Does the Jewish Bible Point to Jesus?
12 Key Prophecies that Unfold God’s Plan
by David Brickner,
Executive Chairman to the Board of Directors of Jews for Jesus
Many people are surprised to learn just how much the Hebrew Scriptures point directly to the Messiah. While I wrote it with Jewish seekers in mind, I pray it engages and strengthens the faith of believers like you and helps you share your faith with Jewish and Gentile friends. Thanks also to everyone who prayed for the release of our new book, Does the Jewish Bible Point to Jesus? 12 Key Prophecies that Unfold God’s Plan.
Below is an excerpt from the book and a behind-the-scenes look at my approach to writing about Messianic prophecy. I’ve also shared a favourite story about how we’ve seen God use the book and some specific prayer requests for its continuing impact.
When Ellen, a Jewish musician, attended a concert of Handel’s Messiah, she found herself surprisingly moved. She was eager to discuss her experience with Laura Barron, a Jewish believer in Jesus, and long-time member of our staff.
‘You should go hear Handel’s Messiah,’ Ellen told Laura. ‘I think you’d like it because it’s all about Jesus, based on the New Testament.’
Laura smiled, ‘What if I told you that more than half the lyrics to that piece are from the Jewish Bible [also known as the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament]?’
‘But they must be from the New Testament! I know the piece is about Jesus; it was so specific and detailed.’
‘You’re right,’ Laura agreed, ‘it is about Jesus, and some of the words are from the New Testament. But Handel’s Messiah includes even more passages from the Jewish Bible—from Isaiah 7, Isaiah 53, Psalm 2, and Psalm 22—just to name a few!’
As Laura went through several of the passages with her, Ellen was astounded. Not only had it never occurred to her that the Jewish Bible would be pointing to Yeshua (Jesus), but its predictions about who the Messiah would be and what he would do were positively mind boggling. Ellen’s response was understandable… and not at all uncommon.
Like Ellen, many Jewish people are not especially familiar with their own Bible. Those who are secular tend to assume it is either ‘too religious’ and/or too antiquated to be relevant in today’s world. For those who are religious, the Scriptures are interpreted and curated by centuries of religious traditions and rabbinical commentaries. It’s largely assumed that the traditions and holy books say all that is necessary to know about the Bible. We wanted to challenge people to see for themselves that not only is the Jewish Bible surprisingly relevant to the situations we face today, but that it unfolds God’s plans for the Jewish people – and for the restoration of this broken world. And in doing so, it points directly to Jesus.
Even Jesus’ own disciples struggled to see how Scripture pointed to Him – until He opened their eyes. It wasn’t until He died and was resurrected that Jesus opened their minds to the meaning and fulfilment of God’s life-changing promises. We don’t know which passages Jesus talked about, but we do know from Luke 24:44–45 that he was referring to the Tanakh. Tanakh is an acrostic for the three portions of the Hebrew Scriptures: the Torah (Law of Moses), the Nevi’im (the Prophets) and the Ketuvim (the Writings, which includes books such as the Psalms).
This book walks readers through a sampling of twelve prophecies from those three groupings of Scripture, including those that Laura mentioned to Ellen in the above excerpt. Theirs is one of many personal stories I’ve included in the book. But our main focus is the twelve prophecies and how they point to the amazing love and grace God offers us in Jesus.
Why does God so often bring hope in unexpected ways? What if the Messiah looked different than expected – yet was exactly as prophesied? As we unpack these passages, two patterns emerge. First, God’s promise to redeem and heal a broken world shines hope in the darkest of times. Second, God’s promises are full of surprises, some might say paradoxes, that paint a far more detailed and compelling portrait of the Messiah than any person or group of people would dare to imagine. But how can we show God’s amazing plan to people who might not be inclined to pick up a Bible?
The best ‘coach’ we can find is Jesus because He is the king of communication. He often used stories to make His point; He met people where they were at, and He used what they already knew to point to what they had yet to see. He also asked questions to help people reflect on where their hearts were and where they needed to be. We wanted to follow His example. So, in addition to unpacking twelve key prophecies, we included numerous stories collected over the course of many years in ministry. And while my own belief in Jesus is clearly stated, we were very intentional in addressing readers without any assumptions about what they do or don’t believe. The writing style is clear and straightforward while also including explanations of alternate translations for passages that are often disputed. Each chapter ends with a brief section titled ‘And You?’, inviting readers to reflect and interact with what they’ve read. And for those who want to do a deeper dive, we’ve included the following appendixes: ‘Theophanies: When God Makes Appearances’ and ‘Types: Pictures of Messiah in the Jewish Bible.’
It’s been fun for me to interact with people at a number of ‘book launch’ events, one of which gave me a lot of nachas (a Yiddish word that expresses one’s ‘pride and joy’ often in a loved one).
My son Isaac leads our Los Angeles branch, and he and the team organised a breakfast that gave me an informal time to talk and answer questions about the book. My ten-year-old granddaughter Nora was there, as was one of her friends who’d come with her father, a local pastor.
I was especially delighted that Nora’s friend, a believer, wanted a copy of the book. She actually brought it on the bus to read en route to a school field trip. When the kids next to her asked what she was reading, she was able to share her faith with her classmates – one of whom is Jewish! Please pray for God to nurture the gospel seeds that were planted.
I’m grateful to the many Christian friends who have attended these launches and purchased multiple copies of this book to share with Jewish friends. What’s even more encouraging is hearing about Jewish people who have paused in mid-conversation with our missionaries to pull out their phones and order the book for themselves!
I know that the prayers of friends like you made a huge difference to me and my colleagues as we worked on producing this book – and we still need your prayers now that it is done. Please pray that:
· the logistics and timeline to translate the book into other languages, particularly Hebrew and French, will fall into place.
· God will touch the hearts of many more Christians (like you) to read and share this book with unbelieving friends.
· we’ll have the wisdom to know how best to continue reaching out to unbelievers about the book.
· everyone who receives or purchases this book will be drawn to Jesus.
To purchase your copy, please click on this link: https://www.amazon.com/Does-Jewish-Bible-Point-Jesus/dp/0802434169
See what others have had to say about the book:
‘At last! David Brickner, the long-time leader of Jews for Jesus, lays out the Messianic claims of Jesus (Yeshua), based on Old Testament prophecy in a way that every reader can grasp. This helpful book is as edifying as it is practical. Read if you love the Jewish Messiah and the Jewish people.’
Michael L. Brown, host of the Line of Fire radio broadcast; author of the five-volume series
Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus; and the Director of Spiritual Renewal and Apologetics at the Jerusalem Bible Institute
‘The Messiahship of Yeshua is a topic of much misunderstanding in the Jewish (and non-Jewish) world. Through an authentic Jewish conversation, David Brickner explains in an engaging and personal way to both Jewish and Gentile readers how Yeshua fits the criteria of the promised Messiah, while making the good news very clear along the journey. The book starts with a vivid description of the resurrection of the Messiah, and then weaves through the Tenach, the Hebrew Scriptures, unpacking the passages that speak of who this Messiah would be and what he would do. This book has been an exciting read and I believe it will have a great impact on whoever reads it, whether they believe in Yeshua or not.’
Erez Soref, President of ONE FOR ISRAEL; author of articles and books, including Reading Moses, Seeing Jesus: How the Torah Fulfills Its Goal in Yeshua
‘This book offers an easy-to-read discussion about the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible from a Jewish man who has spent decades thinking about this topic. This book is a great read for a reader who is considering the topic of the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible for the first time, as well as the reader who has been thinking about this for years.’
Seth Postell, Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Israel College of the Bible in Netanya, Israel