Additional information
by Dan Bruce (Author)
Messiah is an English word that comes from the Hebrew word pronounced maw-shee'-akh. It appears in most English Bibles as the phrase "anointed one." In the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), the term is used almost exclusively to denote a king or priest who was anointed with the holy oil of office, or to describe a prophet who was anointed with the holy spirit to be the voice of God to his people. Today, the hope for a coming Messiah-an Anointed One who will usher in an age of universal peace-is shared by many Christians and Jews alike, with one important difference: Jews believe that their long-awaited Messiah is yet to come to establish and reign over a restored kingdom of Israel. Christians believe that Jesus came to Israel during his first advent as the Servant Messiah of Isaiah, a Redeemer who atoned for the sins of Israel and all mankind, and that he will one day return as King Messiah to reign over Israel and the world. The similar but distinct views held by Christians and Jews about the fulfillment of Israel's Messianic hope and the identity of its Messiah are nothing new. As far back as New Testament times, leaders of the Pharisees sent emissaries to John the Baptist, asking if he was the Messiah. John told them that he was not, instead pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God and Redeemer of Israel, but later revealed his own confusion about the messiahship of Jesus when he sent messengers to ask him, "Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?" Fortunately, the time of the Messiah's coming two-thousand years ago is clearly specified in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Daniel, chapter 9, verses 24-27, and, together with what we know about rabbinic Judaism's long and unsuccessful search for a Messiah since then, it is now possible to show that Jesus is the only person in history with a legitimate claim to be the Jewish Messiah.
Chapters:The Messiah Has Come
The Exact Time Was Foretold
The Six Signs Were Fulfilled
The Covenant Was Confirmed
Abraham Rejoiced to See It
Notes and Supplements
Scripture, Daniel 9
Author Biography
Dan Bruce is a writer, veteran Bible expositor and researcher, chronologist, and longtime student of both ancient and modern Jewish history. He was raised in a Southern Baptist home in the 1950s, but nowadays prefers to be classified as a Bible-believer who is non-denominational in faith and practice. He currently resides in a small hamlet on the far outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia.
