Mashiach Ben David and Mashiach Ben Yossef: Some Messianic Concepts of the First Century

The New Testament was written during a period when there were widespread expectations for the coming of Messiah." Ron Moseley, AIHLS, Messianic Concepts of the First Century, Lecture Three.

Matt 2:1-8
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
KJV

When these wise men asked about the one who had, in recent months, been born "King of the Jews," Herod the Great was troubled because it could well be true. The time was right. People were well aware of Daniel's "Seventy weeks" prophecy and the years that had passed from the time of Artaxerxes and Ezra. Yes, the time was about right for the appearance of the Messiah.

Dan 9:24-25
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:
KJV

Beginning in Genesis on throughout what, in general, is called the Old Testament by Christians are Messianic prophecies, and the Messiah (in Hebrew Mashiah) they proclaim is to be or will bring about certain basic principles:

(1) he will be a direct descendant of King David. He's often referred to as "Son of David" (Ben David);

(2) he will be, in some way, like Moses (Deut 18:15);

(3) he will restore the temple (Ezek 37:26-29, Isa 2:2);

(4) he will regather the exiles from both Israel and Judah scattered throughout the world (many including Deut 30:3-4, Isa 11:11-16, Isa 43:5-6);

(5) he will bring about an end to evil and sin, including idolatry (Ezek 37:23, Zeph 3:13);

(6) through him all people will have a complete knowledge of God (Hab 2:14 for one);

(7) he will so heal the world that all will worship the true God (Zeph 3:0, Isa 2, Mic 4, Zech 14);

(8) he will usher in a period of universal peace (again Isa 2 and Mic 4 among others);

(9) during this period there will be a resurrection of the dead (Isa 26:19, Dan 12:2, Ezek 37:12-14); and

(10) there will come an end to both disease and death (Isa 35:5-6, Isa 25:8).

It was thought only Messiah could do these things.

But, there were other just as prominent prophecies that painted a different picture. Can a Messiah be a servant? Can a Messiah suffer? Even die? A dead Messiah would seem to be a contradiction in terms, as we say today, an oxymoron. Indeed, to Jews of the first century such a thought would be a real problem.

1 Cor 1:23
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
KJV

But the prophecies are there nonetheless (e.g. Isa 53:3-7, Isa 49:7 Isa 52:15). Many, probably most, scholors of the day believed that these scriptures applied to another man entirely. This one was commonly referred to as Son of Joseph, although no scripture implies a Messiah through the line of Joseph.

After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, many there then believed Jesus to be Messiah, and word got back to the powers that be.

John 11:47-53
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
KJV

So Caiaphas himself, the high priest, thought Jesus might well be Mashiach Ben Yossef. And, true, he was; he fulfilled all the remaining Son of Joseph prophecies on the cross, in the time period Daniel foretold. Shortly before he died Jesus reminded his followers there of some of these prophecies from the 22nd psalm.

Matt 27:46
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
KJV

Ps 22:16, 18
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
KJV

But the Son of David fulfillment awaits a second coming.


(A good deal of what I understand of this subject I learned from the AIHLS course previously mentioned.)

Context

A week ago yesterday I attended church services from my living room couch. Often my wife and I tune in to an independent Church of God congregation from Big Sandy, Texas on our computer. At other times I'll attend services at an independent Church of God congregation in Waco. Although I resigned my membership in the Worldwide Church of God many years ago, whenever I decide to attend services by actually being there or via telephone or internet, I still attend one of the breakaway WCG groups. That is, as long as they're independent. I do this for a couple of reasons. Whichever the congregation there are names I'm familiar with, often even people I know. People with whom I share a lot of common experiences. After all, I was a member a long time. Make that three reasons. These are all seventh day congregations.

Anyway, the sermon last week by the first speaker was pretty much modus operandi for WCG sermons over the years. He, this speaker, flipped back and forth in the Bible, picking out maybe forty snippets of scripture, a couple of verses here, a part of a verse there, to reinforce the particular point he was making. And as I was saying, this was pretty typical Church of God preaching methodology from all the years I remember. Not often did context play much of a role.

My guess is that this teaching concept is taken from a verse, Isaiah 28:10, which they quoted a lot. Although this too is taken out of context.

Isa 28:10
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: KJV

"Text without context is pretext." This I first heard from Jerry Feldman, rabbi of the Adat Yeshua messianic congregation in Overland Park, Kansas, who also carries credentials from a protestant denomination, Assemblies of God, I believe. This short sentence struck a chord with me from the first even though I wasn't exactly sure of the meaning of "pretext." So, I went home and looked it up: "a purpose or motive alleged or appearance assumed in order to cloak the real intention or state of affairs." This is probably not deliberate on the part of preachers, including the CoG preachers I've been listening to, but it can certainly be the result, right? With the true meaning missed.

In these blog entries I'll be including enough text to give context. There's also a historical context and a cultural context to be considered as well.