Hora’ah – הוראה – Teaching
“Prior to the first century (C.E.) the Messianic interest was not excessive…The First Century, however, especially the generation before the destruction [of the Second Temple] witnessed a remarkable outburst of Messianic emotionalism. This is to be attributed, as we shall see, not to an intensification of Roman persecution, but to the prevalent belief induced by the popular chronology of that day that the age was on the threshold of the Millennium…when Jesus came into Galilee, ‘spreading the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the ‘time is fulfilled’ and the Kingdom of God is at hand,’ he was voicing the opinion universally held that…the age of the kingdom of God-was at hand … it was this chronological fact which inflamed the Messianic hope rather than the Roman persecutions. … Jesus appeared in the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate (26-36 c.e.). It seems likely, therefore, that in the minds of the people the Millennium was to begin around the year 30 C.E. Be it remembered that it is not the Messiah who brings about the Millennium. It is the inevitable advent of the Millennium which carries along with it the Messiah and his appointed activities. The Messiah was expected around the second quarter of the First Century C.E. because the Millennium was at hand. Prior to that time he was not expected, because according to the chronology of the day the Millennium was still considerably removed.”
A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, pp. 5-7
“R. Kattina said: Six thousand years shall the world exist, and one [thousand, the seventh], it shall be desolate, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Abaye said: it will be desolate two [thousand], as it is said, After two days will he revive us: in the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. It has been taught in accordance with R. Kattina: Just as the seventh year is one year of release in seven, so is the world: one thousand years out of seven shall be fallow, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and it is further said, A Psalm and song for the Sabbath day, meaning the day that is altogether Sabbath and it is also said, For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past. The Tanna debe Eliyyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost.”
Talmud, Sanhedrin 97a,b
“And the (voice from heaven) came forth and exclaimed, who is he that has revealed my secrets to mankind? He further sought to reveal by a Targum the inner meaning of the Hagiographa, but a voice from heaven went forth and said, enough! What was the reason?–because the date of the Messiah was foretold in it!”
Targum of the Prophets, Tractate Megillah 3a
“Had I been there, I should have said to them: is it not written, the temple of the Lord are these, which points to the destruction of the first and Second Temples? Granted that they knew it would be destroyed, did they know when this would occur? Rabbi Abaye objected: and did they not know when? Is it not written, seventy weeks are determined upon the people, and upon the holy city. All the same, did they know on which day?”
Talmud, Nazir 32b
“The two-thousand year era begun by Avraham and climaxed by the Revelation at Sinai ended with the redaction of the Mishna, the Oral Law, in which the details of living in accordance with the Torah are spelled out. It was supremely an Era of Torah, and it should have led to man’s recognition of one G-d and to the Era of Mashiach. But it did not. Although outwardly the Jewish people fulfilled the Torah’s precepts and diligently studied its wisdom, inwardly they failed to carry out its mission. Instead of recognizing G-d’s will they trusted more ad more in their own power. Instead of relying on G-d’s Providence, they came to believe that they alone were the masters of their fates. A collective selfishness, concomitant with a denial of the sovereignty of G-d pervaded the Jewish people. The evil in them prevented the Era of Mashiach from beginning at its appointed time; as the sages put it, “because of our many sins, the years that have gone by, have gone bye.” Instead of the Kingdom of the House of David being re-established, the enslavement of the Jews by the Romans became more severe, the Torah centers were wiped out, and the Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth. The Era of Torah ended but Mashiach had not arrived. … “Where is the midpoint of the world?” … “The preent time,” said the Elders to Rabi Yehoshua, “is the end of the two millennia of the Era of Torah. Your tradition claims that history will consist of two millennia each of Chaos, Torah and Mashiach. Discounting the two thousand wasted years of the Era of Chaos, the present should be the midpoint between the two productive eras of the world, the Eras of Torah and Mashiach. This should be the time when we witness the arrival of Mashiach. But obviously he has not yet come, for you Jews have certainly not been redeemed. We have crushed you and turned you into a nation of ruin, disaster, and despair. The ‘midpoint of the world’ has manifestly passed by and the Era of Mashiach has not begun. Why, then, do you persist in hoping for his arrival? Why should he come in the future if he did not come at his appointed hour? Is it not clear that the time for his arrival has passed you by forever?”
The Juggler and the King, Aharon Feldman, p. 145-146
“Isaiah prophesied, “A child will be born to us, a son given us – leadership placed upon his shoulders. And he will be called Pele Yoetz, of the warrior Aviad Sar Shalom. His mission and his peace will never end – strengthening the throne of David and his kingdom, abetting it with justice and righteousness forever.” This prophecy of a newborn child who comes to establish the throne of David was understood by the sages as referring to Hezekiah the king. He was to have been G-d’s chosen, but because he did not sing (G-d’s praises) his chance was missed and this prophecy’s actualization would have to wait for the future. We need not understand that this prophecy foretells that the child will actually reign as a king while still a child. Rather, from the time of his birth, he is destined to be the king – but this destiny rests upon his shoulders from birth. The imagery of the child messiah, then, remains.”
The Scroll of Secrets, The Hidden Messianic Vision of R. Nachman of Breslav, Zvi Mark, p. 129
“Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him — This is one of the traits of Yosef not only in his own generation, but in every generation, i.e., that Mashiach ben Yosef recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him. This is the work of Satan, who hides the characteristics of Mashiach ben Yosef so that the footsteps of the Mashiach are not recognized and are even belittled because of our many sins. Otherwise, our troubles would already have ended. Were Israel to recognize Yosef, that is, the footsteps of ben Yosef the Mashiach which is the ingathering of the exiles etc., then we would already have been redeemed with a complete redemption.”
Kol Hator, Chapter 2, Aspect #39
NEW TESTAMENT
“But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”
Matthew 12:39-42
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Matthew 23:37-39
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luke 2:29-32
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hid from your eyes! For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:42-45
“The great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Yeshua was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” Yeshua found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Yeshua was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.”
John: 12:12-16
“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Mashiach who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Mashiach and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”
1Peter 1:10-12