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Dennis Edwards
102:13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
At the time of Jesus’ birth some of the attentive Jewish and even foreign scholars and religious people were in expectation of the Messiah’s arrival. The prophecies of Daniel. 9:25 had predicted so. Some 483 years were destined to pass from the time the Persian ruler Artaxerxes Longimanus (465-425 BC) gave commandment for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt until the arrival of the Messiah. The Books of Nehemiah and Ezra cover the rebuilding of the walls which is the fulfilment of the first section of those time prophecies, a forty-nine year period.
In the records of Jesus’ birth, we see some examples of expectation of the coming of the Messiah which was present at that time.
Luke 2:25-32 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now let thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Simeon said to Mary and Joseph, “Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against,” Luke 2:34. Even today both the Jewish and Muslim people do not believe Jesus rose from the dead and speak against His resurrection and Lordship.
Simeon was waiting for the prophesized appearing of the Messiah. Ana the prophetess, at the same time came upon Simeon with Mary and Joseph and “gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spoke of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem,” Luke 2:38.
The account of the three wise men from the East, probably the land of Persia, who were familiar with the prophecies of Daniel, is found in Matthew 2. Daniel had been in captivity in Persia some 500 years before the birth of Jesus. His prophecies, no doubt, were still studied at that time. Daniel’s prophecies inspired the three important foreign scholars to travel to Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth to seek for Him.
When the wise men arrived at Jerusalem, the Jewish scholars inform the king of the birth place of the awaited Messiah. “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,” Matthew 2:5.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
The Jewish people were well aware that the coming of the Messiah was at hand. In the calling of Jesus’ disciples, recorded in the gospel of John, we find the same anticipation. First, we see John the Baptist calling Jesus, “the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world,” John 1:29.
The next day John the Baptist is with two of his disciples and he again repeats what he had said the day before. “Behold, the Lamb of God,” John 1:36. The two disciples on hearing John’s declaration follow Jesus and become His disciples. One of those disciples was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He goes and finds his brother and says:
John 1:41 We have found the Messias.
Peter, likewise, ends up following Jesus. The next day Jesus calls Philip, who was also of Bethsaida. Philip calls his best friend named Nathanael and says, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,” John 1:45b.
When Nathanael finally gets to talk to Jesus to discern if his friend’s remark is true, he says, “Teacher, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of the Jews,” John 1:49. Nathanael accepts the claim of Philip and articulates the meaning held by the Jewish people of the Old Testament prophecies.
The coming Messiah would be the Son of God and the expected King of the Jews, who they had hoped would deliver them from the hand of the Romans, and bring in the Millennium kingdom. The new disciples of Jesus didn’t have a clear understanding of the prophecies, but they did recognise that Jesus was the One.
God’s people have always been hoping for the day when the kingdom would be given into the hands of the Son of man. They were familiar with Daniel’s prophecies just as the Persian wise men were.
Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before Him.
Wait a minute. In the Old Testament imagery, it was only God Himself that is seen riding on the clouds of heaven. Let’s look at those passages.
Deuteronomy 33:26-27 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rides upon the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them,
Psalm 68:32-33 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: to Him who rides upon the heavens of heaven, which were of old; lo, He does send out His voice, and that a mighty voice,
Maybe that’s the voice the Lord shouts at the time of the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Let’s get back to who is riding on the clouds of heaven.
Psalm 104:1-3 Behold the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with honour and majesty. Who covers Himself with light as with a garment: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain: who lays the beams of His chambers in the waters: who makes the clouds His chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind.
Isaiah 19:1 Behold, the Lord rides upon the swift cloud.
We see that in Old Testament prophecy it is the Lord God who rides upon the clouds. However, in Daniel 7:13 it is the Son of man who is riding upon the clouds, normally, imagery given only to God Himself.
In the New Testament we see the imagery pertains to Jesus and yet it sounds as if Jesus and the Father are the same.
Revelation 1:7 Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Acts 1:11b This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven (on a cloud), shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
We can see from the parallel imagery of both the Father and the Son how the early church fathers came to the understanding of the Trinity. Three persons in One Being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are one. Yes, it’s hard for us to get our head around it. But why should we be able to completely understand an infinitely Intelligent Being with our limited understanding? The Messiah, God the Father, and Jesus are pictured as riding on the clouds of heaven.
We have been looking at the Old Testament verses to see that the Jewish people at the time of Jesus had an expectation of the Messiah’s arrival. They also assumed that the Messiah would over throw the Roman Empire and usher in the Millennium kingdom. Here are some verses from Isaiah describing the Messiah and Millennium period.
Isaiah 11: 1-4 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse (Jesus is a descendant of Jesse, the father of King David), and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isaiah 11:5-9 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
The Jewish people at the time of Jesus, and even His disciples, were under the understanding that the Messiah would at that time bring in the Millennium kingdom. They did not understand that the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 had to atone for the sins of man first, that the Messiah had to suffer as a lamb to the slaughter before He would come as a conqueror. Some Jewish theologians thought there were two Messiahs: one Messiah Ben-David, and one Messiah Ben-Joseph. Ben-Joseph is the suffering servant who dies in battle before the arrival of Ben-David. Ben-David defeats Israel's enemies and brings in God's kingdom reign gaining eternal life.
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