By: Dale Weckbacher
Zechariah 12:10
"And I will pour
on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace
and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn
for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a
firstborn.
NKJV
Last Saturday we looked at the rumblings of Messianic
revival occurring among the Jewish people.
In conjunction to these rumblings of revival, there is an increasing
Messianic expectation amongst the Jewish People. It is this increasing Messianic expectation
that Rabbi Jonathan Bernis cites as the fifth reason we know the last days are
near.
The nation of Israel is prominent in the news today but most
of the news coverage revolves around the conflict between Israel and radical
Islamists surrounding them. However,
another controversy is occurring among the Jewish People revolving around Rabbi
Yitzchak Kaduri who died in 2006. (1) Most
of those reading this have most likely not heard of Rabbi Kaduri so let us take
a moment to look at what is behind the controversy.
Rabbi Kaduri was a highly regarded Sephardic Rabbi. He was so popular that sources say 200,000 to
300,000 people came to his funeral. He
was 108 when he died. (1)
Two years prior to his death, Rabbi Kaduri began teaching
that the world would encounter a series of disasters. When asked how he knew this, he said the
Messiah had told him. Rabbi Kaduri
refused to tell when, where, and how his conversation with the Messiah occurred
and said he would reveal the name of Messiah when the time was right. (1)
Rabbi Kaduri had reportedly written the name of Messiah on a
small piece of paper and told people to read the name on the paper one year
after his death. In 2007, when the
contents of the paper were revealed it contained a sentence of six words the
first letters of which spelled out the name Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus. (1) This revelation has started a Messianic
expectation and controversy amongst the Jewish people.
Some Jewish scholars believe the note is a forgery. This of course sounds similar to the
controversy started by Jewish leaders after the resurrection of Jesus that His
followers had stolen His body. However,
just as after the resurrection of Jesus, the revelation has caused many Jews to
consider the possibility that Jesus is indeed Messiah. The teachings of Rabbi Kaduri were well
respected among many as evidenced by how many people attended his funeral so we
have to believe many would take his revelation of the name of Messiah and
explore scripture to find out more about the coming of Messiah.
One of the greatest advantages we have today is the ability
to look at Messianic prophecies in hindsight.
However prior to the coming of Yeshua the first time, people could only
look at these prophecies with foresight.
When we look more closely at Messianic prophecies, we notice a
contradiction. Some prophecies speak of
Messiah as a suffering servant (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22) while others speak of a
conquering Messiah (Zechariah 14:1-8).
In an effort to solve this apparent contradiction, ancient
Rabbis taught of two Messiahs, one who was the “Son of David” and one who was
“The Son of Joseph” or “Son of Ephraim.”
They taught that the “Son of David” would fulfill the Messianic
prophecies regarding the conquering Messiah whereas the “Son of Joseph” would
fulfill the prophecies regarding the suffering Messiah. (2) Since these teachers only had the benefit of
foresight, we can understand how they might have come to this conclusion since
the prophecies of the suffering Messiah end with his death.
However, looking in hindsight today we know that Messiah is
one person coming at two different times.
This is because we now know that Messiah did indeed die but also
resurrected from the dead, thus conquering death, the penalty pronounced on all
humanity in the Garden. We also know
Jesus will return a second time as the conquering Messiah.
Yeshua fulfilled more than 300 prophecies from the Old
Testament regarding the suffering Messiah.
The odds of one man fulfilling just 60 of these prophecies are one out
of ten to the 895th power. On
other words, the odds of someone other than Jesus being Messiah are virtually
mathematically impossible.
As many in the Jewish community debate the controversy over
the note from Rabbi Kaduri, our prayer should be that they will realize the
Messiah has already appeared as the suffering Messiah in the person of
Jesus. However, since Jesus arose from
the dead and ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father, he is also
the one who will return as the conquering Messiah. As more and more Jewish people realize this
truth, the nation as a whole will begin to turn to their Messiah and the
prophecy of Zechariah 12:10, will find fulfillment.
This means that the return of our Lord is closer at hand,
something in which should make every believer rejoice and find comfort (1Thessalonians 4:18). Therefore, we must
continue to pray and work to bring about greater Messianic expectation and
revival both among the Jews and Gentiles.
1. Bernis, Jonathan. A Rabbi Looks at the
Last Days. Bloomington MN 55438 : Chosen Books, 2013.
2. Klett, Fred.
The Two-Messiah Theory. www.chaim.org. [Online] [Cited: June 14, 2015.]
http://www.chaim.org/2messiah.htm.
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