Whatever good Christianity has done for the world has come only because of Jesus of Nazareth. But who was this man? Our purpose here is to show how the Hebrew Scriptures predicted centuries in advance the coming of a divine Messiah for all mankind.
Some have claimed that these statements were made after Jesus lived, not before. Some claim the books of the Hebrew Scriptures were written close to the time of Christ and the Messianic prophecies were merely Christian inventions. But to make such a claim is impossible. The entire Hebrew Scriptures were completed by 400 BC, and no matter what your view of the Hebrew Scriptures, one fact is unassailable: The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the entire Hebrew Scriptures, was completed by 247 BC.
Therefore, even critics must acknowledge that every prophecy we will discuss in this series, and many more, were in existence well in advance of the time Jesus lived—in fact, at least some 250 years before He was even born.
After looking at all the evidence, we have concluded that the Messiah is spoken of in such specific detail in the Hebrew Scriptures that it is literally impossible to account for such predictions apart from the Bible being a divine revelation of God to man.
There are those today who reject this conclusion, but they refuse to consider the prophecies fairly and on their own merit. Often, they mistakenly dismiss them out of hand. But only a preexisting bias against supernatural prophecy itself (such as those holding a rationalistic worldview) or a bias against these prophecies referring to the Person of Jesus can deter someone from accepting the Scriptures as Messianic prophecy.
In the material that follows we will set forth just a small portion of the evidence found in the Hebrew Scriptures that predicted the coming of the Messiah. We believe God gave this evidence so that those who are willing to allow the facts to speak for themselves will be able to discover the truth.
So, is there evidence in history that God gave specific information hundreds of years in advance about a person He knew would live? What specific accounts are given and where can they be found? Did the people to whom the information came recognize that they had been given special information? Do these prophecies constitute solid evidence for us today? Is it possible for us to account for this information apart from the fact it must have come from God?
These prophecies are like clues in a mystery story. We will offer just a few tantalizing clues to identify the special person who is talked about in the Hebrew Scriptures.
But before we examine specific prophecies, we want to define the word “Messiah.” The term “Messiah” is taken from Psalm 2:2 and Daniel 9:25-26 where Mashiach (Hebrew), Messias(Greek) means “Anointed One.” The term took its meaning from the Jewish practice of “anointing” prophets, priests, and kings to their respective offices. As a generic term it could be applied to an earthly king such as David (2 Samuel 19:21) who was “anointed” to fulfill the divine purpose of his office.
However, there was one unique individual to whom the term “Messiah” applied in a special sense. God spoke about a future Ruler of Israel who would sit on the throne of David and usher in an age of righteousness and peace. He would simultaneously hold all three offices of prophet (authoritative proclamation), priest (spiritual duties) and king (political ruler). He would be the reality and ultimate fulfillment to which all other usages of the term “Messiah” would be but shadowy pre-figures.[1]
He would be the One to come whom God would uniquely identify beforehand. As the apostle Peter said, “But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ [Messiah] would suffer” (Acts 3:18, emphasis added).
Before we examine in detail the prophecies the Bible claims God made through the prophets identifying the Messiah, we want to ask, “What would it prove if such statements about a future Messiah were given and actually fulfilled many years later in one person?”