THE MESSIAH IN THE PENTATEUCH

The Rabbis often refer to Genesis as "The Book of Creation". In it we see everything as it must have been at the beginning -- the world, humanity, the various peoples, the Hebrew tribe, the chaos brought about by the Fall, and the first signs of the salvation promised to humanity by God. Everything is still in a nascent state, and so we cannot expect to find a fully developed conception of the Messiah there. The old Jewish literature, however, even in the creation account, finds the Messianic motif.

THE SPIRIT OF THE MESSIAH IN THE CREATION ACCOUNT

Genesis begins with the creation of heaven and earth: the earth was without form, and void. Even in this description the Talmudic Sages scented the beginning of the plan of salvation for humanity:

    "The tradition of Elijah teaches that the world is to exist for six thousand years; In the first two thousand  desolation; in the next two thousand the Torah will flourish and the next two thousand are the days of the Messiah but on account of our sins, which were great, things turned out as they did."1
It was essential to this traditional expectation that the sovereignty of the Torah -- the Law of Moses -- would last 2000 years, the same as that of the Messianic period. In the same farranging discussion from which the above citation is taken we find, in explanation, that:
    "The seventh millenium will be war, and at the close of the millenium the Son of David will come".
In the discussion which follows mention is made of "The war of Gog and Magog and the remaining period will be the Messianic era, whilst the Holy One, blessed be he, will restore his world only when the seventh millenium is over."2

This so-called "Elijah Tradition", which represents the understanding of the majority of the Sages, brings to mind the mainstream Christian teaching of the Last Days and the Millenial Kingdom. When six millenia have passed, there will follow, according to some, a thousand-year Sabbath, shabaton. This could be the "Messianic era" after which the "world" will be renewed. 1985 AD is equivalent to the year 5745 in the Jewish calendar, which means that the Messiah ought to have come already. Something in this plan of salvation seems to have gone awry. The synagogue's official morning prayer brings this continually to mind with the words:

    "Because of our sins the Temple has been destroyed and the perpetual sacrifices suspended, neither have we a consecrated priest".
The Rabbis are not, it must be said, unanimous in their doctrine of the Messianic times, but the plan of salvation does, for them, begin right back at creation. When the Bible speaks of how "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters", they see a reference to the Messiah. The Midrash Rabbah says in this context that, "this was the "spirit of the Messiah", as it is written in Is. 11:2, "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him"3. A couple of other writings also mention that this refers to the "anointed king"4. This kind of hint is understandable when we bear in mind the Rabbis' view that even the names of the Messiah were determined before the creation of the world.

God's first words in the Bible are:

    " 'Let there be light!' And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good."
When we study the creation account closely we notice that it was not until the fourth day that God created the "two great lights", the sun and the moon. The Sages understood this too to be a Messianic allusion, and so the Midrash known as Pesikhta Rabbah, which was read from the 9th century on in connection with feast days, asks, "Whose is this light which falls upon the congregation of the Lord?" and answers, "It is the light of the Messiah"5. The Yalqut Shimoni, comprising catenae of Talmudic and Midrashic passages drawn up in the 12th and 13th centuries, adds this thought to the exposition of the verse: "This is the light of the Messiah, as is written in Psalm 36:10,'In your light, we see light' ". 6

The Rabbis considered the Aramaic word Nehora, 'light', to be one of the secret names of the Messiah, since we read in the Aramaic part of the book of Daniel that, "He knows what dwells in darkness, and light dwells with him" (2.22). Furthermore, on the strength of the prophecies of Is.42:6 and 60:1--3 the Messiah is seen as "the light of the Gentiles". Did not Jesus announce that he was himself the "light of the world", and that, "Whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness"? The Midrash understands the words of Daniel chapter 2 Messianically:

    " 'And Nehora dwells with him.' This is the Messiah-King, for it is written: 'Arise, shine, for your light has come' " (Is.60:1).
We can see from the above that the associative Jewish method finds Messianic allusions in places where Christians have not seen them. The Apostle Paul says that this Christ-mystery "has been kept hidden for ages and generations" (Col.1:26). Could it be possible that with these words Paul was referring to Jewish tradition? Not improbable, since we find similar expressions in the Dead Sea Scrolls.7
 
 

THE PROTO-EVANGEL

Part of our church's Messianic interpretation is inherited straight from Judaism. Gen. 3:15, often called the "proto-evangel", is found with a Christian explanation only from the time of Iranaeus in the second century. The NT does not refer directly to it, and it has even been claimed by some scholars that there is "no hint of Messianism in it". The Aramaic Targum tradition, however, finds a central Messianic prophecy even here.8

The Proto-evangel reads:

    "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
The text speaks first of the "enmity" -- or, in what would be a better translation of the Hebrew, "hatred" -- which came into the world on account of sin. Communion with God was broken and Man began to flee, to try to hide himself from His presence. The consequences of the Fall were sin, sickness and death. The Bible speaks of the personification of evil in the Devil, and the Wisdom of Solomon, an Apocryphal book from the second century before Christ, says that, "Because of Satan's jealousy death came into the world."9  One of the Messiah's tasks is just to conquer death.

Since the style of exposition in the Midrash is, as we have seen, to try to elucidate "every single detail" of the Torah, it is worth looking at the whole message of the Proto-evangel using more or less the same of method.

According to the Rabbis the Messiah will effect a "reparation", tiqun ha- .Olam, in the world. Theologians of today have begun to discuss the concept of "rehabilitation". When Christ atoned for our sins, bore our sicknesses, and conquered death he 'rectified' the consequences of the Fall. Daniel 9:24 describes this Messianic commission more briefly and clearly as "to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness." In this way the seed of the woman is to crush the head of the serpent. These aspects of the Proto-evangel are handled figuratively in both Jewish and Christian exegesis.

The Targum of Jonathan Ben  .Uzziel states here that if the woman's offspring observe the Law they will be in a position to crush the serpent's head: "And they will finally make peace in the days of the Messiah-King". The Targum plays on the words aqev, 'heel', and  iqvah, 'end'.

The Jerusalem Targum calls attention to the endtimes when it interprets the verse as, "They will make peace in the end, at the close of the end of the days, in the days of the Messiah King." The Aramaic word for "making peace", shefiyuta, resembles the Hebrew word for "crush", yeshufchah, and some Aramaicists would accept the translation, "Finally, in the days of the Messiah King, he will be wounded in the heel." This is in keeping with verse 16 of Psalm 22, which in Christian exegesis is understood as a type of the Messiah. In many languages this verse has been translated, according to the most probable reading of the original, as, "They have pierced my hands and feet". Similarly Zechariah 13:6 in Hebrew reads:

    " 'What are those wounds between your hands?' and he will answer,'They were struck into me at the house of my friends.' "
The most common understanding of this verse among the Rabbis is illustrated by the so-called 'Jonathan's interpretation':
    " 'They will be healed (from the bite of the serpent)' means that they will receive an antidote; 'Make peace' means 'peace and security'; and 'He will be their healer in the future, in the days of the Messiah' that there will be peace and rest."10
The serpent has also from early times had its own place in the exegesis of the hope of Messianic deliverance, as we shall see when we come to Jacob's blessing. During the wanderings in the wilderness Moses made a serpent of bronze, which healed the people from their snake bites when they looked upon it. 2 Ki. 18:4 relates how Hezekiah destroyed this talisman which had become a substitute for true religion: "He broke into pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it; it was called 'Nehushtan' " [a piece of brass]. Such is human nature that an inanimate object can become the focus of a false worship.

I remember a delightful conversation I had in a shop with the name of 'Nehushtan' which sold copper-conductors, owned by devout Jews. I said to the distinguished looking gentleman behind the counter, "You've certainly got a good Biblical name". The man knew me and understood what I was getting at. I asked half seriously if he knew what the shop name referred to. He nodded, and asked in return, "Do you know what RaSHi (R.Solomon Ben Yitshak) says about it?" I promised to check it up, and laid down a counterchallenge: "Do you know how the Wisdom of Solomon interprets Nehushtan?" He didn't know, so I quoted from the 16th chapter of this work, which dates from before the time of Christ;

    "For you gave them a token of salvation to remind them of your law's command. He who turned toward it [the brazen serpent] was saved, not by what he saw, but by you, the Saviour of all..." "You lead men down to the gates of Hades and back again."11
Back home I looked up RaSHi's exposition of the subject, which ran as follows:
    "It was called by the name 'Ne .hushtan' which is a derogatory term and is understood to mean,'What do we need with this?' This is nothing but a serpent of bronze!"12
RaSHI, a Mediaeval scholar, must have known Jesus' words about being "lifted up" just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. The pious businessman too may well have been aware of this. According to our Christian faith the cross was given as a "token of salvation". Jesus went down into Hades and rose again, taking away enmity and bringing in peace.

The Targums stress that the Messiah will come "in the end times". The Aramaic term "in the end", be-Iqva, resembles the notion  iqvoth meshiha, which means the 'footsteps of the Messiah'. The Talmud contains an extended discussion of these "Messianic footsteps," signs of the end times, to which we will return in the NT section. For the Rabbis anything to do with the End Times has a Messianic flavour to it. RaDaQ, Rabbi David Qimhi -- of whom it was said, "Without him we will not find the correct way to interpret the Scriptures" -- states in connection with Is.2:2 that "everywhere the Last Days are mentioned reference is being made to the days of the Messiah."13  This can be seen both in the interpretation of the Proto-evangel and in those OT prophecies which contain some term referring to the Last Days.

But who is this "seed of the woman"? Why is the personal pronoun hû, 'he', used of it? Is 'seed' to be considered a singular or a collective noun? The Targum certainly associates 'him' with the Messiah King. But does the 'seed' concept have Messianic implications in other contexts too? Indeed it does: the Rabbis discuss this very issue at great length. In Gen.4:25 we read (in the Hebrew and in the AV): "God has granted me another seed in place of Abel." Rabbi Tanhuma -- of whom it was said that he was "the seal of the Midrashim" -- mentions that "here we are dealing with another seed who is from another place. And who is he? He is the Messiah-King."14 Rabbi  Huna says that "God prepared another seed from another place, and he is the Messiah-King."15

The promise of Abraham's seed in Gen. 22:18, which occupies a central position in Christian Theology, is also seen in the Midrashim as referring to the Messiah: "And through your seed all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." Midrash Rabbah discusses the subject extensively and declares that "in the days of the Messiah, Israel will be compared to the sand of the sea."16  Paul, in Gal. 3:16, understood the meaning of 'Abraham's seed' in a similar way:

    "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say 'and to seeds'. meaning many people, but 'and to your seed', meaning one person, who is Christ."
Here Paul uses the typical Midrash al tiqra formula, 'Read not so, but so' -- a promise given in the singular is taken as referring to Christ as the Messiah.

We might add that even Midrash Ruth associates the 'seed' concept with the Messiah, when speaking of the 'kinsmanredeemer' in Ruth 4:18. The Midrash highlights Perez, familiar from the genealogy in Matt. 1:3 and the account in Gen. chapter 38. The phrase "another seed from another place" is used again, here in reference to Perez.

It is precisely to Perez that the observation about the Messiah rectifying the havoc caused by the Fall is related. The Midrash itself mentions this as an example of "profound" understanding. The Midrash Rabbah describes as follows the new phase which began with Perez:

    "This is the history of Perez and it has a profound significance. ...  When the Holy One created his world there was as yet no Angel of Death... But when Adam and Eve fell into sin, all generations were corrupted. When Perez arose, history began to be fulfilled through him, because from him the Messiah would arise, and in his days the Holy One would cause death to be swallowed up, as it is written, 'He will destroy death forever'(Is. 25:8)." 17
It is hardly possible in a Jewish source text to find a nearer convergence to Paul's discussion of Christ as the conqueror of death. In Romans 5:12 we read: "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all men." 1 Cor. 15:22 adds, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." The roots of this mystery of the history of salvation reach right back to the account of the fall of humanity. Professor Gottlieb Klein wrote at the beginning of this century that by means of the method known as notarikon, one aspect of which regarded each letter of a word as the initial letter of another word, the three Hebrew letters of the word 'Adam' were interpreted as referring to Adam, David, and the Messiah.18 In this way Christ will 'correct' Adam's fall. Perhaps this is all just fanciful nonsense, but it derives from the Messianic expectation of believers who lived in ancient times.

The prominence given to the Messiah-King by the Targums öthat he will make peace in place of the Proto-evangel's enmityö is reflected in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, although it is highly unlikely that there is any intrinsic connection. In chapter 2:14’-’16 we read,

    "For he himself is our PEACE, who... has destroyed...  HOSTILITY... to create ONE NEW MAN out of the two, thus MAKING PEACE... through the cross, by which he put to death their HOSTILITY. He came and preached PEACE... "
Although the NT does not quote the Proto-evangel directly, some trace of it can be seen in the greeting of Rom.16:20: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."
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1.    Sanhedrin 97a.
2.    Sanhedrin 97b.
3.    Midrash Bereshith Rabbath 1:2 and Yalqut, Mechiri to psalm 139:12
4.    Pesikhta Rabbati 33 and Yalqut.
5.    Pesikhta Rabbati 62,1
6.    Yalqut Shimoni 56.
7.     Megillath haSerachim 8.11
8.    The subject has been dealt with by eg. Eugen Hühn in his book Die Messianischen Weissagungen - bis zu den targumim, Leipzig 1899, p 135.
9.    The Wisdom of Solomon 2:27
10.   The Rabbis' explanation of Jonathan. This interpretetation also corresponds to the understanding of  S.H. Levey in his book The Messianic Exegesis of the Targum, in connection with Gen. 3:15.
11.    The Wisdom of Solomon 16:7-8 and 13.
12.    RaSHI on 2 Kings 18:4
13.    Mikraoth Gedoloth in connection with Isaiah 2:2
14.    Bereshit Rabbah 23.
15.    Ruth Rabbah 8.
16.    Bamidbar Rabbah 2.
17.    Shemoth Rabbah 30. B.Pick in hin extensive series of articles Old testament Passages Messianically Applied, (Hebraica 1885 p 31) interprets this midrash in the same way.
18.    G. Klein, Bilddrag till Israels Religionshistoria, Stockholma 1898, p 11.
The next chapter "THE MESSIAH WHO WILL BREAK DOWN..."

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