What The Messiah Must Accomplish
© By Rabbi Shlomo Nachman *
As Jews, we pray for the coming of HaMashiach, the Messiah, at least thrice daily. We will recognize him when he comes because the prophets gave us the requirements he must fulfill. Over the past thousands of years, many have claimed to be our Messiah. To date, however, NONE of them have met the biblical requirements, which is why knowledgeable religious Jews and Noahidim do not accept any of these men. Let's look at some of the essential Messianic requirements:
Jeremiah 31: 30, Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will form a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant.
31, Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says the Lord.
32, For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will place My law in their midst, and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
33, And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or [shall] one [teach] his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know Me from their smallest to their greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will no longer remember.

The fact that people continue to question the identity (and reality) of HaMashiach is conclusive evidence that he has not come yet.

Note that the "New Covenant" will be made with the Jews, the house of Israel, and with Judah, not with Gentiles.

For non-Jews to tell us who Mashiach is itself demonstrates that the man they propose is not HaMashiach. As Yeshua himself said, "Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22) and yet his followers have abandoned the Torah he embraced.

For those who continue to debate this, here is more evidence:

Rambam:

Mishna Torah, Laws of Kings and their Wars
Maimonides (Rambam), Chapter 11, Law #4: (See below for the entire section).
If a king will arise from the House of David who delves deeply into the study of the Torah and, like David, his ancestor, observes its mitzvahs as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law; if he compels all of Israel to walk in [the way of the Torah] and repairs the breaches [in its observance]; and if he fights the wars of G-d; - we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.

If he succeeds in the above, builds the Beit HaMikdash on its site [i.e., the Third Jerusalem Temple on the Holy Mount], and gathers in the dispersed remnant of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach.

He will then perfect the entire world, [motivating all the nations] to serve G-d together, as it is written [Zephaniah, 3:9], "I will make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon the Name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose."

Who has met these requirements?
No one.

"And you shall speak to him, saying, "So said the Lord of Hosts, saying: Behold a man whose name is the Shoot [referencing the descendant of David Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 11], who will spring up out of his place and build the Temple of the Lord.

And he will build the Temple of the Lord and bear glory. He will sit and rule on his throne, and the priest shall be on his throne. And a counsel of peace shall be between them [both] -- Zechariah 6: 12,13.

When Will the Mashiach Come?

There are a wide variety of opinions on when the Mashiach will come. Some of Judaism's greatest minds have cursed those who try to predict the time of the Mashiach's coming because errors in such predictions have caused people to lose faith in the messianic ideal or in Judaism itself. For example, in the 17th century, Shabbatai Tzvi claimed to be the Mashiach. When Tzvi converted to Islam under threat of death, many Jews converted with him. Nevertheless, people continue speculating about the time of his arrival. This is understandable as long as it is done with balance of mind. I'm facinated by the topic myself.

Some Jewish scholars believe God has set a specific date for the coming, but most suggest the conduct of humanity will determine the time, for good or ill. Generally, Jewish scholars believe that Mashiach will come when he is most needed because the world will have become so sinful or when he is most deserved because the world will have become so righteous. Source

Clause One:

Connecting Clause:

Clause Two:

The Two Options:

If the Jewish people choose to humble themselves and embrace the truth of Torah, they will lead the world to HaShem and then:
Isaiah 56:7 I will bring them to My holy mount, and I will cause them to rejoice in My house of prayer, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
If this does not happen, however, and history is not encouraging on this score, then HaShem will eventually make it happen through Mashiach ben Yosef according to our sages:
Sanhedrin Folio 97a: Thus hath R. Johanan said: in the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.'

Sanhedrin 97b: [To this] Rab said: All the predestined dates [for redemption] have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on repentance and good deeds...
R. Eliezer said that if Israel repents, they will be redeemed; if they do not, they will not be redeemed.
R. Joshua replied: If they do not repent, they not be redeemed! [i.e., not so] But the Holy One, blessed be He, will set up a king over them, whose decrees shall be as cruel as Haman's, whereby Israel shall engage in repentance, and he will thus bring them back to the right path.

So, according to Rabbi Joshua, if the Jewish people fail to embrace Torah, we WILL suffer terribly. This globalist despot "as cruel as Haman" will come, and his persecutions will drive us to repentance. As we look around today, it appears to many that he may be rising now. If so, we may be entering the most harsh period in human history. I discuss this in much more detail in my study Two Messiahs.

Can we avoid this coming globalist despot? Certainly, we can make serious teshuvah (repentance). But will we? In the quote to the right Rebbe Nachman of Breslov warns: Great Atheism is coming. He penned these words in the late 1700s during a time, by comparison with our own, when Atheism was virtually non-existent.

Here's a list of biblical requirements the Messiah must meet:

More Specifically:

From the above sources, we learn that HaMashiach must meet the following essential criteria to be accepted (in no particular order):

  1. He must be a fully human Jewish male who reigns as King of Israel. (i.e. not an "incarnation of God," a "space brother," etc.).
  2. He must be able to trace his lineage back to the House of David.
  3. He must be an accomplished Torah Scholar.
  4. He must be a fully Torah-observant Jew.
  5. He must inspire non-Jews to abandon their religions (including Christianity and Islam), attach themselves to the Torah of HaShem, and worship in His Holy House as Noahides or converts to Judaism.
  6. He must lead the Jewish people in teshuvah (repentance) and obedience to HaShem and His Torah
  7. He must unite the Jewish people and do away with the movements and other distractions.
  8. He must cause all the Jews of the Diaspora (i.e. those scattered among the Gentile nations) to return Home to Israel.
  9. He must fight the necessary wars of God and establish Israeli supremacy throughout all the Lands granted us by HaShem in Torah.
  10. He must cause the Beit HaMikdash ("House of the Holy") to be rebuilt on the Temple Mount at the Sacred Rock.

Who has met these requirements?
No one.

When someone comes and accomplishes all of the above conditions, we can know that HaMashiach has come. Until then, we continue to wait.

May he come soon and lead us all to freedom!
From the Mishneh Torah:
      Melachim u'Michamot (Laws of Kings), Chapter 11 Halacha.
In the future, the Messianic king will arise and renew the Davidic dynasty, restoring it to its initial sovereignty. He will build the Temple and gather the dispersed of Israel.
Then, in his days, the observance of the statutes will return to their previous state. We will offer sacrifices and observe the Sabbatical and Jubilee years according to all their particulars as described by the Torah.

Anyone who does not believe in him or does not await his coming denies the statements of the other prophets and those of the Torah of Moses, our teacher. The Torah testified to his coming, as Deuteronomy 30:3-5 states:
G-d will bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you. He will again gather you from among the nations. Even if your Diaspora is at the ends of the heavens, G-d will gather you up from there - and bring you to the land.
These explicit words of the Torah include all the statements made by all the prophets. The portion of Bilaam reference HaMashiach., He prophesies about two anointed kings: the first anointed king, David, who saved Israel from her oppressors, and the final anointed king, who will arise from his descendants and save Israel at the end of days. That passage (Numbers 24:17-18) relates:<
    "I see it, but not now" - This refers to David;
    "I perceive it, but not in the near future" - This refers to the Messianic king;
    "A star shall go forth from Jacob" - This refers to David;
    "and a staff shall arise in Israel" - This refers to the Messianic king;
    "crushing all of Moab's princes" - This refers to David as II Samuel 8:2 relates: "He smote Moab and measured them with a line;"
    "decimating all of Seth's descendants" - This refers to the Messianic king about whom Zechariah 9:10 prophesies: "He will rule from sea to sea."
    "Edom will be demolished" - This refers to David as II Samuel 8:6 states "Edom became the servants of David;"
    "Seir will be destroyed" - this refers to the Messianic king as Ovadiah 1:21 prophesies: "Saviors will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau."
Halacha 2

Similarly, concerning the cities of refuge, Deuteronomy 19:8-9 states: "When G-d will expand your borders - you must add three more cities." This command was never fulfilled. Surely, G-d did not give this command in vain.

There is no need to cite proofs from the works of the prophets, for all their books are filled with mention of this matter.

Halacha 3

One should not presume that the Messianic king must work miracles and wonders, bring about new phenomena in the world, resurrect the dead, or perform other similar deeds. This is definitely not true.

Proof can be brought from the fact that Rabbi Akiva, one of the greater Sages of the Mishnah, was one of the supporters of King Bar Kozibah and would describe him as the Messianic king. He and all the Sages of his generation considered him the Messianic king until he was killed because of sins. Once he was killed, they realized that he was not the Mashiach. The Sages did not ask him for any signs or wonders.

The main thrust of the matter is: This Torah, its statutes, and its laws are everlasting. We may not add to them or detract from them.

Halacha 4

If a king arises from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of G-d, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.

If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach.

He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve G-d together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: "I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose."

If he does not succeed to this degree or is killed, then he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah. Rather, he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died. G-d caused him to arise only to test the many, as Daniel 11:35 states: 'And some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the appointed time, because the set time is in the future.'

Jesus of Nazareth, who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court, was also alluded to in Daniel's prophecies, as ibid. 11:14 states: 'The vulgar among your people shall exalt themselves attempting to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble.'

Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior who would gather their dispersed and strengthen their observance of the mitzvot. In contrast, Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnant to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a g-d other than the L-rd.

Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Ultimately, all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite [i.e., Muhammed] who arose after him will only serve to prepare the way for Mashiach's coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve G-d together as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: 'I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose.'

How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvot. These matters have spread to the furthermost islands to many stubborn-hearted nations. They discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah, saying: "These mitzvot were true, but were already negated in the present age and are not applicable for all time."

Others say: "Implied in the mitzvot are hidden concepts, not simply understood. The Mashiach has already come and revealed those hidden truths."

[But] when the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his position becoming exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage and their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.

* © by Rabbi Shlomo Nachman, July 19, 2013 (most recent update: January 24, 2024)

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