Messiah in Ancient Israel

In ancient Israel, a messiah is a king or priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. The anointment is a sign of authority from God, a sign that a person has been sent for a specific mission.

Messiahs were not exclusively Jewish. Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, is referred to by Isaiah as a messiah.

The king as the Son of God

Israel's kings are referred to as the "son of God". They are reborn or adopted on the day of their enthroning as the "son of God".

Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying,

3 “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.

8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling

12 kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 45

1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2 You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty.

4 In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds.

5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.

6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;

7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house,

11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him;

12 the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people

13 with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;

14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.

15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.

16 In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.

Psalm 89

26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’

27 I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

28 Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.

Psalm 110

1 The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

2 The Lord sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.

3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.

4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.

7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.

The Prophecy of Nathan (2 Samuel 7:13-16)

<God’s Covenant with David>

7 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your 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 forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. 15 But I will not take[b] my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;[c] your throne shall be established forever. 17 In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

<David’s Prayer>

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people,[d] O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another[e] nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them,[f] by driving out[g] before his people nations and their gods?[h] 24 And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised. 26 Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; 29 now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

The Future Messiah

The expectation of a future, glorious messiah from the House of David is present in several prophetic text.

Isaiah

Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance. (Isaiah 2:4)
The whole world will worship the One God of Israel (Isaiah 2:11–17)
He will be descended from King David (Isaiah 11:1) via Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:8–10, 2 Chronicles 7:18)
The "spirit of the Lord" will be upon him, and he will have a "fear of God" (Isaiah 11:2)
Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership (Isaiah 11:4)
Knowledge of God will fill the world (Isaiah 11:9)
He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations (Isaiah 11:10)
All Israelites will be returned to their homeland (Isaiah 11:12)
Death will be swallowed up forever (Isaiah 25:8)
There will be no more hunger or illness, and death will cease (Isaiah 25:8)
All of the dead will rise again (Isaiah 26:19)
The Jewish people will experience eternal joy and gladness (Isaiah 51:11)
He will be a messenger of peace (Isaiah 52:7)
Nations will recognize the wrongs they did to Israel (Isaiah 52:13–53:5)
He will take the barren land and make it abundant and fruitful (Isaiah 51:3, Isaiah 11:6–9; cf. Amos 9:13–15, Ezekiel 36:29–30)

=Jeremiah

The people of Israel will have direct access to the Torah through their minds and Torah study will become the study of the wisdom of the heart (Jeremiah 31:33)[12]

Ezekiel

The ruined cities of Israel will be restored (Ezekiel 16:55)
Weapons of war will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:9)

Zechariah

The peoples of the world will turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance (Zechariah 8:23)

Psalms

He will give you all the worthy desires of your heart (Psalms 37:4)