Dual Messiah

Eschatology
Rapture
Rosh haShanah
Dual Messiah
Day of the Lord

A Unique Messiah with Two Appearances

The first century A.D. was a time of great expectation in the Jewish community; a great expectation for the Messiah. Much was already in the scriptures concerning this person; where he would be born, his lineage, nature, etc. The prophet Daniel told them that the Messiah would come forth during the middle of the fourth kingdom from the time of the prophecy; these were the Babylonians, Mede-Persians, Greeks, and the Romans. Daniel also told them that the time of the messiah's coming would be approximately 400 years after the return of Nehemiah and Ezra. By the time of John the Baptist, expectation had reached a feverish pitch,

"And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Messiah, or not, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed immerse you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall immerse you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Luke 3:15-16). As the ancient Jewish scholars studied the scriptural information concerning the coming of the Messiah, they encountered a serious problem; many of the passages seemed to contradict each other. One messianic image is that of a conquering king who would destroy the enemies of the Jews and establish His kingdom on this earth. Other passages speak of a suffering servant who would come in humility, would be rejected and despised by his people, and who would suffer an ignominious death. Naturally, the Jewish people under Roman rule hoped for the conquering king Messiah rather than a suffering servant.
The Conquering King Messiah was known as Messiah ben David is immortal, while the Suffering Servant Messiah, whose ancient name was Messiah ben Joseph, has his life end in death. In ancient Jewish literature known as the Midrash, the Suffering Servant Messiah is informed by God of what awaits Him on the earth:

Certainly, Christ's statement to the two travelers after His resurrection indicates His identity with the suffering servant,

"Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:25,26). But, perhaps one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament concerning John the Baptist can also be understood within the construct of two Messiahs, because John the Baptist was confused whether Christ was the first, or the last. Many have interpreted this passage to mean John was having difficulty believing Christ was the chosen one, perhaps because Christ was apparently not going to rescue him from his imprisonment. However, Christ had specifically told John that He was the Messiah (John 1:19-36). The question was whether Christ would fulfill all the prophecies concerning the Messiah, or whether the Rabbis who indicated there would be two Messiahs were correct. Christ's answer (Matthew 11:4-6) referred to the many miracles He had been performing, and paraphrased the various passages the Rabbis identified with both Messiah Ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David. Christ was indicating to John the Baptist that He would fulfill all the Messianic prophecies. Rather than two Messiahs, there would be one Messiah fulfilling two roles. The first coming would fulfill prophecies concerning the Suffering Servant, while the second coming would fulfill the prophecies concerning the Conquering King. God's Chosen People

My assertion is that God chose the Jewish people as having a particular destiny; a particular job to perform. God does not love Israel more than any other nation, just like He does not like any individual person more than any other. He has chosen various nations to have a particular job to perform. The particular destiny of the Jewish people will now be discussed.
Origins of the Jewish people. About 3500 years ago, God called a particular man out of the Ur of the Chaldees. Abram was at that time a pagan in a region steeped in paganism. God would call Abram to believe in him, to have faith in the promises of the Lord, and for this Abram would be rewarded with the land of Canaan and descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky. God would later give the same promise to Jacob, Abraham's grandson. At that time, God changed Jacob name (meaning "Supplanter" to Israel (meaning "A Prince with God"). Israel then had twelve sons, the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. These sons later went down to Egypt where they were at first protected by a Pharoah, but then after several hundred years became so numerous that the leaders of Egypt feared them and so made slaves out of them. Moses led them out from Egypt where they were formed into a nation under God at Mt. Sinai. While there, God not only gave them the Ten Commandments, but also government, other laws, customs, and moral codes. It was there that God made Israel into His chosen people. The other nations of the world would have their own pagan religion, customs, and governments; Israel alone would be identified with the Lord. Eventually, Israel would be a light unto the nations by which they might come to know, see, fear, obey, and be saved by God,

"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statues and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do them, that ye might live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great that hath statues and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day. (Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8). The Apostle Paul would later reaffirm this commission which the Lord has given to the Jewish nation,

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." (Romans 3:1,2).

"I say the truth in Messiah. I like not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continue sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Messiah for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises. Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh Messiah came. Who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." (Romans 9:1-5). God would give Israel many things; their law, customs, dress, food, government, clothing, music, holidays, and most importantly, the Messiah. God would do this to set Israel apart from other nations, for it would be a unique nation that would produce the Messiah.
It should be somewhat humbling that the famous, Sermon on the Mount, was given to a Jewish audience - and not to a Gentile audience. In this address, Christ discussed how God had called Israel apart from other nations to be an example unto them, and to reveal His redemption and His Messiah through the Torah and their life,

"Ye [Israel] are the sat of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be case out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light until all that are in the house. Let your light so shin before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:13-16). The holidays and festivals taught to the Israelites were a reminder of the coming of the Messiah,

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Which are a shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:16-17). Probably the most interesting example of Judaism, and or a Messianic Jew, is the Apostle Paul. Certainly, he was a Pharisee's Pharisee, for he kept to the religious laws very scrupulously. But what is even more interesting is that Paul continued to keep the Jewish tradition even after he became a Christian. Paul spoke of himself in the present tense as an Israelite (Rom. 11:1), as a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), who kept the festivals (Acts 28:21), and even made offeringsin the Temple (Acts 21:26, 24:17-18). All of these could be said of Paul, even many years after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
Many have thought that Paul departed from Judaism after he also became a Christian - but nothing could be further from the truth. This thought is not consistent with the Bible, nor with the historical record of early believers in the Messiah.
Many years after receiving Christ, Paul went to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Shavuot along with a number of other believers from many congregations in Asia Minor. These believers were both Jewish as well as Gentile,

"And when we were come to jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly, and the day following Apostle Paul went in with us unto James, and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry, and when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law, and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to ircumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. (Acts 21:12-21). The charge is that Paul was teaching Jewish believers not to be Torah observant any more; to abandon their earlier beliefs and traditions. However, surprisingly for many modern Christians, Paul was not saying this at all! Rather, James, Peter, John, and other elders of the church were determined to demonstrate that Paul had not at all abandoned beliefs and traditions of Judaism, nor was he teaching others to do so. Paul himself had taken a Nazarite vow spoken of in Numbers 6 as demonstrated by Paul shaving his head in Cenchrea (Acts 18:18), as did others in the church,

"What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee. We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads." (Acts 21:22-24a). The phrase, "be at charges with them" refers to sharing in the expenses necessary for the sacrifices listed in Numbers 6. Additionally, the Christian Jews continued to sacrifice at the Temple even after the resurrection of Christ. They did not believe that these sacrifices had anything to do with the removal of sin, because it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to remove sin - only the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:4). Rather, the five different types of animal sacrifice (brnt offering, guoilt offering, sin offering, peace offering, and bread offering) each taught a different aspect concerning the Messiah. Finally, the offering of these sacrifices in no way compromised their belief that salvation is by faith in Christ and not through the blood of aniimals or the keeping of commandments.
Paul was an observant Jew, as indicated by the following aspects of his life as portrayed in the Epistles and Acts,

Even though Paul was veery tolerant toward their new Gentile brothers, others were not. There were some who called Judaizers, who believed their new Christians not only must accept Jesus as their Messiah by faith, but they must also keep all the commandments in order to be righteous with God. In other words, they were requiring their new Gentile brothers to become Jewish. Paul's letter to the believers in Galatia is a rebuttal against these doctrines.

The average Christian today, however, has little appreciation of their Jewish heritage. Certainly, they recognize that Christ was Himself Jewish, and that the Old Testament is essentially a Jewish document. However, many believe that the ordeals and persecutions the Jewish people have suffered over the past two thousand years indicate a rejection from God of the Hebrew people. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. Certainly, the Jewish people might deserve such a rejection, for they rejected God throughout the entire Old Testament. Additionally, the Jewish people did not recognize their own Messiah and even killed Him in a most horrible manner, taking upon themselves and their children blame for this deed. However, eschatology indicates God remembers His part of the covenant made with the Jewish nation during the time of Moses, and that He will bring them back to Him in the future. In fact, this gathering has already begun in the nation of Israel that we see today. No, God has not rejected the Jewish people.

What history indicates, however, is that Christians have tried to ignore the Jewish contribution to their religion. Shortly after the death of Paul, the Jewish nation was crushed from the Roman Empire under Titus after they rebelled in a hopeless bid for independence. Jerusalem was levelled and the Temple was destroyed. At that time, anything Jewish was considered unpatriotic to Rome. Later, in 135 A.D., there was another revolt of the Jewish people which was treated even more harshly than the first - millions of Jewish people were killed. As the Jewish contribution was necessarily stifled due to these depopulations, Christianity ripped out all trades of Judaism from its midst. There was a substitution of Jewish religious festivals by pagan festivals; Pesach was replaced by Easter (the Babylonian fertility goddess), and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, was replaced by Christmas (the Roman birthday of the sun god). By the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., Constantine had taken over the church, and laws were issued which forbade Jewish believers from exercising the Jewish portion of their beliefs; for example, they were forbidden to circumcise their children. Finally, the gospels themselves were "gentilized" when they were translated from the original Greek into other languages, and were given common Gentile names and idiomatic thoughts, causing people to miss the essential "Jewishness" of the New Testament. Unfortunately, as we will see, this caused many believers to miss many important facets of their religion, especially as pertains to future events which tie in so intimately with Jewish festival, holidays, and customs. It is in these festivals that God explains, defines, and demonstates important ideas which relate to future events; it is a lack of understanding of these Jewish festivals that has caused such confusion and difficulty in the Christian understanding of eschatology.