The Messianic Idea
The Messianic Idea, or the hope for a Messiah, which was created by the Jews, developed out of the intense suffering endured by the people during their early history. Because of their lack of a "glorious past," they look to a "glorious future." The idea states that at a time designated by God, a Messiah, or savior, a descendant of the House of David, will gather the Jewish people to Jerusalem and initiate an earthly reign of peace and harmony, devoid of the oppression that the Jews have experienced in the past.
There is a distinction to be made between a Messianic hope and the hope of a Messiah. The Messianic hope is more general and calls for the "political freedom, moral perfection, and earthly bliss" of both the Jews and the entire human race. The more specific hope of a Messiah calls for a person, or redeemer, who embodies these three characteristics and is able to bring them about during their reign. Different parts of this idea have been emphasized in the past depending on what aspect of Jewish life was being threatened. For example, during the time of the Roman occupation of Jerusalem, the political freedom aspect of the idea came forward as the most important. (see Historical Messiah)
The Kingdom of the Messiah that will be created is an earthly one, not the heavenly world expected in Christianity. This is because the Jews do not separate faith from social life as can be seen in the three main points of the Messianic Idea stated above.
One of the most integral ideas relating to Judaic messianism is that "Development and completion...were laid in the foundation of Judaism by means of the Messianic Idea."(Klausner) In other words, Judaism as a philosophy and a religion is not complete and will not be complete until the Messiah comes and fulfills this central prophecy. When the Messiah does come, it will be announced by the prophet Elijah, who will blow his shofar, or ram's horn. The next sequence of events is as follows: the gathering of the Jewish people to Jerusalem; the battle of Gog and Magog; Judgment Day; the resurrection of the dead and the subsequent peaceful afterworld where the new Temple will be built. Above is a tapestry by Marc Chagall, a famous modern Jewish artist, who has only recently died. The tapestry is entitled "Isaiah's Prophecy." It shows King David on the right-hand side in red with a procession of animals and children before him. One soon sees that the animals, lions, kids, wolves, and bears, refer back to Isaiah's prophecy; "And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid..." (Isaiah 11:6-9) Elijah with his shofar is shown in the center and the child leading the animals is the coming Messiah. A modern interpretation by artist Boruch Nachson is below.
| Stated simply by Aviezar Ravitzer in his book Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism, there are some basic questions concerning the messianic idea that come up repeatedly and lie at the center of discussion. 1. What is the role of human action in preparation for the messianic era? 2. Will redemption occur gradually or all at once? 3. Will the time of redemption depend solely upon the repentance of the Jews or also by divine decree? 4. Will redemption revolve around the human figure of a personal messiah? and 5. Will the messianic age usher change in the Torah and other sacred texts? These are questions that cannot be answered by us in this web-site because everybody seems to have a different idea on the subject and no one really knows who is right. |
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It is believed that there will be signs of the Messiah before he actually come. These are often called "birth pangs of Messiah," because they are mostly negative. As ideas, they were probably strenghtened during the Hadrianic Period, a time in which Jews were sent out of their homeland under the reign of the Roman Hadrian. The major "birth pangs" were the forgetting of the law and the loss of followers. This time was also characterized by children disobeying their parents and people not observing the sabbath. It was believed that upon the Messiah's coming, he would reestablish the law, but in a slightly altered form. One who wishes to escape the travails leading up to the coming of the Messiah is encouraged to follow the law, do good works and especially keep the sabbath.
Although the Messianic Idea still remains in modern times, there have been some alterations to the idea. People have moved more towards finding redemption and peace within themselves, more of a personal Messiah, rather than the belief in a messianic age. Some orthodox groups, though, still do believe the original ideas about the Messiah.
