The Messiah is supposed to gather the Jewish people back to the land of Israel, but Israel has already been gathered, and modern Israel has fulfilled prophecies without the appearance of the Messiah. Some rabbis say that prophecy is being fulfilled in a non-miraculous way because of certain modern conditions. This seems like a poor excuse. The Messiah leads the restoration of Israel. There must have been a Messiah when Israel was restored.
Even if the Lord is causing the events to occur, there must be a human Messiah leading the way.
Historically, religious Jews would often refuse to return to the land of Israel because they were waiting for the Messiah. Charles Darwin and growing secularism along with persecution caused secular Jews to restore Israel without a Messiah. Zionism led to the persecution of Jews in the Middle East, causing a flood of Jewish asylum seekers moving to Israel. The decline of the Ottoman Empire made it all possible, and it is miraculous how everything fell into place after almost two thousand years.
Regardless of how it happened, the restoration of a nation after two thousand years is miraculous. The survival of Israel in such a hostile region is also remarkable. Instead of making excuses for why the Messiah did not gather the Jews, we should consider the possibility that the Messiah did gather the Jews. If the Lord has been helping Israel, even leading Israel to miraculous military victories as in the Six-Day War, then perhaps the Lord is the Messiah.
This idea will not be given any consideration by non-religious Jews as they are not looking for the Messiah. For religious Jews, the idea that the Lord could be the Messiah is very problematic.
The Messiah is a human, and if he has already restored Israel, then he must have been born sometime in the past. If the Messiah is also the Lord, it means He must be a human who was born sometime in the past, who is also the Lord.
Christianity is nothing more than many different interpretations of the teachings of a first century Jewish rabbi, who claimed to be the Messiah, and who also claimed to be the Lord. Jewish scholars overwhelmingly rejected his claim since the Messiah is a man and a man cannot be the Lord. But what if the Lord wants to be a man for some reason? Is God able to create that condition?
There are clues in the Scriptures indicating that the Messiah would be Divine, but the idea of a Divine human seems impossible. With many centuries to anticipate the coming of Messiah, the Jews developed theories that had no resemblance to Jesus dying on a cross. It is only natural that the Jews rejected Jesus. The Gentiles had no preconceived notions about the Messiah, and they were able to see how Jesus fulfilled many Jewish prophecies in remarkable detail.
Considering that the Messiah does great things for us, the Messiah would have to be Divine. If the Messiah is our redeemer, He is doing something that God would do Himself. We will not spend eternity being grateful to a human. If the Messiah merely brings utopia in the world, it still seems odd that God would use a fully human Messiah. It seems odd that we would be so grateful to a human. The Scriptures portray the Messiah as someone with exalted significance, much greater than anyone who ever lived.
The Messiah defeats the enemies of God and establishes the Kingdom. This most significantly applies to the eternal Kingdom, not the kingdom of the Messiah on Earth that will come later. More important than an earthly kingdom, Jesus has already defeated the enemies of God and established the Kingdom of God in the world to come. The idea of resurrection to eternal life only appeared in Judaism not long before Christ. This was after the Jews had already developed theories of the coming Messiah. They were not looking for a Messiah to establish a Kingdom in the world to come.
Over time Christian theology interpreted the words of Christ in ways that contradicted the Jewish Scriptures. Jesus was not punished for our sins. It was over a thousand years after Christ when Christians came to commonly believe that Jesus was punished for our sins.
Jesus can be reconciled to Judaism.
Christians don’t see a problem with their inconsistencies with Judaism, and Jews don’t realize the significance of reconciling the most dominant figure in history with the religion He fulfilled.
Jewish scholars say there is nothing to indicate a Messiah who comes a second time, but Mosses went up the mountain to be with God, and then he came back down. This was not the second coming of Mosses, but only a return. If the Messiah is a human who is also the Lord, He can overcome death. He can have the longevity to be a two-thousand-year-old human. Still alive and intervening in human affairs to restore Israel. If Jesus is still alive; He may yet cause the temple to be rebuilt and fulfill all the other prophecies of the Messiah during his first, and only (very long) lifetime.
“Second coming” is misleading. There is one coming, one lifetime that is currently almost two thousand years long. If the Messiah is the Lord, all other objections to Jesus as the Messiah disappear.
Jesus is the Messiah of Israel Who will return to Israel.
The belief that the Jews are the chosen people of God does not mean that God is against other people. There is a remarkable story being told. The different nations and religions are like actors playing different roles. Some are good guys, and some are bad guys. God can have children in every nation and religion. We are judged as individuals, but the nations tell a story.
God told Abraham that through his seed the world would be blessed. The nation of Israel was born in bondage like the spirit born into the flesh. Moses led Israel out of bondage just as the spirit is separated from the flesh. Moses and numerous prophets foretold a coming Messiah.
Jesus was rejected and killed, rose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven. Jesus fulfilled many prophecies remarkably. A large part of the world came to see Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah even though He has always been rejected by most Jews. Until now no one was able to reconcile His words with the Jewish Scriptures.
Shortly after Christ, Israel was scattered among the nations as foretold.
Then came Mohammed who claimed to be a prophet of the God of Israel. When the Jews rejected his claim, Mohammed became hostile to the Jews. Israel is now restored from the nations as foretold. Israel is surrounded by enemies as foretold. The enemies are the children of Ishmael. They are the followers of Mohammed who are determined to destroy Israel because the Jews rejected Mohammed.
This brings us to the current conflict in the Middle East.
All nations were built by force as all land has been conquered militarily, but the Jews moved to a remote province in a crumbling empire, a barren wasteland. They purchased the wasteland and transformed it into a prosperous society. The growing economy that the Jews built attracted people from the region looking for jobs. This meant the Arab population in Palestine was growing because of the growing Jewish population.
There had been a significant Jewish population in Palestine long before modern Zionism. Whether you call it Palestine, Israel or Judea, there has been a significant Jewish presence in that part of the world for thousands of years. With the end of the Ottoman Empire, the Jews would be one of the groups which would be given their own nation as this empire was broken apart.
This is only reasonable. Various groups that had been controlled by an empire should have been given their independence when that empire collapsed. Whether or not other groups were treated fairly does not affect the fairness of giving the Jews a homeland.
Just looking at the Jewish presence in the Muslim world in recent centuries, the land that went to Israel in 1948 was not overly generous. It was a tiny sliver of land. This tiny sliver of land was incredibly modest especially when compared to the property and wealth that the Jews lost in the Muslim world as they were expelled from many Muslim nations throughout much of the 20th century. Jews expelled from Muslim nations were welcomed as citizens in Israel. Muslims who voluntarily left Israel have descendants still living in refugee camps in Muslim lands.
Again, this is not basing Jewish claims to the land on the Bible or on Jewish ownership of the land two thousand years ago. Jewish land and wealth in the Muslim world that was seized by the Muslims was greater than the tiny sliver of land that went to Israel in 1948. This is especially true considering that the land that went to Israel had been mostly wasteland before it was transformed by the Jews.
The Jews also purchased the land from the rightful owners. They often overpaid for wasteland which they developed into a modern nation. If you don’t want someone to occupy your land, then don’t sell it to them. The fact that the Jews did not take the land by force but purchased it from the legal owners is somehow seen by many people as an act of aggression.
A corrupt and violent humanity believes purchasing the land somehow gives the Jews less claim to the land. All other nations were built by force, so Israel actually has a far greater claim to their land than any other nation. The Jews then won more land in multiple defensive wars against an enemy determined to commit genocide. This gives them an even greater claim to the land. The Jews have greater claim to their land, including Gaza and the West Bank, than any other nation.
In the Six Day War, the Israelis won Gaza and the West Bank and other territories from the Muslims. This was after several Muslim nations almost surrounded and promised to destroy Israel. Based on the rules that human nations have lived by throughout history, Gaza and the West Bank should go to Israel. The Muslims were the aggressor, but Israel was the victor. This means that according to the rules of human nations, the land belongs to Israel.
God not only gave the land of Israel to the Jews as stated in the Bible; God also arranged the conditions in modern times so that the land does rightfully belong to the Jews in every way. Yet in the current reality foreseen by God, most people of the world cannot see that Israel clearly owns this land. Most people cannot see the overwhelming claim that Israel has to the land because of the lies told by those who seek to destroy Israel.
It is claimed that all the non-Jews who lived in Israel in 1967 are a separate and distinct nationality called the Palestinians. This lie is central to all the efforts to demonize Israel.
The only difference between the Arabs of Palestine and other Arabs in the region is the pattern of clothing they wear. Before modern times there was never a Palestinian nation, or a Palestinian language, or a Palestinian culture. There was never a Palestinian nationalist movement of any kind.
They use the name Palestine, but the Arabs have no historical connection to the name Palestine. The name Palestine comes from the Romans. Even the ancient Philistines from whom the name Palestine was derived were from southern Europe and had no connection to the Arabs.
Before 1967 when Jordan controlled the West Bank, the Arabs of Palestine had no desire for their own nation.
It was in the early 1960s when the Palestinian nationality was invented, but it was after the military defeat in 1967 that it became a powerful weapon against Israel. This is because Israel had gained control of Gaza and the West Bank. Keep in mind, what had happened is that the Israelis had defeated the Muslims in a defensive war. In that war, they won a tiny portion of the vast territory which is controlled by the many Muslim nations.
The Muslims realized that by creating a new nationality in this small territory, they would make themselves the victims. Israel could not annex this land. The Israelis would not be taking a tiny piece of the massive Muslim land which they had won in a defensive war. Instead, the Israelis would be taking everything the Palestinians have left if they annex this land and do not give it back to the Palestinians.
The problem is that it is a lie, a deception. It is a different tactic following a military defeat, to destroy peaceful people who have tried to build a society with freedom and equality. Over time the world has come to accept that the Palestinians are a distinct and separate people. Judea and Samaria are now officially called the West Bank. The voices against Israel are far more numerous than the voices stating the truth.
Palestinians under the age of 60 have been called Palestinian all their life. They may genuinely see themselves as Palestinian, but the nationality was invented to vilify the Jews. It has been successful because of Jew-hatred in both the West and the Muslim world.
People have come to believe that Israel is the aggressor even though conflict is always started by the Muslims. They are so greatly outnumbered it is unreasonable to claim that the Jews are the aggressor. It is astounding that so many people believe an obvious lie. As any reasonable person should expect, the greatly outnumbered Jews have gone to great effort to find peace with their enemies. Their enemies will not even concede the Jewish state’s right to exist.
This condition in modern times, the tremendous hostility towards the Jews, and all the deception that is used against them, this would also be something for which Israel was chosen. Being “chosen” does not mean that the Jews are superior in the eyes of God.
We should not hate the people on either side, we are all being influenced by spiritual forces. We should know that a story is being told here. Understanding is being revealed. In the beginning of the end, we see the Jews, chosen by God, hated by the world. They are almost surrounded and greatly outnumbered by those who self-righteously believe that they serve god by using deception and whatever brutality is necessary to destroy a peaceful people. The Jews represent truth. They represent all good people. They hold the Torah, the word of God, and even though the world is against them, Israel, in the end, will be victorious.
The conflict in the Middle East is a conflict between truth and falsehood, the few against the many. It is a conflict between one religion which is small but believes in freedom, equality, knowledge, truth, compassion, and justice verses another religion which has a great multitude of followers but believes in inequality, subjugation, slavery, blind obedience, deception, and death. This is a conflict between life and death and some of the most devout Muslims will proudly state that they support death as much as the Jews support life.
This is history’s clearest battle between good and evil. It is fundamentally not a battle of good people versus evil people. It is more of a conflict between good ideas versus evil ideas even though people are acting on those ideas, and people are responsible for their words and actions.
Because of deception, most humanity will support evil.
Amazing, but not surprising, most of the world is against Israel.
If you look at the whole story, starting with Abraham, it is a remarkable story. We do not know exactly how it’s going to turn out, but everything points to the idea that God is not finished with Israel. Israel was selected for the coming of Christ, but Israel was also selected for what is happening now which very likely has to do with the return of Christ.
The Jews continue to wait for a Messiah who will arrive like a knight in shining armor, but the true story of the Messiah is more elaborate and more incredible than the simple outcome they are expecting.
Jesus will return to Jerusalem, and they will say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
