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of the Linage of Solomon and Hezekiah The essence of Nathan's
prophecy is that David's son will build the Lord's house, and the Lord will
establish his throne forever. (1) Solomon, David's son from Bathsheba, fulfilled
part of the prophecy by building a house for the Lord in Jerusalem. It took
seven years to build this awesome structure. (2) Although Solomon fulfilled part of Nathan's prophecy,
there was undoubtedly some hope that he or his immediate descendant could
fulfill the remaining part of the prophecy through the establishment of the
eternal kingdom. However, those who had appended their hopes to Solomon were
soon bitterly disappointed. Solomon departed from the ways of God. He
not only married many wives, which the Torah
forbids, but the wives that he married were mostly idol worshippers. He built
for them altars and high places in the city of Jerusalem, so that they could
worship, burn incense and sacrifice to their gods. (3) Then he departed from
the Lord God. He began to follow after "Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom,
the abomination of the Ammonites." (4) The psalmist speaks of the
character of the promised Son of David, who would sit on the throne forever.
"He shall judge the poor of the people, he
shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the
oppressor."(5) Yet, Solomon became an oppressor himself, whose
burdensome taxes the people abhorred. After his death, the people approached
his son Rehoboam and asked that he make their yoke
lighter. (6) When Rehoboam refused, (7) the
kingdom split, and he lost ten of the tribes of Israel. (8) The
Promised One who would sit on the throne of David forever was the Messiah.
According to the Psalmist, he is to be everlasting, (9) he is to be
compassionate; (10) he is to cause joy and blessing. He is to bring peace to
the hearts of the people. (11) Messiah's influence was even to be extended to
the Gentile peoples, (12) and he would provide well for their physical needs.
(13) His name is everlasting, appointed by God before the sun was created,
(14) and his person is glorious. (15) Solomon did not fit this description of
the promised One who was to sit upon the throne of David. None of his
descendants who served as kings in Israel could, either. Nonetheless, the
people continued to hope for the One who would.
More than
two centuries passed.
Prophetically, additional details were
accumulated about this Son of David, Son of God. Hosea informed the
people, however, that they would have a long
wait: For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and
without a --- sacrifice ---. Afterward shall the children of Israel
return, & seek the Lord, their God, and David, their king, and shall fear
the Lord & his goodness in the latter days. (16) The faithful ones
in Israel in each generation were no doubt wondering whether the
Promised One would come in their generation. While they were waiting, Ahaz, an ungodly king arose. Ahaz
was challenged by God's servant Isaiah to heed God's Word and not enter into
alliances with the enemies of Israel. Ahaz refused.
(17) Isaiah tried hard to win over Ahaz and bring
him to trust the Lord, but Ahaz refused all signs
from the Lord and, with hypocritical piety, he declared: I
will not ask neither will I test the Lord. (18)
God rejected Ahaz because he was unworthy of God's
miracles, but God never-the-less gave a miraculous sign to the whole house of
David: Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign (19) Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he
may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall
know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken by both her kings. (20)
Here, God
promises a sign of a supernatural child, born of a virgin (21) (Almah), who would carry the symbolic name Immanuel ---God
with us. He would be the Promised King who would not make alliances
with Assyria. The mighty Assyrians would not prevail because
"Immanuel," and not Ahaz, would rule
Israel.(22) But soon after there was a dawning
of a new day. Ahaz had a son, Hezekiah, who
ascended the throne. He was a righteous and good king of great piety, and
obedient to the Word of God. Would Ahaz's son, the
good king Hezekiah, be chosen of God to fulfill these prophecies that had
accumulated through God's revelations from Adam to the prophet Isaiah
Doubtless, many, if not most in Israel, hoped that Hezekiah would be that
king: indeed, some thought that he was. The idea that Hezekiah was that
Messiah probably prevailed for awhile. One rabbi as late as the 1st century
C.E. still maintained this position: Rabbi Hillel maintained, Israel cannot expect
Messiah any longer for they already enjoyed him in the time of king
Hezekiah.(23) None of Rabbi Hillel's colleagues agreed with him and one
exclaimed: May God pardon Hillel, since he contradicts God's
prophet Zechariah [who came centuries after Hezekiah} who says,
'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; Behold
thy king cometh unto thee...' Hence, prophets like Zechariah, who prophesied
after Hezekiah's reign, looked forward to the Messiah. (24)
Part of Isaiah's prophecy was
fulfilled in Hezekiah's time. This occurred when Damascus, the
capital of Syria, was captured by the Assyrians in 732 B.C.E. The ten
northern tribes of Israel lost their independence, and their capital was
captured in 722 B.C.E. Hence it came to pass that: ...[B]efore the child kn[ew] to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land
that thou abhorrest [Syria and Israel] [was] ...
forsaken by both her kings. (25)
Another prophecy, in this same context, that the Assyrians would besiege Jerusalem
and conquer Judah, yet would still be defeated, was fulfilled in the time of
king Hezekiah.(26) Never the less, Hezekiah could not satisfy the sign
of the virgin birth, and hence, with all his qualifications, he still comes
up short. He is not the one who was to be Messiah and fulfill the
"Immanuel" prophecy. The Talmudic rabbis did consider the
possibility that Hezekiah was the Messiah. In one Talmudic passage it
is written: 'Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be
no end' (Isa. 9:7). One may ask why in the Hebrew in the first word lemarbe the letter mem, though
in the middle of the word, is written as a final mem? The answer is that
the Holy, blessed be He, considered the possibility of making Hezekiah
Messiah ... .(27)
The
passage goes on to imply that Hezekiah was not the Messiah, and it
explains that the closed mem signifies that the
decision concerning the Messiah was closed for now and postponed to another
time.(28)
RASHI also came to the conclusion that the Immanuel prophecy could not refer
to Hezekiah, because "if you count up the years of Hezekiah you will
find that Hezekiah was born nine years before his father [Ahaz]
ascended the throne." Hence, Hezekiah was born nine years before the
prophecy was given, and yet the prophet says: Behold, the virgin shall
(future tense) conceive... . (29) Although the rabbis
considered the possibilities that Hezekiah might be the Messiah, they decided
against it. They recognized his attributes as designated by his name,
Hezekiah, which means "God made him strong."(30) God indeed
strengthened Israel through Hezekiah's reign. Although Hezekiah was of the
seed from which Messiah would come, and though Messiah-like, he did not meet
the full qualifications of the Anointed Messiah who would fulfill the
Immanuel prophecy. Israel would have to wait. References for Chapter
10: What
The Rabbis Know About The Messiah by Rachmiel
Frydland For further
information contact
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