People are still searching for the Messiah, but He has already come and fulfilled the first part of His ministry as the Suffering Servant, and will come back a second time as our conquering King. This statement might sound narrow minded, but it is backed by hundreds of fulfilled prophecies from the only book of antiquity which has fulfilled prophecy. In fact, if Jesus was not the Messiah, the entirety of Scripture is false, and no Messiah will be coming. The prophecies about the coming Messiah as written by the prophets were not generalized or ambiguous, but very specific and difficult to fulfill by anyone else. Many of the Lubavitch sect of Orthodox Judaism have declared Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson the Messiah, who was Russian born and died in 1994. He might have been a good teacher, but he fulfilled no prophecy of the hundreds that had to be fulfilled. Yet, respected Rabbi, Yitzhak Kaduri realized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who fulfilled prophecy and it was revealed one year after his death.

Why is this so important? Because, God's Word is not as cryptic as people like to believe. We read in Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." Since this was written, virtually every Rabbi acknowledged this verse as applying to the future Messiah. Realize Bethlehem Ephrathah, was a small, insignificant town with a tiny population. This would be like predicting the future Messiah would come from Old Bridge, New Jersey, rather than New York City. This prophecy was made over 700 years before Jesus' birth. This city is now a Palestinian territory and would be impossible to be fulfilled any time in the future. When King Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes in Matthew 2:3-6, as to where the Messiah was to be born, they quoted this verse from Micah. This verse goes on to describe the future Messiah as "from old, from everlasting." Only Jesus, not created, but eternal, fulfills this, as we read in John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." We read of Him in Colossians 1:17, "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." The rest of this passage from Micah 5:2-5, depicts His second coming, as we read in 5:3-5, "...Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; And this One shall be peace." We read of our Messiah by one of Micah's contemporaries, Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting father, Prince of Peace." That our Messiah is indeed God, is not some Christian imagination but was foretold by the prophets. That we believe in One God represented by three distinct persons and not in multiple gods as some would like to argue: Father, Son, and Spirit, has it's roots in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Did Micah know that he was describing two separate fulfillments, representing Jesus' first and second coming? Probably not. Remember, the prophet simply spoke forth, without editing the message that God gave Him. As we read in 1 Peter 1 :10-12, "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you...To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things which angels desire to look into.". Though the prophets did not know what they were prophesying, they had to be 100% accurate, or would be relegated to the scrap pile, as we read in Deuteronomy 18:22, "when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." Concerning the prophecies, Jesus said in John 5:39, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Jesus is indeed, the One and only Messiah. There are not multiple roads, but only one, and it is through Him. Jesus is and will be the only answer no matter what religion a person is raised. Jesus is inclusive in that anyone can find Him, but exclusive in that no other answer exists except Him.