Who was the Messiah?
The term messiah is derived from the term masiah. It appears 39 times in the OT and is rendered in the Septuagint by the Greek word christos which became the offical titile in the NT. At its basic meaning the term translates "anointed."
In the OT we find the term used in a general sense as an epithet of kings, priest, and prophets, yes, even the foreign King Cyrus was the "anointed." (Isa.45:1).
There are nine passages in the OT where we find the claim that the "anointed one" was to come in the future, usually in the line of Daivd and who was to be YHWH's King (1st Sam. 2:10, 35; Psalms 2:2; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; Habakkuk 3:13; Daniel 9:25, 26).

The title Messiah gained its technical sense when Saul was being rejected as king. In his place the Lord looked for a man "after His own heart" (1 Sam.13:14). That man turned out to be David, the son of Jesse. David was the FIRST anointed by the prophet Samuel (1 Sam.16:13), then anonited as the king of Judah (2 Sam.2:4) and eventually king over Israel (2 Sam. 5:3). Prior to this, Saul was named the "anointed of the Lord" (1 Sam.24:6; 26:9, 11,16 and more) but now David was God's 'anonited" and from that day on the "Spirit of the Lord" came over David with power (the empowering of the Spirit; 1 Sam. 16:13). From here on David is called God's "anointed" ten times.  In the OT, the term "anointed" will be used of Prophets, Priest and Kings. In the NT Jesus Christ fulfills all of these. In that sense He was to be set "above his companions" (Psa. 45:7).
The relation of God with His anointed one was sealed in the Nathan's prophecy in 2 Samuel 7. Here Daivd and his line of Kings assume a unique position that guaranteed to him and to his reiging sons a kingdom that was to be established by YHWH forever. (vv.12-16). Nathan's prophecy moves the concept of the Messiah to another level. In Psalm 89 commenting on 2nd Sam. 7 this event is called the"promise of God."
Therefore, the psalmist could pray in 132:10, "For the sake of David your servant, do not reject the "anointed one."

The Messiah in the Pentateuch__

There are six direct messianic predictions in the Pentateuch that we need to observe. Two in pre-patriarachal times (Gen. 11), two major ones in the patriarchal era (Gen. 12-50), and two dominating ones in the Mosaic epoch (Ex. Dt.). All six are interconnected and relate to the promise plan of God.

The first two of these prophecies declared the coming man of promise and this man was to be the "offspring of a woman" (Gen.3:15).

Later we are told that He would be "God" who came to dwell among the families of Shem (Gen. 9:27).

The Second set of promises announced that there would be two marvelous results that were to accompany the coming of this man of promise.

By means of Abraham's offspring, blessing was to be mediated to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3).

See Galatians chapter 3

However, as the plan gathered more specificity and was attached to one of Jacob's sons, namely Judah, it became clear that this coming one would be given not only the rule and authority over all the nation of Israel, but also authority of the Nations (Gentiles, 49:10).

See Matthew 28:18

During the Mosaic era of revelation, two events stood out with regard to this emerging and accumulating doctrine of the coming man of promise. In the prophecies of a Gentile named Balaam, this same coming man (in the seed or offspring of Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah) was to act as a victorious king as he crushed his enemies (Num. 24:17).

In addition to his function of ruling as a king, Moses declared he was to be a prophet (Deut. 18:18).

Thus, even when sketched in its boldest yet simplest strokes, the Pentateuch set forth in rudimentary form, lines of thought that were anchored in a truth that was to be explained in later revelation. Already this person was to known as: Seed,  Shiloh, Scepter, Star, King, and Prophet.

In the coming weeks we will use these "short talks before the Lord's Supper" to explore the coming of the Messiah of the Old Testament. God had a plan for the salvation of Man before there was a world:

(Please notice that "the last times" were 2000 years ago).

So as we take the Lord's Supper, we celebrate the love of God, and how He cared enough for us to save us from ourselves before there was even a cosmos.

Lane Rogers