The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic?

New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology #9

by Michael Rydelnik

In The Messianic Hope , book six of the New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology series, Jewish Studies professor Michael Rydelnik puts forth a thesis that the Old Testament was intended by its authors to be read as a messianic primer. He explains at length how the text reveals significant direct messianic prophecy when read in its final form. Users will find this topical study an excellent extension of the long-respected New American Commentary series.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian, Christianity, Biblical, Religion, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Dr. Michael Rydelnik is Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute where he has taught Jewish Studies and Bible since 1994. The son of Holocaust survivors, he was raised in an observant Jewish home in Brooklyn, New York. Michael trusted in Jesus the Messiah as a high school student and has been teaching the Bible ever since. A sought after speaker and teacher, Michael is a biblical scholar specializing in the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish people, the land of Israel, and biblical prophecy.

Michael can be heard answering listener Bible questions every Saturday morning from 9-11 AM (Central Time), on Moody Radio's Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik. He is a Resource Scholar for RBC Ministries and appears frequently on the Day of Discovery TV programs. He recently appeared in the Lee Strobel film The Case for Christ. Michael also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Dallas Theological Seminary, Talbot School of Theology and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Dr. Rydelnik is the co-editor and contributor, with fellow faculty member Michael Vanlaningham, of The Moody Bible Commentary, a one-volume commentary on the whole Bible written by the faculty of Moody Bible Institute. He is the author of Understanding the Arab Israeli Conflict: What the Headlines Haven‘t Told You (Moody Publishers, 2007) and The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? (B&H Publishers, 2010). He has contributed to numerous books, scholarly journals and magazines. He served on the translation team of the new Holman CSB version of the Bible and has contributed to both the Apologetics Study Bible (B&H Publishers) and the Holman Study Bible.

Michael graduated in Jewish Studies from Moody Bible Institute, earned his B.A. degree from Azusa Pacific University, his Th.M. degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, and his doctorate from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, focusing his studies on the Messiah of the Hebrew Bible.

Michael and his wife, Eva (an adjunct faculty member at Moody, teaching literature, education and Jewish studies) live in a historic Jewish Chicago neighborhood. Israel is their favorite place in the world and they enjoy showing people the Land as often as possible. Michael and Eva enjoy black and white movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, classic literature and hiking with their two collies, Feivel and Darby (especially in the Adirondack mountains of Upstate NY). The Rydelniks have two wonderful adult sons--who always call and write.

- http://www.michaelrydelnik.org/about

Reviews

[Hany Abdelmalek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Messianic Hope is a compelling book that makes a case for reading the Old Testament through a Messianic lens. Rydelnik argues that Messianic Prophecy is essential to a proper reading of the Hebrew Bible. Furthermore, he affirms that the hope for the Messiah is not a result of a pesher method of interpretation of Old Testament Prophecy. But, it goes back to Old Testament times and was intended by the original authors of the biblical texts.

What sets Rydelnik’s approach apart is his holistic hermeneutic, which goes beyond the grammatical-historical evidence and includes inner-biblical and canonical evidence from both Testaments. Rydelnik’s writing is engaging, and his arguments are persuasive. He challenges readers to consider the importance of Messianic Prophecy to their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In other words, If Jesus and the apostles gave to Messianic prophecies and saw Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of these prophecies, shouldn’t we accept their testimony as true?

Moreover, he shows that The Old Testament is not only a historical book in a strict sense. But also a prophetic book that continuously pointed to a future Messiah. Thus, the Messianic hope is an ancient hope that is embedded in the pages of the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, he emphasized that this truth is crucial to our Christian faith.

One significant contribution of Rydelnik to the Messianic discussion is Chapter 8, as he investigates the hermeneutics of one of the most influential Jewish commentators, Rashi. Rashi- who had a great influence not only on Jewish interpretation of Scripture but also on Christian scholarship.

Although. I do not fully agree with the author’s interpretation of some prophecies [ one reason for my disagreement is his heavy reliance on the Septuagint, or the Greek translation of the Old Testament, to substantiate his interpretation]. Nevertheless, I have benefited a lot from his insights on some specific passages, such as (Num 24: 14-19) (p.52-54) and his analysis of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14. ( Chapter 10).

In conclusion, I recommend, The Messianic Hope to every Christian who is interested in finding Christ in the Old Testament and specifically to Christian Old Testament students who may be challenged by the drift in Old Testament scholarship away from the Messianic hope.
https://hanyabdelmalek.org/2023/05/01...

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential Study

The reality that Jesus is the Messiah as prophesied and proclaimed in the Hebrew OT is essential to the believers grasp of the redemptive narrative and the assurance that God always keeps His promises. This book is very well written and solid! I highly recommend it.

[Hayden Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal study on the OT. Great interaction with liberal scholars. His take on Isaiah 7 (direct prediction not dual fulfillment) convinced me.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Messianic Hope” written by Dr. Michael Rydelnik's is an important work & worth reading. His main concern is a growing tendency among evangelical scholars to explain Old Testament passages which seem clearly to predict the coming Messiah as not actually referring to the Messiah, but to find complete fulfillment in a local historical figure or situation at the time of the writer or prophet. To be honest I was surprised by this, I shouldn’t have been but it seems so clear to me that that the prophecies concerning the Messiah are just that.

So then premise of this book is to determine whether the Old Testament was written to foretell the coming of a promised Messiah, or whether the texts often credited as foretelling about the coming Messiah are about other things and men who lived at the time of the writing, or both (dual fulfillment). He states that there are two main schools of thought about this question & he looks deeply into the two schools.

The author outlines four reasons why it is so important to see the OT as a messianic document from start to finish. He says the foremost reason for seeing the Hebrew Bible as a messianic document is that this appears to be the best way to explain the evidence of the Scriptures themselves. A second reason for treating the Hebrew Bible as a messianic document is that it provides the most biblical apologetic for Jesus as the Messiah. A third reason it is crucial to treat the Hebrew Bible as messianic is that it enables followers of Jesus to have confidence in the Bible as God's inspired Word. A fourth reason messianic prophecy is so essential is that it is foundational for identifying Jesus as the true Messiah.

You’ll get excellent tour of the Messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible that does not assume in advance that prediction of the future is impossible, but rather that there is a God who can & has communicated with humans. It is a little slow in places but again I believe it is an important read.

[Krista Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written by a Messianic Jew who came to believe that Jesus is Messiah through his studies of the Old Testament. He makes an in-depth, well-written argument that the original intentions of many OT scriptures are Messianic in nature. He also provides counter arguments and summarizes how these scriptures tend to be viewed in modern scholarship. I'd recommend this book to anyone curious about this subject.

[Daniel Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for all Christians or Jews seeking the messiah.

Dr. Rydelnik is through, informative, passionate, and accurate in his study and revealing of how the Hebrew Bible points to a coming Messiah and His revelation through Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

[Doug Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the apostles preached the Gospel to their fellow Jews, their message centered around the claim that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled a number of predictions about a coming Messiah made by the biblical prophets hundreds of years before. Following the teaching of Jesus himself, they viewed the Hebrew Scriptures as a messianic text.

In this book, Messianic Jewish scholar Michael Rydelnik persuasively argues that these Messianic prophecies must remain an integral part of Christian proclamation and apologetics. He begins in chapter two by surveying the ways in which Christian scholars have interpreted the prophecies over the last 200 years. He documents an increasing trend, even among evangelical scholars, of interpreters shying away from the idea that the biblical writers made direct predictions of the coming of the Messiah. Two important exceptions in recent years are conservative scholars Walter Kaiser and John Sailhamer. Rydelnik champions Sailhamer's approach of carrying out a close literary reading of the Hebrew canon in its final form and sets out to demonstrate that this approach supports the traditional messianic understanding of a number of prophecies.

In chapter 3 Rydelnik demonstrates the importance of using all of our textual information to identify messianic references. In particular, he points out several examples where the Septuagint (LXX) translation of a verse gives a more clearly messianic reading than the Masoretic Text (MT). In Num 24:7, for example, the MT has, "his king shall be higher than Agag", while the LXX has, 'his king shall be higher than Gog". The reference to Gog, an end-time enemy of God, gives the LXX reading a more eschatological emphasis. In 2 Sam 23:1, the LXX has David speaking "concerning" the Messiah, a hint to watch out for messianic references in his writings. In Ps 22:16, the MT has, "as a lion, my hands and feet," while the LXX has, "they have pierced my hands and feet," an apparent reference to the Crucifixion. And at the end of Ps 110:3, where the MT is nearly unintelligible, the LXX has, "from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten you", making a link with Ps 2 and giving extra evidence for the messianic thrust of Ps 110.

Rydelnik shows in chapter 4 that some passages traditionally associated with the Messiah are interpreted messianically by later scripture. His examples include Gen 49:8-12, which is alluded to in Ezek 21:27; Num 24:17-19, alluded to in Amos 9:12; and Deut 18:15-18, whose meaning is clarified in a note by a later editor in Deut 34:10.

In chapter 5 Rydelnik asserts, following Sailhamer, that the Old Testament canon was organized to emphasize messianic hope. The Torah ends in Deut 34 with a note that the Messiah had not yet come by the time of the book's final editing, and then Joshua 1 urges Joshua to continually meditate on the Torah. Similarly, Malachi at the end of the Prophets closes with messianic expectation, and then the Writings begin in Psalm 1 with the instruction to continually meditate on the Torah. This pattern implies that the wise will be faithful to the Torah until the Messiah comes. Rydelnik also contends that one criterion for the inclusion of a book in the canon is a presentation of the Messianic hope, and he indicates how that hope is laid out in each book.

Rydelnik shows in Chapter 6 that Jesus (Luke 24; John 5) and the apostles (Acts 2-3, 13 17) understood that the entire Hebrew canon supported the claim that Jesus is the Messiah. Following Walter Kaiser, Rydelnik notes the claim in 1 Peter 10-12 that the prophets had known they were predicting the Messiah's suffering and subsequent glory and only lacked knowledge of the identity of the Messiah and the time of his appearance.

Rydelnik focuses on Matthew 2 in Chapter 7 to illustrate 4 ways in the which the New Testament uses the Hebrew Scriptures: (1) Direct fulfillment, illustrated by the reference in Matt 5-6 to the prophecy of Micah 5; (2) Typical fulfillment, illustrated by the reference in Matt 2:15 to Hosea 11:1, with Num 24 in the background; (3) Applicational fulfillment, illustrated by the reference in Matt 2:18 to Rachel weeping for her children in Jer 31:15; and (4) Summary fulfillment, illustrated by the reference in Matt 2:19-23 to the motif of the Messiah as a despised figure.

In chapter 8 Rydelnik discusses the influence of Rashi (1040-1105), the great medieval Jewish exegete, on both Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation. Rydelnik notes that Rashi was motivated by Christian claims to find non-messianic readings of traditional messianic passages. The early Protestant reformers, with their emphasis on the plain sense of the biblical text, saw Rashi as an ally, but Rydelnik cautions that they may have also inadvertently picked up some of Rashi's anti-messianic bias from his writings.

Then in Chapters 9-11, Rydelnik considers three texts in detail (Gen 3:15, Isa 7:13-14, Psalm 110), making a strong case that the traditional messianic understanding of each of these is well-founded.

Overall I highly recommend this book, both for its overall argument and for its valuable insights into particular passages of Scripture..

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Rydelnik is Professor of Jewish Studies in the Intercultural Studies Department at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He has a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a DMiss from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Rydelnik was an OT Translator for The Holman Christian Standard Bible, a contributor to The Moody Bible Commentary and various Study Bibles, and the author of the present volume The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? (B&H Academic, 2010).

The Messianic Hope opens with a helpful introduction to orient the readers to the study of messianic prophecy in the OT. Rydelnik does well in the initial chapters to define key terms and delineate the shift away from a messianic interpretation of the OT. For Rydelnik, there appears to be a growing chasm of conviction between those that view messianic prophecy as explicitly predictive and those that view it as merely an ultimate end that points towards the Messiah. This is an appropriate foundation and Rydelnik does an admirable job interacting with recent scholarship.

Following the initial chapters, Rydelnik directs the reader's attention towards various perspectives on messianic prophecy. While all the chapters are meaningful and important for the holistic portrait that Rydelnik paints, two chapters are particularly significant to the thesis of the book. First, the chapter on the innerbiblical perspectives on messianic prophecy offers readers a glimpse into how the OT interprets and understands itself, but especially messianic passages. Second, the chapter on the NT perspectives on messianic prophecy offers a similar window into the OT messianic passages but from a NT vantage point, including Jesus' own understanding of messianic passages.

Beyond the establishment of the major thrust of his argument concerning messianic prophecy, Rydelnik offers the reader three examples from the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible-Law (Gen. 3:15), Prophets (Isa. 7:14), and Writings (Ps. 110). These examples help the reader to observe the method and consistency of Rydelnik's approach. I found the examples particularly helpful to bring together the bits of Rydelnik's study that weren't as clear early on in the book. Where Rydelnik shines is his keen ability to uncover the interpretive nuances of messianic prophecy. Where I would have liked to see Rydelnik do a bit more exploration is in the arena of reception history. Nevertheless, Rydelnik has provided a goldmine of interpretive and biblical-theological treasure.

The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? By Michael Rydelnik is an outstanding push against a growing interpretive trend. Rydelnik is consistently kind and courteous in his interactions with his opponents. But, more than that, he is readable and aware of his target audience. If you're looking for a book that will encourage your heart towards an appreciation of the forward-pointing nature of the OT, then Rydelnik will be indispensable. It comes highly recommended with little reservation despite some interpretive disagreement.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good book thoroughly showing how the Old Testament is a messianic document not merely containing a few messianic prophecies, but that the entire thrust of the Old Testament is Messianic. Chapter 3 is more technical, and most of the references to Greek and Hebrew are in the footnotes for those wnating more details on his exegesis of passages. This book is accessible to a christian layperson with some sections being fairly detailed in exegesis and comparing passages of scripture.

I will provide two criticisms that do not detract from the overall message and usefulness of the book.

First, the author almost exclusively cites sources only from the last 200 years and reflects a more modern view of hermeneutics. Despite this he still challenges many contemporary evangelical scholars who deny messianic prophecies such as Genesis 3:15 and Psalm 110. I did appreciate his chapter on Rashi and the influence of Rashi's hermeneutics on modern evangelicals.

Secondly, his chapter on textual criticism (chapter 3), probably the mist technical in the book, assumes an eclectic approach to textual criticism. Assumes that textual criticism for the Hebrew Bible should use the same principles as modern New Testament textual criticism. In this chapter he also states multiple times that the Hebrew Masoretic text of the Old Testament has been corrupted and needs to be reconstructed or restored by the other ancient versions, primarily the Septuagint (LXX). Although a principle of modern textual criticism is to accept the more difficult reading when there is a textual variant, he picks and chooses when to apply this and is inconsistent.

I think this does hurt part of his case for witnessing to a Jewish audience by assuming the Hebrew text we now have is corrupt, which the Protestant reformers rejected in contrast to their papist opponents who affirmed the bible is corrupt therefore the Catholic church must give the final interpretation. An older classical view of textual criticism (known as the confessional view or textus receptus that affirms God's divine preservation of Scripture in both the Greek and Hebrew copies we posses, not to be conflated with KJV onlyism) would make a much more robust argument to a Jewish audience than the author's eclectic view.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

How defensible are Old Testament prophecies of Christ? If someone came up to you and declares that, in the Hebrew manuscripts of the OT, Psalm 22:16 does not read, "they pierced my hands and my feet," rather, when it is accurately translated it reads, "like a lion are my hands and feet." What would your answer be? And what if they say that Isaiah 53 was not speaking of a Messiah, but rather of Israel as a suffering servant? Nowadays, too many Christians believe that many, if not all, of the prophecies of the Messiah are only indirect prophecies, not direct prophecies. And many Christians might say that these prophecies are allegorically fulfilled, or that it is perfectly alright for the Holy Spirit , in His inspiration of the Apostles, to change His own prophecies. Others say that many prophecies have a 'double fulfillment', that these prophecies were fulfilled historically, in the prophets' life-time, and that they were fulfilled spiritually by Christ.


Michael Rydelnik offers the best defense I have read on the topic, arguing for the literal/direct fulfillment of Messianic/end time prophecies. I was fascinated by his information on Rashi and his followers, how they influenced, and to some degree instigated, the change from the literal interpretation of the Messianic prophecies, to interpreting these prophecies as having historical fulfillments in the time they were prophesied. In doing this, they countered the Christians' proof texts that Jesus is the Christ. These Jews' claimed to be using a literal hermeneutic, and that the literal interpretation of these prophecies was to view them as historically fulfilled. For instance, Isaiah 7:14 is speaking of a woman in Isaiah's day, most likely Isaiah's wife, who will have a baby, it is not speaking about a virgin birth. This method of interpretation was eventually picked up by the church, and now, "As a result, much of contemporary, Christian interpretation uses anti-Christian Jewish polemic to interpret messianic passages of the Hebrew Scriptures." And Christians try to apply them to the Messiah by saying that these prophecies had double fulfillments, that their primary fulfillment was their literal fulfillment in the days they were spoken, but that they have a secondary spiritual fulfillment in Christ.

Rydelnik is also very good in his explanation of the Masoretic Text(the Hebrew text our modern Old Testaments are based upon) and his defense of ancient versions of the Old Testament: "…the Masoretic Text is a post-Christian, Jewish version of the Old Testament. As such, it reflects the theological perspective of post-Christian, rabbinic Judaism. Thus, there are several significant examples of the Masoretic Text interpreting Old Testament messianic texts in a distinctly nonmmessianic (or historical) fashion, whereas other ancient versions interpret the same texts as referring to the Messiah." He goes on to show some examples of where the Masorites changed the text, talking about how the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible(and other translations) reads the same passages Messianically rather than historically. For instance, the Greek OT translation of Psalm 22:16 reads, "they pierced my hands and feet" rather than, "like/as a lion are my hands and feet". He explains how obscure the Hebrew is vs. the Greek which makes more grammatical sense. He counters the view that we should go with the Hebrew since it is the "harder reading" by the statement, "…defining the harder reading depends on the audience reading it. For a Masorete, 'they pierced my hands and my feet,' a seeming prediction of the Messiah's crucifixion, would certainly have been the harder reading." And he also notes that in 1997 a Hebrew fragment of the book of Psalms was found, dated "between AD 50-68" containing this Psalm and it reads "they pierced". Rydelnik ends up stating that, "The careful interpreter of messianic prophecy should be aware of text critical issues because these predictions may be buried in the Hebrew Bible's critical apparatus rather than in the Masoretic Text itself."

My only real problem with this book is that Rydelnik doesn't believe that certain texts were actual prophecies. For example, he believes that Matthew 2:15, where Matthew states events that "fulfill" Hosea 11:1,"Out of Egypt I have called my Son", is a typological fulfillment, because he believes this passages was actually speaking of Israel. I disagree here, and think that John Gill has a better answer, that the passage actually is speaking of Christ, and that it(Hosea 11:1) can be interpreted/read something like this, "Because of God's love for Israel, He has called His Son out of Egypt." Israel and her King were rebellious, and the King of Israel was 'disowned', 'cut off' or 'cast out'(chpt.10:15) but God loves Israel so He will call His own Son out of Egypt to be their King. I don't believe, as the author does, that Numbers 23-24 establishes 'Israel' as a valid 'type' of the Messiah, I don't believe that it makes Israel a type of the Messiah at all. You see Him coming out of/from the people of Israel(Num. 24:17,19), but I do not see that He is called 'Israel'. I believe that Rydelnik's excellent comments on Psalm 110 apply here: "If one presupposes that there are no direct messianic predictions or any concept of a Messiah in the Hebrew Bible, then certainly it would be necessary to look for alternative interpretations of Psalm 110. However, if there is a good reason to presuppose that the Psalms are indeed messianic, then this will yield a messianic explanation of the psalm." I believe that we have good reason to believe that Hosea 11:1 is Messianic, and so we ought to look for an 'alternative interpretation that yields a direct Messianic meaning, rather than just settling for the view that the verse is not essentially Messianic. If an Apostle appears to view a passage as being literally fulfilled, I believe that we should presuppose that the passage is directly Messianic. Knowing that the Apostles had much older copies of the Old Testament than we do should also bias us towards them, and make us less biased towards our own limited modern textual assortment of manuscripts and supposed superiority of our own modern manuscripts and interpretations.

Despite my disagreements, I consider this a GREAT book on the topic of Messianic prophecy and an excellent source of information on textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible and on modern interpretations of the Old Testament. Even the conclusion is great. He ends with an example of the Scriptures Accomplishing God's purposes at a time when he failed in his presentation/defense of them. I am very pleased that Rydelnik has a bias towards the authority, inspiration and literal-grammatical-historical interpretation God's Word; that type of bias is sadly declining/has declined in 'Christian' circles. I highly recommend this book. If you are studying prophecies of Christ, or just want more information on their interpretation, get this book!

Many thanks to B&H publishing group for sending me a free review copy of this book. (My review did not have to be favorable)

[Michael Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many are likely familiar with the fact that the Old Testament contains prophecies which have been labeled as Messianic in nature by scholars, meaning they predict either the coming of the Messiah or some aspect of his life and purpose. Unfortunately, it has become somewhat popular in the scholarly community to view those Messianic prophecies as simply a “form of general promise” which are passages not specifically related to the promised Messiah. To address this shift, Dr. Michael Rydelnik has written The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? in an effort to demonstrate “that it remains crucial to maintain a messianic understanding of the Hebrew Bible.”

Rydelnik begins this informative book by defining several key terms to include the meaning of the word Messiah while also outlining this shift away from a messianic interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. He notes that while there is still in the evangelical community a commitment to understanding that there are messianic elements to the Hebrew Bible, there is the increasing perspective that instead of there being predictive prophecy, those mentions of the Messiah merely find their ultimate end in the Messiah rather than declaring in the past the future event of the coming of the Promised One.

After laying that important foundation, Rydelnik then examines how prophecy and fulfillment operates in the Old Testament by first noting the history of scholarship on this specific issue. This section was quite interesting as the reader is able to follow the flow of thought through the years in the scholarly community on how they viewed messianic prophecy and fulfillment. Noted Old Testament scholars such as Franz Delitzsch “viewed messianic fulfillment as the outcome of the progress of redemption while allowing for individual messianic predictions.” Other scholars such as Walter Kaiser, Jr. averred the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament “had a single meaning which could find expression in multiple lesser fulfillments, ultimately culminating in the Messiah.” One thing is clear from the research provided by Rydelnik and that is the variety of opinions on how to view passages that seem to relate to the coming of and ministry of the Messiah.

Another interesting chapter in this book is Rydelnik’s examination of the innerbiblical testimony to the Hebrew Bible being messianic in character. Since Scripture is said to interpret Scripture, taking a look at how Scripture understands itself and the cogent and consistent message it presents concerning the Messiah is certainly an important aspect to such a study. Rydelnik notes regarding Genesis 49:8-12 and the used of the word Shiloh by Jacob that there is an eschatological sense to understanding the use of that term in this pericope specifically due to the reference to “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes…” While Shiloh has a wide semantic range, Rydelnik avers that contained within this particular passage when compared to other similar points made in Scripture that Shiloh is a messianic reference. This is namely due to the aspect of Shiloh that speaks of peace and of course the Messiah is the Prince of Peace and the ruler who will one day bring total peace.

Rydelnik does not merely focus on demonstrating the messianic nature of the Hebrew Bible from the pages of the Old Testament alone. He also works through a number of passages in the New Testament to show how Jesus himself and the New Testament authors referred back to Old Testament passages to support the position that Jesus was the promised Messiah. For instance Jesus, when asked by the disciples of John the Baptist if he was the Promised One, referred to Isaiah 35 and 61. Rydelnik correctly notes that Jesus did this to “show that He was the Messiah because He had indeed fulfilled messianic prophecy.” Additionally, Rydelnik notes how Philip, when discussing the gospel with the Ethiopian official, explained that Isaiah 53 referred to Jesus and “the correspondence between the description of the Servant and the events surrounding Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was so convincing that the Ethiopian believed immediately and was baptized.”

I highly recommend this book as a tool to combat the increasingly popular idea that Old Testament prophecies once deemed messianic in nature are merely elements of Scripture that somehow find their way to being fulfilled in Jesus since after all everything in Scripture moves toward Jesus. While all of Scripture does indeed point to the message of restoration and redemption found in the Messiah, as Rydelnik aptly notes throughout this excellent book, the Old Testament is indeed messianic in nature with multiple passages contain clear prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, predictions fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ. This is a valuable book for pastors, Bible College and Seminary students and quite frankly for all believers who desire to have a more clearer understanding of the consistent message of Scripture and specifically those passages that point to Jesus as the Messiah.

I received this book for free from B&H Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Ross Heinricy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was challenged, blessed, informed, educated and taught well by reading this book. Apologetic and precise he shares all sides of the argument as to whether or not OT Scripture is Messianic. I will reference this book when I write my second book, "The Forbidden Chapter". I am better and more well equipped in my understanding of Yeshua ha Mashiah and the Word of God because I read this book...and you will be too!

[Lee Button · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-documented and readable defense of messianic prophecy in the OT. Rydelnick considers various explanations for commonly attested OT prophecies, carefully refutes them and explains why each should be accep.ted as predictions of Christ

[Benji Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very refreshing to see the messianic perspective of the OT so boldly proclaimed and very interesting to hear insights from one who formerly held to Judaistic beliefs.
I also enjoyed the specific "worked examples" of reading Gen 3:15 and Isa 7 and seeing the Messiah Who is Jesus.

[Brian Chilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Dr. Rydelnik provides a strong case for Messianic Prophecy on the OT! This is a must read!

[Simon Wartanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book showing that the whole Bible (especially the OT) is about Christ just as He Himself said in Luke 24:44.

[David Couch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful, especially for the chapter on Rashi.

[Timothy Dehne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Luke Schmeltzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An argument for the Messianic interpretation of Old Testament prophesy opposed to modernists, higher critics, and skeptics. Good, but some of the arguments are a bit flimsy.

[Lindsay John Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excerpt from my full review here http://mydigitalseminary.com/the-mess...

The Messianic Hope is a great read for those from all perspectives. It would certainly be useful in a Christ in the Old Testament class, and the first few chapters ought to be required reading in such a class. I suspect some dismiss the direct messianic approach as heavy in tradition and light in argumentation, but I hope that people from all perspectives will read The Messianic Hope as it shatters such assumptions. Personally, while I certainly find direct prophecy in the OT, I find myself agreeing most broadly with a typological fulfillment approach (Dempster, Hamilton, Beale) and think it doesn’t result in a non-messianic view of the OT. However, The Messianic Hope has left me unsettled and uncomfortable! While reading, I was poked and prodded to reexamine the texts themselves and not be too quick to settle. A book that exalts Jesus and encourages us to reexamine our traditions and the Biblical text can never be a bad thing!

Many thanks to B&H for providing a review copy. I was not required to give a positive review.

[Mark A Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

With systematic care and precision, Rydelnik explores the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and highlights the messianic nature of its content. Although some branches of recent scholarship have shied away from seeing the Old Testament as directly predicting the future Messiah, Rydelnik convincingly argues that the intent (and perhaps primary purpose) of the Old Testament was to point to Jesus Christ, the One whom God would one day send. The result is a well-constructed, well-defended position.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author argues against those who says that the Old Testament authors did not know they were writing messianic prophecies. There is some truth in this, but I think the author goes too far. Jesus did not only came to fulfill specific messianic prophecies. He came to fulfill Israel's destiny. I found myself more in agreement the view opposed by the author.