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The End of History—Messiah Conspiracy

# 9

Two Messiahs?

“Having searched & by the grace of God obteined after knowledg in ye [the] prophetique scriptures, I have thought my self bound to communicate it for the benefit of others....Let me therefore beg of thee not to trust to ye opinion of any man concerning these things....search the scriptures thy self...if thou desirest to find the truth. Which if thou shalt at length attain thou wilt value above all other treasures....understanding the sacred Prophesies & the danger by neglecting them is very great & that ye obligation to study them is as great may appear by considering ye like case of ye Jews at ye coming of Christ. For the rules whereby they were to know their Messiah were the prophesies of the Old Testament....Thus also ye Apostles & those who in ye first ages propagated ye gospel urged chiefly these Prophesies & exhorted their hearers to search & see whether all things concerning our Saviour ought not to have been as they fell out. And in a word it was ye ignorance of ye Jews in these Prophesies wch [which] caused them to reject their Messiah & by consequence to be...captivated by the Romans....Luke 19.42, 44....For they had some regard to these prophesies insomuch as to be in generall expectation of our Saviour about that time when he came, onely they were not aware of the manner of his two comings...they understood ye description of his second coming, & onely were mistaken in applying that to ye time of his first coming. Consider therefore, if ye description of his second coming was so much more plain and perspicuous then that of ye first, yt [yet] ye Jews who could not so much as perceive any thing of ye first could yet understand ye second....”¹

Sir Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist to ever live,² 1642-1727

3
TWO MESSIAHS?

There were two completely different pictures of the Messiah painted by the prophets of the Jews, and the Old Testament is filled with them! One of a king and one of a sufferer. Most of the Jews in the days of Jesus expected these two strains of Messianic prophecy to either occur consecutively or simultaneously. Many only anticipated the prophecies about the king to be fulfilled. Furthermore, some believed then, as many do today, that two Messiahs might appear—one to separately fulfill each role. In all earnestness, we may say that they failed to comprehend the truth due to extenuating circumstances; namely, that the Messiah would come twice, fulfilling each role in its era, separated by a valley of time spanning approximately two millennia!

A chart by Rev. Clarence Larkin illustrating the mountain peaks
of prophecy regarding the Messiah’s two Comings.
AN ISRAELI RABBI’S INTEREST IN THE MESSIAH COMING TWICE, SPARKED BY ANCIENT COMMENTARIES

Hal Lindsey, in his book The Late Great Planet Earth, points out that the “rabbis at least a century before Jesus of Nazareth was born theorized that there would be two messiahs.”³ The idea of the Messiah coming twice or the Coming of two Messiahs is denied by many modern rabbis. I gave a rabbi a copy of the Hebrew edition of Hal’s book while I was at a youth hostel in Israel. As he read the aforementioned passage, he jumped and exclaimed, “Ah, I’ve never heard such a thing!” However, when I showed him the following ancient rabbinical commentaries he began to stroke his long grey beard, mumbling, “Perhaps so. Perhaps you are right.” The commentaries we looked at read as follows:
“R. Berekhia in the name of R. Levi: ‘The Last Redeemer [the Messiah] will be like the First Redeemer [Moses]. Just as the First Redeemer was revealed and then again was hidden from the Children of Israel...so the Last Redeemer will be revealed to them and then will be hidden from them....’ ”⁴ Ruth Rabba 5:6
“R. Alexandri said: ‘R. Y’hoshu’a ben Levi explained:....‘If they will be righteous, [the Messiah will come] on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13); if they will not be righteous, [he will come] as a poor man riding upon an ass (Zech. 9:9).’ ’ ”⁵ Talmud B. Sanhedrin 98a
“R. Yishma’el said: Metatron said to me: ‘Come and I shall show you the Curtain of the Place which is spread out before the Holy One, blessed be He, on which are engraved all the generations of the world and their deeds, whether they did them or will do them until the end of all generations.’ And I went and he showed me with the fingers of his hand like a father who teaches his son the letters of the Tora....And I saw Messiah ben Joseph and his generation, and all the deeds which the nations of the world will do there. And I saw Messiah ben David and his generation, and all the battles and wars of their deeds, and their acts which they will perform with Israel, whether for good or for bad. And I saw all the battles and wars which Gog and Magog will do in the days of the Messiah, and all that the Holy One, blessed be He, will do with them in the Future to Come. And there were the chiefs of the generation, whether among Israel or among the nations of the world, whether they did or will do in the Future to Come, until all generations, all was engraved there on the Curtain of the Place. And I saw them all with my own eyes, and at the end when I had seen I opened my mouth and spoke in praise of the Place....”⁶ Sefer Hekhalot, BhM 5:187-88

Messiah ben⁷ Joseph, referred to in some legends as Messiah ben Ephrim after Joseph’s son Ephrim, is in fact, the suffering servant who is often mentioned in the ancient rabbinical literature. The reason he is called Messiah ben Joseph is not hard to grasp. Joseph’s life was one of an innocent sufferer who was first betrayed by his own people (his brothers), only later to gain acceptance by them on their second visit to Egypt to see Pharaoh (Gen. 43:15).
On this second appearance, Joseph saved the entire nation of Israel when he was recognized for who he was, Pharaoh’s Vice-King of Egypt, and unbelievably, their brother. His kin were quite shocked to see that the brother they had sold into slavery (Gen. 45:3), and by then supposed dead and gone, was God’s agent for their salvation. Joseph himself told his brothers: “ ‘And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (Gen. 50:20-21 NASB).

The whole pattern of Jesus’ life perfectly matches in every detail Joseph’s prophetic foreshadowing of the Messiah. Jesus was betrayed for the price of a slave⁸ (Zech. 11:12-13; Matt. 27:3-10), as was Joseph (Gen. 37:28). Joseph, for twenty shekels—Jesus, for thirty. The difference of ten shekels was due to inflation, which took place during the 1967 years that elapsed between the two events. Jesus was handed over to the Romans (non-Jewish Gentiles), just as Joseph was handed to the Ishmaelites (non-Jews), who were the ancient Arabs.
Jesus has been perceived by many as an insignificant person who met with misfortune, resulting in His death because His own people conspired against Him (John 19:15).⁹ Jesus was betrayed to the Romans by a few corrupt priests representing the Jewish people, while many Gentiles since that time have enjoyed the knowledge of His kingship.
Joseph was considered unimportant and dead by his brothers (Gen. 42:36; 44:20). The coat of many colors, dipped in goat’s blood, symbolized his death Jesus’ clothes were also stripped from Him and, as a result of His whippings prior to His trial, were soaked with blood. Later, Joseph’s brothers really believed him to be dead when they said, “his [Benjamin’s] brother is dead” (Gen. 44:20 NASB; [ ] mine).¹⁰
Meanwhile, the Gentiles (Egyptians) enjoyed Joseph’s rule in Egypt as Vice-Pharaoh (Gen. 41:39-43). Jesus was a stumbling stone to His people at His First Coming. At His Second Advent, the Hebrew prophets predict He will save Israel from the greatest war of all time—Armageddon (Matt. 24;¹¹ Rev. 16; Ezek. 38-39), which is yet to occur.¹²

MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH—JESUS, WILL HAVE
HIS FAMILY REUNION WITH ISRAEL

Jesus told Israel that they would not see Him again until they said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39). This will occur soon in a graphically portrayed family reunion, predicted in the writings of Zechariah, recorded in the Jewish Bible five centuries before the birth of Jesus. The prophet’s words reveal: “And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves....” (Zech. 12:9-12 NASB).
Joseph’s brothers did not realize who he was until they visited him a second time in Egypt. Then they knew who he really was—their brother, savior and king of the Gentiles. They were terrified as Joseph cried, and then they accepted him (Gen. 45).

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE—
MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH AND MESSIAH BEN DAVID

When Jesus returns to save Israel from destruction by the Russian/Arab armies, as foretold by the prophet Ezekiel—just as Joseph saved Israel from destruction through famine—He will become known as the Messiah ben David. He will have fulfilled His future global role of saving the world (probably from a nuclear disaster)¹³ as a mighty and powerful king, just as David was.
The ancient rabbinical legend concerning the Messiah, which we have investigated as Messiah ben David, will have been fulfilled and made evident in the only person who could possibly bring two seemingly contradictory roles into harmony; namely Jesus. Jesus suffered rejection by His brothers (the Jewish priests and rabbis), while being recognized by Gentiles (non-Jews), just as Joseph was neglected by his own, only to be received in Egypt as king. Pharaoh made him Vice-King and gave him a new name, Zaphnath-paaneah (Gen. 41:43-45 KJV), meaning “Saviour of the world”¹⁴ in Egyptian (Gentile) language, and “revealer of secrets” in Joseph’s Hebrew (Jewish) language.
Interestingly, until recent times and the advent of Jews for Jesus and the Jewish Messianic movements, Messianic salvation was kept secret from most Jews by the rabbis, while more and more Gentiles said, “What else is new?” We know that Jesus was not “a secret,” but our Messiah-Savior.

Pharaoh called Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah, which had a double meaning (one meaning in Hebrew, another in Egyptian), because of Joseph’s God-given ability to interpret his dream. This convinced Pharaoh to allow Joseph to grow and store enormous amounts of food, which saved Egypt and others, including Joseph’s brothers, who came their way during the worldwide famine (Gen. 42). It is also interesting that, in a sense, the rabbis created a spiritual famine about Jesus as the Messiah, so that for many years Jews had to go to Gentiles to ask about the Messiah. The words of Amos the prophet, written in the eighth century BC, sound strangely familiar: “ ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord’ ” (Amos 8:11 NASB).
Jesus, having already suffered rejection by the rabbis and crucifixion by the Romans—approximately 2000 years ago to date—fulfilled this suffering role, but He is still believed to be dead by many in the Jewish faith. In the same way, Joseph’s bloody coat convinced his father that he was dead, while in Egypt—the land of the Gentiles (non-Jews)—he was being enjoyed as king.
Today, many rabbis refer to Jesus as “the God of the Gentiles,” who “is not for the Jews.” Soon, when Jesus returns, He will fulfill the role of a mighty king saving Israel and anyone else who looks to Him in that day. He will save the world from physical destruction by a future Russian/Arab invasion, known to us as Gog and Magog (see our chapters 19 and 20, “Russia is Crushed in Gog” and “Mohammed is Mad,” for the details of these yet to be fulfilled Messianic prophecies). Just as Joseph saved Egypt from famine, the tailor-made role for a mighty warrior king like David will begin. Jesus will fulfill His role as Messiah ben David, as He decimates the enemies of Israel and consummates His predicted 1000-year rule over Israel and all nations (Zech. 14:16; Rev. 20; also see our chapters 25-30 on the Rapture, Second Coming and the millennium).

The rabbis and laymen alike do not really link this famous Messiah ben Joseph/David legend, as taught in the ancient rabbinical literature, with Jesus. However, I have had various opportunities to go into detail with dozens of individuals, especially in Israel, showing how Jesus and Joseph match so exactly. I saw many a smile arise on Jewish faces; a look which seemed to say, “I cannot believe it, but I know you are right.”
The legends of Messiah ben Joseph/David are taught today in Israel, apparently as school curriculum. If you were to mention the subject of the Messiah ben Joseph/David to any Israeli on the street, most would be captivated, as they awaited your comment. This Messiah legend is not very evident in the Diaspora¹⁵ countries. With the possible exception of a handful of Orthodox yeshiva¹⁶ students, most do not realize that there was ever such a famous legend about the Messiah. However, American Jews are acquainted with the history of Joseph and can easily grasp the parallels between Jesus and Joseph when someone takes the time to inform them of the historic details of the life of Jesus.¹⁷

DR. PATAI, A JEWISH BIBLE SCHOLAR,
EXPOUNDS UPON THE MESSIAH
BEN JOSEPH/DAVID LEGENDS

Raphael Patai, a Jewish Bible scholar who does not believe in Jesus, sheds considerable light on the history of this rabbinical legend about the Messiah, in his book, The Messiah Texts. Patai writes: “Scholars have repeatedly speculated about the origin of the Messiah ben Joseph legend and the curious fact that the Messiah figure has thus been split in two. It would seem that in the early legend, the death of the Messiah was envisaged, perhaps as a development of the Suffering Servant motif. A prophecy of Daniel, written about 164 B.C.E.,^[18] is the earliest source speaking of the death of a Mashiah (‘Anointed’) sixty-two (prophetic) weeks...after the return and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Dan. 9:24-26...)....When the death of the Messiah became an established tenet in Talmudic times, this was felt to be irreconcilable with the belief in the Messiah as the Redeemer who would usher in the blissful millennium of the Messianic age. The dilemma was solved by splitting the person of the Messiah in two: one of them, called Messiah ben Joseph...would fall victim....The other, Messiah ben David, will come after him...and will lead Israel to the ultimate victory, the triumph, and the Messianic era of bliss.
This splitting of the Messiah in two persons, which took place in the Talmudic period, achieved another purpose besides resolving the dilemma of the slain Messiah. According to an old tradition, the Messiah was perfectly prefigured in Moses. But Moses died before he could lead the Children of Israel into the Land of Promise. Consequently, for the parallel to be complete, the Messiah, too, had to die before accomplishing his great task of ultimate Redemption. Since, however, the Messiah would not be the True Redeemer of God if he did not fulfill that ultimate task, the only solution was to let one Messiah, like Moses, die, and then assign the completion of the work of Redemption to a second Messiah....”¹⁹

WHEN THE ESSENES PUT THE TWO AND TWO
FROM THE SCRIPTURES TOGETHER, THEY GOT
ONE AND ONE—ONE MESSIAH COMING TWO TIMES

In an article titled, “The Two Zadokite Messiahs,” in The Journal of Theological Studies, the statement was made that: “Prof. Strack (following Prof. Schechter) thinks that the two are in reality only one....”²⁰ Jay Junior Smith, in his dissertation for a Ph.D. in religion, notes: “During the Pompeian era (63-31 B.C.) the two messiahs become one.”²¹
Rev. Chuck Smith and Mark Eastman, M.D., in their book, The Search for Messiah, comment on a 1992 article in The Biblical Archaeology Review, which illustrates the historic truth of one Messiah Coming twice within the ancient Jewish theology of Jesus’ day. They tell us: “In the Biblical Archaeology Review, December 1992, in an article by Hebrew scholars Michael Wise and James Tabor, we find a fascinating analysis of this text. ‘Our Qumran text, 4Q521, is, astonishingly, quite close to this Christian concept of the Messiah. Our text speaks not only of a single messianic figure...but it also describes him in extremely exalted terms, quite like the Christian view of Jesus as a cosmic agent. That there was, in fact, an expectation of a single messianic figure at Qumran is really not so surprising....’
Wise and Tabor go on to state: ‘...The Messiah of our text is thus much closer to the Christian Messiah, in this regard, than in any previously published text and requires us to reexamine the previously, rather restricted, views of messianic expectations at Qumran.’
These recent discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls, have dramatically changed the belief that the Qumran community was expecting two Messiahs. For the past forty-five years, scholars have felt that the Essenes of Qumran, which was a devout sect of Judaism, were expecting and believed in two Messiahs. However, these new discoveries reveal strong evidence that the Qumran community was expecting only one Messiah!
The article goes on to state that there is abundant evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls that the Messiah would in fact be both a ruling, reigning, and triumphant and yet a suffering rejected figure as well. On page 58 they state: ‘there is no doubt that the Qumran community had faith in the ultimate victory of such a Messiah over all evil. However, a closer reading of these texts reveals an additional theme, equally dominant—that of an initial, though temporary, triumph of the wicked over righteousness. That is, there was the belief among the Qumran community that the Messiah would suffer initial defeat, but that he would ultimately triumph in the end of days.’
According to Wise and Tabor, the Qumran community believed that the Messiah would come once, ‘suffer initial defeat’ but at a later time he would ‘ultimately triumph in the end of days.’ Although not stated explicitly, this sounds like two appearances of a single Messiah! One appearance in humility and one in glory!
Wise and Tabor go on to show that because of Daniel’s ‘70 weeks’ prophecy, the Qumran community believed that the Messiah was going to come in the era in which they lived (First Century B.C.E.- First Century C.E.) ‘We know the Qumran group was intensely interested in this seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel. They tried to place themselves within this chronological scheme as they calculated the eschaton. They must have made something out of this Messiah figure who was cut off.’
Wise and Tabor admit that the person spoken of in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy was believed by the Essenes of Qumran to be a Messiah of Davidic descent called the teacher of righteousness. The article goes on to state that: ‘The teacher of righteousness, frequently referred to in the Qumran documents, appears to be a Messiah figure of Davidic descent, who is connected by the writers at Qumran specifically with the figure written about in Daniel 9:25.’ ”²²

ORIGINAL HEBREW TEXT WRITTEN 780 BC

hb;Wv°n:y´wÒ WÙkl] .ynIy´nÒrU?j}v?yÒ !h2?y´l; rX3⁄4?y´B yn:<ETH>p; Wv°q]biy´W WmÁv]a]y<Arv2?a} d[3⁄4? yy´mi<eth>/qm]Ala, h~b;Wv~a; &l«|ae
hy<?j]nIy´wÒ Wny´m«?qiyÒ yvi<eth>yliV]y´h? !~/Yy´B? !yImÉ=YOy´mi Wny´YEÁj?yÒ .Wny´v«?B]j]y?y´wÒ &y?Á Wny´a«=P;rÒyIy´wÒ #r:Áf; aWh? yKi? hw:±hyÒAla,
b:w-wf:h [`wh .wy´yn:?p;y´l

OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE TRANSLATION

We can assure you that the prophecies of the Second Advent are not “swept under the rug,” but are clearly dealt with throughout the New Testament, as we will detail in many chapters of this book. The authors²⁵ of The Real Messiah are representative of most of the modern rabbinical attitude toward the Messiahship of Jesus and are guilty of sweeping all of the many prophecies of the Messiah’s First Coming, such as Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9:26, under the rabbinical carpet of intolerance and narrow-mindedness. In this book, we document these prophecies as being considered Messianic not only by Christians and Messianic Jews today but also by the most ancient rabbinical commentaries. Hosea, in his explanation of Messiah coming and returning to His place while reviving Israel after two days (2000 years) and living in their literal sight for the third day (1000 years), is speaking of the Messiah. There can be no doubt of this in light of the fact that the Targum Onkelos (ancient rabbinical commentary) identifies this passage with Messiah. This is documented in Alfred Edersheim’s book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,²⁶ where it says Hosea 6:2 is Messianically applied in the Targum. Philip Moore

TOO FEW TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS REALLY
AT STAKE WHEN IT COMES TO THE MESSIAH

All too few in our modern age are aware that the commentaries of ancient Judaism are virtually identical to the teachings of those who propagate the modern Christian (Messianic) fundamentals of Jesus, as were prescribed by the New Testament 2000 years ago. The only answer to the human conditions of suffering, guilt and the question, “Where is world peace?”, is the redeemer, the only true hope. The only individual who fits this bill is the carpenter from Nazareth, known to ancient Judaism²⁷ and modern Christians, both Gentile and Jewish alike, as Jesus the Messiah!
The ancient school of rabbinical interpretation of Messianic prophecy, in existence primarily before the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, was unbiased by the events which took place in His life. These events were later recorded as fulfillments of prophecy by the New Testament because they matched exactly the specific predictions relating to the Jewish Messiah. Even secular sources outside the New Testament, such as Josephus, mention that many Jews and others received Him as Messiah as a result of these fulfillments. A case in point was His resurrection, predicted by King David.

YOU CAN TAKE THE OLD TESTAMENT
OUT OF JESUS, BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE
JESUS OUT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

These predictions (in the Old Testament prophets and law) were viewed by many ancient...