The Bible · Start to finish
The Hebrew Bible described someone who was coming. Then someone came who fit the description.
This is a Torah scroll.
Torah תּוֹרָה is Hebrew for teaching.
It holds the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
If you've been to a bar or bat mitzvah, you've heard it read.
Now open a Christian Bible to page one.
Same five books. Same words.
One shelf. Two parts.
The first part makes promises.
The second part says they came true.
Let's start at the beginning.
01 · How it started
God made the world.
He made the first man and woman: Adam and Eve.
He put them in a garden. Everything they needed was there.
They walked with God. Nothing was broken.
He gave them one rule.
you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evilGenesis 2:17
Then a serpent came with a lie.
You will not surely dieGenesis 3:4
It said God was holding something good back from them.
They believed the lie.
They ate.
That rebellion has a name: sin.
Sin means going our own way instead of God's way.
It broke their trust. It broke their home.
It brought death into the world.
And every one of us has done it since.
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.Ecclesiastes 7:20
So we need a way back to God.
God spoke to the serpent.
He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.Genesis 3:15
He will come from the woman. A person, not a plan.
The serpent strikes his heel. It hurts, but it isn't the end.
He crushes the serpent's head. That is the end of the serpent.
The rest of the Bible is looking for this child.
Bible teachers Chuck Smith and Gary Hamrick both call this the first promise of a rescuer in the Bible.
One more thing happened that day.
God made clothes for them out of animal skins (Genesis 3:21).
For there to be skins, an animal had to die.
Something died so they could be covered.
Remember that.
Then they had to leave the garden.
A flaming sword guarded the way back in (Genesis 3:24).
The rest of the Bible is the story of God making a new way back.
02 · The promise
Many years later, God spoke to a man named Abraham.
He made Abraham a covenant: a promise God would never break.
all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.Genesis 12:3
Not just one family. Every family on earth.
God said it would come through Abraham's "offspring" (Genesis 22:18).
In Hebrew it's the same word as the "seed" in the garden promise.
The promised child would come from this family.
One of the twelve sons was Judah.
Before he died, Jacob blessed his sons. To Judah he gave a promise about kings.
The scepter will not depart from JudahGenesis 49:10
A scepter is a king's rod.
Judah would be the tribe of kings.
Yehudi · "from Judah"
Judah → Judean → Jew. The word comes straight from Judah's name.
Later, Israel's kingdom split in two. The southern kingdom was called Judah, and its people were called Judeans: Jews. Over time the name came to mean all of Israel's people.
More on this belowWhat "Jewish" meant then, and what it means today, is in The words.
The search is getting narrower.
03 · The way back, for now
God is holy. Sin can't just be ignored.
So God gave Israel a way to come back to Him: a sacrifice.
An animal died in the person's place.
it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.Leviticus 17:11
kippurim · as in Yom Kippur
Being made right with God again. Say it slowly: at-one-ment.
The Hebrew word is often explained as "covering." Like the skins God used to cover Adam and Eve.
God tested Abraham. He told him to offer his son Isaac. On the way up the mountain, Isaac asked where the lamb was.
God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.Genesis 22:8
God stopped Abraham. A ram took Isaac's place. But Abraham's words stayed in the air: God will provide the lamb.
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. On the last night, each family killed a lamb and painted its blood on the doorframe.
when I see the blood, I will pass over you.Exodus 12:13
Death passed over every house with the blood. Every Passover Seder still tells this story.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid his hands on a goat's head and confessed the people's sins over it. Then the goat was led away into the wilderness.
The goat will carry on itself all their iniquitiesLeviticus 16:22
Yom Kippur is still the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The sacrifices had to happen again and again.
Every morning. Every evening. Every year.
They were pictures. They pointed to something bigger.
Then, in AD 70, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.
The sacrifices stopped. They have not started again.
04 · The signs
God also sent prophets.
A prophet is someone God speaks through.
Over about 1,000 years, they wrote down clues about the one who was coming.
Mashiach · "anointed one"
Anointed means oil was poured on your head. That's how Israel's kings were chosen.
In Greek, the same word is Christos. In English: Christ.
Where it got blurry"Christ" is not Jesus' last name. It's a title. "Jesus Christ" means "Jesus the Messiah."
"through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed"
"The scepter will not depart from Judah"
"I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."
"the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son"
"Bethlehem … out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel"
"Prepare the way for the LORD"
"your King comes to you … humble and riding on a donkey"
"they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver."
"He was despised and rejected by men … He did not open His mouth."
"they have pierced my hands and feet … and cast lots for my clothing."
"the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all."
"nor will You let Your Holy One see decay."
Dates are approximate. Scholars differ on some of them.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.53:3
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities53:5
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.53:6
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter53:7
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death53:9
Transgressions and iniquities are the wrong things we do.
Who does that sound like?
05 · The match
About 2,000 years ago, a baby was born in Bethlehem.
His mother, Mary, was a virgin.
His name was Yeshua.
Yeshua · "the LORD saves"
Jesus is how his Hebrew name came into English, by way of Greek. It's the same name as Joshua.
An angel told Joseph why: "you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
He was Jewish. He grew up keeping the Torah.
His first followers were all Jewish too.
Now, the same 12 signs. Same order.
Matthew's very first line calls Jesus the son of David, the son of Abraham
.
His family line runs through Judah: our Lord descended from Judah
.
Joseph was from the house and line of David
, and the angel told Mary that God would give her son the throne of His father David
.
Before Mary and Joseph came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit
. Mary asked the angel, How can this be … since I am a virgin?
His parents lived in Nazareth, but a Roman census sent them to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born
.
When wise men came asking where the King was born, the scholars in Jerusalem already knew the answer from Micah: Bethlehem (Matthew 2:4–6).
John the Baptist called people to turn back to God, right before Jesus began. Matthew says John is the one Isaiah wrote about.
Matthew 3:1–3
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey while the crowds shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David!
Judas, one of his own followers, handed him over. The price: thirty pieces of silver
.
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
At his trial, Jesus gave no answer, not even to a single charge
.
Roman soldiers nailed his hands and feet to a cross. Below him, they cast lots for his clothes. David wrote Psalm 22 about 1,000 years earlier, long before Rome crucified anyone.
John 19:23–24 · John 20:25
This is what pierced means.
Nails through his hands. Nails through his feet.
He took it for us.
John the Baptist had pointed to him: Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
He was crucified between two criminals, then laid in the new tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea.
On the third day the tomb was empty: He is not here; He has risen, just as He said!
Later he appeared to more than five hundred
people at once.
"Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself." (Luke 24:39)
Signs matched
Every picture from the start of the story points here.
The serpent would strike his heel. He would crush its head.
Genesis 3:15He was struck down. Three days later, death itself was beaten.
Matthew 28:6Something died so Adam and Eve could be covered.
Genesis 3:21Jesus died so we could be covered, once and for all.
Hebrews 10:10God Himself will provide the lamb
Look, the Lamb of God
. Jerusalem's Temple was later built on Mount Moriah. Jesus died just outside that city.
when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
Jesus died at Passover. His followers called him our Passover lamb
.
A goat carried the people's sins away, once a year.
Leviticus 16:22the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
Once, for everyone.
Billy Graham taught that only a Savior with no sin of his own could be the perfect, final sacrifice for our sins. That is why the sacrifices could stop.
06 · Could it be luck?
A man could try to act out a few of these signs.
Most of them, no one could.
One sign could be luck. Two could be chance.
Twelve, in one man, written down hundreds of years ahead?
And these 12 are only a start. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association counts more than 300 prophecies about the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible.
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.Daniel 9:26
Daniel even gave a deadline.
The Messiah would be "cut off" before the city and the Temple were destroyed.
The Temple fell in AD 70. Jesus died about 40 years before.
07 · The words
Over time, the words got blurry. Here is what they actually mean.
In the Bible, being Jewish meant belonging to Israel's people, the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and worshiping the God of Israel. Life was built around the Torah, the Temple, the Sabbath, and waiting for the Messiah.
Being Jewish can mean faith, family, culture, or all three. Some Jewish people keep the faith closely. Many don't practice it, but still belong to the people. Traditional Jewish law passes it down through the mother, or through converting. Some Jewish movements count the father too.
Where it got blurryMany people grow up Jewish by family, even have a bar or bat mitzvah, and never get to read what the Prophets said about the Messiah. This page is a place to start.
"teaching"
The first five books of the Bible, written by Moses.
Where it got blurryIt sounds like a Jewish-only book. It is also the first five books of every Christian Bible.
the Hebrew Bible
Three parts: Torah (teaching), Nevi'im (prophets), Ketuvim (writings). T-N-K.
Where it got blurryChristians call these same books the Old Testament.
"old covenant" · berit is Hebrew for covenant
The first part of the Christian Bible: the Hebrew Bible.
Where it got blurry"Old" can sound like "out of date." Jesus said, "I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17).
"new covenant" · berit chadashah
The 27 books about Jesus and his first followers.
Where it got blurryIt sounds like another religion's book. Its very name comes from a Hebrew prophet: "a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jeremiah 31:31).
biblia · "the books"
A library on one shelf: 66 books in most Protestant Bibles.
Where it got blurryPeople think of two books. It's one library telling one story.
Mashiach · "anointed one"
The King God promised, from David's family.
Where it got blurryIt's the same word as Christ, in another language.
Christos · "anointed one"
The Greek word for Messiah.
Where it got blurryIt's a title, not a last name. "Jesus Christ" means "Jesus the Messiah."
Yeshua · "the LORD saves"
His Hebrew name. The same name as Joshua.
Where it got blurry"Jesus" sounds foreign to Jewish ears. His own family called him Yeshua.
"a Messiah follower"
A follower of Jesus the Messiah. The name was first used in Antioch (Acts 11:26).
Where it got blurryIt sounds like the opposite of Jewish. The first followers were Jewish, and they believed Israel's Messiah had come.
The labels don't split the story.
One God. One promise. One person it all pointed to.
08 · Fair questions
Good people have read these verses differently. Here are the big questions, answered honestly.
Many Jewish readers today say yes: the servant is the people of Israel, who have suffered so much. Isaiah does call Israel God's servant in other places (Isaiah 41:8).
Christians notice what makes chapter 53 different. This servant suffers for the sins of others: "He was pierced for our transgressions." And he is innocent: "He had done no violence."
Some ancient Jewish teachers also read it about the Messiah. An old Aramaic version of Isaiah, the Targum, names the servant in 52:13 "the Messiah," though it reads the suffering lines another way.
Yes, almah means a young woman who isn't married yet. Many Jewish readers see Isaiah 7:14 as a sign for King Ahaz's own day.
But before Jesus was born, Jewish scholars who translated Isaiah into Greek chose parthenos, the word for a virgin. Matthew read it the same way.
Many Christians see two layers: a sign for Ahaz's day, and a bigger sign still to come.
Look back at the list. A man can't choose his family line, his birthplace, or what soldiers do with his clothes. He can't arrange a rich man's tomb.
The prophecies themselves were copied by Jewish scribes long before Jesus. The Isaiah scroll found with the Dead Sea Scrolls was copied over 100 years before he was born, and Isaiah 53 is in it.
The first followers told this story to people who had been there. Some were killed for saying it (Acts 12:2).
There are real reasons. Many in Jesus' day expected a Messiah who would rule as king right away. A Messiah who suffers was hard to accept. Even his own followers said, after the cross, "we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21).
Over the centuries, terrible things were done to Jewish people in Jesus' name. That made his name hard to hear. And many were simply taught to read these verses another way.
Still, the first people to believe in Jesus were all Jewish. Many Jewish people follow him today.
The road home
After he rose, Jesus walked with two of his followers on a road.
They didn't understand what had happened yet.
So he started at the very beginning.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.Luke 24:27
Later, he named all three parts of the Hebrew Bible.
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.Luke 24:44
People rebelled against God.
A child would come, through Abraham and Judah.
Sacrifices, again and again, pointing ahead.
Prophets described him in advance.
Jesus fit every sign.
And it's about him.
Don't take this page's word for it. Read it yourself.