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The Messiah in the Old Testament
by Samson Hutagalung

There are so many passages in the Old Testament, which talk about the Messiah's first and second coming to this earth. Some of the things as seen in the previous topics that the Messiah will be the King for the nation of Israel and the High Priest in the millennial temple in which the sons of Zodak also will be ministering in the temple under the Melchizedekian High Priest, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Romans 11 the nation of Israel will be re-established by God and all Israel will be saved. This prophecy is not seen before our eyes right now because the people of Israel, the Jews are the enemy of the gospel till today but the Lord will fulfil His word that one day the Lord will show mercy to Israel because the Lord has a special plan for Israel.

We need to understand that Israel is not the church neither the church is Israel. God has a different plan to these two groups of people. The covenant promises that the Lord has made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be fulfilled although Israel hates Christians today. But all these will be changed when Christ makes His perfect works in Israel just as we have changed when Jesus did perfect works in us through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit by His word. There is hope for Israel and there is hope for christians though we are strange branches in the sense which never belongs to the Tree of Abrahamic covenant blessings and promises.

The Inner Court of Prophetic Revelation

The Prophecy of the BRANCH of Jehovah

Two hundred years after God spoke to David and Solomon, God gave His Word to the prophet Isaiah by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about the prophecy of the coming Messiah. It is recorded in Isaiah 4:2 saying, “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.” In Hebrew the word for BRANCH is “tsamach.” It is a special name given by the Holy Spirit to the Son of God. He is the Branch of Jehovah because He entered into the human scene on this planet earth. What He actually is, of the extension of the triune Godhead above whom we cannot see and no man has ever seen the invisible eternal Godhead. That is why, 1 Timothy 1:17 said that Jesus Christ is the invisible as well as immortal. So Jesus Christ is the only One who becomes visible. He is like a branch from the invisible tree coming into us on this earth and He is the branch of the Lord.

The study of Isaiah 4:2 shows that there are two things that we need to watch about. Firstly, the Branch will be beautiful and glories. Secondly, the fruit of the earth will be the survival of Israel. The fruit of the earth is another name for Jesus. In Isaiah 4, 7, 9, and 11, Christ is depicted that He has two natures namely divine and human. He is God and man in one person. He is the fruit of the earth because Christ came to this earth through the conception of Mary as the human mother, which we know clearly that Mary came from Adam. In that sense Adam came from the earth. During the ministry of Jesus Christ, He has a 100 % human body and not glorified body. Thus, though the early Christians were very hard to understand this truth but now we notice clearly that Christ is the fruit of the earth which will be the survival of Israel.

The Prophecy of the Virgin Birth of Christ

Isaiah 7:14 said, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The prophet Isaiah tells that there will be a sign given by God as overwhelming, spectacular sign. The question is asked, what is this sign that causes people to behold? The answer is that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The word ‘virgin’ ‘almah' in Hebrew always means in the Old Testament Scripture, "the virtue of the unmarried woman." Therefore such woman shall conceive, it must be a miracle. The New Testament says the same thing as quoted by Matthew as proof that Jesus is a virgin born. “Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Thus the prophecy of a virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14 is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else. Christ is the human because he has the human mother and He has a natural born just like all of us but He was not conceived like us. His name is called Immanuel. Immanuel is derived from two words namely ‘Imma’ means ‘with us,’ and ‘el’ means God. This is to say that Jesus was not only human by virtue of having the human mother but He is also God with us, God-incarnated.

The Prophecy of the Names of Christ

Isaiah 9:6-7 said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” In this prophecy we can see the more amazing truth and the twofold nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word ‘a child’ here is the same word mentioned in Isaiah 7:14 namely referring to the Lord Jesus Christ which describes His humanity. The phrase “unto us a son is given” is referring to His divine nature. The focus of the meaning of the word ‘a son’ here is not so much to depict that He is the son of Mary but the Son of God. We need to understand clearly that from eternity God has the son, Jesus Christ. Jesus did not become the son of God after He was born to this world. In fact in Proverbs 30:4, two hundred years before this prophecy given to Isaiah already it was asked this very question, “ Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?” Thus, God who created the universe has the Son and always has. That is why, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

The phrase “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” tells us the human and divine nature is in one person.  Having known this fact, the question is asked, what will this person be like? The answer is found in the statement of Isaiah that His “the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” We need to understand that the Counsellor here is different with so called ‘counsellors’ today. Therefore we need to be careful with those psychologists who claim to be counsellors. But what Isaiah 9:6 describes here is referring to the names of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father and The prince of Peace.” He is the only Prince that can bring peace to this world that He will accomplish when he comes again. Right now no human is able to rule the world which is full of deprived and sinful people but only the One who is God and Man, who is perfect and sinless namely Jesus Christ. Thus we may say, “Lord, thy kingdom comes."

The Prophecy of the Righteous King and the Perfect Servant

Christ is the Righteous King

Isaiah 11:1-5 said, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” This passage tells us that the coming King will be definite human because Isaiah 11:1 describes that, “a rod out of the stem of Jesse,” which was the father of David which of course was human. The coming King will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge. The word counsel here means that "only He can guide, teach and encourage us." There was no king that ever existed which had such distinctions as given in this passage. The coming King will be the righteous King for He will not judge according to the sight of the eyes and the hearing of the ears, for He knows everything about the wickedness of the minds and hearts of people. He knows everything in the mind of every man and there is none such ruler in this world and this will be fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 11:4 tells us further that everything the King does He will do it righteously. “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” The Lord Jesus Christ will slay the wicked in the Armageddon as mentioned in Revelation 19:15 “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.”

How can such a person come from David and Jesse? The answer is because He has inherited His human nature from them by the miracle of the Holy Spirit that took place on conception that He did not inherit our sinful nature. By the virtue, the fact is that He pre-existed His incarnation with the father for eternity, and He also inherits His divine nature. Thus He is God-man and He is qualified to rule over the world.

The Perfect Servant with Infinite, Divine Qualification

Isaiah 40:3-5

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

At the end of verse 9 says, “say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.” What kind of person he will be when he comes? The answer to this question is found in Isaiah 40:10-11, “Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” The perfect shepherd with infinite, divine qualification will come to this earth. The prophecy in this passage is the absolute truth in which John the Baptist has proclaimed it during his short ministry on this earth namely to prepare the way of the Lord that would come namely the Lord Jesus Christ. It was because of the preaching of this truth, John the Baptist was put in dungeon and was finally headed. However while he was still in dungeon, he sent the messengers to the Lord Jesus Christ asking that whether Jesus Christ was the One who would come (Luke 7:19-24). The truth was that there was no doubt for the two disciples of John who had seen all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even Jesus Christ told them to let John the Baptist know for what they had seen.

Isaiah 42:1-4

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

Who is this servant? In the book of Isaiah there are three servants ever mentioned. First, in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1 we see Cyrus was called the messiah, the anointed of God because God raised Cyrus to deliver Israel from the Babylonian captivity. Cyrus smashed Babylon and helped Israel to rebuild the temple, but Cyrus did not even know the Lord. Second, in Isaiah 44:21; 49:3 another servant of God which was described as mostly did not know the Lord, but sometimes he knew the Lord and occasionally obeyed Him and that servant was Israel. The Lord in the book of Isaiah was agonising over the reluctant servant, Israel. Third, within the chosen nation of Israel there is the perfect servant of the Lord. He is the One who is mentioned in Isaiah 42:1-4. The Lord said, “Behold my servant.” Who is this servant of the Lord? He is the Messiah, the King of kings who will rule over the whole world and He will be the marvellous King in the history of this planet earth. He will be faithful to the Lord forever.

Isaiah 49:1-7

"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.”

This is another passage that the Lord will fulfil in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read in the beginning of this passage, it was as if the Lord Jesus Christ who was speaking this passage concerning Himself and what He is going to do in the future. This is the amazing Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament.

Isaiah 50:4-9

"The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.”

This is another passage where as if we can see Jesus Christ speaking again as in Isaiah 49:1-7. Isaiah 50:4 tells us how the Lord Jesus knew all things when He gave up His independent exercise of attribute of His greatness. Verse 4 says, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.” In other words, Jesus was saying that ‘what He says it is not from Him but His Father. His Father tells him what to say and do. His Father also empowers Him because when He becomes incarnated, He deliberately set aside the independent exercise of attribute of His greatness so that what He did, that was supernaturally by the Father enabling and showing Him. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ had done all things perfectly when He came to this earth to do the will of His Father. Amen.