All quotations are taken from the King James Version (KJV), which is in the public domain. The name YaHoWaH (YHWH) has been restored in place of LORD throughout this teaching.
Building on What We Already Know
In Teaching 1 of this series we asked: Is Jesus God? We took that question to the Tanakh and the answer was clear. YaHoWaH said He is not a man. He does not change. There is no God beside Him. And Jesus, in the New Testament Writings his own followers recorded, called YaHoWaH his God and said the Father was greater than him.
Now we ask a second question. The Christian church teaches that Jesus is not only God but also the promised Messiah. We have already shown that he is not God. Now we ask: is he the Messiah? The Tanakh gives us a very specific list of what the Messiah must do. Either those things happened or they did not.
Key Terms
| Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Mashiach / Messiah | The Hebrew word meaning anointed one. It refers to a specific future human figure described in the Tanakh. It is not a divine title. |
| Son of David | A title used in the Tanakh for the Messiah, meaning a direct descendant of King David who would rule Israel. |
| Two-Coming Doctrine | The Christian teaching that Jesus will come a second time to fulfill the prophecies he did not fulfill the first time. This doctrine does not appear in the Tanakh. |
| Olam | Hebrew word meaning a long age or perpetual duration. Used in the Tanakh to describe commandments and appointed times that do not expire. |
What Does Mashiach Actually Mean?
The Hebrew word is Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ), meaning anointed one. It comes from the root mashach, meaning to anoint with oil. In the Tanakh, the word Mashiach is used for kings, priests, and prophets. It was not a divine title. It was a description of someone set apart by YaHoWaH for a specific human purpose.
When the Tanakh speaks of THE Mashiach, the promised one, it is speaking of a specific human being. A man. A king from the line of David. Someone who will do specific things in the physical world during his lifetime. This is critical: YaHoWaH cannot be the Messiah because the Messiah by definition is a human being, and YaHoWaH already told us He is not a man.
The Tanakh's Checklist for the Messiah
YaHoWaH did not leave us guessing about what the Messiah would do. Through His prophets He gave a specific and detailed description. These are not vague spiritual promises. They are concrete historical events that must take place.
Did Jesus Fulfill the Requirements?
Here is the complete checklist. Each requirement is marked based on historical fact.
| Requirement from the Tanakh | Scripture Reference | Did Jesus Fulfill It? |
|---|---|---|
| Born from the line of David | 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Jeremiah 23:5 | Partial |
| Build the Third Temple | Ezekiel 37:26-28, Zechariah 6:12-13 | No — Temple destroyed in 70 AD |
| Gather all exiles to Israel | Isaiah 11:12, Deuteronomy 30:3 | No — Jewish people remained scattered for 1,900 more years |
| Usher in world peace | Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6-9 | No — wars continued without pause |
| All nations acknowledge YaHoWaH | Zechariah 14:9, Isaiah 45:23 | No — the world has not universally acknowledged YaHoWaH |
| Rule as King of Israel from Jerusalem | Ezekiel 34:23-24, Jeremiah 33:15-17 | No — Jesus never ruled as a king |
| Be a human king from among the people | Deuteronomy 17:14-15 | Partial — claimed to be human but also claimed to be divine |
These are not matters of interpretation. They are matters of historical record. The world in the first century AD looked nothing like the world the Tanakh describes when the Messiah arrives.
The Two-Coming Doctrine — Where Did It Come From?
When Christians are presented with this list of unfulfilled requirements, the standard response is: Jesus will fulfill those prophecies when he comes back. His first coming was to die for sin. His second coming will be to reign as king.
The Two-Coming Doctrine is not found anywhere in the Tanakh. Not in the Torah. Not in the Prophets. Not in the Writings. There is no passage in the Hebrew Scriptures that describes a Messiah who comes twice, fails to complete his mission the first time, dies, and returns centuries later to finish what he started.
After Jesus's death, his followers faced a problem. The prophecies had not been fulfilled. Early Christian writers, particularly Justin Martyr writing around 150 AD and Tertullian writing around 200 AD, developed the framework of two comings to explain the unfulfilled prophecies. These men were not prophets of YaHoWaH. They were Greek-educated Christian philosophers writing more than a century after Jesus lived.
The Logical Conclusion
Step 1: YaHoWaH is not a man and cannot become one. He cannot be the Messiah. The role of Messiah requires humanity. YaHoWaH declared He is not human.
Step 2: The Messiah must be a specific human being. Anyone claiming to be both God and the Messiah is claiming something the Tanakh does not describe.
Step 3: Jesus did not fulfill the requirements. The Temple was not built. The exiles were not gathered. World peace did not come. These are historical facts.
Step 4: The Messiah is still coming. The promises are still outstanding. The Temple has not been built. The exiles are still being gathered. YaHoWaH does not make promises He does not keep. The Messiah will come. And when he does, there will be no question.
Isaiah 53 — Israel or Jesus?
No passage in the Tanakh is more debated between Christians and Jewish scholars than Isaiah 53. Christians point to it as the clearest prophecy of Jesus's death. Jewish scholars point to it as a description of Israel's suffering among the nations. We are going to read the text and let it speak.
Isaiah 53 is part of a larger section called the Servant Songs. The critical question is: who does Isaiah identify as this servant? YaHoWaH tells us directly in the chapters surrounding Isaiah 53.
YaHoWaH identified His servant as Israel in chapters 41, 44, and 49. Then we arrive at chapters 52 and 53. The servant has not changed. The servant in Isaiah 53 is the same servant He has been describing: the nation of Israel.
The Tanakh describes the Messiah with great specificity. A human king from the line of David. A builder of the Temple. A gatherer of the exiles. A bringer of world peace. A ruler under whose reign every nation will acknowledge YaHoWaH.
YaHoWaH cannot fill that role because He told us He is not a man. Jesus did not fill that role because the requirements were not fulfilled. The Two-Coming Doctrine has no Tanakh basis. Isaiah 53, read honestly and in context, describes the servant Israel.
The Messiah is coming. The promises are still outstanding. Wait for it.
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