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Judges 13:5 ... He shall be a Nazarene ... Mt 2:23
Judges 13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto the Deity from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'
Firstly the context is talking about Samson. The verse itself talks about the Philistines, something that had nothing to do with Yeshua. Thus it is talking about something that happened a couple of millennia before Yeshua.
Secondly, a Nazarite is NOT a Nararene. A Nazarene is someone who lives in Nazareth. A Nazarite is a person who is on a vow to YHWH, who is dedicated to him, and who cannot eat anything from the vine (Numbers 6). What would Yeshua have to do with a Nazarite vow if he keeps the Passover, which involves drinking wine (or fruit from the vine), changing water into wine (John 2), and being called a wine-bibber (Luke 7:33) which is not a total lie, but an over-exaggeration of his drinking some wine.
Even some Christians know this. Look at this quote.
Nazarene This epithet (Gr. Nazaraios) is applied to Christ only once (Matt. 2:23). In all other cases the word is rendered "of Nazareth" (Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67, etc.). When this Greek designation was at first applied to our Lord, it was meant simply to denote the place of his residence. [The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/ebd/ebd267.htm]
So in all cases, we are talking about two different things. Judges 13 isn’t a messianic prophecy and has nothing to do with the notions in Matthew 2:23.
Ruth 4:4-9...Christ, our kinsman, has redeemed us...Eph. 1:3-7
Ruth 4:4-9 and I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying: Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; but if it will not be redeemed, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee.' And he said: 'I will redeem it.' Then said Boaz: 'What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi -- hast thou also bought of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance?' And the near kinsman said: 'I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.' -- Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour; and this was the attestation in Israel. -- So the near kinsman said unto Boaz: 'Buy it for thyself.' And he drew off his shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people: 'Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Is this a messianic prophecy? No. Please read the context. It is a narrative concerning Boaz’s buying of Naomi’s field in a plan to make Ruth his wife. Nothing in the text makes it prophetic, merely historical. Once again the idea of it being a messianic prophecy must be read into, not extracted from the text.
1 Sam. 2:10...Shall be an anointed King to the Lord...Mt. 28:18; Jn. 12:15
1 Samuel 2:10 They that strive with YHWH shall be broken to pieces; against them will He thunder in heaven; YHWH will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.
Is this a messianic prophecy? Not likely, since it is not specific. There is nothing in the context pointing to the idea that the speaker, Hannah, was talking about the messianic age. She was praying in gratitude to YHWH for giving her the son she wanted. This verse could speak of ANY anointed one. YHWH gave strength to King Saul and while he was obedient, his horn was exalted, the horn being a symbol of strength in battle. Saul did have victories. David was another anointed one and his horn was definitely exalted.
This text is more of a wish (a prayer, verse 1) than a prophecy. So in that way it is not messianic prophecy. Either way, it couldn’t refer to Yeshua anyway since he never ruled Israel.
2 Sam. 7:12...David's Seed...Mt. 1:1
(12) When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee that shall proceed out of thy body and I will establish his kingdom.
2 Sam. 7:14a...The Son of God... Lu. 1:32
(14) I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
2 Sam. 7:16...David's house established forever...Lu. 3:31; Rev. 22:16
(16) And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.'
1 Chr. 17:11...David's Seed...Mt. 1:1; 9:27
(11) And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
1 Chr. 17:12,
13a...To reign on David's throne forever...Lu. 1:32, 33
1 Chr.
17:13a..."I will be His Father, He...my Son."...Heb. 1:5
(12) He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. (13) I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee;
2 Samuel 7:10-16 And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disquieted no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first, (11) even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will cause thee to rest from all thine enemies. Moreover YHWH telleth thee that YHWH will make thee a house. When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy body, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (14) I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son, who in his wrong-doing, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; (15) but My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. (16) And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.'
I only quote 2 Sam 7 since the two passages are very similar. I will comment on any differences.
Now strictly speaking is this a messianic prophecy? Not directly. But it does speak of future kings, so that must include the Messiah. Let’s deal with the Christian claims and see if it adds up.
The messiah has to be of the seed of David. Looking at genealogies and seeing that it is the father that passes royalty to his son and NOT the mother, it is obvious that the seed of David has to have a seed of David as a natural father. This is NOT adoptive, i.e., royalty cannot be given to an adopted child. Thus Yeshua fails in this since Joseph was not his natural father.
It is said that the child would be a son to YHWH. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean through YHWH having intimacy with a human woman (via his spirit or any other means) and getting her pregnant. Israel is called the firstborn of YHWH (Exo 4:22). The whole nation of Israel is a son to YHWH (Deut 14:1). The Psalms proclaim David as a son of YHWH (Ps 89:27,28 [Christian versions verse 26,27]). So YHWH saying that the future king would be a son to him doesn’t really say anything about any future king being the natural son of YHWH, which is something unprecedented and unnatural and uncharacteristic for YHWH.
The claim that this king would sit on the throne of David is quite inconsistent. Why? Let’s look and see. The compiler of this messianic list quotes 1 Chronicles 17:12,13a as proof that this king will sit on the throne of David forever. What does it really say?
"He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son;"
All it says is that YHWH will establish his throne forever. Does this mean that he will sit on the throne forever? Let’s compare it with some verses that use similar words.
"And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever." (2 Sam 7:16)
"... but I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever." (1 Chr 17:14)
Now the quote from 2 Samuel 7:16 is YHWH talking to king David. The quote from 1 Chronicles 17:14 is YHWH talking about David’s seed/son. Notice the same word is spoken about both, the establishing of the throne. Now did David sit on his throne forever? No! He died. So why would anyone get the idea that, using the exact same phrase for his son, would mean that this son is going to sit on the throne forever? The statement just means that David’s family would always be the reigning family, thus his throne is established forever. It’s a promise to David’s and his son’s descendants.
There is also an important point that is missed by the compiler. A lot of this prophecy has been fulfilled already. It was fulfilled by Solomon! Just read a couple of chapters forward from 1 Chronicles 17. In 1 Chronicles 22:5-10, it points to Solomon being the fulfilment of this prophecy, especially the part about this seed building the house of YHWH. Compare this with 1 Kings 8:17-20 and 2 Chronicles 6:7-10. Bear in mind the context of the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17, and you will see that this seed who builds the temple, the house of YHWH, is the one who will be a son to YHWH. It points to Solomon and his descendents.
A question I would ask the compiler or any Christian is if this is a prophecy specifically about Yeshua, and they believe him to be sinless deity, then why would YHWH add the phrase "in his wrong-doings [meaning, when he does wrong], I will chastise him with the rod of men" or "if he commits iniquity" (not really a good translation)? This wouldn’t apply to Yeshua at all.
Plus we also know that Yeshua never built the temple, the house of YHWH, has Solomon did. Remember, we are NOT talking about any spiritual temple since the reason why this prophecy came about was because David himself wanted to build a literal house/temple for YHWH. Yeshua didn’t do that at all.
Also we’ll take note of the fact that Yeshua was NEVER king of Israel, NEVER sat on the throne of David. This problem cannot be avoided by talking about the genealogy in Luke 3, or the claim that that is Mary’s genealogy. Apart from the fact that the woman’s genealogy is insignificant when looking into royalty, the genealogy doesn’t go through Solomon but through his brother, Nathan, so it is disqualified there. So a whole lot of this prophecy doesn’t apply to him or hasn’t been fulfilled by him at all.
2 Ki. 2:11...The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated...Lu. 24:51
(11) And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both assunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Is this a messianic prophecy in its own context? No! It’s not any sort of prophecy at all. It is just a historical narrative. It says nothing about it being an illustration or a manual on "Ways to get to Heaven". Once again, eisegesis, not exegesis!
Job 19:23-27...The Resurrection predicted...Jn. 5:24-29
Job 19:21-29 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever! But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He will witness at the last upon the dust; And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God; Whom I, even I, shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another's. My reins are consumed within me. If ye say: 'How we will persecute him!' seeing that the root of the matter is found in me; Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
OK, two questions are important, but one more than the other. Is this a messianic prophecy, and is it fulfilled?
Now it may speak of the resurrection, so it could point to the messianic age. Who is the redeemer? Since there is no messiah (anointed king) in the book of Job, it would be a bit of a stretch to say it speaks of messiah. It more likely speaks of YHWH.
Is it fulfilled? No! So the claim that this is a fulfilled messianic prophecy is more than a stretch. In fact, if it were an elastic band, it would have snapped years ago.
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