For Jews: What prophecy do you rely on to recognize the Messiah?

Question

Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Other than Messianic Jews (and whether or not they're Jews is not the question here), you don't agree. How will you recognize Him? What prophecies are you waiting to be fulfilled?

L'Chaim: I didn't ask for OT prophecy. I said what prophecy?

Quantrill: Could you be any more vague and lacking in details, like verses, names of prophets? And world peace?

L'Chaim, aren't the books of the OT you refer to exactly the same ones in the Tanach? If we're reading the same books, what's the point about cannonization dates? Who are these other prophets that are not in the Tanach or Bible?

Answer 1

this is an answer I posted in another question that asked the exact same thing....but the person asking was very rude and I answered in kind....
you aren't asking in a rude manner so please ignore that aspect of my answer, ok?
the answer itself, while written in an antagonistic fashion, still holds the truth of why we don't believe




http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general-messiah-criteria.html

criteria for the Jewish messiah:

1. First of all, he must be Jewish
2. He must be a member of the tribe of Judah
3.He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon
4. He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel
5. He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
6. He will rule at a time of world-wide peace
7. He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments
8. He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d


please note how, if he was even real, Jesus meets only one of these requirements

1. he was Jewish

so big whoop...............
he was Jewish
that does not a messiah make!

as the site that I have linked too reminds us

"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."


Jesus not only failed to fulfill just one of these conditions, he's failed to fulfill 88% of the criteria!

HOW can you still go about believing in a false messiah that was 88% wrong??!


oh....and none of this second coming crap
if a guy fails to do the job the first time around then he's not the messiah

this is ETERNAL issues here people

it's not a matter of

"if at first you don't succeed, try try again"

it's REALLY a matter of

"if at first you don't succeed, take it as an omen"



you can't change the requirements of another religion and then say he met them

either he met the Jewish requirements for the JEWISH messiah or he didn't

Jesus didn't met them so he's not the Jewish messiah

and worse yet...requirements that the Christians changed were not MAN MADE ones....they came from G-D!

you changed G-d's criteria and then you want us to go along with your ungodly changes and when we don't you say that it is US that is blinded to G-d????

what a joke.....or it would be if countless generations of Jews didn't have to die at the hands of zeolot Christians trying to prove a point

Answer 2

The 300 prophecies you quote were fulfilled before the Bible was cannonized. There were many, many prophets in Biblical days, but the only prophets included in the Bible were those whose prophecies actually happened.

Judaism is about living life today -- not some mythical place in the afterlife. Our Bible is called the "Torah" which means Instruction. The book is our instructions for living this life. It was the Egyptians who wrote "The Book of the Dead." I think that's where Christianity got many of their wierd ideas.
.

Answer 3

"Quantrill" and "Rhymes with Camera" have both given excellent answers; of course, they as Jews are best able to do this. As a Gentile with a Messianic Jewish teacher, I can only reiterate to you what has been taught to me.

The Jewish expectation has long been that the Messiah will establish His kingdom immediately after He comes. It is for this reason that, in 132 CE, most Jews in Israel believed Simon bar Kochba was the Messiah. This hope was dashed in 134 CE when he was killed by the Romans, since the Messiah's kingship is to be eternal. For this same reason (and many more), Jesus is not believed to have been the Messiah.

There are no easy answers to the issue of which *one* prophecy identifies the Messiah; instead, it's a complex tapestry of prophesies concealed like jewels throughout the OT that tell us who He will be. No one -- Jew or Gentile -- can rely upon only one prophecy to identify the Messiah, since fulfillment of one but failure to fulfill any of the others discounts the claimant.

Since this is such a complex matter, how will they know they've not fallen for another bar Kochba, who seemed to fulfill all the requirements? Fortunately, a complex question has a seemingly easy answer.

As "Rhymes" correctly pointed out, the most basic of prophesies tells us the Messiah MUST be a direct descendant of David through Solomon. In my own opinion, out of necessity, this proof MUST come from God because all written accounts of David's family tree were destroyed along with the Second Temple in 70 CE. True, there are many people alive today who claim to be descended from David, but they can't sufficiently prove it. And definitive proof MUST be offered in order for the Jewish people to accept the One who claims this Kingship.

So what are they looking for besides heritage? If you exclude the NT prophesies for a moment and only consider OT prophesies, it's clear the Messiah will come at a time of intense peril for the Jewish people (called "the time of Jacob's trouble" brought on by a revived Roman Empire); further, He will come not to save Gentiles, or the earth, or the riches therein; He will come to save His brethren, the Jews, from persecution. And even more miraculously, He will come exactly at the moment they pray as a nation for Him to save them. So it's clear the advent of the Messiah in answer to their prayer is linked with an act of God Himself. And that brings me back to were I started: that an act of God will prove to them who the Messiah really is.

Answer 4

Not Jewish, but doesn't Israel have a modern Parliamentary Democracy with a Prime Minister.

I don't think they're in the market for an Old World Messiah.

Answer 5

The purpose of the messiah is to bring peace on earth. We will recognize him as king of Israel when there is peace on earth and all Jews have returned to Israel. Could anything be simpler?
.

Answer 6

There are so many that it would be impossible not to realize

Universal world peace (Isaiah 2:4)
universal recognition of G-d (Zechariah 14:9).
Rebuilding the Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28)
Resurrection of the Dead (cannot remember off the top)
etc...

Jesus accomplished none of this.

Answer 7

iN THE LAST DAY MAN/.Woman will become lovers of themselves more than God--It is Written

Answer 8

We'll know him when we see him. He'll be either a doctor or a lawyer, in Beverly Hills. He'll be good looking, really hot.

He'll know how to make us feel good. We'll beg him for his services and he will deliver us from evil and boredom.

Eat your heart out.