Messiah From Days of Old (Ancient Times)

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What does “days of old” mean?

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Written for a Jewish audience.

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How ancient is ancient? How long ago is everlasting?

Or, maybe WHERE is everlasting?

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But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of early times, from days of old. Micah 5

Here the Hebrew terms for everlasting is motsa-ah, kedem, yom olam

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Motsa-ah מוֹצָאָה indicates origin or “springing from” a place, or family descent, or strangely, a sewer, draught house, going forth (2 Kings 10:27), so it seems like a channel of some sort, where something flows from

How this “sewer” aspect relates to Messiah is a puzzle, unless it indicates the removal of the filth, sin and iniquity of the world, or from the “body” of a nation, and the establishment of holiness.

Kedem םמִקֶּדֶ indicates from antiquity, or ancient times, before time, or from the beginning, or “east” (why east?, it is used 32 times in scripture as “east,” 11 times as eastward,” 5 times as “east side,” and 2 times as “east part”)

Yom מִימֵי indicates day or time

Olam םעֹולָֽ indicates long duration, antiquity, futurity, forever, and ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world, continuous existence, perpetual, ancient time (of past). So, in this sense, Messiah is from “everlasting.”

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Being physically born at a specific time, where there is a definite beginning in time and origin would be considered “current” at that time, and NOT coming from “antiquity.” This seems contradictory to what we would normally expect to see.

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King David reigned from 1010-970 BCE, ancestor of Messiah

Micah prophesied from 737-696 BCE, about 300 years after David

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So when (time) / where (origin) does Messiah come from?

Olam actually suggests “continuous existence.”

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Time options:

Unknown

The time of David, David returns?

Before the time of David, from ancient times.

After the time of David and Micah, looking to a future date

Before the time of David, from ancient times, and is sent back by G-D at a future time after the time of Micah

If he lives, then returns, does he get born again? Or just appear?

Origin:

Bethlehem – obvious physical location from text

If origin was from “of old,” or from ancient times, from everlasting, was the original location still Bethlehem?

The issue of “the east” comes up here….

YHVH says in Ezekiel 44:

This [eastern] gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for YHVH, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.

As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before YHVH; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

So Ezekiel indicates, at the time of Ezekiel, that only YHVH has entered in by this gate, and it should be shut until the “prince” comes.

So, it implies the prince is coming from the eastern direction, possibly his place of ancient origin.

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Time + Origin:

Putting the two together, the oldest “origin” from “everlasting” is…..

heaven itself.

Messiah’s “original” origin could be heaven.

Then afterwards, he is born in Bethlehem, according to Micah.

The next 2 verses in Micah tells us a little more about the future leader in Israel:

Therefore will he give them [Israel] up to their enemies, until the time that a woman in childbirth gives birth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

**Note: Jews expect the Messiah to re-gather the Tribes of Israel and return them home to Israel. But here, it indicates that the nation of Israel will be reborn first, and then the remnant show up. It does not say Messiah gathers them. He then shows up in the next verse. We can see now that Israel has been reborn, and there is no Messiah yet.

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So he is born in Bethlehem, but gives up on Israel, until Israel is reborn, or re-established. This happened in 1948.

So he is born in Bethlehem, “gives up,” and returns after 1948.

Unless this is someone born in recent times, he (Messiah) dies, and is sent back by the Almighty after Israel becomes a nation again.

Since he is “from ancient times,” this supports the theory that he comes, dies and comes back again, being sent by YHVH.

This means he comes twice.

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Do we know how he dies?

Daniel 9:26 actually mentions the Moshiach (Messiah)

“And after the sixty-two weeks
Mosiach מָשִׁיחַ (Messiah) shall be cut off (תכָּרֵ), but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

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Cut off (תכָּרֵ) = to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant, destroy, allow to perish, to take away

**Note: this is a dramatic death, or “elimination,” not a natural one.

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Rabbinic sources (Rashi) say that “the Roman emperor would make a treaty with the Jewish nation for 7 years. But for the second half of that term, the Romans would violate that covenant and impede the Temple service. The “mute abomination,” ie. a temple of idolatry, was erected by the emperor Hadrian on the Temple Mount.”

Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus, as he was known, was emperor from 117 to 138 C.E., and is best remembered in Israel for crushing the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans and for the ensuing holocaust, including destruction of the Jewish community in Judea and the razing of Jerusalem, upon whose ruins he built a pagan city named Aelia Capitolina.

There was some form of peace, then the situation changed and a revolt occurred.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.693212

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So…. If the “prince to come” was Hadrian in 117 CE, that means the first presence of the Moshiach was before 117 CE as well, since he got “cut off” before the “prince to come” .. came.

And he had to be born in Bethlehem, according to Micah.

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So WHO was born in Bethlehem before 117 CE?

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Chabad. Org/ Wikepedia ( birth places of known prophets, public figures, leaders):

Samuel – Ramah

Micah – Moreshet

Abraham – Ever Ha Nahar

Isaiah – Jerusalem

Jeremiah – Anathoh ( Jeremiah 1:1)

Ezekiel – Arira

Daniel – Beth Horon

Hosea – Belemot

Amos – Tekoa (Amos 1:1)

Joel – Beth Omoron (Jeremiah 48:23)

Obadiah – Beth Acharam

Jonah – Karaithmos

Nahum – Elkesi

Habakkuk – Beth zuchar

Zephaniah – Sabaratha

Haggai – Jerusalem

Zechariah – Babylonia

Malachi – Sofa

Nathan – Gaba

Ahijah – Shiloh

Joad – Samareim

Azariah – Subatha

Elijah the tishbite – Gilead

Elisha – Abelmaul

Zechariah – Jerusalem

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The only 2 known prophets / leaders known to be born in Bethlehem are King David and Jesus (Yahshua/Yeshua).

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:1

Jews do not consider Jesus as part of Judaism.

There is that “east” again in the verse above.

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Unless it is neither one…but this is all that is in public record….and it is a figure from ancient times that no one had any knowledge of.

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When David was here, he was anointed and crowned King.

When Jesus was here, he turned down the job. He had a different mission:

Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. John 6:15

So, Jesus did not fill the job as Messiah when he came. The Messiah is a king/ruler over Israel, according to Micah and other scriptures.

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So, it could be concluded it is one of these men, based on birthplace and time alone.

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David never said he was coming back, but he could be sent back by YHVH anyhow.

Jesus said he would come back, so, we wait and see.

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David died of natural causes.

Jesus was killed, so he was “cut off” or removed.

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It seems like it is one of these men.

There are no other candidates for the Ruler born in Bethlehem.

If either one shows up, it will be a second appearance.

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Personally, I do not think the Messiah will be born all over again. I think the Father YHVH will just sent him back to earth at the appointed time.

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But when it is time for Messiah to show up, he will defeat Israel’s’ enemies as the King of Israel.

And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. Micah 5:5

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Assyrian empire. Look who lives there today:

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We are in exciting times. Israel has been reborn, and the world is experiencing the birth pains for a Messiah, not just for Israel, but for the entire world.

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