CHAPTER 7
THE L--RD'S ANOINTED
Isaiah 43:3
For I am the L--rd, your G--d, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba instead of you.
Isaiah 45:15
Truly, You are a G--d Who hides Yourself, O G--d of Israel, the Savior.
Isaiah 60:16
You shall suck the milk of the nations, and you shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the L--rd, am your Savior, and the Mighty One of Jacob is your Redeemer.
Jeremiah 14:8
O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble....
These verses state unequivocally that although G--d employs emissaries to come to our physical and spiritual aid, He Himself is the Ultimate Savior and Redeemer of the Jewish people:
Isaiah 45:17
But Israel is saved by the L--rd with everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or confounded for all eternity.
However, one should not confuse the following Hebrew terms:
Goel — Redeemer
Moshia — Savior
Moshiach — Messiah
We are concerned only with the title “Messiah,” which Jews and Christians agree will be applied to the Promised One. In the Hebrew Bible, “moshiach” always means “anointed”:
Psalms 18:51
He gives His king great salvation and shows mercy to His anointed, to David, and to his seed, forevermore.
Isaiah 45:1
Thus says the L--rd to His anointed, to Cyrus….
“Messiah” and “anointed” are synonymous because the Messiah will be an anointed king. In fact, in the Biblical period anointing was used to consecrate all sacred officials:
High priests:
Leviticus 21:10
And the priest that is highest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who has been consecrated to put on the garments….
Prophets:
I Kings 19:15--16
And the L--rd said to [Elijah], “….Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel--meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.”
Kings:
II Kings 9:6
And [the prophet] arose and went into the house; and he poured the oil on [Jehu's] head and said to him: “Thus says the L--rd, the G--d of Israel: I have anointed you king over the people of the L--rd, over Israel.”
Missionaries use the verses with which we began this chapter to “prove” that the Messiah is G--d Himself in the person of Jesus. When reading the following passages, it is important to remember that he was never anointed, as he himself admitted:
Luke 7:46
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Psalms 2:1--2
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples muttering in vain? The kings of the earth have stood up and rulers have taken counsel together against the L--rd, and against His anointed.
This passage appears in Acts 4:25--26 in reference to Jesus. Yet King David, the writer of this Psalm, was this anointed king:
Psalms 89:21--22
I have found David, My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him. So that My hand shall ever abide with him, My arm also shall strengthen him.
The Hebrew Bible records that kings and rulers constantly took counsel against King David:
II Samuel 5:17
When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; but David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
II Samuel 8:3
David also defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates.
This continuation of the Psalm under discussion further illustrates that David was speaking on his own behalf:
1.
Psalms 2:7
I will tell of the decree of the L--rd; He said to me: “You are My son; today I have begotten you.”
By changing “son” to “Son,” the New Testament quotes this verse as if G--d were speaking to Jesus (Acts 13:33)! Yet David is the “son” here:
Psalms 89:20, 27--28
Then You spoke in a vision to Your pious ones….“[David] shall call to Me: You are my Father, my G--d, and the Rock of my salvation. I also will appoint him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
2.
Psalms 2:8
Ask of Me and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.
After many wars, this promise to David was indeed fulfilled:
II Samuel 7:1
Now when the king [David] dwelt in his house, and the L--rd had given him rest from all his enemies round about….
I Chronicles 14:17
And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the L--rd brought the fear of him upon all nations.
Psalms 28:1--4
A Psalm of David: To You, O L--rd, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me; lest You be silent to me and I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications as I cry to You for help, as I lift up my hands toward Your holy Sanctuary. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with evildoers who speak peace with their neighbors while mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the evil of their endeavors, give them after the work of their hands; render to them what they deserve.
As David's own words reveal immediately before this last verse, he is speaking on his own behalf.
The anointed King David concludes:
Psalms 28:6, 8
Blessed be the L--rd, because He has heard the voice of my supplications....The L--rd is a strength to them [Israel], and He is the stronghold of salvation for His anointed.
Missionaries claim that Jesus is here asking for vengeance upon his enemies. However, in the New Testament he asks for forgiveness, not vengeance:
Luke 23:34
And Jesus said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”....
Isaiah 61:1
The spirit of the L--rd, G--d, is upon me, because the L--rd has anointed me to bring good tidings to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty for the captives and the opening of the prison for them that are bound.
Isaiah, an anointed prophet, was speaking about himself. He fulfilled the Divine mission described here, in part, by foretelling the great events of the Messianic Era:
Isaiah 61:4--6
[The Jewish people] shall rebuild the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the ravages of many generations. And strangers shall stand and pasture your sheep, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. And you shall be called “priests of the L--rd”; men shall call you “ministers of our G--d”; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory.
Although these Messianic prophecies remained unfulfilled throughout Jesus' life, the New Testament depicts him reading this verse under discussion in a synagogue in his hometown and concluding:
Luke 4:21
Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Jesus then declared the congregants unworthy of seeing him perform miracles. Angered by his Messianic pretense, his neighbors tried to kill him:
Luke 4:28--30
When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them he went away.
This hostility toward Jesus resurfaces elsewhere:
John 10:31
The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
John 10:39
Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
These verses reveal to us the real Jesus: a man who was despised by those who knew him best! Even his closest disciples deserted him at the first sign of trouble:
Matthew 26:56
…then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
Daniel 9:24--27
Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place. Know, therefore, and discern that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks; then for sixty--two weeks,120 it shall be built again, with broad place and moat, but in troublous times. And after the sixty--two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and be no more; and the people of a prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the Sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood; and until the end of the war, desolations are determined. And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease….
To understand a passage, one must always study it in context. In the beginning of Daniel chapter 9, we find:
Daniel 9:2
In the first year of Darius' reign, I, Daniel, considered in the books the number of years about which the word of the L--rd came to Jeremiah the prophet, which must pass before the end of the ruins of Jerusalem, namely seventy years.
Daniel was living in Babylon in the exile after its army destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple. :
II Kings 25:21
...so Judah was carried away out of his land.
The prophecies Daniel was considering were:
Jeremiah 25:12
Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says the L--rd, and I will make it an everlasting wasteland.
Jeremiah 29:10
For thus says the L--rd: “When seventy years are finished for Babylon, I will remember you and fulfill for you My promise and bring you back to this place.”
Jeremiah 30:18
Thus says the L--rd: “Behold, I will restore the captivity of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings; and the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and the palace shall stand on its proper place.”
In Daniel 9:3--20 Daniel prays for the Jewish people, praising G--d and imploring Him to end the exile and rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem. He concludes:
Daniel 9:21--23
While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel [an angel], whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, and talked with me, and said: “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications, a word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore, consider the word, understand the vision.”
The angel Gabriel then explained the major events that would occur during the first 490 years after the destruction of the First Temple:
Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city….
A “week” is a seven--year period:
Leviticus 25:8
And you shall number seven weeks of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven weeks of years, even forty--nine years.
Therefore, “seventy weeks” equals 490 years.
Daniel 9:24
…to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness….
During this 490--year grace period, the Jewish people could have proven its loyalty to G--d and His Torah by repenting. Had the Jews done so, the Messiah would have ushered in the Messianic Era and these blissful promises would have been fulfilled.121 Unfortunately, this opportunity was squandered. Consequently, 490 years later, the then--rebuilt Temple was destroyed and they were again exiled from the Holy Land.
Daniel 9:24
…and to seal vision and prophet….
During this 490--year period, vision and prophecy ceased with Malachi.
Daniel 9:24
…and to anoint the most holy place.
This was the building of the Second Temple.122
Daniel 9:25
Know, therefore, and discern that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks….
Seven weeks of years after the destruction of the First Temple, this anointed prince was revealed:
Isaiah 45:1
Thus says the L--rd to His anointed, to Cyrus….
When Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon, where the Jews were exiled after the destruction of the First Temple, G--d chose him to proclaim their liberty:
Isaiah 45:13
I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness, and I will straighten all his ways; he shall build My city and set My exiles free, neither for price nor for reward, says the L--rd of hosts.
This prophecy was fulfilled:
Ezra 1:1, 3
Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order that the word of the L--rd by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the L--rd stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, and he made a proclamation….“Whoever there is among you of all His people, his G--d be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of the L--rd, the G--d of Israel; He is the G--d Who is in Jerusalem.”
Daniel 9:25
…then for sixty--two weeks, it shall be built again, with broad place and moat, but in troublous times.
Jerusalem endured this entire period, despite the troubles caused by the surrounding enemy nations.
Daniel 9:26
And after the sixty--two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and be no more….
This second “anointed one” was King Agrippa II of Judah.123 At the destruction of Jerusalem and the slaughter and exile of its inhabitants in 68 C.E. , his rule came to an abrupt end:
Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was 97,000; as was the number of those that died during the whole siege, 1,100,000,...124
Daniel 9:26
…and the people of a prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the Sanctuary….
Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed by the Roman army, which was under the command of this third prince, Vespasian, the king of Rome.125
Daniel 9:26
…and its end shall be with a flood; and until the end of the war, desolations are determined.
Jerusalem's end was like a flood.126 Compare:
Nahum 1:8
But with an overrunning flood, He will make a full end of its place.…
Daniel 9:27
And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease.…
Vespasian made a peace agreement with the Jewish leaders in the seventieth “week,” which concluded the total period decreed (9:24). However, the Romans violated this covenant after the first half week (three--and--a--half years)127 and prohibited sacrifices.128
According to the Hebrew Bible, these weeks of years begin with the destruction of the First Temple. Therefore, since Jesus died about 27 C.E.129 —forty--one years (six weeks of years) before the destruction of the Second Temple—he could not have been any one of these three individuals.
CALCULATION OF DATES
After Creation 130
The “70 years” prophecy
from the destruction of the First Temple to the
rebuilding of the Second Temple.
(Jeremiah 25:12, 29:10; Daniel 9:2)
70 weeks (490 years)132
from the destruction of the First Temple to the
destruction of the Second Temple.
(Daniel 9:24--27)
Of these 70 weeks:
7 weeks (52 years)134
from the destruction of the First Temple to the Edict
of Cyrus, the first Prince.
(Daniel 9:25)
3338 to 3390
plus
62 weeks (438 years) 135
From the Edict of Cyrus to King Agrippa II—The
second anointed.
(Daniel 9:25--26)
3390 to 3828
The 70th week136
involved the third prince, Vespasian, and the destruction
of the Second Temple.
(Daniel 9:26--27)
3821 to 3828
Deuteronomy 18:15
The L--rd, your G--d, will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, of your brethren; to him you shall hearken….
The New Testament claims that Jesus was this prophet, fraudulently adding:
Acts 3:23
And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.
Yet the verse under discussion refers not to any specific individual, but to future prophets in general. In ancient Israel, a great many men and women strove to be worthy of Divine Inspiration, attending special schools run by acknowledged prophets. The Hebrew Bible calls these students “prophets” and “sons of the prophets”:137
I Samuel 10:10
And when they came to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met [Saul]; and the spirit of G--d came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.
II Kings 2:7
And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood at some distance from [Elijah and Elisha] as they both stood by the Jordan.
Amos 2:11
“And I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites—is it not indeed so, O children of Israel?” says the L--rd.
Naturally, the competition and yearning for Divine communication were so intense that one was liable to wishfully believe oneself a prophet, or to deceitfully pass himself off as such. Consequently, the passage under discussion explains how to recognize a false prophet:
Deuteronomy 18:20
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
Deuteronomy 18:22
When a prophet speaks in the Name of the L--rd, if the word does not come to pass, or come true, it is a word that the L--rd has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.
Jesus was such a false prophet:
Matthew 16:28
Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
That generation died nineteen centuries ago!
Matthew 12:38--40
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him: “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jesus was “in the heart of the earth” for no more than thirty--six hours. He died Friday afternoon and was “resurrected” Sunday before dawn. When the women reached his tomb, he was already gone:
Luke 23:54--24:3
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with [Jesus] from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.
In fact, in the original Greek, Matthew 28:1 speaks not of “the first day of the week, at early dawn” but of “late on the Sabbath as it was getting dusk, toward the first day of the week….”138 This would mean that Jesus remained in the cave only from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening at nightfall—a total of about twenty--six hours!
Psalms 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to the lower world, or allow Your godly one to see destruction.
In this Psalm, King David joyously proclaims his trust in G--d:
Psalms 16:9
Therefore my heart rejoices and my soul is elated; my flesh also will rest assured.
Psalms 16:11
You will reveal to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, and delight at Your right hand forevermore.
Although David is speaking on his own behalf, the New Testament claims that the verse under discussion is prophesying the “resurrection” of Jesus from hell (Acts 13:35)!
Genesis 2:16--17
And the L--rd, G--d, commanded the man, saying: “Of every tree in the garden, you may freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat of it, for the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.”139
Despite this warning, Adam did of course eat from the Tree, but he did not die that day. Rather, he became subject to death, i.e., he became mortal.
In the original Hebrew, “you shall surely die” is expressed by combining the future tense (“shall”) with an imperative (“surely”). Such emphatic double verbs are common in the Hebrew Bible. For instance:
Genesis 26:11
So Abimelech warned all the people, saying: “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Deuteronomy 15:8
But you shall surely open your hand to him, and you shall surely lend him enough for his need, whatever it may be.
I Kings 2:37
For on the day you go forth and cross the brook of Kidron, you shall surely know that you shall surely die....
Nonetheless, missionaries seize on the double verb here as something unique, interpreting it to mean that Adam and all mankind went straight to hell upon death, and remained there until Jesus saved them from their torment!
I Peter 3:18--19
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to G--d, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison....
But the New Testament itself refutes this doctrine, depicting Abraham and Lazarus in heaven before Jesus died, decended to hell, and was “resurrected”:
Luke 16:22--23, 25--26
The poor man [Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom...but now [Lazarus] is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.
According to the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples that he would be resurrected:
Matthew 17:22--23
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them: “The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
However, strange as it is, the New Testament itself, gives evidence that the apostles were not expecting him to be resurrected, and that the man who appeared to them was not Jesus.
Matthew 28:16--17
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted.
Mark 16:12--13
After this [Jesus] appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but neither did they believe them.
Elsewhere we are enlightened as to what “another form” means:
Luke 24:16
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
John 20:20
When [Jesus] had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
And who did they think he was before he showed them some bruises?
John 21:12
...Now none of the disciples dared ask him: “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
If “They knew it was the Lord,” then why should the question “Who are you?” come to mind?