Before
I go on you need to know a couple of things. First and foremost, just
in case there is someone reading this who doesn't know, I am not a
Christian. I was, and I was even a pastor, but I left it over 10
years ago because of the very things that I am sharing with you.
I
started out with the intention of proving to a few Jewish folks that
I knew, that they had missed Jesus as the Messiah. I believed the
Christian idea that the Jews were made blind to the truth because
they had “rejected” Jesus and had crucified him.
Turned
out, after studying all of this, that we (Christians) were wrong, and
I was wrong as well. Once I came to that conclusion, I wrestled with
it for over a year, I couldn't decide if it really mattered or not
but the longer I wrestled the harder it became. Finally I told my
wife, it took her awhile to see it, but she did, and then I came out
of the proverbial closet to another pastor that I was ministering
with, thus ending my ministry, and now here we are.
So now I will start at the beginning. I actually started down this
path after trying to defend something that Jesus said in one of his
parables, on a Jewish radio web page. Luke 19, especially vs.27
“But
those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring
them here and kill them in front of me.”
The
argument that was made was that this was just another piece of
evidence that Jesus couldn't have been the messiah because he is
advocating violence when the Jewish belief is that when the Messiah
comes he will bring about an end to all war and killing and bring
about a universal knowledge of G-d.
I
argued against that saying that is was simply a story that he told to
try and help people understand the coming kingdom, that he didn't
mean that he would be the one to kill anyone. That didn't go over
very well. I got blasted from many sides. Remember, I was a Christian
on a Jewish web page, they didn't take too kindly to my comment.
This,however,
got me to ask one simple question: Why is it that the Jews can't see
that Jesus is the messiah?
Most
Jewish people I had ever met seemed very intelligent and there were a
few Rabbi's that I had listened to that knew the New Testament better
then most Christians, so how was it possible that they couldn't see
the truth right in front of them?
So
I decided that I was going to prove that Jesus was the messiah and I
was going to do it with nothing more than the “Old Testament” and
my concordance. In the end I was using several versions and my
computer as well.
Before
I go any further, please understand I did not do this lightly. I was
afraid, what if it turned out that they, the Jews, were right? A part
of me had already started to believe it, I was after all a Messianic
person at that time and I already believed that most Christians
should be following the holy days and festivals of the Jews if they
really believed in and followed Jesus because, he was after all a
Jew. Having said that I was also fearful that I was going to condemn
myself to hell for even questioning that which I had been taught and
believed. This was my mind set to begin with.
So
I started.
First
I wanted to find every reference that I could for the word Messiah.
The word for it in Hebrew is Mshich, pronounced something like
Machiach, which simply means anointed or anointed one. See H4899.
I
found that the word anointed or anointing was used 92 times in the
OT. It was primarily used in reference to the priests, kings and
prophets and the processes of anointing thereof.
What
I didn't find was any reference to Jesus ( though Cyrus is named
anointed of G-d) or that the “messiah” had anything to do with
saving man kind from their sins by dying for them, or that he was any
kind of G-d. A servant of G-d, yes, a king, yes but not G-d.
There
are many passages that describe what things will be like when the
Messiah reigns, I thought I'd use just one and trust that you will
take the time to look at others.
Isa.11:1-4
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
And shall make
him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing
of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the
earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked.” KJV
No one disputes
that the Messiah will come from the line of Jesse and David ,but the
fact of the matter is that he is quite human. Note that it says that
the “spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” it does not say that
he is the Lord (G-D) only that His spirit is upon him, much in the
same way as the spirit of G-d came upon the prophets and rulers. It
also states that he will have the “spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the Lord” This tells me that he will be as wise but that he
will have great respect for G-d. There is much more just in this
chapter but the bible is full of similar prophecies. Read all the
rest of chapter 11 for yourselves to get an idea of what the real
messiah will do.
Now some will
say that Jesus will full fill all these things upon his second
coming. Yet in the Jewish scriptures there is no concept of a “second
coming” all is to be done in the time of the Messiah.
Some of you may
be saying what about chapter 9, especially verses 5-6, doesn't that
call the messiah “G-d”? No. In fact it is one of many verses
that most Christians know ( mostly because of Handel's Messiah) that
is really taken out of context.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the
government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.
While I love the
song that goes with this, remember a couple of things, Hebrew tends
to translate a bit different in English, there is no punctuation, nor
is there uppercase or lowercase letters. The way you see it, with the
caps especially, is the way Christian translators, with their already
pre disposed idea that this is about Jesus, has made it. Also take
note of the wording. In the KJV it says “His name will be called”
implying that it is after, at a later date, which reads differently
in the Jewish scriptures.
The Jewish bible
(JPS) Reads a bit different. “For a child has been born to us, a
son has been given us, and authority has settled upon his shoulders.
He has been named “The mighty God is planning grace; The eternal
Father, a peaceable ruler.
In this Jewish
translation it says “He has been named” meaning that these are
his names given to him when he is born.
Actual
translation from Hebrew
that boy he is
born to us son he is given to us and she shall become chieftainship
on shoulder blade of him and he shall call name of him one marvelous
one counseling el masterful father of future chief of well being
Sounds a bit
less romantic or G-d like when literally read.
In all three
cases it should be noted that these were to be names that he would be
called, it doesn't mean that he is G-d. All names have meaning, but
it doesn't mean that you are what your name translates to. For
example my first name means “fiery lizard”, my middle name means
“strength of a bear” and my last name means “table top land”
Now I can
certainly be fiery at times, yet I'm not a lizard, I have been told
on occasion that I don't know my own strength, yet I am not a bear,
nor am I a table top, yet this is what my names translate to.
These names were
to show just how powerful that the Messiah is going to be but they do
not name him G-d.
I know that this
is only a small portion of verses that I have shared with you, and I
also know that some are not going to believe me, so I encourage you
to read the OT, slowly. Translate the Hebrew for yourself, compare
the prophecies to see if they match. Then you decide.
I will share
more soon.
Shalom