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"I believe
with complete faith in the coming of the messiah" (from Rambam's
Thirteen Principles of Faith).
The noun prophecy describes a “prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration” or a “revelation of God.” The act of making a prophecy is the verb, prophesy. As you might be aware there is a great difference of opinion as to if the Messianic prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled yet or not...just as a Jew and then a Christian. This might seem perplexing to the normative Christian but I assure you is not to the Jew who knows his Bible. The reason for such a dichotomy as found in Judaism and Christianity today concerning "fulfilled" vs "nonfulfilled" Messianic prophecy is simply because the Old Testaments of the Jews and Christians disagree extensively in the readings of the Prophets and the Writings from which many of these Messianic prophecies originate. If one undertakes an unbiased study of such discrepancies, as I have which consumed me over 5 years, he will find that the Jewish Bible was purposefully corrupted when translated into Greek and many pagan astral and solar/sun-worship religious beliefs were mixed in the Greek translation by Hellenized Essene Jews of Alexandria, Egypt, which had long departed from normative Biblical faith. These Egyptian Hellenized Jews needed a divine book that give their group religious clout in Alexandria so they simply came up with one which did; but at the same time the Divine Revelation of YHWH was altered and few know of this today....that is unless you undertake critical and tedious study into these areas. Let me assure you that many have and their lives are never the same following such a study.
Answer for yourself: But how can that be...we both have the SAME Old Testament? No we don't. As an ordained Christian Pastor I found out over years of intensive study and comparison of manuscript evidences that my Christian Bible and Old Testament was not accurate in hundreds of places when compared to the Jewish Hebrew Scriptures.
After such study I had to admit that in reality I did not really know what the true Messianic prophecies really were as I found out that my Christian Bible was full of many man-made created "fulfilled" prophecies that made it look as if Yeshua was fulfilling prophecy after prophecy, when in reality they were not Messianic prophecies in the first place. What is totally amazing is that these "fulfilled" prophecies that were later applied to Jesus were originally written concerning a sun-godman/savior of the Gentiles which had it's origin all the way back in Egypt and beyond. Rome just continued with what they already had...one more sun-godman was no problem for Rome which was into sun-worship anyway and let us not forget that ROMAN CHRISTIANITY gave us the New Testament. Your study has to begin here to find out the truth about the Messiah of Israel and the "sun-godman/savior of the Gentiles."
So we must begin our study by coming to the realization that there is a major difference between a Messianic prophecy and a man-made non-messianic prophecy which is presented as such in the New Testament.
Many people, both Jew and non-Jew, ask these and other questions
about the Jewish belief concerning the coming of the messiah. While an
article of this size cannot possibly address such an important topic with
the thoroughness that it deserves, it can present the basic points in the
hope that it will lead to further study of the subject.
In his
monumental work Mishneh Torah, Maimonides (1135-1204) spelled out
the fundamental Jewish concept of the messiah as it was handed down by the
Jewish people and their scholars, from generation to generation, from the
time of the prophets. In his concise and lucid manner, the great Jewish
philosopher and jurist herewith presents us with a clear picture of the
promise which God made to the Jewish people.
"The King Messiah will in some future time come, restore
the kingdom of David to its former power, build the Temple, bring together
the scattered of Israel, and all the ancient laws will again be in force.
Sacrifices will be offered, and years of release and Jubilees will be kept
as prescribed in the Torah. Whoever does not believe in him, or does not
hope for his coming, shows a lack of faith not only in the prophets, but
also in the Torah. For the Torah testifies concerning him in the words: "And
the Lord your God will again bring back your captivity, and show mercy
unto you, and again gather you from all the nations. If your outcasts be
at the ends of the heavens, from there will the Lord gather you, and the
L-rd will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed"
(Deuteronomy 30:3-5).
You must not imagine that the messiah must
prove his messianity by signs and miracles, doing something unexpected,
bringing the dead to life, or similar things. The principle thing is this:
the statutes and precepts of our Torah remain forever, and nothing can be
added to them or taken from them.
If, therefore, a descendant of
David earnestly studies the Torah, observes what the written and oral
Torah enjoins, causes all Israelites to act similarly, exhorts those who
are lax in the performance of the commandments, and fights the wars of the
Lord, he may possibly be the messiah. If he does not succeed, or is killed
in war, it is certain that he is not the messiah promised in the Torah. He
is like all the other noble and good kings of the House of David who have
died, and God only caused him to rise in order to try us thereby, as it is
said, "And of the wise some will stumble, and through them the people
will be tested, purified, and made white, till the time of the end comes;
for there is yet a vision for an appointed time" (Daniel 11:35).
Also,
Jesus the Nazarene, who imagined that he would be messiah and was killed,
is alluded to in the book of Daniel, as it is said, "And the sons of
the transgressors among thy people will rise, in order to establish a
vision, and will stumble" (Daniel 11:14). Can there be a greater
stumbling then this? All the prophets said that messiah will be a redeemer
and a savior to the Israelites, will bring together their outcasts, and
will strengthen their obedience to the Divine precepts, but he (Jesus)
caused destruction by the sword to Israel, the dispersion of those left,
and their humiliation. He changed the law, and misled many people to
worship a being beside God.
But the thoughts of the Creator of
the universe cannot be understood by any human being, for the ways of men
are not His ways, nor their thoughts His thoughts. For all the events
connected with Jesus, and with Mohammed that rose after him, served only
to pave the way for the King Messiah, who will reform all mankind and lead
them to the unanimous service of God, as it is said, "For then will I
turn to the peoples a pure language, that all may call by the name of God,
and serve him unanimously" (Zephaniah 3:9).
How can this be
done? Almost all people have, through them (Jesus and Mohammed) become
acquainted with the idea of messiah, with the words of the Torah and the
Divine precepts. Through them the knowledge of the Bible spread even unto
the remotest islands and unto many nations 'uncircumcised' in heart and
uncircumcised in flesh. These nations seek to justify their disobedience
to the precepts of the Torah. Some of them say that these precepts are
Divine, but are not in force at present, and were never intended to be
permanent laws. Others maintain that they must not be taken literally, as
they are mere symbols, the meaning of which has already been explained by
their 'messiah'. But when the true King Messiah will rise, he will
prosper, be high and exalted. All will then at once know that it was
falsehood what their fathers have inherited, and that their prophets and
their teachers have misled them.
It is not because they desired to have dominion over all lands
and nations and be honored by all people, or because they desired to have
plenty to eat and drink and other pleasures, that the wise men and the
prophets longed for the days of the messiah, but because they would then
be at leisure to study the Torah and its teachings without being
interrupted by any oppressor, and would thus make themselves worthy of
life in the World to Come.
There will not be in those days any
famine, war, jealousy, or quarrel, because the good things will be in
plenty and even luxuries will be found everywhere. All people will busy
themselves with trying to know the Lord. Therefore, the Israelites will be
great sages, knowing things which are at present hidden. They will obtain
a knowledge of their Creator as far as possible by human understanding; "For
the earth shall be full with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
- Jews will
lead in Spiritual Guidance (Zechariah 8:23)
- World Peace (Isaiah 2:4)
-
The Nile River in Egypt will run dry (Isaiah 11:5)
- World Knowledge
of God (Isaiah 11:9)
- No more Death (Isaiah 25:8)
- Resurrection
of Ancestry (Isaiah 26:19)
- Ingathering of all Jews in Israel (Isaiah
43:5)
- Joy and Gladness to the Jews (Isaiah 51:11)
- Non-Jews
will help Jews materially (Isaiah 60:5)
- Each tribe will receive its
inheritance (Ezekiel 37:14)
- Building of the 3rd Temple in Jerusalem
(Ezekiel 37:46)
- No More Weapons of War (Ezekiel 39:9)
Remember:
"A person lacking instruction cannot be truly pious, nor can a timid
person learn. (Talmud, Avot 2:6)
