Our third step begins here:
God’s warning to us all…
At the end of the seven days, God Almighty said to me, “Son of dust, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel; whenever I send My people a warning, pass it on to them at once. If you refuse to warn [them] when I want you to tell them, you are under penalty of death, therefore repent and save your life — they will die in their sins, but I will punish you. I will demand your blood for theirs. But if you warn them and they keep on sinning, and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins, but you are blameless — you have done all you could.”
– Ezekiel 3:17-19 (bold mine)
Back in the beginning of our recorded history, God sent us many messengers, and through His prophet, Ezekiel, God tells us very clearly that He expects us to ‘be our brother’s keeper.’
With this in mind, we have done our best to ease you into the information we are about to share. This segment will be controversial for some of you and may be down right uncomfortable for others, but at the end of the day, it is ours to share and yours to do with as you see fit.
There’s nothing to it, but to do it! Are you ready?
Let’s get started!
So far in our exploration of faith, we have learned that Jesus brought us back into a close, personal relationship with God, but how do we explain who Jesus was? It certainly has been a source of controversy and strife for over two-thousand years.
In this segment, we are going to do a deep dive into Christianity, but before we begin, we need to do a short refresher.
Remember back at the beginning of our journey… we talked about the importance of owning your own faith, and that when you simply quote someone else, you are professing their faith, not your own.
Now let’s take that a step further. Do you remember the way that Jesus responded when he was tempted by Satan? He went straight to God’s Word as his source of information.
Jesus didn’t say… “Well, John the Baptist says…” or “Rabbi Cohen says…”
Nope… Jesus went straight to the only source that mattered… straight to where he knew that God, Himself, had spoken to us in the Old Testament Scriptures.
In that same way – when we are searching for doctrinal information – we must also go straight to that source. It’s not enough for us to say… well, so-and-so says this or that, so therefore it must be true. No… Jesus didn’t do that and neither will we.
To follow the example that Jesus set right from the beginning… we will rely solely on the Old Testament Scriptures as our source of information in our quest for the truth.
This is the only way that we can evaluate how the basic foundations of Christianity compare to what God said about His end of times prophesy… His definition of the Messiah they were waiting for… the special circumstances that would precede His coming… and the events that were to follow.
Then we can bring it all home and let you decide what you think and feel about the subject… because you deserve the right to own your own faith… not someone else’s!
Are you ready? Let’s get started!
God’s end of times prophesy to the Jewish Nation
As we look deeper into the Scriptures to see what God has said about His end of times prophesy and the coming of the Messiah, we will see that God has done a wonderful job in delivering His message throughout history, and it has been the exact same message… over and over… to different prophets in different locations… and at various times in our recorded history.
In fact, Moses was the first prophet to learn about some of God’s plan for the end of times.
“In the future, when your children and grandchildren are born and you have been in the land a long time, and you have defiled yourselves by making idols, and God is very angry because of your sin, heaven and earth are witnesses that you shall be quickly destroyed from the land. Soon, now, you will cross the Jordan River and conquer that land. But your days there will be brief; you will then be utterly destroyed. For God Almighty will scatter you among the nations, and you will be but few in number. There, far away, you will worship idols made from wood and stone, idols that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But you will also begin to search again for your God, and you shall find Him when you search for Him with all your hearts and souls. When those bitter days have come upon you in the latter times, you will finally return to your God and listen to what He tells you. For your God is merciful – He will not abandon you nor destroy you nor forget the promises He has made to your ancestors.”
– Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (bold mine)
Then, over time, God gave us a clearer picture of His plans for the end of times, but most of it came to us in bits and pieces, here and there, throughout the Scriptures.
In order to form a complete picture of God’s plan for the end of times, we will need to pull information from several prophesies that are scattered throughout the Scriptures.
Let’s take a moment to set the stage:
The city was in ruins, and the Temple that Solomon had built had been destroyed by the Babylonians; that’s when the prophets started prophesying about it all.
Before the end times,
Jerusalem and the Temple were prophesied to be rebuilt… and then an Anointed One would come… but the Anointed One would be killed before his kingdom was realized.
Then God would abandon us and refuse to even speak or send prophets anymore, thereby turning Jerusalem over to her enemies.
Both Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple were prophesied to be destroyed again (as in a massacre… it would be total destruction for the city with not one stone of the Temple left on top of another).
And then, at some point in the future, after all of that and after war and all its misery had taken place, it would be…
the end of times (‘times’ meaning an era or a specific range of time in our history).
God will send the Messiah to bring us back to Him.
And (as we will learn from Isaiah), the Messiah is (at first) a despised and afflicted soul… rejected by society until formally ‘chosen’ by God to rule with complete fairness and justice.
Thereby ushering in global peace with the absence of militaries, weapons, and war.
And God’s remnant, that He scattered throughout the world, will return to Jerusalem.
God also says that He will offer His Light (in the form of the Messiah) to people of all nations.
And we will worship God alone with no other gods or idols between us… thereby healing the world.
Then, as God comes back to us individually, He will cleanse all of our sins and grant us each a new covenant… one that is individual and uniquely ours whereby He will inscribe His Laws upon our hearts… and we will have hearts for God alone and live in His peace and safety forever more.
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Now that we have a summary of God‘s end of times prophesy, let’s look at…
The Scriptures that give us each portion of the prophesy.
Before the end times begin, Solomon’s Temple will be rebuilt, the Anointed One will come (but be killed), and the second Temple will be destroyed.
“God has commanded 490 years of further punishment upon Jerusalem and your people. Then at last they will learn to stay away from sin, and their guilt will be cleansed; then the kingdom of everlasting righteousness will begin, and the Most Holy Place (in the Temple) will be rededicated, as the prophets have declared. Now listen! It will be forty-nine years plus 434 years from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes! Jerusalem’s streets and walls will be rebuilt despite the perilous times. After this period of 434 years, the Anointed One will be killed, his kingdom still unrealized… and a king will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. They will be overwhelmed as with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time until the very end.”
– Daniel 9:24-26 (bold mine)
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God will abandon us until the end of times.
“God will abandon His people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her Son…”
– Micah 5:3
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord.“
– Amos 8:11 (bold mine)
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The nation will be destroyed, the people will be scattered and suffer bitter days, but then God will send a savior to bring us all back to Him.
“In the future, when your children and grandchildren are born and you have been in the land a long time, and you have defiled yourselves by making idols, and God is very angry because of your sin, heaven and earth are witnesses that you shall be quickly destroyed from the land. Soon, now, you will cross the Jordan River and conquer that land. But your days there will be brief; you will then be utterly destroyed. For God Almighty will scatter you among the nations, and you will be but few in number. There, far away, you will worship idols made from wood and stone, idols that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But you will also begin to search again for your God, and you shall find Him when you search for Him with all your hearts and souls. When those bitter days have come upon you in the latter times, you will finally return to your God and listen to what He tells you. For your God is merciful – He will not abandon you nor destroy you nor forget the promises He has made to your ancestors.”
– Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (bold mine)
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The Messiah will come to us here on earth.
“See My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen One, in whom I delight. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will reveal justice to the nations of the world. He will be gentle – He will not shout nor quarrel in the streets. He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the dimly burning flame. He will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. He will see full justice given to all who have been wronged. He won’t be satisfied until truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth, nor until even distant lands beyond the seas have put their trust in Him.” God Almighty Who created the heavens and stretched them out and created the earth and everything in it, and gives life and breath and spirit to everyone in all the world, He is the One who says (to His Servant, the Messiah), “I, God Almighty have called You to demonstrate My righteousness, I will guard and support You, for I have given You to My people as the personal confirmation of My covenant with them. You shall also be a light to guide the nations unto Me. You will open the eyes of the blind, and release those who sit in prison darkness and despair. I am God Almighty, that is My Name, and I will not give My Glory to anyone else; I will not share My praise with carved idols. Everything I prophesied came true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell You the future before it happens.”
– Isaiah 42:1-9 (bold mine)
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“And I will raise up a notable Vine [the Messiah] in Israel so that My people will never again go hungry nor be shamed by heathen conquest.”
– Ezekiel 34:29 (bold mine)
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“For the time is coming,” says God Almighty, “when I will place a righteous Branch upon King David’s throne. He shall be a king who shall rule with wisdom and justice and cause righteousness to prevail everywhere throughout the earth. And this is His Name: God our Righteousness. At that time Judah will be saved and Israel will live in peace.”
– Jeremiah 23:5-6 (bold mine)
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Listen to Me, O Joshua the High Priest, and all you other priests, you are illustrations of the good things to come. Don’t you see? Joshua represents My servant the Branch whom I will send. he will be the Foundation Stone of the Temple that Joshua is standing beside, and I will engrave this inscription on it seven times: I will remove the sins of this land in a single day.”
– Zechariah 3:8-9 (bold mine)
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The Messiah will rule through complete justice and righteousness.
“Then justice will rule through all the land, and out of justice, peace. Quietness and confidence will reign forever more.”
– Isaiah 32:16-17 (bold mine)
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His ever-expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule with perfect fairness and justice from the throne of his father David. He will bring true justice and peace to all the nations of the world. This is going to happen because God of heaven’s armies has dedicated Himself to do it!
– Isaiah 9:7 (bold mine)
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When the bitter times are finished and we return to God, all war will end, weapons will be destroyed, and there will be universal peace.
But in the last days Mount Zion will be the most renowned of all the mountains of the world, praised by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimages there. “Come,” they will say to one another, “let us visit the mountain of God Almighty, and see the Temple of the God of Israel; He will tell us what to do, and we will do it.” For in those days the whole world will be ruled by God Almighty from Jerusalem! He will issue His laws and announce His decrees from there. He will arbitrate among the nations, and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down. Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. God, Himself, has promised this. (Therefore we will follow our God forever and ever, even though all the nations around us worship idols!) In that coming day, God Almighty says that He will bring back His punished people – sick and lame and dispossessed – and make them strong again in their own land, a mighty nation, and God Himself shall be their King from Mount Zion forever. O Jerusalem – the Watchtower of God’s people – Your royal might and power will come back to You again, just as before.”
– Micah 4:1-8 (bold mine)
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“… For in those days the world will be ruled from Jerusalem. God Almighty will settle international disputes; all the nations will convert their weapons of war into implements of peace. Then at the last all wars will stop and all military training will end.”
– Isaiah 2:3-4 (bold mine)
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“At that time I will make a treaty between you and the wild animals, birds, and snakes, not to fear each other anymore; and I will destroy all weapons, and all wars will end. Then you will lie down in peace and safety, unafraid;”
– Hosea 2:18 (bold mine)
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God’s remnant comes back home to worship Him alone.
“… and I will gather you back from the nations where you are scattered and give you the land of Israel again. And when you return you will remove every trace of all this idol worship. I will give you one heart and a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God, so that you can obey My laws and be My people, and I will be your God.”
– Ezekiel 11:17-20 (bold mine)
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“… but I will bring My people back again from all the countries where in My fury I will scatter them. I will bring them back to this very city, and make them live in peace and safety. And they shall be My people and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and mind to worship Me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.”
– Jeremiah 32:37- 39 (bold mine)
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God Almighty says, “This seems unbelievable to you — a remnant, small, discouraged as you are — but it is no great thing for Me. You can be sure that I will rescue My people from east and west, wherever they are scattered. I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem, and they will be My people, and I will be their God, just and true and yet forgiving them their sins!”
– Zechariah 8:6-8 (bold mine)
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The time will come, O Israel, when I will gather you – all that are left – and bring you together again like sheep in a fold, like a flock in a pasture – a noisy, happy crowd. The Messiah will lead you out of exile and bring you through the gates of your cities of captivity, back to your own land. Your King will go before you – God Almighty leads on.
– Micah 2:12-13 (bold mine)
“In that coming day, God Almighty says that He will bring back His punished people – sick and lame and dispossessed – and make them strong again in their own land, a mighty nation, and God Himself shall be their King from Mount Zion forever. O Jerusalem – the Watchtower of God’s people – Your royal might and power will come back to You again, just as before.”
– Micah 4:6-8 (bold mine)
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God will allow His Light to shine through the Messiah for all the world to see… Jews and Gentiles alike.
I, God Almighty, have called you to demonstrate My righteousness. I will guard and support You, for I have given You to My people as the personal confirmation of My covenant with them. You shall also be a Light to guide the nations unto Me. You will open the eyes of the blind, and release those who sit in prison darkness and despair.”
– Isaiah 42:6-7 (bold mine)
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As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of God and serve Him and love His Name, and are His servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted His covenant and promises, I will bring them also to My holy mountain of Jerusalem, and make them full of joy within My House of Prayer…
– Isaiah 56:6-7 (bold mine)
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At that time, I will sow a crop of Israelites and raise them for Myself! I will pity those who are “not pitied,” and I will say to those who are “not My people,” “Now you are My people”; and they will reply, “You are our God!”
– Hosea 2:23 (bold mine)
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“Sing Jerusalem, and rejoice! For I have come to live among you,” says God Almighty. At that time, many nations will be converted to God, and they too shall be My people; I will live among them all.”
– Zechariah 2:10-12 (bold mine)
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God forgives our sins and creates a new, individual covenant with each of us.
“The day will come,” says God Almighty, “when I will make a new Contract with the people of Israel and Judah. It won’t be like the one I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a contract they broke, forcing Me to reject them,” says God. “But this is the new Contract I will make with them: I will inscribe My laws upon their hearts, so that they shall want to honor Me; then they shall truly be My people and I will be their God. At that time, it will no longer be necessary to admonish one another to know God. For everyone, both great and small, shall really know Me then,” says God Almighty, “and I will forgive and forget their sins.”
– Jeremiah 31:31-34 (bold mine)
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“And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, promising never again to desert them, but only to do them good. I will put a desire into their hearts to worship Me, and they shall never leave Me.”
– Jeremiah 32:40 (bold mine)
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“For see, I am creating new heavens and a new earth – so wonderful that no one will even think about the old ones anymore.”
– Isaiah 65:17
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“Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean – your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone. And I will give you a new heart – I will give you new and right desires – and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. And I will put My Spirit within you so that you will obey My Laws and do whatever I command.”
– Ezekiel 36:25-27 (bold mine)
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As we can see, God has shared His end of times prophesy – the exact same message – with various prophets, in various locations, and at various times in our history.
This brings us to a very important question…. was Jesus the Jewish-prophesied Messiah?
To truly understand the answer to that question, we have to start where it all began.
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The early days of Christianity
Two thousand years ago, the world that Jesus lived in was a very violent and tumultuous place. It was full of oppression, uprisings, and political posturing by the Roman Empire.
One of the most important things for us to understand is that in the earliest days of Christianity there were no formalized writings. The Bible did not exist yet.
In fact, the earliest followers did not even have a structured, standard set of beliefs; all they had were stories about what Jesus had said or done, and that information was passed to one another by word of mouth, generation by generation.
It wasn’t until later that they decided to write the information down to record it for future generations.
But here’s the thing… there are several more gospels than just the four that appear in our modern day Bible!
In 1945, a local farmer found a large clay jar full of early writings near Nag Hammadi, Egypt. Many of those texts match some other ones found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1898.
And archaeologists have uncovered several other gospel texts while excavating the tombs of Christian monks who were buried in the early centuries.
Most notably, and along with several others, they found the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve, and even a Gospel of Judas.
For the first 300+ years, Christianity was a very diverse faith with no formal structure. Different groups held different beliefs, and they all followed various different gospels.
Then, in an effort to bring the Roman Empire together under Christianity, Constantine the Great requested a unified statement of belief. To that end, he brought the top leaders of the early church together to hash out their differences.
In the summer of 325 AD, over 300 bishops convened in the city of Nicaea to form the first Council of Nicaea where they resolved their disagreements and came up with one, unified statement of belief for Christianity; they call it The Apostles’ Creed.
There are several important take-aways for us to understand about this Council’s meeting.
First is the fact that there were many gospel writings being considered for inclusion during this important meeting. They examined and discussed each one, and then the Council voted to decide which writings would be permitted into the Bible and which ones would be tossed out.
They also decided during this meeting that they would attribute several Old Testament scriptures as referring directly to Jesus. In this way (by vote) they decided that Jesus must be Divine (God-incarnate).
This part is very important for us to understand. The earliest leaders of the faith could not come to a consensus naturally regarding the question of Jesus’ Divinity. In fact, it was so openly disputed and the group was so divided that the only resolution was to vote on it.
That bears repeating again. They could not agree whether Jesus was God-incarnate or not, so it came down to a vote.
Which naturally begs the question…
Which Scriptures did they use to determine Jesus’ Divinity?
We start that portion of our exploration here…
Wisdom speaks
One of the Scriptures used by the Council to promote Jesus’ Divinity was Proverbs 8.
In Proverbs, Solomon speaks about Wisdom, and that She has been with God since before creation.
“Can’t you hear the voice of Wisdom? She is standing at the city gates and at every fork in the road, and at the door of every house. Listen to what She says: ‘Listen, men!’ She calls. ‘How foolish and naïve you are! Let Me give you understanding. O foolish ones, let Me show you common sense! Listen to Me! For I have important information for you. Everything I say is right and true, for I hate lies and every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing of evil in it. My words are plain and clear to anyone with half a mind – if it is only open! My instruction is far more valuable than silver or gold.’ For the value of Wisdom is far above rubies; nothing can be compared with it. Wisdom and good judgement live together, for Wisdom knows where to discover knowledge and understanding. If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For Wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption and deceit of every kind. ‘I, Wisdom, give good advice and common sense. Because of My strength, kings reign in power, and rulers make just laws. I love all who love Me. Those who search for Me shall surely find Me. Unending riches, honor, justice and righteousness are Mine to distribute. My gifts are better than the purest gold or sterling silver! My paths are those of justice and right. Those who love and follow Me are indeed wealthy. I fill their treasuries. God Almighty formed Me in the beginning, before He created anything else. From ages past, I am, I existed before the earth began. I lived before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters onto the earth; before the mountains and the hills were made. Yes, I was born before God made the earth and fields, and the first handfuls of soil. I was there when He established the heavens and formed the great springs in the depths of the oceans. I was there when He set the limits of the seas and gave them His instructions not to spread beyond their boundaries. I was there when He made the blueprint for the earth and oceans. I was the craftsman at His side. I was His constant delight, rejoicing always in His presence. And how happy I was with what He created – His wide world and all His family of mankind! And so, young men, listen to Me, for how happy are all who follow My instructions. Listen to My counsel – oh, don’t refuse it – and be wise. Happy is the man who is so anxious to be with Me that he watches for Me daily at My gates, or waits for Me outside My home! For whoever finds Me finds life and wins approval from God Almighty. But the one who misses Me has injured himself irreparably. Those who refuse Me show that they love death.’ “
– Proverbs 8 (bold mine)
This was one of the Scriptures that the Council used to determine Jesus’ Divinity.
However, there are a couple of issues we must address.
First we have a discrepancy with gender; Wisdom is very clearly feminine, not masculine. And this holds true all throughout Proverbs, both before and after Chapter 8.
Wisdom shouts in the streets for a hearing. She calls out to the crowds along Main Street, and to the judges in their courts, and to everyone in all the land: “You simpletons!” She cries. “How long will you go on being fools? How long will you scoff at Wisdom and fight the facts?”
– Proverbs 1:20-22
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Wisdom is a tree of life to those who eat Her fruit; happy is the man who keeps on eating it.
– Proverbs 3:18
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Cling to Wisdom – She will protect you. Love Her – She will guard you.
– Proverbs 4:6
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If you exalt Wisdom, She will exalt you. Hold Her fast and She will lead you to great honor; She will place a beautiful crown upon your head.
– Proverbs 4:8-9
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Love Wisdom like a sweetheart; make Her a beloved member of your family.
– Proverbs 7:4
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Wisdom has built a palace supported on seven pillars, and has prepared a great banquet, and mixed the wines, and sent out Her maidens inviting all to come. She calls from the busiest intersections in the city…
– Proverbs 9:1-3
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Wisdom is its own reward, and if you scorn Her, you hurt only yourself.
– Proverbs 9:12
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Our second problem with using this particular Scripture to determine Jesus’ Divinity is that the Book of Proverbs is not even a prophesy at all.
These are the proverbs of King Solomon of Israel, David’s son: he wrote them to teach his people how to live – how to act in every circumstance, for he wanted them to be understanding, just and fair in everything they did. “I want to make the simple-minded wise!” he said. “I want to warn young men about some problems they will face. I want those already wise to become the wiser and become leaders by exploring the depths of meaning in these nuggets of truth.”
– Proverbs 1:1-6
Prophesy comes to us from God, Himself, through a prophet, but these are not God’s words spoken through Solomon; this is simply Solomon imparting his wisdom and telling us to… in all things, seek Her… seek Wisdom.
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The virgin-birth prophesy
Matthew 1:22-23 tells us that Jesus was born of a virgin and Christians believe that this fulfilled the prophesy in Isaiah 7:14.
Here is Isaiah 7 in its entirety for you to read if you wish and then we will dissect it closer immediately following.
During the reign of Ahaz (the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah), Jerusalem was attacked by King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel (the son of Remaliah). But it was not taken; the city stood. However, when the news came to the royal court, “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear as the trees of a forest shake in a storm. Then God Almighty said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet King Ahaz, you and Sher-ja-shub, your son. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct which leads from Gihon Spring to the upper reservoir, near the road that leads down to the bleaching field. Tell him to quit worrying. Tell him he needn’t be frightened by the fierce anger of those two has-beens, Rezin and Pekah. Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are coming against you. “They say, ‘We will invade Judah and throw her people into panic. Then we’ll fight our way into Jerusalem and install the son of Tabeel as their king.’ But God says, ‘This plan will not succeed, for Damascus will remain the capital of Syria alone, and King Rezin’s kingdom will not increase its boundaries. And within sixty-five years Ephraim, too, will be crushed and broken. Samaria is the capital of Ephraim alone and King Pekah’s power will not increase. You don’t believe Me? If you want Me to protect you, you must learn to believe what I say.” Not long after this, God Almighty sent this further message to King Ahaz: “Ask Me for a sign, Ahaz, to prove that I will indeed crush your enemies as I have said. Ask anything you like, in heaven or on earth.” But the king refused, “No,” he said, “I’ll not bother God with anything like that.” Then Isaiah said, “O House of David, you aren’t satisfied to exhaust my patience; you exhaust God Almighty’s as well! All right then, God Himself will choose the sign – a child shall be born to a virgin! And she shall call him Immanuel (meaning, “God is with us”). By the time this child is weaned and knows right from wrong, the two kings you fear so much – the kings of Israel and Syria – will both be dead. But later on, God will bring a terrible curse on you and on your nation and your family. There will be terror, such as has not been known since the division of Solomon’s empire into Israel and Judah – the mighty king of Assyria will come with his great army! At that time God will whistle for the army of Upper Egypt, and of Assyria too, to swarm down upon you like flies and destroy you, like bees to sting and to kill. They will come in vast hordes, spreading across the whole land, even into the desolate valleys and caves and thorny parts, as well as to all your fertile acres. In that day God will take this “razor” – these Assyrians you have hired to save you – and use it on you to shave off everything you have: your land, your crops, your people. When they finally stop plundering, the whole nation will be a pastureland; whole flocks and herds will be destroyed, and a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep left. But the abundant pastureland will yield plenty of milk, and everyone left will live on curds and wild honey. At that time the lush vineyards will become patches of briars. All the land will be one vast thorn field, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. No one will go to the fertile hillsides where once the gardens grew, for thorns will cover them; cattle, sheep and goats will graze there.
– Isaiah 7 (bold mine)
Isaiah 7 is a story about three kings…
Ahaz, the king of Judah (where Jerusalem is),
Pekah, the king of Israel,
and Rezin, the king of Syria.
Israel and Syria (Pekah and Rezin) had teamed up and attacked Jerusalem (Ahaz), but they were not able to take the city.
God wanted to reassure Ahaz that He was going to protect Jerusalem in the future, and so He sent Isaiah out to tell Ahaz that all would be well. God even told Ahaz to choose a sign (anything he would like) to be a tangible sign that God was in control and that He was protecting Ahaz and Jerusalem.
But Ahaz refused to bother God like that, and so God chose the sign for Himself. The sign was that a child named Immanuel would be born to a virgin, and before the child was weaned (about 1-2 years old) the other two kings would be dead.
Basic Christian tenet tells us that the prophesy in Isaiah 7:14 predicted Jesus’ virgin birth, thereby making him Divine (God-incarnate).
The first problem with this assertion is that Ahaz was king of Jerusalem circa 735 – 716 BC and the other two kings, Pekah and Rezin, were both executed sometime around 732 BC. Therefore, a child born and weaned by the time of their demises had to have been born between 734 and 732 BC.
While Isaiah 7:14 is indeed a prophesy about a child named Immanuel being born to a virgin, this child’s birth 1) had no Scriptural connection to the prophesied Messiah at all… this prophesy is very clear that this child’s birth was only to mark the time for when the other two kings would be dead… by the time the child would “be weaned” the other two kings would be history, and 2) had no Scriptural connection to Jesus’ birth either, which took place some 700 years later.
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Jesus’ lineage
It is well known that the Messiah’s lineage was prophesied through King David…
“Now go and give this message to David from God Almighty of heaven: ‘I chose you to be the leader of My people Israel when you were a mere shepherd, tending your sheep in the pastureland. I have been with you wherever you have gone and have destroyed your enemies. And I will make your name greater yet, so that you will be one of the most famous men in the world! I have selected a homeland for My people from which they will never have to move. It will be their own land where the heathen nations won’t bother them as they did when the judges ruled My people. There will be no more wars against you; and your descendants shall rule this land for generations to come!’ “
– 2Samuel 7:8-11
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But, God got even more specific about it and claimed David’s son, Solomon, as His choice for the continued heritage of His Promise.
“For when you [David] die, I will put one of your sons upon your throne [this was Solomon that He was speaking of…] and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who shall build Me a temple. And I will continue his kingdom into eternity. I will be his Father and he shall be My son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him, but My love and kindness shall not leave him as I took it from Saul, your predecessor. Your family shall rule My Kingdom forever.” So Nathan went back to David and told him everything God Almighty had said.
– 2Samuel 7:12-17 (bold mine)
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[David] now commanded his son Solomon to build a temple for the God of Israel. “I wanted to build it myself,” David told him, “but God Almighty said not to do it. ‘You have killed too many men in great wars,’ He told me. ‘You have reddened the ground before Me with blood; so you are not to build My temple. But I will give you a son,’ He told me, ‘who will be a man of peace, for I will give him peace with his enemies in the surrounding lands. His name shall be Solomon (meaning “Peaceful”), and I will give peace and quietness to Israel during his reign. He shall build My temple, and he shall be as My own son and I will be his Father; and I will cause his sons and his descendants to reign over every generation of Israel.’ “
– 1Chronicles 22:6-10 (bold mine)
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Jesus is from the line of David; however, Luke 3:23-38 tells us that he descended from David’s other son, Nathan… not Solomon.
… Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. Joseph’s father was Heli; Heli’s father was Matthat;…… Menna’s father was Mattatha; Mattatha’s father was Nathan; Nathan’s father was David; David’s father was Jesse; Jesse’s father was Obed;…… Cainan’s father was Enos; Enos’ father was Seth; Seth’s father was Adam; Adam’s father was God.
– Luke 3:23-38 (bold mine)
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O little town of Bethlehem
Another prophesy that the Council used when deciding Jesus’ Divinity comes from Micah.
O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of My King who is alive from everlasting ages past!
– Micah 5:2
This prophesy tells us that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, and Christians believe that it predicted Jesus’ birth, thereby making him God’s “King who is alive from everlasting ages past,” or God-incarnate.
However, when you read the entire prophesy in context…
Mobilize! The enemy lays siege to Jerusalem! With a rod they shall strike the Judge of Israel on the face. O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of My King who is alive from everlasting ages past! God will abandon His people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her Son; then at last His fellow countrymen – the exile remnants of Israel – will rejoin their brethren in their own land. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of God Almighty, in the Majesty of the Name of His God, and His people shall remain there undisturbed, for He will be greatly honored all around the world. He will be our Peace…
– Micah 5:1-5 (bold and emphasis mine)
We can take two lessons from this Scripture:
1) God abandons us until the Messiah is born
God will abandon His people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her Son…
– Micah 5:3
and 2) The Messiah is scheduled to be born after the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple.
God will abandon His people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her Son; then at last His fellow countrymen – the exile remnants of Israel – will rejoin their brethren in their own land. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of God Almighty, in the Majesty of the Name of His God, and His people shall remain there undisturbed, for He will be greatly honored all around the world. He will be our Peace…
– Micah 5:3-5 (bold and emphasis mine)
So, we have a timing discrepancy to be accounted for here.
This prophesy falls in line with all of the others.
The Messiah’s birth is to take place after the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple, not before it.
Which makes perfect sense when you think about it, because… how can the Messiah come to usher in everlasting world peace and then the City be destroyed during the same time period?
It can’t possibly be that way… and God never prophesied it to be that way.
Prophesy = Jerusalem and the second Temple are destroyed / this Son is born / there will be peace
Jesus was born and died before that destruction happened.
Actual reality = Jesus’ birth and death / Jerusalem and the second Temple were destroyed in 70 AD / this Son is born / there will be peace
When taken in context, it becomes clear that this particular prophesy does not reference Jesus’ birth at all.
In fact, have you ever wondered why the Pharisees and other religious leaders did not get excited when the astrologers saw the star?
Think about it… the magi traveled from afar bearing gifts to the child they believed to be the Messiah, and when King Herod heard about it, he asked the Pharisees where the Messiah was prophesied to be born.
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands, and have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, and all Jerusalem was filled with rumors. He called a meeting of the Jewish religious leaders. “Did the prophets tell us where the Messiah would be born?” he asked. “Yes, in Bethlehem,” they said…
– Matthew 2:1-5
This tells us that the religious leaders were aware that the magi had seen a star that they were attributing to the Messiah.
But… the Pharisees also knew that Jerusalem had not suffered the destruction prophesied to happen before the Messiah was to come. So the Jewish religious leaders were not excited at all that the magi had seen a star because they knew it wasn’t yet time for the Messiah’s arrival… Jerusalem had not been destroyed and the second Temple was still standing; it was not yet time.
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Now that we’ve done a deep dive into the question of Jesus’ Divinity… or not… let’s take a look at some other basic tenets of Christianity.
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Forgiveness of sins.
In God’s end of times prophesy, He tells us very clearly that He will be the One who forgives our sins.
God Almighty says, “When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins.”
– Ezekiel 36:33 (bold mine)
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“And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be My people and I will be your God. I will cleanse away your sins…”
– Ezekiel 36:28-29 (bold mine)
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“At that time it will no longer be necessary to admonish one another to know God. For everyone, both great and small, shall really know Me then,” says God Almighty, “and I will forgive and forget their sins.”
– Jeremiah 31:34 (bold mine)
However, one of the most basic tenets of Christianity is that Jesus’ death was the final sacrifice, and therefore the final repentance and atonement because he ‘paid the price’ for all of our sins… past, present, and future.
…. but did God ever tell us that He would send a Messiah that would ‘save us’ from needing to know Him… from needing to know what He has said… or one that would ‘save us’ from being required to obey Him?
Absolutely not, of course He didn’t.
So let’s take a look at where that comes from and what God did say.
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Where does Christianity’s absolution of sin come from?
Christians believe that Jesus’ death was the final payment and atonement for all sins… past, present, and future. But as we have discovered, God clearly states in His end of times prophesy that He is the One who will forgive and cleanse our sins, not the Messiah.
In fact, you will not find anywhere in the Scriptures where it says that anyone other than God, Himself, has the power to forgive our sins. And God certainly does not describe it as one of the roles of the prophesied Messiah.
So… where does Christianity’s version of forgiveness of sins come from?
There are passages in Isaiah 53 that Christians believe refer to Jesus; however, the entire chapter is another widely debated Scripture.
Let’s get up close and personal with it here, and then we will explore both Jewish and Christian theology regarding this important prophesy.
Who would believe what we have heard! For whom has the arm of God been revealed! He formerly grew like a sapling or a root from dry ground; he had neither form nor beauty. We saw him, but without a desirable appearance. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of pains and accustomed to sickness. As one from whom we would hide our faces, he was despised, and we had no regard for him. Indeed, he bore our illnesses and carried our pains — but we regarded him as diseased, stricken by God and afflicted. He was wounded as a result of our transgressions, and crushed as a result of our iniquities. The chastisement upon him was for our benefit; and through his wounds we were healed. We have all strayed like sheep, each of us turning his own way, and God inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all. He was persecuted and afflicted, but he did not open his mouth. Like a sheep being led to the slaughter or a lamb that is silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was released from captivity and judgement; who could have imagined such a generation? For he was removed from the land of the living; because of My people’s sin they were afflicted. He submitted his grave to evil people; and the wealthy submitted to his executions, for committing no crime, and with no deceit in his mouth. God desired to oppress him and He afflicted him. If his soul would acknowledge guilt, he would see offspring and live long days, and God’s purpose would succeed in his hand. He would see the purpose and be satisfied with his soul’s distress. With his knowledge, My Servant will cause the masses to be righteous; and he will bear their sins. Therefore, I will assign him a portion in public and he will divide the mighty as spoils — in return for having poured out his soul for death and being counted among the wicked, for he bore the sin of the many, and prayed for the wicked.
– Isaiah 53
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Wow, that is one exceptionally powerful and moving prophesy. And…
Jewish scholars will tell you
that it was written from the world’s point of view… with the Servant representing Israel as a nation.
They point to a couple of other chapters in Isaiah to back up their presumption that God was speaking of His people as a whole, thereby calling the entire nation of Israel His servant.
While there are in fact passages where God does refer to the group as a singular entity, the chapters that they mention also contain verbiage that clearly defines the Messiah as a singular person.
“…. I have given you to My people as the personal confirmation of My Covenant with them…”
– Isaiah 42:6
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“And now,” said God — the One who formed me from my mother’s womb to serve Him who commissioned me to restore to Him His people Israel, who has given me the strength to perform this task and honored me for doing it! — “You shall do more than restore Israel to Me. I will make you a Light to the nations of the world to bring My Salvation to them, too.”
– Isaiah 49:5-6
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And, to say that the Servant in Isaiah 53 is the nation of Israel who…
was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he never said a word. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he stood silent before the ones condemning him.
– Isaiah 53:7
is to ignore the Jewish Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, their Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Romans, and the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish Uprising.
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On the other hand,
many Christians believe that Isaiah 53 refers to Jesus, so therefore his death must have “taken away our sins.” But, here again we must take things in context.
Yes, Jesus was meek and mild, crucified as a criminal without cause and buried in a rich man’s tomb, and so it might be easy to think that it was Jesus they were talking about.
But was it?
The prophesy is clear that this Servant of God was despised and rejected… a person of sorrows and grief… stricken and afflicted (in pain, suffering, and distress)… and that we as a society, turned our backs and looked the other way when we came across this person.
…But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want Him. We despised Him and rejected Him – a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way when He went by. He was despised and we didn’t care.
– Isaiah 53:2-3
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So, first… we have to take into account that this does not describe Jesus’ life at all; not when we have…
Zacchaeus hanging from a tree just to get a glimpse of him, and then thrilled to have Jesus come to his home.
As Jesus was passing through Jericho, a man named Zacchaeus, one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business (and, of course, a very rich man), tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. So he ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree beside the road, to watch from there. When Jesus came by he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name! “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick! Come down! For I am going to be a guest in your home today!” Zacchaeus hurriedly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
– Luke 19:1-6 (bold mine)
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And people being dropped through the roof to be healed by him.
Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus.
– Mark 2:3-4
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Children being brought to him to be blessed.
Little children were brought for Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray…
– Matthew 19:13
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One day some mothers brought their babies to him to touch and bless…
– Luke 18: 15
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And large crowds gathering to be healed and to hear Jesus preach.
Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.
– Matthew 15:30 (bold mine)
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Every day Jesus went to the Temple to teach, and the crowds began gathering early in the morning to hear him.
– Luke 21:37 (bold mine)
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In fact, they believed that just touching a tassel of his robe would heal them.
As Jesus and the disciples were going to the rabbi’s home, a woman who had been sick for twelve years with internal bleeding came up behind him and touched a tassel of his robe, for she thought, “If I only touch him, I will be healed.”
– Matthew 9:19-21
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Because they were amazed by him.
After that he taught daily in the Temple, but the chief priests and other religious leaders and the business community were trying to find some way to get rid of him. But they could think of nothing, for he was a hero to the people – they hung on every word he said.
– Luke 19:47-48 (bold mine)
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Even some of the Jewish leaders were surprised.
Thus their attempt to outwit him before the people failed; and marveling at his answer, they were silent.
– Luke 20:26 (bold mine)
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And from the time that Jesus was twelve-years old, he had found favor with God and men alike.
When Jesus was twelve years old he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem for the annual Passover Festival, which they attended each year. After the celebration was over they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him the first day, for they assumed he was with friends among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started to look for him among their relatives and friends; and when they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him. He was in the Temple, sitting among the teachers of Law, discussing deep questions with them and amazing everyone with his understanding and answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son!” his mother said to him. “Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you realize that I would be here at the Temple, in my Father’s House?” But they didn’t understand what he meant. Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them; and his mother stored away all these things in her heart. So Jesus grew both tall and wise, and was loved by God and man.
– Luke 2:41-52 (bold mine)
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So, when we read the prophesy in context and compare it to the reality of Jesus’ life, the description of the Servant that we find in Isaiah 53 does not fit Jesus’ life experiences here on earth at all.
And we know that the passage doesn’t just refer to the very end of Jesus’ life as he was being prosecuted and crucified, because there is another reference to the “despised One” in Isaiah 49. This prophesy is encouragement for the future of the despised and rejected One who then becomes God’s Chosen One…
God Almighty, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel says to the One Who is despised, rejected by mankind, and kept beneath the heel of the world’s rulers: “kings shall stand at attention when You pass by; princes shall bow low because God Almighty has chosen You; He, the faithful God, the Holy One of Israel, chooses You.”
– Isaiah 49:7 (bold mine)
This prophesy makes it clear that the rejection happens first, not last.
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And second… we have to decide if the passage even symbolizes the Christian definition of complete absolution of sin because the idea of absolution is nowhere in the Scriptures; in fact, check out this chastisement that God issues through Jeremiah.
Then God Almighty said to Jeremiah: “Go over to the entrance of the Temple of God and give this message to the people: O Judah, listen to this message from God. Listen to it, all of you who worship here. God Almighty, the God of Israel says: Even yet, if you quit your evil ways I will let you stay in your own land. But don’t be fooled by those who lie to you and say that since the Temple of God is here, God will never let Jerusalem be destroyed. You may remain under these conditions only: if you stop your wicked thoughts and deeds, and are fair to others, and stop exploiting orphans, widows, and foreigners. And stop your murdering. And stop worshiping idols as you do now to your hurt. Then, and only then, will I let you stay in this land that I gave to your fathers to keep forever. You think that because the Temple is here, you will never suffer? Don’t fool yourselves! Do you really think that you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and worship Baal and all of those new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before Me in My Temple and chant, ‘we are saved!’ — only to go right back to all these evil things again? Is My Temple but a den of robbers in your eyes? For I see all the evil going on in there.”
– Jeremiah 7:1-11 (bold and emphasis mine)
God could not be more clear about His expectations of us than He is right here… His Commandments stand.
And while we are on this particular Scripture, let’s look at it a little bit closer. Yes, of course God wanted the Israelites to stay in their land; it was the Promised Land that He had given to their forefathers.
But God is omnipresent, He can be anywhere and everywhere we can ever possibly be… so why would He get THAT upset over them staying put in their land?
Because in reality, God was fussing at them about their souls. You see, when the Israelites got exiled from the Promised Land, it was akin to them being excommunicated from God, Himself… in the same way that Adam and Eve were excommunicated when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
Let’s go back there for just a moment… God already knew that Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, but He did not just automatically cut them off. He went to them to engage them in conversation.
The fact that God was still willing to interact with them gives us reason to believe that there was still hope for their situation.
When God found them hiding in the Garden of Eden and asked Adam about it, instead of owning up to his error, he blamed Eve. There was no regret (yet) and certainly no remorse or restitution.
Repentance was no where to be found… only finger pointing and blaming others. God did not react kindly to that, and we all know the outcome.
The same with Cain when God asked him about his involvement in Abel’s murder. Cain’s lack of regret, remorse, or repentance led to his excommunication as well.
God could not be any clearer in His expectations of us. We are fallible human beings… it is inevitable that we are going to screw up. God knows that, and He offers us the grace and mercy of free will to feel guilt in our wrong and ask forgiveness in repentance.
Just look at how differently it turns out for those who repent and ask for God’s mercy.
Remember God’s response in 2 Kings when Josiah, king of Judah, repented?
“But because you were sorry and concerned and humbled yourself before God Almighty when you read the Book and its warnings that this land would be cursed and become desolate, and because you have torn your clothing and wept before Me in contrition, I will listen to your plea. The death of this nation will not occur until after you die – you will not see the evil which I will bring upon this place.”
– 2 Kings 22:18-20
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Even the pagans of Nineveh were spared because of their repentance!
Then God spoke to Jonah again: “Go to that great city, Nineveh,” He said, “and warn them of their doom, as I told you to before!” So Jonah obeyed, and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city, with many villages around it – so large that it would take three days to walk through it. But the very first day when Jonah entered the city and began to preach, the people repented. Jonah shouted to the crowds that gathered around him, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” And they believed him and declared a fast; from the king on down, everyone put on sackcloth – the rough, coarse garments worn at times of mourning. For when the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and laid aside his royal robes and put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. And the king and his nobles sent this message throughout the city: “Let no one, not even the animals, eat anything at all, nor even drink any water. Everyone must wear sackcloth and cry mightily to God, and let everyone turn from his evil ways, from his violence and robbing. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will decide to let us live, and will hold back His fierce anger from destroying us.” And when God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, He abandoned His plan to destroy them, and didn’t carry it through.
– Jonah 3:1-10
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And there are many other accounts of God’s forgiveness and loving kindness after repentance. Possibly the most notable is the story of David and Bath-sheba. God had punished them severely for their disobedience by taking their infant son, but when David repented…
[Written after Nathan the prophet had come to inform David of God’s judgment against him because of his adultery with Bath-sheba, and his murder of Uriah, her husband.] O loving and kind God, have mercy. Have pity upon me and take away the awful stain of my transgressions. Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again. For I admit my shameful deed – it haunts me day and night. It is against You and You alone I sinned, and did this terrible thing. You saw it all, and Your sentence against me is just. But I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. You deserve honesty from the heart; yes, utter sincerity and truthfulness. Oh, give me this wisdom. Sprinkle me with the cleansing blood and I shall be clean again. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. And after you have punished me, give me back my joy again. Don’t keep looking at my sins – erase them from Your sight. Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. Don’t toss me aside, banished forever from Your presence. Don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me again the joy of Your Salvation, and make me willing to obey You. Then I will teach Your ways to other sinners, and they – guilty like me – will repent and return to You. Don’t sentence me to death. O my God, You alone can rescue me. Then I will sing of Your forgiveness, for my lips will be unsealed – oh, how I will praise You. You don’t want penance; if You did, how gladly I would do it! You aren’t interested in offerings burned before You on the altar. It is a broken spirit You want – remorse and penitence. A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not ignore. And God Almighty, don’t punish Israel for my sins – help Your people and protect Jerusalem. And when my heart is right, then You will rejoice in the good that I do and in the bullocks I bring to sacrifice upon Your altar.”
– Psalm 51
.God’s heart softened…. and He showered David and Bath-sheba with His mercy, forgiveness, and loving kindness by blessing them with another son…
They named him Solomon.
Then David comforted Bath-sheba; and when he slept with her, she conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. And God loved the baby, and sent congratulations and blessings through Nathan the prophet…
– 2 Samuel 12:24-25
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The fact is… our souls are so important to God that when He returns to us this time, He will forgive our sins and inscribe His Laws upon our hearts.
“The day will come,” says God Almighty, “when I will make a new Contract with the people of Israel and Judah. It won’t be like the one I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a contract they broke, forcing Me to reject them,” says God. “But this is the new Contract I will make with them: I will inscribe My Laws upon their hearts, so that they shall want to honor Me; then they shall truly be My people and I will be their God. At that time, it will no longer be necessary to admonish one another to know God. For everyone, both great and small, shall really know Me then,” says God Almighty, “and I will forgive and forget their sins.”
– Jeremiah 31:31-34 (bold mine)
And this is a huge indication that there is no way that God intends Isaiah 53, or any other Scripture for that matter, to absolve us from knowing what He has said or from being required to obey Him; and we are certainly not absolved of repenting when we go astray.
So… if absolution is not God’s intent, what does He say He wants instead?
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listen and obey… mercy and fairness… charity and love
The Israelites used to perform animal sacrifices in their worship and repentance services, but let’s take a look at what God had to say about all of that.
The God of Israel says, “Away with your offerings and sacrifices! It wasn’t offerings and sacrifices I wanted from your fathers when I led them out of Egypt. That was not the point of My Command. But what I told them was: obey Me and I will be your God and you shall be My people; only do as I say and all shall be well!”
– Jeremiah 7:21-23
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… Listen, you leaders of Israel, you men of Sodom and Gomorrah, as I [Isaiah] call you now. Listen to God. Hear what He is telling you! “I am sick of your sacrifices. Don’t bring Me any more of them. I don’t want your fat rams; I don’t want to see the blood from your offerings. Who wants your sacrifices when you have no sorrow for your sins? The incense you bring Me is a stench in My nostrils. Your holy celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath, and your special days for fasting – even your most pious meetings – all are frauds! I want nothing more to do with them. I hate them all: I can’t stand the sight of them.”
– Isaiah 1:10-14
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God’s position on sacrifices is abundantly clear. He was tired of all the meaningless sacrifices that people were doing.
And what did God say He wants instead of sacrifices?
Samuel replied, “Has God Almighty as much pleasure in your burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. He is much more interested in your listening to Him than in your offering the fat of rams to Him.”
– 1Samuel 15:22
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“I hate your show and pretense – your hypocrisy of ‘honoring’ Me with your religious feasts and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and thank offerings. I will not look at your offerings of peace. Away with your hymns of praise – they are mere noise to My ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. I want to see a mighty flood of justice – a torrent of doing good.”
– Amos 5:21-24
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“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice; I don’t want your offerings, I want you to know Me.”
– Hosea 6:6
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“Oh, wash yourselves! Be clean! Let Me no longer see you doing all these wicked things; quit your evil ways. Learn to do good, to be fair and to help the poor, the fatherless, and widows.”
– Isaiah 1:16-17
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For if you offered Him thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of olive oil – would that please him? If you sacrificed your oldest child, would that make Him glad? Then would He forgive your sins? Of course not! No, He has told you what He wants, and this is all it is: “to be fair and just and merciful, and to walk humbly with your God.”
– Micah 6:7-8
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God told them time and again that instead of sacrifices, He preferred that we be fair in our dealings, extend forgiveness and mercy to each other, and… repent.
“You inspect the walls of Jerusalem to see what needs repair! You check over the houses and tear some down for stone for fixing walls. Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the lower pool! But all your feverish plans will not avail, for you never ask for help from God, Who lets this come upon you. He is the One who planned it long ago. God Almighty called you to repent, to weep and mourn and shave your heads in sorrow for your sins, and to wear clothes made of sackcloth to show your remorse.”
– Isaiah 22:9-12 (bold mine)
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That is why God poured out such fury and wrath on His people and destroyed them in battle. Yet, though set on fire and burned, they will not understand the reason why – that it is God, wanting them to repent.
– Isaiah 42:25 (bold mine)
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“Therefore go and say to Israel, ‘O Israel, My sinful people, come home to Me again, for I am merciful; I will not be forever angry with you. Only acknowledge your guilt; admit that you rebelled against your God and committed adultery against Him by worshiping idols under every tree; confess that you refused to follow Me. O sinful children, come home, for I am your Master and I will bring you again to the land of Israel – one from here and two from there, wherever you are scattered. And I will give you leaders after My own heart, who will guide you with wisdom and understanding.’ “
– Jeremiah 3:12-15
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“So with you, son of dust, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel; therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will die!’ and you don’t tell him what I say, so that he does not repent – that wicked person will die in his sins, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn him to repent and he doesn’t, he will die in his sin, and you will not be responsible.”
– Ezekiel 33:7-9
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“Get a scroll and write down all My messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every one of them. Perhaps when the people of Judah see in writing all the terrible things I will do to them, they will repent. And then I can forgive them.”
– Jeremiah 36:2-3 (bold mine)
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For the good works of a righteousness man will not save him if he turns to sin; and the sins of an evil man will not destroy him if he repents and turns from his sins.
– Ezekiel 33:12 (bold mine)
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And God has given us examples of where He made good on that. Let’s look at 2Kings again. God did not require King Josiah to make sacrifices in order to be heard or forgiven… Josiah’s genuine repentance was all God needed to see to have a change of heart and extend the time frame so that Josiah would not have to witness Jerusalem’s destruction.
One day Hilkiah, the High Priest, went to Shaphan, the secretary, and exclaimed, “I have discovered a scroll in the Temple, with God’s Laws written on it!” He gave the scroll to Shaphan to read. When Shaphan reported to the king about the progress of the repairs at the Temple, he also mentioned the scroll found by Hilkiah. Then Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in it, he tore his clothes in terror. He commanded Hilkiah the priest [and others] to ask God, “What shall we do? For we have not been following the instructions of this Book: You must be very angry with us, for neither we nor our ancestors have followed Your Commands… [God’s response] …I am going to destroy this city and its people, just as I stated in that book you read. For the people of Judah have thrown Me aside and have worshiped other gods and have made Me very angry; and My anger can’t be stopped. But because you were sorry and concerned and humbled yourself before God Almighty when you read the book and its warnings that this land would be cursed and become desolate, and because you have torn your clothing and wept before Me in contrition, I will listen to your plea. The death of this nation will not occur until after you die – you will not see the evil which I will bring upon this place…”
– 2Kings 22:8-13, & 16-20
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The same was true for the pagans of Ninevah; no animal sacrifices were needed.
Then God spoke to Jonah again: “Go to that great city, Nineveh,” He said, “and warn them of their doom, as I told you to before!” So Jonah obeyed, and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city, with many villages around it – so large that it would take three days to walk through it. But the very first day when Jonah entered the city and began to preach, the people repented. Jonah shouted to the crowds that gathered around him, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” And they believed him and declared a fast; from the king on down, everyone put on sackcloth – the rough, coarse garments worn at times of mourning. For when the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and laid aside his royal robes and put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. And the king and his nobles sent this message throughout the city: “Let no one, not even the animals, eat anything at all, nor even drink any water. Everyone must wear sackcloth and cry mightily to God, and let everyone turn from his evil ways, from his violence and robbing. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will decide to let us live, and will hold back His fierce anger from destroying us.” And when God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, He abandoned His plan to destroy them, and didn’t carry it through.
– Jonah 3:1-10
It is clear that God really just wants us to love Him… the same way, every single day… instead of celebrating rituals and performing animal sacrifices. He wants us to be good to one another by being fair and just in our dealings, extending mercy and kindness to each other, and repenting when we have done wrong.
So now the question becomes…
Does God’s description of the end of times and the Messiah’s coming, match what we know of Jesus’ life and the world’s reaction since?
Let’s stop here for just a moment to reflect on all that we have just read and learned about God and His intentions for the end of times.
It is important for us to realize that this is God’s end of times prophesy, and He has been very clear about it over the ages.
Starting with Moses, God has repeated His prophesy the exact the same way to various prophets in different periods of our recorded history.
And because of that, we can be certain that these are His exact intentions; therefore… any version of the prophesy that has even the slightest deviation from His Word must be automatically tossed out and considered null and void.
We cannot simply change God’s words, and we certainly cannot change His intentions, just to suit our whim. It does not work like that, even though many have tried over the years.
God even tells us that for Himself…
Then God Almighty spoke to Job again from the whirlwind, “Stand up like a man and brace yourself for battle. Let Me ask you a question, and give Me the answer. Are you going to discredit My Justice and condemn Me, so that you can say you are right?”
– Job 40:6-8
And now that we have God’s Scriptural definition of what the world will look like when the Jewish-prophesied Messiah comes to usher in the Messianic Age of peace and prosperity, we can compare it to Jesus’ life on earth and society’s response to him for the last 2,000 or so years.
One of the easiest to see…
1) First and foremost, the most obvious difference between God’s prophesy and our reality is our lack of world peace and the continued existence of militaries, weapons, and war.
In fact, Jesus’ own definition of himself was that of a ‘divider’ not a source of unity and peace.
“Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or perhaps the other way around. A father will decide one way about me; his son, the other; mother and daughter will disagree; and the decision of an honored mother-in-law will be spurned by her daughter-in-law.”
– Luke 12:51-53
So… taking this into consideration and then combining it with the information that we previously collected about the Messiah, we have several discrepancies to overcome before we would be able to call Jesus the Jewish – prophesied Messiah:
2) We have a discrepancy with Jesus’ lineage.
God said that the Messiah will come through David’s son, Solomon, but Jesus descended from David’s other son, Nathan.
Prophesy = “[Solomon] is the one who shall build Me a temple. And I will continue his kingdom into eternity.” – 2Samuel 7:13
“[Solomon] shall build My temple, and he shall be as My own son and I will be his Father; and I will cause his sons and his descendants to reign over every generation of Israel.“ – 1Chronicles 22:10
Reality = … Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. Joseph’s father was Heli; Heli’s father was Matthat;…… Menna’s father was Mattatha; Mattatha’s father was Nathan; Nathan’s father was David; David’s father was Jesse; Jesse’s father was Obed;…… Cainan’s father was Enos; Enos’ father was Seth; Seth’s father was Adam; Adam’s father was God. – Luke 3:23-38 (bold mine)
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3) We have a discrepancy with the time frame of his birth.
Yes, Micah 5:2 tells us that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem; however, Micah 5:3 and other end times prophesies state that the Messiah will be born after Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple were destroyed. Jesus was born before that happened.
O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of My King who is alive from everlasting ages past! God will abandon His people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her Son; then at last His fellow countrymen – the exile remnants of Israel – will rejoin their brethren in their own land.
– Micah 5:2-3 (bold and emphasis mine)
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4) We have a discrepancy with his life experiences.
Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah as despised and rejected throughout life, until formally chosen by God; and we know that this is the case because Isaiah 49 tells us the rejection comes first… and that does not describe Jesus’ life experiences at all.
…but in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want Him. We despised Him and rejected Him – a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way when He went by. He was despised and we didn’t care. – Isaiah 53:2-3 (bold mine)
God Almighty, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the One Who is despised, rejected by mankind, and kept beneath the heel of the world’s rulers: “kings shall stand at attention when You pass by; princes shall bow low because God Almighty has chosen You; He, the faithful God, the Holy One of Israel, chooses You.” – Isaiah 49:7 (bold mine)
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5) We also have a discrepancy with Jesus’ purpose.
The Messiah comes to bring us back to God alone and usher in everlasting, global peace. Jesus self-proclaimed that he did not come to bring peace, but division.
Prophesy = He will arbitrate among the nations, and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down. Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity for there will be nothing to fear. God Almighty Himself has promised this. – Micah 4:3-4
Reality = “Don’t imagine that I [Jesus] came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s worst enemies will be right in his own home!” – Matthew 10:34-36
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6) We have a discrepancy with his legacy; the things that have not happened since Jesus’ death.
The Messiah is to lead us back to God alone… and there continues to be other gods in the world, and idol worship abounds.
We need to circle back around, at this point, to the fact that we have not experienced one of the most telling descriptions of God’s end of times prophesy… when the Messiah comes, the world will have a complete lack of military, weaponry, and war, and in its place there will be a world-altering peace that the Messiah ushers in… that has not happened yet.
Even to this day there is disagreement about who Jesus really was and why he came, but regardless of what you think of Jesus’ birth, life, and pronouncements… there is no denying that the prophesy of the Messiah’s peace has not yet come.
Please do not be deceived by those who will attempt to re-write GOD’s description, GOD’s prophesy, and GOD’s intended outcome for the world by telling you that the peace God was talking about is “in your heart,” and not actual world peace.
However…
God does tell us there will be two.
Daniel, Zechariah, and Malachi all speak of two separate comings.
Another message that I received from God Almighty said: “Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of God Almighty rejoice to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of God Almighty that see everywhere around the world.” Then I asked him about the two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, and about the two olive branches that emptied oil into gold bowls through two gold tubes. “Don’t you know?” he asked. “No, sir,” I said. Then he told me, “They represent the two Anointed Ones who assist God of all the earth.”
– Zechariah 4:8-14 (bold and emphasis mine)
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“Listen, I will send My messenger before Me to prepare the way. And then the One you are looking for will come suddenly to His Temple – the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, He is surely coming,” says God Almighty.
– Malachi 3:1 (bold and emphasis mine)
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Christians believe that there will be a second coming of the ‘Messiah’, but that was never God’s exact plan. Yes, two will come, but it is… first an Anointed One and then the Messiah.
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Additional points for us to ponder before we make up our minds…
We’ve explored God’s end of times prophesy and His description of the Messiah… now let’s look a little closer at the timing of the events that God says will precede the end times.
Even while I was praying and confessing my sin and the sins of my people, and desperately pleading with God for Jerusalem, His holy mountain, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, flew swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice, and said to me, “Daniel, I am here to help you understand God’s plans. The moment you began praying, a command was given, I am here to tell you what it was, for God loves you very much. Listen, and try to understand the meaning of the vision that you saw! God has commanded 490 years of further punishment upon Jerusalem and your people. Then at last they will learn to stay away from sin, and their guilt will be cleansed; then the kingdom of everlasting righteousness will begin, and the Most Holy Place will be rededicated, as the prophets have declared. Now listen! It will be forty-nine years plus 434 years from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem, until the Anointed One comes! Jerusalem’s streets and walls will be rebuilt despite the perilous times. After this period of 434 years, the Anointed One will be killed, his kingdom still unrealized… and a king will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. They will be overwhelmed as with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.”
– Daniel 9:20-26
It may be helpful to us to understand the significance of this part of God’s prophesy by seeing how special Daniel was to God.
“If Noah, Daniel, and Job were here today, they alone would be saved by their righteousness, and I would destroy the remainder of Israel,” says God Almighty.
– Ezekiel 14:14
And so here was Daniel… crying and beseeching God for mercy for Jerusalem. But God wasn’t ready to show Jerusalem any mercy yet, so He sent Gabriel to quiet and calm Daniel.
“Even while I was praying and confessing my sin and the sins of my people, and desperately pleading with God for Jerusalem, His holy mountain, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, flew swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice, and said to me, “Daniel, I am here to help you understand God’s plans. The moment you began praying, a command was given, I am here to tell you what it was, for God loves you very much. Listen, and try to understand the meaning of the vision that you saw!”
– Daniel 9:20-23 (bold mine)
The moment Daniel began praying, a command was given. God had decreed
“490 years of further punishment upon Jerusalem and your people…”
– Daniel 9:24
God was telling Daniel that He had no intention of showing them mercy yet, nor in Daniel’s lifetime. Now, that was a long time ago and it really doesn’t impact us today. But…!!! the follow-up is where the message gets important for us.
“Now listen! It will be forty-nine years plus 434 years from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem, until the Anointed One comes! Jerusalem’s streets and walls will be rebuilt despite the perilous times. After this period of 434 years, the Anointed One will be killed, his kingdom still unrealized… and a king will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. They will be overwhelmed as with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.”
– Daniel 9:25-26
So, here’s the thing… we have two distinct time periods mentioned; there is a forty-nine-year period and a separate 434-year period.
At the time of this prophesy, Jerusalem was in ruins and the Temple had been destroyed.
This prophesy tells us that the City and the Temple would be rebuilt, and that an Anointed One would come 434-years after the command to start that rebuilding… but He would be killed before His kingdom was realized.
Then after that, Jerusalem and the second Temple would be destroyed again, and war with its miseries would continue until “the end.”
So, step-by-step we will have…
The command to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple
Four-hundred-thirty-four years pass
The Anointed One comes, but is killed before His kingdom is realized
God goes silent and abandons us
Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple are destroyed
War and all of its miseries continue until “the end” (of times)
And at the end of all of that is what we consider to be the end of (those) ‘times.’
That’s when the Messiah comes to rule with complete fairness… God’s people return to Him and they have hearts for God alone… we have sustained global peace which heals the world… and then God forgives our sins and creates new, individual covenants for each of us by inscribing His Laws on our hearts.
So…
We need to take several points into consideration:
1) The City was to be rebuilt, and four-hundred-thirty-four years later, the Anointed One was prophesied to come… 434 years corresponds to the time frame between when Nehemiah began rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and when we believe that Jesus came to us.
There is no quote in the Bible for me to reference here, but the information about what years Artaxerxes was king and the year BC that Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall and Jerusalem is easily found online.
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2) Everyone was expecting the Anointed One to come before the Messiah.
New Testament = His disciples asked, “Why do the Jewish leaders insist Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?” – Matthew 17:10
New Testament = Now they began asking him about something the Jewish religious leaders often spoke of, that Elijah must return (before the Messiah could come). – Mark 9:11
Scripture Prophesy = “See, I will send you another prophet like Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful judgment day of God.” – Malachi 4:5
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3) The Anointed One was prophesied to come before the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple, with continued war until the end… Jesus lived and died before the city was overtaken and the second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and we have continued to have wars with all of its miseries since then.
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4) The One who comes before was said to live in the barren wilderness… Jesus also lived in the barren wilderness.
“This messenger will live out in the barren wilderness,” Isaiah said, “and will proclaim that everyone must straighten out his life to be ready for God’s arrival.” – Mark 1:3
But as the man went on his way he began to shout the good news that he was healed; as a result, such throngs soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn’t publicly enter a city anywhere, but had to stay out in the barren wastelands. And the people from everywhere came to him there. – Mark 1:45
Every day Jesus went to the Temple to teach, and the crowds began gathering early in the morning to hear him. And each evening he returned to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. – Luke 21:37-38
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5) Jesus said that the reason he came was to spread the Good News.
Later, Simon and the others went out to find him, and told him, “Everyone is asking for you.” But he replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and give my message to them too, for that is why I came.” – Mark 1:36-38
Early the next morning he went out into the desert. The crowds searched everywhere for him and when they finally found him they begged him not to leave them, but to stay at Capernaum. But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other places too, for that is why I was sent. So he continued to travel around preaching in synagogues throughout Judea. – Luke 4:42-44
… and to cause division and strife.
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s worst enemies will be right in his own home!” – Matthew 10:34-36 (bold mine)
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6) Jesus spoke as though he knew he was the Anointed One who comes before.
As in Matthew 10:34-36 (above) Jesus knew his purpose for coming was division.
Prophesy = “Even the best of them are prickly as briars; the straightest is more crooked than a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now; your time of punishment is almost here; confusion, destruction, and terror will be yours. Don’t trust anyone, not your best friend— not even your wife! For the son despises his father; the daughter defies her mother; the bride curses her mother-in-law. Yes, a man’s enemies will be found in his own home.” – Micah 7:4-6 (bold and emphasis mine)
He knew that he would be tortured and killed.
Then he [Jesus] began to tell them about the terrible things he would suffer, and that he would be rejected by the elders and the Chief Priests and the other Jewish leaders – and be killed, and that he would rise again three days afterwards. – Mark 8:31
“They will mock me and spit on me and flog me with their whips and kill me; but after three days I will come back to life again.” – Mark 10:34
“But first I must suffer terribly and be rejected by this whole nation.” – Luke 17:25
He knew that he was living in a time period before the destruction of Jerusalem… that it was imminent and that it would be catastrophic.
“So, when you see the horrible thing (told about by Daniel the prophet) standing in a holy place, then those in Judea must flee into the Judean hills. Those on their porches must not even go inside to pack before they flee. Those in the fields should not return to their homes for their clothes.” – Matthew 24:15-18
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then let the people of Judea flee to the hills. Let those in Jerusalem try to escape, and those outside the city must not attempt to return. For those will be days of God’s judgement, and the words of the ancient Scriptures written by the prophets will be abundantly fulfilled.” – Luke 21:20-22
In fact, Jesus knew that the devastation would be so bad that not one stone of the Temple would be left on top of another.
Some of his disciples began talking about the beautiful stonework of the Temple and the memorial decorations on the walls. But Jesus said, “The time is coming when all these things you are admiring will be knocked down, and not one stone will be left on top of another; all will become one vast heap of rubble.” – Luke 21:5-6
As he was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, what beautiful buildings these are! Look at the decorated stonework on the walls.” Jesus replied, “Yes, look! For not one stone will be left upon another, except as ruins.” – Mark 13:1-2
Jesus also knew that the destruction of Jerusalem was only the beginning… that wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. were all going to be coming.
“And wars will break out near and far, but this is not the signal of the end-time. For nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be earthquakes in many lands, and famines. These herald only the early stages of the anguish ahead.” – Mark 13:7-8
“And when you hear of wars and insurrections beginning, don’t panic. True, wars must come, but the end won’t follow immediately – for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and famines in many lands, and epidemics, and terrifying things happening in the heavens.” – Luke 21:9-11
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7) Amos and Micah tell us that the beginning of God’s final punishment on His people will be marked by darkness at noon, the earth’s trembling, and then God’s complete silence.
The land will tremble as it awaits its doom, and everyone will mourn. It will rise up like the river Nile at flood time, toss about, and sink again. At that time, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in the daytime.’ ” – Amos 8:8-9 (bold mine)
“The time is surely coming,” says God Almighty, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the Words of God. Men will wander everywhere from sea to sea, seeking the Word of God Almighty, searching, running here and going there, but will not find It.“ – Amos 8:11-12 (bold mine)
You false prophets! You who lead His people astray! You who cry “Peace” to those who give you food, and threaten those who will not pay! This is God’s message to you: “The night will close about you and cut off all your visions; darkness will cover you, with never a word from God. The sun will go down upon you, and your day will end.” – Micah 3:5-6 (bold mine)
Do you remember what happened during Jesus’ crucifixion?
There was darkness from noon to 3:00p.m… the earth trembled…
That afternoon, the whole earth was covered with darkness for three hours, from noon until three o’clock. – Matthew 27:45
And, look! The curtain secluding the Holiest Place in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and rocks broke… – Matthew 27:51
and God went silent…
About three o’clock, Jesus shouted, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46
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Think about this…. why would Jesus feel ‘forsaken’ by God? He knew the cross was his fate… he had accepted that the cross was his fate… so what changed between Jesus and God right there at the very end, just before Jesus died, that would make Jesus feel forsaken?
The only answer can be that God stopped speaking to him.
God went silent.
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.pulling this all together…
Let’s stop a moment and think about everything we have just read and learned about God’s end of times prophesies and His Promises.
God has told us 1) there will be two separate comings… the Anointed One that will be killed before his kingdom is realized, and then the Messiah whose peaceful kingdom will not end, 2) their comings are separated by complete destruction of both the City and the second Temple; then we will have continued wars with all its miseries until the very end.
God has also told us that the separation period between the two, the Anointed One and the Messiah, is marked by darkness at noon, the earth trembling, and God’s complete silence.. with war and all its miseries until the end of those times (the Messiah’s coming)
So… when we pull all of this together, it tells us that the Anointed One marks the beginning of God’s abandonment of us, His complete silence, Jerusalem’s destruction, and continued wars.
Whereas, the Messiah marks the ending of all of that and the beginning of healing… leading to peace throughout the world and God’s return to us.
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So, where does John the Baptist fit in?
The authors of the New Testament believed that John the Baptist was the Anointed One that comes first and that Jesus was the Messiah, but John was only about six months older than Jesus.
“But [Gabriel] said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son! And you are to name him John…
[then Gabriel to Mary] furthermore, six months ago your Aunt Elizabeth – ‘the barren one,’ they called her – became pregnant in her old age!” – Luke 1:13, and 36
So, not only does this scenario not allow for the separate forty-nine-year period that is prophesied, it also ignores the prophesied abandonment by God and the destruction that separates the two comings.
And, there are no stories of John’s life to indicate that he was set apart by God in any special way. There were no healings, no constant communion with God, or any other behaviors or events that could lead us to that conclusion.
John was not beaten or tortured… in fact, he was protected by King Herod while he was imprisoned and then beheaded very suddenly.
For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John because he kept saying it was wrong for the king to marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Herodias wanted John killed in revenge, but without Herod’s approval she was powerless. And Herod respected John, knowing that he was a good and holy man, and so he kept him under his protection. Herod was disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so he liked to listen to him. Herodias’ chance finally came. It was Herod’s birthday and he gave a stag party for his palace aides, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. Then Herodias’ daughter came in and danced before them and greatly pleased them all. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king vowed, “even half of my kingdom, and I will give it to you!” She went out and consulted her mother, who told her, “Ask for John the Baptist’s head!” So she hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist – right now – on a tray!” Then the king was sorry, but he was embarrassed to break his oath in front of his guests. So he sent one of his body guards to the prison to cut of John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier killed John in the prison, and brought back his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl and she took it to her mother.
– Mark 6:17-28 (bold mine)
John the Baptist’s life and experiences do not match God’s definition of the Anointed One who must come before the Messiah.
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Jesus’ life and death, however, match up in every way to the Anointed One who comes before.
His birth coincides with the prophesied timeframe of the arrival of the Anointed One… but not with the prophesied timeframe of the Messiah because he lived and died before the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple.
He lived in the barren wilderness and preached the Good News.
Jesus knew that he did not come to bring peace, and that the City and the second Temple were going to be destroyed.
Jesus also knew he was going to be tortured and killed, and that it was to fulfill God’s prophesy because he was to be killed before his kingdom could be realized.
At Jesus’ death, there was darkness at noon, the earth shook, and God went silent.
Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple were subsequently destroyed not long after Jesus died, and war with its miseries has continued until the present time.
And, we have yet to experience the global peace promised to us by God in His end of times prophesy.
So…
Was Jesus the prophesied Messiah? Or was he perhaps the Anointed One who comes before?
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And now it’s up to you.
We’ve presented you with a lot of valuable information to assist you in making up your own mind and deciding what you believe.
The only thing left to do is search your heart and go to God for His guidance… He will tell you!
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