What does Scripture say about the Messiah? Is he Jesus?
- The Messiah must be from the Tribe of Judah and a Descendant of King David AND King Solomon
The Messiah must be a member of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and a direct descendant of King David & King Solomon (2 Samuel 7:12-14; 1 Chronicles 22:9-10). Genealogy in the Bible is only passed down from father to son (Numbers 1:1-18) There is no evidence that Jesus really had this pedigree, and the Christian Bible actually claims that he did not have a “birth-father” from the tribe of Judah descending from King David and King Solomon (Matt. 1:18-20). - Ingathering of the Jewish Exiles
When the Messiah is reigning as King of Israel, the Jews will be ingathered from their exile and will return to Israel, their homeland (Deut. 30:3; Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 30:3, 32:37; Ezekiel 11:17, 36:24). This has clearly not yet happened and we still await its fulfilment. - Rebuilding of the Holy Temple
The Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt (Isaiah 2:2-3, 56:6-7, 60:7, 66:20; Ezekiel 37:26–27; Malachi 3:4; Zech. 14:20-21).
The Temple was still standing in Jesus’ day. It was destroyed 38 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and it has not yet been rebuilt. - Worldwide Reign of Peace
There will be universal disarmament and worldwide peace with a complete end to war (Micah 4:1-4; Hoseah 2:20; Isaiah 2:1-4, 60:18).
Wars have increased dramatically in the world since the start of Christianity. - Observance of the Torah Embraced by All Jews
The Messiah will reign as King at a time when all the Jewish people will observe God’s commandments (Ezekiel 37:24; Deut. 30:8,10; Jeremiah 31:32; Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27).
Jesus never ruled as King, nor have all Jews embraced the commandments of God’s Torah. - Universal Knowledge of God
The Messiah will rule at a time when all the people of the world will come to acknowledge and serve the one true God (Zechariah 3:9, 8:23,14:9,16; Isaiah 45:23, 66:23; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 38:23; Psalm 86:9; Zeph. 3:9).
This, as well, has not yet taken place and we await its fulfilment.
A Biblical Portrait of the Messiah
All of these criteria for the Messiah are found in numerous places in the Jewish Bible. One foundational example is in the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 37:24-28:
“24 And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them
25 and they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers have lived; and they shall live there, they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever; and My servant David will be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant, which I will give them; and I will multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever
27 and My tabernacle shall be with them, and I will be their God and they will be My people.
28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”
Anyone can claim to be the Messiah or a group of people can claim that someone is the Messiah. However, if that person fails to fulfill all the criteria found in the Jewish Bible, he cannot be the Messiah. According to the Christian scriptures, Jesus seems to have understood this. As he was being crucified by the Romans, he cried out “My G-d, my G-d, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
The Christian Rebuttal
In order to deal with Jesus’ failure to fulfill the Biblical messianic prophecies, missionaries argue that he will accomplish them when he returns in the future.
It’s important to understand that this second coming doctrine is an admission that Jesus didn’t fulfill the Messianic criteria. This rationalisation for his failure certainly provides no reason to accept him as the Messiah today.
Furthermore, the Jewish Bible does not have a Messianic “installment plan” where Messiah comes, fails in his mission, and then returns thousands of years later to finally succeed.
Missionaries will claim that because Jesus performed miracles, he must be the Messiah. However, we have no real evidence that Jesus actually performed any miracles. More significantly, even if Jesus did perform miracles, they would not prove that he was the Messiah.
Our Bible never says that we will be able to recognize the Messiah through the miracles that he will do. The Torah actually teaches that even false prophets can have the ability to perform supernatural miracles (Deut. 13:2-6).
The Real Messiah
One of the basic premises upon which Christianity rests is that Jesus was the Messiah predicted in the Jewish Bible. Judaism has always rejected this belief. Since the goal of “Hebrew Christian” missionaries is to convince Jews that Jesus did, in fact, fulfill the requirements of the promised Messiah, it is necessary to examine the Jewish understanding of the Messiah to understand why such claims are simply not true.
- THE HEBREW ROOTS OF THE WORD “MESSIAH”
The Hebrew word for “Messiah” is “Moshiach”. The literal and proper translation of this word is “anointed” which refers to a ritual of anointing and consecrating someone or something with oil. (I Samuel 10:1-2) It is used throughout the Jewish Bible in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for example, a Jewish king (I Kings 1:39), Jewish priests (Leviticus 4:3), prophets (Isaiah 61:1), the Jewish Temple and its utensils (Exodus 40:9-11), unleavened bread (Numbers 6:15), and a non-Jewish king (Cyrus king of Persia, Isaiah 45:1).
- THE CRITERIA TO BE FULFILLED BY THE JEWISH MESSIAH
In an accurate translation of the Jewish Scriptures, the word “Moshiach” is never translated as “Messiah” but as “anointed.” Nevertheless, Judaism has always maintained a fundamental belief in a Messianic figure. Since the concept of a Messiah is one that was given by God to the Jews, Jewish tradition is best qualified to describe and recognize the expected Messiah. This tradition has its foundation in numerous biblical references, many of which are cited below. Judaism understands the Messiah to be a human being (with no connotation of deity or divinity) who will bring about certain changes in the world and who must fulfill certain specific criteria before being acknowledged as the Messiah.
These specific criteria are as follows:
1) He must be Jewish. (Deuteronomy 17:15, Numbers 24:17)
2) He must be a member of the tribe of descendent of both King David (I Chronicles 17:11, Psalm 89:29-38, Jeremiah 33:17, II Samuel 7:12-16) and King Solomon. (I Chronicles 22:10, II Chronicles 7:18)
3) He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel. (Isaiah 27:12-13, Isaiah 11:12)
4) He must rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1)
5) He must bring world peace. (Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6, Micah 4:3)
6) He must influence the entire world to acknowledge and serve one G-d. (Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 40:5, Zephaniah 3:9)
All of these criteria for the Messiah are best stated in the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 37: 24-28:
“And My servant David will be a king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them, and they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant… and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”
If an individual fails to fulfil even one of these conditions, he cannot be the Messiah.
- WHY JESUS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE JEWISH MESSIAH
A careful analysis of these criteria shows us that although Jesus was Jewish, he did not fulfil any of the other criteria. An examination of the contradictory accounts of Jesus’ genealogy demonstrates a number of difficulties with the fulfillment of the second criterion. Specifically, the New Testament claims that Jesus did not have a physical father. The Jewish Scriptures, however, clearly state that a person’s genealogy and tribal membership is transmitted exclusively through one’s physical father (Numbers 1:18, Jeremiah 33:17). Therefore, Jesus cannot possibly be a descendent of the tribe of Judah or of King David and King Solomon.
There are even further problems with any attempts to use the Jewish Scriptures to prove Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph, the husband of Mary (Jesus’ mother). For the New Testament claims that Joseph was a descendent of King Jeconiah who, in the Hebrew Bible, was cursed to never have a descendent “sitting on the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah”. ( Jeremiah 22:30) Joseph’s genealogy, even if it were transmittable to Jesus, would only serve to further disqualify Jesus as the Messiah.
Finally, there is the problem of the contradictory accounts of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew, Chapter 1 and Luke, Chapter 3. The common Christian explanation of this contradiction claims that Luke’s genealogy is that of Jesus’ mother, Mary. However, this is unfounded, even according to the Greek original. In addition, it has already been established that genealogy is transferred solely through the father, making this attempted explanation completely irrelevant. Even if one could trace one’s genealogy through one’s mother, there would be the additional problem that Luke 3:31 lists Mary as a descendent of David through Nathan, Solomon’s brother, and not through Solomon himself as required according to the prophesy in I Chronicles 22:10 of the Jewish Bible.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth criteria have obviously not been fulfilled-neither during Jesus’ time nor since. Any Christian claims that these final criteria will be fulfilled in a “Second Coming” are irrelevant because the concept of the Messiah coming twice has no scriptural basis.
- REFUTING CHRISTIAN PROOF TEXTS
While traveling through a forest, a person noticed a circle marked on a tree with an arrow shot into the centre. A few yards away he noticed more targets, each with arrows in the centre. Later, he met the archer and he asked him, “How did you become such an expert that you always get your arrows into the centre of the bull’s-eye?” “It’s not difficult,” responded the archer, “First I shoot the arrow and then I draw the circle.”
When examining Christian “proof texts” that claim to point to Jesus as the promised Messiah, we should always ask: “Has an arrow been shot into a circle or has a circle been drawn around an arrow?” In other words, has the passage been mistranslated, misquoted, taken out of context or fabricated?
Here are examples of several ways that missionaries “draw a circle around the arrow” to prove their point.
Example 1: THE VERSE HAS BEEN FABRICATED AND DOES NOT EXIST IN the HEBREW SCRIPTURES
The easiest prophecy to fulfill is one you have invented. The New Testament certainly bears witness to this principle, fabricating a number of “prophecies” out of thin air and attributing them to the Hebrew Scriptures.
The New Testament book of Matthew claims that Jesus was the Messiah since he lived in the city of Nazareth. The New Testament uses the following “proof text” to make its point, “He [Jesus] came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled. ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” (Matthew 2:23) Since a Nazarene is a resident of Nazareth and this city did not exist during the time period of the Jewish Bible, it is impossible to find this quotation in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was fabricated out of thin air.
Example 2: THE VERSE IS MISTRANSLATED
An effective missionary will work with crude English retranslations of earlier Greek mistranslations, and will avoid looking at the original Hebrew.
In Romans 11:26, the Christian Bible quotes Isaiah 59:20 as saying, “The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob,” thus attempting to establish scriptural support for the Christian belief that the Messiah will take away our sins. However, a careful examination of the Hebrew original reveals a powerful dilemma. Isaiah 59:20 actually says the opposite, “A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, declares the Lord.” The Messiah’s role is not to take away our sins; rather, when we turn away from our sins, the Messiah will then come! It is also noteworthy that many New Testaments translate this verse correctly in Isaiah and incorrectly in Romans.
Example 3: THE PASSAGE IS MISTRANSLATED AND READ OUT OF CONTEXT
In an attempt to prove the concept of the “virgin birth,” the book of Matthew 1:22-23 states, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Behold a virgin shall be with child and will bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel,’ which translated means God with us”. Missionaries claim that this is the fulfillment of a prophecy recorded in Isaiah 7:14 that actually reads, “Behold, the young woman is with child and will bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuel.”
There are numerous inaccuracies in the Christian translation. For example:
1) The Hebrew word, “almah -vnkg,” means a young woman, not a virgin, a fact recognized by biblical scholars.
2) The verse says “ha’almah–vnkgv,” “the young woman,” not a young woman, specifying a particular woman that was known to Isaiah during his lifetime.
3) The verse says “she will call his name Emmanuel,” not “they shall call.”
Even apart from these inaccuracies, if we read all of Isaiah Chapter 7 from which this verse is taken, it is obvious that Christians have taken this verse out of context.
This chapter speaks of a prophecy made to the Jewish King Ahaz to allay his fears of two invading kings (those of Damascus and of Samaria) who were preparing to invade Jerusalem about 600 years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah’s point is that these events will take place in the very near future (and not 600 years later as Christianity claims). Verse 16 makes this abundantly clear, “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”
In fact, in the next chapter, this prophecy is fulfilled with the birth of a son to Isaiah. As it says in Isaiah 8:4, “For before the child shall know to cry, ‘my father and my mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.” This verse rules out any connection to Jesus who would not be born for 600 years.
Example 4: WHEN VIEWED IN CONTEXT, THE VERSE COULD NOT REFER TO JESUS
In Hebrews 1:5, the New Testament quotes a verse from 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be a Father to him, and he shall be a son to Me.” This is said to be a prophetic reference to Jesus as the son of God. However, if we look at this verse from 2 Samuel in its entirety, the verse doesn’t end with the phrase quoted in the New Testament, but continues, “When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men.” This cannot possibly fit the Christian Bible’s view of a “sinless” Jesus. In addition, the verse is speaking specifically about King Solomon as is obvious from I Chronicles 22:9-10, “His name shall be Solomon . . . he shall build a house for My name and I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to Me.”
The Bible frequently refers to individuals as God’s “son.” In fact, God refers to the entire nation of Israel in the following manner, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.” (Exodus 4:22)
Example 5: THE PASSAGE IS NOT A PROOF
Missionaries incorrectly claim that Jesus fulfilled a prophesy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They attempt to use Micah 5:1 as their “proof text”:
“But you Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are small among the thousands of Judah, out of you will come to Me one who will be ruler in Israel, whose goings out are from ancient time, from days of old.”
This verse is not a prophesy that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. The passage simply states it has been preordained that the Messiah would be able to trace his roots back to Bethlehem. This is consistent with the Biblical statement that the Messiah will be a descendent of King David who was from Bethlehem, as seen in I Samuel 16:18.
There is another problem with this “proof text”. A major distinction must be made between a scripture that serves as a proof that someone is the Messiah and a scripture that simply states a requirement of the Messiah. A proof must be something so exclusive that only one individual can fulfill it. For example, one criterion of the Messiah is that he must be Jewish. If an individual is Jewish, he has fulfilled this particular requirement; however, in and of itself, this is obviously not a proof that the individual is the Messiah since millions of individuals are Jewish and they all meet this criterion. Therefore, the claim that Jesus was born in Bethlehem would not prove a thing, since thousands of children were born there.