Lesson 3

Prophecies of the Messiah

Painting by Peeter van Avont of the Holy Family departing for Egypt

Peeter van Avont - Holy Family Departing for Egypt

Synopsis

Throughout Israel’s history, God has progressively revealed the mystery of the Messiah’s coming. Jesus is, therefore, present in the hundreds of prophecies found in the Old Testament that speak of him. In this lesson we will look at some of the earliest and most important prophecies. Together, they form a clear picture of who the future Messiah will be: He will descend from the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. He will be a king from David’s line. He will come by the year 135 AD, at the very latest. He will come as a son given to us and be born in Bethlehem of a virgin. And he will be a blessing for all mankind because he will restore our friendship with God by defeating our enemy, the serpent, although he will die in the process.

Learning Objectives

You will have successfully completed this lesson when you understand and can:

Explain how the Protoevangelium speaks of a future Messiah who will restore mankind’s friendship with God by defeating the serpent. But in this battle, he will also suffer death.
Recount how God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveal that the Messiah will descend from them and bring a universal blessing to all mankind.
Indicate how Jacob’s blessing reveals the following about the Messiah: he will descend from Judah, he will be a king, and he will come before 135 AD, at the very latest.
Explain how Balaam’s prophecy pictures the Messiah as a king who will have dominion over the people and conquer his enemies.
Explain how Moses’ prophecy underlines the prophetic nature of Christ’s mission.
Indicate how Nathan’s prophecy declares that the Messiah will descend from King David.

Introduction

As we have seen in previous lessons, Jesus is present in the prophecies and types found in the Old Testament. We will dedicate two lesson to the prophecies about him. In this lesson, we will look at some of the prophecies that foretell his coming as the Messiah, and in the following lesson, we will look at some of the prophecies that speak of his passion and death. Much of the information presented here is taken from Lawrence Feingold’s book The Mystery of Israel and the Church, volume 1 “Figure and Fulfillment.” For those interested in this theme, I highly recommend this book.

God’s First Promise

The first prophecy about the future Messiah is found in the book of Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, they lost God’s friendship, not only for themselves but also for all of their descendants. Confronted with this situation, they could have easily despaired. So, God, in his goodness, promised he would one day send a redeemer to reestablish our friendship with him.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your seed and her seed;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel. (Gn 3:15)

This enigmatic oracle enkindled Adam and Eve’s hopes and raised their spirits. That is why it is called the Protoevangelium—that is, the first (proto) good news (evangelium). Brant Pitre shows how ancient Jews saw it as a prophecy of the future Messiah.

The oldest Jewish interpretations that we possess of the biblical oracle about the “serpent” and the “woman” (Genesis 3:15) saw it as a prophecy of the Messiah. The most significant example of this is the book of Enoch, which was very popular among Jews in the first century A.D. This ancient Jewish writing not only identifies the “Messiah” with the “Son of Man” (1 Enoch 48:2–10) but also links the Son of Man with the prophecy of the woman in Genesis 3:15. [1]

Pain shall seize them when they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory…. For the offspring of the mother of the living was concealed from the beginning (1 Enoch 62:5–7) [2]

As Dr. Pitre comments, this passage shows how Jews in Jesus’ time identified the Messiah with Eve’s offspring, “the mother of the living.” He also quotes the following passage from an ancient Jewish Targum:

I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your sons and her sons... For her sons, however, there will be a remedy, but for you, O serpent, there will not be a remedy, since they are to make appeasement in the end, in the day of King Messiah. [3]

What is important about these passages is that they show that Ancient Jews—and not just Christians—interpreted the Protoevangelium as a prophecy of the Messiah. There are several important things to notice about the Protoevangelium. First, it was given at the dawn of humanity, right after the fall but before Adam and Eve had children. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that they would have told them about this promise, and they, in turn, would have passed it down to their descendants. This continued throughout the centuries so that every culture has, in some way, a primordial memory about original sin and the promise of a redeemer, even though this may have become greatly distorted over time.

Second, it is worth noting that it isn’t just a prophecy about the Messiah’s coming. It also speaks of his battle against the serpent. In this battle, both sides appear to die: the human offspring will crush the serpent’s head, and the supposedly venomous serpent’s offspring will bite his heel. This is a reference to Christ’s Passion. He will defeat Satan by dying.

Third, this prophecy tells us that the Messiah won’t battle the serpent alone; a woman will also be involved: “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman.” If this prophecy is about the coming of Jesus, then this woman must be Mary.

God’s Second Promise

In the course on the History of Salvation, we saw that the first eleven chapters of the Bible end on a cliffhanger. Sin has spread throughout the world like an avalanche and this has disrupted God’s original plan. After the sin of the Tower of Babel, God confused the people’s language so that they could no longer communicate with each other and then he scattered them throughout the world. The communion he intended at the beginning seems to have been completely destroyed and the reader is left wondering what hope remains for mankind.

But then in chapter 12, God begins his plan of salvation. His first action is to call Abraham and tell him that he will bless all the families of the earth through him.

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” (Gn 12:2–3)

This universal blessing is God’s second promise about the future Messiah. This pledge is so important that God renewed it several times. We find the first renewal in chapter 22. After Abraham had proved his love and faith in God through his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, we read:

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Gn 22:15–18)

Later on, in chapter 26, God renews this promise again, but this time to Abraham’s son Isaac. God tells him:

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (Gn 26:3–5)

And finally, God renews it one last time in chapter 28. We read there that Jacob was sleeping,

And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.” (Gn 28:12–14)

About this, Lawrence Feingold writes:

We see in these prophecies that the very existence of the people of Israel is repeatedly connected with the blessing that will be given to all nations in their seed. Four promises are given to them: (1) the land of Canaan will be given to their descendants; (2) they will have descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the sand of the earth; (3) God will bless, assist, and accompany them with His intimate presence; and (4) God will bless all nations in the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It is quite significant that the very existence and multiplication of the Jewish people is linked with a blessing that is absolutely universal in scope. A particular people is promised a particular land, but this particular blessing is not an end in itself. On the contrary, the promise of Israel’s existence and fruitfulness is for the sake of a blessing that transcends all national borders and is for all the nations of the earth. The Messiah is not for Israel alone, but for every nation!

This obviously contradicts the common Jewish idea that pictures the Messiah as merely a national liberator or great military figure. How would a Jewish military genius, freeing them from the bonds of foreign domination, be a blessing for all the nations on earth? [4]

God’s promises to bless mankind was fulfilled by Jesus as he ascended into heaven.

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. (Lk 24:50–51)

Jacob’s Blessing

We saw above, how God promised that the Messiah would descend from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham and Sarah only had one son, Isaac. Isaac had twins, Esau and Jacob. We read in the Bible how Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and then how Jacob tricked his father into giving him the blessing. So it is clear that the Messiah will come from Jacob’s line and not Esau’s. But Jacob had twelves sons. How can we know from whose line the Messiah would descend? If God hadn’t had told us it would have been impossible to figure out.

One might logically have thought that the Messiah would come from Jacob’s firstborn son Reuben. Or perhaps his most beloved son Joseph. He was, after all, the virtuous family hero who ended up saving everybody. But probably no one would have thought of Jacob’s fourth son, Judah. He was a scoundrel. It was he who sold Joseph into slavery. He later married a Canaanite woman and eventually ended up sleeping with his daughter in law, Tamar, thinking that she was a prostitute. It was from this sinful relationship that the Messiah came from, as we read in Matthew’s Gospel.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar… (Mt 1,1–3)

When Jacob was about to die, he called his twelve sons together and blessed each of them individually. The blessing he gave to Judah reveals that the Messiah would descend from him:

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;

your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

Judah is a lion’s whelp;…

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs;

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples…

He washes his garments in wine

and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Gn 49:8–11)

In addition to revealing the Messiah’s lineage, this blessing reveals other important details. The Messiah will be a king because he will have the scepter. A scepter is a staff or baton that was a token of royal or imperial authority. The Messiah will also wash his garments in wine, the blood of grapes. What could this mean? When read in the light of the Gospels, this prophetical blessing can be understood to be referring to the Lord’s Passion.

In addition, according to Lawrence Feingold, the fact that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah… until he comes to whom it belongs” helps date the Messiah’s coming. On this, he writes:

Furthermore, this text is of great interest with regard to the time of the coming of the Messiah. For the text states that sovereignty will not be completely lost to Judah before the Messiah comes. This sovereignty of Judah, progressively diminished in the centuries before Christ, was finally lost when the Roman procurators began to rule in Palestine after the death of King Herod and the exile of his son Archelaus, about the year 6 AD. A more grievous expression of the loss of sovereignty occurred with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in the year 70 AD. This loss was carried even further in 132–135 AD with the repression of the second Jewish revolt under a false Messiah, Bar Kochba, after which the Jews were dispersed among the people for over eighteen centuries. Therefore, the Messiah must certainly have come before that time. [5]

Balaam’s Prophecy

We find another important prophecy about the Messiah in the Book of Numbers. Towards the end of their forty-year march into the Promised Land, the Israelites reached the plain of Moab. This lay east of the Jordan River. Balak, the king of the Moabites, became alarmed at this and offered to pay the prophet Balaam to have him curse Israel. But God prevented Balaam from doing so. Instead, he made him repeatedly bless the Israelites. During one of these blessings, Balaam said the following:

I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not nigh:

a star shall come forth out of Jacob,

and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall crush the forehead of Moab,

and break down all the sons of Sheth…

By Jacob shall dominion be exercised,

and the survivors of cities be destroyed! (Num 24:17–19)

Commenting on this prophecy, Lawrence Feingold writes:

It is interesting to observe how Balaam connects the destiny of Israel with its Messianic culmination. The glory of Israel is ordered to giving rise to the glorious “star of Jacob.” Here the Messiah is pictured as a king who will have dominion over the people and conquer his enemies. It is easy to see how such a prophecy could lead to a nationalistic interpretation. However, we have to read each prophecy in the light of all the others. If we put the “star of Jacob” together with Genesis 3:15, it is clear that the enemies of the Messiah are Satan and sin.

Secondly, it should be noticed that this prophecy cannot be applied to David, Salomon, or any other Jewish king or hero, for they did not conquer all the children of Seth, who was the third son of Adam and Eve after Cain and Abel. It was in the line of Seth that the true religion was passed on from Adam and Eve, and Seth is perhaps used as a figure of the just of all ages. Noah was of the line of Seth according to Genesis 5. Therefore all peoples on the earth today are the children of Seth. The Messiah is thus not simply to rule over one country, such as Israel, but over all the children of Seth.

Clearly, the type of conquest that is truly intended by the divine Author is spiritual. It refers to the conversion of the sons of Seth to the worship of the true God. [6]

Moses’ Prophecy

We find several passages in John’s Gospel that speak of “the prophet.”

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” (Jn 1:19–21)

When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” (Jn 6:14)

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” (Jn 7:40)

Who could they be referring to? Israel had had many prophets, but, whenever the New Testament speaks of “the prophet”, it is referring to a specific prophet, the one promised by Moses.

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed… And the Lord said to me, ‘… I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.” (Dt 18:15–19)

We can tell that Moses is referring here to the Messiah because he will have the same authority as Moses to speak in God’s name.

This prophecy reveals a new aspect of the Messianic mission. We have seen that the Messiah is to be invested with the roles of supreme king, prophet, and priest. This text underlines the prophetic nature of Christ’s mission. A prophet is not just one who predicts the future, although he also does that. A prophet is one who speaks in the name of the Lord. It is in this sense that the Messiah will be a great prophet like Moses. He is to be the new Moses.

To understand this we have to reflect on the role of Moses in the formation of the Jewish people. He was the mediator of the covenant between God and the people, sealed by the blood of sacrifice at Mount Sinai. Second, he was the mediator in passing God’s Law to the people. Third, he saw God “face to face” and spoke to Him intimately. Fourth, he led the people out of bondage to the Promised Land. Fifth, he was said to be the meekest man on earth. The new Moses must fulfill these roles in a superabundant and spiritual way. He will bring in a new covenant between God and man, sealed with the blood of the perfect and eternal sacrifice. He will legislate a more perfect law, as we hear in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Gospels. Obedience will be due to Him as it was to Moses. He will liberate the people from the yoke of bondage, not of physical slavery to Egypt, but of the greater yoke of sin and vice. He will lead the people through the waters of Baptism. He will be a man of perfect prayer and intimacy with the Father, and “meek and humble of heart.” [7]

Nathan’s Prophecy

When God established the covenant with David, he spoke through the prophet Nathan about one of David’s offspring who will rule for ever.

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. (2 Sam 7:12–14)

Lawrence Feingold explains how this prophecy speaks of both David’s son Solomon and the future Messiah.

This prophecy could be understood to refer partly to King Solomon, who built the glorious Temple of the Lord and established a magnificent earthly kingdom, and whose iniquity (and that of his descendants) could be punished by God. However, the throne of Solomon was not eternal, nor was his kingdom established forever. Either God was grossly exaggerating, or this text refers to another son to be born of the seed of David, who will reign forever over Jacob: the Messiah. What earthly throne can be firm forever? The prophecy applies strictly only to Christ, who built the spiritual house of the Lord—the Church—a kingdom which shall last until the end of time, ruled over by Christ the King and administered through His vicar on earth, the Pope. [8]

Both Matthew and Luke’s genealogies shows us that Jesus did indeed descend from David. About this, Saint Paul also writes in his letter to the Romans.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom 1:1–3)

Conclusion

There are many other prophecies in the Old Testament about the future Messiah. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time and space here to look at all of them. Bible reading is a lifetime project. One cannot study everything in one sitting. Lawrence Feingold presents and explains in his book several addition prophecies.

Psalm 72 describes the Messiah as an everlasting king in the line of David.
Isaiah 7 foretells the Messiah’s virgin birth.
Isaiah 9 speaks of a “Son given to us” and describes him with the following attributes: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 11 says that “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” This is fulfilled during Jesus’ baptism when the Spirit of God alights on him in the form of a dove.
Micah 5 foretells that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.
Daniel 9 predicts with amazing accuracy the dating for the coming of the Messiah.

Together, these prophecies form a clearer picture of the future Messiah: He will be a descendant of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. He will be a king from David’s line. He will come by the year 135 AD, at the very latest, as a son given to us and born in Bethlehem of a virgin. And he will be a blessing for all mankind because he will restore our friendship with God through a bloody death. Of all the historical figures we know of, who else but Jesus fulfills all these conditions?

Assignments

Explain how the Protoevangelium speaks of a future Messiah who will restore mankind’s friendship with God by defeating the serpent. But in this battle, he will also suffer death.
Recount how God promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveal that the Messiah will descend from them and bring a universal blessing to all mankind.
Indicate how Jacob’s blessing reveals the following about the Messiah: he will descend from Judah, he will be a king, and he will come before 135 AD, at the very latest.
Explain how Balaam’s prophecy pictures the Messiah as a king who will have dominion over the people and conquer his enemies.
Explain how Moses’ prophecy underlines the prophetic nature of Christ’s mission.
Indicate how Nathan’s prophecy declares that the Messiah will descend from King David.

Footnotes

[1] Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, p. 23.

[2] As cited in Ibid.

[3] Targum Neofiti on Genesis 3:15 as cited in Ibid.

[4] Lawrence Feingold, The Mystery of Israel and the Church, vol. 1, “Figure and Fulfillment”, pp. 21–22.

[5] Ibid, pp. 22–23.

[6] Ibid, pp. 23–24.

[7] Ibid, pp. 24–25.

[8] Ibid, p 26.

Home