”Comfort, comfort my people, says your God, speak to the heart of Jerusalem...” (Isaiah 40:1)

This is God’s heart, to bless us and to give us peace and a future. Even after Israel’s terrible rebellion which resulted in the Babylonian captivity he said:

“I will visit you and perform my good word towards you and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 NKJV)

These thoughts of peace which God has towards his people are described in another prophecy:

“Everlasting joy will be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:7 NKJV)

This is how David describes what God wants to give us:

“You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11 NKJV)

God’s purposes for us are life, peace and fullness of joy in a close relationship with him forever.

But why do most of us not have this peace?

The problem is certainly not on God’s side. The prophet Isaiah makes it clear:

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

The prophet touches here upon our greatest problem: the deep divide between God and man, which is the result of the sin found in each person. This problem goes back to mankind’s very beginning. Man disobeyed God, was separated from him and became totally corrupted (see Genesis 3-8).

The TeNakh’s diagnosis of man is painful realistic: “...every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.” (Genesis 8:21)

In contrast to this, God did not change the standards flowing from his righteous nature, his command still is: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

Sin and God’s holiness are an impossible combination. Nothing provokes God more than sin. Therefore unless our sin is dealt with, God cannot have a personal relationship with us.

He does not allow sin in his presence.

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” (Habakkuk 1:13)

Sin separates us from God!

But can’t we solve the problem through proper living, good deeds, or a serious religious lifestyle?

No, we cannot bridge the gap by our own efforts!

David knew this when he prayed:

“Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” (Psalm 143:2)

Even trying to keep the Torah will not help us. Yes, God gave the Torah, and it shows God’s holy purposes and his righteousness, but precisely because of this the law is a “witness against us”. Just as Moses said:

“Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?” (Deuternomy 31:26,27)

The covenant God gave on Sinai has actually been broken by our sins. There is only one hope: a new covenant in which the problem of sin is dealt with. Moses himself already hoped that there would come such a solution, that there would be “a circumcision of the heart”. (Deuteronomy 30:6). And thanks to God, he promised to give such a new covenant:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.’” (Jeremiah 31:31, see also Jeremiah 31:32-34, Ezekiel 36:25-28)

Already in the TeNakh the way out of the “sin problem” is through faith: turning to God’s grace and trusting in his promises. Just as is written in Psalm 130

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” (Psalm 130:5-8)

Habakkuk, the prophet, also pointed to this life saving faith in God:

“But the righteous shall live by his faith”(Habakkuk 2:4 NKJV)

This faith was the reason that even Abraham was considered to be righteous:

“And he (Abraham) Believed in the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 NKJV)

One more essential remains: From time immemorial this faith was accompanied by animal sacrifice. (Abel: Genesis 4:4, Noah: Genesis 8:20,21, Abraham: Genesis 12:7-8, 13:4, 13:18, Isaac: Genesis 26:25, Jacob: Genesis 33:20)

Here in Jerusalem, on Mt. Moriah, Abraham and Isaac learned in a dramatic way the need of a sacrifice as substitute for themselves. And here God provided a ram instead of Isaac. (Genesis 22:8-13)

The temple was later built at the same place (2 Chron. 3:1).

Sacrifice, the blood of the Passover lamb was also the key to Israel’s redemption from Egypt.

“When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.” (Exodus 12:23)

Later God even gave Israel an entire system of sacrifices (see the book of Leviticus). He proclaimed through Moses:

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11)

But why would God want man to go through the cruel procedure of killing an animal?

When the one who brought the sacrifice saw the animal suffering, bleeding and dying for his sins he understood the seriousness of sin, even the penalty of death he deserved himself.

The sacrifice showed God’s holiness and justice: he doesn’t take evil lightly. A price must be paid for sin.

But it shows also God’s mercy: he is ready to pardon the one who is truly repentant and trusting in his grace alone. He himself provided this way out of the problem of sin.

The blood of sacrifice atones for the sin of man.

But with no functioning sacrificial system now, how do we get this atonement today?

The prophet Isaiah prophesied about someone who would give himself as a sacrifice for sin. The animal sacrifices were temporal, but this person is the final sacrifice. God provided him as our atonement for today:

Isaiah wrote: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned—every one—to his own way; but the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” “And among his generation who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people? He was stricken for them!” God said: “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring” (=many people made righteous by him) “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, justify many and he shall bear their iniquities.” “Because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors”. (Isaiah 53:5, 6,8,10-12 translation BSI)

This is “Messiah who will be cut off ” (Daniel 9:26). We also read about him in Isaiah 42 and 49. God says to him:

“I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7) God even says to him: “I will give you...to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6 NKJV)

He will be “a covenant for the people” (Isaiah 42:6). This Messiah is the one who will bring the new covenant in which the problem of sin is dealt with (Jeremiah 31:31). His sacrifice will be the foundation of this new covenant.

There are many more things the TeNakh reveals us about the Messiah. For example:

• He will be a descendant of David (Jer. 23:5-6)
• He will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• He will reveal himself in the Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
• He will have an earthly as well as an eternal origin, he will be human as well as divine (Micah 5:2, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6-7)
• He will be rejected and despised by his own people. (Psalm 22:6, Isaiah 49:7, 53:3)
• He will suffer terribly and be laid in the dust of death but God will raise him up. Because of this many gentiles will turn to God. (Psalm 22)
• He will die but live again. (Isaiah 53:8 and 10, compare Psalm 16:10)
• He will be “cut off ” (die) before the destruction of the second temple, that is before 70 CE. (Daniel 9:26)

But who can this be?
If we examine the prophecies with an open mind there is no other candidate for this except Yeshua from Nazareth. He fulfilled these as well as many other prophecies. (See below for a more extensive list of prophecies.) The scriptures of the new covenant give a reliable account of his life, death and resurrection, all based on the testimony of direct eyewitnesses (See Luke 1:1-3, John 19:35, 1 Corinthians 15:1-9). When we read them we will see this Yeshua is the promised Messiah.

Yeshua gave his soul as a guilt offering for us. (Isaiah 53:10). This all happened when he died the terrible death of crucifixion here in Jerusalem (see Matthew 27:33-55), not far from the place where Abraham learned the need for a substitute sacrifice.

In the same place God provided again, this time for the whole world.

This Yeshua is the hope for Israel as well as the entire world.

The new covenant scriptures testify about him:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
“God presented the Messiah as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood— to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25)

Accepting him in faith is the only way out of our sin problem. As Yeshua himself said:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

When we turn to God with all our heart and put our hope in the Messiah, then the new covenant begins working in our lives. We receive total forgiveness of sin and God fulfils his original purpose:

“I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33).

He even adopts us as sons and daughters, as is written in the new covenant scriptures:

“To all who received him (Messiah), to those who believed in his namehegavetherighttobebecomechildrenofGod.”(John1:12)

Furthermore, when we put our faith in Messiah God gives us his spirit and comes to dwell in us. His spirit shows us the greatness of his love toward us in Messiah (Romans 5:5, Ephesians 3:16-19) and gives us the desire and the power to do God’s will.

Just as God said it through Ezekiel:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26,27) The new covenant scriptures say the same:
“If anyone is in Messiah (connected to him by faith in him), he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You will start to produce the fruit of the Spirit of Messiah which is “...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Having forgiveness of sins in Messiah we know that whatever happens “...Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor heigth nor depth nor any other created thing, shall be able to seperate us from the love of God which is in Yeshua the Messiah.” (Romans 8:38-39). In Messiah we are thus safe for eternity.

In the TeNakh the chapter of the suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53) is immediately followed by a chapter full of joy. Isaiah 53 is actually a confession. It is Israel’s confession of the Messiah when it recognizes him as the suffering one. Chapter 54 describes the peace and joy Jerusalem will experience after the people have confessed that the Messiah bore their sins.

The Messiah paid the price: “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him” (Isaiah 53:5). The result for Jerusalem is: “great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13).

One day this peace of the Messiah will reign on earth, but today we are invited to become the children of Jerusalem that share in this peace.

We present to you here the new covenant scriptures that you may know more about Yeshua, the prince of peace. (Isaiah 9:6). More so, however, you are invited to become part of this new covenant by faith in Yeshua so that it will become true for you personally:

“For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” (Isaiah 54:10 NKJV)

Here is a prayer that might help you take the first step of faith in Messiah: