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The Israelites of Jesus Christ's time thought that the Messiah would immediately bring in the kingdom of God as a restoration of the independence of Israel with a king. They had not correctly interpreted their own scriptures to realize that the Messiah comes twice with the first coming a humble one. Perhaps because the Holy Spirit did not live inside them at that time, but only visited occasionally, human nature was so very dominant that they could not see the real meaning of verses like Zechariah 9:9 (Amplified Bible) which says, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you; He is [uncompromisingly] just and having salvation [triumphant and victorious], patient, meek, lowly, and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey." Coming in on a common work animal instead of a royal horse should have been a clue that taking authority in the natural realm was not the focus of the Messiah's first mission on earth.

The Apostle Paul, a Jew well-versed in the Old Testament, writes to us in the New Testament in Philippians 2:6-11 clarifying the purpose of the Messiah's first mission to earth; "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The path to elevation is humility not haughtiness. Because the Israelites as a whole did not understand the plan of God, their expectations of the Messiah were not in line with God's plans. Have you ever expected something from God, but later discovered in the Bible that the expectation did not match Biblical truth? Human nature is not in line with God. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are

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