Jesus the Nazarene is certainly the Messiah of Jewish prophecy

Front matter

\ : mj& THE NA2

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Introduction

4<LJAVING good, give." The author has J * found the real Good, and in these pages, proffers to give. "Oh! that I knew where I might find Him," has been the unuttered cry of the weary millions. To that way-worn and foot-sore throng this little volume offers to be the guide to His dwelling place. Many have found Him and are singing :

"Jesus the very thought of thee, With sweetness fills my breast ; But sweeter far thy face to see, And in thy presence rest."

To find Him, to know Him, is more than all besides. In this world's solitariness, ruin, sin, we need Him in his saving grace, in His preserving care, in His guiding eye, in His shaping hand, in His changeless love, and in His gathering arms.

What a boon then is Christ to any smitten, seared, and scarred soul !

"When I found Him in my bosom, Then I found Him everywhere ; In the bud and in the blossom, In the earth and in the air."

Oh ! that many may read, and that every reader may thereby find Him !

A. C. DAVIDSON.

Table Of Contents

THE SUBJECT STATED.

1. Testimony of the Old Testament in General, ... 10

2. The Object of this Book, 11

3. God Only Can Foretell the Future, 13

Chapter I. The Coming Messiah

1. General Promises of His Coming, 17

2. Time of His Appearance, 19

(1.) To be Before Judah Ceased to Rule, .... 19 (2.) Certain Years After the Temple Should

be Rebuilt, 20

3. Place of His Birth, 22

( 1.) The Town Named, 22

(2.) This Town so Understood as His Birthplace, 23

4. Manner of His Birth, 24

(1.) Messiah's "Sign," 24

(2.) Messiah's Names, 26

Chapter II. Messiah's Reception In The World

1. The Magi to Worship, 29

2. Persecuted at Birth, 29

3. To be Driven from His Native Country. 30 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Natures Of The Coming Messiah

1. His Human Nature : His Ancestry, 33

(1.) His Earliest Ancestry Named. 33

a. To be of Abraham's Seed. 34

b. Of the Seed of Isaac, 34

c. And of the Seed of Jacob, 35

d. And the Seed of Judah, 35

(2.) His Later Ancestry Named, 36

a. To be of the Seed of Jesse, 37

b. And of the Seed of David, the King-, 37

2. His Divine Nature : His Divinity, 39

Chapter IV. Messiah And His Doctrines

1. His Gentleness, 44

(1.) As a Tender Shepherd, 45

( 2.) A Man of Meekness, 46

(3.) Will be Pleasing to God, 48

2. Will be Patient Under All Trials, 49

(1.) He Will be Sorely Maltreated,. . 50

( 2.) He Will be Silent When Afflicted, 52

(3.) He Will Pray for His Enemies, 53

3. Messiah's Doctrines, 55

(1.) His Sceptre One of Righteousness and

Love, 55

( 2.) Regeneration Promised, 57

(3.) The Holy Spirit to be Sent, 59

Chapter V. Messiah's Life And Labors

1. Beginning of His Kingdom, 61

( 1.) The Forerunner, 61

TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii

( 2.) The Wilderness Cry, 62

( 3.) The Way Prepared, 63

2. Messiah to be a Preacher of the Gospel, 67

3. Messiah to be a Great Light, 71

4. Messiah to be a Healer of the Afflicted, 72

5. To Triumphantly Enter the Jewish Capital, ... 75

6. And He Will Be Rejected, 76

Chapter VI. Messiah's Arrest And Death

1. The Betrayal, 84

( 1.) The Betrayer, 85

( 2.) The Price Paid 87

( 3.) Disposition of Price Paid, 88

(4.) The "Shepherd Smitten: The Sheep Scattered," 89

■2. The False Witnesses, 90

3. Treatment at the Cross, 91

( 1.) What Messiah Himself Will t Do, 92

a. Will Suffer for Others, 92

5. He Will Intercede for His Persecutors, 94

c. Messiah Will Cry Unto God, 95

d. Will Die with Malefactors, 96

( 2.) What Others Will Do Unto Messiah, .... 98

a. Will Pierce His Hands andJHis Feet, 98

b. Will Give Him Vinegar^to Drink, . . 99

c. Will Divide His Garments : Cast

Lots for His Coat, 100

d. Will Break No Bone, But Pierce e. Will Deride Him,. 103

/. And Bury Him with the Rich, 104

Viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Part II. The Prophecies Fulfilled

The Old Testament Prophecies and the New Testament Fulfillments arranged in parallel columns, 135-178

JESUS THE NAZARENE IS THE MESSIAH OF PROPHECY.

THE SUBJECT STATED.

IT would seem that a subject as important to the follower of Jesus as this subject is, would have been discussed till the whole matter had become as familiar as the story of His birth, or His death on the cross; but when we attempt to find books on the subject, we learn that they are very few; in fact, this writer has not been able to find any one book wholly written on this theme. Two or three have chapters referring to this subject; but the whole thing has been neglected by the book writers; and this is a sufficient reason why the present writer now assumes the task of presenting this important theme to the public in the shape of a book. Do you accept Jesus as your Savior? How do you know that He is the One who was to come into the world to redeem the world from sin ? Do you reject Jesus ? How do you know but that He is the very One who was to come into the world on no other mission than

10 JESUS IS THE MESSIAH OF PROPHECY.

to redeem you and all others like you from your sins? We hope to learn something on this question of a Messiah, ere we have finished this book.

1. THE TESTIMONY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GENERAL.

No one can read the Old Testament with any degree of care without learning the fact that the authors of these writings were continually on the lookout for a Great and Glorious Personage, who was to come into the world, at some time in the future, for the purpose of restoring the people, in some way, to the favor of an offended God. So clearly was this seen by the Old Testament writers, that they wrote often and over again, of the coming Deliverer; they have given us many plain prophecies of His coming, and the more these writings are studied the more clearly is the fact seen that all the Old Testament writers had this event in view as they penned their sacred words. In an obscure way, the fact of the coming of some Great Sin-bearer was announced to the first human pair (Gen. 3:15), and as the world grew older, the prophecies were multiplied, and not only did they become more numerous, but they also became more definite and pointed, with a growing accuracy towards a certain Person, and to a definite time when He should come to redeem the people from their sins.

These prophecies began to be written as far back as the days of Moses, fifteen hundred years before our Christian era, and some of them were announced to the world more than four hundred years before that date, and one (above cited) was made near four thousand years before the beginning of our present era; and continually from that date of Moses, with longer or shorter intervals intervening, the prophecies were multiplied concerning this Great Redeemer, up to within four hundred years of our era, at which time (400 B. C.) they ceased altogether.

2. THE OBJECT OF THIS BOOK.

It is the design of this book to examine and study these prophecies in as candid and unbiased a manner as it can be done, and learn, if possible, who fulfilled them, and when it was done; and, further, if they are not fulfilled yet, to see if there is a possibility of their being fulfilled.

We shall learn that there are a number of

12 JESUS IS THE MESSIAH OF PROPHECY.

surroundings in which the Redeemer must come, in order to fulfill these prophecies; for instance, some of them tell us plainly who will be in power, and who have passed out of power, as well as the condition of the Jewish worship at the time when the great Deliverer shall make His appearance in the world.

Now, it is certainly clear to any candid mind, that if these conditions have already come, have continued for a while, and have passed away, and passed so completely that it is practically impossible for them ever to return; as this can be shown easily; for when certain nations have come and died away they can not exist again, any one knows; that also the time for the coming Deliverer has come and passed as well; certainly if all the environment in which He had to come has already come and gone forever, and that it is impossible for these to be repeated, then we have the whole question reduced down to but two propositions, viz. :

1. There can never be a Redeemer; or

2. The Redeemer has already come.

With these two propositions stated so clearly that a child can comprehend them, let us proceed to investigate the prophecies themselves, and learn who has fulfilled them, and when it was done.

3. GOD ONLY CAN FORETELL THE FUTURE.

Let us bear in mind the fact, that in the very nature of the constituted world, that none but an Omniscient God can foretell the future. There may be, and in fact, there are some things which occur, that are ruled by the laws of Nature's own mathematics, which may be told before hand, such as the eclipses, the transits of certain planets, and such as are governed by the laws of unchanging nature. For instance, I may say now that in the year 2000, the sun will rise at six o'clock, March 21st; but the statement would not be a prophecy in the least; for this is ruled by the laws which have governed the motions of the earth ever since it was set in motion in its present orbit.

A prophecy is the foretelling of a future event, to which there is not, neither can there be, a mathematical clue for the solution of the problem, nor any other rule of natural law.

That a particular individual is to be born into the world, at a given time, and that he will perform certain specified deeds, and also that other things will be done to him; and all these foretold by men living from 400 to 2000 years before the event takes place, are facts that no

14 JESUS IS THE MESSIAH OF PKOPHECY.

man can know, unless he be guided by Him who governs all things after the counsel of His own will, even the Omniscient God of the Universe Himself. Who dares to dispute this statement?

In the future pages, we shall see what was said about the coming of the Great Personage: see what He will do, as well as learn what others will do unto Him; remembering, at the same time, that all these prophecies were predicted from 400 to 2000 years before they were fulfilled.

We shall take up the periods of the life of the coming Redeemer, and arrange them, with the prophecies, in their respective eras, that they may all stand out clearly and with their full force, collectively; then may we see them at a glance bearing on one point, and get all the power of their combined testimony.

Fart I. examines the prophecies separately as well as connectedly, adding such comments as the writer may think necessary. Part II. collects all the prophecies that bear upon any one point or part of the life of the Messiah, arranging them together, and also placing the fulfillment in a parallel column, without any comment. Notes of explanation will be found at the bottom of pages in the first part, but not repeated in the second.

May the writer hope that there will be a careful and unprejudiced examination of these prophecies made by the reader, and that he or she will accept the testimony, and then act upon it in a way that will stand the test of both time and eternity ?

If Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, as they both mean the same thing, will it not be wise to accept Him, and follow Him all your days? And will it not be the height of folly to reject Him, and turn after the world and the pleasures thereof, when you run such a risk of being lost forever ?

May God help us to read and study the book as for eternity; and if there is one soul brought to see Jesus as his or her Savior, or if any Christian is strengthened in his or her faith in the Lord Jesus by the book, the writer will be abundantly paid for the labor spent upon its preparation.

PART I.

THE PROPHECIES EXAMINED.

Chapter I. The Coming Messiah

1. GENERAL PROMISES OF HIS COMING.

THERE are a number of promises that a Deliverer will come into the world at some time in the future, but with no definite data from which any idea can be obtained as to when this event shall occur. Such promises are given, not to enable any one to locate the time, but as an encouraging promise that He will surely come. Such passages as Num. 24:17, and some others similar, are of this kind: "I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab." And again, the promise made to the first pair of human beings, when they had sinned, found in Gen. 3:15, as to the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head; very indefinite, you may say, and so it is; but they understood it to refer to the Great Deliverer, as we may see from what Eve said when she had given birth to the first child ever born into the world, Gen. 4:1: "I have gotten a man, Jehovah." (Correct reading of Hebrew. y

Again, we find Isaiah saying, 59:20: "And a Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord." Here again there is the promise that a Savior shall come, but no idea is given as to when He will appear upon the earth; but the promise stood as an encouragement to those of that day that there would come, some time, a Great Deliverer to help the people.

So we find that Hag. 2:7, said: "And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord."

While these prophecies are not so definite as to the time when Messiah was to come, yet taken with others, they are of value, and make the case stronger that there was certainly coming One who would redeem the people from their sins; and the people of those days knew that these passages referred to the Great and Mighty Deliverer of Israel.

2. TIME OF HIS APPEARANCE.

Besides these indefinite promises of His coming, we have some very clear and pointed prophecies as to when He might be expected upon the earth. The first definite one as to time, we find, is made more than two thousand years after the fall of Adam into sin, and it was made by Jacob.

(1.) TO BE BEFORE JUDAH CEASED TO RULE.

In the farewell which Jacob took of his sons, found recorded in Gen. 49:10, we find the first direct promise as to the time when Messiah should come. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh* come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

That is to say there shall be a ruler among the descendants of the children of Judah until the time when the Great Deliverer of Israel should come.

The special question to us is, Did Jesus appear in the world at the proper time to fulfill this

"The word here translated "Shiloh" is from the Hebrew (shalom) from "shalam," to be whole, safe, secure, and this form means "to be at peace" or "The peaceful One." It is the same word as is in Isa. 9:5: "Sar Shalom," "Prince of Peace," and is one of the names that was given to the Messiah by that prophet.

prophecy? Was He born into the world before the descendants of Judah ceased to rule? Of course, to decide this question, we must learn vjhen He was born, and who was ruling at the time.

Josephus and the New Testament, as well as contemporary writers, tell us that Herod the Great was on the throne of Judah at the time when Jesus was born, and that his wife was Mariamne, the daughter of Alexandra, who was the daughter of Hyrcanus the high priest. This Herod died just after the birth of Jesus, as we learn from Matt. 2:19.

Jesus then fulfills completely this prophecy as to the time when the Messiah should be born into the world.

<2.) TO BE BORN CERTAIN YEARS AFTER THE TEMPLE IS REBUILT.

This is a date that there can be much certainty about, as the order for rebuilding the temple had not been given when this prophecy was made, and it would be an easy matter to learn the time Messiah should come when the order to rebuild the temple should be given. Dan. 9:25 gives us quite a definite clue as to when Messiah must be born. The prophecy reads as follows: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks."

This is the most definite prophecy as to time that we have yet found, and one that can easily be comprehended. The ' * command to rebuild Jerusalem'' had not been given when this was spoken, and certainly when it is given, the date can be fixed with almost absolute certainty. Daniel wrote this prophecy in the year B. C. 538, and the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the year 457 B. C. (See book of Ezra, chap. 7.) The weeks being understood to be weeks of years, as we find it in Num. 14:34, and Ezek. 4:6, "each day for a year," being the Bible's own way of interpreting itself, we find that there were seventy times seven, or four hundred and ninety years from the time of the going forth of the commandment to build the city of Jerusalem; these 490 years being added to the year B. C. 457, brings us to the year A. D. 33, the time when Jesus was cut off or crucified.

Again, we learn from Daniel that in the "Days of those kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, .... it shall break in pieces and consume these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. 2:44.

We find in Luke 1:32, 33, concerning the prophecy of the angel as to the birth of Jesus: "He shall be great, and shall be called the 'Son of the Highest'; and the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of his father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Here the prophecy made just before His birth agrees fully with Daniel's prophecy, made more than 600 years before the event took place. Tracing the promises step by step, we next come to the class of prophecies as to vihere He should be born.

3. PLACE OF HIS BIRTH.

As we go on in the investigation of these prophecies, we will be astonished sometimes, at the minute accuracy that God has pointed out the particulars as to the birth of Him who should redeem Israel; and here we have a careful naming of the very place where He must be born.

(1.) THE TOWN NAMED.

Micah, the Morasthite, who prophesied in the country of Judah, made a prophecy about the time of the death of Hezekiah, 710 B. C, as to where the coming Messiah should be born. His promise reads thus:

Micah 5:2: "But thou Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. "

We need no more definite location where the Son of God should be born than this; and we must remember that this prophecy was made over 700 years before it was fulfilled.

(2.) THE TOWN WAS SO UNDERSTOOD.

The question may arise in the minds of some, "Is this sufficiently definite to enable the people to know where He must be born? " And we have only to turn to Matt. 2:1—6, to learn the facts in the case. From the report of the "chief priests and the scribes of the people" whom Herod called upon to know about the place where he should be born, we see that they made no hesitation in telling Herod that Messiah should be born in Bethlehem; and they quoted this very passage of Micah's as a sufficient proof that he must be born there. They made no delay upon the subject, but answered at once, as if that question had been well understood long ago, and that it was readily answered by all who had given the subject any thought.

Is it necessary to mention that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Every one, who knows anything of the New Testament, knows also that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as we are told by Matt. 2:1. So, also, Luke tells the same story, Luke 2:4-7. Here we find complete fulfillment as to the birth place of Jesus.

4. MANNER OP HIS BIRTH.

Certain things were told as to the way that Messiah was to be born into the world; and if these do not occur in the case of Jesus, He can not be the Messiah. Let us notice:

(1.) MESSIAH'S "SIGN."

There was a certain "sign" that was to attend the birth of Messiah, very extraordinary, and in fact, unprecedented, and yet it was to be the "sign" of the One who was to come to redeem the world. It is Isaiah who gives us this "sign," and he tells it as follows: Isa. 7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a Son, and shall call His name "Immanuel."*

We shall not stop here to comment upon this name, to show that He was to be Divine; that will be noticed later on; but we shall notice some striking things that must occur, when the Messiah should make His appearance in the world. The ' ' Sign " which God Himself gave, is one to which very many object, and they seriously complain of the way which God chose to bring His Son into the world. It is remarkably strange that God can not do things right and to the taste and notions of many of the sinners. If they were not sinners, what God does would be far more acceptable to them; and their objecting to the "sign," which God said should attend the coming of His Son into the world, only proves their sinful natures, but does not, in the least, destroy the fact that being born of a virgin was the God-chosen way for Messiah's birth. Had Jesus not been born of a virgin, He never could have laid a tenable claim to being the Messiah; for that very thing is the God-chosen "sign" by which

*This is a Hebrew name, made up of the words, "im" means, "with;" "manu" means " Us;" and "el" a contraction of Elohim, iv common word for "God." Immanuel means therefore, literally " With us God," or "God with us." 3

His Son should be known when He appeared. Whoever objects to this virgin-birth of the Lord Jesus, rejects the very "sign" by which He was to be identified. Let this be pondered well before He be rejected.

(2.) MESSIAH'S NAMES.

Besides the name given Him in the last paragraph, there were some other names by which He should be known, and they are quite remarkable. Isaiah speaks again, and tells us these names of the Great Coming Redeemer. Says lie, Isa. 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called 'Wonderful Counsellor,' 'The mighty God,' 'The everlasting Father,' 'The Prince of Peace.' "

Notice the meanings of these names, and learn something from each. We learn some characteristic of the one to whom a name is given by divine authority. Practically, all the Bible names, and especially those given by the voice of God, have a striking meaning, and if we learn the meaning of the name, we shall also learn some characteristic of the one who bears the name.

"Abraham," father of a multitude; "Solomon," the man of peace; "Samuel," heard of God, and so on; so the names here given to the coming Messiah have each a remarkable meaning. The name "Messiah" means the One whom God has anointed; the same meaning is in the Greek word " Kristos," from which comes our word "Christ," all meaning the One whom God has anointed (to be king). So also He is called "Shiloh, " because He is the Peaceful One. "My peace I leave with you, " said He. The name "Yesuah," our word "Jesus," means "Savior"; and so these names given above reveal other characteristics to the wonderful Personage of the coming Messiah. "Peleh," translated "Wonderful," is quite an appropriate name for Him who is to have such a wonderful birth; in His matchless purity of His character; in the divine words which came from His lips; in His wonderful life, death and resurrection, as well as the wonderful influence His name has to this day over millions, indeed it is wonderful!! And the words "El Gibbor," translated "Mighty God," because He is mighty God indeed, "in whom dwells the fullness of the God-head bodily," Col. 2:9; and the name 1 'Abhe Adh, ' ' translated ; ' Everlasting Father, "

or as the Hebrew has it, "Father of Eternity;" though here a little babe born in Bethlehem, jet His goings forth are from everlasting; as He Himself said (John 8:58), "Before Abraham was, I am."

And the name " Sar Shalom," "The Prince of Peace" (see note, bottom page 19), shows the Messiah to be a man of peace, as the- Lord Jesus Christ was in fact.*

*Here might be inserted the name in Psa. 2:12, the unusual word in Hebrew, except in poetry, " Bar," but a dispute is as to what it is from ; some say it is from "bara," to create, but I believe it is from " barar," to choose, be chosen.

Chapter II. Messiah's Reception In The World

1. THE MAGI TO VISIT HIM.

IN AVID speaks in Psa. 72:10 on this wise, likely about Solomon and his riches, but in type of the Messiah, "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles of the sea shall bring presents: the kings of Seba and Sheba shall offer gifts." Again in v. 15, "And He shall live, and to Him shall be given the gold of Sheba: prayer shall be made for Him, and daily shall He be praised. " Matt. 2:1,2, tells us of the praise that was offered to Jesus by the wise men from the East.

2. PERSECUTED AT BIRTH.

One would suppose that of all the visitors to this sin-cursed earth, He who was to free us from our sins, and bring us back into favor with God, would be the most welcome of all personages that could come to our world; but instead of being welcomed, He was to be so severely persecuted that it became a matter of prophecy, in the days of Jeremiah. He wrote in the time of the captivity, about the year 606 B. C, and following is what he says, Jer. 31:15: "Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Raman, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." It is only necessary to call the attention of the reader to the passage found in Matt. 2:16-18, to show that Jesus was so persecuted; Herod, wanting to worship Him, as he feigned, asked the wise men to return and report where the child could be found; but he intended to kill Him instead of paying Him divine honors. Then it was that he sent soldiers to Bethlehem and had all the children murdered from two years old and under; and the passage in Matthew says that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Jeremiah as to the weeping in Ramah: so this sad prophecy finds fulfillment in its sadder sequel.

3. WILL BE DRIVEN FROM HIS COUNTRY.

"He came unto His own and His own received Him not," is the comment which John makes upon the way that the Lord was welcomed, or rather not welcomed, by His people.

MESSIAH'S RECEPTION IN THE WORLD. 31

"He came to seek and to save that which was lost;" and the very lost oues whom He "came to seek and to save " are those who persecuted Him. Oh! the malice in the hearts of those who refuse to accept the Son of God: " Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." says the patient Savior of lost men.