Apocrypha & Messiah’s Deity Pt. 2
There are two remarkable statements in the apocryphal writing 2 Esdras, which confirm Jesus’ Divinity and Messianic status. They show that Jesus did indeed make himself out to be God by carrying out the very functions, which even the so-called Apocrypha ascribe to God.
Israel Rejects YHWH their God
According to 2 Esdras, God is fed up with his people and threatens to leave their house desolate, i.e., that their temple and land would be destroyed. This is because Israel has not allowed God to gather them as a chick gathers her younglings under her wings, and for having killed God’s servants the prophets whom sent to warn them:
“What shall I do to you, O Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will turn to other nations and will give them my name, so that they may keep my statutes.Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When you beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy.When you call to me, I will not listen to you, for you have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit murder.It is not as though you had forsaken me; you have forsaken yourselves, says the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her children,so that you should be my people and I should be your God and that you should be my children and I should be your father? I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you, for I have rejected your festal days and new moons and circumcisions of the flesh. I sent you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and killed them and torn their bodies in pieces; I will require their blood of you, says the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw, and your sons will have no children, because with you they have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight.I will give your houses to a people that will come, who without having heard me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs will do what I have commanded. They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state. I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said. 2 Esdras 1:24-37
Remarkable, these are the exact same reasons Jesus gave to his contemporaries in respect to why both the Temple and Jerusalem would soon be destroyed!
“Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape the judgment of hell? For this reason I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate.For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:32-39
It is Jesus who has continually tried to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and he is the God that sent his prophets to warn his people!
God’s Son Arises
Here is the other astonishing passage from 2 Esdras:
“For indeed the time will come when the signs that I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city that now is not seen shall appear and the land that now is hidden shall be disclosed. Everyone who has been delivered from the evils that I have foretold shall see my wonders. For my son the Messiah shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years. After those years my son the Messiah shall die, and all who draw human breath.Then the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings, so that no one shall be left.After seven days the world that is not yet awake shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish. The earth shall give up those who are asleep in it and the dust those who rest there in silence, and the chambers shall give up the souls that have been committed to them.The Most High shall be revealed on the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn. Only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. Recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep. The pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest, and the furnace of Gehenna shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised. Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments.’ Thus he will speak to them on the day of judgment, a day that has no sun or moon or stars, or cloud or thunder or lightning, or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning, or summer or spring or heat or winter or frost or cold, or hail or rain or dew, or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been destined.It will last as though for a week of years. This is my judgment and its prescribed order, and to you alone I have shown these things.” 2 Esdras 7:26-44
The Messiah is not only God’s Son, but also shall die and be resurrected!
That these are not Christian interpolations or a reworking of a Jewish text can be seen from the claim that the Messiah dies four hundred years after being revealed on earth. Note the passage once again:
“Look! The time is coming when the signs appear that I told you about in advance, and the city will appear, appearing as a bride, and the land that is now hidden will be openly displayed. Everyone who is rescued from the evils foretold will see my wonders. My Son the anointed one will be revealed along with those who are with him, and those who remain will rejoice for four hundred years. After these years, my Son the anointed one and all who have human breath will die.” 2 Esdras 7:26-29 Common English Bible (CEB)
A Christian author would not have made such a statement seeing that it conflicts with the proclamation of the NT concerning Jesus. And had a Christian scribe reworked or edited 2 Esdras then s/he would have surely changed this section in order to make it line up with what the Church teaches concerning Jesus.
As it stands, this Apocryphal writing is another a non-Christian Jewish source which confirms that the Jews were expecting a Messiah who would be God’s Son that comes to die only to rise again from the dead.
Unless noted otherwise, scriptural references are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
Further Reading
The Inter-Testamental Jewish Literature and the Deity of the Lord Jesus [Part 2]
TWO REMARKABLE PROPHECIES: THE SON OF GOD IS SLAIN