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Shalom everyone,
I have put together this article mostly as a reference article for enquirers. It focuses on defining our Massorite Talmidi views regarding the person of the messiah. As you know, our community is non-messianic. However, that does not mean that we reject any belief that there will be a future messiah; it simply means that the messiah is not central or vital to our faith, and we don’t spend our every waking moment thinking about the messiah, praying about him (or to him), or ignoring what YHVH our God can do for us and is doing for us, here and now, in the present age.
Messianism (especially Orthodox ’high’ messianism) often conflates the future actions of God in the Kingdom Age, with the very human actions of the messiah, and so ends up creating a superhuman messiah – a completely unrealistic picture of who and what the messiah actually is. Consequently, Messianists are looking for and hoping in someone who will never come, because they will not recognise him when God sends him.
The Massorite Talmidi view of the messiah is very similar to that of US Conservative Judaism, US & UK Reform Judaism, and British Liberal & Progressive Judaism (both Reform and L&P Judaism are distinctively non-messianic, just like us). Our views are also similar to those of the ‘Jews for Judaism’ movement (an anti-missionising organisation, which actively defends Judaism against intrusive Christian and Messianic missionising).
Our non-messianist views are not new either – the views of Rav Saadia Gaon (882–942 CE), Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1167 CE), Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (1288–1344 CE), and some other minor rabbis in Provencal and Spain, also posited that the future Age did not require the messiah to be at its centre.
In addition, because we try to live out our faith as if we had heard Yeshua himself preach on the hillsides of the Galilee, and learnt our faith directly from him, our spiritual point of origin is therefore rooted in his Galilean ministry at the end of the 20s in the 1st century CE, and not handcuffed to the recorded beliefs of any Jewish-Christians who lived in much later time periods. Our view is that Yeshua did not believe himself to be a messiah, because he did not fulfil any messianic prophecies, and did not act as if he was trying to fulfil any either (consider the motives behind the theme of the ‘messianic secret’ in the Gospel of Mark).
Too many people think that ‘messiah’ means ‘saviour’, but it doesn’t. It is simply the title of every anointed king of Israel and Judah, both good and bad. Even King Agrippa I, who reigned after Yeshua died (37-44 CE), was the anointed king (‘messiah’) over all Israel, during the years 41-44 CE. As Massorite Talmidis, we have only one saviour – YHVH, and YHVH alone: “I, and I alone, am YHVH, and besides Me there is no other saviour” (Isa 43:11).
What Messianism is, in contrast to a simple belief in a future messiah
Messianism, where mainstream Judaism is concerned, is the belief that the messiah is an essential, vital and pivotal component of God’s plan of salvation for Israel and all humanity; without him, there will be no final redemption or salvation; that it is the messiah who will bring about the final age of universal peace on his own, and he alone who will accomplish all the promises of the future age all by himself. All the good works of messianists in the rabbinic Jewish community are focused on bringing about the coming of the messiah and his kingdom. This kind of ‘high messianism’, at least in the Jewish community, is really only held by the Orthodox and Hassidic Jewish communities.
These are not positions that we can accept as Massorites. It is YHVH who will bring about the future age of universal peace, and our righteous works are designed to prepare humanity for God to bring about the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom. We await the fulfilment of the Kingdom Age, not the messianic age.
What will happen in the future Kingdom Age
According to the prophecies of Ezekiel and other prophets, these are the things that will take place at the approach of the Kingdom Age, in their proper sequence – most are the promised acts of YHVH. These prophecies can be classified into ten groups:
1. God will identify, call and return the exiles of Ephraim & Judah; Ephraim & Judah will be reunited (Isa 60:4, Dt 30:3-5, Isa 43:5-7, Ezek 11:17, 34:11-16, 36:24, Jer 32:37, Isa 11:11-12, Jer 3:18, 30:3, 31:7-11, Ezek 37:15-23, Isa 11:13)
2. There will be widespread observance of Torah by Israel (Dt 30:8-10, Ezek 11:19-20)
3. God will appoint a Messiah (Isa 11:1-10, Jer 23:5-6, 33:14-17, 30:7-10, Ezek 34:22-30, 37:24-28)
4. There will be a terrible war of many hostile nations against Israel (the war led by Gog from Magog, Ezek chs 38-39, Zech 14:1-2)
5. God will renew the Covenant between God and Israel (Ezek 37:26, Jer 31:31-33)
6. In a time of peace, the messiah will initiate the rebuilding of the final Temple, which will never again be destroyed (Isa 2:2-3, Ezek 37:26b-28, Isa 56:6-7, Zech 14:20-21)
7. There will be Universal Knowledge of God (Zech 8:23, Isa 66:23, Zeph 3:9, Jer 31:34, Ezek 38:23, Ps 86:9), and there will be a universal understanding of the Glory of YHVH (Hab 2:14)
8. YHVH will be acknowledged as King over all the earth (Zech 14:9, 14:16, Isa 45:23)
9. YHVH will pour out God’s Glory over all the earth (Isa 60:1, 2b, 19-20, 22b; Ezek 36:23, 25-26, 29a, Isa 60:19-20)
10. YHVH will inaugurate a Universal Reign of peace (Isa 2:4, 60:5-7, 60:14; Isa 19:18-21, 23-25; Mic 4:1-4, Hos 2:20, Isa 32:16-18, 60:18, Zech 14:11, Jer 33:9, Isa 42:1-7)
Note how there will be a terrible war after the messiah is chosen, the war led by Gog from Magog (Ezek chapters 38-39, also Zech 14:1-3). It will be a time of terrible distress for Israel. In hoping for the messiah to come, do messianists realise that they are also hoping for this war to come?
The Things that God will do
The important thing to realise, is that there is nothing we can do to persuade YHVH to choose a messiah, despite all the things that Orthodox Rebbes tell us. YHVH does things at a time of God’s own choosing. We can certainly prepare humanity for when YHVH begins the final sequence of events, and encourage the spread of God’s Kingdom in the present Age, but we need to acknowledge that it is YHVH, and YHVH alone, who will choose the future messiah, and that it is YHVH who will be Sovereign over all the earth, not the messiah. We also need to realise that it is YHVH who will accomplish most of the things promised for the future Kingdom Age:
1. The messiah is merely one sign that God’s final plan is about to begin, not a vital, indispensable part of it
2. It is God who will call and gather in the exiles,
3. God will bring about universal peace with the help of humanity (because God will magnify our human effort)
4. God will make knowledge of God and God’s Glory universal, and it will be YHVH, not the messiah, who will be Sovereign over all the Earth (Zech 14:9, 14:16, Isa 45:23)
5. God will end hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people, and so make Israel safe and secure;
6. At the end of time, when humanity is perfected (which is what the ‘son of man’ prophecies in Daniel are really about), God will break down the veil between heaven and earth, and God’s Glory will shine on earth like the sun (Isa 60:19-20, Rev 21:22-26, 22:5); thus the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled.
What the messiah will do
When you read this list, you will see how these are the things that any future righteous messiah is supposed to do, and how the Prophet Yeshua did not fulfil any of these prophecies. Massorite Talmidis do not believe that Yeshua thought of himself as a messiah, because he did not embark on any actions which indicated that he was setting out to do the things a messiah is supposed to do. That’s why Paul’s followers had to completely redefine what a messiah is and does, but these prophecies are unequivocal, and cannot be cancelled out by moving the goal-posts.
Many messianists attribute the actions of God to the messiah, and so emasculate God, and for all intents and purposes, equate the messiah with God. To avoid doing this, we must be realistic and honest in interpreting prophecies about the future Kingdom Age – for the things that God has promised to do, we must be honest and acknowledge that these are God’s actions; and the things that YHVH has assigned for the messiah to do, they, and they alone, are the things which God has said the messiah will do:
1. God will choose a messiah from among the direct, living descendants of David at the time, who will be a fully human being, not a semi-divine or perfect immortal being
2. The choosing of a just, wise, pious man as messiah will signal the final leg of God’s plan of action for an era of universal peace and redemption, and the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom
3. The messiah is merely one sign of the beginning of God’s final plan, not a vital, indispensable part of it, or even the end of it
4. There will be a terrible war against Israel, led by Gog from Magog and many other nations, but he will be defeated
5. The messiah will rule over a united Israel, rebuild the Temple, preside over a righteous government, encourage Torah observance among the Jewish people, and restore the Davidic monarchy, of which he will be the first king in a line of kings
6. When this messiah dies of old age (and he will eventually die), he will be succeeded by one of his sons, and then one of his, and so on (even the Orthodox believe this about the messiah)
These are the real messianic prophecies; anything elsewhere are either God’s future actions, or they are describing anointed Hebrew kings who have already been and gone (for example, the famous Isaiah 9:6-7 which, according to most reputable Jewish commentators, applies to King Hezekiah, one of the righteous kings of Judah, and not to a future messiah; or Zech 9:9-10, which some Jewish commentators say refers to Nehemiah or Zerubabbel in a newly liberated Jerusalem; or Zech 14:3-9, which explicitly refers to God, not a messiah).
The REAL Messianic prophecies
The following list is the one which the anti-missionising organisation, ‘Jews for Judaism’, says are the only prophecies which refer to a righteous future king of Israel, and what he will do:
Isaiah 11:1-10
A staff shall emerge from the stump of Yishai, and a shoot shall sprout from his stock.
The spirit of God will rest upon him – a spirit of wisdom and discernment, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and reverence of God.
He will discern truth by his reverent awe of God, and will not judge by what his eyes see nor decide by what his ears hear. He will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the lowly of the Land. He will strike the ruthless of the Land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be the belt around his loins, and faithfulness the girdle around his waist.
At that time, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall feed together, with a little boy to herd them. The cow and the she-bear shall graze, with their young lying down together; and the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw. A baby shall play over a viper’s hole, and an infant shall pass its hand over an adder’s den.
On My holy mountain – throughout all the Land, nothing vile or evil shall be done; for the Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of YHVH, as water covers the oceans.
So it shall be on that day that the descendant of Yishai will stand as a banner for the peoples – nations will seek him out, and his dwelling place will be honoured.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
“Behold, the days are surely coming,” declares Yahveh, “when I will raise up for David’s line a righteous branch. He will reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the Land. In his days, Judah will be safe, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘Yahveh is our Vindicator’ (Yahveh Tzidqeinu).
Jeremiah 33:14-17
‘Behold, the days are surely coming,’ declares Yahveh, ‘when I will fulfill the promise I made concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up from David’s line; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the Land. In those days, Judah will be delivered, and Jerusalem will dwell in security. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘Yahveh is our Vindicator’ (Yahveh Tzidqeinu). For thus says Yahveh: There shall never lack a man from the line of David to sit on the throne of the House of Israel.’
Jeremiah 30:7-10
‘Alas! That day will be so terrible [referring to the war of Gog] there will be none like it; it will be a time of distress for Jacob – yet he shall be rescued from it.
‘On that day,’ says Yahveh of Hosts, ‘I will break the yoke from his neck, and I will shatter his bonds, and foreigners shall no longer make a slave of him. Rather, they shall serve Yahveh their God, and a descendant of David will be their king, whom I will raise up for them.
‘But as for you, have no fear, My servant Jacob,’ declares Yahveh, ‘and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I am going to rescue you from far away, and I will deliver your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and no one shall make him afraid.’
Ezekiel 34:22-30
(this is after God has returned the exiles, see Ezek 34:6, 34:12-13)
I Myself will come and save My sheep, and I will stop My sheep from becoming [plundered] prey; then I will judge between [the righteous] sheep and [the unrighteous] sheep.
Then I will set up over them one shepherd, My servant David, to tend them: he shall provide for them and be their shepherd. And I, Yahveh, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, Yahveh, have spoken.
I will cut a covenant of peace with them, and banish dangerous animals from the land, so that they may dwell safely even in the wilderness, and sleep securely even in the woods. I will assign My mountain and the areas around it as a blessing for them.
I will send down showers in their due season; they shall be showers of blessedness. The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the land shall yield its produce. They shall remain secure on their own soil; and then they shall know that I am Yahveh, when I break the bonds of their yoke, and have delivered them from the hands of those who enslaved them.
Never again shall they be plunder for the nations, nor shall the wild beasts of the Land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
I will provide for them lush plantations of great renown, so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the Land, and no longer have to suffer the scorn of the nations. Then they shall know that I, Yahveh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares Sovereign Yahveh.
Ezekiel 37:24-28
(this is after God returns the exiles, see Ezek 37:12-14, and after Ephraim and Judah have been reunited, see Ezek 37:15-22)
‘My servant David shall be king over them; thus they shall all have one shepherd again. They shall follow My ordinances and keep My decrees and carefully observe them.
‘They shall dwell in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your ancestors dwelt; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever; and My servant David shall be their prince for all time.
‘I will cut a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them there firmly, and cause them to increase in number; and I will set My Sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; I will be their God and they shall be my people. Then the nations of the world will know that I, Yahveh, am the One who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is among them forevermore.
The Prophecies and Terms of the Davidic Covenant
Another set of prophecies that most messianists ignore, are the passages that clearly define what a righteous anointed king of David’s line is meant to be and do right from the very start. These are the promises of the Davidic Covenant. The contents of this covenant are found at 2Sam 7:8-16, 1Chron 17:7-14, Psalm 89:20b-38. Also, Psalm 89:4-5, 132:11-12, 1 Kings 8:25b.
If you wish to avoid attributing God’s future deeds to a messiah, it is essential to read this covenant. One important thing that this covenant makes clear, is that the messiah is not perfect, sinless, or superhuman. Furthermore, that if any anointed one disobeys God, Israel will fall; it is only if the messiah remains faithful to God will Israel remain strong and secure.
Two practical things that we can do for God’s future Kingdom
When the Kingdom of God is fulfilled, in Habakkuk 2:14, we are told, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of YHVH, as the waters cover the sea.”
I speak so often of God’s Glory, because I always have this verse from Habakkuk at the back of my mind. As anyone familiar with my articles, sermons and commentaries will know, the Glory of YHVH is not a quality of God, it is an active power of YHVH. It is the fire of God’s Divine Radiance, by which we are cleansed of all blemish of sin. It is not the blood of sacrifices, nor even the blood of ‘Christ’ that cleanses us of sin, but rather the Glory of YHVH which cleanses us, heals us, makes us whole, restores us, and makes of us a new being.
There are many things we can do to facilitate the spread of God’s Kingdom in the Present Age, such as keeping God’s ethical values, principles and commandments, and become a religious person who reconciles with others and spreads peace. However, one easy thing we can do to work towards the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom, is that we can tell other people about God’s Glory (when it is appropriate to do so – we do not wish to make ourselves into religious nuisances)! Whenever we are talking about the forgiveness and cleansing of sin, it is appropriate to explain to whomever we are talking to, about the Glory of YHVH.
The second easy and practical thing we can do, is make sure that we do not bring the sacred reputation of YHVH into disrepute, for example, by presenting religion as a hateful thing that decent people would need to avoid, or by using religion as an instrument of control, or by portraying God as a tyrant. God gave us religion to help us, to enable us to connect with God, and to heal humanity; God did not give religion to control us, or for us to control one another, or cause suffering.