TWO APPEARANCES OF THE MOSHIACH?
That the Moshiach is to come but once is the opinion held by most groups of Jews. This position supports a major objection to belief in Yeshua as the Moshiach. What exactly does the Tenach reveal to us on this Inyon [matter]?
In Zecharyah perek
ט
, posek
ט
, we see the initial appearance of the Moshiach described as follows: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout joyfully, O daughter of Yerushaloyim. Behold, your King comes to you; he is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and riding upon a donkey, upon the colt of a donkey.”
גִּילִי מְאֹד בַּת־צִיּוֹן הָרִיעִי בַּת יְרֽוּשָׁלַם הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשָׁע הוּא עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל־חֲמוֹר וְעַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת:
In sharp contrast, here is the Moshiach’s appearance as foretold by the novi [prophet] Daniel perek
ז
, posek
יג
: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of days and was presented before him.”
חָזֵה הֲוֵית בְּחֶזְוֵי לֵֽילְיָא וַֽאֲרוּ עִם־עֲנָנֵי שְׁמַיָּא כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ אָתֵה הֲוָא וְעַד־עַתִּיק יֽוֹמַיָּא מְטָה וּקְדָמוֹהִי הַקְרְבֽוּהִי:
The Talmud, seeking to reconcile these different statements from the novi’im, writes in Sanhedrin 98a: “R. Alexandri said, ‘R. Joshua opposed two verses. It is written, “And behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,” while elsewhere it is written, “Behold, your King comes unto you, humble, and riding upon a donkey!” If they are meritorious, [he will come] with the clouds of heaven, if not, lowly and riding upon a donkey.’”
Categorically, this line of reasoning must be dismissed because it contradicts the Tenach. It is clear from the following passage that each and every nevuo [prophecy] uttered by a genuine novi of ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu will indeed come to pass. “If what a novi proclaims in the Name of ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu does not take place or come to pass, that is a message ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu had not spoken...” (D’varim perek
יח
, posek
כב
).
אֲשֶׁר יְדַבֵּר הַנָּבִיא בְּשֵׁם ה' וְלֹא־יִֽהְיֶה הַדָּבָר וְלֹא יָבֹא הוּא הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר לֹֽא־דִבְּרוֹ ה' בְּזָדוֹן דִּבְּרוֹ הַנָּבִיא לֹא תָגוּר מִמֶּֽנּוּ:
Of course, another solution to this problem, which our sages of blessed memory proposed, was that perhaps there would be two Moshichim, Moshiach ben Yosef, who would come in humility and suffer and die for the sins of Israel, and Moshiach ben Dovid, who would come in power and glory and rule the world. The idea of there being two Moshichim is problematic because then maybe one person [a potential Moshiach] in every generation could fulfill one or two of the nevuos, and the Moshiach would never be one real person and King. Instead we would just end up with the Reform Judaism idea of a Messianic Age as the culmination of many Messianic acts, as opposed to the real picture of the Moshiach that we see in the Tenach. It is also clear from the Tenach that the Moshiach has to be ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu himself because “salvation belongs to ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu” (Yonah ha-novi perek
ב
, posek
ט
).
יְשׁוּעָתָה לַֽה'
. (Also see
Is the Moshiach Merely Mortal?
to see more evidence for this idea.) We also know that ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu will not share his glory with anyone else, which would make more than one Moshiach a serious problem, since Hashem is echad [one]. As it is written in the novi Yeshayohu perek
מב
, posek
ח
: “I am Hashem; that is my Name. I will not give my glory to another...”
אֲנִי ה' הוּא שְׁמִי וּכְבוֹדִי לְאַחֵר לֹֽא־אֶתֵּן
It is the opinion of this author and many other people that it is more logical to think that one Moshiach could come twice and therefore fulfill every detail of what all the novi’im said about him than for there to be two Moshichim. In summary, Zecharyah perek
ט
, posek
ט
, and Daniel perek
ז
, posek
יג
will
both
come to pass exactly as prophesied, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken it. Yeshua of Natzeret came once as Moshiach ben Yosef and suffered and died for the sins of Yisroel and the whole world and rose again and ascended to sit with ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu. Like Moishe Rabbenu, who was initially rejected by Am Yisroel and went away into the desert for a period of time until we were ready to accept his leadership, Yeshua was unfortunately rejected by most of our leaders in his day and ascended to be with Hashem until the time comes when we are ready to receive him again as our Melech HaMoshiach. When he comes the second time, then he will fulfill all the nevuos regarding Moshiach ben Dovid and will rule forever from Yerushaloyim! May it be in our day!
