Promises of the Messiah

PROMISES OF "THE MESSIAH"

After God’s promise in Deuteronomy 18, many years passed with no prophet arising who seemed to match Moses. Yet God was not silent. He carefully guided history in the direction He had chosen. Along the way, God used prophets to give the meaning of His actions and to point ahead to what He planned. Again and again these prophets told of One to come. He would be the great King from David’s family line (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89; Isaiah 11). He would serve as "Priest forever" (Psalm 110). Psalm 110 also spoke of this eternal Priest as David’s "Lord." This Priest and Lord would rule from the highest place, at God’s right hand. Similar prophecies showed that the coming Prophet, the coming Priest, and the coming King would be the same Person—the Messiah! 💖

IS JESUS THAT MESSIAH?

When an Israelite man was officially made a prophet or priest or king, oil was usually poured on his head. Such pouring was called "anointing," and served as a sign of the authority to lead. The Hebrew word Messiah means "His Anointed" (Psalm 2). This same word from the Greek language is Christ. Today most people who know the word "Christ" think immediately of Jesus Christ. This is because so many proofs point to Jesus as the One promised by God. Jesus fits the descriptions of the Messiah or Christ as foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus also did the miracles of mighty power that we would expect of the prophet like Moses. He healed the blind, deaf and lame. He stilled storms and walked on the water. He even gave life back to the dead! At the town of Nain, Jesus met a funeral group going to bury the only son of a widow. When He saw the widow’s great sorrow, He went to the coffin. He touched it and called out, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" Many were present. They saw the boy arise from death! Luke 7:16 reports,

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ”A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ”God has visited his people!”

The people knew what they had seen. Jesus lived among them. Many were present to see His great works. Here were miraculous "signs" showing more clearly than ever the power that only the Creator has over His creation. Therefore Jesus really was "a great prophet." The people who saw these things reasoned correctly,

When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? (John 7:31).

Here were the greatest teachings ever heard, and the greatest miracles ever seen. If Jesus was not the Christ, who could possibly do greater things?

So even at that time many realized that He had to be the Prophet (John 7:40). If so, that also meant He was the Christ. When Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem for the last time they welcomed Him as "the Son of David," "the King" and "the Prophet" (Matthew 21:8-11; Luke 19:37-38). 💡 

THE GREATEST SIGN

Jesus often foretold that He would be killed by the Jewish and Roman leaders (Matthew 16:4; 17:12,23; 20:18-19; 26:2). His death, He said, would be by crucifixion, in which a person was nailed to a wooden cross and left to die in great pain. He explained that His death would allow people to be forgiven of their sins (Matthew 20:28; 26:28). Yet, along with predictions of His death, Jesus promised that His greatest "sign" would be to return from death in just three days (Matthew 12:38-40; 17:23; John 2:19-22).

As is well-recorded by history, Jesus actually went on to fulfill that promise (Matthew 28; John 20; Acts 2)! Not even the greatest prophet, priest or king had ever dared to make such a promise for himself. And certainly none had been able to raise himself from the grave. Jesus, by God’s power, both predicted it and accomplished it. Could there be any doubt that the Prophet foretold by Moses had finally arrived?

Peter was one of the eyewitnesses of these things. He had once fled from the enemies who killed Jesus. But after Jesus had returned from death, Peter knew that death was not to be feared any longer. With the help of God’s Spirit, Peter stood before the same enemies and boldly declared,

”And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled… Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days (Acts 3:17-18; 22-24).

Peter quoted from the very passage we have studied—Deuteronomy 18. That passage, he said, looked ahead to Jesus Christ. Indeed, all the "prophets" had pointed forward to this one great Prophet! Since Jesus is the Prophet like Moses, He is now the Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). That is why we are told, "listen to him in whatever he tells you" (Acts 3:22).

What if we fail to listen to Jesus? We miss God’s most important message for life. We bring on ourselves this terrible result:

And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people (Acts 3:23).

Such a person can no longer belong with God and His people! This is a serious matter. Our lives depend on listening carefully to the Prophet like Moses.

LET'S SUM UP

God’s fiery presence is too great for us. We cannot bear to see and hear Him in a direct way. Therefore God speaks to us through a go-between (a mediator). For the Jews at Sinai that mediator was Moses. At that time God promised Another to come, a Prophet like Moses. The New Testament proves that this new Mediator is Jesus Christ. His message must be treated with full respect if we are to have life with God and His people.

Lord Most High, You dwell in light far too bright and glorious for us. In Your love for us, You planned ahead to meet our need for a mediator. How we thank You for sending the greatest Prophet and Mediator, Jesus Christ! Help us to be open to the words You gave to Him for us… ⚠