Messianic Prophecy and the Gospel
in the Old Testament (Tanakh)

Yeshua fulfilled every prophecy concerning the Messiah given to us in the Old Testament Scriptures. Prophecy, defined as speaking forth the message of the Almighty, can also contain a predictive aspect, whereby God communicates something yet to occur. In His desire that we might know the Messiah, He painted a detailed prophetic portrait of this yet-coming Servant so that we could recognize Messiah when He came. The Old Testament described who he will be, where He will be born, what He will do, and how He will die. Following are some of the predictions to consider:

Messiah was to come from the Jewish nation: “The Lord had said to Abram…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1,13)

This promise, given to Abram (whose name was later changed to Abraham), is reiterated to his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. Scholars, both Jewish and Christian, agree that this was a specifically Messianic promise. Although it is true that the Jewish people as a whole have been a blessing to the world in terms of their many contributions to civilization, this promise finds its truer and greater fulfillment in the person of Messiah. The apostle Paul, writing over a thousand years later, confirms that God had fulfilled this promise, sending Messiah through the Jewish people.

…the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Messiah… (Romans 9:4,5)

Messiah was to come through the tribe of Judah: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his.” (Genesis 49:10)

Two rabbinic sources — Rashi and the Targum of Onkelos — agree that this verse refers to Messiah. It is not a point of contention that Messiah was to come from the tribe of Judah.

Messiah was to come from the house of David: “The Lord declares to you [David]that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever… Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:11-13,16)

King David, a descendant of the line of Judah, is being reassured by God that his kingdom would be established forever. This could mean nothing else but that the Messiah’s throne was to be a throne descended from the house of David. Isaiah the prophet, speaking almost 300 years later, confirms this in a well-known Messianic prophecy:

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 increase 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. (Isaiah 9:6,7)

Messiah was to have an unusual birth: ”Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem: ”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.” (Micah 5:2)

Messiah was to be rejected by His own people: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3)

We might expect that when Messiah did come, His people would receive Him with open arms, but this was not the case. These words were written about 700 years before the coming of Yeshua.

Messiah’s first coming had a sacrificial purpose: “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken…Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:7,8,10)

The Scriptures speak of two distinct comings of Messiah, but here we are dealing with the purpose for His first appearance.

Messiah was to die a specific kind of death: “A band of evil men have encircled me; they have pierced my hands and my feet…”They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” (Psalm 22:16,18)

Messiah was not to remain in the grave but would be resurrected: ”You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16:10)

This prophecy could not apply to David, but refers rather to the Messiah, a descendant of David.

Messiah was scheduled to appear at a certain time in history: ”Seventy “sevens” are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven “sevens,” and sixty-two ”sevens,” It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two “sevens, “the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.” (Daniel 9:24-26)

Scholars who have studied this prophecy of Daniel have concluded that the “sevens” spoken of in this passage represent periods of seven years. After making the calculation, we have a period of 490 years between the decree to return to Jerusalem after captivity to the time of Messiah.

To sum up this first and perhaps most important reason to conclude that Yeshua truly is the Messiah, let us reiterate: Yeshua was born, from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, and the house of David. Born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, suffering without defending Himself. He was crucified, His hands and feet pierced by the nails that held him on the cross. On the third day, He rose from the dead, as was testified to by as many as 500 people, who saw Him at one time. The timing of His arrival was also right on target.

Certainly, there have been others who were proclaimed to be the Messiah: Bar Kochba in the second century, Shabbathai Zvi in the seventeenth century, and others who were less renowned. These were pretenders, not the true heirs to David’s throne, not the authentic seed of Abraham. Only one throughout history fulfilled the prophecies concerning Messiah’s first coming — only Yeshua, the Messiah.