Is Messiah found in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Tenach written by Moses?
Yes! He is referenced as early as Genesis 3. Genesis 3 describes man’s fall from a state of grace, blessing and life to disgrace, curses and death. It’s important to understand that rebelling against God breaks our relationship with Him, creates separation from Him and ultimately results in death, for God alone is Life.
Adam and Eve rebelled against God by yielding to the devil’s temptation. Yes. There really is a devil, the First Rebel, having once been the highest created angel who sought to usurp and overtake God, leading a rebellion in heaven against Him. As no one is more powerful than Elohim, Lucifer (his angelic name meaning “brilliant light”) was cast out of God’s presence in heaven along with many other rebellious angels. Lucifer became “hasatan” or the Satan, meaning “the accuser,” and the angels became his demonic henchmen. It is Satan’s desire to bring havoc, chaos, a living hell, and a godless eternity to God’s best creation—humanity. (Hasatan’s story is from many scriptures beyond the scope of this discussion.)
Now back to Genesis 3. After God rebukes Adam and Eve and banishes them from their earthly paradise, He, in mercy, gives them a future promise that someday Satan will be destroyed. By whom? In verse 15 here’s what He says to the evil spirit (hasatan) that has entered the serpent:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring [lit. "seed"]and hers ["seed]; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel."
Let’s piece this out. A woman will bear a “he” who will crush the devil’s head (dead), although the devil will strike his heel (bruised). To corroborate this, in Genesis 4: 1 when Eve gave birth to her first son, she literally said, ”I have gotten a man: YHVH.” She believed she had borne the one spoken of and she called him “God!” She knew that only God could destroy the devil and his powers.
Genesis 49 The Seed of Judah
Jacob had 12 sons who became the tribal leaders of Israel. When Jacob was dying, each son received a prophecy from him. To every son except two, Jacob’s foretellings are either negative or neutral. Let’s look at them briefly:
Reuben – You will no longer excel.
Simeon and Levi – Because of your violence, anger and ferocity, you will be scattered and dispersed.
Zebulun – You will be seamen.
Issachar – You are a lazy donkey who will submit to forced labor.
Dan – Though judges will come from you, you will be a viper that causes men to stumble.
Gad – You will be attacked and attack back.
Asher - You will produce food for kings.
Naphtali – You are a doe set free who utters beautiful words.
Benjamin – You will be a ravenous wolf, plundering and taking plunder.
Joseph - Jacob’s favorite son receives abundant blessings because in the face of extreme adversity, he remained steady in his faith and favored by God, a “prince among his brothers.”
But the blessing to Judah is different from the rest for it speaks of one who will come to be a ruler, not just over Israel, but over the whole world. Let’s look carefully at one part of Judah’s blessing in Gen 49:9,10:
"You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes whose right it is and the obedience of the nations is his."
The powerful lion symbolizes authority and kingship. A long line of kings descended from Judah beginning with David in 1010 B.C.E. So as long as descendants from Judah could be verified and the right of royal kingship maintained, there will come one who will be a king in David’s line who will rule over all the nations.
Some may argue that this describes King David, but it goes beyond King David in its scope in that it implies a succession of kings that culminates in a final King who is a world ruler.
In 70 C.E. the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed along with all genealogical records. It can no longer be verified if a person descends from Judah. Therefore, this prophecy must have already been fulfilled.
Deuteronomy 18
After the 40 year wanderings of the children of Israel, it is time for Moses to die and for Joshua to lead the people into the Promised Land. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses outlines in detail the terms of the Covenant of Law, which cites blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
He also prophesies what will happen to Israel in the future. There will, indeed, be both blessings and curses, cycles of faith and prosperity with times of unbelief and judgment.
It would be hard to find any Jewish person who would disagree that Moses is the number one hero in Jewish history, outranking all others. Yet in Deuteronomy 18, Moses speaks of one like himself who is to come. Listen to Moses’ description in verses 15-19:
"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.’"
This prophet will be a Jewish man. Moses tells the people, “You must listen to him,” and then he reminds them that they had asked not to hear the voice of the LORD or see this great fire or they would die. They were afraid to get too close to the Holy Presence, lest they perish from the heat. They asked Moses to be their mediator between them and God—to “take the heat” for them so to speak. In this they were right. But in the future there will come a man like Moses, sent by God, who will possess both God’s voice and God’s name and they will be able to listen to him and not die. If fact, if they refuse to listen, they will be directly accountable to God.
This prophet differs from all other prophets. No other prophet ever claimed equality with Moses. In fact, God even differentiates Moses from all the others when He says in Numbers 12:5-8 that whereas He speaks to other prophets in visions and dreams, “with him [Moses] I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings.”
Throughout Jewish history, the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15-19 has been seen as pertaining to the Messiah. Often when self-proclaiming messiahs would arise, people would ask, “Is this the prophet which Moses spoke about?”
In summary, in the Torah, we discovered 3 major prophecies about a coming Messiah. Let’s review.
1) He would be born of a woman, a human man. Yet he would also have the power to defeat Satan and reverse the curse brought about by the temptation and subsequent fall of man.
2) He will be a king over all the nations who will give him tribute and obedience.
3) He will be the prophet and mediator spoken of by Moses. Although a man, he will also possess the voice and presence of God. Men will be able to be with him and not die. In fact, refusing to listen to him will bring judgment.
Perhaps you’re skeptical. Perhaps you think that the aforementioned prophecies are vague and could pertain to anyone. As we move on in time in the history of Israel, we see that the prophecies of the Messiah get more and more detailed.
We come to the prophets on Stone 7. -> 
Prayer: "God, please make these things clear to me."