The Royal Messiah #2: “This Day Have I Begotten Thee”
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 2:7Psalm 2:7
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. the decree: or, for a decree
]. 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 7:14Isaiah 7:14
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. shall call: or, thou, O virgin, shalt call
; Matthew 1:23Matthew 1:23
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. they...: or, his name shall be called
; Luke 1:34-35Luke 1:34-35
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
). The Bible teaches that Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1-3John 1:1-3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
The Gospel According to
St. John
1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
; John 1:14John 1:14
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
). Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. In other words, like did beget like. Jesus said He was one with God (John 10:30John 10:30
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
30 I and my Father are one.
). 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 13:33Acts 13:33
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
). In fact, Paul declares that the greatest proof that Jesus is the Son of God is the fact of the empty tomb (Romans 1:4Romans 1:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: declared: Gr. determined
).
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Authors, Doctrine, Michael Carter
on July 17th, 2008
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