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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. 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.
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.
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 a
pamphlet 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 to us,
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.
Mishneh
Torah, Hilchos Melachim XI - XII
"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).
Specific
Prophecies the Messiah Will Achieve
-
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)
Take a second to get up from your computer and look outside your front door. Has any of the above happened yet? NO! It is not the time to get into this now but I have on other sites but if one honestly looks as the Jesus of Christianity then we have a huge problem trying to understand him as Messiah in the wake of the failure of the above prophecies of the Holy Men of Old. But there are reasons why such prophecies were not fulfilled in the days of Jesus and as we study we find them out. I pray your study increases.
Remember: "A person lacking instruction cannot be truly pious, nor can a timid person learn. (Talmud, Avot 2:6)
Bennoah1@verizon.net