In the Jewish faith what is the messiah?

Question

Okay, no critical answers here, this is just for info. And I would like to hear from those who are in the Jewish Faith.

As a Christian, I understand that the Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.

In the Jewish faith, what exactly is the Messiah, and why was it that the Orthodox Jews do not consider that Jesus could be the Messiah.

Please no criticism of ths belief. I just want to understand this principle of the Jewish Faith.

Thanks for respectful answers

I knew the many Jewish people were scholars, but was not expecting the level of information you sent to me. It will take me HOURS to figure out who has the best answer and I have to study for my own college classes.

Thank you for some wonderful insight into your beliefs.

I hope this is okay to say: shalom!

Answer 1

The word "Messiah" is an English rendering of the Hebrew word "Mashiach", which means "Anointed." It usually refers to a person initiated into God's service by being anointed with oil. (Exodus 29:7, I Kings 1:39, II Kings 9:3)

Since every King and High Priest was anointed with oil, each may be referred to as "an anointed one" (a Mashiach or a Messiah). For example: "God forbid that I [David] should stretch out my hand against the Lord's Messiah [Saul]..." (I Samuel 26:11. Cf. II Samuel 23:1, Isaiah 45:1, Psalms 20:6)

Where does the Jewish concept of Messiah come from? One of the central themes of Biblical prophecy is the promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace and recognition of God. (Isaiah 2:1-4; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:20-22; Amos 9:13-15; Isaiah 32:15-18, 60:15-18; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34)

Many of these prophetic passages speak of a descendant of King David who will rule Israel during the age of perfection. (Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, 30:7-10, 33:14-16; Ezekiel 34:11-31, 37:21-28; Hosea 3:4-5)

Since every King is a Messiah, by convention, we refer to this future anointed king as The Messiah. The above is the only description in the Bible of a Davidic descendant who is to come in the future. We will recognize the Messiah by seeing who the King of Israel is at the time of complete universal perfection.

Judge for yourself:
Did Jesus fulfill ALL these criteria?

The Jewish tradition of "The Messiah" has its foundation in numerous biblical references, and understands "The Messiah" to be a human being - without any overtone of deity or divinity - who will bring about certain changes in the world and fulfill certain criteria before he can be acknowledged as "The Messiah".

First of all, he must be Jewish - "...you may appoint a king over you, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set as king over you." (Deuteronomy 17:15)

He must be a member of the tribe of Judah - "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the sceptre from between his feet..." (Genesis 49:10)

To be a member of the tribe of Judah, the person must have a biological father who is a member of the tribe of Judah.

He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon, his son - "And when your days (David) are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall issue from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will make firm the throne of his kingdom forever..." (2 Samuel 7:12 - 13)

The genealogy of the New Testament is inconsistent. While it gives two accounts of the genealogy of Joseph, it states clearly that he is not the biological father of Jesus. One of the genealogies is through Nathan and not Solomon altogether!

He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel -"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12)

Are all Jews living in Israel? Have all Jews EVER lived in Israel since the time of Jesus?

He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - "...and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and my tabernacle shall be with them.." (Ezekiel 37:26 - 27)

At last check, there is NO Temple in Jerusalem. And worse, it was shortly after Jesus died that the Temple was DESTROYED! Just the opposite of this prophecy!

He will rule at a time of world-wide peace - "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Micah 4:3)askyourself...

Have you seen a newspaper lately? Are we living in a state of complete world peace? Has there ever been peace since the time of Jesus?



He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments - "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances and be careful to observe My statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24)

The Torah is the Jewish guide to life, and its commandments are the ones referred to here. Do all Jews observe all the commandments? Christianity, in fact, often discourages observance of the commandments in Torah, in complete opposition to this prophecy.

He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d - "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the L-rd" (Isaiah 66:23)

there are still millions if not billions of people in the world today who adhere to paganistic and polytheistic religions. It is clear that we have not yet seen this period of human history unfold.

All of these criteria are best stated in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 37 verses 24-28:

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. they shall also follow My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Yaakov my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell there, they and their children, and their children's children forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, which I will give them; and I will multiply them and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their G-d and they will be my people. Then the nations shall know that I am the L-rd who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary will be in the midst of them forevermore.

If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be "The Messiah." A careful analysis of these criteria shows us that to date, no one has fulfilled every condition.

Certainly NOT Jesus.

Answer 2

My religion class had an orthodox jewish man come and give us a presentation and this is what i know...
1) The messiah has not yet come and they are still waiting for him
2) Jesus is not the Messiah because there is still evil and bad things in the world. According to him when the Messiah comes there will be world peace and the evils of the world will disappear.
3) They do believe jesus was real and a great man, but they do not believe he was the messiah.
I still have my notes from the presentation so feel free to message me.

Answer 3

some really good answers (my man quant, as usual).
I just thought I'd offer a short answer:

The messiah in the jewish faith will be the king of the jewish people during hte end-times. There are few requirements for this role: Patrilinal descent from Solomon (and not through jeconia), a g-d fearing person, who is also a respected and learned rabbi.

Now, jesus does not fulfill even those limited requirements (his father is supposedly G-d, thus he is not a descendant of solomon; and the lineages listed for him show that he is a descendant of jeconiah, which specifcially disqualifies him); and since the end-times haven't yet arrived, the messiah obviously, by definition, has not yet either.

for more info, try these two links:
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Why_Jews_Dont_Believe_In_Jesus.asp
http://jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general_messiah-criteria02.html

Answer 4

"In the Jewish faith, what exactly is the Messiah, and why was it that the Orthodox Jews do not consider that Jesus could be the Messiah."

Because they aren't as retarted as Christians. But if you really want to know, check out this link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8463073960287313294

Answer 5

The Jewish people don't accept Jesus as the Messiah because, quite simply, he didn't fulfil all the prophecies in the Torah. He didn't do everything that the Torah said the Messiah would do.

I have a page that explains it a bit more in detail: http://www.jewfaq.org/moshiach.htm

Answer 6

The messiah is the same thing as Christ but a different translation.

Answer 7

I am Christian. The Jews were looking for their "king". Someone to lead them.

Answer 8

it's caLLed faith.

Answer 9

The basic beliefs of Christianity about Jesus are against what the Bible says, and so Real Jews cannot believe in Jesus at all.

The Christian understanding is that the Messiah, Jesus, died for the sins of the people. The messiah is supposed to be a human sacrifice that is the blood sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

But we are taught in our Torah that no one can die for the sins of another. In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically says this:

Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not
be put to death for the children, neither
shall the children be put to death for
the fathers:
every man shall be put to death for his
own sin (eesh b’chet-o yumatu).

In Exodus 32:30-35, Moses tries to offer himself to atone for the sins of the people. To be written out of Gd's book, means to be written out of the Book of Life, which means Moses was asking to die for the sins of the People. Gd's response is No, it does not work that way, each man dies for his own sin:

Exodus 32:30-35 And it came to pass on the
morrow, that Moses said unto the people,
Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will
go up unto the Etrnl; perhaps I shall make
an atonement for your sin. And Moses
returned unto the Etrnl, and said, Oh,
this people have sinned a great sin, and
have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if
thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not,
blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written. And the Etrnl
said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned
against me, him will I blot out of my
book.

The whole of chapter 18 of the book of Ezekiel is about this idea, that no one can die for someone else's sin. Further, this chapter of Ezekiel teaches us that all we have to do for Gd's forgiveness is to stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd will forgive us:::

Ezekiel 18:1-4; 20-24; 26-27 .....Behold, all
souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine: the soul
that sinneth, it shall die. Eze 18:20 The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not
bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall
the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be
upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all
his sins that he hath committed, and keep all
my statutes, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed,
they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his
righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? saith the Etrnl Gd: and not that
he should return from his ways, and live?....
Eze 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away
from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity
that he hath done shall he die. Again, when
the wicked man turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth
that which is lawful and right, he shall save
his soul alive.

So, the Bible is clear, no one can die for the sins of another, and this means that Jesus cannot die for anyone else's sins.

Christians also believe that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, that one who does not have such a blood sacrifice will die in their sins, and go to hell, except for the sacrifice of Jesus.

This, too, is UnBiblical. The Bible describes blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin in the Book of Leviticus. But it is in Leviticus itself, in the middle of the discussion of the sin sacrifices, that we are taught that we do not need a blood sacrifice to be forgiven for our sins. Offering a blood sacrifice was an expensive thing to do for the family offering the animal. Was forgiveness then, to be only for the rich? No, because if one could not afford a blood sacrifice then one who sins could bring flour, which has no blood and no life as their sacrifice, and Gd forgave them!

Leviticus 5:11-13; But if he be not able to
bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons,
then he that sinned shall bring for his
offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine
flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil
upon it, neither shall he put any
frankincense thereon: for it is a sin
offering.

Furthermore, read the Book of Jonah. In Jonah, the People of Ninevah do three things in order to be forgiven by Gd. They fast, they pray for forgiveness, and they stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd forgave them! This is exactly what we do on Yom Kippur, we fast, we pray for forgiveness, and, hopefully, we stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd forgives us. And what book do we read on Yom Kippur afternoon? The Book of Jonah!

Jonah 3:7-10 And he caused it to be proclaimed
and published through Ninevah, by the decree
of the King and his nobles, saying, Let
neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste
anything; let them not feed nor drink water;
but let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and cry mightily unto Gd; yea, let
them turn every one from his evil way, and
from the violence that is in their hands. Who
can tell if Gd will turn and repent, and turn
away from his fierce anger that we perish not?
And Gd saw their works, that they turned from
their evil way; and Gd repented of the evil,
that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did not do it.

Please notice that Jonah tells us that Gd saw their WORKS, their deeds, how they turned from their evil ways, and Gd forgave them. It does not say that Gd saw their blood sacrifice, they never offered one. It does not say that Gd forgave them because they had the right faith, but rather it says that Gd forgave them because of their deeds!

Furthermore, Where were the sacrifices to have taken place? In the Temple built by Solomon. And what did Solomon himself say at the dedication of this very Temple where these sacrifices were to take place?

1 Kings 8:46-50 If they sin against thee, (for
there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be
angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy,
so that they carry them away captives unto the
land of the enemy, far or near; Yet if they
shall bethink themselves in the land whither
they were carried captives, and repent, and make
supplication unto thee in the land of them that
carried them captives, saying, We have sinned,
and have done perversely, we have committed
wickedness; And so return unto thee with all
their heart, and with all their soul, in the
land of their enemies, which led them away
captive, and pray unto thee toward their land,
which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city
which thou hast chosen, and the house which I
have built for thy name: Then hear thou their
prayer and their supplication in heaven thy
dwelling place, and maintain their cause, And
forgive thy people that have sinned against
thee, and all their transgressions wherein they
have transgressed against thee, and give them
compassion before them who carried them captive,
that they may have compassion on them:

So, at the dedication of the very place where these totally Unnecessary sacrifices were to take place, Solomon tells us that all we have to do is Repent, Pray, Admit our sins, and stop doing the evil, and Gd forgives, and all with no blood sacrifice!!

THE MESSIAH IN JUDAISM:::

How have we Jews, who invented the term, always defined the term Messiah?

1)The Messiah is born of two human parents, as we said.

But Jesus, according to Christian theology, was born of a union between a Human woman and Gd, just as Hercules was born of Zeus and the human woman named Alcmene, and just like Dionysis who was born of Zeus and Semele, as well as many other pagan gods.

2)The Messiah must trace his lineage through his human biological father, back to King David (Isaiah 11:1,10; Jeremiah 23:5; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:21-28; Jeremiah 30:7-10; 33:14-16; and Hosea 3:4-5)

But Jesus's lineage cannot go through his human father, according to Christian theology, as Jesus's father was not Joseph the husband of Mary. According to Christian theology, Jesus’s father was Gd.

3)The Messiah traces his lineage only through King Solomon, and cannot be adopted into the Royal line (II Samuel 7:12-17; I Chronicles 22:9-10)

But according to Luke 3:31, Jesus was a descendant of Nathan, another son of King David, and not a descendant of King David through King Solomon.

4)The Messiah can not trace his lineage through Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, or Shealtiel, because this royal line was cursed (I Chronicles 3:15-17; Jeremiah 22:18,30).

But according to both Matthew 1:11-12 and Luke 3:27, Jesus was a descendant of Shealtiel, grandson of Jehoiakim, and part of the cursed lineage.

Furthermore, according to the Jewish definition of the term, the Real Messiah will make changes in the real world, changes that one can see and perceive and be able to prove because these changes take place in the real world. It is for this task that the real messiah has been anointed in the first place, hence the term, messiah -- one who is anointed. These changes, that one will be able to see and perceive in the real world, include:

1)The Messiah is preceded by Elijah the prophet who, with the Messiah, unifies the family (Malachi 4:5-6)

Which is contradicted by Jesus in Matthew 10:34-37.

2)The Messiah re-establishes the Davidic dynasty through the messiah's own children (Daniel 7:13-14)

But Jesus had no children.

3)The Messiah brings an eternal peace between all nations, between all peoples, and between all people (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4; Ezekiel 39:9)

Obviously there is no peace. Furthermore, Jesus said that his purpose in coming was to bring a sword, and not peace (see Matthew 10:34, as referenced above.)

4)The Messiah brings about the universal world-wide conversion of all peoples to Judaism, or at least to Ethical Monotheism (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Zechariah 8:23; Isaiah 11:9; Zechariah 14:9,16)

But the world remains steeped in idolatry.

5)The Messiah brings about an end to all forms of idolatry (Zechariah 13:2);

But the world remains steeped in idolatry.

6)The Messiah brings about a universal recognition that the Jewish idea of Gd is Gd (Isaiah 11:9)

But the world remains steeped in idolatry.

7)The Messiah leads the world to become vegetarian (Isaiah 11:6-9)

It isn't.

8)The Messiah gathers to Israel, all of the twelve tribes (Ezekiel 36:24)

Many of the ten lost tribes remain lost.

9)The Messiah rebuilds The Temple (Isaiah 2:2; Ezekiel 37:26-28)

It hasn't been rebuilt.

10)There will be no more famine (Ezekiel 36:29-30)

People starve to death every day.

11)After the Messiah comes, death will eventually cease (Isaiah 25:8)

People die every day.

None of the following has happened, yet, either:::

12)Eventually the dead will be resurrected (Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; Ezekiel 37:12-13; Isaiah 43:5-6);

13)The nations of the earth will help the Jews, materially (Isaiah 60:5-6; 60:10-12;

14)The Jews will be sought out for spiritual guidance (Zechariah 8:23);

15)All weapons will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:9,12);

16)The Nile will run dry (Isaiah 11:15)

17)Monthly, the trees of Israel will yield their fruit (Ezekiel 47:12);

18)Each tribe of Israel will receive and settle their inherited land (Ezekiel 47:13-13);

19)The nations of the earth will recognize that they have been wrong, that the Jews have been right, and that the sins of the Gentile nations, their persecutions and the murders they committed, have been borne by the Jewish people (Isaiah 53)

These Biblically based changes in the world are very real, very perceivable, very noticeable, and knowable. But the changes that Christianity claims were made by Jesus are not perceivable at all. They must be accepted on faith, and faith alone. How can one know that Jesus died for their sins, except by faith? How can one know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, except by the faith in the historical truth of the Christian’s New Testament? There is no birth certificate. The changes made by the Messiah according to Judaism are very provable, but the changes made by the Messiah, Jesus, according to Christianity can only be taken on faith.

Even Christians recognize that none of the changes made by the Messiah according to Judaism as read in the Bible have not happened yet. This is why Christianity invented the idea of a Second Coming. The real Messiah has no need to come a second time to do those things he must do the first time around in order to actually be the Messiah.

Quite simply, we Jews invented the term, “messiah.” When we are told by those of the Christian faith (which includes the “Jews” for Jesus and the Messianic “Jews” and the “Hebrew” Christians) that our definition, the Jewish definition of “messiah” is incorrect, it is like someone who does not speak English telling a person whose native tongue is English that the word “electrician” means someone who fixes the plumbing.