my name, I shall myself require an account from him.’”

Though the promised Anointed One would not receive his kingdom when on earth, would he yet present himself to his people as the King and Ruler foretold by the prophets? Yes, but he would do so in an entirely unexpected way. He would not then come on the clouds of heaven or to smash the yoke of Roman domination, but he would come as the prophet Zechariah foretold: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zech. 9:9, AS) Would this king be accepted by his own people?

MESSIAH’S REJECTION AND DEATH

Contrary to expectation, the long-promised Messiah, when appearing as a man, would be accepted by only a few. The Jewish people as a nation must reject him as being the promised Messiah, as Isaiah foretold in the fifty-third chapter of his book. “He was despised, and we held him as of no account,” foretold Isaiah. “We ourselves accounted him as plagued, stricken by God and afflicted.”—Isa. 53:3, 4.

Finally, as if to climax the utterly unexpected, God’s Anointed One must be put to death at the hands of those who rejected him. Yes, persecution and death would be Messiah’s lot “despite the fact that he had done no violence and there was no deception in his mouth.” Does Messiah resist? Said God’s prophet: “He was being brought just like a sheep to the slaughtering; and like a ewe that before her shearers has become mute, he also would not open his mouth.”—Isa. 53:9, 7.

Psalm twenty-two is another inspired account telling beforehand of the things Messiah must suffer. Read this psalm for the many specific ways Messiah must suffer. For instance, of Messiah’s executioners this psalm says: “Like a lion they are at my hands and my feet.” They even cast lots for his garments: “They apportion my clothing among themselves, and upon my garment they cast lots.”—Ps. 22:16, 18.

How disappointing all this would be to those Jews who would be looking for deliverance at the time of Messiah’s appearance! Many Jews would fail to see that the prophets foretold two comings of the Messiah, each for a separate purpose. At his first coming Messiah comes as a man; at his second coming or presence he comes as a glorious spirit creature to bring about fulfillment of the glorious prophecies concerning his everlasting rule. Many Jews would reject Messiah the man because of their thinking that he should have fulfilled those marvelous prophecies about his coming in glory at his first coming.

THREE STRIKING IDENTIFYING MARKS

It is estimated that there are three hundred or more references to the Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures. Actually just three of them are enough to fix Messiah’s identity beyond doubt.

First, the one destined to be the promised Messiah would be born, by God’s power, of a virgin, even as Jehovah God foretold through Isaiah: “Look! The maiden herself will actually become pregnant, and she is giving birth to a son.”—Isa. 7:14.

Second, the Messiah, shortly after being put to death, would be raised from the dead by God’s power. This was foretold at Psalm 16:10: “For you will not leave my soul in Sheol.”

Third, Messiah must appear at an exact time. When? The angel Gabriel told Daniel, and this prophet tells us: “Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.”—Dan. 9:24, 25, AS.

So “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” unto Messiah the prince would be sixty-nine weeks. How long are these sixty-nine weeks? They are not weeks of days but weeks of years, in harmony with the rule “each day for a year,” often found in Bible chronology.—Ezek. 4:6; Num. 14:34 AV.

When do these sixty-nine weeks of years, or 483 years, begin counting? They begin, as Daniel said, “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” When was this? History tells us it was 455 B.C. That year King Artaxerxes decreed that Jerusalem and its wall be rebuilt. This is found at Nehemiah 2:1-8. So starting with 455 B.C., the 483 years would end A.D. 29. This is the exact time for Messiah to appear. He could not appear on earth either before or after that date.

Well, then, did Messiah appear A.D. 29? Indeed he did! Luke 3:1-4 says: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, . . . God’s declaration came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. So he came into all the country around the Jordan, preaching baptism of those repenting for forgiveness of sins.” About six months later Jesus of Nazareth came to John and was baptized, and at this baptism it was evidenced that Jesus became the Messiah, the Anointed One; for he was anointed with God’s holy spirit.—See Matthew 3:13-17, John 1:32-34 and Luke 4:17-19.

Jesus Christ alone met all the requirements fixed by the Hebrew Scriptures. He was born of the tribe of Judah, a descendant of King David. (Matt. 1:1-3; Luke 3:31, 33) He was born in Bethlehem. (Matt. 2:1, 5, 6) He was born of a virgin. (Matt. 1:22, 23) He made his entry into Jerusalem on an ass. (Matt. 21:4, 5) He was rejected by the Jewish people as a whole. (Mark 9:12; 12:10, 11; John 1:11; Acts 4:11) He was silent before his accusers; he was impaled on a stake. (Matt. 27:12-14; Mark 15:25) He was raised from the dead, there being more than five hundred witnesses of this. (Mark 16:6; Acts 2:31; 1 Cor. 15:6) Jesus was anointed as Messiah in the exact year foretold by Daniel—A.D. 29!

Jesus Christ is the Seed of God’s woman, the Seed of Abraham, the Prince of Peace, the promised Messiah. Now Messiah is King, having received the heavenly kingdom at the hands of his Father. Only those who listen to and obey Messiah’s words will survive into God’s new world, there to enjoy the blessing of everlasting life after this world and its god, Satan the Devil, are destroyed by the Seed of God’s woman. How vital to heed Moses’ warning: “Any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people”!—Acts 3:23.

No Conflict with Science

Elmer Maurer, a research chemist, said: “I have found nothing in natural science, in chemistry, that conflicts with the Bible.”—The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe.