy
states the tribal staff, or tribal identity, of Judah would not be lost until
the Messiah came. Even when Judah was deprived of its sovereignty during the
Babylonian captivity, it never lost its national identity or tribal staff. The
people still possessed their own laws, lawgivers, and judges.
Judah began to lose its power when Herod the Great (a
Gentile) succeeded the Maccabean dynasty, the last Jewish family to reign in
Jerusalem. Furthermore, the legal power of the Sanhedrin was now being limited
under Roman domination. This loss of power included the ability to execute
capital punishment sometime between 7 and 11 A.D. The Jews believed the Messiah
would appear before Judah lost its identity but with the legal restrictions
imposed on them by Rome, their power was rapidly diminishing. The question
remained: where was the Messiah?
The Jews were well aware of the loss of power. The Jewish
Talmud even documents the lamentations of their people with the words Woe
unto us, for the scepter has been taken from Judah and the Messiah has not
appeared!
2. He would come while the Temple was still standing
Malachi 3:1- And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.
The above verse (and others mentioned in Psalms, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah) gives a definite reference to the existence of the Jewish temple when the Messiah appears. This means the temple must still be standing when He comes. Of course, the Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans and has never been rebuilt- for almost 2,000 years.
The book of Daniel not only speaks of the
destruction of the temple, he also provides us with an exact sequence of events:
“...The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the
prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” (Daniel
9:26)
According to Daniel:
Ø The Messiah comes (This happened with Jesus’ birth in 1 A.D.)
Ø The Messiah is cut off (killed) (This happened with Jesus’ crucifixion in 33 A.D.)
Ø Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed (This happened in 70 A.D.).
3. He would come 483 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
Daniel 9:25 - "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, [There shall be] seven weeks [sevens (shabua)] and sixty-two weeks [sevens (shabua)];
Dan 9:26 "And after the sixty-two weeks [sevens (shabua)] Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
The command to restore and build Jerusalem went forth in in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes when Nehemiah (chap. 2) petitioned the king to rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes agreed to issue him a letter of approval to rebuild the city. From history, we know Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., making 444 B.C. the 20th year of his reign.
Ø Since our difference between 444 B.C. and 33 A.D. is in modern solar years, we will need to convert the amount into prophetic years by multiplying our 476 solar-year difference by 365.25 days (the amount of time it takes our earth to fully revolve around the sun). We get 173,859 days as our answer.
Ø Now take our 173,859 days and divide it by 360 to reach the amount of prophetic years. Our answer is 483 years.
1. He was executed after a trial
“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 …” (Isaiah 53:8)
Daniel 9:26 also suggests a violent death in also predicting that Messiah would be “cut off”.
2. His hands and feet would be pierced
I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; Psalms 22:14-16
".. they will look on Me whom they pierced...”. (Zechariah 12:10)
(Source for this page courtesy of Garland Shaw)