Friday, June 3, 2016

Testify




Jesus said, "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."           Jn. 5:39

When saying the above, Jesus was speaking to Jews in the Temple in Jerusalem, who were angry with Him because He had healed a man on the Sabbath. Jesus told them that their beloved Torah bore witness to who He was. References to Him, and to His life, were promised and prophesied in those scriptures.
The word "testify" is edut, עֵדוּת,, made up of the letters ayin (see, reveal, know), daleth (door), and tav (cross, covenant, sign of the covenant). So the word "testify" in Hebrew can also be expressed: "Seeing the door of the cross (covenant)".
It is said that there are 353 verses in the Torah which testify to Jesus. We can only look at a few here.
In Gen 3:15, the LORD God prophesied to the serpent the following:
"...And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel."
The one who would deal the blow to the rulership (head) of the serpent, would be born of a woman, but would not come out of the encounter with the serpent's seed unscathed.
To Abraham, the LORD promised:
"....because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-...In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."        Gen.22: 16-18
As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, the Angel stopped him, and Abraham discovered a ram caught in a thicket (of thorns), to be sacrificed in place of Isaac. We have a shadow of a sacrifice of a son, and  the principle of a substitute (ram) to become a sacrifice on our behalf. All nations, not just Israel, would be blessed and benefitted by Abraham's obedience that day that he was willing to sacrifice his son. Abraham was confident, however, that the LORD would provide for Himself, that lamb for the sacrifice (v.8), and he was right.
Proverbs 30:4 would confirm that there would be a "sonship" relationship between the Creator, and the Messiah:
"...Who has established all the ends of the earth"
What is His name, and what is His Son's name
If you know?"
Why would the writer of Proverbs ask "What is His name?" and "What is His Son's name?"
Surely the people of Israel know the LORD's name, so why this question? It is there because there is a name of the LORD that they did not yet know. This name of the Creator is directly connected with His Son's name. Jesus told the Jews, "I have come in My Father's name..."  (Jn. 5:43)
The prophet Isaiah writes about this child, this son:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace."           Isa. 9:6
This Son to be born would carry the name of God, Himself.

King David writes prophetically about the scene of the crucifixion of Christ in Psalm 22, although David lived 1,000 years before Jesus' birth:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
...All those who see Me ridicule Me...
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him (said by those who mocked)...
I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me...
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."
David as king, though he faced many challenges, was never crucified, yet he writes a witness account, as though he was on the cross at that scene 1,000 years later. The Psalm concludes with the great victory of the LORD that causes all nations to worship Him. The dead will live to worship. Even those yet unborn will hear about this great thing He has done.
Isaiah writes about the servant who was despised and rejected by men. This servant bore our grief (sicknesses), and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, not His own. He was bruised, chastised and whipped for our iniquities and healing. He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isa. 53).
The above Servant wasn't punished for a crime He committed. He took the punishment on behalf of others. Isaiah  writes about this Servant, whose sacrifice is an exact prophetic account of Jesus' purpose approximately 750 years before Jesus was born.

There were prophetic references to the resurrection of Jesus also:
"For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."   Ps. 16:10
"Your dead shall live;
Together with My dead body they shall arise.
For Your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead."    Isa. 26:19
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, I will be your plagues!
O Grave, I will be your destruction!
Pity is hidden from My eyes."      Hosea 13:14

Those who have rejected this "Suffering Servant", this Son who bore His Father's name, will see Him, and see the truth regarding Him, during a very trying circumstance involving an attack against Jerusalem. The prophet Zechariah has prophesied in 12:10:
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first-born."
The chapter goes on to describe the extensive grief and mourning over this Son of every individual and household when they see Him, in a similar manner to the national mourning that took place previously in HadadRimmon (the place where King Josiah was mourned in Megiddo).

There are so many verses that testify, prophesy, or mirror, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that can be found in the Torah, as Jesus said-too many to record here.
Below, you will find links to free information available, written especially to the Jewish people, regarding the discovery of Jesus in the Torah.

Our Father testifies of His Son, Jesus, in His word.

"For Unto Us a Child is Born"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owcn6fgYwpw

Additional Sources:
"They Thought for Themselves"
http://sidroth.org/articles/they-thought-for-themselves

"Isaiah 53 Explained"
https://isaiah53.com/main/

No comments:

Post a Comment