Messianic Prophecy CA314 LESSON 07 of 24 Louis Goldberg, ThD Experience: Professor of Theology and Jewish Studies, Moody Bible Institute With this lesson we enter the laboratory of Scripture, where we shall remain for the balance of the course in messianic prophecy. We have three divisions in our Scripture study. We will consider messianic prophecy in the Torah, or the Pentateuch, and then we will also consider messianic prophecy in the Prophets and in the Writings. In other words, we follow the divisions of the Hebrew Bible in order to consider and to continue with our course. At the end of the course we shall take a lesson or perhaps two to examine Jewish understanding of Messiah and some of the interpretation and exegesis of the passages of Scripture as they see it, although we will consider some of the Jewish exegesis in the Scripture portions. We begin with messianic prophecy in the Pentateuch, and our first passage for consideration is Genesis 3:15, sometimes referred to as the protoevangelium, or the first evangelical message. It comes in the form of a penalty where God speaks to the serpent. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel. It takes something to unpack this passage understandably. Without the balance of Scripture we would not be able to adequately and completely handle this portion. The procedure many times on the part of Bible teachers is to hurry immediately to the fulfillment to show the contest between Satan and Christ. I think to properly handle this passage is first of all to begin with the actual parties concerned that God was speaking to, so that as you lay out this prophecy as we have indicated in the examples, we would show first of all that this is a short-range prophecy. We would see this in the first two lines: And I will put enmity between you and the woman. So immediately we see in the life of the serpent, that is, the snake, and in the life of the woman. And certainly when we 1 of 6
consider the total aspect of the penalty upon Eve and upon Adam and what happened to them, I am sure that any time that Eve would see the snake there would be an enmity in her mind and in her own being because of what had happened, and so this would be true also insofar as the snake in concerned. So there is a shortrange prophecy, and we have the two principal parties here the snake and the woman. Then, for our second step, we would suggest a long-range prophecy, and I m associating this with a messianic content and interest so that we would see a long-range prophecy and a fulfillment as well. I will put enmity between you and the woman here comes this second step And between your seed and her seed. We would understand here that as God speaks to the snake, it refers to the snake s offspring, and when God refers to Eve He is referring to Eve s offspring. And so as this story would be carried by mankind what happened in the garden, the subsequent penalties and so on that subsequent generations of man and the snake, that whenever they would meet each other, they would remember. They are in the situation where they are because of what happened back in the garden. And so in a second step to unpack this prophecy we see a long-range messianic fulfillment where the descendants of the snake and the descendants of the woman would have an enmity toward each other. I think perhaps we see some of this enmity even to this day. There is a disdain on the part of most women when they are confronted with snakes, and we can trace back some of this feeling to Genesis 3:15. In further unpacking this package we cannot go immediately to the fulfillment in Christ and Satan. I think we need an intermediate step in order to demonstrate this. It s difficult perhaps to come by, but nevertheless we must search the Scripture to find this intermediate step before we can get to Christ and Satan. Perhaps the clue given to us by Jesus as He spoke to the religious leaders of His day might help here. In John 8:43 44, as Jesus speaks to the leaders He says, Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. Now here comes the vital piece of information: You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. When Jesus connected the religious leaders to whom He was speaking with the devil and emphasizes the fact that they were of the devil and that the devil was there father, we would perhaps understand here some sort of a symbolic connection. In other words, because they did not follow the teaching of the Word of God, they were walking 2 of 6
contrary to what the Scriptures had to say, and Jesus indicates that they are then of a seed of unrighteous people. Just as Satan through the snake back in the Garden of Eden prevailed upon Eve to countermand the Word of God, so successive generations that countermand the Word of God do the same thing as what was done in the Garden of Eden. So perhaps we see the intermediate step:... behind the snake stands Satan, and by this point the snake and Satan become synonymous in understanding but we ll indicate that just in a few moments. At least what we see now is that by doing unrighteous deeds and by acting contrary to the Word of God, this places people in a class of the unrighteous who do the very things that Satan did through the snake. Insofar as linking the snake and Satan, we have the right to do this when we look at Revelation 12:9. Here John the apostle says, And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. John interchanges the terms, serpent or snake or devil and Satan, so that when we talk about the seed of the snake in the sense as Jesus used it, interchangeably we can speak of then the seed of the unrighteous who have Satan as their father. When we look, for example, at what Terry has to say about symbols, he says, the symbol is that species of emblem, and we re reading now from Milton Terry in his Biblical Hermeneutics [reprint ed.; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1999]. He indicates that the symbol is that species of emblem which is converted into a constituted sign among men; thus, the olive and laurel are the symbols of peace and have been recognized as such. He also states further that a symbol has no essential reference to time. It is designed rather to represent some character, office or quality. And we talk about the seed of the snake by showing the interconnection between the snake and Satan. We can then indicate that the descendants or the seed of the snake are in reality here at this point the descendants or those who do the works of Satan and have Satan as their father. By analogy we would say that from the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 that as we have a seed of the serpent, a seed who do unrighteous deeds, so we would say that there is a seed of the righteous, of the woman, who do the will of God. In other words, we find a parallel here between the seed of the unrighteous, which suggests then a group of those who are of the seed of the righteous and in a sense, the seed of the woman. With this third step we can make the jump to our last step, where we consider Satan and Christ. Out of the seed of the righteous, those who do the will of God, we would select one, and He is Christ. Out of the seed of the unrighteous we would select one, 3 of 6
and here we are guided by Genesis 3:15 as to who this one is; he is Satan himself. And we note then in Genesis 3:15 in the last part of the verse, He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. One particular one of the seed of the righteous would bruise Satan on the head, but the one of the seed of the righteous, He would have a bruise on the heel. We note that there is a fulfillment to indicate that Satan had the mortal wound. Several passages from the New Testament would indicate this. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 15: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. We note also from John 16:11 that Satan is to have this terrible wound; that is, this mortal wound. In John 16:11 we read, and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. We note also in John 12:31, John tells us, Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. A further passage to which you might refer to is Hebrews 2:14. So here we have a passage of Scripture given to us as the first gospel message, in a sense, the first evangelical message to Eve. I am sure that she didn t understand the full implications of this passage. She did understand, however, that there somehow is a redeemer involved in this passage, and as we look at it today, we have to unpack it. We find that there are four steps in unpacking this passage; first, to show the prophecy and then to show the fulfillment. We might say, for example, in the last step that this is a long-range prophecy and certainly fulfilled from our point of view today, a long-range messianic prophecy. Let s turn to another passage of Scripture, the teaching concerning Adam, and I would suggest that we have a type teaching here. As we pointed out before and the student is referred to the lesson that dealt with the hermeneutics of types and the way you need to lay out the material, there is a resemblance, two steps of resemblance; the type teaching between Adam and the Messiah. Passages of Scripture would be in one case Genesis 3, which indicates that Adam acted on behalf of the human race, and then, also, as Paul spells it out in Romans 5. Let s note some of the resemblances or the similarities. There is a similarity between Adam and Christ insofar as each is a head or a leader of a group. And the way we lay it out is, and we see this from Romans 5:19, For as through the one man s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. Obviously here s a 4 of 6
similarity: Adam as the head through whom the many were made unrighteous or sinners; and then you have the antitype: so also through the obedience of the one [that is, the Messiah] many shall be made righteous. In other words, there is an action on each part which is going to have a bearing on those who follow in their steps. There is also a second similarity, and we see this in Romans 5:15. We can perhaps entitle this as in the first case, an offense which led to death, and in the second case, a grace which led to life. So as we lay out the types now, we see, and I m reading now from Romans 5:15: For if by the transgression of the one the many died... and the gift by the grace of the one... abound to the many. A little bit different to see, to identify, but I think if you ll reflect upon the situation, we see the similarity in that sense. As a headship, as a representative in each case, we note that this does take place insofar as the similarities are concerned. Now let s note a dissimilarity in this matter of Adam and Christ. For our Scripture passages we would say in one sense there is Genesis 2:7, and for our New Testament passages, 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47, and 49. We might say, for example, there is first of all a dissimilarity in the matter of life. In Genesis 2:7 we are told that the first man, Adam, is regarded as becoming a living being, or some say that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [soul or a living] being. But in the dissimilarity now it is the last Adam; in 1 Corinthians 15:45 we read, So also it is written, The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL. [now comes the dissimilarity] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. In other words, there seems to be a dissimilarity. The destiny of each has a different connotation: Adam as a living soul, whereas Christ becomes a living spirit not only for Himself but also for everyone who is going to follow in His train. We notice also further dissimilarities from the point of view of perspective. Notice 1 Corinthians 15:47, The first man is from the earth. And so we might say as Adam is from the earth, earthy, so the Messiah is the second man, and He is from heaven. Here again we see a distinctive dissimilarity, especially after the fall. Man is earthy, bound to earth, with no hope but the second man. He is from heaven, and with the second man comes life when we believe on Him. There might be seen in this passage also a further dissimilarity insofar as image is concerned. We note this in 1 Corinthians 15:49: Just as we have borne the image of the earthy (and we might say here that because of Adam we bear the image of the earthy), we will also bear the image of the heavenly (and we might say that because of the Messiah we shall bear the image of the heavenly). So here are three aspects of dissimilarity 5 of 6
in the matter of life and in the perspective and insofar as image is concerned. Now let me ask you a question at this point as we move on to perhaps another type. I say perhaps because I want you to think about it, and I m raising the question now. Is the ark of Noah a valid typology concerning Christ? Certainly there is nothing innate here. We find nothing in the New Testament that would declare that Christ can be seen as an antitype of Noah s ark, but can we have a type from an inferred point of view? Is there a strong inference? One pastor has a sermon where he likens the ark to Christ. He says in his points, the ark provided an adequate salvation, so Christ does provide an adequate salvation. The ark provided a free salvation so, no doubt, we receive salvation from Christ without any cost. There is nothing that we can pay in order to earn this free salvation. We note also that the ark provided a God-planned salvation, and certainly Christ s ministry was a plan executed because of a plan that was set up from the beginning. We note also that the ark was the only salvation, and certainly we recognize that through Christ we have salvation and there cannot be salvation in any other name. Does this mean that we can set up a type here? Frankly, I would have to say no. Maybe I ll differ with you. Maybe you might want to say, but certainly, because of what I ve pointed out already we can see strong inferences. However, there is nothing in the New Testament that would relate the ark to Christ. And yet you say, How was the pastor able to develop a message such as this? Here again, we certainly can speak of many incidences, many people, many occurrences in the Old Testament as examples or illustrations. In 1 Corinthians 10:6 Paul there indicates to us that the things which happened before are examples for us. Certainly we can see examples, we can see illustrations, and I would say that rather than run types to the ground, and rather than bring disrespect to the interpretation of the Scripture, that as much as possible, we take a very tight view insofar as the matter of types are concerned. So I would say that the ark is not a type of Christ, but certainly lessons can be drawn from the ark that will give us some beautiful illustrations concerning what Christ did. Now we turn to another passage of Scripture; the prophecy of Noah s sons. And I would suggest that you look at Genesis 9:25 27 and look at the historical background of verses 20 24. Look at it, study it, and we ll be discussing it in our next lesson. Christ-Centered Learning Anytime, Anywhere 6 of 6