Although orthodox and rabbinical Judaism as well as fundamental Christian believers accept the Old Testament as the sacred and inspired word of God, yet both religions interpret the prophetic utterances radically different. This conclusion is never more apparent when it pertains to those holy writings which depict the coming of the ‘Messiah’ or “Savior,” and the blessed hope which all of the followers of these ‘Faiths’ anticipate. For the Jews, it is the restoration of the Temple with its sacrifices, reestablishment of the Davidic Monarchy over a united Israel (Judah and the Lost Tribes of Israel); Israel living as an independent and separate nation within their own borders and on the land promised to them through the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and to be delivered from the yoke or control of foreign nations (Gentiles or “goyiim”) by a Mighty One or Savior, a descendant of the royal house of David, and Who is to be King and the Ruler over all Israel.
The Christian, however, looks forward to the return of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, the Son of God, Who will judge the good and evil deeds done in the earth, destroy the devil and the wicked angels, abolish Death & Hell, and take those faithful and martyred saints who have been faithful in keeping His commandments to go live with Him eternally in heaven. Jesus will resurrect those bodies that have been buried and turned to dust to receive their reward, and those who are appointed for salvation and in the kingdom of God will receive immortality and have their bodies transformed to be like that of our Savior just as the ones who are alive and will be changed from physical substance to spiritual substance in an instant.
One of the more intriguing and surprising things is the very few references in the New Testament outside of the Gospels, in which the Old Testament Scriptures as proof, specifically stating that Jesus is the highly exalted Son of God, His only-begotten who sits at His right hand [of power]. In searching the N.T. books from ACTS to REVELATIONS, only ACTS is the more comprehensive of any known canonical material sources in the ‘Church Age’ that mention Jesus Christ as revealed in the O.T. Prophets writings.
ACTS
2: 33a
Men and brethren let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He will raise up the Christ to sit on His throne (Cp. Psalms 132: 11); he foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, neither did His flesh see corruption (Cp. Psalms 16: 10). This Jesus, God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God.
34-36
For David did not ascend into heaven, but he says himself, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool
(Cp. Psalms 110: 1).“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
3: 18, 26
But those things which God foretold by the mouth of the prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled. To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities (Cp. Isaiah 53: 5, 11).
8: 26-34
NOTE: The Holy Spirit led Philip toward the south along a desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza, where he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a treasurer under Queen Candace, who was a worshiper of God and was returning from Jerusalem. The eunuch was reading from the O.T. book of Isaiah while riding in his chariot where the Holy Spirit told Philip to join himself to this man’s chariot.
35
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at the same Scripture (Isaiah 53: 7b-8), preached Jesus to him.
NOTE: This is the ‘ONLY’ place in the entire New Testament where such an explicit example of using a passage from O.T. Scripture where someone explains that Jesus is whom the prophet is directly referring to, and on top of that, the person is baptized.
9: 20; 17: 2-3; 18: 5b, 19; 19: 1b, 8
Immediately he [Saul or ‘Paul’] preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures [Jewish O.T.], explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. And he came to Ephesus, and left them [Aquila & Priscilla] there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.
NOTE: It would have been helpful to know what O.T. Scriptures Paul used or did he expound on this great ‘Truth’ by logic and rhetorical skills of persuasive argumentation based upon teachings from the oral ‘Torah,’ which was considered just as authoritative as the written Law given to Moses, since he studied at the feet of the famous Jewish rabbi, Gamaliel (Cp. Acts 5: 34; 22: 3).
ROMANS
15: 12
And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.
NOTE: Isaiah actually says (11: 1, 10):
“A shoot will come forth from the stem of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”
HEBREWS
1: 1-3
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through who also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Cp. Acts 2: 35; Psalms 110: 1).
5-6
To which of the angels (??) did He ever say: You are My Son, today I have begotten You (Psalms 2: 7)? And again: [I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son].
NOTE: The bracketed quotation is not found anywhere in the Old Testament; as far as I have been able to determine.
8-9
But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness [‘iniquity’]; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than your companions (??). {Psalms 45: 6-7}
10-12
You Lord, in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands (Cp. Psalms 102: 25). They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.
13
But to which of the angels (??) has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool?” (Cp. Acts 2: 35 & Psalms 110: 1)
II PETER
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.
(Cp. Psalms 118: 22)
A few things worth noting is that for the Jews it seems, perhaps, as though there is no concept of an afterlife and any type of bodily resurrection might seem rather odd because the O.T. Scriptures do not appear to pinpoint to such an event. In fact, death was something viewed as quite morbid and even the words used to describe it; ‘Sheol’ (the grave, pit, darkness) carried with it a sense of fear, dread, foreboding, terror, and despair.
Even King Solomon, one of the wisest men to have ever lived, reflected the contemporary philosophical perspective of ‘Life’ in this way: For what happens to the sons of men also happens to the animals; one thing befalls them [all]; as one dies, so does the other. Surely they have one breath; man has no advantage over animals. For all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all return to the dust. Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of men goes upward and whether the spirit of the animals goes downward to the earth?
To the believing Christian however, this perspective is rejected as absurd, ‘fatalistic,’ depressing, and it is totally contrary to the hope we have in Jesus; to wit, the resurrection of the body and bestowal of the gift of immortality, and to live in God’s presence forevermore. Not only that, but Christians believe that in death, one goes to a better place awaiting the Great Day of Judgment and in the meanwhile are in some non-physical existence where we are aware of the activities in the land of the living.
Lastly, one final point; the citations from the Old Testament that are used by the Gospel authors and sources, some of which are different in this study, such as (Psalms132: 11: 16: 10; 110: 1; Psalms 2: 7b; Isaiah 11: 1, 10; 45: 6-7; Psalms 102: 25-27). The most frequent references appear to be found anywhere are possibly those in Isaiah 50 & 53 and Psalms 22 & 118.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
February 25, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
