Part of the prophetic task is to bear witness to Jesus the Messiah, including to how he fulfils Messianic predictions in Scripture.

Prediction was not the central element in Biblical prophecy. Prophets were primarily proclaimers of the principles of righteousness to the people of their own day. As is frequently noted, they were 'forthtellers' rather than 'foretellers'. But it remains true that inspired prophecy always points to a future when the great principles the prophets had seen at work in Israel would be openly developed and manifest.

But in addition, the Old Testament prophets from time to time did predict what was going to happen, and these predictions included the coming of a deliverer who would rescue from their sin and disaster his chosen people, and eventually through them the whole of mankind. This was their 'messianic hope'.

Bible prophecy centres around proclaiming God's truth more than predicting the future. However, predictions were sometimes given – including of a coming deliverer.

The Coming of 'Messiah'

On one occasion John the Baptist, who was at that time in prison, sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus this question: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Luke 7:19). 'The one who was to come', or the erkomenos (to use the Greek word), was a common way of referring to God's expected deliverer. There is hardly any reference in the Old Testament to the word 'Messiah' as a description of the 'coming one'. Such description was something that developed during the years between the end of the Old Testament period and the beginning of the New (see Dan 9:25-26).

It is significant that the word 'Messiah' was used of Cyrus, the Persian ruler: "This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus..." (Isa 45:1), and again, "I call you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you did not acknowledge me" (Isa 45:4). 'Messiah', from the Hebrew Mashiach meaning 'anointed', is the English equivalent of our word 'Christ'. High priests and kings were anointed with oil in order to establish them in their office (Ex 29:5-7; 1 Sam 10:1). Jesus is rightly called the Christ because God anointed him with the Holy Spirit, as Peter told the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:38).

The word 'Messiah' was not used to describe God's expected deliverer until the years between the Old Testament and the New.

How Old is the Messianic Hope?

It is as old as the story of man's sin in the Garden of Eden. For no sooner had man rebelled against God's commands than God was declaring (in a promise which is usually referred to as the 'protevangelium') the coming of a deliverer who would be "of the seed of the woman". "He (the man) will crush your (the serpent's) head and you will strike his heel" (Gen 3:15).

Another element in the messianic hope was given in Jacob's blessing to his children when he indicated that the deliverer would come from the tribe of Judah: "The sceptre will not depart from Judah...until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience [or gathering] of the nations is his" (Gen 14:10).

This promise was still being echoed many years later by Ezekiel (Ezek 21:27). An unexpected source of further information about the Messiah is to be found in the inspired words of the nevertheless unholy prophet Balaam, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel. he will crush his enemy..." (Num 24:17-18).

No sooner had man rebelled against God's demands than God was declaring the coming of a deliverer.

The Messianic Hope - Four Pictures

1. A Prophet-Messiah Like Moses

God's promise to Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 18:18-19: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him". We are told towards the end of that same book that "no prophet has risen like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut 34:10). The context of God's promise to Moses was that of the occult practices of the surrounding nations. These things were detestable in God's sight and he warned his people to have nothing to do with such practices (Deut 18:9-13).

In our day, with the rapid growth of witchcraft, magic and occultism, folk both within and outside of our churches need to be told that such things bring the anger of God upon us. Peter's speech in Solomon's Colonnade makes it clear that Jesus the Christ is the one whose words we must obey, for this is the Messiah like Moses (Acts 3:22).

2. A Priest-Messiah Like Melchizedek

There is only one appearance of Melchizedek, the mysterious king-priest of Salem (see Gen 14:18-20). He is described as the priest of God Most High. He brought with him bread and wine (though we have no guidance as to what they were used for), and he accepted tithes paid by Abraham. Had it not been for the writer of Psalm 110, no-one would have recognised the important lessons to be learned from Melchizedek. He reveals that the Messiah was to be a priest, not in the order of Levi, but in the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110:4).

Jesus claimed this psalm as speaking of himself (Mark 12:35-36) and later on the writer to the Hebrews points out that Melchizedek is a type of Christ's priesthood - for Christ's is a royal priesthood in a way that Aaron's was not.

Melchizedek is the type of an eternal priesthood, as nothing is said in Scripture about either his birth and his antecedents, and we know nothing about his death (Heb 7:1-3). In the order of Levi, relays of priests had to be ordained, because being subject to death they could not go on for ever. In such ways the writer points out the superiority of the Priest-Messiah.

The Messiah was to be a priest like Melchizedek – whose priesthood was both royal and eternal.

3. A King-Messiah from David's Family

Although they are important in our understanding of the Messianic hope brought to us in the word of God, comparatively little is written about the two categories of title we have been considering, i.e. the prophet-Messiah and the priest-Messiah. However, much more is written about the King-Messiah.

We have seen that the Messiah was to come from the line of Judah, and this was true of David. The prophet Nathan brought the word of the Lord to David and assured him that his kingdom would be established for ever: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me, your throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sam 7:16). That could not prove true for David himself, but pointed to the Messiah whose kingdom would last forever (Rev 11:15).

David was Israel's favourite king, and all subsequent kings were compared with him (1 Ki 11:4; 11:6, 14:8; 15:3; 15:11-14; 2 Ki 18:3 and 22:2). David is celebrated in the Psalms (see Ps 2, 18, 21, 45, 63, 72, 89, 101 and 312). These psalms indicate that the Messiah would:

• meet worldwide opposition;
• become world ruler;
• have Zion as his capital;
• enjoy a rule, both prosperous and peaceful, that would last forever;
• be the friend of the poor but the enemy of the oppressor;
• inherit God's covenant and Melchizedek's priesthood;
• be seated at God's right hand as Yahweh's son;
• possess an everlasting name
• and receive unending thanks.

As well as having the roles of prophet-Messiah and priest-Messiah, the Bible predicts the Messiah as being a King coming from the house of Judah and from David's line.

A subsidiary title to be given to the King-Messiah is shown in Jeremiah 23:5-6. "'The days are coming' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely...in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.'"

4. A Suffering Messiah Like Isaiah's Servant

The hope of a Messiah who would be at one and the same time prophet, priest and king was appreciated by those who read about him in the psalms and prophets, but the idea of someone who was going to let people trample over him and dismiss him as not worth a second look was not one that appealed to anyone in Israel (Isa 53:2, 3, 7). It was a totally new concept of messiahship that introduced the idea of vicarious suffering.

But that is the only way of salvation for sinners, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. It is not surprising that the idea of a King marching in as conqueror was more appealing than a bloodied figure carrying his cross outside the city-wall and dragging along the instruments on which he would die an agonising death.

The Messianic Hope: All Four Kinds of Messiahs in One

No one prophet gave the complete picture, and today this is still true (1 Cor 14:29). The guise in which the Messiah-Jesus came was a bitter disappointment to the Jews of his day. They had formed their conception of what the Messiah should be from their partial study of the scriptures, and he was not the kind of Messiah they wanted or were expecting. "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him" (John 1:11).

The Jews formed their conception of the Messiah from a partial study of the scriptures, failing to recognise the prophecies that he would suffer, and be humble and down-trodden.

Are we likely to fall into the same error in our day? Are our minds really open to all that is promised in the scriptures concerning our soon-to-be-returning Messiah at his Second Coming?

We can be certain that, however biblical our own understanding of eschatology might be, no one is going to get it all right. That is no reason for giving up our studies - but every reason to proceed with humility and caution. Jesus' contemporaries did not get it right either, because certain things seemed inconsistent and irreconcilable.

Yet, slowly and surely, the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit pondered on the Messianic foreshadowings of Christ in the scriptures until they discovered that the various elements found their union in him. They came to see in him King, Priest, Prophet and Suffering Servant, and at the same time they saw in him God and worshipped him in adoring love and wonder (John 14:9). "All the prophets testify about him," said Peter (Acts 10:43), and we must continue to follow their example.

The Prophets' Task: Bearing Testimony to Jesus the Messiah

The question with which we started this study was, "Are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?" The woman of Samaria found the answer when she said to Jesus, "I know that the Messiah (called Christ) is coming." And he replied, "I who speak to you am he!" (John 4:25-26).

Are our minds really open to all that is promised in the scriptures concerning the second coming of our Lord Jesus?

The crowd who had witnessed the feeding of the five thousand were on the right track for the correct answer when they reasoned, "Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14). Best of all is the personal testimony of Martha, who exclaimed, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world" (John 11:27).

Central to all true prophecy is the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and we do well to heed the words of Revelation 19:10, addressed to those who were holding to the testimony of Jesus: John says, "Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 2, March/April 1990.