Thanks for pointing to this site as a source of information.
These are the passages listed as legitimate messianic prophecies.
- Isaiah 2:11; 42; 59:20
- Jeremiah 23:30,33; 48:47; 49:39
- Ezekiel 38:16
- Hosea 3:4-3: 5
- Micah 4
- Zephaniah 3:9
- Zechariah 14:9
- Daniel 10:14
This is how the passages in Isaiah read, using the Jewish Study Bible.
Isaiah 2: 11,12 'Man's haughty look shall be brought low, And the pride of mortals shall be humbled. None but the Lord shall be exalted in that day. For the LORD of Hosts has ready a day Against all that is proud and arrogant, Against all that is lofty - so that it is brought low:.. None but the LORD shall be Exalted in that day (verse 17).
If we were looking at the whole context it would suggest a form of judgment. It says, 'the Lord shall be exalted in that day'. But this alone is interesting. Where is the human Messiah in all this? Do you imagine him to be a human king leading Israel to war? It says, 'the pride of mortals shall be humbled'. If God is to be exalted why do you create a human king to lead armies into battle? Is the warfare of God not the warfare of Truth?
The point I want to make is that this passage is not an island. By reading this passage, which is said to apply to the Messiah, I am automatically led to passages that pick up the same wording and theme. For example, Isaiah 2:9,11 and 17 all point to Isaiah 5:15,16 (11-17 is the context) which says, 'Yea, man is bowed, And mortal brought low; brought low is the pride of the haughty. And the Lord of Hosts is exalted by judgment, the Holy God proved holy by retribution.'
So from Isaiah 2 we have to build in Isaiah 5, and so the picture grows. The day of the Lord is going to be a judgment day, when God is proved holy by retribution.
This same theme is picked up in the passage from Isaiah 61 verse 2, where it talks about 'And a day of vindication by our God;' All these passages are talking about the same event - a future judgment.
Now, you ask, what has this to do with Jesus? Well, if you return to Luke 4:19 you will see that he was quoting from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth. He finishes his reading with the words 'To preach the acceptable year of the Lord', which is translated as 'To proclaim a year of the Lord's favor' in the JSB. He then stops reading. He never says, 'And a day of vindication by our God'. Instead, he says, 'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.' In other words, he is not coming as the judge this time. He is coming to offer salvation. The vengeance, or vindication of God, still lies at a future time. When Jesus came, he came as a servant to save, not as the Lord of Hosts to judge.
Isaiah 42, 'This is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one, in whom I delight. I have put My spirit upon him, He shall teach the true way to the nations. He shall not cry out or shout aloud, Or make his voice heard in the streets. He shall not break even a bruised reed, Or snuff out even a dim wick. He shall bring forth the true way. He shall not grow dim or be bruised Till he has established the true way on the earth; And the coastlands shall await his teaching.
Thus said God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what it brings forth, Who gave breath to the people upon it And life to those who walk thereon: I the LORD, in My grace, have summoned you, And I have grasped you by the hand. I created you, and appointed you A covenant people, a light of nations - Opening eyes deprived of light, Rescuing prisoners from confinement, From the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not yield My glory to another, Nor My renown to idols. See, the things once predicted have come, And now I foretell new things, Announce to you ere they sprout up. Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth - You who sail the sea and you creatures in it, You coastlands and their inhabitants! Let the desert and its towns cry aloud, The villages where Kedar dwells; Let Sela's inhabitants shout, Call out from the peaks of the mountains. Let them do honor to the LORD, and tell His glory in the coastlands.
The LORD goes forth like a warrior, Like a fighter He whips up His rage. He yells, He roars aloud, He charges upon His enemies. "I have kept silent for too long, Kept still and restrained Myself; Now I will scream like a woman in labor, I will pant and I will gasp. Hills and heights will I scorch, Cause all their green to wither; I will turn rivers into isles, And dry the marshes up. I will lead the blind By a road they did not know, And I will make them walk By paths they never knew. I will turn darkness before them to light, Rough places into level ground. These are the promises - I will keep them without fail. Driven back and utterly shamed Shall be those who trust in an image, those who say to idols, 'You are our gods!'"
Listen, you who are deaf; You blind ones, look up and see! Who is so blind as My servant, So deaf as the messenger I send? Who is so blind as the chosen one, So blind as the servant of the Lord? Seeing many things, he gives no heed; With ears open, he hears nothing. The LORD desires His [servant's] vindication, That he may magnify and glorify [His] Teaching. Yet it is a people plundered and despoiled: All of them are trapped in holes, Imprisoned in dungeons. They are given over to plunder, with none to rescue them; To despoilment, with none to say " Give back!" If only you would listen to this, Attend and give heed from now on! Who was it that gave Jacob over to despoilment And Israel to plunderers? Surely, the LORD against whom they sinned In whose ways they would not walk And whose Teaching they would not obey. So He poured out wrath upon them, His anger and the fury of war. It blazed upon them all about, but they heeded not; It burned among them, but they gave it no thought.
Is this a passage about Israel, the people? Or is it a passage about the Messiah? Or is it showing up both, as prophecy intends?
The passage begins very positively, with 'He shall teach the true way to the nations'. Is this about Israel (the Jews), or is it about Israel (the Church), or is it about Israel (the Messiah)? Is this still future? Have Israel (the Jews) failed to lead the nations? Or is it that the Messiah (as servant) will go about bringing peace, as in not breaking a 'bruised reed' or snuffing out a 'dim wick'? Nor will the servant be 'bruised' (see Genesis 3:15) 'till he has established the true way on the earth'.
For the 'spirit to be upon him', either Israel has the spirit upon them, or the Church (new Israel) has the spirit upon them, or the spirit is on the individual Messiah. Or a combination.
It would certainly not be hard to make a good case for this being a reference to Christ and the Church, the spirit-filled body of believers.
Then we have the coastlands. To whom does this refer? It's not the nation of Israel, but the nations or isles abroad. How come this follows the foretelling of 'new things'? How come the coastlands tell of 'His glory'? This isn't a prophecy of some future messianic age. I'm calling out from the peak of a mountain right now!
Then you have a passage that states that the blind will have their minds enlightened. As it says, 'I will turn darkness before them to light, Rough places into level ground.' Isn't this what the New Testament does?
Then you have those who hear and see nothing and then face judgment. 'If only you would listen to this, Attend and heed from now on!' Many in Jacob and Israel sin against the Lord because they refuse to walk in his ways.
