Where Are The Promised Biblical Messiahs? – OpEd
In March of 1998, Pope John Paul II wrote, “It is my fervent hope that the document “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” will indeed help to heal the wounds of past misunderstandings and injustices. May it enable memory to play its necessary part in the process of shaping a future in which the unspeakable iniquity of the Shoah will never again be possible. May the Lord of history guide the efforts of Catholics and Jews and all men of good will as they work together for a world of true respect for the life and dignity of every human being, for all have been created in the image and likeness of God.”
That document ends with: “We pray that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people has suffered in our century will lead to a new relationship with the Jewish people. We wish to turn awareness of past sins into a firm resolve to build a new future in which there will be no more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian sentiment among Jews, but rather a shared mutual respect as befits those who adore the one Creator and Lord and have a common father in faith, Abraham.”
As a rabbi, I also pray that two major events of the 21st century: the the awesome resurrection of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel; and the awful Nazi genocide against Europe’s Jews, will enable us to understand in a new way the famous passage in Isaiah (52:13-53:12) about God’s servant whose tragic suffering can be redemptive to those who once reviled and belittled him.
Most Jewish scholars have glossed over the Isaiah 52:13-53:12 text as referring to the Jewish people during its exile among anti-Semitic European nations. Christian scholars gloss the passage as referring to a suffering and redemptive Messianic figure; Jesus. I think both purports are correct. There can be a dual covenant: one for Israel of the flesh dwelling in synagogues, and one for a spiritual Israel of non-Jews dwelling in churches. Associating the passion and sacrifice of Jesus, with Israel as God’s servant and innocent victim of anti-semitism, provides the world today with a new larger view of our opportunity for redemption and salvation.
In Jewish thought the prophet Isaiah himself provides the strongest evidence for the Jewish claim that Isaiah’s servant is Israel, the Jewish People. Several verses in chapters prior to Isaiah 53 specifically state that Israel/Jacob is God’s servant. “You Israel are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen” (41:8), “Hear me now, Jacob my servant; hear me, Israel my chosen” (44:1), “Have no fear, Jacob my servant: Jeshurun whom I have chosen” (44:2), “Remember all this, Jacob, remember Israel, for you are my servant” (44:21). These verses make it clear that the nation of Israel/Jacob is God’s chosen servant. The national community is spoken of in terms of an individual, as is often the case in the Bible (see Jeremiah 30:10).
If the world is not saved through individual repentance and rebirth, then the cataclysmic upheavals of wars and revolutions predicted by the prophets will come to pass. This large scale suffering will, with God’s help, bring about a redemption that will be on a vast national and international scale.
Many rabbis did identify Isaiah’s individual messianic figure as Messiah, son/ descendant of David, from the tribe of Judah. Most Christians identify this individual as Jesus, the Son of God. I think this individual is a messianic figure called by the rabbis: Messiah, son of Joseph, i.e. from one of the northern tribes, who precedes David’s son, and is killed in battle by the enemies of Israel. In a first century Alexandrian Jewish text. “Joseph and Aseneth” Joseph is referred to as a son of God (6:3,5 13:13) and also as God’s first born son (18:11, 21:4, 23:10).
This book is not a rabbinic work. Perhaps some Jews in Alexandria were already thinking or hoping that Jesus of Nazareth was a Joseph’s son Messiah. This book is very pro conversion to Judaism, and shows how the concept of a Josephson messiah fits into Jewish thinking.
From the Land of Israel comes an earlier book “The Testament of Benjamin”, which is part of a series called “The Testament of the The Twelve Patriarchs”. Although a later Christian copyist has added the italicized words to drive home a Christian gloss to the words Jacob says to Joseph, the non italicized words could represent authentic Jewish thinking about a suffering Joseph’s son messiah:
“In you shall be fulfilled the prophecy of heaven concerning the Lamb of God, and Savior of the world, and that a blameless one delivered up to criminals, and a sinless one who shall die for ungodly men in Israel, in the blood of the covenant, for the salvation of the Gentiles, and shall destroy Beliar and his servants.” (1:21) Thus, a Josephson messiah who suffers and dies prior to the coming of the Davidson messiah was already current in the first century, if not earlier.
Christians also believe that Jesus will have to come a second time to fulfill all the messianic prophecies of worldwide peace and prosperity that have not yet come to pass. Thus, the first appearance of Jesus could be as a messianic figure like the Josephson messiah. If we keep in mind the Josephson messiah as well as the role of Israel/Jacob as God’s chosen servant, we will understand Isaiah’s suffering servant prophecy.
The belief that there would be two different messiahs, one a moral political leader from the house of David (Davidson) and the other, a religious reformer from the house of Aaron (Aronson), as well as a special “end of days” prophet such as Elijah or Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14) is found in inter-testament literature. A Dead Sea scroll states that the Qumran community must continue to live according to the original discipline “until there will come a prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel” (Manual of Discipline 9:11).
There is also a rabbinic belief in a messianic figure from the northern tribes; a Josephson messiah who is killed by Israel’s enemies. This idea may be modeled on the example of Saul who reigned before David and was killed in battle by the enemies of Israel. Thus there could be as many as four individual messianic figures as well as the people of Israel who act as God’s agents in bringing about the Messianic Age. Gentile rulers also play a role, first as destructive oppressors of the Jewish people, and second when they later acknowledge their error and are ultimately included in helping bring about the Messianic Age’s worldwide blessings. Cyrus was such a messiah (Isaiah 45:1)
All of this makes for a complicated future scenario that might take generations, or even centuries to develop. When people are persecuted, afflicted and oppressed as a community, and despised and rejected as individuals they need hope for a much quicker and simpler process of redemption. This is why there is an overwhelming focus on the final stage Davidson messiah by most teachers, preachers, commentators and expositors. This is also the reason that those who believe in the imminent coming of the Davidson messiah always think it will occur soon within their lifetime (John 14:19, 21:22).
Also, since humans have free will, the exact time and manner of redemption cannot be determined in advance. Much depends on what we do. Repentance produces changes in the future of both individuals and nations. Repentance enables some individuals and communities to escape the consequences of prior evil. On the other hand, God’s promise is that evil powers will never succeed in destroying Israel or in overcoming justice in the long run. Thus even without full repentance, God will act if the Divine promise of a Messianic Age is threatened.
As Isaiah states a few verses prior to the suffering servant passage, “The Lord says: you were sold but no price was paid, and without payment you shall be redeemed.” (Isaiah 52:3) I.e. all your suffering in exile was not really merited and your redemption from exile will not really be fully earned. Both are part of God’s outline for human destiny and will occur sooner (through repentance) or later (in God’s own time).
Perhaps God’s will is that we first fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)