You may be surprised at what the Hebrew Scriptures say.
What is known as the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, originally was called the Hebrew Scriptures. It consists of at least 39 scrolls written over a period of about 1000 years between approximately 1400 BC and 400 BC by at least 25 different authors. I use “at least” to generalize the actual numbers, which are disputed in several scholastic circles. These Scriptures were the sacred writings of the Israelite people.
To the Israelite reader, the true people of God were the descendants of Jacob, later known as Israel, Abraham’s grandson. Abraham was also the forefather of other Middle Eastern tribes, including the Ishmaelites, Midianites, Edomites, and others whose descendants settled mostly in the Middle East and later in parts of northern Africa. Abraham’s identity as the father of the people of God stems from a promise to him by God. This promise is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV this and all quotes).
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Later God made clear by saying my covenant I will establish with Isaac (Genesis 17:21), Abraham’s son, not with Ishmael and the other descendants. To further clarify, God said to Jacob:
“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring (Genesis 28:13-14).
Notice that the promise that God made to Abraham, which, in turn was repeated to Isaac and Jacob, included not only national blessings but a blessing upon all nations of the earth. Israel, the nation was to be a priestly people among all of the world’s people, all of whom belong to God. We can read about this in Exodus 19:5-6; when God was about to formalize this covenant with the Israelite people, he said, Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In a future Blog in this series, we will see in detail how this promise was fulfilled.
The covenant with the nation Israel was made at Mt. Sinai when they were enroute from Egypt to the Promised Land. In making this covenant, God inspired first Moses to write about its terms. After Moses, God inspired other prophets as additional authors.
Moses wrote the first five books, which were called the The Law. Generally, the rest of the scrolls were categorized as the The Prophets and The Writings (or Psalms). Together, these major sections of Scripture tell of the failure of the nation of Israel and of the success of the Messiah (the Anointed One of God), who would be the true King and leader of the people of God. I mention here only a few examples of the many Scriptures.
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 18:15-19:
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
Let’s understand this profound statement. When the Israelites met God at Mt. Sinai, or Mt. Horeb as it was also called, they experienced an astonishing manifestation of God’s glory and power. The mountain literally shook, and smoke poured forth from its top as God spoke the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments. You can read about this in Exodus 20. The Israelites reacted with such fear of God that they asked Moses to do the speaking as an intermediary. So, when God told Moses that he would give them a prophet like him, it was a direct reference to the need of the people Israel to have a human as their leader and teacher who was especially anointed by God.
The Hebrew Scriptures do not cite another prophet after Moses who would fit this description. This prophet, like the One who spoke to them from Mt. Sinai, would speak the words of God; nonetheless, he would be human like Moses. This plainly alludes to the Messiah and subtly hints that he would be both divine and human.
Below are additional prophecies of the Messiah.
Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 42:1, 6, Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations… I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. This servant of God is not only for Israelites but for all people groups. Isaiah adds more about this servant in Isaiah 49:5-6, And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself… he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” The ministry of this servant includes bringing the descendants of Israel back to God but also extends to all nations that they too would know the true God and experience his salvation.
In a notable, and no doubt, intentional use of words, the original Hebrew word in V.6 translated “My salvation” is Yeshuwah, which is the Hebrew name for Yeshua, the Aramaic name of the one we English-speaking people call Jesus!
King David wrote in Psalm 2:2, 7-8, The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed… I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. This passage about the Messiah (anointed) also proclaims him to be the Son of God and king of all people of the earth. David also wrote Psalm 22 that predicts the suffering of the Messiah during Jesus’ crucifixion. Often overlooked is the outcome: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations (Psalm 22:27-28). This prophecy reveals the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
Moses, Isaiah, and David, three primary authors of the three sections of the Old Testament, foretold the Messiah, the Savior of Israel and of all the nations. What does this suggest about the people of God? In the next Blog, we will see how these prophecies were fulfilled and explained in the New Testament.