COPYRIGHT WARNING

365 Prophecies: Prophecy 167

The Messiah shall be a stumbling stone for the religious leaders of Israel.

Old Testament Prediction:

Isaiah 8:14 He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

New Testament Fulfillment:

1 Peter 2:3-8 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

Application:

It is a fact that people stumble over Jesus, more than any other person in history. There can be a discussion about the Dali Lama, Buddha, or Krishna, and people will be able to calmly exchange ideas and opinions without a conflict arising. Let a person speak the name of Jesus Christ, and the assembly will immediately turn silent: Some will walk away, others will become indignant..

Why is the name and the person of Jesus Christ so inflammatory?

John 7:7 (Jesus speaking) The world …hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.

The world feels threatened by the presence and reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, as recorded by history. If Jesus is a real person who came to die for the sins of the world, then His presence on earth spells doom for those who love their sins. Beginning with John the Baptist who called men and women to repent and prepare themselves for the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus said that unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Jesus’ presence here on earth means that we are all declared sinners by God, who must repent and turn to Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the only way to heaven.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Jews stumble over Jesus because He claimed to be The Son of God. They do not believe that the Messiah will be God’s Son, only an ordinary man.[1]

Jesus asked the Pharisees how the Messiah could be the son of David and still be called by David Lord.

Matthew 22:42-46 (Jesus) saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

David described the Messiah as both his son (a future descendant) and Lord (his God). What confounded the Pharisees is that David clearly defined the Messiah as both God and man. The Jews understood this to be true, but they did not understand it, nor accept it.

There are seven Old Testament prophecies that either state or allude to the fact that the Messiah will be the “Son of God.”

See the Chapters in this book: The Messiah will be the son of David and The Messiah will be the Son of God.

The scriptures are clear

How is it that many Jews today misunderstand that the Messiah must be the Son of God? This may be due to the fact that their belief originated from someone who told them that the Messiah would not be the Son of God. Many people believe many things without ever investigating the facts for themselves. When a person is a sincere seeker of truth, he will always be intellectually honest enough to consider the facts from all sides, even if those facts conflict with what he holds to be sacred or traditional.

For three years, Jesus did not allow Himself to be proclaimed as the Messiah, until the precise moment required by the Old Testament prophecies. Psalm 118 speaks of one specific day in the history of the world when God would announce the arrival of His Son.

Psalms 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Many times, if we wake up on a particularly beautiful morning, we might look outside and say: “This is the Day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it…”

That would be perfectly appropriate; but, this was not the reason that David wrote Psalm 118:24. This verse of prophetic scripture was written for one specific day in all of time and eternity. It was written for the day that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem. See Prophecy 149.

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple…”

No other day in history was designated by God as, This is the Day that the Lord has made. Only the specific day when the Messiah would arrive at Jerusalem, would Psalm 118:24 be shouted. The people who were declaring, This is the Day that the Lord has made, knew what they were doing. They believed that Jesus was the One who was fulfilling the Prophecies of the Messiah.

See Prophecy 148 for a detailed study on how the Messiah would be stumbled over by Israel.

See Prophecy 191 for more information about the events of Psalm 118:22-23 that happened during the cutting of the stones for the first Temple.

According to “About judaism.about.com,” Jesus did not meet the requirements of the Messiah. The following is the text from their web site describing the reasons for their rejection of Jesus:[2]

“According to Jewish scripture and belief, the true Messiah (pronounced ‘moshiach’ in Hebrew) must meet the following requirements. He must:”

• Be an observant Jewish man descended from the house of King David.
• Be an ordinary human being (as opposed to the Son of God).
• Bring peace to the world.
• Gather all Jews back into Israel.
• Rebuild the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
• Unite humanity in the worship of the Jewish God and Torah observance.

Because Jesus did not meet these requirements, from the Jewish perspective, He was not the Messiah.

As you go through each of the 365 prophecies from this book, you will discover that Jesus met all of the requirements above and hundreds of additional requirements stated in the Old Testament. The exception would be that the above statement by judaiam.about.com which states that the Messiah will not be the Son of God. This is incorrect, as proven by the following prophecies which declare that the Messiah will be the Son of God and the Son of David.

The Messiah will be the Son of God:

Prophecy 50
2 Samuel 7:14 “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.”

Prophecy 57
1 Chronicles 17:13 “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son…”

Prophecy 63
Psalms 2:7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ ”

Prophecy 128
Psalms 89:26 “He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ ”

Prophecy 156
Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?

Prophecy 171
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God.

Prophecy 195
Isaiah 33:2 O LORD, be gracious to us; We have waited for You.

The Messiah will be the Son of David:

Prophecy 49
The Messiah will be from the seed of David.

Prophecy 51
The Messiah’s kingdom established under David will continue forever.

Prophecy 55
The Messiah will come from the seed of David.

Prophecy 56
The kingdom of the Messiah will be established under David and will continue forever.

Prophecy 130
The kingdom of the Messiah shall be from David’s line and will last forever.

Prophecy 142
The Messiah will be both David’s son and his Lord.

Prophecy 151
The promise to David that his descendant will be the Messiah and sit upon his throne forever.

Prophecy 152
Jerusalem shall be the dwelling place of the Messiah from where He shall reign upon David’s throne, over the whole earth forever.

Prophecy 178
The Messiah will come to earth to establish a kingdom upon the throne of David

Prophecy 180
The Messiah shall come as a “Branch” out of David’s lineage, the “Netzer,” a Nazarene.

Prophecy 272
The Messiah is given the promise of resurrection by God called “The sure mercies of David.”

Prophecy 292
The Messiah will be both David’s Son and God’s Son, a King and the great Jehovah God, who created the universe.

Prophecy 293
The Messiah shall be born a descendant of David. He will be “raised up,” literally “Raised from the dead,” and be Israel’s King in the future.

Prophecy 297
The Messiah shall be a “Branch” out of the line of David.

Prophecy 300
The Messiah will fulfill the office of His father David by being a teaching Shepherd over one flock.

Prophecy 334
The Messiah will be proclaimed as “King” and “The Son of David” at Jerusalem.

It is interesting that the last four of these requirements of the Jews, as described above, will be fulfilled by the antichrist who will come at the beginning of a seven-year peace treaty between Israel and the surrounding nations (See Prophecy 312). At first, the Jews will accept this new leader as their Messiah specifically because he will meet the requirements that the Jews have today, as they understand the Messiah.

Jesus predicted that during the beginning of the seven year Tribulation, the Jews would accept this new world ruler who comes in his own name, while they would not receive Him when He came in the name of His Father.

John 5:43 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. (ESV)

The antichrist will make peace for Israel for seven years, and allow them to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. This will be sufficient to convince the majority of Jews in Israel that this new leader is their Messiah.

At the mid-way point of the seven years of peace, the antichrist will command Israel and the whole world to worship him as “God.” The Jews will flee Jerusalem for the wilderness, very likely, the Rock city of Petra. See Prophecy 159 for details on this subject.

The Jews continue to stumble over Jesus as their Messiah to the present day, which is the subject of this 167th Old Testament Prophecy. See Prophecy 148 for a detailed study on the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

NOTES:
[1] The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia on Jesus of Nazareth.
[2] http://judaism.about.com/od/judaismbasics/a/Jewish-View-Of-Jesus.htm