(127) – THE MESSIAH – IV

127 – THE  MESSIAH  4

 

The prophesied Messiah would be a domineering king that would restore the kingdom of Israel and submit all nations of the earth by force. The second Psalm reveals that the peoples of this world and his princes are against Jehovah and his anointed. Jehovah, furious, anoints the Messiah as king over Mount Zion. Then Jehovah says, “Thou art My son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware” (Ps. 2:7-9). The prophecies indicate a despotic and bloody Messiah. “‘And Jehovah whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says Jehovah of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like the fullers’ soap” (Mal.3:1-2). The peoples of the nations of the earth would be slaves to Israel: “And foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you” (Is.60:10). “And strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers” (Is.61:5). John the Baptist saw Jesus and testified, saying, “I did not recognize Him, but in order that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. And John bore witness saying, ‘I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and He remained upon Him” (John 1:31-32). “And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9).

Jesus Christ, the anointed of Jehovah, the awaited Messiah, who should sit on the throne of David, was introduced by the hands of John the Baptist (Luke 1:32). Jesus should ask of Jehovah the nations for an inheritance and as a possession, in order to shatter them with a rod of iron, according to Ps.2:8-9.Who was the conveyor of such big offer to Jesus? IT WAS SATAN, who showed him in a vision all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory, saying: “If You worship before me, it shall all be Yours”(Luke 4:3-5). Jesus did not accept it, and the prophecy of Jehovah failed. Satan was the messenger of Jehovah, and affirmed that Jehovah, the rightful owner, had given him all these things (Ps.24:1). When Jesus came before Pilates, three years later, Pilates asked him: “‘are you the King of the Jews?’[…] Jesus answered, ‘MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD’” (John 18:33-36).  With this answer, Jesus made it clear that he was not Jehovah’s Messiah, for Jehovah’s Messiah would be king of Israel and king of this world, with Jehovah’s characteristics, that is, lover of war, domineering, vengeful and destructive, exalting Israel over all the other kingdoms.

Since Jesus preached the kingdom of heaven, and not the kingdom of Israel (Matt.4:17; 10:7) and this message is totally strange to the prophecies of Jehovah, and also because Jesus lived in humbleness(Matt.11:29), as a servant of all (Mark 10:44-45) and in extreme poverty (Matt.8:20; Luke 9:51-53), was rejected and killed as an impostor, Peter affirmed “THEREFORE LET ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT GOD HAS MADE HIM BOTH LORD AND CHRIST” (Acts 2:36). How is this? Jesus is the Anointed of God the Father, but was rejected and crucified as an impostor? What is the explanation? The Jews expected the Messiah in the flesh. The Father did not declare the Christ born in the flesh Messiah. Only after his crucifixion God, the Father, resurrected him, and Jesus was made Messiah. While he was in flesh he was not the Messiah of the Father. “And so because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him an oath TO SEAT ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS upon his throne (Acts 2:30). This was the testimony of Peter. Now the testimony of Paul: “Concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, WHO WAS DECLARED THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD, ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD” (Rom.1:3-4). Jesus was not declared Son of God while he lived on the flesh, only after the resurrection. That is, he was declared Son of God the Father only after he renounced the flesh of the throne of David, after the flesh was crucified; only after he renounced all the promises concerning the Messiah of the flesh.

The religious men, priests, scribes and Pharisees denied that Christ was the Messiah and incited the people to ask for his death on the cross (Matt.26:59; 27:20-22). The priests and the princes, and also the people, rejected Jesus Christ and killed him by the hands of the Roman soldiers (Acts 2:36; 5:30-31).

Jesus said to the apostles: “THE ONE WHO LISTENS TO YOU LISTENS TO ME, AND THE ONE WHO REJECTS YOU REJECTS ME; AND HE WHO REJECTS ME REJECTS THE ONE WHO SENT ME” (Luke 10:16). The priests and the princes, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the mass of blind people rejected Christ and killed him, and where all condemned to hell for this. They were left without Jesus, without the Father, and without the eternal life for defending the Messiah of the flesh, promised by Jehovah. In other words, they retained Jehovah and ended up without Jesus and the Father (Acts 4:11; 13:46).

The apostles testified afterwards that Jesus is the Messiah and that there is none other. Peter said: “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12).

If Jesus is the Messiah and there is none other, and Jesus did not assume the characteristics of the warrior Messiah announced by Jehovah, we can only conclude that Jehovah painted a picture opposite to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, so that he would be rejected and killed. The Father, though, raised him from the dead, and the destructive plan failed.

Every one that is tied to the Old Testament (which was abolished by Jesus Christ in 2 Cor.3:4)preach that Jesus will return and take his place on the throne of Israel to dominate the nations with a rod of iron, but the letter to the Hebrews sheds light on the issue: “JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY, YES, AND FOREVER” (Heb.13:8). Jesus Christ is exactly what he revealed through his works during his walk in this world. “The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the father has sent Me” (John 5:36). “I showed you many good works from the Father” (John 10:32). “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Jesus did not condemn or killed, did not oppress, did not send plagues and pestilences. He just loved and never hated anyone. If Jesus assumes the role of that despotic Messiah when he returns, he will not be the same yesterday, today and forever. In the 2 Letter to the Thessalonians 1:7-8, we read that Jesus will return as a flame of fire, taking vengeance. In the Greek originals, the word is EKDIKHSIS,which translated means punish and not take vengeance. The word vengeance was put there to connect Jesus to Jehovah, the vengeful, and separate him from the Father, who is just love and mercy; Christ, however, will not change (2 Cor.1:3-4; 1 John 4:7-8).

 

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira

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