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Creating a picture of the Messiah from the OT is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle - the pieces must first be found and then put in their respective places; only then can a true likeness be seen. Thankfully the Scriptures contain everything that is needed for the task.
God in His wisdom and foreknowledge, prepared in advance for the coming of Messiah and His work. He foretold that the covenant (Law) that was given through Moses would be surpassed by a new and better one:
31 "Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
34 "and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD;' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."
Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 31:31-34
The major OT Messianic prophecies have already been looked at in Messiah In The Old Testament, and therefore this study will concentrate on their fulfillment.
Because of the prophecies regarding the Messiah's lineage, anyone claiming to be the Messiah will have to prove that he is from the tribe of Judah and from the house of David. Since the only way that was possible was through the geneological records that were kept in the Temple, and since those records were destroyed with the Temple by the Roman Legions under Titus in A.D. 70, then the Messiah would naturally need to have come before then in order to be able to prove His Messiahship. Anyone coming after the destruction of the Temple claiming to be the Messiah, would obviously have to be rejected on the grounds that he could not prove his claim.
There was only one who claimed to be the Messiah and was able to prove His lineage through the Temple records and that was Jesus.
Although it is not so clear from the O.T. prophecies, it is nonetheless prophesied that the Messiah will come twice - the first time as the suffering servant (Yesha`yahu / Isaiah 53:1-12) to 'Galilee of the nations' (Yesha`yahu / Isaiah 9:1-2); the second time as a conquering king to stand on the Mount of Olives (Zekharyah / Zechariah 14:3-4).
He came to the Jewish people with the offer of His Kingship and Kingdom rule (Mt. 15:24; 21:43); this was the Jewish expectation at the time (Ac. 1:6) and, depending upon the stream of Judaism, still is today (discussed further down the page). However, because of His criticism of their traditions and mishandling of the Law, they rejected Him.
God already knew that this would happen, and so, in His foreknowledge and grace, had spoken through the prophets of old foretelling of Messiah's rejection and therefore of His need to come again a second time to the Jewish people (Rom. 11:25-27 [Mt. 32:37-39]).
Messiah's first advent was as the suffering servant (Yesha`yahu / Isaiah 53:1-12) - come to make atonement for the sins of the world (Heb. 9:28; 1 Jn. 2:2). His second coming will be as a conquering king (Zekharyah / Zechariah 14:1-15) - come to rule with a rod of iron (Tehillim / Psalm 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).
The symbols used in the prophecies describing His two comings are of interest; in Zekharyah / Zechariah 9:9 He is described as being the expected King, having salvation, lowly and riding on the foal of a donkey. The use of a donkey symbolizes his servitude, whilst the use of a white horse in Rev. 19:11-16 symbolizes Him as a conquering king.
It is also of interest to note that the comparative verses in Zekharyah / Zechariah 14:1-5 and Rev. 19:11-18, although describing the same event with the same central character, use different terms to describe Him; the passage in Zekharyah / Zechariah uses the tetragrammaton (yod hay vav hay) - the LORD, whilst the passage in Revelation uses several to show that it is Messiah Yeshua that is in view.
The passage in Zekharyah / Zechariah, although using the tetragrammaton, has always been seen as being Messianic (even among Jews today) such, that for many centuries up to the present day, religious Jews are buried on the Mount of Olives, as Jewish tradition holds that when Messiah comes to the Mount of Olives (Zekharyah / Zechariah 14:4) prior to His entry into Jerusalem through the Golden Gate, then those whose graves are on the Mount of Olives will be resurrected first (Islam has a similar understanding except that it would want to stop Messiah's coming to Jerusalem and so there is a Moslem graveyard right in front of the Golden Gate in order to, in their view, stop Him; they say that no Jewish Messiah would cross a Moslem cemetery).
The following is quoted from The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah. Appendix 9. List Of Old Testament Passages Messianically Applied In Ancient Rabbinic Writings. (Book II. ch. 5.) (Available online at: philologos.org [new window]).
Zech. xiv. 2 will be readily understood to have been applied to the wars of Messianic times, and this in many passages of the Midrashim, as, indeed, are verses 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Verse 7. The following interesting remark occurs in Yalkut on Ps. cxxxix. 16, 17 (vol. ii. p. 129 d) on the words 'none of them.' This world is to last 6,000 years; 2,000 years it was waste and desolate, 2,000 years mark the period under the Law, 2,000 years that under the Messiah. And because our sins are increased, they are prolonged. As they are prolonged, and as we make one year in seven a Sabbatic year, so will God in the latter days make one day a Sabbatic year, which day is 1,000 years, to which applies the verse in Zechariah just quoted. See also Pirqe de R. Eliez. c. 28.
Verse 8 is Messianically applied in Ber. R. 48. See our remarks on Gen. xviii 4, 5.
Verse 9 is, of course, applied to Messianic times, as in Yulkut i. p. 76 c, 266a, and vol. ii. p. 33 c, Midr. on Cant. ii. 13, and in other passages.
The Messianic application of Zekharyah / Zechariah 14:1-5 only further proves that the Messiah would be God Himself.
As way of a footnote, it is good to know what Jewish groups opposed to Jews believing in Yeshua say.
The following is an extract taken from jewfaq.org:
The moshiach will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing us back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the land (Jeremiah 33:15).
Jews do not believe that Jesus was the moshiach. Assuming that he existed, and assuming that the Christian scriptures are accurate in describing him (both matters that are debatable), he simply did not fulfill the mission of the moshiach as it is described in the biblical passages cited above. Jesus did not do any of the things that the scriptures said the messiah would do.
Of course the answer to the above is simple - first of all, it is not true to say that "Jesus did not do any of the things that the scriptures said the messiah would do."; as already seen, Jesus has already fulfilled many of the O.T. prophecies regarding the Messiah and will fulfill the rest at His second coming (Lk. 24:44; Rev. 19:11-18; 21:1-27).
Secondly, with regard to the assertion that "Assuming that he existed, and assuming that the Christian scriptures are accurate in describing him (both matters that are debatable),", Josh McDowell, in his book Evidence That Demands A Verdict. Volume 1. Chapter 4. p. 39-52; 70-74 and Chapter 5 'Jesus -a man of history'. Thomas Nelson Publishers., has clearly shown, not only that this is baseless, but that Yeshua was indeed an historical figure and also that the 'Christian Scriptures' are totally reliable.
It should also be noted that the Mediaval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides (RaMBaM - Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon) has refered to Yeshua as an historical figure in his 'Hilchot Melachim' (see Risto Santala: The Messiah In The Old Testament In The Light Of Rabbinical Writings. The Messiah In Scientific Research. Judaism's traditional stance, third paragragh).
Another similar site,jewsforjudaism.org, has a 'FAQ' section under 'Resources' in which common Christian claims concerning Yeshua's fulfillment of Messianic prophecies are supposedly refuted. However they do not address everything, only that, which to those who are ignorant or unsure of such matters, is questionable.
The main thrust of these groups is to stop Jews from believing in Yeshua as their Messiah, because, as they claim, one would then cease to be Jewish - and they want to obviously preserve the Jewish identity.
But for those who have already accepted their Messiah, they are still Jewish - they say "Fulfilled Jews"; after all they believe in the Messiah that was prophesied to and for the Jewish people - Yeshua was Jewish, so were the disciples and so also the first Christians. As a matter of fact, when some Gentiles believed, the Jewish believers in Messiah weren't sure what to do with them (Ac. 11:1-18).
For those that really want to know if Yeshua is the prophesied Messiah or not, the only way to truly find the answer is by sincerely asking God:
You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.
Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 29:13
If you want to know more about salvation, then click here.
For Further Reading
Risto Santala. The Messiah In The Old Testament In The Light Of Rabbinical Writings. Available online here
Messiah In The Old Testament
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