Lee Strobel, who wrote The Case for Christ, has this year published a new book called The Case for the Real Jesus, which investigates "current attacks on the identity of Christ".
"Challenge #5" against Christianity is that "Jesus Was an Imposter Who Failed to Filfill the Messianic Prophecies".
Strobel's interviewee for this section, Michael Brown, begins his biblical evidence in favour of Jesus as the Messiah by quoting Genesis 49:10 - "The scepter will not depart from Judah".
The full verse is: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."
"Until he comes to whom it belongs" is an interpretation of the word shiloh, understood by Jews and Christians to refer to the Messiah.
However, it appears that the scepter departed from Judah before Jesus walked the earth - about 607 years before, when Jerusalem was besieged (Daniel 1:1-2). 2 Kings 24:1-4 shows that the overthrow of Judah was God's intention.
How could Jesus be the Messiah if the scepter departed before he arrived?
One possible explanation is that Gen 49:10 is not Messianic after all, but that would mean one less scripture available to support the belief that Jesus was the Messiah. Then the question would be: "Do the other purportedly Messianic prophecies hold up?" Another is that the verse is Messianic but someone else is - or was - the Messiah. Indeed, some Jews claim David was the Messiah and that "David" will be the name of the Messiah on his return.
2 comments:
Of the twelve sons of Jacob, which developed later into the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah was the tribe that this prophecy says the Messianic King will come from.
Jesus' lineage was traced back through Judah through both His mother, Mary, and his step-father, Joseph. These genealogies show that Jesus actually is, by birth the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. He really was born the "King of the Jews."
At His trial before Pontius Pilate, he remained silent until Pilate addressed Jesus with this question:
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
At the conclusion of their short conversation Jesus makes this simple declaration in answer to that question: "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness of the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice."
All of the rightful Kings of the Jews with the exception of Saul, (who fought and lost against David, the rightful king)were from the royal tribe of Judah. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah and was rejected-also a prophetic fulfillment (Isaiah 53).
Jesus remains the rightful King and will yet reign in Jerusalem (unfulfilled at this time) after the Battle of Har-Megiddo, or more commonly called Armageddon.
In Nov. 2006 I referenced 315 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled early in my blog. http://thefundidriveby.blogspot.com/2006/11/old-testament-prophecies-fulfilled-by.html
be sure to read the "astronomical odds" segment at the end of that
article.
How does the line of descent of Jesus account for the fact that rule by Judah did not continue uninterrupted until Jesus came? It would seem that uninterrupted rule is what the prophecy predicts.
It will be interesting to see whether this prophecy is one of the 315 that you have referenced as fulfilled. I would say the "astronomical odds" of the prophecies' fulfilment are much lower if the prophecies have not, in fact, been fulfilled.
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