2010 National Conference on Christian Apologetics
Jewish apologist shares tips for
Understanding Messianic prophesy
By Edward Terry, The Layman, October 26, 2010
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Michael Brown, a leading messianic Jewish apologist, shared eight key principles to understanding Messianic prophesy with participants of the 2010 17th annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics.
Brown said he gave his life to Christ as a teen-ager, but faced challenges of his newfound belief from the Jewish community. He decided to study on his own, and found a wealth of proof by reading the Bible in its original languages and context.
“The more I studied, the more things became clear to me and my intellectual faith was just as solid as my heart faith,” he said. “Messianic prophesy is the ultimate battleground … If you can show the New Testament authors misquoted or mistranslated from the Hebrew Bible – or made them up out of thin air or misused them, then that would undermine all of His Messianic claims.” Related Articles
Brown said that Jesus constantly points to prophetic Scriptures as proof of His divinely appointed mission. Citing Jesus’ fulfillment of more than 300 prophesies and the astronomical odds of that happening, Brown said it’s one of the reasons he believes.
He suggests that to understand Messianic prophesies, students should apply eight basic principles:
- Messianic prophesies are not clearly identified. “You’ve got to open up the Word and see what is messianic and what is not,” Brown said.
- The messianic hope in Israel developed gradually. Brown said the prophets were looking for God’s answers in their own generation, and prophesied in a way that made sense to that generation. “It was not gradual in the mind of God,” he said. “It was planned before time began.”
- Many Biblical prophesies are fulfilled gradually. Brown used the example that many post-captivity prophesies for Israel still have not been fulfilled.
- The prophets saw the Messiah coming on the immediate horizon of history.
- It is important to read every prophesy in its overall context in Scripture. “We are told that we are taking Scriptures out of context – that we are misusing what the Bible actually meant,” Brown said. “To the contrary, context is a our friend.”
- The Messiah was to be a priest and a king. “What we expect Jesus to do when He returns, most Jews expected to happen the first time around,” Brown said. “Traditional Judaism has forgotten that messiah is priest and king. … being a priestly messiah is following in the footsteps of David.
- The Messiah is the ideal representative of his people. “The whole life of Israel is point toward Him,” Brown said.
- The prophesies of the return from Babylonian exile serve as a template for messianic prophesies.
Brown pointed to several books he has written, as well as two Web sites (www.askdrbrown.org and www.realmessiah.com), for more information on the subject.
The 17th annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics was sponsored by Southern Evangelical Seminary along with North Carolina Baptists, Breakpoint, Summit Ministries, the American Family Association and World Magazine. It was held Oct. 15-16 at Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.