4.-Messiah.
We have already seen in another paper (CHRIST) that this name is the Hebrew one answering to Christ, both meaning “anointed.” The word at first was used of anyone anointed with the holy oil. It was applied to the high priest (Leviticus 4:3,5,163If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. (Leviticus 4:3)
5And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation: (Leviticus 4:5)
16And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: (Leviticus 4:16)) and figuratively to Saul’s shield. (2 Samuel 1:2121Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. (2 Samuel 1:21).) But the word especially refers to the Promised Prince who was to restore Israel to more than their pristine prosperity.
Three distinct classes of prophecy point to the coming; the first, previous to the entry of the people into Canaan; the second, when they were there; and the third, when they were in captivity out of it. Examples of the first class are Genesis 3:1515And 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 earliest and most comprehensive) Genesis 12:2, 3; 49:102And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:2‑3)
10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10); Numbers 24:17-1917I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. 18And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. 19Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. (Numbers 24:17‑19); and Deuteronomy 18:1818I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (Deuteronomy 18:18) (probably referred to in John 5:45, 4745Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (John 5:45)
47But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:47).) Instances of the second class abound in the Psalms of David, (Psalms 16:22, &c.) and also occur in 2 Samuel 7:13;2213He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2 Samuel 7:13)
13Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. (2 Samuel 22:13), &c. The third class are found in the prophets, Isaiah 11;40-66 Mic. 5:22But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2); and particularly as fixing the date of His coming, Daniel 9, commonly known as the vision of seventy weeks. The prophecy is worded thus: “From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times,” or margin “strait of time.”
This last expression has been supposed to mean “the narrow time” referring to the seven weeks in contrast with the longer time of sixty-two weeks, the two making up the sixty-nine weeks of Messiah the Prince: so that the prophecy means that the city should be rebuilt in seven weeks (of years) or less than half a century. The prophecy continues “and after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (or margin) “shall have nothing” (John 14:3030Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30)). We have italicized the word “after” to contrast it with “unto” in verse 25; the two words showing that whereas Messiah should come as Prince at the end of 69 weeks or 483 years, He should not be cut off till after that period, Among the many more exact interpretations of this prophecy, the following recent one is perhaps the clearest and most interesting. The sixty-nine weeks clearly begin at Nehemiah 2:1010When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. (Nehemiah 2:10), and by careful calculation most writers have found that they end at a date corresponding about with that of the crucifixion. Various independent calculations extending over many years have led to the same conclusion-that the dates corresponded to within a week of the crucifixion.
This might be thought exact enough, but quite recently attention has been drawn to the fact that the true reading of Luke 19:4242Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. (Luke 19:42), is not “in this thy day,” but “in this day,” and that the day on which Christ definitely presented Himself to His people at Jerusalem as their Prince, in fulfillment of the ancient prophecy, was the very day when the last of the sixty-nine weeks ended. We cannot now touch further on this interesting subject, but if true (as seems scripturally probable) it certainly gives a wonderfully deep meaning to our Lord’s action in riding into the city, and also to His lamentation over it, “If thou hadst known in THIS DAY, even thou, the things which belong unto peace but now they are hid from thine eyes.” (R.V.)
We have seen in the paper on “Christ” how in that name the Lord leaving His earthly people (after their rejection of Him) takes His place at the head of a new and heavenly race. But He has not cast off Israel forever (Romans 11); His affections for His ancient people are unchanged, and when Daniel’s seventieth week shall have run its course as described in the Apocalypse, Messiah shall return to the Mount of Olives, to the place where He wept over the beloved City, to usher in His millennial reign (Daniel 9:2424Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. (Daniel 9:24)).
Then in the glowing words of the fine old German hymn will Jerusalem awake from her sleep of death, and welcome her once rejected and crucified Messiah.
Wake! Awake! the night is flying,
The watchmen on the heights are crying,
Awake Jerusalem at last!
Midnight hears the welcome voices,
And at the thrilling cry rejoices,
Arise ye virgins, night is past.
The Bridegroom comes, awake,
Your lamps with gladness take.
Hallelujah!
And for the marriage feast prepare
For ye must go to meet Him there.
Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom,
For her Lord comes down all glorious,
The strong in grace, in truth, victorious;
Her star is risen, her light is come,
Ah, come! thou Blessed Lord,
Ah! Jesus, Son of God.
Hallelujah!
We follow till the halls we see
Where thou hast bid us sup with Thee.
It is profitable for our hearts to dwell upon the affections of Jehovah (Jesus) to His ancient people, for they skew us what depths of love are in His heart, and from them we get a faint picture of the deeper love wherewith He now loves His chosen Bride, of which you and I, beloved reader, to the praise of His glory, have been called to form a part throughout the ages of eternity.