So, then, what kind of sacrifice could cover Adam’s sin so that Jehovah could forgive people and ‘remember their sins no more’?

An equal exchange is required​—‘soul for soul,’ that is, life for life. (Deuteronomy 19:21) Nothing less than a perfect human life​—like Adam’s life before he sinned—​could balance the scales of justice. Only someone with such a perfect life, uncontaminated by sin inherited from Adam, could provide the atoning sacrifice. (Psalm 49:7-9 [49:8-10, TNK]) Only God could produce such a perfect life, without a human father, as He did when he created Adam.​—Genesis 2:7.

Who alone could present himself as an atoning sacrifice?

Only the Messiah could be the atoning sacrifice. He will indeed come as a Deliverer. (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2:2, 8) But first, he must provide a perfect “guilt offering”​—a complete covering for our sins, both inherited and committed.​—Leviticus 7:1; Isaiah 53:6, 10.

What else do the Scriptures say about the Messiah and his role?

GOD progressively revealed details about the Messiah’s origin and role. Consider a sampling:

What did God promise Abraham about the Messiah?

God told faithful Abraham that the Messiah​—the promised “seed”—​ would be one of his descendants. “By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.”​—Genesis 22:18.

What did God tell Isaac?

God reiterated to Isaac the promise He had made to Abraham: “I will carry out the sworn statement that I swore to Abraham your father, ‘. . . by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.’”​—Genesis 26:3, 4.

What did Moses say about the Messiah?

When Israel was about to enter the Land of Promise, Moses told the nation: “A prophet from your own midst, from your brothers, like me, is what Jehovah your God will raise up for you​—to him you people should listen.”​—Deuteronomy 18:15.

What did God promise David about the Messiah?

“I shall certainly raise up your seed after you, which will come out of your inward parts; and I shall indeed firmly establish his kingdom. . . . Your very throne will become one firmly established to time indefinite.”​—2 Samuel 7:12, 16.

“I myself shall place him as firstborn, the most high of the kings of the earth. To time indefinite I shall preserve my loving-kindness toward him, and my covenant will be faithful to him. And I shall certainly set up his seed forever and his throne as the days of heaven.”​—Psalm 89:27-29 [89:28-30, TNK].

How did the prophet Jeremiah confirm these promises?

“‘I shall make sprout for David a righteous sprout,’ . . . for this is what Jehovah has said, ‘There will not be cut off in David’s case a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.’”​—Jeremiah 33:15, 17.

What would the Messiah be like?

“Upon him the spirit of Jehovah must settle down, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of mightiness, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah . . . And with righteousness he must judge the lowly ones, and with uprightness he must give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. . . . To him even the nations will turn inquiringly.”​—Isaiah 11:1, 2, 4, 10.

Where would the Messiah be born?

“You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.”​—Micah 5:2 [5:1, TNK].

When would the Messiah arrive?

“There are seventy weeks that have been determined . . . From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks. . . . After the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. . . . And until the end there will be war.” (Daniel 9:24-26) Thus, it was foretold that the Messiah was to appear before the destruction of the Second Temple.

The “seventy weeks” of years​—490 years—​began in 455 B.C.E., the year that Persian King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the commission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The 69 weeks “until Messiah the Leader” ended in 29 C.E.a

Why would the Messiah have to die?

Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be rejected, “severed from the land of the living ones,” and his life would serve “as a guilt offering.” He would “bring a righteous standing to many people; and their errors he himself [would] bear.” (Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Leviticus 7:1) He would provide the sacrifice “to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error.”​—Daniel 9:24.

How would the Messiah “cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease”?​—Daniel 9:27.

After the Messiah’s perfect sacrifice, other sacrifices would no longer be needed nor mandated by God. That is why God could allow the temple to be destroyed and its sacrifices to cease.

PEOPLE have waited for the Messiah for thousands of years. To help us identify the time of his arrival, Messianic prophecies give us a picture of the conditions that would then exist in human society.

Would the Messiah’s arrival mean immediate fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies?

To fulfill the prophecies, the Messiah has to come twice​—first to cover sins, second to conquer his enemies. Thus, David says: “The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord [the Messiah] is: ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.’”​—Psalm 110:1.

What would happen when the Messiah returned?

Rather than welcoming the Messiah’s presence, the nations in general would attempt to resist his Kingdom. “Why have the nations been in tumult and the national groups themselves kept muttering an empty thing? The kings of earth take their stand and high officials themselves have massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one.”​—Psalm 2:1, 2.

“There will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, every one who is found written down in the book.”​—Daniel 12:1.

“When the wicked ones sprout as the vegetation and all the practicers of what is hurtful blossom forth, it is that they may be annihilated forever.”​—Psalm 92:7 [92:8, TNK].

It is of interest that the so-called New Testament, written by Jews, also foretells trying conditions just prior to the Messiah’s complete rule over all the earth. Consider the following descriptions:

IT IS the responsibility of any government to uphold the law. As King of God’s government, the Messiah will do no less. “Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”​—Psalm 37:10, 11.

How complete a change can we expect?

God will completely fulfill his promise to create “new heavens”​—a righteous government ruling over “a new earth.” (Isaiah 65:17) The blessings of the Messiah’s rule will not be limited to the land of Israel, but they will encompass “all the nations,” just as Jehovah promised Abraham. (Isaiah 2:2, 3; Genesis 22:18) God’s Kingdom under the Messiah will provide a permanent and universal answer to the challenge against God’s name and purpose.

How will life be different from today?

Mankind will see the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promise through Isaiah: “He will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.” The prophecy continues: “They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”​—Isaiah 2:4; 11:9.

How do we know that all of this will really happen?

It is the unchangeable purpose of Almighty God, Jehovah, who is God “in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:11) Jehovah himself tells us: “Remember the first things of a long time ago, that I am the Divine One and there is no other God, nor anyone like me; the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done; the One saying, ‘My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do.’” (Isaiah 46:9, 10) Jehovah has declared that he will realize his purpose through the Messiah. Who could possibly prevent him from doing so?

THE Messiah’s atoning sacrifice will completely remove the burden of sin and guilt from human hearts. Yet, his Kingdom will accomplish much more.

How will God use the Kingdom under the Messiah’s rule?

“In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. And he will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”​—Psalm 72:7, 8.

The blessings of the Messiah’s rule include endless life on earth. “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.” (Psalm 37:29) “There Jehovah commanded the blessing to be, even life to time indefinite.” (Psalm 133:3) “Like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full.”​—Isaiah 65:20-25.

Jehovah promised David “length of days to time indefinite, even forever.” (Psalm 21:4 [21:5, TNK]) To fulfill that promise will require a resurrection, as foretold elsewhere in the Scriptures. Consider a few examples: “If an able-bodied man dies can he live again? . . . You will call, and I myself shall answer you. For the work of your hands you will have a yearning.” (Job 14:13-15) “He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces.” (Isaiah 25:8) “You will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days.”​—Daniel 12:2, 13 [12:2, 12, TNK].

Jehovah has already demonstrated that he has the desire and the ability to bring dead ones back to life.​—1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:32-37; 13:20, 21.

THE Messiah’s rule will result in worldwide physical and, more important, spiritual blessings. “All the nations, for their part, will serve him. For he will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save.”​—Psalm 72:11-13.

“To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite.”​—Isaiah 9:7 [9:6, TNK].