Chapter 3 - 3.1.a
The Messiah is a human being, born of a physical father and mother. He is a direct descendant, from father to son, of King David. For in Shmuel II - II Samuel 7:12-16 we read:
כִּ֣י ׀ יִמְלְא֣וּ יָמֶ֗יךָ וְשָֽׁכַבְתָּ֙ אֶת־אֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ וַהֲקִימֹתִ֤י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֵצֵ֖א מִמֵּעֶ֑יךָ וַהֲכִינֹתִ֖י אֶת־מַמְלַכְתּֽוֹ׃
ה֥וּא יִבְנֶה־בַּ֖יִת לִשְׁמִ֑י וְכֹנַנְתִּ֛י אֶת־כִּסֵּ֥א מַמְלַכְתּ֖וֹ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
אֲנִי֙ אֶֽהְיֶה־לּ֣וֹ לְאָ֔ב וְה֖וּא יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֣י לְבֵ֑ן אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּהַ֣עֲוֺת֔וֹ וְהֹֽכַחְתִּיו֙ בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וּבְנִגְעֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃
וְחַסְדִּ֖י לֹא־יָס֣וּר מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר הֲסִרֹ֙תִי֙ מֵעִ֣ם שָׁא֔וּל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֲסִרֹ֖תִי מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ׃
וְנֶאְמַ֨ן בֵּיתְךָ֧ וּמַֽמְלַכְתְּךָ֛ עַד־עוֹלָ֖ם לְפָנֶ֑יךָ כִּֽסְאֲךָ֔ יִהְיֶ֥ה נָכ֖וֹן עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
“When your days are finished and you shall lie with your forefathers, then I will raise up your seed that shall proceed from your body after you, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son; so that when he goes astray I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of Adam.
But My mercy shall not depart from him as I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
And your house and your kingdom shall be confirmed forever before you; your throne shall be established forever." (Schmuel II - II Samuel 7:12-16)
From this text we learn that the Messiah (from the tribe of Judah as promised in Genesis 19:10) will come from the dynasty of King David through King Solomon, so he has to be a direct descendant (from a Jewish father to a Jewish son). The text makes clear that the Messiah must physically come from David and that he will be king.
The text also explains that the Messiah will be a "normal" person. Every human being has a good and an evil tendency, and has the free choice to use it according to his will. The Messiah can (theoretically) make mistakes just as well as any other human being and he also has to suffer the consequences.
The fact that the kingdom of David is eternal does not mean that his kingship has no interrupted periods until the kingship of the Messiah. History has taught us that when the people were in captivity in Babylon there was no king of Israel. King Zedekiah was overthrown by the Babylonians and they destroyed the First Temple. Since that time, there has not been a king of Israel that was a direct descendant of King David[1], but the dynasty of his descendants continues.
An important point that we should not overlook with regard to the birth line of the Messiah is that he must not only come physically from David but also from Solomon and not from one of his other children! We read in the book of Chronicles:
“Behold a son will be born to you; he will be a man of peace, and I shall give him peace from all his enemies around about, for Solomon will be his name, and I shall give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
He shall build a House in My Name, and he shall be to Me as a son, and I to him as a Father, and I shall prepare the throne of his kingdom forever.”[2] (Divrei Hayamim I - I Chronicles - Chapter 22:9-10)
In the following verse we read that G-d calls Solomon, as an expression of affection, His son. G-d also mentions David as His son in Tehilim- Psalms 2:7:
ֲסַפְּרָ֗ה אֶֽ֫ל־חֹ֥ק יְֽ־הֹוָ֗ה אָמַ֘ר אֵלַ֥י בְּנִ֥י אַ֑תָּה אֲ֝נִ֗י הַיּ֥וֹם יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ׃
“I will tell of the decree; The Lord said to me, You are My son; this day have I begotten you.”
G-d makes it clear that it is David whom He has chosen to be king. As we read in Schmuel I- I Samuel 16:1:
“And the Lord said to Samuel, Until when are you mourning for Saul, when I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and come, I shall send you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have seen for Myself a king among his sons."
It is said, as it were, "This king is mine and he is my son and servant, and he obeys me"-for anyone who is obedient in the service of G-d he calls his son, just as a son obeys his father and is ready for his service. For in Devarim- Deuteronomy 14:1 it says:
"ye (the Jewish people) are sons of the Lord your God", and "I will be his Father and he (the son of David who will be king and build the Holy Temple of G-d) shall be My son" (2 Sam. 7:14); and it says (Hos. 2:1), "the sons of the living God."[3]
3.1.b Commentary for Noahides
It is important to understand that the Messiah is a patrilineal descendant of David and of his son Solomon and that his lineage doesn’t come from one of his other sons, such as Nathan.
Brought By Angelique Sijbolts
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the Noahide Academy. She has been an observant Noahide for many years. She studies Torah with Rabbi Perets every week. Angelique invests much of her time in editing video-lectures for the Rabbis of the Academy and contributes in administrating the Academy's website in English and Dutch. She lives in the north of the Netherlands. Married and mother of two sons. She works as a teacher in a school with students with special needs. And is a Hebrew Teacher for the levels beginners en intermediate. She likes to walk, to read and play the piano.
Sources
[1] Let's Get Biblical Volum 2 p. 244. See Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5-6 and 33:14 which show that Messiah is a descendant of King David. [2] See 1 Chronicles. 17:11-14, 28:6-7, Psalm 89:29-38. [3] Radak on Psalm 2:7:2 – Hos. 2:1 – in a Christian Bible 10:1.
With thanks to dr. Michael Schulman
With thanks to Whitney Ann Sieverink-McNair
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