Prophecies of Messiah:
in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

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Abram

In Genesis Chapter 11 we are given the geneology of Shem's descendants down to Abram and his wife Sarai. In the next several chapters we are given many details of Abram's life. In the first few verses of chapter 12 we see Abram as a type of Messiah. We read in Gen 12:1-3 "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: {2} And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: {3} And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." If we replace the name 'Abram' with 'Messiah Yahshuah' and read it again the picture becomes clear. Gen 12:1-3 (modified) "Now the LORD had said unto Messiah Yahshuah , Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: {2} And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: {3} And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Our Messiah has left His Father's house in Heaven, His name has been made great, He is becoming a great nation, those that believe in Him are blessed with favor and forgiveness, and those that reject Him are cursed with eternal death.

It is interesting to note that right after receiving this promise of blessing and cursing, Abram then moves to the area of Moreh as seen in (Gen 12:6) "And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." In Hebrew, Moreh most commonly refers to a teacher. Moreh is also about 2 miles from Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. These are the same mountains that the Nation of Israel was told to go to upon entering the land of Israel to pronounce the blessings and cursings of the covenant as seen in Deuteronomy 11:29-30. For the Nation of Israel, the covenant with it's blessings and cursings was our teacher until Messiah came. Messiah is also our Teacher and comes with greater blessings and cursings.

It is also interesting to note that in the Hebrew language there are three seperate words for 'curse'. The first is 'allah' and means to swear at somebody. The second is 'qalal' and means to take something lightly or to make as nothing. The third is 'arar' which is to heavily curse someone as we think of the term in english. In this passage, it says that those who make Messiah as nothing 'qalal' will be cursed 'arar'.

Abraham

With Abraham we also find an unusual promise and prophecy. In Gen 17:7 we read "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." Similar phrasing is found in Gen 13:16, Gen 15:5, and Gen 22:18. The word 'seed' as used here has a double meaning. This meaning can be lost in translations that use the word 'descendants' instead of seed. In the Hebrew, this word is in the singular form which means it could be understood as a single seed or as a collective noun like a packet of seed for a garden that contains many individual seeds. The promise, as it was made, applied to the many descendants of Abraham as they would live in that country and region, but the ultimate fulfillment of the promise was to one singular individual which is Messiah. This is mentioned in a very straightforward way in Gal 3:16-18 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. {17} And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. {18} For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Also in Acts 3:25-26 "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. {26} Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

Isaac

In Gen 22 we read of the great test that Abraham had in being called to sacrifice his son Isaac. This is one of the greatest types and foreshadowings of Messiah that we have in all of Scripture.

Back in Gen 15:8-18 we read of the covenant that is made to Abraham by Yahveh. In the traditional covenant such as this, animals are cut apart and layed side by side. Then the people making the covenant walk between the pieces. The effect is supposed to say that if either of them breaks that covenant, that person will be cut apart like those animals. A person in such a covenant must do everything possible to keep it even to the point of risking one's life or the life of one's son. This is the type of covenant that Yahveh made with Abraham. He declared that He would keep the promises to Abraham or else be torn asunder even to the point of risking His child.

In reading Gen 22:1-18 we see many similarities between the potential sacrifice of Isaac with the actual Sacrifice of Yahshuah. There is no reason given for such an action to be done to Isaac. Likewise in Messiah we see He did no wrong and was not deserving of death. Abraham was asked to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice even though it was through Isaac that Yahvhe had promised to bless all the nations of the world (Gen 17:19). A telling picture of Messiah who would ultimately fulfill that very promise. Isaac was a miraculous son to have because of the old age of Abraham and Sarah just as Yahshuah was a miraculous child to have because of the virgin birth. In verse 2 they are told to go to the land of Moriah. Moriah means 'chosen by Yahveh' and later became the site of the Temple which was built by Solomon. In verse 6 we see that the wood is placed upon Isaac to carry just as the cross was placed upon Messiah. In verse 8 Abraham states that Yahveh will provide the lamb for the sacrifice for which wee see that Yahshuah is called the Lamb of Elohim. In verse 13 Abraham finds a ram caught in a thicket, specifically with it's head caught in the thorns picturing Messiah who would have a crown of thorns upon His head (Joh 19:2). In verse 14 Abraham calls the place Yahveh-Yirah which translated is 'Yahveh is Seen' for which when Messiah comes to that place He is literally seen. We can speculate in verse 9 that Isaac showed himself to be obedient to his father because at this point he was a man and it would be difficult to force him into being bound and made into a sacrifice just as Messiah showed Himself willing to do what was asked of Him even to the point of giving His life.

Judah

In Gen 49, we read of the many blessings and prophecies that Jacob bestows upon his children before his death. In verse 8-12 we read of that which is said to Judah. In particulare is Gen 49:10 which reads "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." The term 'shiloh' means 'he whose it is' refers to Messiah to which the kingship properly and fully belongs. This is a prophecy which has been fulfilled.

It foresees that the sceptre or ruling power will come to Judah and stay there until the Chosen One arrives. Yet this did not begin to happen for about 600 years. Prior to King David ascending to the throne of Israel we had Moses from Levi and Joshua from Ephraim. During the time of the judges there was Gideon from Manasseh, Samson from Dan, and Samuel from Ephraim. Even King Saul was from Benjamin. However, once the throne was held by David, the ruling power was kept by Judah. During the time of the Kings they ruled themselves, after the conquering by Babylon through Roman times Judah may have been a province of a greater nation but they had their own govenors and authority. It was not until Messiah came that Judah lost it's rulership. When Messiah was crucified, Judah declared that it 'has no king but Caesar'. This could certainly mark the end of their own rulership. Yet the Jewish Historian Josephus wrote (Antiquities Book 17 Chapter 13) that "the Sanhedrin of Israel lost the right to truly judge its own people when it lost the right to pass death penalties in 11 AD".

Also in this verse is mention that unto Shiloh shall be the gathering of the people. A similar statement was made by Yahshuah in John 12:32 which reads "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.".

Todd Elder is a believer in Messiah who wants to help people understand Scripture and know the message of Salvation. For more information from the Prophecy of the Messiah series, please visit my website http://www.exploringsalvation.info and look under 'Messiah'.
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