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NOTES
The Introduction
The promise of Messiah progressively unfolds throughout the Old
Testament. Messiah became the proper name associated with the promised
Anointed One of Yahweh Who would come to deliver, redeem, and restore Israel. Since
the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, God has kept the hope of His people alive
through the promise of Messiah. The Hebrew term Mashiach (מָשִׁ֖יחַ) literally translates Anointed One.
The Greek equivalent of Mashiach/Messiah appearing in the New
Testament is Christos (χριστός).
Each time the word Christ appears in the New Testament, it is a
reference to the office of Jesus as the Messiah.
In the study of Messiah in the Books of Moses, six Old
Testament prophetic predictions will be explored: The Edenic Prediction
(Gen. 3:15); The Noahic Prediction (Gen 9:25-27); The Abrahamic
Prediction (Gen 12:1-3); The Judaic Prediction (Gen 49:8-12);
The Balaamic Prediction (Num 24:15-19); and, The Mosaic
Prediction (Deut 18:15, 18). Each prophecy will be studied within its
historical context and in light of its fulfillment in the Person and work of
Messiah Jesus as recorded in the New Testament.
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, opening
their minds to understand all that was written concerning Himself in all the
Scriptures. “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained
to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). A
study of Luke 24 introduces Messiah in the Books of Moses, establishing the
primary importance of studying messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. This
study focuses on the first six predictions of Messiah in the Pentateuch.
Genesis 3 – The Edenic Prediction (Gen 3:15): Humanity of
Messiah
Genesis 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve into sin. Before casting the man and the woman from the garden of Eden, God gives the woman a promise that includes the first predictive prophecy of Messiah in the Bible. Genesis 3:15 has commonly been called the protoevangelium (“the first gospel”) because it is the first prophecy in the Bible, revealing the promise of a future Redeemer Who will crush the head of Satan.
Genesis 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve into sin. Before casting the man and the woman from the garden of Eden, God gives the woman a promise that includes the first predictive prophecy of Messiah in the Bible. Genesis 3:15 has commonly been called the protoevangelium (“the first gospel”) because it is the first prophecy in the Bible, revealing the promise of a future Redeemer Who will crush the head of Satan.
Genesis 3:15 is the “mother prophecy” that launches the promise of
redemption for fallen humanity through the Messiah Who is the “seed/offspring”
of the woman. The Edenic Prediction establishes the humanity of Messiah, the
promised “seed/offspring” Who becomes the central figure of God’s unfolding
kingdom plan.
Genesis 9 – The Noahic Prediction (Gen 9:25–27): Divinity of
Messiah
Based on the genealogies in Genesis 5, at least 1500 years pass
between creation and the great flood in the days of Noah. With the assumption
that the seven days of creation took place around 6000 BC, some biblical
scholars tentatively propose, and evidence supports, 3800 BC as the estimated
time of the flood.
In the millenniums that follow the entrance of sin into the world
through Adam and Eve, wickedness multiplies exponentially until the whole earth
becomes corrupt in God’s eyes. “God looked on the earth, and behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth” (Gen 6:12).
Genesis 6–9 records God’s execution of judgment on the earth by a flood that
destroys all living things except for Noah, his three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, their wives, and the animals God preserved on the ark.
When Noah and his household disembark after the flood waters
receded, God blesses them and commands them to “be fruitful and multiply and
fill the earth” (Gen 9:1). Genesis 9 records the sin of Ham, Noah’s son,
against his father, resulting in the blessing of Shem and Japheth, and in the
cursing of Canaan, the son of Ham. Within this prophetic passage of blessing
and cursing, the second prediction of Messiah occurs in Genesis 9:25-27,
predicting God’s dwelling in the tents of Shem.
As Genesis 3:15 establishes the humanity of Messiah, Genesis
9:25-27 establishes the divinity of Messiah. The human and divine converge for
the first time in the advent of Messiah Jesus, the unique God-Man, the Word of
God Who became flesh and made His dwelling among humanity (cf John 1:1-18).
Genesis 12 – The Abrahamic Prediction (Gen 12:1-3): Seed of Blessing
From among the Shemitic or Semitic people, who are descendants
of Noah’s son Shem with whom God had promised to dwell (Gen 9:27), Yahweh selects
a single man, Abram, from whom Messiah would descend. Yahweh calls Abram to
depart from his native country and to go to a land that Yahweh would show him. Abram
then goes out of Ur with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot to go to the land of
Canaan.
When Yahweh calls Abram to the land of Canaan, He enters into an
everlasting, unconditional covenant that initially included seven promises (Gen
12:2-3): (1) “I will make you a great nation” (2) “I will bless you” (3) “make
your name great” (4) “you shall be a blessing” (5) “I will bless those who
bless you” (6) “the one who curses you I will curse” (7) “in you all the
families of the earth will be blessed.” After Abram’s arrival in the land of
Canaan, Yahweh changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and He covenants an eighth
everlasting promise: (8) “I will give to you and to your descendants after you,
the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God” (Gen 17:8).
The Abrahamic Prediction of Messiah occurs in one of the
initial seven promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 12:3, “And in you all
the families of the earth will be blessed.” The pronoun “you” is a
singular masculine pronoun that refers to Abraham, representative of his collective
offspring through Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the covenant, who carried the Seed
in whom all families of the earth would be blessed.
The apostle Paul explains, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham,
saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in You’” (Gal 3:8). The loins of
Abraham carried the human seed of the divine Messiah through Whom salvation comes
to bless all nations.
Genesis 49 – The Judaic Prediction (Gen 49:8-12): Messiah of
Tribe of Judah
Yahweh establishes His covenant with Abraham that includes eight
promises of blessing to Abraham and his descendants, including the promise of
Messiah in his seed through whom all nations would be blessed. Yahweh then
promises to give a son to Abraham and to barren Sarah in their old age. Abraham
questions Yahweh about bearing a child in their old age and proposes that He
bless Ishmael instead. “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a
son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with
him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (Gen 17:19-20).
When Abraham was 100 years old (ca. 2065 BC), Isaac was born and
established as the heir of Yahweh’s covenant. Isaac and his barren wife Rebekah
bear twin boys. Before their birth (ca. 2005 BC), Yahweh tells Rebekah that her
older son (Esau) will serve the younger son (Jacob). Esau later sells his
birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup, and Jacob tricks his father to bless
him in place of Esau. Yahweh establishes His covenant with Jacob as heir of His
promises to Abraham. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel (Gen 32:28).
Jacob/Israel bears twelve sons with his wives Leah and Rachel and
their concubines Zilpah and Bilhah. The names of Jacob’s twelve sons are – (of
Leah): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; (of Rachel): Joseph
and Benjamin; (of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid): Dan and Naphtali; and (of Zilpah,
Leah’s maid): Gad and Asher. Before his death, Jacob/Israel gathers his twelve
sons to tell them “what will befall you in the days to come” (Gen 49:1). Jacob/Israel
speaks a prophetic message to each of his twelve sons.
Each son would become a tribe, and the twelve tribes become the nation
of Israel, the nation which God first covenanted with Abraham to make great (Gen
12:2). Israel is the nation created to carry the human seed of Messiah. In
Genesis 49, Jacob prophetically reveals the kingdom destiny of each tribe. The royal
tribe chosen by God to carry the seed of Messiah is Judah (Gen 49:8-12). Judah
is granted the right to rule over Israel as kings until the coming of Messiah,
the One to Whom the kingdom of God belongs forever.
Numbers 24 – The Balaamic Prediction (Num 24:15-19): Signs of
the Conquering Messiah
The seventy-person household of Jacob leaves Canaan because of a
great famine and goes down to Egypt in 1876 BC. While living in Egypt for 430
years, 400 of those years in bitter bondage, the family of Jacob becomes a
great nation. In 1446 BC, God delivers His people through the leadership of
Moses.
On their way from Egypt back into the Promise Land, the Israelites
fail to trust God at the border city of Kadesh-Barnea when He commands them to
“go up and possess the land which I have given you” (Deut 9:23). As a result, God
judges that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Only Joshua
and Caleb, the two spies who had brought back a good report of the land and
urged Israel to trust God, would be allowed to enter the Promise Land. All of
the other Israelites who stalled at the border of Canaan for fear of the large,
fierce people living in their land die during the nation’s forty years of
wilderness wandering.
In the fortieth year of their wilderness wandering (1406 BC), for
what would only have been an eleven-mile journey from Mount Sinai, the nation
of Israel arrives on the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho in
preparation for entering back into Canaan for the first time in 470 years.
Balak, the king of Moab, hires the prophet Balaam to curse the
nation that had crossed into his territorial boundaries. But God restrains
Balaam because His blessed covenant-people could not be cursed. Yet because of
Balak’s promise of riches, the prophet Balaam attempts to thwart God and cast a
spell on Israel.
Three times, Balaam attempts to curse Israel, but actually speaks
oracles of blessing. On his fourth attempt, Balaam is overcome by the Spirit of
God to prophetically reveal the coming of Messiah Wbo would arise from Israel
to gain victory over all of the nation’s enemies. Balaam reveals the symbols of
the reign of this “ruler” are a “star” and “scepter.” The fulfillment of this
conquering King awaits Messiah’s second advent.
Deuteronomy 18 – The Mosaic Prediction (Deut 18:15, 18): Messiah
the Great Prophet
Like the Balaamic Prediction, the Mosaic Prediction is
given at the end of the Israelite’s forty years of desert wandering on the eve
of their entrance into the land of Canaan after a 470-year absence from the
land that God had covenanted to Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting
possession. Moses is giving them final instructions before they enter to take
possession of the land from the foreign nations.
Moses himself would not cross into the Promise Land with them
because of his failure to treat God as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel
at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. When the sons of Israel had assembled themselves
against Moses and Aaron because there was no water to drink, Yahweh instructed
Moses, “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation
and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall
thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and
their beasts drink” (Num 20:8). Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses speaks
directly to the people, saying, “Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring forth
water for you out of this rock” (20:10).
As a result, Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not
believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore
you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Num
20:12). It would be Joshua, not Moses, who would lead the Israelites into the
Promise Land.
So as the new generation of Israelites prepare to enter the Promise
Land under the leadership of Joshua, Moses gives them final words of
exhortation and instruction before climbing to his death on the top of Mount Nebo,
which is opposite Jericho east of the Jordan River. While Israel is still
camped in the plains of Moab listening to Moses, the people begin to mournfully
dread the death of their beloved leader Moses whom Yahweh “used to speak . . .
face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exod 33:11).
Into the midst of their fearful mourning over Moses’ impending
death on the eve of their conquest of Canaan, Yahweh comforts His people and
quiets their anguish by further unfolding the promise of Messiah. Through the
final words of His servant Moses, Yahweh promises that He would raise up for
them a prophet like Moses from among Israel. Yahweh would put His words into
the mouth of this prophet, and he would speak all that Yahweh commanded him.
The greater prophet like Moses would be Messiah Himself.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1.
Who has no portion or inheritance with Israel? What will they eat?
(18:1) Instead of an inheritance among their countrymen, Who is their
inheritance as He promised them? (18:2)
2.
What is owed to the Levitical priests from the people’s offering of
a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep? (18:3) What are the Levitical priests to
be given from the grain, new wine, oil, and first sheep shearing? (18:4)
3.
Why are the priests due these portions from the people’s offerings?
(18:5)
4.
How is a Levite who comes from any of the towns throughout Israel
where he resides supposed to serve in the place which the LORD chooses? (18:6-7)
What is the only exception to the receiving of equal portions among fellow
Levites? (18:8)
5.
What are the Israelites NOT
to imitate when entering the land which the LORD their God gives them? (18:9)
6.
List 9 examples of these pagan practices that the Israelites were
NOT to imitate. (18:10-11)
7.
(A) What are examples of
detestable practices of the world that Christians are NOT to imitate?
8.
How would an Israelite who
practices these things be considered to the LORD? Why does the LORD promise to
drive out these nations before the Israelites? (18:12)
9.
(A) What is friendship with the
world considered toward God? Who is considered an enemy of God? (James 4:4)
What is your relationship with the world? With God?
10. What word
describes the way that the Israelites are to be before the LORD their God?
(18:13)
11. (A) How is a person reckoned blameless before
God under the New Covenant?
12. To whom do the
nations
that Israel will dispossess listen? (18:14)
13. (P) Prophecy: (Mosaic Prediction – Deut 18:15,
18)
Who does Yahweh their God promise to raise up for them from among Israel’s countrymen? How are the people of Israel to respond to Him? (18:15)
Who does Yahweh their God promise to raise up for them from among Israel’s countrymen? How are the people of Israel to respond to Him? (18:15)
(OB)
What does this reveal about Messiah Jesus? (Try to use verses outside of this
passage to show how this is realized in the Person/work of Jesus.)
14. Why does Yahweh their God promise
to raise up for them a prophet? What had the Israelite’s asked of Yahweh their
God in Horeb on the day of the assembly? (18:16) How does Yahweh evaluate their
request? (18:17)
15. (P)
Prophecy: (Mosaic Prediction – Deut 18:15, 18)
What would the LORD their God place in the mouth of the prophet? What would he speak? (18:18)
(OB) What does this reveal about Messiah Jesus? (Try to use verses outside of this passage to show how this is realized in the Person/work of Jesus.)
What would the LORD their God place in the mouth of the prophet? What would he speak? (18:18)
(OB) What does this reveal about Messiah Jesus? (Try to use verses outside of this passage to show how this is realized in the Person/work of Jesus.)
16. What will happen to whoever will
not listen to the words of Yahweh spoken by the prophet in His Name? (18:19)
What will happen to the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in the name of
Yahweh which He did not command him to speak, or if he speaks in the name of
other gods? (18:20-21)
17. How is Israel to know the word
which the LORD has NOT spoken? How are they to respond to a prophet who has
spoken a word presumptuously? (18:22)
18. What do you learn about God in Deut
18? What do you learn about Messiah in Deut 18:15, 18? How could these truths
transform your life?
Write
a prayer response to Deut 18.
BIBLE TEXT (NASB)
Deut. 18:1 “The Levitical priests, the
whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they
shall eat the LORD’S offerings by fire and His portion. 2 “They shall have no
inheritance among their countrymen; the LORD is their inheritance, as He
promised them.
Deut. 18:3 “Now this shall be the priests’
due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep,
of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the
stomach. 4 “You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine,
and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. 5 “For the LORD your God
has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the
name of the LORD forever.
Deut. 18:6 “Now if a Levite comes from any
of your towns throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever he desires
to the place which the LORD chooses, 7 then he shall serve in the name of the
LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. 8
“They shall eat equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their
fathers’ estates.
Deut. 18:9 “When you enter the land which
the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable
things of those nations. 10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who
makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination,
one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or
one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. 12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because
of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. 13
“You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 “For those nations, which
you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners,
but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.
Deut. 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall
listen to him. 16 “This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God
in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice
of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17
“The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 ‘I will raise up a prophet
from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and
he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that
whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself
will require it of him. 20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in
My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name
of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “You may say in your heart, ‘How
will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks
in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is
the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it
presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
