Connecting the Dots: Messianic Prophecy from Old to New Testament (episode 7)

Welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe where Alexis Heaslip, a stay at home mother of two and follower of Jesus, shares her personal walk with Christ. Her goal is to help women explore the Bible and walk with Jesus by being a Proverbs 31 Wannabe woman of faith. 

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For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, like a root out of the dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him.

Many women know that our Lord, Jesus, suffered and died for our sins, but have never stopped to ponder this suffering we hear in Isaiah 53. This powerful passage in Scripture can be a guide to meditate on the power of the cross.

In this 6-session study by Alexis Heaslip, gain insight and passion for our Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. Discover the connections between Leviticus sacrifice laws and our Lord and rest in His love for us. Dive into Scripture and see it in a new light so that you can see the LOVE our servant has for us.

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Today we are going to be continuing our SIXTEEN week study into Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament and how we can connect them to the New Testament. Not only will this series help you look at the Word through new lenses, but it will also help you discover how you can disciple your children to know and understand the Gospel.

Missed the first episode? Click the link to check it out! 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/proverbs-31-wannabe/id1656041568?i=1000633393461

Want to discover more about gentleness, one of the Fruits of the Spirt? Listen to this podcast episode below:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/proverbs-31-wannabe/id1656041568?i=1000621536924

What happened in Israel is devastating. If you want to support those in Israel, click the link below to donate: 

https://yasharlachayal.org/

https://jewsforjesus.org/blog/israel-in-crisis-how-we-can-help

https://fusionglobal.givingfuel.com/stand-with-israel

https://www.fidf.org/

Want to memorize  Bible passages?  Check out out www.seekfirst633.com where Alina Bolshakova has beautiful scripture cards for children and adults. This fabulous tool is a great way to help you in scripture memorization!


My Testimony: 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/proverbs-31-wannabe/id1656041568?i=1000592460736

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hi there and welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe, where we discuss Biblical womanhood and are constantly busy and sometimes crazy daily life. I'm Alexis Heaslip and, as a wife and mom of two, I am always striving and praying to be a Proverbs 31 woman of faith. Today we are continuing our discussion into connecting the dots Messianic prophecy from Old to New Testament. The series has been so fun so far and really great, and today we're going to be diving in on to the characteristics of Messiah, some of his not physical characteristics, but the way he acts. I hope you're excited to continue the study with me. Let's dive on in guys. Also, on a quick side note, forgive me for the sound of my voice. I have been fighting a cold and sinus drainage, so if my voice sounds foggy and aggravating, that's why. So let's get back to what we're talking about, though Messianic prophecy.

Speaker 1: 1:27

There's so much, and that's why we're taking week after week after week to really dive into this, and today's podcast episode is really interesting because it's about the character of Messiah, and what really stood out to me when doing my research is that our Messiah, in order for Messiah to be Messiah, must be someone who is meek and non-onstantitious, and meek is the complete opposite of what you would think of someone who's supposed to be a savior. So we're going to see how our Messiah is supposed to be humble, meek and kind, and there's a lot of scripture to cover, which is really exciting. I always love how the Bible just gives us so much information about any topic. So the first passage that we really see, this prophecy of a Messiah who is meek and meekness is this quality of a gentle spirit, and we see this in the book of Isaiah, to start, starting at chapter 42, verses 1 through 5. We read this powerful passage of the qualities and characteristics of what our Messiah is. So let's start at verse 1 together. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit, my Ruach, on him. He will bring justice to the nations. Notice specifically what verse 2 is going to say. He will not cry out or raise his voice or make his voice heard in the street A bruised reed. He will not break A smoldering wick. He will not snuff out. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed. Until he establishes justice on earth, the islands will wait for his Torah. Thus says God atonai, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earths and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and the Ruach to those who walk in it. You see, my friends, I just think it's really interesting that in this passage it's like the complete opposite of what we think of a Messiah, because I feel like a lot of us get this idea that a Messiah is someone who is going to be bold, who is going to be like a fierce warrior, who makes a fuss, who makes bold statements, who's on the news, who is in the media, who is on the spotlight. But instead we hear in Isaiah how a Messiah is going to be someone who is gentle in spirit, who is not trying to just look good in the public, but be gentle and follow the will of the Father, which doesn't necessarily mean being in the limelight. And we see how Jesus really exemplifies this characteristic of humility and of a gentle spirit. If you'll turn with me to the book of Matthew, matthew chapter 12. We really see how Jesus has this gentle spirit about him, and we're going to read Matthew 12, 1-21 together.

Speaker 1: 5:48

At the time, yeshua went through the grain fields on Shabbat. His disciples became hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and eat them. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to him Look, your disciples are doing what is not permitted on Shabbat. But he said to them Haven't you read what David did when he became hungry and those with him, how he entered into the house of God and they ate the showbread which was not permitted for him to eat, nor for those with him, but only for the priest, the Kohanim. Or have you not read in the Torah that on Shabbat, the Kohanim, the priest in the temple, breaks Shabbat and yet are innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is the here. If you had known what this means I desire mercy, not sacrifice you wouldn't have condemned the innocent, for the Son of man is the Lord of Shabbat.

Speaker 1: 6:49

Leaving from here, he went into the synagogue and a man with a withered hand was there. And so that they might accuse him, they question him saying Is it permitted to heal on Shabbat? He said to them what man among you will not grab his sheep and lift it out if it falls into a pit on Shabbat? How much more valuable than is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it's permitted to do good on Shabbat. Then he said to the man Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out and was restored as healthy as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Now we will keep going on, but I want to pause really quick, because these verses show us that although Jesus does make bold statements and he proclaims the truth with love, he doesn't always do it in a way like some Pharisees or some preachers of today might do it, where they're shouting it from the rooftops. Instead, jesus is not looking for the limelight and is responding to those who are asking him questions, but he's doing it so in a way that gives the glory to the Father and does not put the limelight on himself. I want us to keep going so we can see again how Jesus is meek with this gentle spirit. So let's continue with verse 15. Knowing this, yeshua went away from there and large crowds followed him and he healed them all and he sternly warned them not to make him known.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Notice that he was telling people to not put himself in the limelight and put him on a pedestal, but to be hush-hush about his ministry. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah, the prophet, saying here is my servant, who I chose, the one I love and whom my soul takes delight. I will put my Ruach, my spirit on him and he'll proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A crushed reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out until he brings forth justice and victory, and in his name the nations will have hope. And it is through this gentleness of subtlety that Jesus had, where he did not want to live in the limelight and be looked at like a celebrity, like the Pharisees or the Roman officials, where we can truly hear this gentleness from our Lord and Savior. Now, like we saw, though, he does say things boldly and proclaims them boldly, but not for fame or status, but for clarity for people. And we also see how, throughout scripture, how, yes, jesus spoke in the physical, but the Lord, our God, adonai, the Father, has also spoken to people, in a gentle whisper in some ways, and we see this with Elijah, how the Lord, instead of coming down, like he could if he wanted to, with a loud, booming voice, like many think of when they think of God speaking to people as we've seen in like multiple movies and stuff. Instead, what we see in First Kings is how the Lord can use this gentleness and meekness and use a voice of a whisper To give some context.

Speaker 1: 11:13

Elijah is on the run, he has spoken out boldly against Jezebel and she is ready to kill him. So Elijah in verse three we see of First Kings 19,. He was frightened and ran for his life. And he went into the wilderness and sat under a broom, bush, and he prayed that he might die. And he turned to God and said it is too much, adonai, take my life because I'm no better than my father's. And in verse five he laid down and slept underneath the brush. Then, behold, an angel touched him and said get up and eat. So he looked by surprise and there was a hot cakes and on the stones and a jar of water. Then again the angel came a second time get up and eat, because this journey is too much for you. So he arose and drank and ate, and the strength of the meal got him for 40 days and 40 nights to to horrible mountain of God.

Speaker 1: 12:31

When he arrived at the cave, he spent the night there and, behold, the word of Adonai came to him and he asked him what are you doing here, elijah? What's going on? And Elijah said Lord, I've been very zealous for you because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant and they've torn down your altars and slain the prophets. I alone am left and they're seeking my life. They want to kill me. But the Lord tells him come out and stand on the mountain before Adonai. And behold, adonai was passing by.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Now, listen, this is where things get interesting, in verse 11. A great and mighty wind was tearing out the mountains and shattering the cliffs before Adonai, but Adonai was not in that great and mighty wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but Adonai was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake of fire, but Adonai was not in the fire. And after the fire listen to this there was a soft whisper of a voice in the wind, and as soon as Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and all of a sudden, a voice addressed him saying what are you doing here, elijah? And then the Lord tells him to go in return and do the will of Adonai, and that he will be safe. And we can see that it wasn't in the wind or the rain or the storm or an earthquake or a fire that the voice of the Lord was found, but he came in the gentle voice of the wind, a gentle whisper, and that's where the Lord was present. And that is this meek and gentle spirit that is also found in our Messiah.

Speaker 1: 14:43

And we see again throughout scripture how our Messiah is to come by humble means. And one aspect of this is found in the book of Zechariah, in chapter 9. And we are told how the king of Zion will come. So let's read Zechariah 9, start at verse 9. Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. A righteous one brings salvation. Listen, he is lowly riding on a donkey, on a colt the full of a donkey. I will banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem, and the war bow will be broken. He will speak shalom to the nations. His rule will be extended from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. As we hear, this Old Testament prophet tells us that our Messiah will come humbly on a donkey, and a donkey is a mount of princes. You can read about that in the book of Judges and 2 Samuel. But it's still a lowly donkey. You see, at the time, especially when Jesus comes riding in as king, as we're going to read in Matthew 21, donkeys were not something that people would have thought a king would have rode on, because, think about it the ancient Romans, the Caesar's, the rulers of the day would have been on chariots and on horses, and that was what people thought of when they thought of a king or a warrior. But instead Jesus comes in on a donkey to fulfill the scripture that our Messiah humbly comes with a gentle spirit, and we see this in Matthew 21. Let's read this together, starting at verse 1.

Speaker 1: 17:11

Now they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage, to the mountain of Olives. Then Yeshua sent two disciples saying to them Go into the village before you. Right away You'll find a donkey tied up in a cult with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you will say the master needs them and right away he'll send them. This happened to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet saying Say to your daughter of Zion See, your king is coming to you, humble and sitting on a donkey, a cult the full of a donkey.

Speaker 1: 17:52

The disciples went and did as Yeshua had directed them, and they brought the donkey and cult and put their clothing on them and he sat on the clothing. Most of the crowds spread their clothes on the road and others began cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road, and the crowds before them shouted Hosanna, hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna and the highest Hosanna, to Ben David, baruch, habba B'shem, adonai. Blessed is he. And he entered Jerusalem and, as you can see, our Lord, instead of coming into Jerusalem as a military conqueror or as the opponent to this Roman occupation, he humbly comes into the city as a prince on a donkey.

Speaker 1: 18:52

And what is so wonderful and brilliant is that this spirit of meekness, this gentle spirit that Jesus or Messiah embodies, it's not just something that's only meant for Messiah to do, but instead, rather, we can look at Jesus and see this example of love and humility and gentleness, and we should be emulating this meekness, this gentleness, as believers in Messiah. Just like Jesus said on the Sermon of the Mount, we are told blessed are the meek, for they'll inherit the earth. So we, as believers in our Messiah, who had a meek, gentle heart. We too should be emulating this meekness.

Speaker 1: 19:55

Colossians, chapter 3, verses 12 and 14 tell us this as to why we should be doing this. Paul wrote therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly lovid, clothe yourselves and tend their compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. If anyone has a grievance against another, just as the Lord pardon you, so also you must pardon others. But above all, these things put on love, which is the bond of perfect harmony. And again, this is a big theme about living out this meekness we see in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, and verses 11 through 12 again. But you, o man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life. You were called into it and you made the good confession for it in the presence of many witnesses.

Speaker 1: 21:18

And to really helm this point helm about why we need to be emulating this meekness it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit, as we see in Galatians. It is a fruit of the Spirit, and I actually did a whole series on the fruit of the Spirit and I'll link it in the show notes, the episode of, specifically of what it means to be gentle and meek. I'll link that episode in the show notes for you guys. And, like I've said in that episode, it's important for us to realize that meek does not mean weak.

Speaker 1: 22:02

Meekness is actually something that is a powerful, powerful force where we can take what the enemy uses for evil and turn it for good, because a gentle tongue, instead of a tongue of a viper with nasty words, a gentle tongue is something that is persuasive. We can use our gentleness to change people's minds and to bring them to learn about and potentially know the gospel and that that can change people's hearts. And we see this in the book of Proverbs, proverbs 25, verse 15. We're told through patience, a ruler may be persuaded and a soft tongue can break a bone. There is power in being gentle, and being gentle it can change the hardest of hearts. And not only can it change someone's heart, it can also turn away anger. And Proverbs 15 one tells us this a gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger. So it's okay that we have disagreements with people, but especially in this culture where people get so wound up, bound up and angry and people get canceled right and left, whether it be on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok, where people get canceled and people get so wound up and angry that they can't use logic. Be that voice of gentleness, because it could turn away their anger.

Speaker 1: 23:59

And I recently had an incident with my son where, thank the Lord, I remembered these passages and that I had recently been studying this to share with you guys, because my son he's in kindergarten and you know, kindergarten's a time to learn what behavior is appropriate at school and not and he's been having some issues at school just being silly, you know, horsing around when he shouldn't and misbehaving. But he misbehaved a little bit too much and got sent to the principal's office two days in a row and he had an attitude about it because he didn't realize or didn't think that what he was doing was wrong. But instead of having a mom freak out and losing it on my child instead, I gotta say I really took it to God first and I prayed about it before talking to him and I was able to calmly and thoughtfully explain to him that what he did was wrong and punish him, not in a way that created more chaos and anger and wrath, but we were able to discipline him in a way that he really understood that what he did was wrong. And it was such a great parenting moment for my husband and I that we really, really want to keep this gentle spirit about the way we parent and not get so easily wound up when things get a little, a little wonky in life, and it was such a really cool experience. Let me know, I would love to hear what type of experiences you've had with parenting where sometimes you do have this gentle spirit or other times you lose your cool and you can see where this anger just builds instead of dissipates. And you know, this really does translate to this next point that we have is that our Lord was meek and gentle because of the fact that he must be sinless and without guile, and only he can be sinless without guile, and that's why we do things like parenting so imperfectly. And we see this in the most famous, one of the most famous messianic prophecies, in Isaiah 53.

Speaker 1: 26:57

Now, I'm not going to go super in depth on Isaiah 53, because I have written a Bible study, an in depth Bible study on Isaiah 53. And you can find it on Amazon and do it with a group or by yourself and it's wonderful. I hope you guys check it out. I'll link it in the show notes my Amazon for where to buy it. But I really go in depth into Isaiah and how our Lord was sinless. But it's Isaiah 53, verse 9.

Speaker 1: 27:36

His grave was given with the wicked and by a rich man and his death though he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth. And we also see in first Peter, chapter 2, verses 21 and 25, how this is reinforced. For you were called to this because Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. When he was abused, he did not return the abuse. While suffering, he made no threats. Instead he kept entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously. He himself bore our sins and the body on a tree so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. By his wounds we are healed. For you, like sheep were going astray, but now you've returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. You see, if you want to learn even more about how he was sinless and without guile, check out my study. But to really emphasis, it's Christ alone who was without sin and that's why he had to die in the cross for our sins.

Speaker 1: 29:05

And there are multiple passages of scripture that truly reinforces this concept, and I'll just throw a few out there. Second, corinthians 521 is a great one, and we just read in 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 22. The book of Hebrews gives a lot of examples. For example, hebrews 415 tells us that for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all the same ways, yet without sin. And another example in the book of Hebrews because I just love the book of Hebrews Hebrews 726 tells us for such the high priest was fitting for us holy, guileless, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

Speaker 1: 30:05

So only Christ, only our Messiah, is without sins. And not only was he sinless and meek and humble and with a gentle spirit, but he bore the reproaches that were due to others. And we see this again in Isaiah 53. Verses 11 and 12, which tell us this as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see and be satisfied by his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, will make many righteous and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will give him a portion with the great and he will divide the spoil with the mighty. Because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with transgressors, for he bore the sin of many and interceded for transgressors. And Romans 5,8 just really sums it up While we were sinners, christ died for us. We didn't deserve it, but while we were still sinners he died for us.

Speaker 1: 31:23

And again, the book of Romans has a lot of beautiful references to this point that he took on our sins. Romans 8,3 told us this for what was impossible for the Torah, since it was weakened on account of the flesh, god has done sending his own son in the likeness of a sinful flesh and as a sin offering. He condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled. And us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. And John 3,16,. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believed in him would not perish but have eternal life. You see, we deserve death, but because of his love we can have this hope of eternal life, because he bore our sins upon himself. And if you want to learn even more about how our Jesus suffered and died and saved us from our sins. Please check out my study on Isaiah 53. And to wrap this all up, this all goes back to Shema and how we need to live out our faith with our kids so that they can see what it means to live with a gentle spirit and that they can choose to believe in Messiah themselves.

Speaker 1: 32:59

Thank you for listening to Proverbs 31 Wannabe. We hope you enjoyed the program. If you enjoy our show, please rate and review us. Anywhere you listen to podcasts, find us on all of our social medias, especially on Instagram, where we do posts on verses of the day, scripture reading together and all sorts of things like that, and check out our website at wwwproverbs31, 1bcom. We would love to hear from you, especially in the comments. Be sure to come back next week as we continue our discussion on Messianic prophecies of the Messiah and how it connects the dots between the old and new Testament. Until then, this is Alexis Heaslip and I hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless.