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Isaiah 11:1, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:"
Romans 15:12 states: "And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."
Answer for yourself: According to Christian theology the above passage is a fulfilled Messianic prophecy which proves the Messiahship of Jesus. Is this true?
Christianity's interpretation that the above passage refers to Jesus is entirely without substantiation. It does speak of the Hebrew Messiah, but there is no connection to Jesus presented in this verse from Isaiah. Those who look to this passage as referring to Jesus make this forced connection prompted by their viewpoint and their emotion, but lacking any evidence. Also Jesus' genealogy, as given to us in the Gospels, disqualifies him from being a descendant of King David and Jesse, David's father.
Answer for yourself: Have you ever taken the time to compare them as recorded by the writer of the Gospel of Matthew and Luke? You should.
Certainly, he also is disqualified from being a descendant of King David if he were conceived by the Holy Ghost instead of by his father, Joseph. It seems those who espouse a "virgin birth" for Jesus fail to realize this simple truth as such an event would disqualify Jesus from the Davidic bloodline as we now know that the blood of the baby is determined by the male's chromosomes and not the woman's. The writers of the genealogies of Jesus did not have this information at their disposal so we find the convoluted efforts to link Jesus to David through Luke's genealogy which is supposed to come through Mary.
Furthermore, Isaiah 11:1-16 deals fully with the glorious Messianic expectations, which are not fulfilled. Some very general verses possibly could be conceived to be about Jesus. But, they are too vague and could be applied to many others, not specifically to Jesus alone. Generalities prove nothing. Indeed, specificity in many verses concerning the Messiah destroys the Christian contention that Jesus fills the role of the Hebrew Messiah. We find ourselves at the same impasse; namely, Jesus cannot be proven to be the Hebrew Messiah but only the Christian Messiah once the texts are manipulated or neglected as recorded in the Jewish Scriptures. The New Testament writers, whoever they were, did a masterful job at this.
Now we come to a sticky issue and that is the idea of a "second coming." It would seem that there can be no "second coming" for the Hebrew Messiah or for this rod of Jesse because Isaiah says the stem of Jesse will be functioning in the Messianic times, not before. Read Isaiah 11:10-11, "And in that day (Messianic Era) there shall be a root of Jesse. . . And it shall come to pass in that day,..."
Answer for yourself: In reading the passage where does Isaiah refer to two different appearances of the Messiah?
Nowhere does Isaiah imply a "first" and then a "second" arrival. Nowhere is a "this now" and a "that later" stated or inferred. All will be "in that day." Isaiah's prophesy cannot be separated into a first coming, a leaving, and a return for completion. However, Christianity has done just this in its message of Jesus Christ as Messiah.
Also it should be plain to almost everyone that in the earthly existence of Jesus he ruled over no nations (peoples). And surely the Gentiles, at least during Jesus' lifetime, hoped not in him. Yet this passage is cited by many that it proved that Jesus was the Messiah. Let us examine this premise in more detail.
Matt 1:1-2 1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat (KJV)
Matt 1:6 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; (KJV)
Matt 1:16 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (KJV)
If you will study this out not only because of the lack of fulfillment of the true Messianic prophecies would the Essene followers of Yeshua lean to a "second coming" in order for these Messianic prophecies to be fulfilled, but these Essenes already had a belief that one was to come in the Spirit and Anointing of their slain Teacher of Righteousness. Any such appearance, or better understood "reappearance," was to be understood as a "second coming" of the Essene Teacher of Righteousness. This concept was simply later applied to Jesus who lived after their Teacher in the wake of the Messianic prophecies remaining yet unfulfilled.
Bennoah1@verizon.net