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WAS JESUS THE PROPHESIED
MESSIAH?
Are the Jews Right When
They Deny Jesus Was the Christ?
Are the Christian
Interpretations of the Old Testament’s Messianic Texts Wrong?
Recently in
the Church of God a number of Christians have turned skeptical eyes on the New
Testament's portrayal of Jesus as the prophesied Messiah and Savior. The leader of this movement in the COG is
Darrell Conder, an ex-WCG elder, whose book Mystery Babylon and the Ten
Tribes in the Lost Times (MB) is a full-fledged assault on the
historical reliability of the New Testament (NT) and the independence of
first-century Christianity's doctrines from the influences of pagan religion
and philosophy.[1] Conder also argues extensively that the messianic
prophecies of the Old Testament (OT) don't refer to Jesus of Nazareth. He believes they were quoted out of context
or otherwise misapplied. However,
Conder and his group of apostate Christians are not alone in their
teachings. Recently the director of
Outreach Judaism, Tovia Singer, visited Big Sandy, met with people from the COG
and other groups, and attacked belief in Christianity. Although below Conder's arguments against
believing Jesus is the prophesied Old Testament Messiah are dealt with, it must
be realized that similar claims against the truth of Christianity are used by
mainstream Jews as well.
To really
understand the issues Conder raises, you have to enter the frame of mind of
someone who knows only the OT, and nothing about the NT or Jesus. Pretend you were a Greek-speaking Jew in
what is now modern-day Turkey in (say) A.D. 45. Some fellow by the name of Paul visits your city's synagogue one
Sabbath, and argues a certain man named Jesus was the promised Messiah (the
anointed one, "Christ" in Greek).
You, being a lifelong dweller in this mostly pagan city, never have set
eyes on the Holy Land, let alone on this Jesus of Nazareth. He cites various texts from the Hebrew
Scriptures to support his viewpoint.
How would you check him out? The
Bereans of Thessalonica (part of Greece) didn't just blindly accept what Paul
and Silas told them about Jesus, but, "they received the word with great
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were
so" (Acts 17:11). When discussing
religion with a Jew today (when he is open-minded and receptive), or those who
have converted to Judaism, such as Conder, you have to go through the same
texts that Paul would have used in the first century A.D.
WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?
Before
proceeding with this exercise, we Christians have to consider the foundation of
our faith in Jesus as the Messiah and our Savior. Is the main proof to be found in Jesus' resurrection from the
dead, or in lining up OT prophecies that are fulfilled in Him? Can we--should we--try to read the OT as if
we weren't believers in the NT already, while checking out various citations in
the latter of the former? Can we assume
we have no further revelation from God (i.e., the NT) or historical/eyewitness
support for that further revelation when checking out its citations of the OT's
messianic prophecies? If the
resurrection is the foundation of our faith, then organizing the data of the OT
to fit Jesus' claims to be the Messiah (Matt. 16:13-17; Mark 16:61-62; John
4:25-26) makes perfect sense. But, can
we line up all the prophecies the NT quotes from the OT to fit perfectly while
pretending we don't know of the resurrection or any of the miracles Jesus
performed? This is problematic. Remember, the disciples by and large
accepted Jesus as the Messiah because of the miracles He performed, the
experiences following His resurrection, the depth of His teaching, and His
perfect character, which included experiences the Old Testament messianic texts
would have (at best) only obscurely prophesied.
It's
necessary to remember that the primary, even exclusive sign, of Jesus'
Messiahship was His resurrection from the dead, according to Jesus Himself
(Matt. 12:39-40). Thus, many of the OT
texts that involve types (for example, Ex. 12:46 in John 19:33) become a
supplementary proof that Jesus was the Messiah, not the primary
proof that can refute all skeptical challenges against using them. But those texts that make direct, predictive
prophecies, such as Dan. 9:24-27, or which cause virtual contradictions in the
OT when considered by itself, are much stronger, and can't be casually
dismissed. In other words, if the NT
can be proven to be historically reliable and be without contradiction within
itself or with the OT (which are necessary (basic minimal) criteria for
inspiration) and to have successful fulfilled prophecy in it (fundamentally, a
decisive, or sufficient, condition for inspiration), then the OT
messianic texts are largely additional proof for our position. Many messianic texts aren't the knock-out
blow that overcomes all disbelief, whether by Jews, agnostics, or atheists,
although the specifically predictive kind still retain much force. The OT Messianic texts as a whole appear
contradictory when the NT insight upon them is dismissed, a point developed
below. Therefore, the proofs for the
resurrection are to be the foundation for Christians' faith in Jesus (i.e., a
further revelation from God found outside the OT), which leaves the OT
messianic prophecies involving types (I would add) to be more suggestive
than decisive.[2]
WHAT TYPES ARE, AND HOW THEY DIFFER FROM DIRECT PREDICTIVE
PROPHECY
Now, what
exactly are types? They are
"a shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:17). These differ from direct fulfilled prophecy, in which a predicted
event occurs literally as it was originally said to, such as the destruction of
Babylon or Nineveh (Isa. 13:19-22; Zeph. 2:13). As Dr. James Smith explains:
Sometimes
New Testament writers use Old Testament prophecies merely because they see an
analogy. They borrow Old Testament
language without intending to suggest that the prediction-fulfillment
relationship exists between the two statements. [This would explain how such texts as Ps. 41:9; 34:20; Jer.
31:15; Hosea 11:1 are used in the NT as referring to the Messiah; cf. MB,
pp. 74-75, 79--EVS]. Even when they
declare that a prophecy was fulfilled there is sometimes a question as
to whether or not they mean that the Old Testament statement was a direct
prediction of that which is said to fulfill it (e.g., Matt. 13:14, 15).
A type is something, such as an animal, ritual, or object,
that will stand for something as a forerunner of something else to come, but doesn't
make any direct, specific predictions verbally. For example, the Passover lamb was "an unblemished
male" (Ex. 12:5), which pictured Jesus, the sinless God made flesh who
died for humanity's sins. Obviously,
Exodus 12:5 predicts nothing explicitly in words about a promised Messiah to
die for humanity's sins. It (the sheep) remains just a suggestive physical
object picturing what is to come--something only really knowable upon
fulfillment and further revelation (i.e., the NT) to explain its meaning. Smith defines a "type" as: "A description of an event, institution
or person designed by God to be distinctly prophetic of the Messiah and his
kingdom."[3] True, a Jew or agnostic could always deny
any one case of prophetic types in the Old Testament as pointing to a man/God
who would die for the world's sins as a sacrifice. But as these cases pile up, counter-explanations wear
increasingly thin.
A number of
the OT messianic texts that the NT cites do not come from direct discussions of
the Messiah, but they concern secondary meanings that become only clear in the
light of the NT's revelation of Jesus as our promised Savior. A particularly good example of this is
Matthew's wordplay in chapter 2, verse 23, "He shall be called a
Nazarene." Conder finds this
absurd, but let's dig deeper (MB, p. 39). This prophecy refers back to Isa. 11:1, in which the Messiah is
referred to as a "branch," which in Hebrew is
"netzer." As Rachmiel
Frydland explains: "The town
Natzeret is the word Netzer plus the feminine ending, designated by the letter
Tav. . . . He is to be a Branch [cf. Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23:5, where a
different word for 'branch' is used, 'tsemah'] and also would live in the town
Natzeret. He is a Netzer from
Natzeret."[4] It's also necessary to remember the
principle of duality in Biblical interpretation. According to it, some of Scripture has a
primary meaning or fulfillment, and an earlier and/or lesser meaning or
fulfillment. Hence, the animal sacrifices
had a certain meaning for ancient Israelites in rendering service to God, but
they also pointed forward to the day when God Himself would be the sacrifice to
the world's humans. Similarly,
Abraham's near-sacrifice of his "only son, whom you love"
(Gen. 22:2; cf. John 3:16; Matt. 3:17) similarly was a type, but not direct prediction, since its secondary
meaning only became clear with the truths revealed in the New Testament.
Clearly, the
NT quotes from OT texts that don't have any clear connection in their
primary meaning, judging from the immediate context, to the Messiah. But this does not mean that they have
been "quoted out of context."
Conder mistakenly assumes the NT's citation of types in the OT are
"quotes taken out of context."
But this key assumption is in error, since a secondary meaning also can
be found in them, perhaps only discernable to a mind under the direct
inspiration of God after the (implied) prophesied events in question
have occurred. Christians have to avoid
looking at all the messianic texts cited in the NT as direct, prophetic
statements that will be literally fulfilled which use the texts' primary
meanings, but see more of them as subtle, analogous types, which draw upon secondary
meanings.
THE DUALITY PRINCIPLE OF INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE DEFENDED
Using the Old
Testament alone (Conder, "By-Gosh Josh" (BGJ), pp. 36-37), can one
find justification for the duality principle of interpreting Scripture? The main, even exclusive, application for
this principle is prophecy and fulfilled types, in which an earlier, lesser
fulfillment precedes a greater one later.
This principle clearly appears in the New Testament, such as in Jesus'
Olivet prophecy, which includes the prediction of Jerusalem's fall. His language has application to both 70 A.D.
and to His Second Coming (Matt. 24:1-3, 15-18; Luke 21:20-21, 24). Jesus' prophecy that "Elijah is coming
and will restore all things" yet "Elijah already came" (meaning,
John the Baptist) is further proof of the duality principle for Christians
(Matt. 17:11-12). But what about using
the Old Testament by itself? Consider
two cases: The abomination of
desolation and Israel's regathering to the Holy Land. One can see the abomination of desolation occurring twice in
Jerusalem, once when Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 B.C. desecrated the Temple of
Yahweh by making a profane sacrifice (a pig) on top of the altar of burnt
offering (see I Maccabees 1:54 in Catholic Bibles). The second time (arguably) occurred when the Roman legions
torched Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.
Another, less disputable case, comes from the texts describing the
regathering of Israel. Of course, this
occurs once after the Babylonian Captivity (Isa. 39:6-7; 44:28; 45:4; Jer.
25:9-12), but it also will happen when the Messiah rules on earth. The gathering of Judah today in Palestine is
a preliminary fulfillment of the millennial prophecies about all of Israel
returning from the Diaspora. (Note
Zech. 12:6-11--Judah is already there when Christ returns). Such texts as Eze. 38:8; 37:16-28; Deut.
28:64-68 point to the future millennial gathering. But Jer. 50:1-10, 17-20+
certainly seems to be more ambiguous, admitting to some dual application
to the return from Babylon and also at the beginning of the millennium.[5] Hence, even using the OT alone, there's good
evidence for the duality principle, at least for prophecy and fulfilled
types. But applying the duality
principle outside non-prophetic, non-typical statements in Scripture is
hazardous, since the Gospels, Acts, and Paul's Letters generally aren't
prophetic.
OT PROPHETS CAN SUDDENLY CHANGE SUBJECTS AND TIMES WITHOUT
WARNING
Conder
complains that the author of Matthew 2:6 misused Micah 5:2, saying that this
prophecy won't be fulfilled until the kingdom of God is established on earth
when the Conquering Messiah arrives (MB, p. 35).
Micah 5:2-3 describes where the Messiah was to be born: "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to
be ruler in Israel. His goings forth
are from long ago, from the days of eternity.
Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor
has borne a child . . ."
But then, a description of what would occur when the Conquering Messiah
sets up the kingdom of God ensues in vs. 3-5.
Conder's point raises yet simultaneously ignores a key point: The OT's prophets will suddenly change
subject midstream, or ignore the time element by telescoping together two
events that may be separated by centuries.
This explains such a text as Hosea 11:1, which otherwise seems quoted
out of context by Matthew.[6] The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel clearly show
this happens by leaping back and forth between their descriptions of Satan and
two ancient monarchs, respectively the king of Babylon and the ruler of Tyre,
in Isa. 14 and Eze. 28. Therefore, a
time jump could have occurred between the first and last parts of Micah 5:3,
although it takes the light of further revelation (the NT) to make this crystal
clear. Similarly, in Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quotes from Isa. 61:1-2, but He
suddenly stops mid-sentence and mid-verse.
He avoids quoting "and the day of vengeance of our God." Why?
Because this part of the prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled during His First
Coming's ministry, He didn't cite it, while the rest of it would be, so He
did. The same principle applies to Isa.
11:1-9, in which the first three (maybe three and a half) verses Jesus
fulfilled during his First Coming, but the remainder describes what happens
after the Second Coming. In Mal. 3:1-2,
the first verse was fulfilled in the first century A.D., but the second still
lies in the future. There's simply no
compelling reason to believe everything in a given prophecy has to happen all
at the same time; Dan. 11 is sufficient proof of this, since v. 41+ is
unfulfilled at this time, but the rest has already occurred at least
preliminarily. Conder mistakenly
believes that just because the verses (3b-5) following Micah 5:2 are placed in
the future, therefore, the whole prophecy has to be.
DOES MICAH 5:2 HAVE TO REFER TO A FAMILY/CLAN INSTEAD OF A
SPECIFIC PLACE?
Conder also
criticizes the NT's use of Micah 5:2 for taking "Bethlehem Ephrathah"
as a specific location as the birthplace of the Messiah, not a family or clan
"that originated in this region" (MB, p. 35). First, this point ignores that the NT
clearly portrays people who aren't Christians as interpreting this prophecy as
referring to a specific location (John 7:41-42; Matt. 2:4-6). Second, the word translated (NASB)
"among the clans" ("alapim") literally means "the
among the thousands." (See Green's
Interlinear Bible). This term
isn't the standard word in Hebrew for a tribe's subdivision, which makes its
meaning more ambiguous than Conder would think. Here, it appears in a context that indicates a town is being
referred to, as the Old Testament scholar Gleason Archer explains. There's also another reason to see this as a
specific geographic location, because, as Smith maintains: "Ephrathah was either the district in
which Bethlehem was located, or an ancient name for the town. The double name distinguishes his birth
place from the northern Bethlehem in the tribal area of Zebulun (Josh.
19:15)." David's father Jesse was
called "an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah" (I Sam. 17:12). This verse also has one particularly
interesting implication in favor of the Messiah being God, since He is said to
have pre-existed from long ago:
"His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of
eternity" (Micah 5:2). What
average human could this be said of?
Remember, this couldn't fit King David, because he would have to have
continuously lived from the time he died until being born again as a baby, a
period of (say) 250 years! The Targum
Jonathan, an ancient Jewish paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible in Aramaic that
dates from the second century A.D., rendered/interpreted Micah 5:2 thus: "And you, O Bethlehem Ephrath, you who
were too small to be numbered among the thousands of the house of Judah, from
you shall come forth before Me the Messiah, to exercise dominion over Israel,
he whose name was mentioned from before, from the days of creation." Even Jews saw this as a messianic text![7] Clearly, there are good reasons to believe
Micah 5:2 refers to a specific geographical location, not just the clan/family
from which the Messiah would be born.
DAVID AS A TYPE (FORERUNNER) OF CHRIST IN PSALM 22
Conder's
attack on Ps. 22 referring to the crucifixion (MB, pp. 73-79) raises
again the issue discussed above about the differences between types and direct
literal fulfillments. In the books of
Leviticus and Exodus, animals served as types.
But in Ps. 22 a human serves as a type--King David. Despite his imperfections (II Sam. 12:27; I
Chron. 22:8), he served as a type of Christ's sufferings while on the stake in
this Psalm, just as the imperfect animal sacrifices also foreshadowed the death
of Jesus as Savior. This Psalm isn't
only a direct prediction of what would come, which Conder mistakenly assumes it
has to be before the NT could actually cite it as referring to the Messiah. Let's stop assuming something cited as a
type is taken "out of context"!
Again, something serving as a type doesn't have to make a specific
verbal prediction to serve as a foreshadowing of future realities.
Consequently, not all of this Psalm need apply literally to Christ and be
fulfilled in every detail, since it describes a type, and isn't an actual
prophecy. (This same reasoning explains
why the NT cites Ps. 69 some seven times, despite it isn't an actual predictive
prophecy either).[8] Nevertheless, when reading this Psalm
straight through without interruption, much of it is a convincing and
remarkable description of the scenes of the Messiah's suffering on the cross.
First in
Psalms 22 there's the dramatic opening cry, which Christ quoted while on the
cross in Aramaic (v. 1): "My God,
my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
People ridiculed him, just as occurred to Christ (vs. 6-7): "But I am a worm, and not a man, a
reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the
head, saying, 'Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue
him, because He delights in him."
Compare this with Luke 23:35-37, 39; Matt. 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32. Conder strangely insists on taking the
metaphorical for the literal, by saying Jesus could not have been referred to
as a worm, and not a man, which discounts Jesus' pathetic physical plight at
the time (MB, p. 74). The
description of suffering in verses 14-17, while also metaphorical, also is
rather medically accurate for someone undergoing crucifixion:
I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like
wax; It is melted within me. My
strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and
Thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet. I
can count all my bones. They look, they
stare at me.
This form of execution was unknown in Judea at the time
David wrote (c. 1030 b.c.). Stoning was
the traditional method of execution among the Jews. But crucifixion (and/or impalement) was a leading method of
capital punishment for the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks (especially by Alexander
the Great), and Romans, who all rose to power in later centuries. Only by supernatural inspiration could have
David described the agonies of dying in a way totally unknown in his
culture. Finally, like Christ, David
describes his clothes being gambled for by his persecutors (v. 18): "They divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots."
Compare Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24. Since David died in his own bed, this didn't
happen to King David; instead, this foreshadows something to come in Someone
Else's earthly life. David didn't
describe his own death in the Psalm, because presumably he lived some years
after it was written! Not all of it
fits David's life well anyway. Consider
verse 27: "All the ends of the
earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations
will worship before Thee." As
Smith remarks: "No Old Testament
person could have imagined that his personal deliverance from death [cf. verses
19-21--EVS] could be the occasion for the world's conversion." Since something serving as a type doesn't
need to match the eventual reality in all details since it isn't a specific
verbal prediction, and since the OT prophets would zoom in and out on
particular subjects without warning even within single verses, Ps. 22 can be
considered remarkable evidence that Jesus' death on the stake was foreshadowed
in the OT.[9]
WAS "THEY PIERCED MY HANDS AND MY FEET" IN THE
ORIGINAL HEBREW?
"They
pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalms 22:16). By citing the standard reading of the Hebrew
Masoretic text to deny that Psalms 22:16 refers to the crucifixion, Conder
mistakenly believes that ends the debate (MB, p. 78). Following the Jews, he uses the textual
variant "like a lion" to replace "they pierced," which
produces this intrinsically unlikely reading:
"like a lion my hands and feet." Only by inserting additional words can this make any sense. The difference between these two readings
are based upon changing one similarly shaped final consonant for another in the
Hebrew word in contention. The
discrepancy could easily have arisen from a scribe omitting one downward stroke
for a single letter, as Rosen points out.
Importantly, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the
Septuagint (LXX), made some time before Jesus was born (c. 250-100
b.c.), does contain the reading "they pierced," as do the Syriac and
Latin translations. Even some
manuscripts of the Hebrew text have it!
According to the Ginsberg Hebrew Bible and NIV Interlinear
Hebrew-English Old Testament, vol. 3, p. 368, "some mss." or
"other scrolls" contain this reading. It appeared in the first three mechanically printed editions of
the Hebrew text. In the thirteenth
century, the Jew Nehemiah commented on Ps. 22:16 in the Yalkut Shimoni
(687) using this reading. Furthermore,
and most devastatingly for Conder's position, it evidently appears in the Dead
Sea Scrolls. After having analyzed the
Qumran sect's manuscript remnants, Peter Flint writes in The Dead Sea Psalms
Scrolls (1997) that "pierced" is the preferred option.[10]
Conder
accuses Strong's of scholastic dishonesty when saying the Hebrew word
here is #1856 instead of #738 ("like a lion"). In reality, all Strong apparently did was
make a textual correction based upon the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Vulgate,
and/or use the minority reading of the Masoretic text. Conder argues that if someone had stakes
driven through their hands instead of their forearms, they would tear right
through the surrounding flesh because of the body's weight (MB, p.
78). But as Jehovah's Witnesses
reply: "Since the wrists have
always been considered by anatomists as part of the hands, some medical men
think the nails were driven between the small bones of the wrists to prevent
the stripping out that could have occurred if driven through the palms--See Arizona
Medicine, March, 1965, p. 184."
Taken altogether, "They pierced my hands and my feet," is a
much more sensible candidate for the original reading of Ps. 22:16 than,
"Like a lion my hands and my feet."[11]
THE PSALMS RELIABLE IN THE SEPTUAGINT
Was the
Septuagint corrupted in Ps. 22:16 to favor the Christian viewpoint? If Origen (c. 185-254 A.D.) carefully and
reverently used the Hebrew (or other Greek) texts to correct the Greek
translation from it, and inserted textual critical marks to note the changes
that future scribes were supposed to copy, instead of leaving them out
entirely, he isn't a plausible candidate a priori for perverting the
word of God. The LXX's variations in
literary style and/or in the original Hebrew text being used while different
men translated different books don't prove Christians perverted it. Furthermore, excellent evidence exists for
the LXX being finished by c. 100 b.c.
Soderlund notes several facts of interest for the questions Conder
raises about the LXX. First, "the
discovery in the Judean desert of a Greek leather scroll of the Minor Prophets
from the 1st cent. B.C. or A.D. has significant implications for the question of LXX
origins." Among the poetic books,
he notes that "the Psalms are the best section and constitute a fairly
faithful rendering of the Hebrew," unlike the paraphrasing [perhaps like a
Targum at points?] often encountered in the other books of the Writings. Earlier, he notes that by far the most
common LXX manuscripts (mss.) are those of the Psalms, so there's more material
here to study potentially. The prologue
to the apocryphal book Sirach (c. 132-100 B.C.) gives some external evidence
for most of the LXX being translated by the late second century b.c., since it
mentions the prior translation of "the Law itself, the prophecies, and the
rest of the books." Citing Ronald
Harrison as their source, McDowell and Wilson write: "At least by 117 B.C., the entire translation of the Hebrew
Old Testament into Greek had been completed."[12] However, if Peter Flint's work above
asserting that the Dead Sea Scrolls' readings favor "he pierced"
withstands scrutiny, debates over the Septuagint's reliability in Psalms 22 are
rendered largely irrelevant.
WILL END-TIME JEWS LOOK UPON THE GOD THEY PIERCED?
"And I
will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they
have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son,
and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a
first-born" (Zech. 12:10). In this
striking verse, the "Me" is clearly God. How could God become "pierced" or otherwise physically
wounded? The Almighty God has to become
flesh in order to be "pierced"!
A hint of the doctrine of Jesus being the only begotten Son first born
from the dead is found in the statements about mourning "for an only
son" and "weeping over a first-born." How does Conder attempt to duck this verse's implications? "The original Hebrew in Zechariah 12:10
reads, look 'unto Me,' or look 'to Me,' (Elai) not 'upon Him'
(Ahlav)" (MB, p. 76). This
minor quibble hardly delivers Conder from the quandary of explaining how God
could be pierced, yet still deny Jesus was the Messiah who came as God in the
flesh, who allowed His creatures to wound Him, then kill Him. Whether it is translated "to Me"
or "upon Me" is almost irrelevant, although the Hebrew seemingly can
be translated either way. The Hebrew
word clearly is "Me," not "Him." Conder claims it's implausible that the narrative would suddenly
switch from the first person to the third, from "Me" to
"Him." John Wheeler, a LCG
laymember who can read Hebrew, maintains otherwise: "It is not uncommon for the grammatical person to change (as
from first to third) in the middle of a Hebrew narrative (especially when
referring to God)."[13] The NASB rendering found above of the
crucial part of Zech. 12:10 is highly literal, which Green's Interlinear
Bible clearly verifies, which has underneath the Hebrew, "And they
shall look on Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
Him." Conder cites two Jewish
translations to prop up his case, The Holy Scriptures and the Tanakh,
but, by using loose translations (especially the latter), they display
anti-Christian bias. Nevertheless, even
if many of Conder's points were granted, he still hasn't explained how the
invincible Yahweh was pierced, which is the main problem non-Messianic Jews
face here.
ISAIAH 7:14--DOES IT REFER TO JESUS' BIRTH?
"Therefore
the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call
His name Immanuel" (Isa. 7:14). In
Matthew 1:23, this verse is cited as a prophecy that is fulfilled when Jesus is
born. Arguing it is hopelessly yanked
out of context, Conder says it was just a sign relevant to King Ahaz in 734
b.c. when Judah was being invaded by Israel and Aram, so it has nothing to do
with the Messiah (see MB, pp. 30-31).
Clearly, the secondary meaning of this text isn't obvious. It has a dual meaning, the obvious, primary
one being fulfilled in Ahaz's time, and the secondary, antitypical one in
Jesus' birth. According to Smith, the
use of the announcement formula "behold!" "signal[s] births of
unusual significance," including even in the Ugaritic language, which is
highly similar to Hebrew. Much of the
controversy surrounding this verse concerns how to translate the Hebrew word
"almah." It is somewhat
ambiguous, and can be translated "virgin" or "young
woman." The Septuagint's Jewish
translator for this verse may have felt a deeper meaning was here, since he
chose the Greek word for virgin, "parthenos," which has to
mean a woman without sexual experience.
After all, since a young woman giving birth is (ahem) the expected, it's
hardly a very distinctive sign. But a virgin
giving birth, well, that's truly miraculous!
The word "almah" always refers to (when the context is clear)
an unmarried woman in the nine times it appears in the OT (five times in the
plural, four times in the singular).
Furthermore, it can mean "virgin," since it is used of
Rebekah when she had yet to know a man (Gen. 24:43; cf. 24:16). In the Ugaritic language and the
Carthaginian dialect of Phoenician, the equivalent term for "almah"
also means "virgin." Smith
reasons thus: If the woman giving birth
was unmarried, an illegitimate birth doesn't make for much of a sign from
God. So then, the birth had to be by a
virgin. Conder then gives us the
standard Jewish reply to Christian reasoning on "almah," by saying
that if "virgin" had really been intended, Isaiah would have
used the word "bethulah."
However, this word could refer to an married woman as well. Note Joel 1:8: "Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom
['husband'--NKJV] of her youth."
While perhaps still somewhat ambiguous, this text still undermines any
claim of certainty that "bethulah" must always mean
"virgin." Furthermore, the
closely related Aramaic language uses the equivalent of "bethulah"
for a married woman.
Conder also
argues that the Hebrew word translated "conceived,"
"harah," in Isa. 7:14 is in the past or perfect tense, and so
therefore can't be a prophecy.
Similarly, he argues that the past tense in Isa. 9:6 in the literal
Hebrew (i.e., "is born," "is given," etc.) proves this
verse can't refer to a future Messiah (MB, p. 85). This argument overlooks the difference
between Hebrew, a Semitic language, and English, an Indo-European language,
concerning "state" and "tense." In Biblical Hebrew, not modern Israeli Hebrew,
"states" are used, not "tenses" like past, present, and
future. As Wheeler explains:
State
may be perfect, participle, imperfect or imperative, without regard to the time
in which the action occurs (which is generally indicated--if at all--by other
aspects of the syntax). In modern
Israeli Hebrew, these forms have become past, present, future, and
imperative--but if one reads biblical Hebrew like Israeli Hebrew, one stumbles
over a great deal. Many Jews make this
mistake; so do certain Protestants, and also some in God's church.
Isaiah is evidently using the "prophetic perfect,"
a special past tense (when literally translated into English) about, as Smith
explains, "future events which are so vivid to [the prophets'] minds and
so certain to occur that they can be described as having already
occurred." So for Conder to argue
that the woman of Isa. 7:14 has already conceived (past tense), and then insist
that this text couldn't refer to the future, is ultimately unconvincing since
it betrays a lack of knowledge of Hebrew grammar.[14] So to reply against Conder's reasoning
concisely, it's evident that the Hebrew word "almah" can mean virgin,
that the perfect (a type of past) tense/state doesn't mean this prophecy
could only occur while King Ahaz lived, and that the verse has a dual
meaning/application, since the earlier typical fulfillment in Ahaz's time is
followed by a later, antitypical fulfillment in the first century A.D. True, the secondary, antitypical meaning
couldn't be known without the inspired NT's author citing it as referring to
Jesus' birth. But just because the
secondary meaning is obscure doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We have to avoid ruling out a priori
further revelation from God, since (as surveyed in my longer essays on Conder's
claims) there is plenty of evidence for belief in the NT as inspired by God,
and Jesus' Messiahship as established by His resurrection (and other miracles)
independently of any potentially ambiguous messianic texts.
ISAIAH 9:6--THE CHILD IS "MIGHTY GOD"
For
a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will
rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father [or better, 'Father of Eternity'--EVS], Prince of Peace.
(Isa. 9:6).
Did any human king of Israel ever have the titles/names that
this Child received? Conder claims that
the child born here was Hezekiah (MB, p. 85). Although Hezekiah was a good king, "Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" he was not. Furthermore, Rashi, the eleventh-century
Jewish Bible commentator, said the child of this verse couldn't be Hezekiah
because, "if you count up the years of Hezekiah you will find that
Hezekiah was born nine years before his father [Ahaz] ascended the
throne." Then, v. 7 says the reign
of this King will be "forevermore," which certainly didn't fit
Hezekiah's reign, or that of any other human king. To parry this reply, Conder correctly maintains that the Hebrew
word translated "forevermore," olam, need not always mean
something totally without end. But his
counter-argument ignores Hebrew poetry's classic refrain pattern, in which the
same basic thought is repeated in different words twice in succession. In v. 7, after saying, "There will be
no end," it adds, "From then on and forevermore." The repetition reinforces the notion that olam's
normal meaning applies. Since this text
obviously poses major problems to Jews, Conder cites two Jewish translations
that apparently deliberately obscure this prophecy. The Tanakh transmogrifies the titles "Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God," into "The Mighty God is planning
grace"--huh? The Holy
Scriptures transliterates all four titles into a long proper name: "and his name is called
Pelejoezelgibbor Abiadsarashalom."
Both do somersaults to avoid calling the Child GOD.[15] Clearly, this OT text may be the hardest for
a Jew denying Jesus is the Messiah to explain away since a literal translation
plainly labels some human child "Mighty God," i.e., God incarnate.[16]
JUST WHO IS THE "SERVANT" IN ISAIAH? JESUS
OR ISRAEL?
Isaiah 42:1-7; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12 contain
what have come to be called the four "Servant Songs." When interpreting these texts, the basic
debate is over whether they describe the nation of Israel, Jesus as the
Messiah, or someone else. Following the
majority Jewish view of the present time, Conder maintains they refer to the
nation of Israel/Judah (MB, pp. 95, 100, 101). This narrow interpretation doesn't reckon with the double meaning
involved, especially in the Second Servant Song (Isa. 49:1-6). Isa. 49:3 declares that the Servant is
Israel, "You are My Servant, Israel," yet the Servant suddenly becomes
the One to lead Israel back to God in v. 5:
"The Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring
Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him." Obviously, Israel can't be the one leading
Israel back to God! Someone Else has to
be doing it. True, Isaiah 41:8-9 calls
Israel a "servant." But can
this interpretation be uncritically applied to all four of the Servant Songs,
especially Isaiah 52:13-53:12? In order
to sort through this seeming confusion, it's necessary to remember that a
"king" and his "kingdom" are interchangeable in Biblical
prophecy (see Dan. 7:17, 23). This is
understandable because a king represents and governs over the realm he rules. As E.J. Young explains the dual meaning in
the Servant Songs: "The servant is
the Messiah (Jesus Christ) conceived as the Head of His people, the Church (or
redeemed Israel). At one time the body
is more prominent, at another (e.g., chap. 53) the Head."
Although many parts of the Servant Songs can be easily applied
to Israel, to say they speak only of Israel straightjackets the natural
meaning, especially in the climatic Fourth Song.
JEWS SEE THE MESSIAH ACCORDING TO ISAIAH'S PROPHECY
The First
Servant Song (Isa. 42:7) is similar to Isa. 61:1, which Jesus quoted in Luke
4:18. Conder's claim that the Messiah
is never called a servant ignores Isa. 61:1, which says the Eternal "has anointed
me,"--and the meaning of the word "messiah" is "the
anointed one"! By letting the
Bible interpret itself, the Servant becomes the Messiah here. At least one ancient Jewish commentary, the Midrash
Rabbah, Lamentations 3:49-50, 59, said Isa. 61:1 referred to the
Redeemer. Even the Jews themselves
sometimes have interpreted Isa. 42 as referring to the Messiah, such as the commentaries
Mesudat David and Metsudat Zion, as well as David Kimchi. One targum (a Jewish paraphrase of the OT)
reads: "Behold my Servant, the
Messiah, I will draw Him near, my chosen one in whom my Memra [Logos] is
well pleased." The highly
individualistic language of the Servant Songs supports the interpretation that
they can refer to a specific person, even as it can be seen as allegorical
also.[17] Now let's turn to the fourth Servant Song to
see if Conder's analysis that the Servant refers to Israel (or Judah) can
withstand scrutiny.
THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH 52-53 POINTS TO AN
INDIVIDUAL, NOT ISRAEL
Undeniably,
the most specific prophecy of Jesus' first coming is Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This passage describes the "Mournful
Messiah" who died for the sins of others in a vicarious, substitutionary
atonement. Quoting the whole passage is
superfluous for those with Bibles, but notice in particular Isa. 53:4-5, 10,
11:
Surely
our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves
esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed
for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him
. . . But the Eternal was
pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a
guilt offering. . . . My Servant, will justify the many, as He will
bear their iniquities.
Notice that the Servant does not just suffer because of others
directly attacking or injuring Him (v. 7), but He takes on their sins and bears
them in their place. Clearly, the
sufferings of Judah during the Holocaust (for example) can't be made to fit
this passage. No human who isn't God
can bear someone else's sins, as the Suffering Servant does (v. 6): "But the Lord has caused the iniquity
of us all to fall on Him."
Similarly, the agonies Judah has suffered through the centuries don't
fit v. 10: "But the Lord was
pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt
offering." Just as an animal
sacrificed in a guilt offering bore symbolically the sin of the individual
human in question, although it (the animal) had done nothing wrong, so does the
Suffering Servant, who (v. 8) "had done no violence, nor was there any
deceit in His mouth," yet He died for others. Judah has not been a purely innocent "guilt offering"
that bore the sins of the world--but Jesus did. Furthermore, saying Judah (or Israel) has never engaged in violence
or deceit is absurd, for all men have sinned--besides Jesus. Conder implausibly applies v. 7 to Judah as
a tribe: "He was oppressed and He
was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth." It may be true that during the Holocaust few Jews fought against
their oppressors--though the Warsaw uprising of 1943 and the mass escape from
the Sobidor camp show even then the Jews weren't entirely
"silent." But this is only
one part of their history, as Frydland reminds us. It discounts the Maccabean Wars of the second century b.c.
against the Greeks and the two major Judean revolts against Rome (66-70 A.D.,
132-135 A.D.). Nor could Israel be
called "silent" concerning the Babylonian exile and the Assyrian
invasions. Nor does it fit the history
of modern Israel since 1948, which has fought five wars against the Arabs
(including the Lebanese invasion). Now
notice that the language of Isa. 52:13-53:12 is very personal and singular in
its references to the Servant by its use of "he," "him,"
etc. Verse 3 says: "He was despised and forsaken of men,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from
whom men hide their face . . ."
Such language should be taken literally, unless strong compelling
evidence indicates it is symbolic--and no such evidence is at hand in the two
chapters. Very importantly, Isaiah
distinguishes the Servant from Israel by writing that the "ALL of US like
sheep have gone astray, each of US has turned to his own way; But the Lord has
caused the iniquity of US all to fall on HIM" (verse 6; cf. verses
4-5). Now who could be the
"US" other than Isaiah's nation, which then is clearly distinguished
from the Servant? (To claim the
"us" is gentile onlookers artificially forces this thought into these
verses, especially since we should assume Isaiah (or God) is the narrator,
unless otherwise noted). Then notice
this (v. 8): "HE was cut off out
of the land of the living, for the transgression of MY PEOPLE to whom the
stroke was due." HOW CAN ANYONE
HONESTLY SAY THE SERVANT AND ISRAEL ARE ONE AND THE SAME WHEN FACING THIS
VERSE?[18] No other passage in the Hebrew Bible, other
than perhaps the seventy weeks prophecy, more strongly challenges the orthodox
Jewish viewpoint, which discounts the Mournful Messiah in favor of the
Conquering Messiah.[19]
Nowadays Jews
normally maintain that Isaiah 52-53 speaks of Israel; Unsurprisingly, Conder
follows their lead. But interestingly,
this view didn't become widespread among them until the thirteenth century
A.D., and only then largely thanks to the influence of the Jewish Bible
commentator called Rashi (1040-1105 A.D.)
Anciently, various Jewish writings attest that at least some Jews saw
Isaiah 52 and/or 53 as messianic texts.
For example, note how the targum Jonathan (early second century A.D.)
paraphrases Isa. 52:13: "Behold,
My servant the Messiah shall prosper; he shall be exalted and great and very
powerful." Other Jewish religious
leaders interpreted this passage similarly, such as the famous Jewish scholar
of the sixteenth century, Moshe Alshekh, who wrote: "[Our] Rabbis with one voice, accept and affirm that opinion
that the prophet [Isaiah] is speaking of king Messiah." Despite his exaggeration, this claim still
had some foundation, at least for the last three verses of Isaiah 52. The Talmud, the collection of Jewish law and
tradition completed by the fifth century A.D., applies Isa. 53 variously. But at least once the Talmud applied it
directly to the Messiah (Sanhedrin 98a): "The Rabanan (rabbis) say the Messiah's name is The Suffering
Scholar of Rabbi's House [or The Leper Scholar] for it is written 'Surely He
hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted." The
Midrash (ancient Jewish commentary) Rabbah Ruth v. 6 applied the text
"He was wounded for our afflictions" to the Messiah, and it did not
stand alone in doing this. One targum
even interpreted Isaiah 52:13 as, "Behold my Servant the Messiah shall
prosper." None other than Moses
Maimonides (1135-1204 A.D.), the great medieval Jewish philosopher, rejected
Rashi's interpretation and said Isa. 53 referred to the Messiah.[20] When carefully examined, calling this
section of Isaiah a parabolic description of Israel simply isn't persuasive.
THE MOURNFUL AND CONQUERING MESSIAHS
Like most
Jews of early first-century Judea, Conder conceives of the Messiah as a
conqueror who establishes the kingdom of God when he comes and totally
dismisses the ideas of a "Mournful Messiah" or "Suffering
Servant" who came to serve God and die (MB, pp 88, 95). Nowadays, most (practicing) Jews say the
Messiah has only one coming in which He is a Conqueror waging war against the
nations. But can all the texts on the
Messiah be reconciled to this interpretation?
Note that Zech 9:9 has Israel's king arriving humbly and on a
donkey. But Dan. 7:13-14 has the
"Son of Man" in the clouds of heaven and being given power to rule
over all the world's peoples. Both of
these texts describe the Messiah, but He comes in two very different
ways! How can they be reconciled
them? Without positing two comings for
the Messiah, it's nearly impossible! To
explain this discrepancy, Jews have even resorted to saying it would be a
miraculous donkey (!), or saying that if Israel was worthy, the Messiah would
come one way, but if not, the other.
Consider this rationalization in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a:
R.
Alexandri said that R. Joshua bar Levi combined the two paradoxical passages;
the one that says, 'Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven'
(Dan. 7:13) [showing Messiah's glory] and the other verse that says, 'poor and
riding upon a donkey' (Zech. 9:9) [showing Messiah's humility]. He explained it in this manner: If they are worthy, He will come 'with the
clouds of heaven;' if they are unworthy He will come 'poor and riding upon a
donkey.'
TWO MESSIAHS?
Showing that
some Jews did conceive of a (semi?) Mournful Messiah, the Babylonian Talmud, in
Sukkah 52b, asserts there would be two Messiahs. One is called Messiah ben Joseph, who, as
Frydland summarizes, "fights, suffers extreme humiliation, and is pierced,
fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy, 'They shall look unto Me whom they have
pierced.'" The other was Messiah
Ben David, who would be given the nations as an inheritance (Ps. 2:8). Later
Jewish sources portrayed the two thus, as Frydland summarizes the work of
Waxman: "Messiah Ben Joseph will
be pierced through by Armilus, after which there will be much tribulation. Then, the Messiah, called Menachem Ben
Ami-El, appears to the remnant of Israel.
He, together with Elijah, brings to life Messiah Ben Joseph, and then
the rest of the dead." Conder and
modern Jews may discount or ignore the differing descriptions of the Messiah in
the OT. But anciently at least some did
not, which shows interpreting the OT to portray the Messiah only as a Conqueror
disagrees even with how many of the Jews themselves understood it![21] The Christian solution, of saying the same
Messiah has two widely separated visits to earth, solves this seeming OT contradiction. Now, how would Conder propose to solve it,
using the OT alone?
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXPOSE OTHER JEWISH INTERPRETATIONS OF
THE MESSIAH
Conder's case
is further damaged by the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries that indicate that the
Qumran community applied such texts as Gen. 49:10; Num. 24; Ps. 2, Isa. 11:1;
II Sam. 7:12-14; and Amos 9:11 to the Messiah.
In one place, 4QWar Scroll (4Q285 [4QM]) Frag. 5:2-4), the Messiah is
portrayed as being killed in battle:
"A Shoot will emerge from the stump of Jesse . . . the
Bud of David will go into battle with . . . and the Prince of the
Congregation will kill him, the Bud of David . . . and his
wounds." In another text
(4QAramaic Apocalypse [4Q246] Col. I:7-9; Col. II: 1, 5-8), it says of the
Messiah: "He will be great over
the earth . . . all will worship him . . . He will be
called 'Son of God' . . . His kingdom will be an eternal kingdom
. . . He is a great God of gods." Hence, the Messiah in one place is portrayed as being killed, yet
in another as God, both views that are congruent with Christianity's view. What has to be remembered is that the Talmud
and Midrashim mainly represent just one type of Judaism (with its attendant
interpretation of Scripture), while alternatives rate little or no space. Hence, divergent views of the Messiah such as
the Qumran sect's would have been lost to history except for the discovery of
the Dead Sea Scrolls.[22]
GENESIS 49:10 AND WHEN THE MESSIAH ARRIVES
When Jacob
(not Abraham) was on his deathbed, he prophesied of Judah: "The scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes"
(Gen. 49:10). Does the last clause
refer to the Messiah? Anciently, Jews have
applied this text to the Messiah. For
example, the Targums Onkelos (second century A.D.), Yershalmi (sixth century
A.D., but based on earlier sources), Pseudo-Jonathan (late seventh century
A.D., but based on earlier sources) inserted the word "Messiah" into
this verse. In the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin
98b, one person said the name of the Messiah was "Shiloh."[23] At least two Midrashim (ancient Jewish OT
commentaries) have a messianic interpretation of this verse, the Midrash Rabbah
Genesis and the Midrash Tanhuma.
Although the Yalkut, a medieval Jewish anthology, said the word
"Shiloh" meant "gift to the Lord," it still attributed this
prophecy to the Messiah.[24] Evidently, having found this text
troublesome to their faith, contemporary Jewish translators (see MB, p.
156) deliberately misread an apparent proper name ("Shiloh") as another
word, "tribute."
Now, it's all
fine and good to show many Jews in the past interpreted Gen. 49:10 to refer to
the Messiah, but how about a more direct argument, based on the Bible
interpreting itself? Consider Ezekiel
21:27, which refers to the removal of the scepter (throne) from Judah to
Israel, as HWA understood it: "A
ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I shall make it.
This also will be no more, until He comes whose right it is; and
I shall give it to Him." Frydland
says that the Hebrew word for "whose right it is" is asher-lo,
"which is basically the same word used in the scepter prophecy for
'Shiloh.'" The two passages
correspond with one another, since in Eze. 21:27 the throne of Judah is really
the Messiah's, which He will take back when He comes to rule the nations. Smith maintains that seeing
"Shiloh" as a title for the Messiah is the most likely meaning,
arguing it's unjustified to change the text to read "which is to him"
or "which belongs to him." To
do this means admitting a transcriptional error has occurred, which creates the
peculiar grammatical problem of "shiloh" being then a
"combination of a relative pronoun, a preposition, and a pronominal
suffix." If it is interpreted to
mean "until he (Judah) comes to Shiloh," then it would mean that
Judah received "the obedience of the peoples." The history of the Jews since the end of
united monarchy hardly fits that description, since Judah didn't receive
obedience even from the other tribes, let alone the nations of the world.
If
"Shiloh" refers to the Messiah, it helps to place when the Messiah
would come. The Messiah has to arrive
before monarchy ends among the Jews:
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah . . . until
Shiloh comes." Although the
Davidic monarchy ended among the Jews when Zedekiah was taken into captivity in
587 b.c., rulers after it did have the title, "the king of the
Jews." The Hasmoneans, better
known as the Maccabees, had the title "the king of the Jews" from 103
b.c. to 63 b.c. Herod the Great,
although an Edomite, did have some Jewish blood in his veins if his biographer
is to be trusted [although this may not be true]. He ruled from 40 b.c. to 4 b.c.
His grandson Herod Agrippa I, descended from the Hasmoneans as well, had
the same title and ruled from 41 to 44 A.D.
No one since has had that title and been the king over the Jews. Although HWA applied this prophecy to the
Second Coming, there's also reason to apply it the first as well, when
following the principle of duality in fulfillment/interpretation. As Newman deduces, "If Genesis 49:10 is
understood in this sense, the Messiah must have come before A.D. 44."[25]
Another
approach to dating when the ruler's staff/scepter departed from Judah concerns when
Jewish leaders could no longer inflict the death penalty independently of
Rome. During Jesus' trial, this issue
came up (John 18:31). The Roman
historian Tacitus (c. 56-120 A.D.) wrote that:
"The Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword, and
neglected all else." When the
Sanhedrin in Judea lost the power to inflict death has been disputed. Evidently according to Magath, after Herod's
son Archelaus was disposed in 11 A.D., the procurators of Rome stripped the
Sanhedrin of this power. Even the
Talmud (Jerusalem, Sanhedrin, fol. 24, recto.) asserts it was lost
"a little more than forty years before the destruction of the
Temple." The Jews then lamented
the loss of this power: "'Woe unto
us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not
come!'" Notice the second clause's
statement that "a lawgiver from between his feet" (KJV) wouldn't
depart from Israel before Shiloh came.
If this means some generic kind of lawmaking, legislative, or political
authority, that too passed from the Jews during the first century. W.J. Moulder
notes that the Sanhedrin changed permanently following 70 A.D.: "The Romans thereafter ruled directly,
being unwilling to give autonomy to the Jews, who had revolted so
violently."[26] Therefore, two comings of the Messiah are
necessary to explain all the OT texts referring to Him, since the Conquering
Messiah hasn't arrived, yet the scepter did depart from Judah if interpreted in
either of these ways.
THE SECOND TEMPLE AND THE MESSIAH'S ARRIVAL
Another way
to possibly date the time of the Messiah's arrival concerns whether the Second
Temple, rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity had ended, of Zerubbabel (c. 515
b.c.) and Herod (beginning 19 b.c.), had to be standing when He came. Although the Second Temple was being
initially rebuilt under Zerubbabel, the prophet Haggai predicted: "And I will shake all nations, and
the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house
with glory, saith the Lord of Host" (Haggai 2:7, KJV). Now, how was the glory of the second temple
greater than the first? The word
translated "glory" can refer to physical wealth or to God's
presence. True, if it refers to the
former, then arguably under Herod the Second Temple eventually exceeded the
First of Solomon, by becoming one of the ancient world's real architectural
marvels. But if it refers to the
latter, which certainly makes more sense (cf. I Kings 8:10-11), this could only
be fulfilled by Jesus, God in the flesh, arriving at the Temple. Why?
Because the Second Temple never had the personal presence of God in the
form of the Shekinah in it, nor did it have the Ark of the Covenant.[27] Instead, Mal. 3:1 was fulfilled in
Christ: "Behold, I am going to send
My messenger [John the Baptist--Matt. 11:9-11], and he will clear the way
before Me [the Eternal]. And the Lord,
whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple [Luke 2:26-27, 32,
46-49; John 2:13-21--this could also refer to a possible temple yet to be
built--EVS]; and the messenger of the [new] covenant, in whom you delight, He
is coming." Since the Second
Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Messiah had to arrive before then in order
for its glory to exceed the First Temple's.
After all, when else could have the 30 pieces of silver, "that
magnificent price at which I [Yahweh] was valued by them," been thrown to
the potter in the House of the Lord?
(Zech. 11:13). Certainly, this
can't occur to the Conquering Messiah!
TRANSLATION ISSUES IN HAG. 2:7
True, a lot
of controversy erupts over how to translate the above underlined phrase in Hag.
2:7, because the Hebrew word for "desire of," chemdat is a
singular, but the verb is plural, "they shall come." Now this construction also occurs in Amos 6:1
("house of Israel" and "they shall come") and Haggai 1:2
("people" and "they said"). Taking chemdat collectively, as most modern commentators
do, runs into the problem that no cases of this appear in the OT. Although other translations exist, note that
the desire (chemdat) of Israel was focused on Saul as a king to save
them from their enemies: "And to
whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it
not to you and to all the house of your father?" (I Sam. 9:20, Green's Literal
Translation). Although legitimate
ambiguity remains in how to translate Hag. 2:7, a good case can be made for the
ancient Jewish interpretation that saw this as a personal reference to the
Messiah, which then likely means the Messiah had to come before the Second
Temple's destruction.[28]
THE SEVENTY WEEKS PROPHECY
The Seventy
Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 is surely the most powerful proof that the
Messiah had to come by the first century.
Again, quoting its words here is superfluous for those having Bibles. Admittedly, several schools flourish about
how to exactly interpret this prophecy.
Nevertheless, note one part that is clear: The Messiah will be "cut off," i.e., killed, in v. 26. Since this certainly can't refer to the
Conquering Messiah, it conclusively proves the Messiah will have two
comings! Regardless of the mental
somersaults anyone could apply to this prophecy besides totally allegorization,
it points to the Messiah arriving by 100 A.D.
By using the Old Testament's day-for-a-year principle (Num.
14:33-34; Eze. 4:4-6), the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks amount to 483 years (v. 25)
"from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until
Messiah the Prince." Counting 483
years from the time king Artaxerxes of Persia issued a decree (457 b.c.), while
skipping the year "0" since there was no such thing, comes out to
A.D. 27. This last year was the first
year of Jesus' public ministry, since He was crucified in A.D. 31 after a
ministry of three and a half years.
Newman counts up 69 seven-year land sabbatical cycles, which concern the
years Israel was to let farmland lie fallow.
When using the starting point of 445 b.c., this yields the similar
result of 28-35 A.D. for sixty-ninth cycle.
True, you can argue about the
exact year of Jesus' birth (such as whether it was 4 b.c. or 2 b.c), death
(A.D. 30, 31, 33), and/or which decree by which Persian king to start from
(Cyrus, 537 b.c.; Darius, c. 519 b.c.; Artaxerxes, 445 b.c., etc.). Nevertheless, Daniel clearly has the Messiah
appearing by the first century. To maintain
the Messiah is still only in the future, centuries and centuries after the 69
weeks have expired, is simply absurd, when using one part of the Bible to
interpret another part by the day-for-a-year principle. True, long-standing running disputes surround
whether the seventieth week follows right after the sixty-ninth, or is separate
from them, and is fulfilled during the Great Tribulation. But either way this prophecy still points to
the Messiah arriving by the early first century A.D., regardless of any
disputes over the precise dating of Christ's birth and the beginning of His
ministry. It's hardly all just
"guess work"--a couple of disputed years back and forth doesn't solve
Conder's fundamental problem with Daniel, which is no doubt why he attacks its
historicity nearly as harshly as any book in the NT! (MB, p. 126).[29]
THE INSERTED PUNCTUATION IN BIASED JEWISH TRANSLATIONS OF
DAN. 9:25
In order to
duck this prophecy's implications, Conder uses a biased Jewish
translation. It inserts a semi-colon in
the middle of v. 25, between the 7 and 62 weeks, to push back the arrival of
the Messiah to just 49 years after the Persian king issued the decree, causing
the 62 weeks to apply to the time for rebuilding ancient Jerusalem. As professor E.B. Pusey explains:
The
Jews put the main stop of the verse under [the Hebrew word for
"seven"], meaning to separate the two numbers, 7 and 62. This they must have done dishonestly
. . . as Rashi [the leading Jewish Bible commentator] says in
rejecting literal expositions which favoured the Christians 'on account of the
heretics,' i.e. Christians.[30]
The Tanakh reads for v. 25: "You must know and understand; from the issuance of the word
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed leader [the Messiah] is seven
weeks; and for sixty-two weeks it [Jerusalem] will be rebuilt, square and moat,
but in a time of distress." This
translation creates three major absurdities.
First, did the Messiah appear by the fifth century b.c.? If only 49 years elapsed from 457 b.c., He
had to arrive by 408 b.c., which is the purest poppycock. Then, second, note what v. 26 says: "And after those sixty-two weeks, the
anointed one [Messiah] will disappear and vanish." If the Messiah was cut off after the
62 weeks of years, that would mean He lived on earth for some 434 years before
being killed! Third, did it really
take 434 years for Jerusalem to be rebuilt?
By citing The Jewish Encyclopedia, Conder attempts to turn the
Persian king Cyrus into the anointed one (cf. Isa. 45:1) (MB, p. 128),
but saying a gentile king could fulfill the promises of v. 24 is simply
impossible! Furthermore, he'd still
have to live the entire 434 years!
Conder cites two liberal Christian commentaries to buttress his
views--Peake's and the Collegeville--which merely displays their
evident anti-supernaturalistic premises.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN TWO SCHOOLS OF PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION
OVER DAN. 9:24-27
Conder
eagerly seizes upon some of the standard disputes that rage over how to interpret
some parts of the seventy weeks' prophecy, ignoring how what is clear
decisively refutes his teachings about when the Messiah comes. The last part of Dan. 9:26, which prophesies
the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman legions under Titus, need not
be considered as occurring during the 70 weeks of years. As Smith writes, "The word determined
in verse 26-27 may suggest that what would happen during the seventy heptads
[weeks] would seal the fate of Jerusalem, and of the Roman armies which would
attack Jerusalem." To create
confusion, Conder apparently uses the long-running disputes between
futurists/dispensationalists (e.g., Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth)
who maintain the seventieth week is separate from the other 69 by a large
gap, and the traditional historicist view (which the SDAs uphold), which
asserts the seventieth week occurs right after the first 69 weeks of
years. (HWA literally split the
difference between the two schools, by saying the first 3 1/2 years of the seventieth
week followed right after the sixty-ninth week (27-31 A.D.), but that the
second 3 1/2 years will ensue during the great tribulation after a gap of some
2000 years in-between). The futurists
relate the beginning of v. 27 to the Antichrist during the great tribulation to
come, when he would stop the Jews from offering sacrifices at a literal temple
yet to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. By
contrast, the historicists apply it to the year of Jesus' crucifixion. Donald Ward recently has made an excellent case
for justifying a gap between sixty-ninth and the seventieth weeks by noting the
covenant that was confirmed in v. 27 couldn't have been the New Covenant. Although much more could be said on how to
interpret this prophecy, the confusion Conder creates can be eliminated by
following the SDA/historicist view, which places the seventieth week right
after the sixty-ninth.[31]
CONCLUSION
Although in
this present time of religious confusion and apostasy in the Church of God many
have found the religious rituals and wisdom of the Jews comforting to embrace,
we as Christians must still emphatically proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, or
else our own salvation is at stake. By
realizing many of the Old Testament messianic prophecies are types, not
prophecies that will be verbally fulfilled literally and directly, we
Christians can avoid the trap of believing this or that New Testament citation
of the Old Testament is "out of context." We must also remember that our belief in the New Testament as a
further revelation of God is also partially founded on a base independent of
the Old Testament, such as the miracles Jesus performed or participated in,
culminating in His resurrection from the dead, and His supreme moral example
and profound religious teaching. Through
such data as archeological evidence and correlation with pagan historical
documents and writings, we can infer that what can't be checked in the New
Testament is reliable since what can be directly verified has repeated
confirmed it. Certain key Old Testament
messianic texts have proven deeply troublesome to the Jews, such as Isaiah
52-53 and Daniel 7:24-27, not to mention the Zech. 9:9 and Dan. 7:13-14
conundrum. Their replies on these texts
are hardly persuasive to an informed listener.
The frequent distortions in the Messianic texts in Jewish translations
of Scripture, such as for Gen. 49:10; Dan. 9:25; Zech. 12:10; Ps. 22:16; and
Isa. 9:6, are evidence that the Jewish interpretation isn't as strong as its
advocates believe. We should reject the
Siren call of various Jews and apostate Christians to convert to Judaism, and
cling all the more tightly to Jesus as our Lord and Savior who died to save us
from sin. As Jesus Himself warned us: "Everyone therefore who shall confess
Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will
also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:32-33).
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[1]Darrell
W. Conder, Mystery Babylon and the Lost Ten Tribes in the End Time (Salt
Lake City: Commonwealth Publishing,
1996). In response to this book, I
wrote the essay, "Is Christianity a Fraud? A Preliminary Assessment of the Conder Thesis." In response, Conder wrote a caustic 40-page
reply, "By-Gosh Josh: An Answer to
Eric V. Snow." My further rebuttal
is entitled, in the Servant's News edition, "Is Christianity a Fraud? Round Two!" Hard copies of my essays can be requested free from: Servants' News, P.O. Box 220, Charlotte,
MI 48813-0220 or downloaded from the
following websites: biblestudy.org;
www.io.com/~ucgaa/ucgaa.html.
[2]Those
interested in the historical evidence for the NT's relability and the proofs of
the resurrection should read my essays listed above, and consult the books
cited in them for still further evidence.
[3]James
Smith, What the Bible Teaches about the Promised Messiah (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993),
pp. 6, 9.
[4]Rachmiel
Frydland, What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah (Cincinnati, OH: Messianic Publishing Company, 1993), pp.
27-28.
[5]For
a quick discussion of this subject, although it's hardly mistake free, see Hal
Lindsey with C.C. Carlson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970),
pp. 32-47.
[6]Besides
being typical, an obvious change in subject briefly occurs between Hosea 11:1
and Hosea 11:2, with a switch back in v. 3, which means it doesn't refer to the
Messiah in v. 2. (See MB, p. 38
for Conder's analysis). As Smith
observes, the subject is a singular first person in v. 1 ("I"--God is
speaking), but plural in v. 2 ("they"--false prophets probably). The object changes also, from singular
("my son") to a plural generally occurring in verses 2-4. The transition from v. 1 to v. 2 is quite
rough grammatically. Smith runs the
intriguing argument that v. 1 stands alone, as a separate revelation (as
v. 12 does in the NASB), since Hosea didn't write whole chapters on single
subjects in chapter 4-13, but had various short revelations that were
eventually put together. He contends
that Hosea 11:1 should be attached to the prior chapter's last unit, that began
in 10:9. This is unconvincing, because
Hosea 11:3 uses the same parent/child analogy as v. 1 does. It's best to see this as a type mainly, with
the grammatical shift from v. 1 to v. 2 signaling a change in the subject
suddenly away from the Messiah (as a type, in its secondary meaning) to
physical Israel itself (where this secondary meaning doesn't apply). For an interesting but flawed analysis of
this text, see Smith, Promised Messiah, pp. 237-42.
[7]Gleason
L. Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), p. 319;
Smith, Promised Messiah, p. 332; Targum Jonathan, as quoted in Moishe
Rosen, Y'Shua: The Jewish Way to Say
Jesus (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982),
p. 70.
[8]As
Joseph A. Alexander explains: "The
subject of the [sixty-ninth] psalm is an ideal person, representing the whole
class of righteous sufferers. The only
individual in whom the various traits meet is Christ. That he is not, however, the exclusive or even the immediate
subject, is clear from the confession in verse 6 (5)." The Psalms, Translated and Explained
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1975), as cited by Smith, Promised Messiah, p. 131.
[9]Josh
McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict:
Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith (San Bernardino,
CA: Here's Life Publishers, 1979), pp.
161-162; Rosen, Y'Shua, p. 45.
On Ps. 22 generally, see Smith, Promised Messiah, pp. 145-54.
[11]Rosen,
Y'shua, pp. 45-46, 74; Smith, Promised Messiah, p. 150; Aid to
Bible Understanding (Brooklyn, NY:
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1971), p. 824; The
NIV Interlinear and Ginsberg Bible as cited by John H. Wheeler,
"Letter to Eric Snow," July 19, 199[7], p. 7.
[12]S.K.
Soderlund, "Septuagint," Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen. ed., International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), vol. 4, pp. 403,
404, 408; Ronald Kenneth Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament
(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1969), pp. 228+; as cited by Josh McDowell and Bill Wilson, He
Walked Among Us: Evidence for the
Historical Jesus (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 1993), p. 228. This
last book seems to be the closest thing to a refutation of Conder written in
advance, so it's highly recommended for anyone seeking solid reasons for believing
in Christianity.
[14]Rosen,
Y'shua, pp. 16-17; Frydland, What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah,
p. 41; Smith, Promised Messiah, pp. 252-54, 262, 264; Milton Terry, Biblical
Hermeneutics (New York: Eaton and
Mains, 1890), as cited by Smith, Promised Messiah, p. 251; H.W.F.
Gesenius, Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1979 (1847,
original publication), p. 634; Wheeler, "Letter to Eric Snow," pp. 3,
4; See Aid for Bible Understanding,
p. 741, for further confirmation of Wheeler's analysis of Hebrew grammar.
[16]Conder
argues that Isa. 9:1-2 has been taken out of context as a reference to the
Messiah (MB, pp. 39-40). This
claim discounts how (along with verses 3-4), they are a "warm up" to
verses 5-6. As Smith explains: "Two points are emphasized in this
famous prophecy: (1) the promise of a
new day (vv. 1-5); and (2) the reason for the new day (vv. 6-7)." Promised Messiah, p. 261. Smith's translation of Isa. 9:1-7 is very
striking, which notes a number of "prophetic perfects" put into the
English future tense.
[18]Conder
attempts to evade the whole passage by saying Jesus' death doesn't fit part of
v. 10: "He will see His
offspring." Although it's true
Jesus had no physical offspring, he certainly did have spiritual
offspring. Note John 1:12-13: "But as many as received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His
name, who were born [begotten, margin] not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "He will prolong His days" (v. 10) after being
"cut off out of the land of the living" (v. 8) through His
resurrection from the dead. Otherwise,
these two texts could easily be seen as contradictory. Conder's comment that "The prophecies
of Isaiah are not, to put it bluntly, prophecies of Jesus unless he was to have
children and live to a ripe old age!" certainly doesn't resolve this
otherwise implicit contradiction (MB, p. 100).
[19]On
the subject of Isa. 52-53 generally, see Frydland, What the Rabbis Know
about the Messiah, pp. 69-72; Rosen, Y'shua, pp. 58-65; Smith, Promised
Messiah, pp. 306-18. That Jews were
not exactly "silent" under Roman rule is shown by one chapter
in: Anthony A. Barrett, Caligula: The Corruption of Power (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1989), pp.
182-91.
[20]Rosen,
Y'shua, p. 75; Frydland, What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah,
pp. 53-56; McDowell and Wilson, He Walked Among Us, pp. 307
[21]Frydland,
What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah, pp. 5, 60; cf. Raphael Patai as
cited in Rosen, Y'shua, pp. 73-74; Robert C. Newman, "The Testimony
of Messianic Prophecy," in John Warwick Montgomery, ed., Evidence for
Faith: Deciding the God Question
(Dallas: Probe Books, 1991), p. 206.
[22]See
Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence
and Issues (Grand Rapids, MI: Word
Publishing, 1996), pp. 226-29.
[25]Frydland,
What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah, pp. 16; Smith, Promised
Messiah, pp. 57-58; Newman in Montgomery, Evidence for Faith, p.
209; See HWA's comments in The United States and Britain in Prophecy
(Pasadena, CA: Worldwide Church of God,
1980), pp. 58. After all, transferring
the throne to Joseph from Judah means the scepter did depart from Judah,
at least when narrowly defined to refer only to the Davidic line.
[26]See
McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, vol. 1, pp. 168-70; W.J.
Moulder, "Sanhedrin," Bromiley, The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, p. 332.
[27]Interestingly,
God increasingly withdrew what presence from the Second Temple during the forty
years before its destruction, according to the Jews themselves. "The lot for the goat to be sacrificed
ceased to come up on the right hand of the High Priest as previously; the
crimson cloth they put out on Yom Kippur would not turn white as it had before;
the Western light would not keep burning as before; and the doors of the Temple
would no longer open of themselves" (Frydland, What the Rabbis Know
about the Messiah, pp. 18-19; citing Rosh Hashanah 31b and Yoma
39b).
[28]Smith,
Promised Messiah, pp. 398-406, 408-10; Newman in Montgomery, ed., Evidence
for Faith, pp. 209-10; McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict,
vol. 1, p. 170; Frydland, What the Rabbis Know about the Messiah, p. 76.
[29]On
the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, see Rosen, Y'Shua, pp. 37-40; Frydland, What
the Rabbis Know about the Messiah, pp. 75-76; Newman in Montgomery, ed., Evidence
for Faith, pp. 211-12. For a good
defense of the anti-gap interpretation, see Seventh-Day Adventists Answer
Questions on Doctrine: An Explanation
of Certain Major Aspects of Seventh-Day Adventist Belief (Washington,
DC: Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1957), pp. 268-308; Smith, Promised Messiah, pp.
382-396. For a pro-gap interpretation,
see McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, pp. 170-75.
[30]Insight
on the Scriptures, vol. 2 (New York:
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 1988), pp.
902-3. E.B. Pusey, Daniel the
Prophet, 1885, p. 190, as cited by Insight on the Scriptures, vol.
2, p. 903.
[31]Curiously,
in a footnote, Conder says the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11 were used by William
Miller, whose predictions about the end of the world in 1843/44 helped form the
SDA church (MB, p. 128).
Actually, it was the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14, when interpreted as years
and added to 457 b.c., that formed the foundation of the SDA system of
prophetic interpretation concerning the sanctuary, the investigative judgment,
etc. For Donald Ward's views favoring
the "gap" interpretation, see "Abomination of Desolation,"
in the UCG-AIA's World News and Prophecy:
Biblical Perspectives on Current Events, September 1998, pp. 6-11.