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Prophecy and History in Relation to the Messiah
But how have Christians justified these claims?
And from what sources do they draw their evidence that Jesus was in fact the Messiah?
Biblical scholar, Alfred Edersheim, in an extremely thorough study of Jewish scripture examines how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Messianic hopes of many Old Testament prophecies.
Through the course of twelve lectures Edersheim provides brilliant insight into the Old Testament and how the texts within it provide clear evidence of prophecy for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Yet, Edersheim does not stop at studying the Old Testament alone but also uses the Pentateuch, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha to provide further examples that Jesus was indeed prophesized about by Jewish texts many centuries before he was born.
This book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand more fully how Jesus’ life was intertwined with old Jewish texts and for those who are looking for a scholarly, yet accessible, account of this fascinating topic.
Alfred Edersheim (1825-89) was a Vienna-born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism to Christianity. A veteran minister and missionary to the Jews of Romania, Edersheim left an enduring and priceless legacy to followers of Christ. Among his most widely read works are The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, The Its Ministry and Services, and Bible History Old Testament.
And from what sources do they draw their evidence that Jesus was in fact the Messiah?
Biblical scholar, Alfred Edersheim, in an extremely thorough study of Jewish scripture examines how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Messianic hopes of many Old Testament prophecies.
Through the course of twelve lectures Edersheim provides brilliant insight into the Old Testament and how the texts within it provide clear evidence of prophecy for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Yet, Edersheim does not stop at studying the Old Testament alone but also uses the Pentateuch, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha to provide further examples that Jesus was indeed prophesized about by Jewish texts many centuries before he was born.
This book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand more fully how Jesus’ life was intertwined with old Jewish texts and for those who are looking for a scholarly, yet accessible, account of this fascinating topic.
Alfred Edersheim (1825-89) was a Vienna-born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism to Christianity. A veteran minister and missionary to the Jews of Romania, Edersheim left an enduring and priceless legacy to followers of Christ. Among his most widely read works are The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, The Its Ministry and Services, and Bible History Old Testament.
- GenresChristianity
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2005
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72 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Edersheim
311 books41 followersEdersheim was a scholar and writer on the traditions of the Jewish faith and Life of Christ He was born March 7th, 1825 in the city of Vienna, Austria. His parents Marcus and Stephanie Beifuss were of the Jewish faith. In Vienna he studied in the gymnasium and University of Austria.
Around 1845 he moved to Pesth, Hungary where he met John Duncan and other Presbyterian ministers, who were chaplains to Scottish workmen building a bridge over the Danube River. Under their influence he became a Christian and came to Scotland with Dr. Duncan. In 1843 he entered New College until 1844. In 1846 he entered the Presbyterian ministry and thereafter preached for a year as a missionary to the Jews and Germans at Jassy in Rumania. He came to Old Aberdeen Church in 1848 and remained for twelve years. Here he translated several German theological books into English and wrote his History of the Jewish Nation from the Fall of Jerusalem to the reign of Constantine the Great."
Reverend Alfred Edersheim was the second minister of Free Church known then as Old Machar Free Church. After twelve years at Free Church, Alfred's health started failing, he resigned and moved to Torquay in the county of Devon, England. In 1861, he gathered a congregation and in 1862 they built St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Torwood Gardens, Torquay. Because of deteriorating health problems he had to resign from St. Andrews and moved to Bournemouth a spa on the south coast. In 1875 he became an Episcopalian and ordained a deacon and priest in the Church of England. For a year he was the (unsalaried) curate of the Abbey Church, Christ Church, Hants, near Bournemouth. In 1876 he became vicar of Loders, Dorsetshire; resigning in 1883, moving to Oxford, where he was select preacher to the University from 1884-86.
Because of his health condition he eventually moved to Menton, France where he passed away March 16th, 1889.
His publications as author, translator, editor, and contributor to dictionaries and serial works are very numerous. Perhaps the best-known are:
The History of the Jewish Nation from AD 70-312 (1857)
The Jubilee Rhythm of St. Bernard, and other Hymns (1866)
The Golden Diary of Heart-Converse with Jesus in the Psalms (1874)
The Temple: its Ministry and Services as they were in the Time of Jesus Christ (1874)
Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ (1876)
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883; 2 vols)
Prophecy and History in relation to the Messiah, (Warburtonian Lectures, 1880-84)
The History of Israel from the Sacrifice on Carmel to the Death of Jedhu (1885)
Around 1845 he moved to Pesth, Hungary where he met John Duncan and other Presbyterian ministers, who were chaplains to Scottish workmen building a bridge over the Danube River. Under their influence he became a Christian and came to Scotland with Dr. Duncan. In 1843 he entered New College until 1844. In 1846 he entered the Presbyterian ministry and thereafter preached for a year as a missionary to the Jews and Germans at Jassy in Rumania. He came to Old Aberdeen Church in 1848 and remained for twelve years. Here he translated several German theological books into English and wrote his History of the Jewish Nation from the Fall of Jerusalem to the reign of Constantine the Great."
Reverend Alfred Edersheim was the second minister of Free Church known then as Old Machar Free Church. After twelve years at Free Church, Alfred's health started failing, he resigned and moved to Torquay in the county of Devon, England. In 1861, he gathered a congregation and in 1862 they built St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Torwood Gardens, Torquay. Because of deteriorating health problems he had to resign from St. Andrews and moved to Bournemouth a spa on the south coast. In 1875 he became an Episcopalian and ordained a deacon and priest in the Church of England. For a year he was the (unsalaried) curate of the Abbey Church, Christ Church, Hants, near Bournemouth. In 1876 he became vicar of Loders, Dorsetshire; resigning in 1883, moving to Oxford, where he was select preacher to the University from 1884-86.
Because of his health condition he eventually moved to Menton, France where he passed away March 16th, 1889.
His publications as author, translator, editor, and contributor to dictionaries and serial works are very numerous. Perhaps the best-known are:
The History of the Jewish Nation from AD 70-312 (1857)
The Jubilee Rhythm of St. Bernard, and other Hymns (1866)
The Golden Diary of Heart-Converse with Jesus in the Psalms (1874)
The Temple: its Ministry and Services as they were in the Time of Jesus Christ (1874)
Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ (1876)
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883; 2 vols)
Prophecy and History in relation to the Messiah, (Warburtonian Lectures, 1880-84)
The History of Israel from the Sacrifice on Carmel to the Death of Jedhu (1885)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 31, 2025
"Prophecy and History in Relation to the Messiah" is a series of twelve lectures delivered by Alfred Edersheim in the years 1880-84. At this time in Europe, a massive assault upon the origins and credibility of the Bible begun around 1750 was laying waste the Christian faith of many. Edersheim in various and sundry ways shows that this effort is unworthy of the respect given to it.
It was proposed that the first five books of the Bible, known variously as the Pentateuch, Torah, or Law, was not exclusively the work of Moses, but much of it had been written later, some perhaps about a thousand years later, around the time of the Babylonian exile.
It was suggested that many different documents had been intricately woven together to yield the Pentateuch we have today. It was said that Genesis can be divided so that the use of Elohim and Jehovah as terms for God occur in separate documents. From here, subdivisions upon subdivisions are conceived by dozens of scholars and then intricately woven together into a mind-numbingly complex patchwork. Any unity, purpose, or divine plan previously seen is thrown into great doubt. Even so, there is much division among these scholars as to the proper approach. How could it not be so, the various devices resorted to seem so arbitrary and without foundation? And there is continuous disregard for the known history of Israel which would have indicated a much earlier composition of the Torah.
Other parts of the Old Testament are similarly reworked and thrown into question. What is the spirit which underlies such efforts? Edersheim thinks it is an apriori disbelief in the miraculous and a God who speaks to us through his written Word. If the Old Testament is an anachronism, the history of Israel cannot be trusted. If Israel's history is misconceived, the New Testament, built upon the foundation of the Old, collapses also. There is no Savior, no forgiveness of sin, no everlasting life. "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps.11:3
Edersheim, in this work, argues very convincingly that the foundations are not destroyed, nor is our hope!
So much for history in relation to the Messiah. As for prophecy, there is a widespread and impoverished view that it is merely events foretold and later fulfilled. Edersheim argues in several lectures for a much grander conception of prophecy. For him, all the Word of God is prophecy. All of it speaks of a coming Savior and kingdom of God. All of it has a moral component for all generations.
As for Israel, her failure to recognize and obey her God underlies the very great suffering which has been her history. But there is a gradual awakening underway which is to build towards the great awakening which is to occur at Jesus' second coming. "Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is our Lord, we have waited for him, let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Is.25:9. "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born." Zech.12:10
This is the close of the age, as conceived of in the scriptures. This is the endpoint to which all history has been pointing since the Fall. This is Immanuel, God with us! Israel awakens, late, but Israel awakens. Let us also be awake.
It was proposed that the first five books of the Bible, known variously as the Pentateuch, Torah, or Law, was not exclusively the work of Moses, but much of it had been written later, some perhaps about a thousand years later, around the time of the Babylonian exile.
It was suggested that many different documents had been intricately woven together to yield the Pentateuch we have today. It was said that Genesis can be divided so that the use of Elohim and Jehovah as terms for God occur in separate documents. From here, subdivisions upon subdivisions are conceived by dozens of scholars and then intricately woven together into a mind-numbingly complex patchwork. Any unity, purpose, or divine plan previously seen is thrown into great doubt. Even so, there is much division among these scholars as to the proper approach. How could it not be so, the various devices resorted to seem so arbitrary and without foundation? And there is continuous disregard for the known history of Israel which would have indicated a much earlier composition of the Torah.
Other parts of the Old Testament are similarly reworked and thrown into question. What is the spirit which underlies such efforts? Edersheim thinks it is an apriori disbelief in the miraculous and a God who speaks to us through his written Word. If the Old Testament is an anachronism, the history of Israel cannot be trusted. If Israel's history is misconceived, the New Testament, built upon the foundation of the Old, collapses also. There is no Savior, no forgiveness of sin, no everlasting life. "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps.11:3
Edersheim, in this work, argues very convincingly that the foundations are not destroyed, nor is our hope!
So much for history in relation to the Messiah. As for prophecy, there is a widespread and impoverished view that it is merely events foretold and later fulfilled. Edersheim argues in several lectures for a much grander conception of prophecy. For him, all the Word of God is prophecy. All of it speaks of a coming Savior and kingdom of God. All of it has a moral component for all generations.
As for Israel, her failure to recognize and obey her God underlies the very great suffering which has been her history. But there is a gradual awakening underway which is to build towards the great awakening which is to occur at Jesus' second coming. "Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is our Lord, we have waited for him, let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Is.25:9. "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born." Zech.12:10
This is the close of the age, as conceived of in the scriptures. This is the endpoint to which all history has been pointing since the Fall. This is Immanuel, God with us! Israel awakens, late, but Israel awakens. Let us also be awake.
June 2, 2023
This is the one hundredth anniversary of this book's publication. The subject has been of interest to me for several years, and this book has answered many of my questions. The main point, it seems to me, is that Jewish expectations were quite different from the real personification of God in Jesus Christ. Instead of a political zealot, He was a zealot for doing the Father's will. Instead of recognizing the external righteousness of the religious leaders, he reached out to the poor in spirit. Instead of being a bread king, He offered eternal treasure and the food we need today to sustain us for tomorrow. There's so much here to recommend. And while I'm not even moderately prepared to teach this subject, I do hazard to highly recommend this book.
February 11, 2021
Excellent eschatology
Tired of dispensational rapture nonsense? Read this, a messianic Jewish man who loves the TaNahK and Yeshua and embraces the universality of the church, the Israel of God. Written in the 1800s before scofield corrupted doctrine, this old school writing will inspire your imagination and inspire discipleship.
Tired of dispensational rapture nonsense? Read this, a messianic Jewish man who loves the TaNahK and Yeshua and embraces the universality of the church, the Israel of God. Written in the 1800s before scofield corrupted doctrine, this old school writing will inspire your imagination and inspire discipleship.
October 1, 2024
Basically a book written to refute different Jewish angles of attack on the claim that Jesus was the Messiah which the Old Testament prophecies refer to. In that sense, an attack on modern Judaism too. Quite technical, and the author’s style of writing lulled me to sleep. Somewhat redeemed by a phenomenal final chapter on John the Baptist.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews