Israel's Hope: the Messiah.
The religion of the Old Testament fully understood the result of sin and suffering, they also recognized God's role in this. The Hebrews had desperately hoped for God to restore the world to the perfection it was first created in. Therefore they wished to be in harmony with God so this would happen, because once the world is restored so is the fellowship between man and God. Throughout the Old Testament it can be seen that this hope had really shown when the people themselves were in a hopeless or dire situation. One of the main articles of Jewish faith is that God would one day intervene in the world and establish His own perfect rule, the Kingdom of God. This kingdom would uphold peace and brotherhood among all men; it would be a perfect world expressions of this can be found through out the bible. It has also been said in the Bible that God would either establish this kingdom alone, or with the aid of an agent or messenger. This agent is known as the messiah, it was said that he would come from the line of David, the perfect ruler, and will help in the building of God's new order and become the ruler of the whole kingdom.
In addition to the Messianic King, two other figures are associated with Israel's hope. One is the Suffering Servant who represents the suffering people of Israel; he is gentle and kind and is there to bring light to the Gentile world. But he is frowned upon by mankind for being ugly and contemptible. He dies for the sins of others and offers his life as a sacrifice to God. The second is described as one like unto a son of man in Daniel (7:13) meaning one like man. He...
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