The Messianic Prophesies

The most important prophecies to the Jewish church and nation were the "Messianic Prophecies". Words about a Messiah King who would reign in righteousness. This was the Jewish faith and hope. In His days Judah would be saved, and Israel would dwell in safety. This more than anything else, preserved the faith of the nation to Jehovah their God. Though beaten down by their enemies, though carried captive into foreign lands, yet their spirits rose with the hopes of final deliverance and future greatness. They looked forward to a time when Messiah their anointed King, to whom the heathen would be given for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession, would rule over them. It may be that they misunderstood the nature and meaning of their prophecies; it may be that they overlooked the predictions relating to the sufferings of the Messiah, thinking only of His glorious reign, but still these Messianic hopes were the life of the nation, and the source of all that was beautiful in it. Were it not for the hope in a Messiah, the Jewish religion would have degenerated into a dry performance of ceremony and ritual, without any insight into their meaning, without any understanding of the nothingness of mere form and outward religion and of the necessity of spiritual worship.