The Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s 1st Coming (continued)

THE LIFE OF THE MESSIAH, WHAT HE WAS TO BE LIKE

THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE CALLED “THE BRANCH”

Isaiah 11:3-16, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots [remember Jesus in another prophecy is called the BRANCH?]: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove [decide] with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ [adder’s] den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [in prophecy, the word “mountain” can mean “nation”. “Holy mountain” here means “holy nation”.] And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. [vs. 11-16 now] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” [Some historians believe a contingent of Assyrians migrated northwestward up the Danube after their empire was conquered in the 600s BC by Nebuchadnezzar, into the area of Europe which is now modern-day Germany.] But the important part of these verses for the 1st coming to focus on is who Jesus is. The rod referred to in verse 1 refers to king David, the Branch refers to Jesus Christ.” Again, the verses that apply to Jesus Christ’s first coming are in bold, verses 1-3a. Verses 3b-16, as we can see focus on the Messiah’s 2nd coming in great glory and give some details about the Millennial Kingdom of God that he will set up to gently but firmly rule over all nations. Historically the Jewish religious leaders focused their attention on the more dramatic second coming portion of these prophecies, not knowing what to make of the portion that applied to the Messiah’s first coming as a human being, born in a smelly sheepfold cave probably in sight of Herod’s glamorous palace on the opposite side of the Bethlehem valley.

Jeremiah 23:5-8, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, ‘The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt’; but The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.’” Again we see Jesus referred to as the Branch. And again the 1st coming part of the prophecy is tiny, barely a footnote, in comparison to the 2nd coming portion, thus confusing many Jews, right to this day. Zechariah 6:12-13, “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” In verse 13 it says that the Messiah shall be a priest. Hebrews 4:14-16 shows that Jesus has become High Priest for us before God the Father. After and since 70 A.D. there has been no high priest in Jerusalem. At his ascension to God’s throne in heaven, Jesus has become our high priest, fulfilling all the functions of that office. When he returns, he will be both king of the whole earth (Zechariah 14:9) and continue in the role of high priest as well. Hebrews 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” This is part of Jesus Christ’s job description.

THE ZEAL OF THE MESSIAH

Psalm 69:7-9, Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproach of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” John 2:13-17, “The Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, ‘Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.’ And his disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’”

Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvellous in our eyes.” Matthew 21:42, “Jesus saith unto them, ‘Did ye never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”

THE MESSIAH WOULDN’T BE A STREET-PREACHER

Isaiah 42:1-5, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” To see the antithesis of this, turn to verse 13 and read it-oh, here it is “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail [margin: behave himself mightily] against his enemies.” Matthew 12:14-21, “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; and charged them that they should not make him known: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, ‘Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. [Jesus was never a street-preacher, but he did practice a powerful form of open-air preaching out in the wilderness-something John Wesley and his colleague Whitefield did very effectively in the open fields and valleys of England.] A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.’”