Paradoxes of the Bible #12
The Two Messiahs
Messiah Son of David and Messiah Son of Joseph
- Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
- Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
- Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
- Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
- Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
- Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
- Two Messiahs are described in the Scripture, that is, two different roles for the Anointed One, that is the meaning of the Hebrew word, messiah. And one comes before the other.
- First is the arrival of the “suffering servant of Israel” or Messiah Son of Joseph. Joseph because of the eleventh son of Jacob is Joseph. This Joseph was his father’s favorite and thus his brothers despised him, sold him into slavery in Egypt. Then Joseph is falsely accused and thrown into prison. Miraculously he is delivered from prison, becomes second only to the Pharaoh in authority, and ends up saving God’s people from starvation.
- We see this “suffering servant” very clearly in Psalm 22 and Isaiah chapters 52 and 53.
- Jesus perfectly fulfills the Hebrew Bible’s depiction of the Anointed One by His rejection by His people, His death, burial, and resurrection.
- Messiah Son of David—so named from King David—the great king of Israel, the model for the messiah who is to come.
- We see this second messiah described in Isaiah 9:6–7. The child’s name to be born will be “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
- The prophet Jeremiah, chapter 23:5, states, “Behold, the days are coming…when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king.”
- Messiah Son of Joseph has come, and will one day return as Messiah Son of David, the conquering champion of God.