Like many other people and faiths, the Jews firmly believe in a Messiah that will emerge at the end of time. In the current Torah, good news of his coming is given a lot. In regards to the spread and outbreak of the coming of a savior among the Jews, Master. Hawks writes: “The Hebrews been waiting for Jesus from many generations ago till today, and the glad tidings of his coming have been repeatedly given in the Psalms and prophetic books; especially the book of Isaiah; all the way until when John the Baptist came and gave the good news of Jesus’ coming; however, the Jews of that time did not understand what John the Baptist was saying, and conceived that the “Messiah” would become the king of their time and save them from the tyranny and oppression of their rulers as well as making them superior to all.”[1]

In the Torah and its various books, the news of the coming of the savior and worldly circumstances before and afterwards have been mentioned. In the Psalms of David titled “Mazamir”, among the books of the Old Testament, various promises are mentioned in this regard. What is interesting is that the Quran quotes the Psalms of David when speaking of the coming of Imam Mahdi (aj)[2], and the exact same excerpt can be found in the current Torah today without any distortion.  The Psalms of David say: “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret - it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.”[3]

The book of Haggai says:

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”[4]

Also, the book of Daniel says: “…And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people… And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake…”[5]

The books of Zechariah, Amos and Ezekiel have also mentioned this matter and given glad tidings.[6]

Therefore, the Jews believe in the coming of a Messiah and they have taken advantage of this belief by creating a state called, Israel.  About a hundred years ago, some of their thinkers said that they have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah for so long and undergone so much difficulty but there is no news of his arrival. They said that they could no longer wait and their patience was over and that it was time they put an end to this condition and rise. They established the concept of Zionism and said that they have to take over Palestine themselves; all Jew objected to this idea because according to their faith only the Messiah could do such a thing. The Zionists brought the excuse that they wanted to establish a base for the Messiah. It was difficult to convince those who had been living with a contrasting belief over centuries, but they were able to fulfill their goals through patiently propagating their idea and gradually sending immigrants there. Even today, there are still Jews who are against the idea of Zionism and believe that they should continue their anticipation for the Messiah. Today, both the extremist pro-Zionist ‘Gush Emunim’ and the extremist anti-Zionist ‘Naturi Karta’ eagerly await the coming of the Messiah.[7]

The Messiah that the Jews are waiting for:

Both the Jews and the Christians believe that the savior at the end of time will be a descendant of Isaac. The Christians believe that the savior will be Jesus son of Mary, who was crucified by the Jews and brought back to life by God and raised to the heavens and will return at the end of time. They say that God will implement His promise through Jesus. However, the Jews say that the promised one hasn’t been born yet. Genesis 17:20 points to the LORD’s promise regarding Ismail, “Hanan Eil” comments on this verse saying: “2337 years passed since that promise and prophecy until the Arabs from the progeny of Ismail established a great nation with the emergence of Islam, but God’s promise was delayed upon us because of our sins us, who are from the family tree of Isaac.” Then he goes on to say: “But God’s promise to us will certainly be fulfilled in the future.”[8]

Based on some texts, it seems like the one Jews are waiting for has the name of “Christ”, just like the Christians.  Although this could have been considered a theory before Jesus, but such a viewpoint regarding the Jewish promised one is false, because their promised one is named “Moshiach”. This name used to be the title of the rulers of the Israelites. Since the term Christ only refers to Jesus, Jewish thinkers use the Hebrew term “Moshiach” which is translated as “Messiah”.[9]