Is Psalm 22 one of the Messianic prophecies?

Question from moody radio listener on September 28, 2019 on openline:

Do you see psalm 22 as one of the Messianic prophecies?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

You know, that's actually one of the challenges that people have, don't you think Ed? Because people think David is just writing about his own experience, not really about the Messiah. What would you say about that, Ed?

Dr Edwin Blum:

Well, we had some interesting discussions about whether or not the translation actually should be "they pierced me, my hands and my feet" and I remember sending an enquiry to one of the top scholars of the dead sea scrolls, see what the reading was there. It encouraged us in our understanding of that prophecy as a deliberate prophecy of the Messiah on the cross.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

It talks about how they divided his clothes, right? His garments …

Dr Edwin Blum:

It's quoted in John ...

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

The new testament quotes it but never quotes that phrase, they pierced my hands and my feet and I think you're on the money, I think there's a textual dispute. And the earliest version we have of this Hebrew text is in the dead sea scrolls, the Qumran scrolls and there they have a fragment from Psalm 22 and it says they pierced my hands and my feet. And David could do it, in 2 Samuel 23, David says, the word of the Lord was on my tongue and His spirit spoke through me. So David understood himself as a prophet and so he could prophesy of the Messiah.

Psalm 22

For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. -nkjv

2 Samuel 23

23 Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue. -nkjv

Is Proverbs 16:7 true?

Openline program on moody radio September 21, 2019.

My question concerns Proverbs 16 verse 7. It says when a man's way pleases the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. How in the world do I apply that to my life when Jesus' way certainly please the Father all the time but his enemies certainly was not at peace with Him.

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

I think we have to remember that the book of Proverbs teaches general principles, not absolutes. It means that generally speaking, this is how it would be, wouldn't always be that way. But generally speaking, if you behave in ways that are honorable and upright, people won't have things to say about you. Is that always true, absolutely not, the Lord Jesus is the primary example. But as a general rule, that's what the book of Proverbs teaches. The book of Proverbs doesn't teach absolute, it teaches general principles. There are certainly exceptions to that. But, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't live in a way that doesn't pleases the Lord. We should.

Proverbs 16

7When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

-nkjv

Did the old testament prophets really predicted the Messiah?

Openline program on moody radio on September 14, 2019 opening study:

Let's talk whether the Old Testament predicted the Messiah. I once went to an academic conference and heard a paper read by an Old Testament professor from one of the world's leading bible believing seminaries. His paper was about whether the old Testament prophets really predicted the Messiah. All the listeners sat there in shock as he made the case that there wasn't one verse, not one solitary verse in the whole Hebrew bible that predicted a Messianic figure. In fact, he argued that the whole idea of the Messiah was made up in the time period between Old Testament and the New Testament. Since the New Testament maintained that Jesus was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, he needed to come up with some sort of explanation, some way of dealing with that issue and he did, he argued that human authors of the bible only wrote about what was going on in their own day but that the Holy Spirit had a deeper and fuller sense. He believed that the divine inspired of the scriptures had it mean something more than the human authors intended or understood. To me, this argument had several faults. The first of which was that the prophets didn't know that they are writing about the Messiah. This idea is rooted in the mistake in interpretation of 1 Peter 1:10 through 12. There it says the Old Testament Prophets made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow. The passage doesn't say they didn't know they were writing about the Messiah, it does say they didn't know when the Messiah would come or who he would be. Assume today that we know that there would be future false Messiah and anti Christ coming but we don't know when or who he would be, this passage in 1 Peter 1:10 through 12 goes on to say that it was revealed that they weren't writing about their own day but about the Messiah's arrival in the distant future. Another problematic aspect of this view is the unusual view of biblical inspiration. The bible is an inspired text. That's according to 2 Timothy 3:16. Because human authors were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words God intended, using their own ideas, personalities and styles. That's found in 2 Peter 1:21. In other words, both the divine author and the human author had to have the same meaning when they wrote. They have to have the same intention. In fact the Holy Spirit superintending of the human author is what guarantees the truth of what the human author said. The Holy Spirit is the one who enabled biblical prophets to predict the future Messiah. Yet another problem with this view is that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, disagrees with it. Think about when the Lord Jesus met Cleopas and his friends on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24: 25-27, he told them that the only things that kept them from believing in Messianic prophecy was that they were foolish and lacking in faith, he goes on to say the prophets were told that the Messiah would suffer and then enter into his glory, that's a reference to his resurrection. Then Luke says beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. Just a little further down in Luke 24, the Lord Jesus had a resurrection appearance with his disciples. He meets them in the upper room and tells them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And what did he say was written? That the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead. That's found in Luke 24: 44-46. And just be clear that the Old Testament authors understood their words. Remember that Jesus told Israel leadership in John 5:45-47, do not think that I will accuse you to the Father, your accusers are Moses. If you believe Moses, you would believe me because he wrote about me. Jesus point is that at the final judgement, Moses himself will convict them, because they should have believed in the predictions of the Messiah, How could Moses do that if he himself didn't understand that he's writing about the Messiah. According to Jesus's words, the authors of the Hebrew bible understood they were predicting the Messiah. Last century, biblical scholar A.T. Robertson commented: Jesus found himself in the old testament, a thing that some modern scholars do not seem to be able to do. Roberson was jabbing the critical scholars of his own day whose own anti-supernaturalism kept them from recognizing any direct predictions of the Messiah in the Hebrew bible. How sad to me that the view to these critic have become so influential that they infiltrated even bible believing scholars. God used Messianic predictions to lead me to faith in the Messiah Jesus and to have confidence in the inspiration of scriptures. We need to reclaim Messianic prophecies as one of the great evidences that Jesus is truly the Messiah and that His word is absolute truth.

1 Peter 1

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 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. -nkjv

2 Timothy 3

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, -nkjv

2 Peter 1

21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. -nkjv

Luke 24

25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. -nkjv

Luke 24

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, -nkjv

John 5

45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” -nkjv