Prophecy 1

Messiah is the Seed of Abraham

Prophecy 1: Messiah is the Seed of Abraham

The Tanakh reveals progressively more details about the Jewish Messiah coming from the “seed” of Abraham through the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3 and 22:18. By the end of the Tanakh, the promised “seed” can only be fulfilled by one person. This will be made clear in the New Covenant, where the genealogy chart of the Messiah is shown (see the next section below).

As it was written in the Tanakh (TLV),

Genesis 22:18: “ In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed—because you obeyed My voice.”

As it was written in the Tanakh (NIV),

Genesis 22:18: “and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

The Seed of Abraham

In Deuteronomy 10:15, the Hebrew word ‘זַרְעָם’’ is the plural of ’זרע’, is translated to “seeds“, and is referring to God’s chosen “people” or “descendants”.

But, in Genesis 22:18, the same Hebrew word ‘זרע‘ is singular, is translated to “seed” or “offspring,” and, therefore, is referring to God’s chosen “person” or “descendant.” God promised Abraham that the world would be blessed through the Messiah, who would be one of His descendants! The Messiah will become the means by which all may come into God’s blessing of grace through faith and obedience like Abraham’s.

Since Abraham is the forefather of Jewish people and the Messiah comes from the seed or offspring of Abraham, therefore, the Messiah Himself must be Jewish and must be a descendant of Abraham.

How did Messiah Jesus Fulfill this Prophecy?

Rabbi Paul's Exegesis of the Promise to Abraham

When Rabbi Paul cited God’s promise to Abraham to the church of Galatians, he did not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is the Messiah Jesus. Paul explained that an inheritance was promised to Abraham’s seed, Jesus (see below for the genealogy of Jesus), apart from the Law. Just as Abraham believed God and his faith were counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), so are all of us today—from all nations on earth—who believe in Jesus as justified apart from the Law.

Galatians 3:16 “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your seed,” who is the Messiah.”

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah Shows that He is the Seed:

The genealogy of Jesus, our Jewish Messiah, was written in the New Covenant (NIV & TLV), Matthew Chapter 1:1. How many of these of Abraham’s descendants can you recognize?

Matthew 1:1 “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Matthew 1:17 “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.”

Abraham

14 generations

The Son of Abraham

"²Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David."

David

14 generations

The Son of David

"David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, ⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon."

The Exile

14 generations

From the Exile to the Messiah

"¹²After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, ¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah."

Jesus

Jesus Who is Called the Messiah

"¹⁷Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah."