On The Way To Emmaus: Five Major Messianic Prophecies Explained

ON THE WAY

TO EMMAUS

Five Major Messianic

Prophecies Explained

ENDORSEMENTS

The book of Professor Jacques Doukhan covers a large field of biblical texts, from the first chapters of Genesis onward to a good dozen of texts and, from there, to the Septuagint, the Targums, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish traditional sources such as Midrashic and Talmudic, and the New Testament! The scope is thus all-embracing, and it is with an assured mastery that the author takes his readers through the maze of traditions rich in insights but also in potentially inner contradictions.

Another noteworthy part of the book is an insightful exposition of the hotly debated Isaiah 52–53 passage on the Servant of the Lord. The author’s mastership is here again evident and his familiarity with the Rabbinic literature proves helpful. . . . The author’s exposition is consistently challenging and thought provoking. He is particularly adept in discerning the literary structure of texts and thus in highlighting their intended cores.

Professor Jacques Doukhan’s book will undoubtedly address a conservative readership (that is, the major trend in modern Christianity). To more liberal people, like me, the challenge to their hermeneutics is welcome and of great reward. I strongly recommend the publication of Jacques Doukhan’s present work.

André LaCocque

Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible

Chicago Theological Seminary

I have read On the Way to Emmaus, and I highly recommend it. The book provides a careful reading of the most important messianic prophecies in the Bible, one that will be appreciated by most Messianic Jews and sympathetic evangelical Christians. It displays solid conservative scholarship, as we would expect from a respected veteran such as Doukhan. But it also builds upon current methodologies, such as inner-biblical exegesis, to open new avenues of interpretation.

While other interpretations of these prophetic texts are possible, Doukhan offers many exegetical insights that will be of value even to those scholars who are not persuaded by his overall argument.

Rabbi Mark S. Kinzer, Ph.D.

Senior Scholar

Messianic Jewish Theological Institute

ON THE WAY

TO EMMAUS

Five Major Messianic

Prophecies Explained

Dr. Jacques B. Doukhan, D.Heb.Lett., Th.D.

Lederer Books

A division of

Messianic Jewish Publishers

Clarksville, MD 21029

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form for by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, except for brief reviews in magazines, journals, etc. or as quotations in another work when full attribution is given. The use of short selections or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted, within reason. However, we ask that you respect the intellectual property rights of the author.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.

15   14   13   12                 5   4   3  2  1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939768

Print ISBN 978-1-936716-43-2

eBook ISBN 978-1-936716-55-5

Printed in the United States of America

Copyright © 2012 by Dr. Jacques B. Doukhan, D.Heb.Lett., Th.D.

Published by

Lederer Books

A division of

Messianic Jewish Publishers

6120 Day Long Lane

Clarksville, Maryland 21029

Distributed by

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I   THE SEED

Poetic Analysis

The Serpent

The Subject(s) of the Fight

The Verb of the Fight

Genesis 3:15 in the Hebrew Bible

Genesis 3:15 in Jewish Tradition

Parallel Texts Recognized as Messianic in Jewish Tradition

The Messianic Fight

CHAPTER II   THE STAR

Poetic Analysis

The Literary Structure of Numbers 24:15–19

Prophetic Inspiration

Numbers 24:17 in the Hebrew Bible

Numbers 24:17 in Jewish Tradition

Parallel Texts Recognized as Messianic in Jewish Tradition

Numbers 24:17 in the New Testament

The Messianic Hope

CHAPTER III   THE SIGN

Poetic Analysis

The Virgin

The Child

Isaiah 7:14 in the Hebrew Bible

Isaiah 7:14 in Jewish Tradition

Parallel Texts of Isaiah 7:14 Recognized as Messianic in Jewish Tradition

Isaiah 7:14 in the New Testament

The Messianic Birth

CHAPTER IV   THE SERVANT

Poetic Analysis

The Suffering Servant and Israel

The Servant as Atoning Sacrifice

The Servant as King

God as the Servant

Isaiah 53 in the Hebrew Bible

Isaiah 53 in Jewish Tradition

Parallel Texts of Isaiah 53 Recognized as Messianic in Jewish Tradition

Isaiah 53 in the New Testament

The Messianic Suffering

CHAPTER V   THE SEVENS

Poetic Analysis

The Seventy Weeks

The Messiah

Daniel 9:24–27 in the Hebrew Bible

Daniel 9:24–27 in Jewish Tradition

Parallel Texts of Daniel 9:24–27 Recognized as Messianic in Jewish Tradition

Daniel 9:24–27 in the New Testament

The Messianic Time

Synthetic Table of Messianic Interpretation

CONCLUSION

The Lessons of Messianic Prophecy

The Hermeneutic Lesson

The Historical Lesson

The Jewish-Christian Lesson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FOREWORD

Initially encountered the work of Jacques Doukhan almost ten years ago, when his fine volume, Israel and the Church, was first published. I was impressed by his capable scholarship and his irenic tone, but also by his clearly-defined sense of Jewish identity. Before this, I had not realized that kindred spirits to my own could be found in the Seventh-day Adventist world. Reading Israel and the Church opened my eyes, and my mind.

I came to know Jacques personally in the fall of 2010, and was even more impressed by the man I encountered than by the work he had produced. I found him charming, witty, erudite, and gracious. But I also found a strong-minded and passionate Jew, who loved the tradition of his people, even as he loved the Messiah whom God had sent to redeem them.

Jacques Doukham has much to offer the Messianic Jewish world, and those Christian friends who support it. What he has to offer is well-displayed in this current volume. On the Way to Emmaus provides a careful and insightful reading of the most important messianic prophecies in the bible, one that will be appreciated by most Messianic Jews and sympathetic evangelical Christians. It displays solid conservative scholarship, as we would expect from a respected veteran such as Doukhan. But it also builds upon current methodologies, such as inner-biblical exegesis, to open new avenues of interpretation.

I am honored to introduce Jacques to the Messianic Jewish world, and am confident that those who come to know him and his work will be as grateful for the discovery as I have been.

Rabbi Mark S. Kinzer, Ph.D.

Senior Scholar

Messianic Jewish Theological Institute

INTRODUCTION

On the way to Emmaus, just a few miles from Jerusalem, two friends are surprised by a stranger. He does not seem to know what has just happened and no one knows where he comes from! Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have you not known the things which happened there in these days? they ask. To which he answers: What things? (Luke 24:18).

The two friends do not know the meaning of these events, nor do they know who the stranger is. They think they know, but they do not know. While the stranger, who they think does not know, knows. The story tells us that beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:27, NIV). Yet, according to the story the two friends still do not understand. In spite of this study, the first systematic lesson on what will be called the messianic prophecies, they are still unable to know Him and get His point. The messianic prophecies, even explained by Him, are not enough to convince them.

We may then wonder whether we are not all of us, Christians and Jews, and all the others carrying the same question suspended in the void, unable to know Him. Whether we are not all, like these two friends who were disputing on the way to Emmaus, disturbed by our unanswered question and troubled by our doubts (Luke 24:38). For as long as the Messiah is not here to answer Himself, we are like them. We do not know. A story is told about Martin Buber¹ addressing a group of Catholic priests. He asked them the question: What is the difference between Jews and Christians? We all await the Messiah. You believe He has already come and gone, while we do not. I therefore propose that we await Him together. And when He appears, we can ask Him: ‘Were you here before?’ Then he paused and added, and I hope that at that moment I will be close enough to whisper in his ear, ‘For the love of heaven, don’t answer!’

And it is as if the Messiah has heard Martin Buber’s request: so far the Messiah has not come to answer and the question remains unanswered.

We are not sure who is right, the Christians who affirm that the Messiah has already come, or the Jews who are still waiting for Him.

For many Christians, messianic prophecies suggest the ultimate argument against the Jews. These biblical texts are brandished as evidence to show that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah announced by the Hebrew Scriptures; they are the proof that He was here before. Messianic prophecies have then been used as a fast-food apologetic and the reason for diligently accusing the Jews of stubborn incredulity because they do not want to believe in spite of all these clear proofs.

For many Jews, the reference to messianic prophecies is associated with the Christians’ attempt to convert them and is therefore suspect. Against the traditional Christian interpretation, Jews erect then an opposing Jewish interpretation of these texts,² either pointing them to a past event in biblical times³ or more generally applying to the eschatological event concluding human history. The Jews still wait for the Messiah to come to bring redemption to the world.

Messianic prophecies even bring some embarrassment to many others who are disturbed with what they consider the naive idea that religious truth could be established on the supernatural ground of prediction. In these times of biblical criticism and existential categories of thinking, this way of reasoning is not very popular; so for many Jews, and even Christians, the call for messianic prophecies is meaningless and irrelevant. Indeed, neither Jews nor Christians need the reference to these texts to ensure their respective faiths and religious identity.

Now, whether these texts raise suspicion, skepticism, or even indifference should not keep us from recognizing at least one historical fact: it is on the basis of these texts from the Torah and the prophets that many Jews were convinced by other Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah:

Paul called the leaders of the Jews together . . . many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from the Law of Moses and the prophets, from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved." (Acts 28:17, 23–24, cf. Luke 24: 27, 44; Acts 8:35)

It is still on the basis of the interpretation of these texts that Jews and Christians depart theologically from each other.

The discussion about messianic prophecies is, therefore, an important one. It hits at the very origins of Christianity and takes us to the very heart of the early Jewish-Christian controversy. In essence, this discussion confronts us still today, Jews and Christians as well, with a hermeneutic problem: Did these texts indeed intend to point to the Messiah and more specifically to Jesus? Were the early Christians and the New Testament people exegetically correct in their messianic interpretation of the Old Testament texts? Unfortunately, the New Testament accounts limit themselves to referring, or only alluding to, the messianic prophecies without indicating their exegetical method. This loose exegetical methodology has exposed the New Testament authors to serious criticism. They have, then, been accused of twisting the Hebrew Scriptures.⁴

Christian interpreters are divided on that issue.⁵ For most conservative Christians, the proof of messianic prophecies is established on the very fact that this is the interpretation provided by the authors of the New Testament and Jesus himself. Other Christians, however, take a more critical view on that matter and recognize the difficulty of the New Testament interpretation of messianic prophecies. They then offer a variety of hypotheses. Some argue that these texts are not actual predictions, but concern instead a situation that is only contemporary (single meaning). According to this view, the authors of the so-called messianic prophecies did not predict about the future coming of Jesus of Nazareth but had only in mind a contemporary figure, a prophet (e.g., Isaiah), or a king (e.g., David, Hezekiah). Thus it is suggested that these texts have been given by the New Testament a new meaning altogether different from the original one (relecture). Others assume that these texts carry, in fact, a double meaning (dual meaning); namely, the historical, original meaning, referring to a contemporary figure and the prophetic, more developed, fuller meaning (sensus plenior), referring to the future Messiah.

The crucial problem of messianic prophecies is then essentially a hermeneutic problem, since it concerns the exegetical validity of the messianic interpretation of the biblical texts and comes down to that question: Did the early Christians have good exegetical reasons to apply these Old Testament texts to Jesus and then to recognize him as the Messiah predicted in the Hebrew Scriptures?

Definitions and Methods

Now, the very word messiah, and for that matter the concept of messianic prophecies around which all our discussion revolves, are quite elusive and difficult to define. Before we engage in the exegetical enterprise and try to answer the above question, it is therefore important to clarify the meaning of these terms.

The word messiah comes from the Hebrew mashiah, the passive form of the Hebrew verb mashah meaning to anoint. The messiah was the anointed one, that is the one who was anointed with the sacred oil, a practice, which was used in ancient Israel to set apart a certain individual for the exclusive purpose of God’s service or for a special mission. The term messiah was thus applied predominantly to a king, but also to a priest, and occasionally to a prophet.⁶ The passive form of the word mashiah also suggests that God is the agent of this appointment.⁷ Therefore, the expression anointed implied the Lord’s anointed meshiah YHWH (1 Sam 24:6, etc.), or the anointed of the God of Israel (2 Sam 23:2), or referring to God His anointed (1 Sam 2:10, Ps 2:2, etc.), My anointed (1 Sam 2:35), and the divine presence was usually implied to enable the anointed one to fulfill his mission in his capacity as messiah. Thus it is said in connection to King David’s anointing that the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward (1 Sam 16:13; cf. 1 Sam 10:6). The messiah was, therefore, within the people of Israel the living sign of God’s presence and the constant reminder of the divine promise.

But there is more. The biblical usage of the word messiah takes us beyond the local and temporal situation of ancient Israel in the context of the ancient Near East; it speaks about hope in universal terms. Indeed, out of the 39 occurrences of the word messiah, 30 concern a king; 15 of the 30 refer to David or a Davidic king; and 9 of those apply to the ideal universal king who will come in the future to save Israel and the world.⁸ The word messiah is, then, loaded with the idea of hope and cosmic redemption. Yet, when the Bible speaks about this ultimate redemption, it does not always mention the word messiah. Besides, the messianic figure is also represented by other titles or images, such as seed, star, or servant, instead of the explicit term messiah. Many biblical passages may, then, be messianic prophecies and clearly refer to the Messiah without actually using that very word.

A number of testimonies and criteria are, therefore, necessary to determine and establish the quality of messianic prophecy:

Internal evidence from the testimony of the biblical text itself: this implies a thorough exegesis of the text and the search for all the elements and clues suggesting or attesting to the messianic intention.

Intertextual evidence from the testimony of biblical tradition as attested in the Hebrew Bible: this implies the search of other biblical texts recognizing our sample text as messianic and thus confirming its messianic character and illuminating its meaning.

External evidence from the testimony of extra-biblical tradition: this implies the gathering of classic texts from Jewish tradition (Qumran, Talmud, Midrash, etc.) as well as from Christian tradition (the New Testament) interpreting our text as messianic.

The point of contention is not so much, however, the question of how to identify a messianic prophecy. It is quite significant that Jewish and Christian traditions agree on the identification of virtually all messianic prophecies. The crucial problem, indeed, concerns rather the exegetical validity of the messianic interpretation, whether this interpretation can be seriously supported on exegetical grounds.

The challenge and the contribution of this study is to grapple with this exegetical question. The messianic passages, therefore, will be studied from the standpoint of biblical exegesis, taking the Hebrew text seriously, searching for its messianic intention—an enterprise which has rarely, if ever been engaged. For either we contented ourselves with tradition or the testimony of the New Testament, or dismissed altogether the need and even the value of this enquiry on account of the above reasons and theological/philosophical presuppositions.

We shall first pay close attention to the Hebrew text itself, as it is, the way it presents itself, in its finished state, without engaging in any critical discussion in regard to sources and authorship. For our enquiry is not so much about how the text has emerged as it is about what there is in the text that justifies its traditional reading as messianic. We shall then heed the specific literary and historical contexts provided by the texts, their literary structures, their words, and their syntax in order to track down, as far as possible, their original and intended meaning.

We shall also try to capture the meaning which was given to them by other texts of the Hebrew Scriptures referring or alluding to them, and thus try to discover how these messianic texts were understood within the context of the Hebrew Bible, and if they were already recognized as messianic within that tradition. This approach will then be based on the observation of intended intertextual connections between these