What is the Messiah? Pt. 2
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Main Question for today...
Is the Messiah what we think it is?
The purpose of this series is to use a biblical approach in studying the characters, themes, and teachings of the Bible in order to bring us to a more mature faith in God.
As we look at the Messiah in the Bible today, consider how your perspectives of the Messiah changes as we learn from the Bible story.
Messiah as Prophet
Read the following passages
Isaiah - Isaiah 61:1
Elisha - 1 Kings 19:16 alongside Jehu
70 Elders who prophesied??? - Numbers 11:16-17; 24-29
Note: “Anointing” is explicitly missing so it's unclear if this is an act of anointing or not.
How does the “Messiah”/ “Anointed” function with the prophets?
Do we see the eschatological, savior-figure in these anointings? Why or why not?
End-Times Savior Figure Messiah
The Messiah figure had a complex development throughout Israel’s history and the history of the Bible formation.
Yes, traces of the end-time messiah figure are based upon pieces we’ve just read, but it was not a widely developed theology until the Exilic Period after most of the Bible was already written.
Exile and Post Exile (6th BCE)
During and Post 586 BCE with the Babylonian Exile
Why would an exile prompt a need for a Savior Figure?
What would the function be of a God sent savior-figure during an exile?
Future Hope: 2nd Isaiah (ch 40-55) Emphasizes a future hope of a restoration from the exile and was written during this time.
Return + Land Read Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 37:24-28
Both these texts were written during the exile and post-exile period. Focuses on a Return to the promised land and a new covenant with God.
Persian Period (538-332 BCE)
After Persia overthrew Babylon, Israel returned to the promised land.
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra, Nehemiah all talk about Post Exile concerns including:
Temple Reconstruction
A New Figurehead that will bring deliverance and justice
Read: Haggai 2:6-9; Zechariah 9:9-10; 12:10; Malachi 3:1-3
Intertestamental Period (4th-1st BCE)
This is the latest period! After much of the Bible was written.
This is the period that Daniel was written where a major Messianic Savior-Figure is present that will usher in the Kingdom of God.
Read: Dan. 7:13-14; Isaiah 53:1-5, 10-11; 42:1-9 (Prime examples!)
How has what we’ve learned today shaped your understanding of the fuller-biblical picture of the Messiah?