Dale Ridge church of Christ

            In the previous article, we talked about the general nature of royal psalms and of the fact that they are sometimes Messianic in nature.  Psa. 2 is a perfect example of a Messianic Royal Psalm—it prophetically proclaims that Jesus would be King!  To help show the Messianic character of this psalm more clearly, comments from David Kimhi, who does not accept Jesus as the Messiah and who makes specific arguments against this, will be briefly biblically examined. 

            Like begets like.  Kimhi says, “And the Nazarenes [Christians, MWC] interpret it of Jesus; and the verse they adduce byway of proof and make a support of their error is really their stumbling-block: it is The Lord said unto me Thou art My son [Psalm 2:7]. For if they should say to you that he was the Son of God, answer that it is not proper to say ” Son of God ;” in the manner of flesh and blood ; for a son is of the species of his father. . . .  He to whom the Lord said, Thou art My son must necessarily be of His species, and be God like Him” (The Longer Commentary of R. David Kimhi on the First Book of the Psalms.  Translated by R. G. Finch.  London, 1919, p. 18).  In other words, Kimhi says that based on the principle that like begets like, God could not have dwelt in the flesh.

            In response, Jesus coming in the flesh—the incarnation– was the result of the amazing miracle of the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:34-35).  The Bible teaches that Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1-3; John 1:14).  Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.  In other words, like did beget like.   Jesus said He was one with God (John 10:30).  But the begetting in the psalm passage under consideration is not that of the birth of a baby; rather, it is the “begetting” through the resurrection.  This is verified in the New Testament (Acts 13:33).  In fact, Paul declares that the greatest proof that Jesus is the Son of God is the fact of the empty tomb (Romans 1:4).

Published by Michael  Email This Post  Print This Post
Filed under: Authors, Doctrine, Michael Carter on July 17th, 2008