Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Female): The 110th Psalm is quoted or alluded to by Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter, Paul, and other New Testament writers more than any other passage in the Old Testament. But this Psalm is also a source of great controversy. So is it really a Messianic prophecy or just wishful thinking? We'll find out today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today our Bible teacher is Dr. Gary Hedrick, president of CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas. You can reach our offices by dialing 1-800-926-5397. Gary's subject today is the truth about Psalm 110. And since this Psalm is the most often quoted Old Testament prophecy in the entire New Testament, that means if it can be discredited, the whole Messianic house of cards comes tumbling down. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pen and paper ready. And now, with today's installment, here is Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you, and welcome listening friend to another edition of Messianic Perspectives. It's good to have you with us today as we begin this series of studies on the truth about Psalm 110. And this is a very important series of studies because the 110th Psalm is the most widely quoted Messianic prophecy in the entire New Testament.

Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament passage. Of all of the Messianic prophecies, Psalm 110 is the premier prophecy. It is the grandfather of the Messianic family of prophecies. You'll find it in the synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then Luke mentions it again in the book of Acts. Paul alludes to this Psalm in 1 Corinthians 15:25, and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews refers to it in 10 different places scattered all over the book of Hebrews: in chapter 1, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 10, and then in chapter 12. From one end of the book of Hebrews to the other, you'll find the 110th Psalm.

We'll talk about that later in this study. And the critics know how important this Psalm is. They know that if they can show that this Psalm is not Messianic, if they can show that it was misquoted and misapplied and misused by Jesus and Peter and Paul and the other New Testament writers, if they can destroy this one Messianic prophecy, the whole Messianic house of cards comes tumbling down. They know that.

Because you see, it forms the foundation. Psalm 110 forms the foundation upon which the whole superstructure of Messianic prophecy is built. So if the 110th Psalm collapses, the whole structure comes crashing down with it. No wonder the counter-missionaries in traditional Judaism zero in on this 110th Psalm. Groups like Operation Judaism, Outreach Judaism, Jews for Judaism—all of these groups know how important this Psalm is, and so their attacks on it are relentless.

By the way, do you know what these counter-missionary groups are? These are organizations that are headed by rabbis and their full-time job is to oppose the work of organizations like the Christian Jew Foundation and other groups whose work is similar to ours in terms of communicating the gospel to the Jewish community. They tell us more Jewish people have come to faith in Jesus in the past 19 years than in the previous 1,900 years. And by the way, that's their claim, not ours. That's what the counter-missionaries say, not us. So that is their concern, and understandably so.

And these are the largest counter-missionary organizations: Operation Judaism, Outreach Judaism, and another one called Jews for Judaism. These organizations have rabbis on staff whose full-time job is to counter the effects of the gospel in the Jewish community. And one of the things they do is they try to show how the New Testament misquotes and misapplies Old Testament prophecy. They try to show how Christian theologians have mistakenly applied Old Testament prophecies to Jesus. They try to show that Jesus was nothing more than an ordinary Jewish man who lived 2,000 years ago. He didn't fulfill any prophecies according to them, and he failed to do the most important things the Messiah was supposed to do. That's what they say.

So this 110th Psalm is a very, very important passage of scripture, especially for those of us who are believers in Yeshua, or Jesus the Messiah. And the most controversial part of this entire Psalm is the very first verse. So let's just go ahead and get into it here. This is Psalm 110:1. David says, "The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

So this is King David saying "the LORD"—and that's all caps in the English Bible, that means the holy name of God; in Hebrew, it's Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh or YHWH—"the LORD," he's saying "the LORD said to his Lord," David's Lord, "sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." Okay, so what's the big deal here in this first verse? The big deal is that David says, "The LORD, Yahweh or YHWH, the LORD addressed his Lord," Adoni in the Hebrew, "my Lord," with this promise. The promise is that he will sit at the right hand of God and his enemies will be vanquished; they will become his footstool.

So one Lord is talking to another Lord. Now, we know who the first Lord is because we know the name YHWH or Yahweh or Jehovah refers to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But who is David's Lord, Adon? Who is David talking about when he says Yahweh or Yahweh or Jehovah says this to my Lord, l'Adoni? That is the crucial question. Who is this second Lord? Now, Christian scholars say it's very simple: David's Lord, or Adon, is Jesus the Messiah. To them, the fact that David calls the Messiah Lord proves that he is God.

But traditional Jewish scholars don't agree. They claim that this Hebrew word, Adon, is the equivalent of the English word "sir" and nothing more. If David meant to address the Messiah as deity, they say, he would have used the word Adonai rather than the word Adon. Now, it's interesting that in biblical Hebrew, there is no difference between Adonai and Adoni. You see, biblical Hebrew uses big block letters and there are no vowels, no vowel points.

So if you put the two words side by side, Adoni and Adonai, and you compare them, you're going to see block letters with no vowels, no capitalization, and they're going to look exactly the same. They're both spelled Aleph-Dalet-Vav-Nun-Yod. Or if they use the holam, it's going to be Aleph-Dalet-Nun-Yod. Same word. In order to know if you should pronounce it Adonai or Adoni, you would either have to see the word in context or see it with the vowel points.

The vowel points are little markings that the Masoretes added to the Hebrew text so people would know how to pronounce the words. Or in cases like the one we've been talking about in Psalm 110, it was so that people would know which word to pronounce because in Psalm 110:1 you have a word that can be either Adonai or Adoni. The only difference is a little dot that was added six or seven hundred years after the time of Christ.

So it's important for you to remember that there is no difference between Adonai and Adoni when it comes to the spelling. They are spelled exactly the same way. And by the way, Adonai is plural, like Elohim, and it refers only to God. Now, Adoni, which is the word Adon with a Yod on the end of it, Adoni means "my Lord," it makes it possessive. The Yod on the end is pronounced "ee," Adoni, and it makes it a possessive form. So it's "my Lord," "my Adon."

So that's the controversy. Who is David's Adon? Who is David's Lord? Well, the rabbis have had 1,900 years to work on this, so they have a pretty highly evolved interpretation of the 110th Psalm. You see, they knew 1,900 years ago when the New Testament documents were circulating around the Roman Empire, they knew then that this Psalm was going to be pivotal in the debate between traditional Judaism and the Messianic community.

So when the rabbis come to the 110th Psalm, here's what they say—or I should say, here's what most of them say. They say King David is referring here to Abraham. And by the way, you'll find this in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 108b. They say David's Lord is Abraham. In other words, the Lord spoke to Abraham saying, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." They say this prophecy was fulfilled in the famous battle when Abraham vanquished Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him in Genesis chapter 14.

That's their interpretation. And by the way, this fits well with the Rabbinic teaching that the priesthood was given to Abraham. You'll find that in the Talmud, Tractate Nedarim 32b. And it also fits with the Bible itself because the Bible establishes a connection between Abraham and Melchizedek. Remember that, back in Genesis 14? Melchizedek is mentioned here in Psalm 110:4. So to the rabbis, all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit together well.

And if they're right, that means the word Adoni should be translated "my lord" with a small L, and it does not refer to deity. And if they're right, this is not the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob addressing the Messiah and calling him Lord or God. And if they're right, the New Testament is wrong. And if they're right, the interpretation that Jesus used in the New Testament was also wrong.

But I'm going to show you over the next few days—in fact, I'm going to prove to you and to anyone who really wants to know the truth—that the 110th Psalm is exactly what the New Testament shows it to be: the greatest single Messianic prophecy in the entire Tanakh, the entire Jewish Bible. So I hope you won't miss any of these programs. We're out of time for today, so here's your invitation to join us next time as we continue our series of studies on the truth about Psalm 110. I'm Gary Hedrick, and on behalf of all of us here at Messianic Perspectives, God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Today we've been listening to our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick, talking about the truth about Psalm 110. If you found today's program especially helpful and insightful, you'll be glad to know that we have placed the entire series of programs on compact disc. The title is "The Truth About Psalm 110." It's available for your gift of just six dollars or more to help us keep this program here on your station.

Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. Have you enjoyed this edition of Messianic Perspectives? Why not continue to learn about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith by inviting a speaker from CJF Ministries? Call our toll-free number, 1-800-926-5397, and we'll be happy to handle all of the details. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on the truth about Psalm 110, right here on Messianic Perspectives.