The Messianic Era
A. Restoration of the
Bet Hamikdash
Mashiach shall restore the
Bet Hamikdash in Jerusalem.
1 This refers to the third
Bet Hamikdash that will stand forever, in fulfillment of the Divine prophecy of Ezekiel 37:26-28: “I shall give My Sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling-place shall be over them… The nations shall know that I am G-d who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forever.â€
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B. Ingathering of the Exiles of Israel
Through
Mashiach shall be effected the ingathering of all the exiles of Israel:
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Deuteronomy 30:3-4: “G-d, your G-d, shall bring back your captivity… and He will return and gather you from all the nations whither G-d, your G-d, has scattered you. If your banished shall be at the utmost end of the heavens, G-d, your G-d, shall gather you from there, and He shall take you from there.â€
Isaiah 11:11-12,16: “It shall be on that day that G-d shall again set His hand for a second time to acquire the remnant of His people that shall remain from Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam, from Shinar and from Chamat and from the islands of the sea… There shall be a highway for the remnant of His people that shall remain from Assyria, as there was for Israel on the day they went up from the land of Egypt.â€
Isaiah 43:5-6: “Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east and gather you from the west. I shall say to the north, ‘Give up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold back, bring My sons from far and My daughters from the end of the earth.’ â€
Amos 9:14-15: “I shall return the captivity of My people Israel and they shall build the waste cities and settle… I shall plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked out of their land that I have given them, says G-d, your G-d.â€
Jeremiah 23:7-8: “Therefore behold, days shall come, says G-d, that they shall no longer say, ‘As G-d lives who has taken up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt;’ but ‘As G-d lives who has taken up and brought the seed of the House of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where He had banished them,’ and they shall dwell in their land.â€
Ezekiel 39:25, 27-29: “…Now I shall bring back the captivity of Jacob and I shall have compassion on the whole House of Israel, and I shall be zealous for My holy Name… When I shall have returned them from the nations and gathered them from the lands of their enemies… They shall know that I am G-d, their G-d, in that I exiled them to the nations and gathered them unto their land, and I will not leave any one of them there. I will no more hide My face from them, as I will pour out My spirit upon the House of Israel…â€
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The Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, exiled by the Assyrians before the destruction of the first
Bet Hamikdash (II-Kings, ch. 17), and dispersed beyond the river Sambation and the ‘Mountains of Darkness,’ will also return.
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This Divine promise of the return and restoration of Israel is unconditional. It will occur even if the people should not want to return:
“That which arises in your mind shall not come to pass, namely that which you say, ‘We shall be like the nations, like the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’ As I live, says the Lord G-d, I shall surely rule over them with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out. I shall take you out from the nations and gather you from the lands in which you were scattered, with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and with fury poured out… I shall pass you under the rod and bring you into the covenant… For on My holy mountain, on the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord G-d, there shall all of the whole House of Israel serve Me… when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands where you were scattered, and I shall be sanctified in you in the eyes of the nations. You shall know that I am G-d when I bring you to the earth of Israel, to the land about which I raised My hand to give it to your fathers.†(Ezekiel 20:32-37, 40-42)
“Therefore say to the House of Israel, Thus said the Lord G-d: I am not doing (this) for your sake, House of Israel, but for My holy Name which you profaned among the nations wither you came. I shall sanctify My great Name that was profaned among the nations, that you profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am G-d, says the Lord G-d, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. I shall take you from the nations, and I shall gather you from all the lands, and I shall bring you to your land. I shall sprinkle pure waters upon you and you shall be purified from all your sins, and I will purify you from all your idols…†(Ezekiel 36:22-25)
C. End to Evil and Sin
The Messianic era will mark the end of evil and sin:
Ezekiel 37:23: “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and with their abominations and with all their transgressions…â€
Zephaniah 3:13: “The remnant of Israel will not do any wrong, and they will not speak lies nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.â€
Zechariah 13:2: “It shall be in that day… that I shall cut off the names of the idols from the earth and they shall no longer be remembered; and I shall also remove from the earth the [false] prophets and the spirit of impurity.â€
Malachi 3:19: “For behold the day comes burning like a furnace, and all the wanton sinners and everyone that does wickedness shall be stubble… that to them shall not be left root and branch.â€
Isaiah 60:21: “Your people shall all be righteous, they shall inherit the land forever…â€
Jeremiah 50:20: “In those days and in that time, says G-d, the iniquity of Israel shall be searched for but it will not be, and the sins of Judah but they shall not be found…â€
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D. Awareness and Knowledge of G-d
The Messianic era will be a time of universal awareness, perception and knowledge of G-d:
Isaiah 11:9: (
cf. Habakuk 2:14): “…the earth shall be full of knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea.â€
Isaiah 40:5: “The glory of G-d shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together that the mouth of G-d has spoken.â€
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Isaiah 52:8: “…for eye to eye they shall see as G-d returns to Zion.â€
Jeremiah 31:32-33: “…I shall put My teaching in their inward parts and write it in their heart, and I shall be to them for G-d and they shall be to Me for a people. They shall no longer teach one another, and a man his brother, saying ‘Know G-d,’ for they shall all know Me from the least of them to the greatest of them…â€
The Divine spirit will be upon the people, endowing them with the power of prophecy and vision:
Joel 3:1-2: “…I shall pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your elders shall dream dreams, your young shall see visions. In those days I shall pour out My spirit also upon the servants and handmaids.â€
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E. Universal Worship of G-d
Mashiach shall mend the whole world so that all shall serve G-d in unity:
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Zephaniah 3:9: “For then I shall turn to the peoples a pure tongue that all shall call upon the Name of G-d to serve Him with one consent.â€
Isaiah 2:2-3 and Michah 4:1-2: “…The mountain of G-d’s House shall be established at the top of the mountains and it shall be raised above the hills, and all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall go and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of G-d, to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and let him [Mashiach] teach us of His ways and we shall go in His paths;’ for from Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.â€
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Zechariah 9:16: “…every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to bow before the King, G-d…â€
Zechariah 14:9: “G-d shall be King over the entire earth. In that day G-d shall be One and His Name One.â€
F. Universal Peace and Harmony
The awareness and knowledge of G-d will remove the narrow-minded dispositions that lead to strife and war. It will be an era of peace and harmony in the Holy Land
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Isaiah 2:4 and Michah 4:3: “…they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift a sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.†[Michah 4:4 continues: “Each man shall sit under his vine and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid…â€]
Hosea 2:20: “…I shall break from the earth the bow, the sword and warfare, and I shall make them lie down securely.â€
Zechariah 9:10: “…the bow of war shall be cut off, and [Mashiach] shall speak peace unto the nations…â€
This new attitude of mankind will also be reflected in the animal world:
Isaiah 11:6-9: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie with the kid, and a calf with a lion’s cub and a fatling together, and a small child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like cattle. An infant shall play over the hole of an asp, and the weaned child shall put out his hand over the eyeball of an adder. They will not harm or destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea.â€
Isaiah 65:25: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like cattle, dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says G-d.â€
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G. Resurrection of the Dead
“Your dead shall be revived, my corpses shall arise; awaken and sing you who dwell in the dust, for a dew of lights is your dew…†(Isaiah 26:19)
“Behold I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the Land of Israel. You shall know that I am G-d when I open your graves and when I revive you from your graves, My people. I shall put My spirit into you and you will live, and I will place you upon your land, and you will know that I, G-d, have spoken and done, says G-d.†(Ezekiel 37:12-14)
“Many of them that sleep in the land of dust shall awake…†(Daniel 12:2)
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H. Blissful Utopia: End to Disease and Death
The Messianic era will witness ultimate physical and spiritual bliss. All will be healed.
14 The blind, the deaf and the dumb, the lame, whosoever has any blemish or disability, shall be healed from all their disabilities: “The eyes of the blind shall be clearsighted, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened… the lame shall leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing…†(Isaiah 35:5-6).
15 Death itself shall cease, as it is said, “Death shall be swallowed up forever and G-d shall wipe the tears from every face…†(Isaiah 25:8)
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There will be a life of ease.
17 Our physical needs will be taken care of by others, as it is said, “Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.†(Isaiah 61:5)
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The earth will manifest extraordinary fertility, yielding an overabundance of every kind of produce, and trees growing ripe fruits every day.
19 Zion’s wilderness will be made “to be like Eden, and her desert like the garden of G-d†(Isaiah 51:3). “I will call for the grain and increase it… and I will increase the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field…†(Ezekiel 36:29-30) “… The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; and the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.†(Amos 9:13)
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“At that time there will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor strife. All good things will be bestowed in abundance, and all delicacies will be accessible like dust.â€
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The wondrous events and conditions of the Messianic era will completely overshadow all and any miracles that happened before then, even those associated with the exodus from Egypt.
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Even so, these Divine blessings are not an end in themselves. They are but a
means towards a higher goal:
Our longing for the Messianic era is
not for the sake of dominating the world, to rule over the heathens, or to be exalted by the nations. Nor is it that we might eat, drink and rejoice,
23 “have much produce and wealth, ride horses and indulge in wine and song, as thought by some confused people.â€
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It is, rather, to have relief from the powers that presently do not allow us to be preoccupied with Torah and
mitzvot properly.
25 Our aspirations are to befree to devote ourselves to Torah and its wisdom, with no one to oppress and disturb us. We long for that time because there will be an assembly of the righteous, an era dominated by goodness, wisdom, knowledge and truth. It will be a time when the commandments of the Torah shall be observed without inertia, laziness or compulsion (other version: “worries, fear or compulsionâ€).
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