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From: Dean and Susan Wheelock
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Messianic Prophecies:


              Dean and Susan Wheelock have a ministry called Hebrew
roots. They produce a quarterly magazine called Hebrew roots. If you
would like to receive the magazine, please send an e-mail to Dean and
Susan at: (dewheelock@aol.com) or write them at the following address:



                                   Hebrew Roots
                                      P.O. Box 98
                               Lakewood, WI 54138

                                   1-715-757-2775


       Messianic Prophecies: Numbers and Deuteronomy


                                  From the website:

 http://www.geocities.com/hebrew_roots/html/hr-3-4-06.html



                      THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES


                                         THE TORAH

                   And beginning at Moses and all the
                   Prophets, He expounded to them in all the
                   Scriptures The things concerning Himself.
                   Luke 24:27

 The Prophecy:

      "`He has not observed iniquity in Jacob.
      Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
      The LORD his God is with him,
      And the shout of a King is among them.'"
     (Num. 23:21)

      Edersheim: "... the term `King' is expressly referred to the
      Messiah. See also Num. xxiv. 7." (p. 714)

      Ancient Source: Targum Pseudo Jonathan and Jerusalem Targum.

     "`He shall pour water from his buckets,
      And his seed shall be in many waters.
      His king shall be higher than Agag,
      And his kingdom shall be exalted.'"
      (Num 24:7)

      As Believers we understand that Yeshua is to be King of kings
      and Lord of lords. "And He has on His robe and on His thigh a
      name written:

      KING OF KINGS
      AND LORD OF LORDS."
      (Rev. 19:16)

     The Prophecy:

     "`I see Him but not now;
     I behold Him, but not near;
     A Star shall come out of Jacob;
     A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
     And batter the brow of Moab,
     And destroy all the sons of tumult.'"
     (Num. 24:17)

      Edersheim: "Balaam's prediction of the Star and Sceptre is
referred to the Messiah.... Similarly, verses 20 and 24
of that prophecy are ascribed ... to the Messiah." (p. 714)
Ancient Source: Targum Onekelos and Pseudo Jonathan, and the
Jerusalem Talmudic Tractate; Taanith.

      "Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said:
      `Amalek was first among the nations,
       But shall be last until he perishes.' ...
      "`But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus,
       And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Eber,
       And so shall Amalek, until he perishes.'"
      (Num. 24:20, 24)

      As we saw previously, while the nation of Amalek is no longer
identifiable, the spirit of Amalek is rampant in the
modern world. We see it manifested in the Middle East by the intense
hatred that the Palestinians have for the Jewish people, wanting, like
Hitler, to see them destroyed. `There will be no relief from this kind
of blind hatred (in whatever country it might manifest itself) until
Messiah comes and sets up His righteous Kingdom over all the earth.
`This is the true `One World Government' for which we look and hope
and expect very soon.


      The Prophecy:

      "`Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man
      over the congregation, ...'" (Num. 27:16)

      Edersheim: "In connection with this verse it is noticed that His
      one Spirit is worth as much as all other spirits,
      according to Is. xi. I." (p. 714)  Ancient Source: Yalkut, (vol. i. p. 247a).

     "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
      And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
     The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
     The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
     The Spirit of counsel and might,
     The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.'"
     (Isa. 11:1-2)

      According to the testimony of the gospels, the Spirit of the
Lord did rest upon Yeshua.

      "Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from
       the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He
       saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting
       upon Him." (Matt. 3:16)

      "So he came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as
      His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
      and stood up to read. And He was handed
      the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when Lie had opened the
      book, lie found the place were it was written:

     `The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
      Because He has anointed Me to
      preach the gospel to the poor.
      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      To preach deliverance to the captives
      And recovery of sight to the blind,
      To set at liberty those who are oppressed,
      To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'

      "Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and
      sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were
      fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, `Today this
      Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Luke 4:16-2 1)

      This same Spirit is available today to the Believer:
      "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the
      Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of
      God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God
      is holy, which temple you are." (I Cor. 3:16-17)


                        ~ The Book Of Deuteronomy ~

      The Prophecy:

      "`See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the
       land which the LORD swore to your
      fathers--to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--to give to them and their
      descendants after them.'" (Deut. 1:8)

      Edersheim: "...is applied ... to the days of the Messiah." (p.
      714) Ancient Source: Siphre (the some what older commentary on
      Numb. and Deuter.)

      When Messiah comes to set up the fullness of the Kingdom of God,
then those who are His at His coming will
enter in to take possession of the promised land.

      The Prophecy:

      "`Every commandment which I command you today you must be
        careful to observe, that you may live and multiply and go in
        and possess the land of which the LORD swore to
        your fathers.'" (Deut. 8:1)

       Edersheim: "...there are several allusions to Messianic days."
       (p. 714)

      Ancient Source: Tanchuma - the Midrash commentary on the
      Pentateuch (Torah).

      Here, entering into the land is tied to the keeping of the
commandments (mitzvoth or good deeds). "`For I say unto you,
that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of
heaven.'" (Matt. 5:20)

      "`Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the
        kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.'"
       (Matt. 7:21)

      "For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without
       law, and as many as have sinned in the
       law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just
       in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be
       justified; for  when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by
       nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not
       having the law are a law to themselves, who show the work of
       the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
       witness, and between themselves their
       thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will
       judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my
       gospel.'" (Rom. 2:12-16)


      The Prophecy:

      "`...that your days and the days of your children may be
      multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore
      to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the
      earth.'" (Deut. 11:21)

      Edersheim: "is applied ... to the days of the Messiah." (p. 714)
      Ancient Source: Siphre.

      This is the concluding verse in the passage that contains the
instruction to teach the word of God to one's children
and to write them on the doorposts of one's house. The traditional
manner in which the Jewish people observe this command is to attach a
mezuzah (mehzoo-zah) to the door frame which internally contains this
passage of scripture written on a parchment. In light of Matt.
5:17-18, which follows, we as Believers might ask ourselves: How do we
fulfill this command?

      "`Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets, I
       did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
       For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot
       or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is
       fulfilled.'" (Matt. 5:17-18)

      The Prophecy:

      "`You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall
       eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the
       bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste),
       that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of
       Egypt all the days of your life.'" (Deut. 16:3)

      Edersheim: "...the record of the deliverance from Egypt is
      supposed to be carried on to the days of the Messiah..."
      (p. 714)
      Ancient Source: Siphre and the Talmudic Tractate Berakhoth.

      Isaiah prophesied about a future time when:

     "There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
      Who will be left from Assyria,
      As it was for Israel
      In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt."
      (Isa. 11:16)

      The Prophecy:

      "`Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore
      to your fathers, and gives you the
      land which He promised to give to your fathers, and if you keep all
      these commandments and do them, which I command you today to
      love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, then you
      shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three.'"
      (Deut. 19:8-9)

      Edersheim: "...it is noted ... that as three of these cities
      were in territory never possessed by Israel, this was to be
      fulfilled in Messianic times." (p. 714)
      Ancient Source: Siphre and the Talmudic Tractate Berakhoth.

      The original promise to Abraham was that his descendants would
receive all of the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. This
occupation by Israel has not yet been fulfilled.

      "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:
      `To your descendants I have given
       this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River
       Euphrates--'" (Gen. 15:18)

      The Prophecy:

      "`When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an
      offer of peace to it.'" (Deut. 20:10)

      Edersheim: "...the offer of peace to a hostile city is applied
to the future action of Messiah to the Gentiles, in
accordance with Zech. ix. 10; Is. ii. 4; and Ps. lxviii. 32; while, on
the other hand, the resistance of a city to the offer of peace is
likened to rebellion against the Messiah, and consequent judgment,
according to Is. xi. 4." (p. 714)

      Ancient Source: Tanchuma - the Midrash commentary on the
      Pentateuch (Torah).

     "`I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
      And the horse from Jerusalem;
     The battle bow shall be cut off.
     He shall speak peace to the nations;
     His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
     And from the river to the ends of the earth.'"
     (Zech. 9:10)

     "He shall judge between the nations,
     And shall rebuke many people;
     they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
     And their spears into pruning hooks;
     Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
     Neither will they learn war anymore."
     (Isa. 2:4)

     "Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
     Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah."
     (Ps. 68:32)

     "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
     And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
     He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
     And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked."
     (Isa. 11:4)

      It is evident from studying these passages which the Jewish
sages applied to the Messianic age, that they saw the
entire experience of the nation of Israel as prefiguring (being a type
of) the coming Kingdom of God under the rule of the Messiah.

      The Prophecy:

      "`But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash
         himself with water; and when the sun sets, he
        may come into the camp again.'" (Deut. 23:11)

      Edersheim: "...is typically applied to the evening of time, when
God would wash away the filth of the daughters of
Zion (Is. iv. 4); and the words: `when the sun is down' to when King
Messiah would come." (p. 714)

      Ancient Source: Tanchuma.

      "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of
       Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her
      midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, ..."
      (Isa. 4:4)

      As the rabbis say; "Every book, chapter, verse, and word of the
      Scriptures speaks of the Messiah."

      The Prophecy:

      "`Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you
       rest from your enemies all around, in
       the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an
       inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from
       under heaven. You shall not forget.'" (Deut. 25:19)

      "`If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under
       heaven, from there the LORD your God will
       gather you, and from there He will bring you.'"
       (Deut. 30:4)

      Edersheim: "...are referred ... to Messianic times. In the
latter passage the gathering of dispersed Israel by Elijah,
and their being brought back by Messiah, are spoken of." (p. 714)
Ancient Source: Targum Pseudo Jonathan and Bemidbar Rabba, a
commentary on Numbers.

      Once again the reference to Amalek is brought forth. The
Messianic age will be a time when all evil is put out of the
earth, when the spirit of Amalek is put away.

      "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in
      heaven, saying, `The kingdoms of this
      world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
      and He shall reign forever and ever!'" (Rev. 11:15)

      The Prophecy:

      "`Remember the days of old,
      Consider the years of many generations.
      Ask your father, and he will show you;
      Your elders, and they will tell you:'"
      (Deut. 32:7)

      Edersheim: "...makes the beautiful observation, that in all
Israel's afflictions they were to remember the good and
comfortable things which God had promised them for the future world,
and in connection with this there is special reference to the time of
the Messiah." (p. 714-15)  Ancient Source: Siphre.

      Our real hope is in the resurrection from death which is made
possible through faith in the resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach.

      "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the
       dead, how do some among you say that
       there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection
       of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,
       then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. Yes, and we
       are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God
       that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the
       dead do not rise.

      "For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if
       Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you
       are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in
       Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
       are of all men the most pitiable." (I Cor. 15:12-19)

      The Prophecy.

      "`How could one chase a thousand,
      And two put ten thousand to flight,
      Unless their Rock had sold them,
      And the LORD had surrendered them?'"
     (Dent. 32:30)

      Edersheim: "...marks its fulfillment in the days of the
      Messiah." (p. 715) Ancient Source: Siphre (the somewhat older
      commentary on Numb. and Deuter.).

      We must put our complete trust in our Father in heaven, and our
      Messiah, Yeshua. For they will deliver us from all
     of our enemies.

      "A thousand may fall at your side,
      And ten thousand at your right hand;
      But it shall not come near you.
      Only with your eyes shall you look,
      And see the reward of the wicked."
      (Psalm 9 1:7-8)

      The Prophecy:

      "`And He was King in Jeshurun,
      When the leaders of the people were gathered,
      All the tribes of Israel together.'"
      (Deut. 33:5)

      Edersheim: "...speaks of a king whom the tribes of Israel shall
      obey, this being evidently the King Messiah." (p.715)
      Ancient Source: Jerusalem Targum.

      "And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred
       and forty-four thousand of all the
       tribes of the children of Israel were sealed."
       (Rev. 7:4)

      "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in
      heaven, saying, `The kingdoms of this
      world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
       and He shall reign forever and ever!'" (Rev. 11:15)

      The Prophecy:

      "`His glory is like a firstborn bull,
      And his horns are like the horns of the wild ox;
      Together with them
      He shall push the peoples
      To the ends of the earth;
      They are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
      And they are the thousands of Manasseh.'"
     (Deut. 33:17)

      Edersheim: "...applies to the Messiah" (p. 715)
      Ancient Source: Tanchuma - the Midrash commentary on the
      Pentateuch (Torah) and the Midrash Bemidbar
      Rabba, on Numbers.

      This passage is the prophecy given by Moses for the descendants
of Joseph. During the time of Yeshua many of the sages taught that
two Messiahs would have to appear on the scene in order to fulfill
the disparate prophecies. Thus, they looked for a
`Messiah ben Yoseif' (Messiah son of Joseph) to come first, followed
by a `Messiah ben David' (Messiah son of David). They taught that
Messiah ben Yoseif would come from one of the tribes of Yoseif, while
Messiah ben David would come from the tribe of Judah. (See Hebrew
Roots Issue 98-3 for more details.)

      The Prophecy:

      "Of Benjamin lie said;
      `The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him,
      Who shelters him all the day long;
      And he shall dwell between His shoulders.'"
      (Deut. 33:12)

      Edersheim: "The expression, `he shall cover [shelter] him' is
referred to this world; `all the day long,' to the days
of the Messiah; and `he shall dwell between his shoulders' to the
world to come." (p. 715)  Ancient Source: The Talmudic tractate
Zebhachim.

      All of us, whether Christian or Jew, look for the coming of the
Messiah. But we all realize that ultimately, our ability
to be a part of the world to come is entirely in the hands of YHVH.
Therefore, we look to Him to provide us with the protection, the
comfort and the salvation that we must have in order to reach that
glorious goal.

     "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
     For my soul trusts in You:
     And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
     Until these calamities have passed by."
     (Psalm 57:1)

     "Because You have been my help,
     Therefore in the shadow of
     Your wings I will rejoice."
     (Psalm 63:7)

     "He shall cover you with His feathers,
     And under His wings you shall take refuge;
     His truth shall be your shield and buckler."
     (Psalm 91:4)

      "`O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and
      stones those who are sent to her! How
      often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her
      chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is
      left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till
      you say, `Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" (Matt.
      23:37-39)

                                        ~ Summary ~

      It is evident that the ancient Rabbis looked at prophecy in
quite a different light than do most modem day
Christians. They searched the subtleties of the Scriptures, making
connections with other verses in ways that are not readily apparent in
the surface reading of the text.

      It is our suggestion that if you had trouble following some of
the reasoning that Edersheim has found in the ancient
Jewish writings, that you study the material again, with a very open
mind. The connections are there, even if they do not jump out at the
first reading.

      To begin to comprehend the ancient Jewish mind, is to begin to
know the mind of Yeshua, for He lived in that very
time, and fully appreciated their thought processes and taught in a
manner they could understand. Therefore, if we are to fully understand
the teachings of our Savior, we must be able to understand how the
people of His day thought. A study such as this helps us to accomplish
that end.

      Next time we will discuss the Messianic prophecies that are
      found in portions of The Writings.

       Dean Wheelock


                                        ~ Sources ~

Edersheim, Alfred, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Wm. B.
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1990. Green, Jay P., Sr.,

The Interlinear Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1985.

The Open Bible, The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1985.

Strong, James. S.T.D., L.L.D., Strong's New Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible, World Bible Publishers, Inc., Iowa Falls, 1986.

Wigram, George V., The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old
Testament, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1980.

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