Prophesies of Messiah's life (Matthew)

400 years of “silence”

Called the 400 years of silence because God did not speak to Israel with a prophet, however we learned from the book of Esther that God is always working out His plan; whether He’s named or not.

So, what happened in those 400 years? A lot of things that HAD to happen. God was preparing the backdrop for Messiah to fulfill the prophesies.

Malachi leaves off in about 400 BC. During this time all of the Old Testament was still in Hebrew, Israel had rebuilt, and Persia was ruling - but not for long.

In about 70 years: 330 BC

Alexander the Great (yes, that one) would conquer the entire Persian empire and spread greek culture (Hellenism) throughout the region. This is what led everyone to learn greek. Now the Jews and the gentiles have a common spoken language.

30 years later: 300 BC

After Alexander the Great died a general named Ptolemy II was assigned ruler over Egypt. His greatest project was the Library of Alexandria - Where all of the Old Testament was translated into … you guessed it… greek - the language of the people. (Not by greeks, but by 72 Jewish scholars)

Why is that important? (Islam - if it isn’t in 7th century)

People act like that today “Yeshua”

I believe we are seeing God knit together the rest of the world with Israel so that when the Messiah comes the Gentiles have access, not only to Him but to the ENTIRE WORD OF GOD. (Why? Because the New Testament writers quoted the Septuagint - greek version - instead of the Hebrew.

140 years later: 160 BC

The king outlaws Judaism and desecrates the temple by sacrificing pigs on the alter and erecting a statue of Zeus. So Israel took up arms against the king and after 20 years of fighting won their freedom.

For 100 years: 140-30 BC

The Jews had their own kingdom. During that time they tried to unify the priesthood and the political powers of Judea and it created a brutal civil war.

In order to win this war Hyracanus II reached out to Rome and opened Jerusalem to seige. The bargain was to give Rome the political power and keep the priesthood, so Hyrcanus II was installed as High Priest and Judea became a province of Syria, under Roman rule. This created the divide against the Sadducees (which spawned from this group) and the Pharisees (who saw this union as a betrayal)

An advisor to the high priest would have a son, and he would be called “Herod the Great.”

30 years later:

Herod the Great dies, and his sons do a terrible job ruling so Rome completely seizes control and installs many governors over the region including Pontius Pilate.

If you are a Jew what exactly are you waiting for?

You are waiting for Messiah but as a means to an end. What they were actually waiting for was the works of Messiah.

Isaiah 11:1–5 We are waiting for Messiah to bring righteousness and justice

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”

Isaiah 9:6–7 We are waiting for Messiah to come and rule as God Himself, bringing universal and eternal peace

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Isaiah 35:5–6 We are waiting for Messiah to come and heal our loved ones, heal our ailments

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

Zechariah 6:12–13 We are waiting for Messiah to come and unite the political with the spiritual/ to heal the division between brothers

“Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’”

Micah 5:2 We are waiting for Messiah to come - a being beyond humanity yet in it

““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.””

Deuteronomy 18:15–18 We are waiting for God to answer our ancestors' prayer to send a mediator between us and an all-powerful God “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.”

Example: Be there

We are waiting for righteousness and justice, God to send His son to bring eternal peace, we’re waiting for Messiah to come and heal our loved ones, heal our ailments, to heal the division in our country. We are waiting for the one our ancestors prayed for back in the wilderness when they saw the glory of God burning on the mountain and they replied, “HIDE US FROM YOUR FACE OR WE WILL BE DESTROYED”. We are looking for the sun to come down from heaven and proclaim salvation through the forgiveness of sins.

We head down to the river to pray. There’s a man there covered with clothes made of camel’s hair and he’s telling us, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!” Then a man steps out of the crowd. And the prophet drops to his knees. The man seeks to be baptized and the prophet says, “Why should I baptize you? You should be baptizing me!” But Jesus replies, Matthew 3:15 “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.” Mark 1:10–11“Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.””

Messiah is here

Jesus preaches peace, righteousness, justice, and love. He treads on the water, casts out demons, and heals the lame, sick, and the blind. He was born in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, but comes from Nazareth just as the scriptures declared. Not only that but he preaches not as the scribes and Pharisees but as one with all authority. He forgives sins.

He’s here

Application

The building and the priesthood used to be the way to God, now it’s Jesus.

Wisdom, the abundance of the land, and many days used to be life, now it’s Jesus.

The scripture and the prophets used to be the truth but now He has spoken the truth through His son.

What’s the vision

The vision is for us to believe, and LIVE like we believe, that Jesus gives us everything the Old Testament revealed we needed. (Say it again)

In His life, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies regarding the Messiah so that we would believe Him when He said, Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”