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Leo in the Ancient Zodiac

In today’s horoscope if you are born between July 24 and August 23 you are a Leo, Latin for lion.  In this modern astrology horoscope reading of the ancient zodiac, you follow the horoscope advice for Leo to find love, good luck, health, and gain insight on your personality.

But how did the ancients read Leo? What did it mean to them?

Be Warned! Answering this will open up your horoscope in unexpected ways- embarking you on a different journey then you intended when just checking your horoscope sign…

Astrology of the Leo Constellation

Here is a picture of the star constellation that forms Leo.  Can you see anything resembling a lion in the stars?

Photo of Leo star constellation. Can you see a lion?

Even if we connect the stars in Leo with lines it is still hard to ‘see’ a lion.

Leo Constellation with stars joined by lines and named

Here is a National Geographic poster of the zodiac, showing Leo in the Northern Hemisphere.

National Geographic star chart with Leo circled

How did people first come up with a Lion from this? But Leo goes back as far as we know in human history.

As with all the other zodiac constellations, the image of Leo is not obvious from the constellation itself. It is not innate within the star constellation. Rather, the idea of the Lion came first. The first astrologers then overlaid this idea onto the stars to be a recurring sign.

Why?

What did it mean to the ancients?

Leo in the Zodiac

Here are some common astrology images of Leo.

Leo in the Stars
Leo ready to pounce

Consider the zodiac in the Dendera Temple of Egypt with Leo circled in red.

Leo in the Ancient Dendera Zodiac of Egypt

Leo in the Ancient Story

We saw in Virgo that the Bible states that God made the constellations. He gave them for guidance before written revelation. Adam and his sons taught them to their children to instruct them of God’s Plan.

Leo concludes the story.  So even if you are ‘not’ a Leo in the modern horoscope sense, the ancient astrological story of Leo is worth knowing.

Original meaning of Leo

In the Old Testament, Jacob gave this prophecy of the tribe of Judah

You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. Genesis 49:9-10

Genesis 49:9-10

Jacob declared that a ruler will come, a ‘he’ pictured as a lion. His rule would include ‘the nations’ and he would come from the tribe of Judah of Israel. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah and was anointed the Christ. But in that coming he did not pick up the ruler’s scepter. He is saving that for his next coming when he will come like a Lion to rule. This is what Leo pictured from the earliest times.

The Victorious Lion

Looking to this coming, the writings describe the Lion as the only one worthy to open the sacred scroll.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 5: 1-5

The Lion triumphed over his enemy at his first coming and so now is able to open seals that usher in the End. We see this in the ancient Zodiac by noting Leo over his enemy Hydra the Serpent.

Lion Leo trampling the Serpent at Ancient Dendera
Leo pouncing on Hydra in Medieval Painting
Sketch of Constellations. Leo is going to seize the head of the Serpent

The Conclusion of the Zodiac Story

The intent of the Lion’s struggle with the Serpent was not simply to defeat him, but to rule. The writings picture the rule of the Lion with these words.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. Revelation 21:1-7

Revelation 21:1-7

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:22-27

Revelation 21:22-27

In this vision we see the fulfillment and completion of the Zodiac. We see the bride and her husband; God and his children – the double-sided picture image in Gemini. We see the river of water – promised in Aquarius. The old order of death – pictured by the bands around Pisces – is no more. The Lamb dwells there – pictured in Aries, and the resurrected people – pictured with Cancer – live with Him. The scales of Libra now balance since ‘nothing impure will ever enter’. We see the Kings of all the nations there as well, ruling under the authority of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Messiah – beginning as the seed of Virgo, and at the End revealed as the Lion.

The Hostages of the Zodiac Story

A question remains. Why did the Lion not simply destroy Satan the serpent at the very beginning? Why go through all the Zodiac chapters? When Jesus faced his adversary Scorpio he marked that hour with:

Now is the hour (horo) for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

John 12:31

The prince of this world, Satan, was using us as human shields. When confronted with a powerful military force terrorists will often take cover behind civilians. This creates a dilemma for the police in that they might kill the civilians while they take out the terrorists. When Satan succeeded in tempting Adam and Eve he created a human shield for himself. Satan knew that The Creator is absolutely just and if he punished sin then, to be righteous in his judgment, he must judge all sin. If God destroyed Satan, then Satan (which means The Accuser) could simply accuse us of our own wrongdoing, requiring our judgment along with him.

To look at it in another way, our disobedience brought us into Satan’s legal control. If God destroyed him then He would have to destroy us also because we also were caught up in Satan’s disobedience.

The Need for Rescue before Judgment

So we needed rescuing from Satan’s demand that any judgment on him must also come upon us. We needed ransoming from our sin. The Gospel explains it like this:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3

OUR Ransom NOW PAID

In his sacrifice pictured in Capricorn Jesus took that wrath upon himself. He paid the ransom so we could go free.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesian 2: 4-9

God never intended the Judgment of Hell for people. He prepared it for Satan. But if he judges the devil for his rebellion then He must do the same for those not ransomed.

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:41

Our Way of Escape now Made

This is why Jesus achieved a great victory at the cross. He freed us from the legal right that Satan had over us. He can now strike Satan without having to also strike us. But we must choose to take this escape from Satan’s dominion. Leo is currently holding back from striking the serpent so that people can escape from that Judgment.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

This is why we find ourselves today still waiting for the final strike against Satan, pictured in Sagittarius, and still waiting for the final Judgment, pictured in Taurus. But the writings warn us.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3: 10

2 Peter 3: 10

The Leo Horoscope in the Ancient Writings

Horoscope comes from the Greek ‘Horo’ (hour) and means the marking (skopus) of special hours or times.  The Writings mark the Leo hour (horo) in the following way.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour (horo) has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Romans 13:11

This declares that we are like people sleeping in a building that is burning up. We need to wake up! This is the hour (horo) to wake up because Leo is coming. The roaring Lion will strike and destroy Satan and all still in his legal dominion.

Your Leo Horoscope Reading

You can apply the Leo Horoscope reading in this way

Leo tells you that yes, there are scoffers who, scoff and following their own evil desires. They say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that God has and will judge and then everything in this world will be destroyed. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of person ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise you need to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation for you and those around you. Since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.

The Ancient Zodiac Story began with Virgo.

To go deeper in the written story of Leo see:

Download PDF of the Zodiac chapters as a book

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Why did a Good God create a Bad Devil?

The Bible says that it was the devil (or Satan) in the form of a serpent who temped Adam and Eve to sin and brought about their fall.  But this raises an important question:  Why did God create a ‘bad’ devil (which means ‘adversary’) to corrupt His good creation?

Lucifer – The Shining One

In fact, the Bible says that God created a powerful, intelligent, and beautiful spirit  who was chief among all angels. His name was Lucifer (meaning ‘Shining One’) – and he was very good.  But Lucifer also had a will with which he could freely choose.  A passage in Isaiah 14 records the choice he made:

How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the North.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”

Isaiah 14:12-14

Lucifer, like Adam, faced a decision.  He could accept that God was God or he could choose to be his own ‘god’.  His repeated “I wills” show that he chose to defy God and declare himself to be ‘Most High’. 

A passage in Ezekiel gives a parallel description of the fall of Lucifer:

You were in Eden, the garden of God.
…  I ordained and anointed you
as the mighty angelic guardian.
You had access to the holy mountain of God
and walked among the stones of fire.
“You were blameless in all you did
from the day you were created
until the day evil was found in you.
… and you sinned.
So I banished you in disgrace
from the mountain of God.
I expelled you, O mighty guardian,
from your place among the stones of fire.
Your heart was filled with pride
because of all your beauty.
Your wisdom was corrupted
by your love of splendor.
So I threw you to the ground.

Ezekiel 28:13-17

Lucifer’s beauty, wisdom and power – all the good things created in him by God – led to pride.  His pride led to his rebellion, but he never lost any of his power and abilities.  He is now leading a cosmic revolt against his Creator to see who will be God.  His strategy was to enlist mankind to join him. He did so by tempting them to the same choice that he made: become autonomous from God and defy Him.  The heart of Adam’s temptation was the same as Lucifer’s. It was just presented differently.  They both chose to be ‘god’ to themselves.

Satan – working through others

The passage in Isaiah speaks to the ‘King of Babylon’ and the Ezekiel passage speaks to the ‘King of Tyre’.  But from the descriptions given it is clear they do not speak to humans.  The “I wills” in Isaiah describe someone thrown to the earth in punishment for wanting to place his throne above that of God.  The passage in Ezekiel addresses an ‘angelic guardian’ who once moved in Eden and the ‘mountain of God’.  Satan (or Lucifer) often puts himself behind or through someone else.  In Genesis he speaks through the serpent.  In Isaiah he rules through the King of Babylon, and in Ezekiel he possesses the King of Tyre.

Why did Lucifer revolt against God?

But why did Lucifer want to challenge the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator?  Part of being ‘smart’ is to know whether or not you can defeat your opponent.  Lucifer may have power, but that would still be insufficient to defeat His Creator.  Why lose everything for something he could not win?  I would think that a ‘smart’ angel would have recognized his limitations against God – and hold back his revolt.  So why didn’t he? 

But consider that Lucifer could only believe that God was His all-powerful Creator by faith – the same as for us.  The Bible suggests that God created angels during creation week.  For example, a passage in Job tells us:

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:…

Job 38:1

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.

Job 38:4

…while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy?

Job 38:7

Imagine that Lucifer was created, becoming sentient during creation week, somewhere in the universe. All he knows is that now he exists and is self-aware. Also another Being claims that He has created Lucifer and the universe. But how does Lucifer know that this claim is true?  Perhaps, this so-called creator had popped into existence in the stars just before Lucifer popped into existence. Since this ‘creator’ arrived earlier on the scene, he was (perhaps) more powerful and (perhaps) more knowledgeable than Lucifer. But then again maybe not.  Perhaps both he and the ‘creator’ just popped into existence simultaneously.  Lucifer could only accept God’s Word to him that He had created him, and that God himself was eternal and infinite. But in his pride he chose to believe his fantasy instead.

gods in our minds

Maybe you doubt that Lucifer could believe that both he and God (and the other angels) just ‘popped’ into existence.  But this is the same basic idea behind the latest thinking in modern cosmology.  There was a quantum fluctuation of nothing, and then out of this fluctuation the universe popped into existence. That is the essence of modern cosmology theories.  Fundamentally, everyone – from Lucifer to Richard Dawkins & Stephen Hawkings to you & me – must decide by faith whether the universe is self-contained or was created and sustained by a Creator God.

In other words, seeing is not believing.  Lucifer had seen and talked with God. But he still had to accept ‘by faith’ that God had created him.  Many people say that if God would just ‘appear’ to them, then they would believe.  However, in the Bible many people saw and heard God – but still did not take Him at His word.  ‘Seeing’ alone never resulted in trust. The issue was whether they would accept and trust His Word about Himself and themselves.  The fall of Lucifer is consistent with this.

What is the Devil doing today?

So, according to the Bible, God did not create a ‘bad devil’, but a beautiful, powerful and intelligent angelic being.   In pride he led a revolt against God – and in doing so was corrupted. Yet he retains his original splendor.  You, I and all of mankind have become part of the battleground in this contest between God and his ‘adversary’ (devil).  The devil’s strategy is not about wearing sinister black cloaks like ‘Black Riders’ in the Lord of the Rings. Nor does he put evil curses on us.  Instead he seeks to deceive us from the redemption that God has accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  As the Bible says:

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

Because Satan and his servants can masquerade as ‘light’ we are more easily tricked.  Perhaps this is why the Gospel always seems to run against our instincts and against all cultures.

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What is the History of the Jewish People?

Jews are one of the most ancient peoples in the world. The Bible, ancient historians outside the Bible, as well as archeology, all record their history. We have more facts about their history than that of any other nation. We will use this information to summarize their history.  To make the history of the Israelites (an Old Testament word for the Jewish people) easier to follow, we will use timelines.

Abraham: The Jewish Family Tree Begins

The timeline starts with Abraham. God promised that through him God would bless all nations. Then God tested him in the symbolic sacrifice of his son Isaac.  This was a sign pointing to Jesus by marking the future location of his sacrifice.  God then named Isaac’s son Israel.  The timeline continues in green when Israel’s descendants were slaves in Egypt. This period began with Joseph, son of Israel (the genealogy was: Abraham -> Isaac -> Israel (also known as Jacob) -> Joseph). He led the Israelites to Egypt, where later on the Egyptians enslaved them.

bible timeline with abraham and moses in history
Living in Egypt as slaves of Pharoah

Moses: The Israelites become a Nation under God

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt by the Passover Plague, which destroyed Egypt and allowed the Israelite Exodus from Egypt to the land of Israel. Before he died, Moses announced Blessings and Curses on the Israelites (when the timeline goes from green to yellow).  God would bless their obedience but curse them if they did not obey. These Blessings & Curses would follow the Jewish people ever after.

bible historical timeline from Abraham to david
Self-Rule as a confederation of Tribes with no king and no capital

For several hundred years the Israelites lived in their land but they did not have a King, nor did they have the capital city of Jerusalem. However, with King David at 1000 BCE this changed.

historical timeline Living with Davidic Kings ruling from Jerusalem
Kings of David ruling from Jerusalem

David establishes a Royal Dynasty at Jerusalem

David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city. He received the promise of a coming ‘Christ’. From that time on the Jewish people waited for the ‘Christ’ to come.  His son Solomon, rich and famous, succeeded him and built the First Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The descendants of King David continued to rule for about 400 years. This was the period of Israelite glory – they had the promised Blessings.  They were a powerful nation; had an advanced society, rich culture, and a magnificent Temple. The timeline shows this period in aqua-blue (1000 – 600 BCE).

But the Old Testament also describes their growing corruption during this time.  Many prophets in this period warned the Israelites that the Curses of Moses would come if they did not repent. But the Isralite nation ignored their warnings.  During this time the Israelites divided into two separate kingdoms. There was the northern Kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, and the southern Kingdom of Judah. This is like Koreans today, one people split in two countries – North and South Korea.

The First Jewish Exile to Babylon

Finally around 600 BCE the Curses happened. Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful Babylonian King came just like Moses had predicted 900 years before when he wrote in his Curse:

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28: 49-52)

Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, burned it, and destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built. He then exiled the Israelites to Babylon. This fulfilled the predictions of Moses that:

Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

Deuteronomy 28:63-64
jewish historical timeline Conquered and exiled to Babylon
Conquered and exiled to Babylon

So for 70 years, the period shown in red, the Israelites lived as exiles outside the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. The term Jews began in this period in reference to their foremost tribe Judah.

Return from Exile under the Persians

After their exile, the Persian Emperor Cyrus conquered Babylon and Cyrus became the most powerful person in the world. He permitted the Jews to return to their land.

jewish historial timeline Living in the Land as a part of Persian Empire
Living in the Land as a part of Persian Empire

However they were no longer an independent country, they were now a province in the Persian Empire.  This continued for 200 years, shown in pink in the timeline. During this time the Jews rebuilt the Jewish Temple (known as the 2nd Temple) and the city of Jerusalem.  Though the Persians permitted the Jews to return to the land of Israel, many remained abroad in exile.

The period of the Greeks

Then Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and made the Israelites a province in the Greek Empires for another 200 years. The timeline shows this period in dark blue.

jewish historical timeline Living in the Land as part of Greek Empires
Living in the Land as part of Greek Empires

The Period of the Romans

Then the Romans defeated the Greek Empires and they became the dominant world power. The Jews again became a province in this Empire. The timeline shows this period in light yellow. This is the time when Jesus lived.  This explains why there are Roman soldiers in the gospels. The Romans ruled the Jews in Israel during the life of Jesus.

jewish historical timeline Living in the Land as part of Roman Empire
Living in the Land as part of Roman Empire

The Second Jewish exile under the Romans

From the time of the Babylonians (586 BCE) the Jews had not been independent. A succession of other empires ruled them.  The Jews resented this and they revolted against Roman rule. The Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem (70 CE), and burned down the 2nd Temple. Then they deported the Jews as slaves across the Roman Empire. This was the second Jewish exile. With the vastness of the Roman Empire the Jews eventually scattered around the whole world.

Jerusalem and Temple destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. Jews sent into world-wide exile
Jerusalem and Temple destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. Jews sent into world-wide exile

This is how the Jewish people lived for almost 2000 years, dispersed in foreign lands and never totally accepted there. In these different nations they regularly suffered great persecutions.  This persecution of the Jews was particularly true in Europe.  From Spain, in Western Europe, to Russia the Jews lived often in a dangerous situations in these kingdoms.  Jews emigrated to India and Kaifeng, China to escape these persecutions.  The Curses of Moses back in 1500 BCE were accurate descriptions of how they lived.

… Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

Deuteronomy 28:65

God gave the Curses against the Israelites to make peoples ask:

All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”

Deuteronomy 29:24

And the answer:

And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. 28 In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

Deuteronomy 29: 25-28

The timeline below shows this 1900 year period as a long red bar.

Historical Timeline of the Jews - featuring their two periods of exile
Historical Timeline of the Jews – featuring their two periods of exile

Note that the Jewish people went through two periods of exile. But the second exile was much longer than the first exile. an the first exile.

The 20th Century Holocaust

The persecutions against the Jews peaked when Hitler, through Nazi Germany, tried to exterminate all the Jews living in Europe. Six million Jews lost their lives in what today we know as the Holocaust. Hitler almost succeeded but he was defeated and a remnant of Jews survived.

Modern Re-birth of Israel

The fact that there were people who self-identified as ‘Jews’ after thousands of years without a homeland was remarkable. During this period the Jews even lost their native language, Hebrew. But this allowed the final words of Moses, written down 3500 years ago, to come true.  In 1948 the world, through the United Nations, saw the incredible re-birth of the modern state of Israel. This fulfilled what Moses had written centuries before regarding how their exile would end.

then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.

Deuteronomy 30:3-5

The Jews established their modern state of Israel in spite of great opposition. Most of the surrounding nations waged war against Israel in 1948 … in 1956 … in 1967 and again in 1973. Israel, a very small nation, was sometimes at war with five nations at the same time. Yet not only did Israel survive, but her territory increased. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel regained Jerusalem, her historic capital city David had founded 3000 years ago.  The creation of the state of Israel, and the consequences of these wars, has created one of the most difficult geo-political tensions of our world today.

As Moses predicted (explored further here), the re-birth of Israel created an impetus for Jews to return to Israel.  Per Moses’ blessing they are being ‘gathered’ from the most ‘distant lands’ and being brought ‘back’.  Moses wrote that both Jews and non-Jews should note the implications.

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The Branch: Named hundreds of years before his birth

We saw how Isaiah used the image of The Branch.  A ‘he’ from the fallen dynasty of David, possessing wisdom and power was coming.  Then Jeremiah followed up by stating that this Branch would be known as the LORD (the Old Testament name for God) himself.

Zechariah continues The Branch

Zechariah in Timeline of History

The prophet Zechariah lived 520 BCE, just after the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem from their first exile to Babylon.  At that time, the Jewish people were rebuilding their destroyed temple.  The High Priest then was a man named Joshua, and he was re-starting the work of priests. Zechariah, the prophet, was partnering with his colleague Joshua, the High Priest, in leading the Jewish people. Here is what God – through Zechariah- said about this Joshua:

‘”Listen O High Priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch.” …, says the LORD Almighty, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day”.’

Zechariah 3:8-9

The Branch!  Started by Isaiah 200 years before, continued by Jeremiah 60 years earlier, Zechariah carries on further with ‘The Branch’.  Here God also calls the Branch ‘my servant’.  In some way the High Priest Joshua in Jerusalem at 520BCE, colleague of Zechariah, was ‘symbolic’ of this coming Branch. 

But how?

It says that in ‘a single day’ the sins will be removed by the LORD. How would that happen?

The Branch: Uniting Priest and King

To understand we should know that God strictly separated the roles of Priest and King in the Bible. None of the Kings could be priests, and the priests could not be kings. The role of the priest was to mediate between God and man by offering sacrifices to God. The responsibility of the King was to rule with justice from the throne. Both were crucial; both were distinct. Yet Zechariah wrote that in the future:

The word of the Lord came to me:…

Zechariah 6:9

Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’

Zechariah 6: 11-13

Against previous precedent, Joshua, the high priest in Zechariah’s day, was to symbolically put on the king’s crown as the Branch. (Remember Joshua was ‘symbolic of things to come’).  Joshua, the High Priest, by putting on the crown prophesied a future uniting of King and Priest into one person. This coming Branch would be a priest on the King’s throne.  Furthermore, Zechariah wrote that ‘Joshua’ was the name of the Branch. What did that mean?

The name ‘Joshua’ is the name ‘Jesus’

We had summarized pertinent details of Bible translation here necessary to understand further. The original Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in 250 BCE, and called the Septuagint or LXX.  We saw how the Septuagint made the title ‘Christ’ well-known. Here we follow that same analysis for ‘Joshua’.

joshuajesus-diagram
‘Joshua’ = ‘Jesus’. Both come from the Hebrew name ‘Yhowshuwa’

Joshua is a Hebrew transliteration of the original Hebrew name ‘Yhowshuwa’.  Quadrant #1 shows how Zechariah wrote ‘Joshua’ as ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew in 520 BCE.  Scholars transliterate the Hebrew ‘Yhowshuwa’ in modern Bible translations (#1-> #3). ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew is the same as Joshua in modern languages like English. But when the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew to Greek in 250 BCE Yhowshuwa was transliterated to Iesous (#1 -> #2). ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew is the same as Iesous in Greek. When scholars translate the Greek New Testament to modern languages (like English), Iesous is transliterated to ‘Jesus’ (#2 -> #3).  Iesous in Greek is the same as Jesus.

People called Jesus ‘Yhowshuwa‘ when they spoke to him in Hebrew. But the writers of the Greek New Testament wrote his name as ‘Iesous’. This was exactly as the Greek Old Testament Septuagint wrote that name. In New Testament translations of today’s modern languages (#2 -> #3) ‘Iesous’ is transliterated to the familiar ‘Jesus’.  

So the name: ‘Yhowshuwa’ = ‘Jesus’ = ‘Joshua’.

The name ‘Jesus’ goes through an intermediate Greek step, and ‘Joshua’ comes directly from the Hebrew.  

In summary, both Jesus of Nazareth, and Joshua the High Priest of 520 BCE had the same name. They were named ‘Yhowshuwa’ in their native Hebrew, but in Greek both were called ‘Iesous’. 

Jesus of Nazareth is the Branch

Now Zechariah’s prophecy makes sense. He predicted in 520 BCE that the name of the coming Branch would be ‘Jesus‘. In doing so he pointed directly to Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus of Nazareth is well-known outside the gospels.  The Jewish Talmud, Josephus and all other historical writers of Jesus, both friend and enemy, always referred to him as ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ’. So his name was not invented in the Gospels.  But Zechariah predicted his name 500 years before he lived.

Served as Priest…

This coming Jesus, according to Zechariah, would unite the King and Priest roles. What was it that the priests did? On behalf of the people they offered sacrifices to God to atone for sins. The priest covered the sins of the people by sacrifice. Similarly, the coming Branch ‘Jesus’ was going to bring a sacrifice so that the LORD could ‘remove the sin of this land in a single day’. This was the day Jesus offered himself as the sacrifice.

While known as Christ

Now think of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He certainly claimed to be a king – The King in fact. This is what ‘Christ‘ means.  But what he did while on earth was actually priestly. The priest offered acceptable sacrifices on behalf of the people. The death of Jesus was also an offering to God on our behalf. So his death was in his priestly role. In his death he fulfilled all the requirements as Priest, even as most know him as ‘The Christ’ or King.  In his resurrection, he showed his power and authority over death.  He brought the two roles together.

The Branch, the one that David long ago called the ‘Christ’, is the Priest-King.  Remarkably, the prophet Zechariah wrote down his name in prophecy over 500 years before his birth.

The Prophets then predicted when the Christ would come. We look at this next.

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The Sign of the Branch: The Dead Stump Reborn

Jesus had critics who questioned his authority.  He would answer them by pointing to the prophets that came before, claiming that they foresaw his life.  Here is one example where Jesus said to his critics:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,

John 5:39

In other words, Jesus claimed that he was prophesied in the Old Testament, which preceded him by hundreds of years. The Old Testament prophets claimed that God inspired their writings. Since no human can predict with certainty hundreds of years into the future, Jesus claimed this as evidence to check if he had really come as God’s plan or not. We can use this test to see if God exists and if He speaks.  The Old Testament, unchanged and pre-dating Jesus by hundreds of years, is available for us to examine and consider this same question for ourselves.

First some review.  The very beginning of the Old Testament hinted at Jesus’ coming.  Then Abraham’s sacrifice foretold the spot where Jesus was to be sacrificed while the Passover foretold the day in the year that it would occur.  We saw that Psalm 2 inaugurated the title ‘Christ’ to foretell a coming King.  But it did not end there.  Later prophets advanced additional prophetic themes. Isaiah (750 BCE) began a theme that later prophets developed – that of the coming Branch.

Isaiah and the Branch

The figure below shows Isaiah in a historical timeline with some other Old Testament writers.

isaiah-in-timeline
Isaiah shown in historical timeline. He lived in the period of the rule of the Davidic Kings

The timeline shows that Isaiah wrote his book in the period of David’s Royal dynasty (1000–600 BCE). At that time (ca 750 BCE) the dynasty and the kingdom was corrupt. Isaiah pleaded that the Kings return back to God and the practice and spirit of the Mosaic Law. But Isaiah knew that Israel would not repent. So he also prophesied her destruction and the termination of the royal dynasty.

He used a specific metaphor, or image, for the royal dynasty, picturing it like a great tree. This tree had at its root Jesse, the father of King David. On Jesse the Dynasty began with David, and from his successor, Solomon, the tree continued to grow and develop.

The image Isaiah used of the Dynasty as a tree

First a Tree … then a Stump … then a Branch

Isaiah wrote that God would soon cut this ‘tree’ dynasty down, reducing it to a stump. Here is how he began the tree image which then he turned into the riddle of a stump and Branch:

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge.”

Isaiah 11:1-2
Dynasty pictured as a Stump of Jesse – father of David

The cutting down of this ‘tree’ happened about 150 years after Isaiah, around 600 BCE. Then the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and dragged its people into exile (the red period in the timeline above). Jesse was the father of King David, and so was the root of David’s Dynasty. The ‘stump of Jesse’ was therefore a metaphor to the coming shattering of David’s dynasty.

The Branch: A coming ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

Shoot from the dead stump of Jesse

But this prophecy also looked further into the future than just the cutting down of the kings. Isaiah predicted that the ‘stump’ would look dead, as stumps do. Nonetheless, one day in the far future a shoot, known as the Branch, would emerge from that stump. Certain trees have this capability to send up shoots from stumps. Isaiah used this natural process to help us picture how the Branch would come. Isaiah refers to this Branch as a ‘him’ so Isaiah is talking about a specific man, coming from the line of David after the dynasty’s fall. This man would have such qualities of wisdom, power, and knowledge it would be as if the very Spirit of God would be resting on him.

Jesus … A ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

Jesus fits the requirement of coming ‘from the stump of Jesse’ since Jesse and David were his ancestors. What makes Jesus very unusual is the wisdom and understanding he possessed.  His shrewdness, poise and insight in dealing with opponents and disciples continue to impress both critics and followers ever since.  His power in the gospels through miracles is undeniable. One may choose not to believe them; but one cannot ignore them.  Jesus fits the quality of possessing exceptional wisdom and power that Isaiah predicted would one day come from this Branch.

Jeremiah and The Branch

Isaiah laid down a signpost in history with that prophecy. But it did not end there. His signpost is only the first of several signs. Jeremiah, living about 150 years after Isaiah, when David’s dynasty was actually being cut down before his very eyes wrote:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD our Righteousness“.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

Jeremiah expands on the Branch theme of David’s dynasty started by Isaiah 150 years earlier. The Branch will be a King who reigns. But this is exactly what Psalm 2 prophecy said of the coming Son of God/Christ/Messiah. Could it be that the Branch and the Son of God are one and the same?

The Branch: The LORD our Righteousness

But what is this Branch to be called? He would be called the ‘LORD’ who will also be ‘our’ (that is – us humans) Righteousness. As we saw with Abraham, the problem for humans is that we are ‘corrupt’, and so we need ‘righteousness’.  Here, in describing the Branch, Jeremiah hints that in the future people would get their needed ‘righteousness’ by the LORD – YHWH himself. (YHWH is the name for God in the Old Testament).  But how would this be done?  Zechariah fills in more details as he develops further about the Coming Branch. He even predicts the name of Jesus – which we look at next.

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Was Jesus the son of a virgin from the line of David?

We saw that ‘Christ’ is an Old Testament title.  Let us now look at this question: was Jesus of Nazareth that ‘Christ’ predicted in the Old Testament?

From the Line of David

David, author of Psalms, shown in Historical Timeline

Psalm 132 in the Old Testament, written 1000 years before Jesus lived, contained a specific prophecy.  It said:

10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.

11 The Lord swore an oath to David,
a sure oath he will not revoke:
“One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne….
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion…,
17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David
and set up a lamp for my anointed one.  (Psalm 132:10-17)

Long before Jesus, the Psalms predicted that God’s anointed one (i.e. ‘Christ’) would come from David.  This is why the gospels show Jesus to be in David’s genealogy. They want us to see that Jesus fulfills this prophecy.

The New Testament begins with this right from its first verse.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew 1:1

Was Jesus really from the line of David?

But how do we know that they did not just make up the genealogies to get a ‘fulfillment’?  They were sympathetic to Jesus and so perhaps wanted to exaggerate the truth.

When trying to find out what really happened, it helps to have the testimony of hostile witnesses.  A hostile witness was on-hand to see the facts but does not agree with the overall belief. So such a witness has motive for refuting testimony that might be false.  Suppose there was a car accident between persons A and B.  Both blame each other for the accident – so they are hostile witnesses.  Person A says that he saw person B texting just before the accident, and person B admits this. Then we could assume that this part of the dispute is true since person B has nothing to gain agreeing to this point.

In the same way, looking at records of hostile historical witnesses can help us determine what really happened with Jesus.  New Testament scholar Dr. FF Bruce studied Jewish Rabbi references to Jesus in the Talmud and Mishnah.  He noted the following comment about Jesus:

Ulla said: Would you believe that any defence would have been so zealously sought for him (i.e. Jesus)?  He was a deceiver and the All-merciful says: ‘You shall not spare him neither shall you conceal him’[Deut 13:9]  It was different with Jesus for he was near to the kingship”  p. 56

FF Bruce makes this remark about that rabbinical statement:

The portrayal is that they were trying to find a defence for him (an apologetic note against Christians is detected here).  Why would they try to defend one with such crimes?  Because he was ‘near to the kingship’ i.e. of David.  p. 57

In other words, hostile Jewish rabbis did not dispute the Gospel writers’ claim that Jesus was from David.  They did not accept Jesus’ claim to ‘Christ’ and opposed the Gospel claims about him. But they still admitted that Jesus was in the royal family of David.  So we know that the Gospel writers did not simply make that up to get a ‘fulfillment’.  Even the hostile witnesses agree on this point.

Was he Born of a Virgin?

The possibility remains that Jesus fulfilled this prophesy simply ‘by chance’.  There were also others from the Royal family.  But being born of a virgin!  There is no possibility that this could happen ‘by chance’.  It is either:

  1. A misunderstanding,
  2. A fraud, or
  3. A miracle – no other option is open.

The Genesis account of Adam hinted at a coming virgin birth. In the New Testament, Luke and Matthew clearly state that Mary conceived Jesus while she was a virgin.  Matthew also claimed that this was a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah (ca 750 BCE) which said:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (i.e. ‘God with us’)

Isaiah 7:14 (and quoted in Matthew 1:23 as a fulfillment)

Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding.  The original Hebrew הָעַלְמָ֗ה (pronounced haalmah), translated ‘virgin’, can also mean ‘young maiden’, i.e. a young unmarried woman.  Perhaps that is all that Isaiah meant to say, long ago in 750 BCE.  With a religious need on the part of Matthew and Luke to venerate Jesus they misunderstood Isaiah to mean ‘virgin’ when Isaiah had really meant ‘young woman’.  Add the unfortunate pregnancy of Mary before her marriage, and it developed into ‘divine fulfillment’ in the birth of Jesus.

The Witness of the Septuagint

Many people have advanced explanations somewhat like this. One cannot refute this because it is impossible to prove whether someone was a virgin or not.  But that explanation is too simplistic.  Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek around 250 BCE. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was called The Septuagint. So two hundred fifty years before Jesus lived Jewish rabbis wrote down their interpretation of Isaiah 7:14. How did these Jewish rabbis translate Isaiah 7:14 from the Hebrew into Greek?  Did they translate it as ‘young woman’ or ‘virgin’? Many people seem to know that the original Hebrew הָעַלְמָ֗ה can mean either ‘young woman’ or ‘virgin’. But few bring up the witness of the Septuagint which translates it as παρθένος  (pronounced parthenos), which specifically means ‘virgin’. 

In other words, the leading Jewish rabbis in 250 BCE, over two hundred years before Jesus’ birth, understood the Hebrew Isaiah prophecy to mean ‘virgin’.  The Gospel writers or by early Christians did not invent the virgin birth.  It was in Jewish thinking long before Jesus came.

The Rabbis knew what virgin entailed

Why would leading Jewish rabbis in 250 BCE make such a fantastic translation prophesying a virgin having a son? If you think it is because they were superstitious and unscientific, let’s think again. People in that time were farmers.  They knew how breeding worked.  Hundreds of years before the Septuagint Abraham knew that after a certain age came menopause and then childbearing was impossible. No, rabbis in 250 BCE did not know modern chemistry and physics, but they understood how animals and people reproduced. They would have known it was impossible to have a virgin birth.  But they did not shrink back and translate it as ‘young woman’ in the Septuagint. No, they stated it in black and white that a virgin would have a son.

Mary’s Context

Now consider the fulfillment part of this story.  No one can prove that Mary was a virgin. But remarkably, she was in the only and very brief stage of life where it could remain an open question.  This was an age of large families.  Families with ten children were common.  Given that, what was the chance that Jesus would be the oldest child?  Because if he had had an older brother or sister then we would know for certain that Mary was not a virgin.  In our day when families have about 2 children it is a 50-50 chance, but back then it was closer to a 1 in 10 chance.  The chance was 9 out of 10 that the virgin ‘fulfillment’ should just be dismissed by the simple fact that Jesus had an older sibling. But against the odds he didn’t.

Now add the remarkable timing of Mary’s engagement onto this.  If she had been married even for a few days, the virgin ‘fulfillment’ could again simply be dismissed.  On the other hand, if she became pregnant while not yet engaged she would not have had a fiance to care for her.  In that culture, as a pregnant but single woman she would have had to remain alone – if she had been allowed to live.

It is these remarkable and unlikely ‘coincidences’ that make the virgin birth impossible to disprove that strikes me.  These coincidences are not expected. Rather they show a sense of balance and timing as if a Mind were arranging events with plan and intent.

Witness of the rabbinical Writings

If Mary had been married before Jesus was born or if Jesus had older siblings, then hostile Jewish witnesses would surely have pointed that out.  Instead, it seems that, once again, they agree with the gospel writers on this point.  FF Bruce notes while explaining how rabbinical writings mention Jesus.

Jesus is referred to in rabbinical literature as Jesus ben Pantera or Ben Pandira.  This might mean ‘the son of the panther’.  The most probable explanation is that it is a corruption of parthenos, the Greek word for ‘virgin’ and arose from Christian references to him as a son of a virgin   (p57-58)

Today, as Jesus’ time, there is hostility to Jesus and the claims of the gospel.  Then, as now, there was significant opposition to him.  But the difference is that back then there were also witnesses, and as hostile witnesses they did not refute some basic points that they could definitely  refute, if these points had been made up or been in error.

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Simple but Powerful: What is the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice?

Jesus came to give himself as a sacrifice for all peoples so that we could escape our corruption and reconnect with God.  God declared this plan at the beginning of human history.  He then signed it in the sacrifice of Abraham by pointing to Mount Moriah where Jesus’ sacrifice would be provided.  Then the Jewish Passover sacrifice pointed to the day of the year when Jesus would be sacrificed.

Bad News … The Law of Sin and Death

Why is his sacrifice so important?  This is a question worth asking. The Bible declares a Law when it states:

For the wages of sin is death…

Romans 6:23

“Death” literally means ‘separation’.  When our soul separates from our body we die physically.  Similarly we are even now separated from God spiritually.  This is true because God is Holy (sinless) while we have become corrupted from our original creation and so we sin.

The diagram illustrates this. It pictures two cliffs with God opposite from us with a chasm between us.  Just like a branch cut from a tree is dead, so we have cut ourselves off from God and become spiritually dead.

We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm between two cliffs
We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm separating two cliffs

Merit from our Good Efforts is insufficient

This separation causes guilt and fear.  So what we naturally try to do is build bridges to take us from our side (of death) to God’s side.  We do this in many different ways: going to church, temple or mosque, being religious, being good, helping the poor, meditation, trying to be more helpful, praying more, etc. These deeds to gain merit can be very difficult – and living them out can be very complicated.  The next figure illustrates this.

Good Efforts – useful as they may be - cannot bridge the separation between us and God
Good Efforts – useful as they may be – cannot bridge the separation between us and God

The problem is that our hard efforts, merits, and deeds, though not wrong, are insufficient because the payment required (the ‘wages’) for our sins is ‘death’.  Our efforts are like a ‘bridge’ that tries to cross the gap separating us from God – but in the end cannot do it.  This is because good merit will not solve our root problem. It is like trying to heal cancer (which results in death) by eating vegetarian.  Eating vegetarian is not bad, it may even be good – but it will not cure cancer.  For cancer you need a totally different treatment.

This Law is Bad News – it is so bad we often do not even want to hear it and we fill our lives with activities and things hoping this Law will go away.  But the Bible stresses this Law of sin and death to get our attention to focus on the cure that is simple and powerful.

For the wages of sin is death but…

Romans 6:23

Good News of Life

The small word ‘but’ shows that the direction of the message is about to change directions, to the Good News of the Gospel – the cure.  It shows both the goodness and love of God.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

The good news of the gospel is that the sacrifice of Jesus’ death is sufficient to bridge this separation between us and God.  We know this because three days after his death Jesus rose bodily, coming alive again in a physical resurrection.   There exists historic, compelling evidence for this.  Abraham’s sacrifice and the Passover sacrifice prophetically acted out Jesus’ coming sacrifice.  God planned these signs pointing to Jesus to help us find the cure.

Jesus was a human who lived a sinless life.  Therefore he can ‘touch’ both the human and the God sides and span the gap separating God and people.  He is a Bridge to Life which the diagram illustrates.

Jesus is the Bridge that spans the chasm between God and man
Jesus is the Bridge that spans the chasm between God and man

Given as a Gift, not earned by Merit

Notice how God offers this to us.  He offers it as a … ‘gift’.  Think about gifts.  No matter what the gift is, if it is really a gift it is something that you do not work for and that you do not earn by merit.  If you earned it the gift would no longer be a gift – it would be a wage!  In the same way you cannot merit or earn the sacrifice of Jesus.  It is given to you as a gift.  It is that simple.

And what is the gift?  It is ‘eternal life’.  That means that God has cancelled the sin which brought you and me death.  Jesus’ bridge of life enables us to re-connect with God and receive life – which lasts forever.  God loves you and me that much.  It is that powerful.

The Gift Received

So how do we cross on this bridge of life that Jesus gives to us as a gift?  Again, think of gifts.  If someone gives you a gift it is something you do not work for.  But to get any benefit from the gift you must ‘receive’ it.  Every time a gift is offered to a recipient there are only two alternatives.  Either recipient refuses the gift (“No thank you”) or receives it (“Thank you for your gift.  I will take it”).  Likewise, you must receive this gift that Jesus offers to benefit from it.  You cannot simply believe, study, meditate upon it, or understood it.  The next figure illustrates this as we ‘walk’ on the Bridge by turning to God and receiving His Gift offered to us.

Slide4
Jesus sacrifice is a gift that each of us must choose to receive

So how do we receive this gift?  The Bible says that

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

Romans 10:12

Notice that this promise is for ‘everyone’.  Since he rose from the dead Jesus is alive even now and he is ‘Lord’.  So if you call on him he will hear and give his gift to you.  You call out to him and ask him – by having a conversation with him.  Perhaps you have never done this.  Below is a prayer that can guide you. It is not a magic chant.  The specific words used do not give it power.  It is the trust like Abraham had that we place in him to give us this gift.  As we trust him He will hear us and answer.  The Gospel is powerful, and yet also so simple.  Feel free to follow this guide if you find it helpful.

Dear Lord Jesus.  I understand that with my sins I am separated from God.  Though I can try hard, no effort and sacrifice on my part will bridge this separation.  But I understand that your death was a sacrifice to wash away all my sins.  I believe that you rose from the dead after your sacrifice so I know that your sacrifice was sufficient.  I ask you to please cleanse me from my sins and bridge me to God so I can have eternal life.  I do not want to live a life enslaved to sin so please free me from sin.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for doing all this for me and would you even now continue to guide me in my life so I can follow you as my Lord.

Amen

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Where does ‘Christ’ of Jesus Christ come from?

I sometimes ask people what Jesus’ last name was. Usually they reply, “I guess his last name was ‘Christ’ but I am not sure”.

Then I ask, “If so, when Jesus was a little boy did Joseph Christ and Mary Christ take little Jesus Christ to the market?”

Hearing it that way, they realize that ‘Christ’ is not Jesus’ last name. So, what is ‘Christ’? Where does it come from? What does it mean? That is what we will explore in this article.  Along the way we will also see where the title ‘Son of God’ comes from.

Translation vs. Transliteration

First we need to know some basics of translation. Translators sometimes choose to translate by similar sound rather than by meaning, especially for names or titles. This is known as transliteration. For the Bible, translators had to decide whether its words (especially names and titles) would be better in the translated language through translation (by meaning) or through transliteration (by sound). There is no specific rule.

The Septuagint

The Bible was first translated in 250 BCE when Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek.  This translation is the Septuagint (or LXX) and people used it widely in ancient times and even still today.  The apostles wrote the New Testament 300 years later in Greek. Therefore they quoted the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Old Testament.

Translation & Transliteration in the Septuagint

The figure below shows how this affects modern-day Bibles:

This shows the translation flow from original to modern-day Bible

The original Hebrew Old Testament is in quadrant #1. Because the Septuagint was a Hebrew to Greek translation (in 250 BCE) we show an arrow going from quadrant #1 to #2.  The New Testament authors wrote the New Testament in Greek, so this means #2 contains both Old and New Testaments. In the bottom half (#3) is a modern language translation of the Bible (eg English). To get this translation linguists translate the Old Testament from the original Hebrew (1 -> 3) and the New Testament from the Greek (2 -> 3). The translators must decide on transliteration or translation of names and titles as explained above.

Bibles translated in the Orthodox tradition (generally East European churches) translate the Old Testament from the Greek Septuagint. Thus, for these Bibles, both Old and New Testaments come from the Greek (2 -> 3).

The Origin of ‘Christ’

Now we follow this same sequence, but focusing on the word ‘Christ’ that appears in New Testaments.

Where does ‘Christ’ come from in the Bible

In the original Hebrew (in Quadrant #1) the word used for Christ was ‘mashiyach’. The Hebrew dictionary defines ‘mashiyach’ as an ‘anointed or consecrated’ person.  Passages of the Psalms prophesied a specific coming mashiyach (with a definite article ’the’). In the 250 BCE Septuagint translation, rabbis used a Greek word for the Hebrew mashiyach having a similar meaning, Χριστός = Christos. This came from chrio, which meant to rub ceremonially with oil.

Therefore the word Christos was translated by meaning (and not transliterated by sound) from the Hebrew ‘mashiyach’ into the Greek Septuagint to prophesy about this coming person. This is Quadrant #2.  The New Testament writers understood that Jesus was this very person prophesied in the Septuagint. So they continued to use the term Christos in the Greek New Testament. (again in Quadrant #2)

Christ in Bibles of Other Languages

But for other languages ‘Christos’ was then transliterated from the Greek into English (and other modern languages) as ‘Christ’. This is the lower half of the figure labelled #3.  Thus the modern ‘Christ’ is a very specific title from the Old Testament. It derives by translation from Hebrew to Greek, and then transliteration from Greek to other languages. Scholars translate the Hebrew Old Testament directly to modern languages without using Greek as an intermediate language. They have used different words in translating the original Hebrew ‘mashiyach’. Some transliterated the Hebrew ‘mashiyach’ to the word Messiah by sound. Others translated ‘mashiyach’ by its meaning and so have ‘Anointed One’ in these specific passages. In either of these cases we do not often see the word ‘Christ’ in modern Old Testaments. Therefore this connection to the Old Testament is not apparent. But from this analysis we know that in the Bible:

‘Christ’ = ‘Messiah’ = ‘Anointed One’

All of these have identical meanings and refer to the same original title. This is similar to how 4= ‘four’ (English) = ‘quatre’ (French) = 6-2 = 2+2. These are all math and language equivalents of ‘4’.

Anointing was the process that a king designate went through in order to become king. This is similar to how getting elected is the process by which a Prime Minister or President gains the right to rule today. We might say the Prime Minister is the ‘elected one’ in the same way we would say the king is the ‘anointed one’. So the ‘Anointed One’, or ‘Messiah’, or ‘Christ’ designated a King, someone who would rule.

Old Testment prophecies of ‘The Christ’

So where does the title ‘Christ’ first come? We see it as a prophetic title already in the Psalms, written by David ca 1000 BCE – long before the birth of Jesus.

King David, author of Psalms, in Historical Timeline

2 The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.

Psalm 2: 2-7

The Anointed One is also the ‘Son of God’

Here we also see that the Lord’s decree addresses the Anointed as ‘my Son’.  In other words, God calls ‘The Anointed’ his ‘son’. This is where the title ‘Son of God’ originates, from Psalm 2.  Thus, it was not invented by Jesus or even by New Testament writers.  It is synonymous with the Anointed One. So now:

‘Christ’ = ‘Messiah’ = ‘Anointed One’ = ‘Son of God’

The related title ‘Son of Man’ we explore here.

The Christ anticipated in 1st Century

With this knowledge, let’s make some observations from the Gospel. Below is the reaction of King Herod when the wise men from the East came looking for the king of the Jews. This forms part of the story of the birth of Jesus. You will see ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ used here, depending on the translation. Notice, ‘the’ precedes Messiah or Christ, even though it is not referring specifically about Jesus.

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

Matthew 2:3-4

Notice that the very idea of ‘the Christ’ (or ‘the Messiah’) was already commonly understood between Herod and his religious advisors, even before Jesus’ birth. They use the title without referring specifically to Jesus. This is because, as explained above, ‘Christ’ comes from the Old Testament Psalms written hundreds of years earlier by King David. This was commonly read by Jews of the 1st century (like Herod) from the Greek Septuagint. The title existed hundreds of years before there were any Christians.

King Herod became ‘greatly troubled’ because he felt threatened by this Christ, which he understood to be a rival King. So we see in King Herod’s reaction both the meaning of Christ (a King) and its ancient roots, originating long beforehand.

Christ in Psalm 132

The Psalms had further references to this coming Christ. I put the standard passage side-by-side with a transliterated one with ‘Christ’ in it so you can see it.

Psalm 132- From HebrewPsalm 132 – From Septuagint
O Lord, …10 For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your anointed one.11 The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne— …17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. ”O Lord, …10 For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your Christ.11 The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne— …17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my Christ. ”

Psalm 132 speaks in the future tense (“…I will make a horn for David…”) like so many passages throughout the Old Testament.  Jews have always been waiting for their Messiah (or Christ). The fact that they are waiting or looking for the coming of the Messiah is because of the future-looking prophecies in the Old Testament.

So to sum up.  The following titles are synonymous and all derive from the Psalms.

Christ = Messiah = Anointed One = Son of God

The Old Testament prophecies: Specified like a lock-key system

That the Old Testament specifically predicts the future makes it unusual literature. It is like the lock of a door. A lock has a certain shape so that only a specific ‘key’ that matches the lock can unlock it. In the same way the Old Testament is like a lock. We saw some of this in the articles on Abraham’s sacrifice, Adam’s beginning, and Moses’ Passover.  Psalm 132 now adds the requirement that ‘the Christ’ would come from the line of David.  This raises the question: Is Jesus the matching ‘key’ that unlocks the prophecies?

We look at whether Jesus fits the prophecy of coming from the line of David here. We begin exploring The Branch theme of prophecies here.

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Moses’ Farewell Speech: History marching to the beat of its drum

Moses’ Blessings & Curses in Deuteronomy

Moses lived about 3500 years ago and he wrote the first five books of the Bible. We call them the Pentateuch or the Torah. His fifth book, Deuteronomy, contains his last proclamations made just before he died. These were his Blessings to the people of Israel – the Jews, but also his Curses.  Moses wrote that these Blessings and Curses would shape history. All peoples, not just by the Jews, should pay attention to them. So he wrote this for you and me to think about. The complete Blessings and Curses are here. I summarize the main points below.

Timeline with Moses. The Blessings and Curses given just before he died.

The Blessings of Moses

Moses began by describing the blessings that the Israelites would receive if they obeyed The Law.  He gave the law in the earlier books and they included the Ten Commandments.  The blessings were from God and would be so great that all other nations would recognize His blessing. The outcome of these blessings would be that:

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.

Deuteronomy 28:10

… and the Curses

However, if the Israelites failed to obey the Commands then they would receive Curses that would match and mirror the Blessings. The other nations would see these Curses so that:

You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:37

And the Curses would extend through history.

They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.

Deuteronomy 28:46

But God warned that the worst part of the Curses would come from other nations.

The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed … until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land.

Deuteronomy 28:49-52

It would go from bad to worse.

You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. … Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

Deuteronomy 28:63-65

God established these Blessings and Curses by a covenant (an agreement) between Him and the Israelites:

You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.

Deuteronomy 29:12-15

In other words this covenant would be binding on the children, or future generations. In fact God directed this covenant at future generations – both Israelite and foreigner.

Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”

Deuteronomy 29:22-24

And the answer will be:

And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. 28 In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

Deuteronomy 29:25-28

Did The Blessings and Curses happen?

Nothing neutral about them. The Blessings were delightful, but the Curses were utterly severe. However, the most important question we can ask is: ‘Did they happen?’ The answer is not hard to find. Much of the Old Testament is the record of the history of the Israelites and from that we can see what happens in their history. Also we have records outside the Old Testament, from Jewish historians like Josephus, Graeco-Roman historians like Tacitus and we have found many archeological monuments. All of these sources agree and paint a consistent picture of the Israelite or Jewish history. Review the summary of this history, given through the building of a timeline here.  Read it and assess for yourself if the Curses of Moses came to pass.

The Conclusion to Moses’ Blessings and Curses

But this Farewell Speech of Moses did not end with the Curses. It continued. Here is how Moses final conclusion.

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors

Deuteronomy 30:1-5

After Moses, successive writers in the Old Testament continued with this promise that he first stated. There would be a restoration after the Curses.  These later writers made bold, troubling and detailed predictions. Together they make an astounding set of predictions that are happening today.