ÿþ<html> <head> <title>The "King-Messiah"</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1255"> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript"> window.moveTo(0,0); window.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.availHeight); function hideAds() { if(document.body.scrollTop<165) window.location.href="#top"; } </SCRIPT> </HEAD> <BODY LEFTMARGIN="10" TOPMARGIN="0" BGCOLOR="#FDF5E6" onLoad="hideAds();" onMouseOver="hideAds();" onMouseMove="hideAds();" onKeyUp="hideAds();"> <A NAME="top"><HR></A> <p align="center"><i><b><font color=RED>Any advertisements appearing above this line are inserted by &quot;tripod&quot;, please IGNORE them</font></b></i></p> <p align="center"><b><font size="5">The &quot;King-Messiah&quot;</font><br><font size="4"><i>by <a href="mailto:mordochai-ben-tziyyon@hotmail.com">Prof. Mordochai ben-Tziyyon</a>, Universitah Ha'ivrit, Y'rushalayim</i></font></b></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <font size=4> <p>None of the prophets in the Scriptures ever foretold the coming of a &quot;messiah&quot;. But they did prophesy that one day God will give back to <i>Yisraél</i> what He took away from us in the year 586<font size=2>BCE</font>: our Temple, our sovereignty and independence, and our Monarchy. There are numerous prophecies about the king who will reign in the happy days when this comes about. According to the prophets, he will be a deeply religious man, one of great humility (so humble in fact that he will shun all publicity and won't even make speeches in public <i>Y'shayahu</i> 42:2, &quot;<i>he will not shout, and he will not raise his voice nor let it be heard outdoors&quot;</i>). He will reunite <i>Yisraél</i>, bringing back all those who are scattered in exile all over the World, and he will reign over us in justice and righteousness, encouraging the full observance of the <i>Torah</i>'s laws and ensuring that those laws are kept. All other nations on Earth and their rulers will recognise his authority, and all strife and fighting in the World will end: <b>&quot;The Temple Mount will be the chief of all hills and all the nations will stream to it... many nations will set out saying 'Come, let's go up to <i>Adonai</i>'s mountain, to the Temple of <i>Yisraél</i>'s God; He will teach us His ways and we will follow His paths' because then teaching will emanate from <i>Tziyyon</i> [and] <i>Adonai</i>'s words from <i>Y'rushalayim</i>... [the king-<i>messiah</i>] will arbitrate between the nations and settle all their disputes, and they will beat their swords into scythes and their spears into shears never again will any nation take up arms against another and no-one will even study military tactics any more&quot;</b> (<i>Y'shayahu</i> 2:2-4, <i>Michah</i> 4:1-3).</p> <p>That king, we are assured, will satisfy all the requirements of <i>Torah</i> Law, one of which is that he must be the son of a man who is the son of a man who was the son of a man who was... who was the son of King <i>David</i>'s son <i>Sh'lomoh</i>. At his coronation he will doubtless be &quot;crowned&quot; in the same manner as the ancient Hebrew kings, that is, the <i>shemen mish'hat kodesh</i> (the oil of anointment of holiness, which <i>Mosheh</i> was commanded to make personally according to the formula given in <i>Sh'mot</i> 30:22-33) will be smeared on him, so he will be a <font face="sbl hebrew" size="5">Þ¸éÁ´Ù×·</font> (a <i>mashiyah&#0803;</i> or &quot;messiah&quot;) in the most literal sense, and because of this he has come to be known as the &quot;king-messiah&quot; in Hebrew parlance and literature.</p> <p>The great 12th century Hebrew scholar <i>R' Mosheh ben Maimon</i>, who produced the first systematic and structured encyclop&aelig;dia of Hebrew Law (the <i>Mishneh Torah</i>) devotes the last two chapters of the volume dealing with &quot;Kings and their Wars&quot; to this future king, the &quot;king-messiah&quot;. The translation that follows is mostly the work of my late cousin, Dr B'tzalel Barzillai, although I have made a few minor corrections to it and added a few additional comments of my own; the Hebrew text may be accessed by clicking the chapter and paragraph numbers.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p align=center><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm" target="_blank"><font size=4><u><b>Chapter 11</b></u></font></a></p> <a name="1101"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#1" target="_blank">1.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;In the future the King-Messiah will come to power: he will revive the Davidic Dynasty and restore it to its former sovereignty, and he will rebuild the Temple and gather in all the scattered ones of <i>Yisraél</i>. In his time, all the Laws will be reinstated as they were in ancient times the sacrificial ceremonials will be restored, and the cycles of &quot;fallow&quot; (<i>sh'mittah</i>) years and <i>yovél</i> years will again be observed as they are written in the <i>Torah</i>.</p> </a> <a name="1102"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#2" target="_blank">2.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Anyone who does not believe in him and does not anticipate his coming rejects the whole of the <i>Torah</i> and also our Teacher <i>Mosheh</i>, not just the remainder of the Prophets, for the <i>Torah</i> itself testifies to his coming, in these verses: <b>&quot;Then, <i>Adonai</i> your God will reverse your captivity and have mercy on you; He will gather you back in.... even if your scattered ones will be at the ends of the heavens, <i>Adonai</i> your God will gather you back in from there too.... <i>Adonai</i> your God will bring you back to the land that your ancestors possessed....&quot;</b> (<i>D'varim</i> 30:3-5). These things that are written explicitly in the <i>Torah</i> encapsulate everything that the Prophets said on this topic.</p> </a> <a name="1103"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#3" target="_blank">3.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;There is also reference to the King-Messiah in the <i>Bil'am</i> passage, where <i>Bil'am</i> prophesies about <b><u>two</u></b> &quot;Messiahs&quot; the first Messiah he speaks about is <i>David</i> who rescued <i>Yisraél</i> from their enemies, and the other is the one who will arise from among <i>David</i>'s descendants and who will rescue <i>Yisraél</i> in the Last Times.</p> </a> <a name="1104"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#4" target="_blank">4.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;In that passage, <i>Bil'am</i> says: <b>&quot;I see him, but not now; I look upon him, but he is not close; a star is stepping out from <i>Ya'akov</i> and a sceptre is arising from <i>Yisraél</i>... he will crush the nobles of <i>Mo'av</i> and he will undermine all of <i>Shet</i>'s descendants; <i>Edom</i> will be his conquest, and his enemy, <i>Sé'ir</i>, will be crushed...&quot;</b> (<i>B'midbar </i> 24:17-18). <dl> <dd><b>&quot;I see him, but not now&quot;</b> this is <i>David</i>... <dd><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;I look upon him, but he is not close&quot;</b> this is the King-Messiah; <dd><b>&quot;a star is stepping out from <i>Ya'akov</i>&quot;</b> this is <i>David</i>... <dd><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;and a sceptre is arising from <i>Yisraél</i>&quot;</b> this is the King-Messiah; <dd><b>&quot;he will crush the nobles of <i>Mo'av</i>&quot;</b> this refers to <i>David</i>, about whom it is written &quot;...when he conquered <i>Mo'av</i>, he counted the prisoners-of-war by measuring them with a rope&quot; (<i>Sh'muél Beit</i> 8:2)... <dd><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;and he will undermine all of <i>Shet</i>'s descendants&quot;</b> this is the King-Messiah, about whom it is written &quot;...his dominion will extend from Sea to Sea&quot; (<i>Z'charyah</i> 9:10); <dd><b>&quot;<i>Edom</i> will be his conquest&quot;</b> this is <i>David</i>, about whom it is written &quot;...all of <i>Edom</i> became servants to <i>David</i>&quot; (<i>Sh'muél Beit</i> 8:14)... <dd><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;and his enemy, <i>Se'ir</i>, will be crushed&quot;</b> this is the King-Messiah, about whom it is written &quot;...the deliverers will ascend Mount <i>Tziyyon</i> to judge Mount <i>Ésav</i>...&quot; (<i>Ovad'yah</i> 1:21... note: Mount <i>Se'ir</i> was where <i>Ésav</i>'s descendants settled: see <i>D'varim</i> 2:4,8,22,29). </dl> </p> </a> <a name="1105"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#5" target="_blank">5.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Furthermore, in connection with the &quot;Refuge Cities&quot;, the <i>Torah</i> says: <b>&quot;...when God will widen your borders... you will add to these six an additional three cities...&quot;</b> (<i>D'varim</i> 19:8-9), but this never actually occurred at any time in our history; however, we can be sure that God did not give us this commandment for nothing, so we anticipate that it will be implemented in the time of the King-Messiah. There is no need to cite proof for this from the writings of the Prophets because all of their Books are full of references to it.</p> </a> <a name="1106"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#6" target="_blank">6.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;You should not think that the King-Messiah will have to perform miracles and wondrous acts, or cause new phenomena to occur in the World such as bringing the dead back to life or other similar things. We can see that this is not so, because <i>R' Akiva</i>, who was one of the greatest scholars of the <i>Mishnah</i> period became King <i>ben Kuziva</i>'s armour-bearer and used to say that he was the King-Messiah. Indeed, he and all the other Rabbis of his generation thought that <i>ben Kuziva</i> was the King-Messiah, but when he was killed because of his sinfulness, they realised that he had not been the King-Messiah; however, they had never expected him to perform miracles or wondrous acts.</p> </a> <a name="1107"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#7" target="_blank">7.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;The central principle is that the <i>Torah</i>, with all its Laws and Decrees, is permanent and eternal, and we may neither add to them nor subtract from them: anyone who tries to add anything to the <i>Torah</i> or remove anything from it, or to interpret any of its Laws in a manner that is not consistent with the written text such a person is truly wicked and a heretic.</p> </a> <a name="1108"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#8" target="_blank">8.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;If one day a king arises from the House of <i>David</i>, who is learned in the <i>Torah</i> and observes all the commandments in the same way that his ancestor <i>David</i> did, just as they are commanded in the <i>Torah</i> (Written <b><u>and</u></b> Oral), who inspires all <i>Yisraél</i> to follow the <i>Torah</i> and takes steps to prevent violations of it, and who wages <i>Adonai</i>'s Wars this will be a strong indication that he is the King-Messiah; and if he succeeds in all of this and also rebuilds the Temple on its ancient site and gathers all the scattered ones of <i>Yisraél</i> together again, then we will know that he really is the King-Messiah. This one will bring harmony to the World and cause all to serve <i>Adonai</i> together, as it is written: <b>&quot;...for then I shall turn all the nations back to speaking the 'pure language' [i.e. Hebrew], so that they will all proclaim <i>Adonai</i>'s Fame and serve Him with a single purpose&quot;</b> (<i>Tz'fanyah</i> 3:9).</p> </a> <a name="1109"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#9" target="_blank">9.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;But if he does not succeed in accomplishing all these things, or if he is killed, then for sure he is not the one promised by the <i>Torah</i> and he should just be considered like any of the other legitimate kings of the Davidic dynasty who lived and died; and we may conclude that God caused him to arise only to test people's faith, as it is written: <b>&quot;...even some of the wise will err in their attempts to clarify the predictions, to explain them and to interpret them... until the End, because its time is yet to be fixed&quot;</b> (<i>Daniyyél</i> 11:35).</p> </a> <a name="1110"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#10" target="_blank">10.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;As for <i>Y&eacute;shu</i> the <i>Notz'ri</i> [&quot;man from <i>Notzrat</i>&quot;], who claimed to be the King-Messiah and was sentenced to death by the <i>Sanhedrin</i> [Hebrew Supreme Court] and executed <i>Daniyyél</i> had already prophesied about him: <b>&quot;...sons of rebels among your own people will raise themselves and try to establish a 'vision' but they will stumble&quot;</b> (<i>Daniyyél</i> 11:14). Could there be any greater deception than christianity? All the Prophets foretold that the King-Messiah will redeem and rehabilitate <i>Yisraél</i>, will gather together again the scattered ones and strengthen their observance of the commandments but <i>that</i> one brought about only the slaughter of <i>Yisraél</i> by the sword and the dispersal and persecution of the remnant, tried to alter the <i>Torah</i>, and caused most of the World to be lured into the service of an idol instead of <i>Adonai</i>.</p> </a> <a name="1111"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#11" target="_blank">11.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;A human being is not able to comprehend the Creator of the World's intentions, for our ways are not like His ways and our thoughts are not like His thoughts (compare <i>Y'shayahu</i> 55:8). In the event, though, all the words of <i>Yéshu</i> the <i>Notz'ri</i> and of that Yishma'elite who arose after him [Muhammad] have only served to prepare the way for the arrival of the King-Messiah, leading the whole World to serve <i>Adonai</i> together, as it is written: <b>&quot;...for then I shall turn all the nations back to speaking the 'pure language' [i.e. Hebrew], so that they will all proclaim <i>Adonai</i>'s Fame and serve Him with a single purpose&quot;</b> (<i>Tz'fanyah</i> 3:9).</p> </a> <a name="1112"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#12" target="_blank">12.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;How can that be? Consider this: the whole World is already filled with talk about a &quot;Messiah&quot;, and about the <i>Torah</i>, and about the Commandments. So it has come about that these concepts have been spread to the furthest parts of the World and among even the pagan, idolatrous nations, who right now are discussing these topics and the <i>Torah</i>'s commandments. Some of them [i.e. christians] say that the commandments were true, but have now been abolished and were never intended to remain in force for ever, while others [i.e. Muslims] say that they contain hidden mysteries and are not to be interpreted literally, but that a &quot;messiah&quot; [i.e. Muhammad] already came and revealed these secrets.</p> </a> <a name="1113"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e511.htm#13" target="_blank">13.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;However, when the true King-Messiah arises, and he succeeds in becoming exalted and uplifted, right away they will all realise their mistake and they will then understand that the teaching passed down to them from their ancestors was false, and that their prophets and their ancestors misled them (compare <i>Yirm'yahu</i> 16:19).</p> </a> <hr> <p align=center><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm" target="_blank"><font size=4><u><b>Chapter 12</b></u></font></a></p> <a name="1201"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#1" target="_blank">1.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;One should not think that any aspect of Nature will change in the Era of King-Messiah, or that there will be any new features in the behaviour of the physical Universe. The World will continue to function just as it does now. Although <i>Y'shayahu</i> states <b>&quot;The wolf will live at peace with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat&quot;</b> (<i>Y'shayahu</i> 11:6), these words are just metaphors and allegories: they mean that <i>Yisraél</i> will live in safety among the wicked gentiles who are compared to wolves and leopards, as for example in the verse <b>&quot;A wolf of the deserts attacks them, a leopard prowls through their cities&quot;</b> (<i>Yirm'yahu</i> 5:6). When those times come, all will return to the true faith and will no longer pillage or destroy; instead, they will eat only that which is permitted, at peace with <i>Yisraél</i>, as it is written <b>&quot;...lions will eat straw like oxen&quot;</b> (<i>Y'shayahu</i> 11:7).</p> </a> <a name="1202"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#2" target="_blank">2.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;In the same way, the other prophecies about the King-Messiah of a similar nature are also analogies: in the Era of the King-Messiah, everyone will realize what was meant by these metaphors and what they were intended to convey. The Rabbis taught: &quot;There will be no difference between the present time and the Era of the King-Messiah except only that the supremacy of the gentile kingdoms will be ended&quot; [<i>B'rachot</i> 34b; <i>Shabbat</i> 63a, 151b; <i>P'sah&#0803;im</i> 68a; <i>San'hed'rin</i> 91b, 99a]....</p> </a> <a name="1203"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#3" target="_blank">3.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;It appears from the plain meaning of the Prophets' words that the War of <i>Gog</i> and <i>Magog</i> (<i>Y'h&#0803;ezkel</i>, ch. 38) will take place at the beginning of the Messianic Era and, before this War, a Prophet will arise to correct <i>Yisraél</i>'s behaviour and to prepare their hearts for the final redemption, as it is written: <b>&quot;See, I am sending the Prophet <i>Éliyyahu</i> back to you before the arrival of <i>Adonai</i>'s great and awesome Day&quot;</b> (<i>Mal'achi</i> 3:23). He will not come to declare the pure impure or to declare the impure pure; neither will he come to disqualify the lineage of those thought to be of flawless descent, or to validate lineage which is thought to be imperfect. He will come to bring harmony to the World; as the prophecy just stated continues <b>&quot;...he will turn the hearts of fathers with their children back [to God]&quot;</b> (<i>ibid.</i>, 3:24).</p> </a> <a name="1204"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#4" target="_blank">4.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Some of the Rabbis said that <i>Éliyyahu</i> will appear even before the arrival of the King-Messiah; but no-one can know how these or any other similar matters will occur until they actually happen because they are are not specified explicitly in the words of the Prophets, and even the Rabbis had no established tradition regarding these matters, other than what the verses hint this is why there are differences of opinion about these issues. In any case, the sequence of these events and their precise details are not part of the basic principles of our faith.</p> </a> <a name="1205"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#5" target="_blank">5.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;A person should not devote too much time to the study of the <i>haggadot</i> and the <i>midrashim</i> that deal with these and similar topics, or consider them of any great importance, because they will not bring him to the respect or the love of God. For the same reason, one should not waste his time trying to calculate the appointed time of the King-Messiah's coming: the Rabbis said &quot;...the souls of those who attempt to calculate the time of King-Messiah's coming deserve to perish!&quot; [<i>Sanhedrin</i> 97b]. Instead, one should simply await his coming, believing only in the general principles of the topic, as just explained.</p> </a> <a name="1206"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#6" target="_blank">6.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;In the time of the King-Messiah, when his kingdom has been secured and all of <i>Yisraél</i> has gathered around him, every person's pedigree will be established by him through the prophetic insight that he will be imbued with, as it is written <b>&quot;...he will sit refining and purifying [silver]...&quot;</b> (<i>Mal'achi</i> 3:3). He will purify the pedigree of the <i>L'viyim</i> first, stating &quot;this one is a <i>Kohén</i> by pedigree&quot; or &quot;this one is a <i>Lévi</i> by pedigree&quot;, and any who are not designated in this way will be allocated the status of ordinary Yisraélite. This is what is meant by the verse <b>&quot;The <i>Tir'shata</i> [i.e. <i>N'h&#0803;emyah</i>] decreed that [none of them should eat any of the <i>kod'shei kodashim</i>] until such time as a Chief <i>Kohén</i> arises who wears the <i>Urim v'Tummim</i>&quot;</b> (<i>Ez'ra</i> 2:63) from this we can see that the pedigrees of those who can only be presumed at present will be determined and made known through prophetic insight in his time. He will define the lineage of the other Yisraélites according to their tribe alone [not by individual families], that is, he will declare &quot;this one is from such-and-such tribe&quot; and &quot;that one is from such-and-such tribe&quot;. But he will not declare that a person who is presumed to be legitimate is a <i>mamzer</i> or a slave, following the legal principle that, once a family has been emancipated, it remains so [even if it is later found that it was emancipated in error].</p> </a> <a name="1207"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#7" target="_blank">7.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;The Rabbis and the Prophets did not long for the Messianic Age in order for <i>Yisraél</i> to rule over the whole World, or to dominate all the gentiles, or so that the other nations should honour them, or so they would be able to to feast, to drink and to celebrate. Their only desire was for <i>Yisraél</i> to be free to devote themselves to the <i>Torah</i> and its wisdom, without anyone to persecute or disturb them, so they would become worthy of life in the World to Come, as I explained in the volume dealing with <i>T'shuvah</i>.</p> </a> <a name="1208"> <p><a href="http://kodesh.snunit.k12.il/i/e512.htm#8" target="_blank">8.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;In that time there will be neither famine nor war, envy nor competition: goodness will flow in abundance and all delights will be as widespread as dust. The occupation of the entire World will be solely given over to knowing <i>Adonai</i>, and <i>Yisraél</i> will become great sages, understanding all the great mysteries. They will attain a knowledge of their Creator to the greatest extent possible for a human being; as it is written: <b>&quot;...for the World will be as full of the knowledge of <i>Adonai</i> as the water covering the sea-bed.&quot;</b> (<i>Y'shayahu</i> 11:9).</p> </a> <hr> <p align="center"><i><b><font color=RED>Any advertisements appearing below this line are inserted by &quot;tripod&quot;, please IGNORE them</font></b></i></p> </font> </body> </html>