Biblical Research Studies Group-Messiah: His Nature and Person-Early Rays of Messianic Glory

(Continued-Chapter III-Early Rays of Messianic Glory)

Daniel gave us some additional information on this point. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2). This passage shows that in the resurrection the dead come forth; some to everlasting salvation; others to eternal condemnation.

"The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich:
He bringeth low, he also lifteth up" (vs. 7).

Verse 7 affirms that the destiny of man is not in his own hand but in the Lord's. In the final analysis of human affairs it is seen that man is very frail and impotent. Frequently he feels that he can carry out his plans of accomplishing great things but little does he realize that he is wholly dependent upon God every moment of his life. The Lord through Moses warned Israel not to think that she of herself had the ability to make money, saying, "remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day" (Deut. 8:18). The Lord warned us not to put our trust in man because of his frailty and inability to carry out his plans:

In verse 8 Hannah continued the thought concerning the Lord's overruling providence in abasing the proud and in exalting the humble. He sometimes elevates the lowly to positions of trust and responsibility. Acting on this principle, He took Saul from the humble walks of life and made him king of His people. The same thing He did for David. Others He exalted to positions of trust and power in association with monarchs. Even in the heathen world the Lord overrules and brings certain ones into positions of authority in order to carry out His plans in regard to the world.

The statement, "To make them sit with princes, And inherit the throne of glory," calls for special attention. As seen in the preceding paragraph, Hannah called attention to the fact that the Lord raises up from time to time those whom He will. In the lines just quoted she states the object of His acting thus. The phrase, "To make them sit with princes," signifies that those whom He elevates are raised to regal honor and power. The following phrase, "And inherit the throne of glory," is parallel to the preceding line and explains its significance, namely, the establishment of a dynasty in Israel that should occupy the throne of glory. The drift of thought of the entire poem confirms this position by showing that there loomed before the mind of the prophetess not only the Lord's general activity and overruling providence among the nations but also His special control of Israel which would soon assume the concrete form of an earthly kingdom with all of its outward grandeur and power.*

What throne may be correctly called the throne of glory? To think of the throne of any heathen monarch is absolutely out of the question since all of the world, except Israel, was lying in heathen darkness and sin. As seen above, the Lord intended that Israel should be a holy people unto Himself and should constitute the kingdom of God upon earth. This fact immediately identifies Israel as the nation which should, in accordance with the divine will, constitute the kingdom of God upon earth and her throne as the throne of glory referred to in this passage. This position is confirmed by two passages in I Chronicles. Addressing the assembled officials of his government, David in his final speech called attention to the Lord's having selected him in accordance with His previously announced plan of sending the world Redeemer through the tribe of Judah. In his statement David informed us that the kingdom of Israel was the kingdom of God and his throne, the throne of the Lord. "Howbeit the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel; and of all my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel" (I Chron. 28:4,5).

The chronicler in recording the fact that Solomon succeeded David on the throne said: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him" (I Chron. 29:23). From the two quotations given above it is evident that the kingdom of Israel was recognized by both David and the inspired historian as the kingdom of God and David's throne as the throne of God upon earth. In the days of Jeremiah the prophet a great drought throughout the land of Israel caused much suffering and distress. The prophet with a great burden on his heart for his people pled with the Lord to show mercy, saying, "Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake; do not disgrace the, throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us" (Jer. 14:21). The context makes it clear that the throne of David is here called the throne of glory. The same usage appears in Jeremiah 17:12. In looking into the future this same prophet foretold the time when Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord.

בָּעֵת הַהִיא יִקְרְאוּ לִירוּשָׁלִַם כִּסֵּא יְהוָה וְנִקְווּ אֵלֶיהָ כָל־הַגּוֹיִם לְשֵׁם יְהוָה לִירוּשָׁלִָם וְלֹא־יֵלְכוּ עוֹד אַחֲרֵי שְׁרִרוּת לִבָּם הָרָע׃

"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart" (Jer. 3:17).

In view of the facts presented in the last paragraph, it is evident that the throne of David was called both "the throne of glory" and "the throne of the Lord." The kings of Judah were to sit thereon occupying it "until he come whose right it is" (Ezek. 21:27). The expression, "throne of the Lord," may be taken either in its primary meaning or in a secondary sense. In the latter case, the throne is the Lord's in that He chose Israel to be His peculiar people and entered into an everlasting covenant with David and his seed. In its primary import, it signifies that the Lord Himself will eventually mount it and reign over Israel and the world. In order to determine what is its meaning we will be guided by the rule which says that every word must be taken at its primary, ordinary, and literal meaning unless the context indicates otherwise. The contexts of the two chronicles passages will allow either interpretation. The statement of Jeremiah (3:17), however, allows only the primary significance. This prophet lived during the declining days of the Davidic kingdom and after the collapse of the nation at the hands of the Babylonians. The overthrow had not come when he uttered the wonderful prophecy recorded in the third chapter of his book. In verse 16 he foretold the time when the memory of the ark of the covenant would cease in Israel. At that time Jerusalem will be called the throne of the Lord. Since at the time of the prophet's making this prediction the throne of Judah was the throne of the Lord in the secondary sense, it is evident that the prophecy must be understood in its primary significance. Therefore we may confidently look forward to the time when the Lord in person comes to Zion and makes it His capital.

The literal interpretation of this phrase is confirmed by the clear declarations of Isaiah and Zephaniah.

"Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar. Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? where is he that counted the towers? Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the Lord will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey" (Isa. 33:17-23).

"Sing, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, 0 daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; 0 Zion, let not thy hands be slack. The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of thee; to whom the burden upon her was a reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee; and I will save that which is lame, and gather that which was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord" (Zeph. 3:14-20).

The facts given above together with many others that might be mentioned make it clear that "the throne of glory" foreseen by Hannah was indeed the throne of David which was occupied by the Davidic dynasty and which will ultimately be mounted by "him whose right it is" when He comes. The kings of Judah were types, though imperfect, of this great future Ruler of Israel whose presence will truly make it a throne of glory. From many other passages we learn that this King will reign from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The statements, "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And he hath set the world upon them," speak of the Lord's creative activity in terms of carpentry. Since He is the creator, He is rightfully the one to control the world.

"Put not your trust in princes,
Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God:
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that in them is;
Who keepeth truth for ever;
Who executeth justice for the oppressed;
Who giveth food to the hungry.
The Lord looseth the prisoners;
The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raiseth up them that are bowed down;
The Lord loveth the righteous;
The Lord preserveth the sojourners;
He upholdeth the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Thy God, 0 Zion, unto all generations.
Praise ye the Lord" (Ps. 146:3-10).

D. Strophe Four

רַגְלֵי חֲסִידָו יִשְׁמֹר וּרְשָׁעִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ יִדָּמּוּ׃ כִּי־לֹא בְכֹחַ יִגְבַּר־אִישׁ׃ יְהוָה יֵחַתּוּ מְרִיבָו עָלָו בַּשָּׁמַיִם יַרְעֵם יְהוָה יָדִין אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ וְיִתֶּן־עֹז לְמַלְכּוֹ וְיָרֵם קֶרֶן מְשִׁיחוֹ׃

"He will keep the feet of his holy ones;
But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;
For by strength shall no man prevail.
They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
Against them will he thunder in heaven:
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And he will give strength unto his king,
And exalt the horn of his anointed" (I Sam. 2:9,10).

This strophe begins with the assurance that the Lord will keep and protect His people during times of judgment and calamity. The first two lines, though forming a parallelism, contrast God's protection of His people with His judgments upon the wicked during the period of darkness, the time of Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:7).

The holy or godly ones חֲסִידָו are those who are in covenant relations with the Lord. The fact that they are called "holy ones" does not imply anything as to their real character. This word simply means one who has obtained favor. It is not to be inferred that they gain the Lord's favor by their good works for such a supposition is impossible. The psalmist gives us the truth on this point: "Gather my saints together unto me, Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Ps. 50:5). The context of this quotation shows that the writer is talking about the same time and the very judgments which Hannah saw in her vision. Hence it is certain that those called holy ones in Hannah's song are called saints by the psalmist, for in the original the same word occurs in both passages. They obtain favor not by good works but by entering into covenant relations with God by sacrifice. This principle may be illustrated by the ceremony of the Passover. The night Israel left Egypt she screened herself, in accordance with the divine command, behind the blood of the Passover lamb and escaped the judgment which fell upon the Egyptians.

"For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Ex. 12:12,13).

It is evident from the historical record that Israel was not spared the judgment of God because of her goodness or her works but because of her screening herself behind the blood of the appointed sacrifice.

The prophets constantly promised the faithful remnant that God would protect it during the time of His judgments in the earth. For instance, see Isaiah 33:13-16, noting especially the last verse. Also examine the promise found in Isaiah 26:20: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." Again note the language of Zephaniah: "Seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of the Lord's anger" (2:3b).

The last statement of verse 9 of our poem calls attention to a most important truth: "For by strength shall no man prevail." The Lord through Zechariah impressed this same thought upon the heart of Zerubbabel: "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, לֹא בְחַיִל וְלֹא בְכֹחַ כִּי אִם־בְּרוּחִי Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, 0 great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it" (Zech. 4:6,7). Truly "man proposes, but God disposes."

"They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
Against them will he thunder in heaven:
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And he will give strength unto his king,
And exalt the horn of his anointed" (vs. 10).

The first statement of this verse implies that the time will come when men will strive against God. In the vernacular of today, we would say that this prophecy indicates a time when men either in general or in controlling numbers will take an atheistic, hostile attitude against God and will blaspheme His name. The seed thought suggested in this statement is expanded into a definite oracle in the second Psalm: "Why do the nations rage (tumultuously assemble). And the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, And cast away their cords from us" (vss. 1-3). The first verse of this prediction foretells the general spread of atheism and its momentary triumph throughout the world, whereas verse 2 apprises us of the fact that at some time the rulers of the world will meet in convention for the express purpose of banishing the idea of God and His Messiah from the minds of men. This hostile attitude against God and His Messiah will enjoy only a temporary victory, for, when they will have filled with their blasphemies the cup of their iniquity to overflowing (cf. Gen. 15:16), the Lord will "speak unto them in his wrath. And vex them in his sore displeasure" (Ps. 2:5). The result of His sending His judgments upon a world flinging defiance into His face is that "they that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces; Against them will he thunder in heaven: The Lord will judge the ends of the earth."

In the final conflict with the rebellious of earth, the Lord "will give strength unto his king, And exalt the horn of his anointed." The Lord subdues the nations unto the ends of the earth but does it through Messiah. This fact is presented in various passages of the Prophets and the Psalms. (See Psalms 2, 45, and 110.)

When Messiah accomplishes His conquests, He mounts the throne of David and reigns from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Amos paints the picture.

"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God (Amos 9:11-15).

In the discussion of verse 8 we saw that the Davidic dynasty was in view; but at the conclusion of the hymn the dynasty has vanished and we see only one individual, King Messiah. He appears at the time when iniquity is flourishing but by God's strength he conquers the world and reigns.

This passage is the first one to designate a king of Israel as Messiah. It is upon the authority of this verse that Israel's great sages called her future deliverer King Messiah. The last couplet shows that this position is correct. King in the first line corresponds to Messiah in the second. Therefore the ancient synagogue was correct in expecting Messiah to come, to subdue Israel's enemies, and to establish a reign of righteousness upon the earth. Thus in this poem our inspired singer has shown the stately march of our God through the centuries to the final consummation.

SUMMARY

In our investigation of the early predictions concerning Messiah, we found that He is presented to us under differing circumstances which of necessity determine the phraseology and the imagery used. Upon close study of each oracle we discovered that the same individual, notwithstanding the variety of presentations, stood before the mind of the inspired writer. The first promise (Gen. 3:15) presents, with a few master strokes of the inspired artist, a perfect yet a designedly obscure outline of the Redeemer's portrait. In each succeeding prediction the prophets added new strokes, each of which brought out more clearly the real features of this superman, the divine-human Saviour.

He who, in the first oracle, is called the seed of the woman immediately became the object of the most ardent hopes. Echoes of this promise are heard in Adam's naming his wife and in her ejaculation at the birth of her first child. The same hope found expression in the prediction of Lamech concerning the Comforter who should give rest to humanity by His lifting the curse from the ground. The Comforter is identified as the seed of Abraham in whom all families of the earth shall be blessed. He is also the Ruler from the tribe of Judah who shall have the obedience of all nations and the Star out of Jacob who shall subdue all peoples. In Hannah's Song of Praise these ancient rays of hope are focused upon Him and from that time onward He is known as Israel's Messiah. Hence at the threshold of the monarchy in Israel He stands forth in full stature as the divine-human Messiah of Israel and King of the world.

Footnotes:

* The mention of a king and the throne of glory in this poem has led certain rationalistic critics to conclude that it is of later origin. The assumption underlying this objection is that such an idea as a kingdom had not arisen in Israel at that time. This theory overlooks the fact that the Lord had promised Israel that she should constitute a kingdom of priests unto Himself--if only she would obey Him (Ex. 19:5,6). The idea of a king in Israel dates back to the call of Abraham and continued to be cherished as a hopeful possibility until the desire materialized in the establishment of the monarchy under Saul. A. F. Kirkpatrick in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, Volume on I Samuel summarizes the evidence in the following statement: "It has been alleged that the mention of the king stamps the song as of later date, posterior to the establishment of the monarchy. This is by no means the case. The idea of a king was not altogether novel to the Israelite mind. The promise to Abraham spoke of kings among his posterity (Gen. xvii. 6): the Mosaic legislation prescribes the method of election and the duty of the king (Deut. xvii. 14-20): Gideon had been invited to establish a hereditary monarchy (Jud. viii. 22). Anointing, too, was recognized as the regular rite of admission to the office (Jud. ix. 8). Amid the prevalent anarchy and growing disintegration of the nation, amid internal corruption and external attack, the desire for a king was probably taking definite shape in the popular mind. The prophet who came to Eli speaks again of 'the Lords anointed' (ii. 35). But who so worthy to be first chosen to anticipate the future as the mother of him who was destined to guide the chosen nation through this critical epoch of its existence, and superintend the foundation of the Davidic-Messianic kingdom?" (pp. 55, 56).