Jesus Christ is the Messiah as Fortold in the Tenakh (Old Testament)

“The first to present his case seems right, until another comes along and challenges him. ” – Proverbs 18:17 My Case I. What/Who is a “Messiah”? The word messiah is the English pronunciation of the Hebrew word “mashiach – מָשִׁיחַ. ” The word “mashiach” is a form of the word “limshobach” which means “to pour. ” A mashiach is therefore something which would have been anointed with oil in order to serve a special purpose. Throughout the entire T’nach, the word מָשִׁיחַ appears multiple times referring to several people. In Isaiah 45:1, King Cyrus is called “His [God’s] Mashiach. ” So said Adonai to His messiah (לִמְשִׁיחוֹ֘), concerning Koresh (Cyrus) — whom I siezed by his right hand to flatten nations before him, and I will loosen kings’ loins — to open portals before him and gates will not be closed. .. . Even more interestingly is that the phrase ha-mashiach (the messiah) only appears one time and that is in Leviticus 4:3 “If the anointed (ha-mashiach) priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. " So where do we get the concept of “the messiah”? There are many prophecies in the Netuvim that speak about the end of days (i. e. , messianic era) – a time of peace and a time when the world will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem. In this period, the temple will be rebuilt, the Jews will return from exile, and the Davidic kingdom will be restored – among many other things. The king who will rule will be a descendant of Solomon and David (as were required of all kings) is referred to as “the messiah” though is actually never called “the messiah” in the first place. II. Jesus was not qualified to be Mashiach The T’nach states Jesus must be a descendant of David and Solomon (2 Samuel 7:12-16), but Jesus was born of a virgin – i. e. , without an earthly father. And because genealogy goes from father to son (Numbers 1:18) Jesus could not have had any legal claim to the throne (or any tribal affiliation for that matter). Response to Pro Pro made several attempts at showing that Jesus was the messiah; however, upon closer inspection of these “messianic prophecies” reveal just how weak these arguments are. There are four predominate ways in which Christian missionaries twist the T’nach[1]: 1. Projection – Christians often read the T’nach with the presupposition that Jesus is the messiah and therefore the verse in question has to be speaking only of Jesus Christ. This is just like the story told by Dunbo Maggid, the marksman shoots the arrow first and then draws the bull’s-eye around the arrow. 2. Quoting out of Context 3. Mistranslation 4. Fabricated References Psalm 110 My opponent brings up Psalm 110 which is quoted in Matthew 22:41-44: What do you think about the Christ[2]? Whose son is he? [3] 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 called him Lord, how is he his son? ” No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. According to Tovia Singer from Outreach Judaism[4]: Although the two English words in the KJV translation were deliberately made to appear virtually identical, in the original Hebrew text they are entirely different. Whereas the first word “Lord” in the Hebrew is a correct translation of יהוה, which is the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the ineffable name of God, the second word “Lord” is a complete and deliberate mistranslation of the text. The second word “Lord” in the verse is an appalling translation of the Hebrew word לַאדֹנִי; (pronounced ladonee). The correct and only translation of ladonee is “to my master” or “to my lord. ” The Hebrew word adonee never refers to God anywhere in the Bible. It is used only to address a person, never God. That is to say, God, the Creator of the universe, is never called adonee in the Bible. There are many words reserved for God in the Bible; adonee, however, is not one of them. So now we must explore what Psalm 110 actually means. I turn once again to Tovia Singer[5]: The Psalm begins with the opening Hebrew words מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד (Mizmor l’David). ” – A Song of David. Why would King David be writing these songs? For whom was he writing them? Who did King David intend to sing these songs? With these questions in mind, we can begin to understand the meaning of Psalm 110. One of King David’s greatest disappointments was God’s refusal to allow him to build the first Temple in Jerusalem. Although David’s son Solomon undertook that task, and eventually constructed the first Temple, David’s umbilical connection to Solomon’s Temple was significant. For example, David founded the city of Jerusalem, the city where the Temple was built. In fact, both the city and the Temple were named after him, the City and Temple of David. Moreover, he made preparations for the building of the Temple, and even arranged for the Temple service (II Samuel 7; I Chronicles 14-17, 22-26). This is where the Book of Psalms played its central role. King David was a faithful servant of God who possessed extraordinary skills as a teacher, musician, and poet. In fact, King David authored most of the Book of Psalms. The central purpose of the composition of this sacred work for the Levites to sing them in the Temple. The Levites would stand on a platform and joyfully chant these spiritually exhilarating Psalms to an inspired audience. Accordingly, the Levites would sing allowed, The Lord [God] said to my master [King David] “Sit thou at my right hand…” (Psalm 110:1) For the Church, however, the Psalmist’s original intent was set aside because it was zealously committed to Christianizing this verse. Thus, the opening verse in Psalm 110 was altered in order to paint Jesus into the Jewish Scriptures. Had the writer of the Gospel of Matthew never invented the scene in Matthew chapter 22, no Christian would ever assume that Psalm 110 speaks about Jesus or any future Messiah. Isaiah 7 Here we see that the passage is both mistranslated and out-of-context. Isaiah 7:14 reads in Hebrew: “Hinneh ha-al’mah harah v’yoldet ben v’kara’t shemo Immanuel” – “Behold the young woman is with child, and she shall bear a son and will call his name “Immanuel. ” It mentions nothing about the Messiah and NOTHING about a virgin birth 500+ years later. My opponent has use several other texts, but as I am out of space (and time) I will leave it at this. I request that my opponent take two or three verses and debate just those verses. Over to pro. [1] Penina, T. “Scripture Twisting: A Course in Jewish-Christian Polemics. ” Page 53. Print. [2] As previously mentioned, the word “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of Mashiach, or Messiah. [3] In layman’s terms, of whom is the “Christ” (or the Messiah) supposed to be a descendant of [4] . http://outreachjudaism.org... [5] Ibid