Proponents of Christianity go to great lengths to try to prove by using Scriptures from the Old Testament that Jesus was THE Messiah promised in prophecy. The way these Scriptures are used, misinterpreted and taken out of context, really make it look like Jesus actually did fulfill these prophecies and was actually the prophesied Messiah.
But there are some very basic things that the Messiah was to accomplish at his coming that did not happen, and when it comes to these prophecies, Christian apologists go to lengths to create some very far fetched reasons those things didn’t occur.
You have to remember that the Old Testament prophets that the Christians like to quote and use as their evidence that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, were Jews. The Old Testament is actually their book that Christians conveniently misinterpret to make it look like Jesus actually was the Messiah. However, the Jews are the ones who initially announced the coming of The Messiah, and it is they who should be determining how the Messiah qualifies.
There are many prophecies that Jesus Christ seems to have fulfilled, especially when it comes to the crucifixion. However, though many prophecies appear to have been fulfilled in Jesus, there are a few very key and crucial prophecies that were not fulfilled at his coming.
Apologists claim this is because those prophecies will be fulfilled at is second coming. This claim is very a very convenient way to explain away such important prophecies, but in fact there is no where in the Old Testament or in any Jewish teachings that even allude to a second coming — this is a Christian invention.
The messianic prophecies are clearly defined in Jewish Scriptures and the truth is, that not even one was fulfilled at his coming.
All the prophecies happen at the appearing of the Messiah:
And David My servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd . . . and My servant David shall be their prince forever” (Ezekiel 37:24-25).
In the day Messiah comes there would be:
- Peace and prosperity over all the Earth (Isa 2:4; 11:6-8)
- All of Israel’s enemies defeated (Zac 14:3-4)
- All the tribes of Israel scattered around the world gathered back to their own land (Isa 43:5-6)
- God’s righteous reign in all the world. (Isa 2:3-4, Isa 11, Mic 4:1-3)
- The rebuilding of the temple — the third temple. (Ezekiel 37:26-28)
- Unity of all of Humanity in the universal knowledge of the God of Israel. (Mic 4:1-3, Zec 14:9, Isa 11:9)
Obviously, not one of these conditions was met when Jesus arrived.
The Execution of the Christian Messiah
Moreover, the fact that he was captured by the Romans and executed created the idea of the second coming which was born out of great disappointment because Jesus was unable to fulfill some of the most important prophecies. It was obviously a big let down for the Jewish people since, they thought he was the “one” they had been anxiously awaiting to lead them against their enemies, was to “redeem Israel” or…
save Israel from their enemies the Romans…:
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle…
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. (Zec 14:1-3)
…which obviously he failed to do:
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel… and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. (Lk 24:21)
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