COVER STORY
IS THE PROMISED
MESSIAH ALREADY HERE?
An artist’ s depiction of the mysterious light that appeared above the Dome of the Rock on 28th January, 2011. It is believed to signify the Messiah’ s blessings on Jerusalem.
ACCORDING TO THE JEWISH FAITH, the Messiah( Mashiach) shall come in the end times and fulfil God’ s promise to the Jews. He will give them the Promised Land and he will grant them the spiritual benevolence they had been awaiting since the era of Abraham. [ ISAIAH 11:11-12 ] The coming of the Messiah is more important than any other figure in Judaism. In fact, devout Jews recite the Amidah prayer three times a day in which one of their requests is for God to hasten the advent of the Messiah.
The concept of the Messiah differs among various schools of thought, which means that people’ s ability to recognise the true Messiah is severely hindered by sectarian bias. Like all other celestial religions, Judaism has been made subject to adulteration over time.
Some people believe that the Messiah will be a warlord who will battle for the restoration of Israel and exaltation of the Jewish people, while others say the Messiah will be a messenger of peace who shall cater to people of all nations and cultures. [ ISAIAH 52:7 ] The fact that numerous false Messiahs were successful in deceiving masses over the years suggests that people sorely lacked the criteria required to recognise the true Messiah. Had they been in possession of the divinely endorsed concept of the Messiah, they never would have fallen prey to deception.
The true Messiah shall be recognised by his divine power and abilities. If a personality is accomplishing the tasks only the Messiah has been assigned to do, then we are obliged to accept him as the Messiah.
MESSIAH HERALD / ISSUE 01 / FEB 2017 3