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Messiah. The English translation of the Hebrew word (Mashiyach) for “Anointed One.”
The term "anointed one" has a very specific meaning on two levels. A
prophet was authorized by God to take a container of olive oil
and "anoint", or pour out the oil on the head of a person God had
selected to perform a specific office. Priests were anointed. In the first instance, God instructed the prophet Moses to set apart Aaron and his sons as priests by means of anointing oil (Ex. 28:41; 29:7, 21, 29; 30:30; 40:13-15; Lev. 8:12, 30, 10:7). Kings were anointed. In the second instance, God authorized the prophet Samuel to anoint first Saul, then David to be king of Israel. Yahweh had revealed to Samuel that he must anoint Saul to be Israel's King. He did so (1 Sam. 9:15-10:1). It is of particular interest that Samuel told Saul "the Spirit of the LORD" would come upon him mightily, that he would prophesy, and "be changed into another man" (1 Sam. 10:6). Yahweh fulfilled this prophecy just as Samuel had predicted (1 Sam. 10:9-13). We have then, the classic understanding of what it means to be God's anointed King. 1) A prophet anoints with olive oil the person God has selected to be King of Israel. 2) Then God in turn anoints that person with His Holy Spirit. God's Spirit rests upon that person, enabling him to be King with supernaturally heightened abilities. The same held true of David. When Saul had disobeyed God, God instructed Samuel to anoint David to be King. Samuel anointed David with oil, and the Holy Spirit "came mightily upon David from that day forward." At the same time, the Holy Spirit left Saul (1 Sam. 16:1-14). Elsewhere, Elijah was to anoint Hazael king of Aram and Jehu king of Israel (1 Kings 19:15-16). A prophet was anointed. In the third instance, God authorized the prophet Elijah to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place (1 Kings 9:16). Though there are examples of priests, kings, and at least one prophet being anointed, we typically attribute the term "Anointed One" to the office of king. In the New Testament, it is made clear that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s
Anointed One.
The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son whom she
was to name Jesus. He would be great and be called "the Son of
the Most High." God would "give him the throne of His father David." He
would "reign over the house of Jacob forever," and His kingdom would
have "no end" (Luke 1:26-33). Before His incarnation, Jesus existed as God’s eternal Word (Logos), or Message (John 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13). As such, He appeared infrequently as the Messenger of Yahweh (Angel of the LORD) in Old Testament times. Always Deity, He was also incarnated as Man at His birth in Bethlehem (John 1:14, 18). But it was not until Jesus’ baptism that God the Father anointed God the Son with His Holy Spirit, making Jesus the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-12; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:32-34). At His baptism, God anointed Jesus to all three offices, Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, Jesus verbally proclaimed God’s messages to the Jewish people. Many of His words are contained in the four Gospels, and in the Book of Revelation. By these He continues to speak through the written Word to both Jews and Gentiles. He also authorized His apostles to be His spokesmen (John 14:25-26; 16:13). Thus, the New Testament is in a sense a record of Christ’s pronouncements as Prophet. As Priest, Jesus offered Himself up as the perfect Lamb of God (Isa. 53:7; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6, 8, 12; 6:1; 13:8) . As our great high priest (Psa. 110:4; Heb. 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:5, 10; 6:20; 7:26-28; 8:1-3; 9:11-12; 10:21) Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and He intercedes on behalf of believers at the throne of grace (Rom. 8:33-34; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2). As King, Jesus is presently seated at the right hand of the Father. But in a certain sense He lacks portfolio (a British term) in the sense that He awaits the Kingdom over which He is destined to rule as the only legitimate descendant of David. Jesus will one day, as King in Jerusalem, have law creation (legislative), law administration (executive), and law enforcement (judicial) responsibilities. Jesus will one day as King sit in judgment over all mankind (John 5:22-30; Rev. 20:11-15). Clearly Jesus of Nazareth has been anointed by God. But He has not yet been anointed by man. It is my personal belief that, upon Jesus' return to earth to set up His Davidic rule from Mount Zion in Jerusalem over Israel and over all the earth, God will instruct some Jewish official to anoint Jesus with olive oil. (See also the Glossary discussion of Christ. See also the index for more extensive discussions of Jesus as the Christ, or Messiah.) Millennium. The one-thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. The term is accurately derived from Rev. 20:1-7, where the phrase “thousand years” is used six times. Amillennialists, those who deny a one-thousand year reign of Christ upon earth, assert that this number is figurative, but there is no valid lexical or syntactical reason to do so. What else could John have written to convey the idea that when he said “thousand years,” he meant “thousand years?” In just a few verses, John captures quantitatively that which the Old Testament prophets had predicted qualitatively for centuries – the glorious reign of the Messiah. Jesus’ Kingdom will be long-lived. It will last a thousand years, and then will morph into the Eternal Kingdom. It will be a spiritual kingdom, international in scope, with a unified worship of God. It will be a kingdom characterized by holiness, absent the deluding influence of Satan. It will be a kingdom of justice and righteousness. It will be a kingdom of great blessing, one in which there will be harmony between man and animals, nature will be beneficent, and the curse will be removed. It will be a kingdom of great economic prosperity. It will be a kingdom of peace and security, and one in which its citizens experience exceptional longevity. It will be a kingdom of great glory, and one in which Israel will enjoy global supremacy and honor. It will be a kingdom ruled by a descendant of David, namely Jesus, thus it will be a kingdom marked by joy. Last, it will be a kingdom accessed by faith in God and Jesus. All who refuse to believe will be tragically excluded. See a more extensive treatment of the Millennium. Mosaic Covenant.
The conditional contract Yahweh formed with the people of Israel in
which He agreed to be their invisible King and they His visible people
in the earth. This covenant was offered by Yahweh to Israel much as a
king in those days offered to protect a group of nomads if they in turn
would pledge to obey him and be his loyal subjects. Yahweh offered this
covenant to Israel in Exodus 19:1-6. The people verbally agreed to the covenant (Exod. 19:7-9). The terms of the covenant were spelled out in Exodus 19:10 - 23:33. The Blood Covenant was ratified in Exodus 24.
Moses took the blood of sacrificed animals and sprinkled half of it on
an altar, representing Yahweh. The other half he sprinkled on the
people (Exod. 24:1-8).
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel
completed the ratification by eating with the God of Israel on Mount
Sinai (Exod. 24:9-11).
The Mosaic Covenant is typically termed "The Law," or "Torah." In many
respects the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, are
known as "The Law." Through the prophet Jeremiah Yahweh introduced the New Covenant (Jer. 31:27-37), implying that the original (Mosaic) Covenant had been rendered obsolete (Heb. 8:13).
The people of Israel were unable to keep the Law, because it was
powerless to change their stony hearts into hearts of flesh. Only the
actions of the Spirit of God under the gracious terms of the New Covenant would be able to accomplish that (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26).
The Law was never meant to be a means of final sanctification because
of its impotence. It was meant to serve as a means of condemnation by
revealing sin (Rom. 3:19-20). It was meant to be a tutor to lead mankind to Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:24),
so that by trusting in Him, men may be declared righteous. So Jesus
Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes
in Him (Rom. 10:4). If you have difficulty locating a file, please contact the Web Master. Updated January 7, 2010 Background and Button Image Credit |
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