Concepts of Messiah

INTRODUCTION.

What is a Messiah? We hear this word a lot these days. We see it in the pages of history. It echos down through the ages. The word, the idea, and the concept is thrown around by Churchmen, Clerics, Priests. Rabbis, Ayatollahs, Mullahs, and the laymen of the three Monotheistic Religions. The monotheistic religions on this planet, are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And then there is the revived, Messianic Judaism, which many traditional Jews consider to be a form of Christianity and the Christians consider it to be a part of Judaism. I am a Messianic Jew, and I am of the firm conviction that Messianic Judaism is part of Judaism. It is a return to Biblical Judaism.

Also there is Islam. It comes in many sects, but its two main divisions are Sunni and Shi'ite. Their word for Messiah is, Mahdi. It is not my intent to discuss all of the differences and doctrines of Islam in great detail, nor is it my intention in this writing to discus in great detail the differences between the many denominations of the Christian Religion or those of traditional Judaism. This first section of this booklet will be focusing in on what each of these groups consider a Messiah to be, and what their expectations are, regarding his coming, as in the case of traditional Judaism and Islam, or his return, as in the case of Messianic Judaism and Christianity.

At the next end of this booklet, we will be dealing with, in brief of course, of a specialized Concept of the Messiah, called Living Torah. This is an especially Messianic Jewish Concept. I dealt with this extensively in another booklet titled, “TORAH IS CALLING.” But I want to cover some of this ground again, because it is an important concept of Messiah. And in my belief, it is the most important of all the Concepts of Messiah.

As I begin this writing, it is the second day of Passover, the 15th day of the Month of Nisan, of the year 5770 on the Jewish Calendar, which corresponds to March 31st, 2010. For Messianic Jews, this season of Passover, not only represents our liberation from bondage in Egypt by the hand of Almighty G-d, but our liberation from bondage to sin by the Messiah. And so this is a Messianic Season. A Season of Messiah. I will be dealing with the concept of the Season of Messiah in detail in the last half in the Living Torah portion of this booklet. It is a vital concept that all of us need to know and to remember, and take to heart. I find it so tragic that people in Christianity have been taught to ignore all of the Biblical Feasts and have replaced them with Pagan aberrations, which have been given new names. They claim to worship the Messiah of the Passover, but brush it all aside, taking not even one moment to remember, that their Messiah is part and parcel of Judaism, and that he was a Master Rabbi. They brush it all aside with quaint explanations, while working on all these Biblical Sabbaths or having a party on vacations.

So welcome to the study, and may G-d richly bless all those who read this. (This work has been updated as of May 8th, 2011.)

Shalom.