Hebrew Prophecies and Clues Concerning the Promised Messiah
So many Hebrew Scriptures of the Christian Old Testament point specifically to the Messiah that only a few will be listed here to represent that body of understanding, but special mention will be made later of Psalm 2, the Messianic Psalm, and Psalm 16:10, the Resurrection Psalm.
Genesis 3:15. The Seed of the Woman. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"
(Genesis 3:15). The Creator predetermined that though the Serpent (Satan) would bruise man's heel and seduce him into sin, man would bruise the Serpent and be delivered from the fatal toxin of the Serpent's bite through the Redemption of a Saviour, Who would be the Son of Man. This is a signpost pointing to the Virgin Birth of Christ. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from The Beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil"
(1John 3:8). For this reason, the Messiah that would be of the seed of the woman would deliver the fatal blow to Satan, as we shall see, at the Cross.
Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek. "18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and He was the priest of the Most High God. 19 And He blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, Possessor of Heaven and Earth: 20 and blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he [Abraham] gave Him [Melchizedek] tithes of all"
(Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek had to be Jehovah in human flesh, for He had an everlasting priesthood, as David said of the Messiah-- who is paradoxically the "Son of David"
(Matthew 22:42)-- in Psalm 110, calling Him Lord. "1 The LORD said unto my Lord [the Messiah], Sit thou at My right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool... 4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek"
(Psalm 110:1, 4). Melchizedek was greater than Abraham or the Aaronic priesthood, because "Abraham gave [Melchisedec] the tenth of the spoils"
(Hebrews 7:4), where "He [Melchisedec] Whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him [Abraham] that had the Promises"
(Hebrews 7:6)-- and, "without all contradiction the less</span style="color:darkred"> [Abraham] is blessed of the better [Melchisedec]"
(Hebrews 7:7). Even the New Testament speaks of Melchizedek as "King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of Peace"
(Hebrews 7:2); further, Melchizedek is described as "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a Priest continually"
(Hebrews 7:3). Therefore, Melchizedek, the Priest of the Most High God, was a Pre-Incarnate appearance of the Messiah.
Genesis 22. Abraham Offers His Son Isaac. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, which was a picture of the Father's future sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son (the Messiah) on the Cross at Calvary:
(1) Mount Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge. It was
(a) the location of the site commanded by Jehovah for Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, i.e., "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2),
(b) the site of Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite's threshing floor, purchased by David to make sacrifice to stop the plague caused by David's census (1Chronicles 21), which was also the future location of Solomon's Temple, i.e., "Then Solomon began to build the House of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite" (2Chronicles 3:1), and
(c) the place understood by the Palestine Exploration Society (1868-1881) to be the site of the Crucifixion of Jesus, near the modern day Damascus Gate and Garden Tomb, i.e., "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen [i.e., Jehovah will provide His Sacrifice]" (Genesis 22:14).
(2) Just as the Gospels tell us that Jesus was dead for three days, i.e., "Destroy this temple [i.e., referring to His own body], and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), it was as if Isaac was dead in the mind of his father Abraham for three days, i.e., "3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off" (Genesis 22:3-4).
(3) Jesus was called by John the Baptist, the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29); similarly, Abraham expected the LORD to provide a lamb for the required sacrifice, i.e., "God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:8).
(4) Abraham's sacrifice of a ram was a substitution for Isaac, where the Everlasting God gave Isaac back to Abraham, as it were, from the dead, i.e., "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son"
(Genesis 22:13), just as Jesus' Suffering and Death was a Substitutionary Atonement for the world, i.e., "Christ died for the ungodly"
(Romans 5:6). Christ "is the propitiation [Greek, hilasmos, an appeasing, i.e., a Mercy Seat] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world"
(1John 2:2). Accordingly, the Messiah would offer Himself in Sacrifice as a Substitutionary Atonement for the world.
Genesis 49:10-11. Until Shiloh Come. "10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Hebrew, Shiyloh, tranquility, rest] come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding His foal unto the vine, and His ass's colt unto the choice vine; He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes"
(Genesis 49:10-11). From the tribe of Judah would come "a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall Rise out of Israel"
(Numbers 24:17). The Messiah was understood to be a King; or more specifically, the King of Israel. The Christian New Testament is replete with those who both reviled and praised Jesus as the King of Israel. "Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the Cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him"
(Mark 15:32). "Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel"
(John 1:49). Messiah the King's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was predicted by Zechariah. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is Just, and having Salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass"
(Zechariah 9:9). Likewise, John's Gospel recorded the fulfilment.
"12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of the LORD"
(John 12:12-13). In this passage of Genesis 49, Jacob's dying prophecy concerning his offspring spoke of Shiloh, "He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes"
(Genesis 49:11). "blood" refers to the Messiah's ministry of Salvation through the "Blood of His Cross"
(Colossians 1:20), while "wine" also points out His Final Judgment of the Earth.
"And out of His mouth goeth a Sharp Sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall Rule them with a Rod of Iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God"
(Revelation 19:15). Therefore, Messiah would be Shiloh the King, bringing Salvation, Justice, and Judgement.