the jewish tradition of two messiahshodsbs.org/libsam/the_jewish_theory_of_two_messiahs.pdfsongs we...

THE JEWISHTRADITION OFTWO MESSIAHS

IIn a culture that so oftenclaims Judeo-Christian roots,there is often a curiosity—

even a fascination—with “thingsJewish.” The Jewish people hadthousands of years of historywith God, a relationship thatformed the foundation uponwhich the New Testament wasintroduced to the world. As weread the Bible, we can’t help butencounter Jewish places, names,and traditions.

In this booklet, staff writerKevin Williams helps us exploreone of those traditions—theJewish expectation of twoMessiahs. It’s our prayer that this examination will help us findsimilarities, and differences, thatchallenge both cultures toward amore open dialogue around thetimeless wisdom of the Scriptures.

Martin R. De Haan IIManaging Editor: David Sper Cover Photo:Terry BidgoodScripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by ThomasNelson, Inc. Used by permission.All rights reserved.© 2004 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in USA

CONTENTS

Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Tradition Of Messiah . . . . . . . . . . . 5

One Endtime Deliverer . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

A Messianic Anticipation . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Tradition Of Two Messiahs . . . . . . . . . 9

A Messiah Who Suffers. . . . . . . . . 10

A MessiahWho Delivers . . . . . . . . 15

The TensionReconciled . . . . . . . . . . 16

What Do The Scriptures Say? . . . . . . . 22

Intermingled Promises . . . . . . . . . . . 22

One Messiah In Two Missions . . . . . . 23

Was Yeshua The Promised One? . . . . . . . 28

Q0211 Two Messiahs pp 11/4/04 3:27 PM

© RBC Ministries. All rights reserved.

TRADITION

OOne of the mostmemorable songsfrom the musical

Fiddler On The Roof is in the Prologue of Act One.“Tradition” introduces thestory of a Jewish family andcommunity living in thesmall village of Anatevka,Russia, during the harsh eraof Tsarist rule. The maincharacter, Tevye, complainsto God about the difficultyof being a “chosen people”during an era of pogroms—the systematic elimination of Jewish villages. Heconcludes, however, thatwithout tradition their liveswould be as unsteady as a“fiddler on the roof.”

Tradition plays a role in the Jewish communityand in all of our lives.Customary ways of thinkingand acting give structure todaily living and a sense ofconnection from onegeneration to the next.

To help keep inperspective the Jewishtraditions we explore in this booklet, we need to ask ourselves, “What would our lives be without traditions?” Frombirth to death, traditionstouch nearly every area oflife. Yet they often take onspecial significance in ourhouses of worship. From the highly liturgical to thevery contemporary worshipservice, tradition plays apart in how we approach the King of the universe andhow our theology is molded.The prayers we pray, thesongs we sing, the creeds we recite, and the calendarwe use are all influenced bytradition to some degree. Noless is true in the synagogue.

If one word coulddescribe Judaism, manywould agree that it istradition. It has beencultivated like a fine art by the Jewish community.Especially during periods of

2



exile, the family customs ofdiet, dress, holidays, rest,and worship becameextremely important. Evenwhen scattered among thenations of the world, thepeople of Israel haveretained a sense of identityand shared history bypassing on customary waysof living and thinking fromone generation to the next.

Judaism has many formsand branches, from the ultra-Orthodox to the extremelyliberal: Hasidic, Orthodox,Conservative, Reformed, andReconstructionist. Amongnonreligious Jewish people,there is often a specialawareness of tradition—evenif it’s only reflected in thedusty menorah on the

bookshelf, or the Star ofDavid kept in a jewelry box.Such faint remembrancesstand in contrast to thedisciplined, highly observantHasidic man who wears hisblack hat, curled sidelocks,and a long black coat.Whether placed at the centeror outer edge of a Jewishperson’s life, these traditionsreflect a community’s often-expressed need for identity,even when living away fromtheir historic homeland.

Wearing a skullcap,which is called a kippah bysome or a yarmulke (ya-ma-kah), is an example. Thereare no records as to theorigin of this tradition. AnOrthodox rabbi will tell youthat, as important as thismasculine head covering is to shared Jewish identity,it is not required by theScriptures. Yet the kippahalso shows how one customcan give birth to others. Inan attempt to explain whyJewish males wear a head

3

If one word coulddescribe Judaism,many would agreethat it is tradition.



covering, traditionalexplanations are handeddown from one generation to the next. Some Jewishfathers tell their childrenthat the kippah is a reminderof the separation that existsbetween man and God.Others explain that thetradition is a symbol of theturbans the Levites wore inthe temple, as a reminder of the Jewish person’s role as priest (Ex. 19:6). Even among cherishedtraditions, there is notalways agreement on what they mean or how they are to be applied.

One of the mostcherished traditions in anobservant Jewish home isthe Sabbath meal, which isheld on Friday evenings aftersundown. According to thecollected oral traditions ofthe Talmud, one rabbi heldthat the Sabbath candlesmust be lit first, followed bythe blessing over the breadand wine. Another rabbi

held that the bread and wine must be blessed first,and then the candles shouldbe kindled. The Talmuditself does not set down the law but offers opinionsfrom which the studentdetermines his own opinion.In the majority of Jewishhomes, however, the practice of lighting the candles firstbecame the time-honoredtradition that has held itsown for hundreds of years.

Tradition plays asignificant role in Jewish life and thought. Sometimestraditions provide structureand continuity. Other timesthey take on a life of theirown and become ways ofexplaining beliefs, eventhough many no longerremember or understandwhy. The latter seems to bethe case with the traditionalbelief in two Messiahs. Yet,as we shall see, the traditionhas an understandableexplanation that is groundedin the Jewish Scriptures.

4



THE TRADITIONOF MESSIAH

FFaith in the comingMessiah is deeply

rooted in historicalJudaism. Rambam(1135–1204), one of theirmost-read sages, wrote,“Whoever does not believein him [the Messiah], ordoes not await his coming,denies not only the otherprophets but also the Torahand Moses, our teacher, forthe Torah attests to hiscoming.” 1

The New JewishEncyclopedia defines the Messiah as “a modifiedform of the Hebrew word Mashiah meaning‘anointed,’ applied in theBible to a person appointedfor special function, such asHigh Priest or King. Laterthe term Messiah came toexpress the belief that aRedeemer, that is a divinelyappointed individual, will inthe end bring salvation to

the Jewish people and to theentire human race” (p.317).

The Dictionary Of Jewish Lore And Legendencapsulates the termMessiah a bit moresuccinctly: “The anointedking of the House of Davidof Bethlehem who will besent by God to inauguratethe final redemption in theend of days” (p.132).

For the Christian reader,there will be many familiarthemes that surface between these two views of Messiah. For the Jewishreader, we can only attempt to paraphrase and summarize hundreds of years of theology into a few pages. In an attemptto do this, and beforelooking more closely at the Scriptures themselves,let’s take a look first at some of the extrabiblicalJewish writings that reflectmessianic themes of theHebrew prophets.

5



ONE ENDTIMEDELIVEREROne view of the Jewishanticipation of the last days,for instance, is summarizedby Raphael Patai in TheMessiah Texts:

The pangs of themessianic times areimagined as havingheavenly as well asearthly sources andexpressions. From above, awesome cosmic cataclysms will be visited upon the earth:conflagrations, pestilence,famine, earthquakes, hailand snow, thunder andlightning. These will beparalleled by evilsbrought by men uponthemselves: insolence,robbery, heresy, harlotry,corruption, oppression,cruel edicts, lack of truth,and no fear of sin. Allthis will lead to internaldecay, demoralization,and even apostasy.Things will come to such

a head that people willdespair of redemption.This will last seven years.And then, unexpectedly,the Messiah will come(pp.95-96).As seen above, the

messianic expectation inJewish literature is very real.This anticipation is based on the Hebrew prophetswho saw a time of terribletribulation called the “timeof Jacob’s trouble.” In themidst of that darkest of ages,the Messiah will come, theconquering King who will siton His throne in Jerusalemand establish the kingdomof heaven here on earth.

The Apocalypse OfAbraham, an extrabiblicalbook, says:

Then I will sound thetrumpet out of the air,and will send mine ElectOne [the Messiah],having in him all mypower, one measure [ofeach of my attributes];and this one shall

6



summon my despisedpeople from the nations,and I will burn with firethose who have insultedthem and who have ruledover them in this Age(ibid, p.96). Jewish sources are

consistently clear that KingMessiah will be known asthe “Prince of Peace,” andduring His reign, “there willbe a resurrection of the dead,followed by the great day ofjudgment for all mankind.The way to the Garden ofEden will be revealed.” 2

A MESSIANICANTICIPATIONThe anticipation of national deliverance through a person anointedby God has been a theme of Judaism throughout theages. Sometimes this sharedexpectation became a hopein false messiahs. At othertimes, the title of messiahcame to rest on men whoreflected characteristics

of the great King and hope of Israel.

The word messiah literallymeans “anointed,” as doesthe word Christ. In Israel,priests were anointed, kingswere anointed, and some

theologians believe Goddivinely anointed others forthe purposes of redeemingIsrael from some calamity.Therefore, rabbinic traditionhas often seen messianiccharacteristics in thedeliverers of Israel. Here are just four in a long list of persons referred to as“messiah” in extrabiblicalJewish literature.

7

The anticipation ofnational deliverancethrough a personanointed by God

has been a theme of Judaism

throughout the ages.



Enoch. “That angelcame to me, . . . saying, ‘You are the Son of man[i.e., the Messiah] who artborn for righteousness, andrighteousness has restedupon you. The righteousnessof the Ancient of days shallnot forsake you’” (1 Enoch70:17-18).

Moses. “My beloved is like a gazelle” (Song 2:9).Rabbi Yitzhaq said, “Just asthis gazelle can be seen andthen again hides itself, sothe first Messiah [Moses]revealed himself to theChildren of Israel and thenagain hid himself fromthem.” 3

Hezekiah. “The HolyOne, blessed be He, wantedto make Hezekiah [king ofJudah] the Messiah.” 4

Menahem ben’Amiel. “This is theMessiah of the lineage ofDavid, and his name isMenahem ben ’Amiel. Hewas born during the reign ofDavid, king of Israel.” 5

Often, however, theanticipation of a delivererallowed the people of Israelto put their faith in personswho raised their hopeswithout being able to deliver. According to TheNew Jewish Encyclopedia,“Most leaders of messianicmovements are known asfalse messiahs. The mostimportant of these wereDavid Alroy in the 12thcentury; David Reubeni inthe 16th century; ShabbetaiTzevi in the 17th century;and Jacob Frank in the 18thcentury. It is important tonote that some of the so-called false messiahs hadthe support of the greatintellects and spirits of theirday. Shabbetai Tzevi wasaccepted enthusiastically byscholars, rich men, and poormen alike” (p.318).

The list goes on and on. In short, in Judaismthere is room for manypotential “candidates”spanning the entirety

8



of Israel’s history. Mostrecently, a sect of ultra-Orthodox (Lubavitchers) inNew York believed (and stillbelieve) that Chief RabbiMenachem Schneerson wasthe messiah. When he diedin 1994, they turned toIsaiah 53 to predict hisresurrection and ascensionto the throne in Jerusalem.To this day, this sect has notchosen another chief rabbias they await Schneerson’sresurrection.

THE TRADITIONOF TWOMESSIAHS

WWithin Judaism,however, there isanother way of

approaching the anticipationof Messiah that deservesspecial attention. This ideais not simply messianic in principle, but is a way ofexplaining descriptions ofthe great King Messiah that is deeply rooted in the

Jewish Scriptures. An often-repeated concept within thetradition of Israel is thatthere is not one Messiahbut two: Moshiach ben Yosefand Moshiach ben David(Messiah son of Joseph andMessiah son of David). Likethe kippah and the candleswe’ve already mentioned,this is a tradition establishedby the rabbis long ago and amatter we shall examine incloser detail.

Pick up almost anyJewish dictionary orencyclopedia, look up theword messiah, and you willfind references to not onemessianic figure but two:Messiah ben Joseph andMessiah ben David. Butwhy? How did such adichotomy come to be?

In the years following thedestruction of the temple inAD 70, Jewish sages lookedat the Scriptures and sawtwo distinct characteristicsof the promised Messiah in the texts. As they

9



studied these dissimilarcharacteristics, they sawpromises so divergent as tobe seemingly incompatible.

A MESSIAH WHO SUFFERSAccording to Isaiah 53:2-8,

He shall grow up beforeHim as a tender plant,and as a root out of dryground. He has no form or comeliness; and whenwe see Him, there is nobeauty that we shoulddesire Him. He is despisedand rejected by men, aMan of sorrows andacquainted with grief. Andwe hid, as it were, ourfaces from Him; He wasdespised, and we did notesteem Him. Surely Hehas borne our griefs andcarried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken,smitten by God, andafflicted. But He waswounded for ourtransgressions, He wasbruised for our iniquities;

the chastisement for ourpeace was upon Him, andby His stripes we arehealed. All we like sheephave gone astray; we haveturned, every one, to hisown way; and the Lordhas laid on Him theiniquity of us all. He wasoppressed and He wasafflicted, yet He openednot His mouth; He wasled as a lamb to theslaughter, and as a sheepbefore its shearers is silent,so He opened not Hismouth. He was taken from prison and fromjudgment, and who willdeclare His generation?For He was cut off fromthe land of the living; forthe transgressions of Mypeople He was stricken.Some modern rabbis

insist that this passage has nothing at all to do with the Messiah. They say the unidentified “He” in this passage should beinterpreted as the people of

10



Israel. In other words, theend of verse 3 might read,“And we [the Gentilenations] hid, as it were, ourfaces from Israel; Israel wasdespised, and we did notesteem Israel. Surely Israelhas borne our griefs andcarried our sorrows.”

This explanation has itsown difficulties, as it wouldsuggest that Isaiah was notwritten for the Jewish peoplebut for the Gentiles. Even if that were true, thisinterpretation views thechosen people as aninnocent sacrifice for thesinning nations of the world.Yet the prophecy of Isaiahbegins with the words of aGod who is brokenheartedover the sins of His peopleIsrael. Isaiah begins with the following words:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For theLord has spoken: “I havenourished and brought upchildren, and they haverebelled against Me; the

ox knows its owner andthe donkey its master’scrib; but Israel does notknow, My people do notconsider. Alas, sinfulnation, a people ladenwith iniquity, a brood ofevildoers, children who arecorrupters! They haveforsaken the Lord, theyhave provoked to angerthe Holy One of Israel,they have turned awaybackward (Isa. 1:2-4).Further complications

arise by interpreting Isaiah53 as a people and not aperson. To suggest that all of Israel must die as a sin offering wouldcontradict the promises of Jeremiah 31:35-36.

Thus says the Lord, whogives the sun for a light byday, the ordinances of themoon and the stars for alight by night, whodisturbs the sea, and itswaves roar (The Lord ofhosts is His name): “Ifthose ordinances depart

11



from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also ceasefrom being a nation before Me forever.”God’s promise is that

Israel shall never cease toexist—that they will neverbe cut off from the living. Tosuggest that the people ofIsrael must die for the sinsof the nations is problematicbecause biblically, wheneverIsrael suffered, it wasinvariably because of herown sin, not for the sins ofothers.

Israel’s experiences teachall of us, Jew or Gentile,about the character of God.Israel’s history is a wordpicture for all people to betterunderstand who God is andwhat the consequences of sinare. But to insinuate that theJewish people as a wholemust suffer and die as anatonement for the iniquitiesof the Gentiles is withoutbiblical precedence.

In contrast to the thought

that Israel is the sufferingservant of Isaiah 53, RabbiJonathan ben Uzziel fromearly in the second centurywrote:

Behold my servantMessiah shall prosper; he shall be high, andincrease, and beexceeding strong: as the house of Israellooked to him throughmany days, because their countenance wasdarkened among thepeoples, and theircomplexion beyond the sons of men. 6

This disciple of Hillel,one of Israel’s mostrenowned and respectedrabbis, saw the sufferingservant of Isaiah 53 as being the Messiah.

The Babylonian Talmudagrees:

The Messiah—what is hisname? . . . The Rabbissay, the leprous one;those of the house ofRabbi say, the sick one,

12



as it is said, “Surely he hath borne oursicknesses.” 7

The 16th-century scholar Rabbi MosheAlshekh wrote:

Our Rabbis with onevoice, accept and affirmthe opinion that theprophet is speaking ofking Messiah. 8

Alfred Edersheim(1825–1889), noted scholarand author of a number ofbooks on Jewish life andworship in the years beforethe destruction of the

temple, wrote:As the Old Testamentand Jewish traditiontaught that the object of a sacrifice was itssubstitution for theoffender, so Scripture andthe Jewish fathers alsoteach that the substituteto whom all these typespointed was none otherthan the Messiah. 9

To entertain the notionthat the people of Israelwould have to become an“offering for sin” (Isa. 53:10)breaks with the simplemeaning of the text anddeparts from their owntraditions concerning Isaiah 53. For the Jewishpeople to become a sinoffering, or asham in theHebrew, would meanbecoming a substitutionaryatonement for a repentantsinner—an offering withoutspot or blemish. Withoutrepentance by the sinner,there could be no atonement for him. For

13

A disciple of Hillel,one of Israel’s

most renowned andrespected rabbis,saw the suffering

servant of Isaiah 53as being the

Messiah.



a substitutionary sacrifice to be acceptable, it had to be made in thetemple in Jerusalem by thesinner or there could be noatonement. At no time inhuman history have Jewishpeople died as an asham (asin offering in the temple) to atone for Gentile sins.

It seems more practicaland in keeping with the textthat the prophet is speakingof a unique person, theMessiah. This continues to be the interpretation inmany Jewish circles today.Consider the followingprayer offered in synagogues around theworld on Yom Kippur, theDay of Atonement:

Our righteous Anointed isdeparted from us; horrorhas seized us and wehave none to justify us.He has borne the yoke ofour iniquities. He bearsour sins on his shoulderthat we may find pardonfor our iniquities. We

shall be healed by hiswounds, at the time thatthe Eternal will bring himanew. Hasten the daywhen he will assemble us a second time by thehand of the one whoshall endure forever. 10

The overtones of Isaiah53 cannot be missed. Thefact that the Jewish peoplepray for “him” to accomplishall these deeds leaves onewith the impression thatthey are not praying forGentile atonement but fortheir own, by the hands ofthe Messiah.

While many modernrabbis believe Isaiah 53 tobe about Israel, the oldertradition, that the sufferingservant is the Messiah, is no less respected. Judaism isalso known for having morethan one opinion. As thestory goes, you can havetwo Jewish men and threeJewish opinions—and theycan all be accepted aslegitimately “Jewish.”

14



So Isaiah 53, from atraditional Jewishperspective as well as a plain reading of the text, appears to say thatsomeone—a uniqueperson—is going to sufferand die, and that thissuffering servant is theMessiah.

A MESSIAH WHO DELIVERSIf you were an oppressedand dispersed people hoping for a conquering king (as the Jewish peoplewere in AD 70), then Isaiah 53 would not be veryencouraging. Passages likeDaniel 7:13-14 would bemuch more appealing:

I was watching in thenight visions, and behold,One like the Son of Man,coming with the clouds ofheaven! He came to theAncient of Days, and theybrought Him near beforeHim. Then to Him wasgiven dominion and glory

and a kingdom, that allpeoples, nations, andlanguages should serveHim. His dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not passaway, and His kingdomthe one which shall not be destroyed.This regal and victorious

description of Messiah hasbeen the expectation ofmany people for millennia.Jewish people of faith haveclung to the tradition andpromise of a deliverer, aSavior who would throw off the yoke of oppressivegovernments and establishan indestructible kingdomon earth.

Certainly, the Bibleappears to support such a king:

Of the increase of Hisgovernment and peacethere will be no end, uponthe throne of David andover His kingdom, to orderit and establish it withjudgment and justice from

15



that time forward, evenforever. The zeal of theLord of hosts will performthis (Isa. 9:7).

In mercy the thronewill be established; andOne will sit on it in truth,in the tabernacle of David,judging and seekingjustice and hasteningrighteousness (Isa. 16:5).Even the New Testament

mirrors the hope of aMessiah seated on a throne:

He will be great, and willbe called the Son of theHighest; and the LordGod will give Him thethrone of His father David (Lk. 1:32).

THE TENSIONRECONCILEDThese scriptural dichotomiesbetween a suffering and aconquering Messiah were sodiscordant that for at leastsome Jewish students andscholars, there was only oneway it could be reconciled—there had to be two

Messiahs: one who suffersand dies, and the other agreat king who conquers allof God’s enemies.

In the 10th century, as Catholicism had spreadthroughout Europe, andIslam had taken root in theMiddle East, there was agreat deal of discussionabout who the Messiahwould or should be. TheJewish people were feelingpressed on both sides andyearned for a Savior.

The collective oraltraditions of the Talmud hadbeen recorded 400 yearsearlier but gave no singleand clear expectation. Infact, the oral tradition of the rabbis presented manyviews, some of whichappeared contradictory toone another and spurredgreat debate. One highlyregarded rabbi duringEurope’s Medieval Periodwas a Babylonian rabbi,Sa’adiah Gaon (882–942),who attempted to narrow

16



the scope of the debate witha two-Messiah position.

According to MichaelBrown:

[Rabbi Sa’adiah Gaon]explained that therewould actually be twoMessiahs, the Messiahson of Joseph (mentionedexplicitly in the Talmudin b. Sukkah 52a), whowas associated with atime of victory mixedwith hardship andcalamity, and theMessiah son of David,who would establishGod’s kingdom on theearth. 11

Apart from the singularTalmudic reference, RabbiGaon is the earliest knownJewish scholar to articulatethis two-Messiah position,and one of the only peopleto develop it into the“Messiah son of Joseph”theology. However, for RabbiGaon, the coming of theMessiah son of David wascontingent entirely on the

work of the sufferingservant, Messiah son of Joseph. Rabbi Gaonappears to have been a lone voice in an era ofupheaval, persecution, andJewish assimilations into theChristian and Muslim world.

His work was picked upa few decades later by RabbiHai Gaon because theJewish community in what isnow modern Iraq was stilllooking for clarification onwhat to expect about thecoming Messiah.

The biblical references to Joseph as a type ofMessiah are mysterious yetunderstandable in light of allthat the patriarch Josephendured in order to becomethe eventual deliverer of hispeople. Joseph’s redemptivesuffering and life story wasthought by some to be aparallel to those messianicpassages that spoke of asuffering servant.

The extrabiblical book Joseph And Asenath is

17



based on the two biblicalcharacters. Asenath,according to Genesis,became Joseph’s wife inEgypt and bore him twosons: Ephraim andManasseh (Gen. 46:20).Joseph And Asenath wasoriginally written in Greek,likely in Alexandria, Egypt,and adopted by both Jewishand Christian movementsfor its many rich pictures ofpagans becoming faithfulbelievers and a holy bride.

In the years during theformation of the Talmud,Joseph And Asenath was stillquite popular, though laterrejected as nonbiblical. Itsinfluence presenting Josephas a type of a redeemerduring such a historicaljuncture cannot beoverlooked.

But the Bible alonedemonstrates many clearand godly characteristics ofJoseph, certainly suitable fora comparison with theexpected Messiah. The same

is true of King David, whothrough a covenant withGod founded an everlastingdynasty, expanded theborders of Israel, andplanned to build “a house”for God.

In the two-Messiahapproach, some texts pointto Messiah son of David, yetother texts of Jewish traditionspeak of another mightywarrior who more closelyreflects the experience ofJacob’s son Joseph. RaphaelPatai, in The Messiah Texts,writes:

He is the warrior-Messiahwhose coming waspredicted to his firstancestress, Rachel.When, after years ofbarrenness, Rachel finallygave birth to a son, shecalled his name Yosef,saying, “May the Lordadd [yosef] to me anotherson” (Gen. 30:24). A Midrash fragmentexplains: “Hence [weknow] that the Anointed

18



of War will arise in thefuture from Joseph.” 12

This warrior in whommuch hope was placed,however, suffers and dies. As noted earlier, this death is important because, according to thetwo-Messiah position, theMessiah son of David

cannot appear until this firstMessiah suffers and dies.The second Messiah’s arrivalis contingent on the firstarrival. According to yet

another extrabiblical sourcewritten in Aramaic aroundthe time of the temple’sdestruction in AD 70:

And whosoever isdelivered from thepredicted evil shall seeMy wonders. For My son,the Messiah, shall berevealed, together withthose who are with him,and shall gladden thesurvivors four hundredyears. And it shall be,after those years, that Myson, the Messiah, shalldie (Esdras 7:27-30).Though Jewish in origin,

it is understandable thatsuch a text would not beconsidered an authoritativebook within Jewish theologyas it calls the Messiah God’s“son.” Esdras uses languagethat is similar to that used of Yeshua (today recognizedby the anglicized name“Jesus”), who was attestedby His followers to be God’sSon. But from a historicalperspective, because the

19

According to the two-Messiah

position, theMessiah son

of David cannotappear until the

Messiah son of Joseph suffers

and dies.



messianic figure in Esdrasdies, he is considered byHebrew scholarship to bethe Messiah son of Joseph.

Speaking of the Messiahwho would suffer and die,Rabbi Hai Gaon wrote:

At that time a man willarise from among theChildren of Joseph . . .and he will be calledMessiah of God. Andmany people will gatheraround him in UpperGalilee, and he will betheir king. . . . But mostof Israel will be in theirexile, for it will notbecome clear to themthat the end has come.And then Messiah benJoseph, with the menwho rally around him,will go up from theGalilee to Jerusalem. 13

According to this rabbinictradition, then, Messiah sonof Joseph will come from the region of Galilee, andthough many will notrecognize the importance

of the age in which they live,this man will go with hisfollowers to Jerusalem. Butthe rabbi’s predictionscontinue:

And when Messiah benJoseph and all the peoplewith him will dwell inJerusalem, Armilus willhear their tiding and willcome and make magicand sorcery to lead manyastray with them, and hewill go up and wage waragainst Jerusalem, andwill defeat Messiah benJoseph and his people,and will kill many ofthem . . . . And he willslay Messiah ben Josephand it will be a greatcalamity for Israel. 14

Armilus in Jewishtradition is considered to bethe devil, an anti-messiahcharacter originating fromGog and Magog. It wouldappear that this Armilusdefeats this messianiccharacter and crushes thepeople’s messianic hope.

20



The text continues:Why will permission begranted to Armilus to slayMessiah ben Joseph? Inorder that the heart ofthose of Israel who haveno faith should break,and so that they say:“This is the man forwhom we have hoped;now he came and waskilled and no redemptionis left for us.” And theywill leave the covenant of Israel, and attachthemselves to thenations, and the latterwill kill them. 15

Continuing with this two-Messiah position, the rabbipredicted that many wouldplace their hope in Messiahson of Joseph. Their hopeswould be dashed so thatthey would fall away fromJudaism. And then theywould fall into calamityamong the Gentiles. But thestory does not end here:

When Messiah benJoseph is killed, his body

will remain cast out [inthe streets] for forty days,but no unclean thing willtouch him, until Messiahben David comes andbrings him back to life, as commanded by theLord. And this will be the beginning of the signs which he willperform, and this is the resurrection of the dead which will come to pass. 16

Although Messiah son ofJoseph is killed, Messiah sonof David brings him back tolife.

For the Christian reader,these themes may soundvery familiar, though notparticularly accurate. For theJewish reader, these rabbinicprophecies may border onthe absurd.

21



WHAT DO THESCRIPTURES SAY?

BBecause the Hebrewword translated“messiah” means

“anointed,” the Scripturesspeak of both kings andpriests as being “anointed”ones. In one text, even thePersian King Cyrus isreferred to as God’s“anointed” because he wasused by God to deliver Hispeople from exile (Isa. 45:1).Even so, the Scriptures pointto an anointed prophet,priest, and king who woulddo for God’s people whatthey could not do forthemselves. Jewish literatureoften refers to this uniqueindividual as “KingMessiah.”

INTERMINGLEDPROMISES

The scepter shall notdepart from Judah, nor alawgiver from between hisfeet, until Shiloh comes;

and to Him shall be theobedience of the people(Gen. 49:10).Written approximately

4,000 years ago, thisprophecy attributed to thepatriarch Jacob states thatthe “rule” or authority overIsrael as a nation would beestablished and maintainedthrough the tribe of Judah.

“Behold, the days arecoming,” says the Lord,“that I will raise to David a Branch ofrighteousness; a Kingshall reign and prosper,and execute judgment and righteousness in theearth” (Jer. 23:5).Written nearly 2,600

years ago by the prophetJeremiah, the lineage andrule of the Messiah is onceagain predicted to comethrough King David’sbloodline.

Therefore the Lord Himselfwill give you a sign:Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a Son,

22



and shall call His nameImmanuel (Isa. 7:14).“Immanuel” means “God

with us,” and His birth wasto be miraculous. A virgin,one who never knew a man,would bear a child.

But you, BethlehemEphrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah,yet out of you shall comeforth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whosegoings forth are from ofold, from everlasting (Mic. 5:2).The birthplace of this

Messiah is Bethlehem. In the Hebrew language it means “House of Bread.”How can we assume thatthis verse is referring to theMessiah? Because He is set to rule Israel. But more important, His goingsforth are from everlasting.He has been waiting in thewings of eternity for the right moment to come to the earth.

ONE MESSIAH INTWO MISSIONSThere are many otherprophecies that could belisted and discussed beyondthe scope of this booklet.But it’s important to see how the Hebrew Scripturesthemselves allude to themerging of suffering andpower in one Person.

God said through theprophet Isaiah, “Say to thedaughter of Zion, ‘Surelyyour salvation is coming;behold, His reward is withHim, and His work beforeHim’” (Isa. 62:11). This ishow it is rendered in nearlyevery English translation.Grammatically, it is a bitawkward: Salvation iscoming, and His reward iswith Him, and His workbefore Him. It sounds as if“salvation” in this passage isan actual person. PerhapsGod has planted anotherclue in His Word. The wordsalvation in this passage isalso a proper Hebrew

23



name—Yeshua. So, it wouldthen read, “Say to thedaughter of Zion, ‘SurelyYeshua is coming; behold,His reward is with Him, andHis work before Him.’”Grammatically, it makessense.

Was there ever a mannamed Yeshua of the tribe ofJudah, from the house ofDavid, attested to have beenborn of a virgin in the townof Bethlehem? Yes! But mostpeople know Him by Hisanglicized name—Jesus.

For those who believeYeshua was the predictedMessiah who was born inBethlehem to die outside thewalls of Jerusalem, the dualthemes of a suffering andpowerful Messiah merge intoone Person. In His firstcoming, He fulfilled thepicture of Joseph whosebetrayal and suffering wasused by God to “save” Hispeople. In His promisedreturn, He will fulfill theword picture of David who

will reign in Jerusalem asConqueror, Deliverer, andKing of the world. As God’sultimate Anointed One,Yeshua fulfills the wordpictures of every provision ofthe Law, the Prophets, andthe Psalms (see Lk. 24:44)that God has ever given.

Some rabbis have builttheir case for two (or more)Messiahs on the opinions ofother rabbis. But the case for Yeshua was made bymultiple witnesses who livedwith Him 2,000 years ago.Those around Him routinelysaw the manifestation ofGod in and through Him,and they proclaimed Himthe Messiah, the Son of God.

Suffering Messiah.Like Messiah son of Joseph,Yeshua suffered and died—fulfilling the prophecy:

Surely He has borne ourgriefs and carried oursorrows; yet we esteemedHim stricken, smitten byGod, and afflicted. But Hewas wounded for our

24



transgressions, He wasbruised for our iniquities;the chastisement for ourpeace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we likesheep have gone astray;we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:4-6).In the synagogues many

centuries ago, it wascommon to take theScriptures and amplify thetext to help impart the fullermeaning to thecongregations. Theseamplifications, orparaphrased translations,were called Targumim(Targum in the singular).Here is one Englishtranslation of the TargumIsaiah, from the same versesas above:

Then [the Messiah] shallpray on behalf of ourtransgressions, and ouriniquities shall be

pardoned for his sake, though we wereaccounted smitten,stricken from before the Lord and afflicted.But he shall build thesanctuary that waspolluted because of our transgressions and given up because of our iniquities; and by his teaching shall his peace be multipliedupon us, and by ourdevotion to his words our transgressions shall be forgiven us. All we like sheep havebeen scattered; we hadwandered off each on hisown way; but it was theLord’s good pleasure toforgive the transgressionsof us all for his sake. This was the understood

meaning of Isaiah 53 in thesecond century. It wouldclearly be the Messiah whowould suffer and die, andpeople’s sins would beforgiven through His work.

25



The historical Yeshuawas taken by force andexecuted by the Romans.Yet another remarkableevent was witnessed not by a few, not by dozens, but by hundreds of men and women in Jerusalem.He rose from the dead!

Orthodox Rabbi PincasLapide writes, “This Jesuswas utterly true to the Torah,as I myself hope to be. Ieven suspect that Jesus wasmore true to the Torah thanI, an orthodox Jew.” 17

Lapide also writes, “Iaccept the resurrection ofEaster Sunday not as aninvention of the communityof disciples, but as ahistorical event.” 18 This too was in keeping with the prophet Isaiah:

Yet it pleased the Lord tobruise Him; He has putHim to grief. When Youmake His soul an offeringfor sin, He shall see Hisseed, He shall prolong Hisdays, and the pleasure of

the Lord shall prosper inHis hand (Isa. 53:10).The Messiah was to be

an offering—a sin offeringthat had to be slaughtered.But His days would beprolonged nonetheless. He would die, but deathwould not hold Him. Thistoo was prophesied by thepsalmist: “Nor will You letYour Holy One see decay”(Ps. 16:10 NIV).

If there was ever a personwho fit the description of therabbis’ concept of a Messiahson of Joseph, it was thishistorical figure, Yeshua.

26

If there was ever a person who fitthe description ofthe rabbis’ conceptof a Messiah son of Joseph, it was

this historical figure,Yeshua.



The Returning,Conquering Messiah.Does Yeshua also fit thedescription of the rabbis’Messiah son of David? Yes. He was of the line of the house of David andsaid He would return as theconquering King of Israel.

If you read His wordsand the teachings of Hisdisciples, you will see thatHe promised to come again.And when He returns, Hewill establish His throne inJerusalem:

Then the sign of the Sonof Man will appear inheaven, and then all thetribes of the earth willmourn, and they will seethe Son of Man coming onthe clouds of heaven withpower and great glory.And He will send Hisangels with a great soundof a trumpet, and they willgather together His electfrom the four winds, fromone end of heaven to theother (Mt. 24:30-31).

For the Lord Himselfwill descend from heavenwith a shout, with thevoice of an archangel, andwith the trumpet of God(1 Th. 4:16).

I saw heaven opened,and behold, a white horse.And He who sat on himwas called Faithful andTrue, and in righteousnessHe judges and makes war.His eyes were like a flameof fire, and on His headwere many crowns. Hehad a name written thatno one knew exceptHimself. He was clothedwith a robe dipped inblood, and His name iscalled The Word of God.And the armies in heaven,clothed in fine linen, whiteand clean, followed Himon white horses. Now outof His mouth goes a sharpsword, that with it Heshould strike the nations.And He Himself will rulethem with a rod of iron.He Himself treads the

27



winepress of the fiercenessand wrath of AlmightyGod. And He has on Hisrobe and on His thigh aname written: KING OF

KINGS AND LORD OF

LORDS (Rev. 19:11-16).Yeshua, or Jesus if you

prefer, will return again asthe conquering king. Theexpected messianic figure of Daniel 7:13-14 will bevisible:

I was watching in thenight visions, and behold,One like the Son of Man,coming with the clouds ofheaven! He came to theAncient of Days, and theybrought Him near beforeHim. Then to Him wasgiven dominion and gloryand a kingdom, that allpeoples, nations, andlanguages should serveHim. His dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not passaway, and His kingdomthe one which shall not be destroyed.

WAS YESHUA THEPROMISED ONE?

IIn this booklet, we have examined Jewishtheology concerning

two Messiahs. The first,Messiah son of Joseph,would come as the one who would suffer, die, andbe resurrected. And Hisdeath would prepare theway for the coming of theMessiah son of David, theconquering King of kings.

For the Christian reader, based on repeatedtestimony from Jewish menand women in the NewTestament, it becomes clearthat these two Messiahs are one and the same—thehistorical person known asJesus, who came, suffered,died, and rose again. In the fullness of time, Hisresurrection will reach itspinnacle when He returns inpower and glory to assumeHis throne in Jerusalem.

For the Jewish reader, 28



these claims may as yetseem unsubstantiated.Looking at what has been presented here from a strictly rabbinicalviewpoint, leaning on thecommentaries and therabbis as your singularguide, you may not yet be convinced.

Apart from the life of the one known as Yeshua,Jewish theology may makean assumption of twoMessiahs. But if Yeshua waswho He said He was, thenthe two Messiahs easilymeld into a cohesive unity—one who came and iscoming again to fulfill allthat the Bible requires.

The fact that Yeshuacould be overlooked as theMessiah of Israel shouldcome as no surprise.Certainly, it does notsurprise the Almighty, whoseprophet Zechariah wrote:

They will look on Mewhom they pierced. Yes,they will mourn for Him

as one mourns for his onlyson, and grieve for Him asone grieves for a firstborn.In that day there shall be a great mourning inJerusalem (12:10-11).

What do the rabbis think of this passage? Here,at least, is the opinion ofone 16th-century rabbi,Moshe Alshekh:

I will yet do a third thing,and that is, that “theyshall look unto me,” for

29

If Yeshua was whoHe said He was,

then the twoMessiahs easily

meld into acohesive unity—

one who came andis coming again tofulfill all that the Bible requires.



they shall lift up theireyes unto me in perfectrepentance, when theysee him whom theypierced, that is Messiah,the Son of Joseph; for ourRabbis, of blessedmemory, have said thathe will take upon himselfall the guilt of Israel, andshall then be slain in thewar to make atonementin such manner that itshall be accounted as ifIsrael had pierced him,for on account of their sinhe has died; and,therefore, in order that itmay be reckoned to themas a perfect atonement,they will repent and lookto the blessed One,saying that there is nonebeside him to forgivethose that mourn onaccount of him who diedfor their sin: this is themeaning of “They shalllook upon me.” 19

Messianic rabbi Bruce L. Cohen writes:

For us to have piercedHim, He would have to have been here onearth before the scenedescribed in Zechariah12. He could not havepierce-marks on Him thatwe would recognize ashaving been given Himby us (humankind)unless there weresomething recognizableabout Him and thepierce-marks on Him. 20

Someone was pierced.Yeshua was nailed to theexecution stake, suffered,and died. This resonateswith the scholarship ofRabbi Hai Gaon:

And at that time a manwill arise from among theChildren of Joseph . . .and he will be calledMessiah of God. Andmany people will gatheraround him in UpperGalilee, and he will betheir king . . . . But mostof Israel will be in theirexile, for it will not

30



become clear to themthat the end has come. 21

Rabbi Hai Gaon(mentioned earlier onpp.17,20-21) writes thatMessiah son of Joseph willbe resurrected, “And thiswill be the beginning of thesigns which he will perform,and this is the resurrectionof the dead which will cometo pass.” 22

A day is coming when allIsrael will mourn becausethey did not know the Onewho had been pierced. Theywill mourn because so manygenerations will have passedand missed the PromisedOne, God’s Anointed.

You need not be amongthe mourners. Whether youare Jewish or Gentile, the“Light of the world” waits foryou to acknowledge that Heis the one true Messiah, whowas pierced and who iscoming again.

Blessed are You O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who fulfills His promises and haspromised us the Messiah, our Redeemer. May ourhearts be turned toward You, Almighty One, and maywe be found faithful on theday of the Messiah’s return,the One in whom the NewCovenant, Your promisedsalvation, is made manifestaccording to Your eternalplan. Though our sins bemany, though they be red as scarlet, make them white as snow through the death and resurrection ofYour Son. Blessed are You, O Lord, who gives ussalvation.

31

A day is comingwhen all Israel will

mourn because theydid not know the

One who had been pierced.



ENDNOTES1. Hilchos Melachim FromThe Mishneh Torah Of TheRambam,11:12. Dictionary Of Jewish Lore And Legend (London:Thames and Hudson Ltd,1991), p.1323. Pesikta de Rav Kahanaby Bernard Mandelbaum(Jewish TheologicalSeminary Of America,1962), pp.91-924. B. Sanhedrin 94a5. www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jcreeves/sefer_zerubbabel.htm6. Targum Jonathan onIsaiah 53, ad Iocum7. Sanhedrin 98b8. What The Rabbis Know About The Messiah by Rachmiel Frydland(Columbus: MessianicPublishing Co, 1993), p.539. The Temple: Its MinistryAnd Services by AlfredEdersheim (HendricksonPublishers, 1994), p.9810. Prayer Book For The Day Of Atonement (Hebrew

Publishing Co., 1928)11. Answering JewishObjections To Jesus, Vol. 2by Michael Brown (GrandRapids: Baker Books, 2002),p.21212. The Messiah Textsby Raphael Patai (Detroit:Wayne State UniversityPress, 1988), p.16513. ibid, p.16814. ibid, p.16915. ibid, p.16916. ibid, p.16917. The Resurrection Of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective by Pinchas Lapide (Eugene:Wipf and Stock Publishers,2002), p.1118. ibid, p.1319. Everyman’s Talmud: The Major Teachings Of TheRabbinic Sages by A. Cohen(Schocken Books, 1995),p.9520. The Suffering Messiah In Jewish Sacred Writ,www.bethelnyc.org/sufferingmessiah.asp21. The Messiah Texts, p.16822. ibid, p.169

32



www.discoveryseries.org/catalog

USA: PO Box 2222, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-2222Canada: Box 1622, Windsor, ON N9A 6Z7

Get your free BibleResources catalog!

Discovery Series booklets can be valuable guides to help you learn what the Bible says about abroad range of topics.Each 32-page bookletcan be used in yourpersonal Bible study or in a small-group setting.

Your free BibleResources catalogincludes a brief

description of each Discovery Series booklet.To get your copy, write to us at the address belowand ask for a catalog. Or follow the link below torequest your copy today.

www.discoveryseries.org/catalog

the jewish tradition of two messiahshodsbs.org/libsam/the_jewish_theory_of_two_messiahs.pdfsongs we...

Documents