The coming of the Messiah is itself one of the fundamental beliefs of the Jews and their pretended religion. In their daily prayers, they say “Speedily cause the offspring of your servant David to flourish, and let him be exalted by your saving power, for we wait all day long for your salvation. Blessed are you, O Lord, who causes salvation to flourish.” (15th Benediction of the Amidah). And the 12th of Maimonides’ 13 Principles is that the Messiah is to be patiently, and yet eagerly expected by Israel.
Having rejected the true Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, and violently persecuted His followers from the very beginning of the ancient Church, the Jews have devised many imaginations as to what the coming of the Messiah shall be, his proper attributes and works, and the signs immediately preceding his coming. And herein we may greatly see the sinful blindness and darkness of unbelief which has so prevailed amongst Jewry to this day; for the judgment of God is upon them ever since their wicked murder of the Lord Jesus. It is this reason chiefly for which the Jews remained in exile for so long until their reception of a state in 1948, and many of them remain dispersed among the nations. And as for the long continuance of this period, Saadia Gaon lists two explanations, and the limits thereof: the Jews remain in exile due to the lack of repentance and utter apostasy (the grounds and occasion whereof the Jews suspiciously have great difficulty explaining), and the other is the time of the end which has not yet come (Saadia Gaon, Emunot ve-Deot, book VIII, ch. 2)
The most thorough discussion concerning the days of the Messiah amongst the Talmudists is found in tractate Sanhedrin, folios 97a-99a. Being that there are so many rabbinical opinions on this matter recorded therein, I will disclose each one of them for the benefit of the studious reader:
[1]. Earlier in the Talmud, it is reported that two of the prominent Israelite families must perish before the Messiah due to their alleged preventing of their final redemption. “Once they were inebriated, they loosened their tongues and said: The son of David, i.e., the Messiah, will not come until two fathers’ houses are destroyed from Israel, as those two families are preventing the redemption. And they are the head of the exile who is in Babylonia, i.e., the family of the Exilarch, and the Nasi who is in Eretz Yisrael, i.e., the family of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (see 5a), as it is stated in reference to the Messiah: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel” (Isaiah 8:14).” (Sanhedrin 38a)
[2]. Rabbi Yitzhak reports in the name of R. Yohanan [ben Zakkai] that before the days of the Messiah, there will be a decrease among the teachers of the Law, and troubles and sorrows will increase amongst the Jews (Sanhedrin 97a). “And the wisdom of scribes will putrefy, and people who fear sin will be held in disgust, and the truth will be absent. The youth will shame the face of elders, elders will stand before minors.” (Sotah 49b)
[3]. In a baraita, the rabbis say that this prophecy of Amos must be fulfilled: “And I will cause it to rain upon one city and not rain upon another city.” (Amos 4:7). There will be a famine during the Sabbatical cycle right before the Messiah, with the Torah being forgotten and then remembered again during the 5th year. In this same 5th year, the star of the Messiah will sprout forth. And in the 7th year, the battle of Gog and Magog shall occur.
[4]. R. Yehuda said that there will be an utter desecration of the hall of the Sages, including prostitution. Galilee will be destroyed, Bashan will be desolated, and the rabbis will decrease in wisdom (something which ironically happened during the time of our Lord Himself!). And R. Yohanan said “If you saw a generation whose wisdom and Torah study is steadily diminishing, await the coming of the Messiah.” (Sanhedrin 98a); “R. Zera said in the name of R. Yirm’ya bar Abba: ‘In the generation in which the Son of David comes, there will be accusations against the sages.” (Ketubot 112b)
[5]. R. Nehorai said that there will be much strife amongst families, with mother turning against daughter, and a son will bring shame to his father. This too, was already fulfilled in Christ. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matt. 10:34-36)
[6]. Most interestingly, R. Nehemya said that before the Messiah, the gentiles will embrace Christianity, and the cost of living will rapidly increase. בְּעִקְבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא חוּצְפָּא יִסְגֵּא וְיוֹקֶר יַאֲמִיר. הַגֶּפֶן תִּתֵּן פִּרְיָהּ וְהַיַּיִן בְּיוֹקֶר, וּמַלְכוּת תֵּהָפֵךְ לְמִינוּת וְאֵין תּוֹכַחַת. בֵּית וַועַד יִהְיֶה לִזְנוּת וְהַגָּלִיל יֶחֱרַב, וְהַגַּבְלָן יִשּׁוֹם, וְאַנְשֵׁי הַגְּבוּל יְסוֹבְבוּ מֵעִיר לְעִיר וְלֹא יְחוֹנְנוּ;—“In the times of the approach of the Messiah, impudence will increase and high costs will pile up. Although the vine shall bring forth its fruit, wine will nevertheless be expensive. And the monarchy shall turn to heresy, and there will be no one to give reproof about this. The meeting place of the Sages will become a place of promiscuity, and the Galilee shall be destroyed, and the Gavlan will be desolate, and the men of the border shall go round from city to city to seek charity, but they will find no mercy.” (Sotah 49b) The Jews will reach their lowest level of troubles (Sanhedrin 97a).
[7]. Though R. Zeira rebuked those who tried to calculate the time of the Messiah’s arrival, and it was reported R. Yonatan said תִּיפַּח עַצְמָן שֶׁל מְחַשְּׁבֵי קִיצִּין; — “May those who calculate the end of days be cursed”; the Talmudists notwithstanding have attempted this exactly. As in the college of R. Eliyahu: The world has a total duration of 6,000 years: two thousand from the time of creation to the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, two thousand years of the Torah until the end of the period of the Mishnah (such is the commentary of Rabbi Shmuel Eidels in his Chiddushei Halachot), and a final two thousand years until the coming of the Messiah. However, the sins of the Jews delayed this time period; which also they affirm later in this same folio, “Rav says: All the ends of days that were calculated passed, and the matter depends only upon repentance and good deeds. When the Jewish people repent, they will be redeemed. And Shmuel says: It is sufficient for the mourner to endure in his mourning to bring about the coming of the Messiah. Even without repentance, they will be worthy of redemption due to the suffering they endured during the exile…Rabbi Eliezer says: If the Jewish people repent, they are redeemed, and if not they are not redeemed.” The opinion of R. Eliezer was rebutted by R. Yehoshua with Dan. 12:7, “when the crushing of the power of the holy people shall have been completed, all these things shall be finished”, indicating a fixed period of time for the final deliverance of the Jews. And R. Eliezer remained silent at this argument.
[8]. R. Yehuda claims that the prophet Elijah revealed to him that the world will endure for at least 4,250 years (which adds up to 85 Jubilee cycles), and that after that point one may then begin to expect the time of the Messiah to appear, albeit not knowing the exact date.
[9]. The Talmudists do apply both Dan. 7:13-14 and Zechariah 9:9 to the Messiah, but in diverse respects. “Rabbi Alexandri says: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raises a contradiction between two depictions of the coming of the Messiah. It is written: “There came with the clouds of heaven, one like unto a son of man…and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom…his dominion is an everlasting dominion” (Daniel 7:13–14). And it is written: “Behold, your king will come to you; he is just and victorious; lowly and riding upon a donkey and upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Rabbi Alexandri explains: If the Jewish people merit redemption, the Messiah will come in a miraculous manner with the clouds of heaven. If they do not merit redemption, the Messiah will come lowly and riding upon a donkey.” (Sanhedrin 98a)
[10]. The Messiah will not come until the Romans cease their control over the Jews (R. Hama bar Hanina).
[11]. Though the Jews fantasize about their idea of the Messiah delivering them a temporal kingdom and prosperity, a few of them do speak of the troubles and travailings which he will undergo. “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to Elijah: When will the Messiah come? Elijah said to him: Go ask him. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: And where is he sitting? Elijah said to him: At the entrance of the city of Rome. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked him: And what is his identifying sign by means of which I can recognize him? Elijah answered: He sits among the poor who suffer from illnesses. And all of them untie their bandages and tie them all at once, but the Messiah unties one bandage and ties one at a time. He says: Perhaps I will be needed to serve to bring about the redemption. Therefore, I will never tie more than one bandage, so that I will not be delayed.” (Sanhedrin 98a)
[12]. Concerning the name of the Messiah, each of the rabbinical schools did so in accordance with what sounded similar to the name of each of their leading rabbis. The school of R. Sheila said that Shilo is his name (cf. Gen. 49:10); concerning this place, there is much dispute. The school of R. Yannai said the Messiah’s name is Yinnon (Psalm 72:17). And the school of R. Hanina said that his name is Hanina; and others said his name was Menachem ben Hizkiyya. It is also conceded by the rabbis that the Messiah is given the divine name. “And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Three were called by the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and they are: The righteous, and the Messiah, and Jerusalem. With regard to the righteous, this is as we have just said. With regard to the Messiah, this is as it is written: ‘And this is his name whereby he shall be called, the Lord is our righteousness’ (Jeremiah 23:6).” (Bava Batra 75b). Concerning the name of their Messiah, they also say it is Tzemach (“Branch”, cf. Zech. 6:12) or Menahem (Lamentations Rabbah, 1:51).
[13]. Some of the Jews believe that the Messiah will be descended from R. Judah ha-Nasi (Sanhedrin 98b). R. Eliezer states that the reign of the Messiah will last for 40 years (Sanhedrin 99a), while Judah Ha-Nasi says it will last for 3 generations. Rav Yehuda said “The days of the Messiah will last as long as the time that has passed from the creation of the world until now.”
The Jews also report many miraculous occurrences in the Messianic age, such as Gamaliel’s prediction of mass and immediate fertility amongst women (Shabbat 30b), or the tradition that Leviathan will be slain by the angel Gabriel, and the meat of his corpse served at a great banquet (Bava Batra 74b-75a; Bamidbar Rabbah, 13:2). In Avkhat Rochel, R. Joseph Karo says that in the days of the Messiah’s coming and future reign, there will be (1) a stirring up of three pagan kings who will lead many into apostasy; (2) the sun will increase in its heat, and plagues and many mass disease outbreaks will occur, wherein thousands of Gentiles will die daily; (3) God will rain a dew of blood upon the earth, which Christians (whom they contemptuously term “Edomites”) will drink. And this is by far not the only instance in which Jews fantasize and please themselves with the thought of destroying and even murdering Christians. The Kabbalist R. Isaac Luria’s student Hayyim Vital (1542-1620) said that he had a vision in which the Messiah enters the Temple and slaughters a large gathering of Christians inside, and then constructs the third temple (Sefer Ha-Chezyonot [Jerusalem: Mossad ha-Rav Kook, 1954], pg. 41); (4) God will send a medicinal dew to aid those who drank of the former; (5) The sun will turn into a thick black darkness, and it will not give forth its light for 30 days; (6) Edom (i.e. Rome) will rule over the whole world; one of the Emperors will have a reign of 9 months, after which the Messiah ben Joseph will appear; (7) The evil king Armilus will be born out of fornication with the Roman idol of the woman, and he will be adored by Edom; (8) The archangel Michael will blow the trumpet three times, when Elijah and the Messiah ben David arrive; (9) At the second blast of Michael’s trumpet, there will be a resurrection of the dead, including Messiah ben Joseph—who is resurrected by Messiah ben David. He will be sent to the lost tribes of Israel; (10) When Michael blows the trumpet for the third time, all the Jews will enter into “Moses’ Paradise,” the ten tribes will be gathered in, and Christians will perish on the earth. One may see how we ought to beware of these Jewish fables and tricks which blaspheme Christ.
Another summary of the rabbinical belief is expressed by R. Isaac ben Troki (1533-1594), one of the most malicious Jewish opponents of Christianity: (1) the return of the Lost Ten Tribes, (2) the destruction of Gog and Magog; (3) the Mount of Olive shall be cleft asunder; (4) the Red Sea and the Euphrates shall be dried up; (5) living waters shall go out from Jerusalem and prodigious fertility shall be in the land; (6) ten men out of all the nations shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, "We will go with you"; (7) the yearly pilgrimage of the nations to Jerusalem; (8) the nations shall worship God in Jerusalem on Sabbaths and New Moons; (9) the destructions of all idols, false prophets and unclean spirit; (10) one religion throughout the world, and that the religion of Israel; (11) one sovereignty of the whole world, and that the sovereignty of Israel; (12) universal peace; (13) peace established between wild and domestic animals; ( 14) a sinless world and more especially a sinless Israel; (15) no suffering or sorrow or worry in the land of Israel; (16) the Shekinah and prophecy will return to Israel and knowledge will be increased; (17) the prophet Elijah will appear; (18) the rebuilding of the Temple [this same idea is taught in other rabbinic sources, such as Leviticus Rabbah 9:6; Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim, 11:1; Bamidbar Rabbah 13:2]; (19) the division of the land among the twelve tribes; (20) the final resurrection of the dead. (Chizzuk Emunah [Sohran, 1873], pgs. 56-62)
Concerning the coming of Elijah, the Jews make this prediction conditional upon whether Israel will repent or not. Though the rabbis of the Talmud state that Elijah must appear first (Eruvin 43b), Maimonides says that it is not absolutely certain (Hilchos Melachim, 12:2). The Messiah’s coming will be continually delayed if the Jews continue in their impenitence. And one may here see their utter folly and stupor, that they have devised an explanation to make sense of their ongoing dispersion, exile, and tribulation (though some of them have returned to the land of Israel in our day with their new state). I have yet to see any answer as to what sin it is which led to the destruction of their temple and the constant delay of their redemption. Of course, we do know what that sin is; namely their rejection and murder of the Lord Jesus.
Being overtaken with legends and fables concerning many temporal and material goods, the Jews comfort themselves with such things in the ways and manner in which they describe the Messianic age, which they also term “the World to Come.” For example, they say that they will own much land and wealth: “The baraita continues: And unlike the division in this world, i.e., in the time of Joshua, will be the division of portions in the World-to-Come, i.e., in the messianic era. In this world, if a person has a field of grain, he does not have a field for an orchard; if he has a field for an orchard, he does not have a field of grain. This is so because each climate and variety of soil is suitable for a different type of produce. But in the World-to-Come, you do not have any person who does not have a portion in Eretz Yisrael in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the valley, as it is stated: “The gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one” (Ezekiel 48:31), which is to say that everyone’s portion will be the same. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, will distribute it to them personally, as it is stated: “And these are their portions, says the Lord” (Ezekiel 48:29).” (Bava Batra 122a)
Though the Jews often reject Christ on the pretence of theirs that He abolished the entire law of Moses (which is an utter falsehood and misrepresentation of Christ’s message, as can be seen from Matt. 5:17 as well as the distinction between the moral and ceremonial precepts), some of their writers do say that the Messiah will bring in a new Torah and new commandments. “Rabbi Ḥanin said: Israel does not need the teaching of the messianic king in the future, as it is stated: “Nations will seek him” (Isaiah 11:10) – not Israel. If so, why does the messianic king come, and what does he come to do? To gather the exiles of Israel and to give them thirty mitzvot.” (Bereshit Rabbah, 98:9); “Rabbi Pinḥas, Rabbi Levi, and Rabbi Yoḥanan in the name of Rabbi Menaḥem of Galya: In the future, all the offerings will be abolished but the thanks offering will not be abolished. All the prayers will be abolished, but the thanksgiving [prayer] will not be abolished.” (Leviticus Rabbah, 9:7); “Therefore, it is said that he gives bread to the hungry. "He permits what is forbidden. What is meant by permitting what is forbidden? Some say that all the animals that became impure in this world, God will purify them in the future. As it says (Ecclesiastes 1:9) 'What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again.' They were pure for the children of Noah. And He also said to them (Genesis 9:3) 'Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all.' Just as I have given you the green plants, I give you everything. Why did He forbid it? To see who accepts His words and who does not. And in the future, He will permit everything that He forbade.” (Midrash Tehillim, 146:3)
Concerning the statement of Rabbi Hillel that “A Messiah shall not be given unto Israel; for they enjoyed him in the days of Hezekiah” (Sanhedrin 98b), R. Joseph Albo teaches that Hillel must not be counted an infidel for this, for Albo does not count it among the fundamental principles of the Torah, as Maimonides does in the 12th of his 13 Principles. “We must therefore conclude that Rabbi Hillel did not believe the coming of the Messiah at all, and if despite this he was not classed as an unbeliever, it is because the dogma of the Messiah is not a fundamental principle of the Law of Moses, as Maimonides thinks, for we can conceive of the existence of the Mosaic law without it.” (Sefer Ha-Ikkarim, book I, ch. 1). R. Meir Abulafia (1170-1244) explains Hillel’s statement to mean that the Jewish people will not be redeemed.
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