Messiah

MESSIAH, or Messias. This Word comes from the Hebrew¹ Mashach to anoint. ‘Tis given principally, and by Way of Eminence, to that sovereign Deliverer that was expected by the Jews, and whom they vainly expect even to this Day, since he is already come at the appointed Time, in the Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They were used to anoint Kings, High-priests, and sometimes Prophets. Saul, David, Solomon, and Joash, Kings of Judah, received the Royal Unction. Aaron and his Sons received the Sacerdotal, and Elisha, the Disciple of Elijah, received the prophetick Unction; at least God ordered Elijah to give it. And Elisha, the Son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be Prophet in thy Room. But we do not read that this was actually done,² and sometimes the Phrase, to anoint one for an Employment, signifies no more than a particular Designation or Choice for such an Employment³. It is said for Example, Judges ix. 8, 15. That the Trees assembled themselves together, to anoint a King over 2 Sam. xix. 10.them. It is elsewhere said, that the Israelites had anointed Absalom to be their King, yet it does not appear that he ever received the Royal Unction. The Lord command-ed Elijah to anoint Hazael to be King over Syria; 1 Kings xix. 15.but we do not find that the Prophet performed these Orders. But his Successor Elisha foretold to Hazael that he should reign, yet he gave him not the Royal Unction, at least the Scripture mentions nothing of it; and 2 Kings viii. 11, 12, 13, 14.probably it was not the Custom to give the Unction to the Kings of Damascus. King Cyrus, who founded the Empire of the Persians, and who set the Jews at Liberty, is called in Scripture, the anointed of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed, to Cyrus. We read in Ezekiel, xxviii. 14. the Name of Messiah given to the King of Tyr, Thou art the anointed Cherub that covereth. And in Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 8. that Elisha anointed Kings for Vengeance, Who anointedst Kings to take Revenge. He anointed Jehu King of Israel by the Hands of a Prophet whom he 2 Kings ix. 2, 3.sent, and he acquainted Hazael by Word of Mouth, that he should reign over Damascus and Syria. These two Princes were sent of God, to revenge the Iniquities of the House of Ahab.

St. Peter and the other Believers being assembled together, Acts iv. 27. say to God from Psalm ii, Why did the Heathen rage, and the People imagine vain Things? The Kings of the Earth stood up, and the Rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a Truth against thy holy Child Jesus, whom thou hast anoint-ed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the People of Israel, were gathered together.

Luke iv. 18.St. Luke says, that our Saviour entering into a Synagogue at Nazareth, there opened the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, where he read, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor. After which he shewed them, that this Prophecy was accomplish-ed in his Person. St. Peter speaking to Cornelius the Centurion, and to those that were with him, tells them that the Lord had sent Acts x. 36, 37.Peace to Men by Jesus Christ, whom God had anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with Power. Lastly, St. Paul says to the 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.Corinthians, Now he which stablisheth us with you, in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. Who hath also sealed us, and given the Earnest of the Spirit in our Heart.

Isai. xlv. 1.It is not found any where, that Jesus Christ ever received any sensible Unction, or that the Apostles anointed the Faithful with any particular and external Oil or Ointment. The Unction that the Prophets and the Apostles speak of, when Jesus Christ or his Disciples are understood, is the spi-ritual and internal Unction of Grace and of the Holy Ghost, of which the outward and sensible Unction, with which they anciently anointed Kings, Priests, and Prophets, was but the Figure and Symbol. Jesus Christ has united in his own Person the Offices of King, Prophet, and Priest, and has eminently included in himself whatever the Law and the Prophets had promised or figured, that was most excel-lent or most perfect. The Christians, his Disciples and his Children, enjoy in some Sense the same Prerogatives; they have received 1 Peter ii. 9.the Royal and Priestly Unction in Baptism; But ye are a chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar People; that ye should shew forth the Praises of him that hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light. But all this must be understood in a spiritual Sense, of the Graces of the Holy Ghost, that his holy Unction has poured into our Hearts.

The Name Messiah, Anointed, or Christ, was given to the Kings, and to the 1 Sam. xii. 3, 5.High-Priests of the Hebrews. The Lord is Witness against you, and his Anointed; that is, the Lord and the King whom he has established. And David in several Places, God forbid that I should lay my Hand, upon the Lord’s Anointed. The Patriarchs and Prophets are also represented by the Name of Messiah’s, or the Lord’s Anointed. Touch 1 Chron. xvi. 22. Psal. cv. 15.not mine Anointed, and do my Prophets no Harm. But this Name chiefly belongs to the Messiah by Way of Excellence, who was the Object of the Desire and of the Expectation of the Saints. Hannah the Mother of 1 Sam. ii. 10. Psal. ii. 2. Psal. xliv. 7.Samuel plainly alludes to him, when at the End of her Hymn, and in a Time that there was no King in Israel, she says, The Lord shall judge the Ends of the Earth; and he shall give Strength unto his King, and exalt the Horn of his anointed; that is, the Glory, the Strength, the Power of his Christ, or his Messiah. And the Psalmist, The Kings of the Earth set themselves against the Lord, and against his Messiah or Anointed. And elsewhere, Therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness above thy Fellows.Lam. iv. 20. And Jeremiah, The Breath of our Nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their Pits. Daniel foretels the Dan. ix. 26.Death of Jesus Christ under the Name of Messiah the Lord. And after three Score and two Weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. Lastly, Habakkuk says, Hab. iii. 13.Thou wentest forth for the Salvation of thy People, even for Salvation with thine Anointed. It would be needless to bring any Testimonies from the New Testament, to prove Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, since these are to be had in almost every Line. As to the Books of the Old Testament, we have confined our selves to those only, where the Word Messiah is to be found; for such only are proper to our Design.

The Greek Word Christos, from whence comes Christ and Christian, exactly answers to the Hebrew Messiah, which signifies him that has received Unction, a King, a Priest. The Greeks also make Use of the Term Eleimmenos, which has the same Signification as Christos.

The ancient Hebrews, being instructed by the Prophets, had very clear Notions of the Messiah. They were changed by little and little, so that when Jesus Christ appeared in Judæa, they had entertained a very wrong Conception of the Messias, expecting a temporal Monarch and Conqueror, that should bring the whole World under Subjection. From whence it came to pass, that they were much scandalized at the outward Appearance, the Humility, and seeming Weakness of our Saviour, which hindered them from acknowledging him as the Christ that they expected. And all the modern Jews since his Time, being delivered up to a reprobate Sense, fall into still greater Mistakes, and form to themselves chimerical Ideas of the Messiah, utterly known to their Forefathers.

The ancient Prophets had foretold, that the Messias should be God and Man, exalted and abased, Master and Servant, Priest and Victim, King and Subject, Mortal and a Conqueror of Death, Rich and Poor, a King, a Conqueror, glorious, a Man of Griefs, involved in our Infirmities, unknown, in a State of Abjection and Humiliation. All these seeming Contrarieties were to be reconciled in the Person of the Messiah, as without Dispute they did really meet in the Person of Jesus Christ. It was known that the Messiah was to be born of a Virgin, of the Tribe of Judah, of the Race of David, in the Village of Bethlehem. That he was to continue for ever, that his coming was to be concealed, that he was the great Prophet promised in the Law, that he was both the Son and Lord of David, that he was to perform great Miracles, that he should restore all Things, that he should die and rise again, that Elias should be the Fore-runner of his Appearance, that a Proof of his coming should be, the Cure of the Lepers, Life restored to the Dead, and the Gospel preached to the Poor. That he should not destroy the Law, but should perfect and fulfil it, that he should be a Stone of Offence, and a Stumbling-block, against which many should bruise themselves; that he should suffer infinite Oppositions and Contradictions, that from his Time Idolatry and Impiety should be banished, and that a strange People should come and submit themselves to his Discipline.

When Jesus Christ appeared, these Notions of him were still common among the Jews. Our Saviour herein appeals even to themselves, and asks them if these are not the Characters of the Messiah, and if they do not see the Completion of them in himself. The Evangelists take Care to put them in Mind of them, to prove thereby, that Jesus is the Christ whom they expected. They quote the Prophecies to them, which then were acknowledged to belong to the Messias, tho’ they have been controverted by them since. It may be seen in the first Fathers of the Church, and in the most ancient Jewish Authors, that in the Beginning of Christianity, they did not think fit to call in Doubt several Prophecies, which in the Judgment of their Forefathers were to be understood of the Messiah. ‘Twas but in after Ages that they began to deny, that the Passages we quote against them are to be understood of the Messiah, endeavouring to defend themselves from those Arguments that were brought against ‘em from their own Scriptures. After this they fell into new Schemes, and new Notions concerning the coming of Christ.

Some of ‘em, as the famous Hillel, who lived, according to the Jews, before Christ, maintain that ‘tis in vain now to expect the coming of the Messiah, since he is already come in the Person of King Hezekiah. Others of ‘em think, that the Belief of the coming of the Messiah is no Article of Faith, and he that denies this Doctrine makes but a small Breach in the Law; he only lops off a Branch from the Tree, without hurting the Root. Thus it was affirmed by Joseph Albo the Jew, in a Conference held in Spain, in the Presence of Pope Benedict XIII. Buxtorf says⁴, that the greatest Part of the modern Rabbins believe, that the Messiah has been come a good while, but that he keeps himself concealed in some Part of the World or other, and will not manifest himself, because of the Sins of the Jews. Jarchi affirms, that the ancient Hebrews believed the Messiah was born on the Day of the last Destruction of Jerusa lem by the Romans. Some of ‘em assign him the Terrestrial Paradise for his Habitation, others the City of Rome, where according to the Talmudists he keeps himself concealed among the Leprous and infirm, at the Gate of the City, expecting Elias to come to manifest him to Men.

A great Number of others believe he is not yet come, but they are strangely divided among themselves about the Time and other Circumstances of his coming. Some expect him at the End of six Thousand Years. They make Jesus Christ to be born in the Year 3761. Add to this Number 1717, and there will arise 5478, and consequently they will have 522 Years to expect still. Kimchi, who lived in the twelfth Century, was of Opinion, that the coming of the Messiah was very near. David the Grandson of Maimonides was advised with in this Matter, who himself had been consulted about it; but neither of them could say any Thing to the Purpose about it. Maimonides pretended to have received certain Prophecies from his Ancestors, which gave him to understand, that the Gift of Prophecy should be restored to Israel after the same Number of Years from the Time of Baalam, as had passed from the Beginning of the World to Baalam’s Time. But according to him Baalam prophecied in 2488. If we double this Number, we shall find the Restoration of the Gift of Prophecy to be in 4976, or in the Year of Christ 1316. But this has been found to be a false Conclusion. Lastly, some of ‘em have fixed the End of their Misfortunes to be in 1492, others in 1598, others in 1600, others yet later. Last of all, being tired out with these Uncertainties, they have pronounced⁵ an Anathema against all those, that shall pretend to calculate the Time of the coming of the Messias.

To reconcile those Prophecies that seemed to oppose each other, some have had Recourse to an Hypothesis of two Messiah’s who are to succeed each other. One in a State of Humiliation, in Poverty and Sufferings; and the other in Splendor, Glory, and Magnificence; but each of ‘em to be mere Men. The first is to proceed from the Tribe of Joseph, and the Family of Ephraim. His Father is to be called Huziel, and himself Nehemiah. He is to appear at the Head of an Army, composed of the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, of Benjamin and one Part of the Tribe of Gad, and shall make War with the Idumæans. ‘Tis thus they call the Christians and the Romans, whose Empire they are to destroy, and so bring back the Jews in Triumph to Jerusalem. The second Messias is to be born of the Race of David, is to bring the first Messiah to Life again, to assemble all Israel together, to raise those that are dead, to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, and to rule over the whole World. He is to marry several Wives, and to have many Children, which are to succeed him after his Death; for he is to die like other Men. On this Subject may be read the two Dissertations of F. Charles Joseph Imbonatus, printed at the End of the fifth Tome of the Bibliotheca Rabbinica, concerning the coming of the Messias; and also what Bartolocci has gathered together upon the same Subject, in the first Tome of his Bibliotheca Rabbinica; and what is to be found in the fourth Tome of M. Basnage’s History of the Jews, the Paris Edition; and lastly, our own Dissertation concerning the Characters of the Messias according to the Jews, printed at the Beginning of our Commentary upon Jeremiah.

Jesus Christ in his Gospel gives Warning to his Disciples, that false Prophets and false Messiahs should arise; Surgent Pseudochristi & Pseudo-prophetæ. That they should perform Signs and Wonders, by which even the Elect themselves would be in Danger of being deceived. The Event has but too much verified this Prediction. Every Age among the Jews has produced false Prophets, and false Christs, who have succeeded in deceiving many of that Nation. One appeared even in the Age of Christ himself; Simon Magus I mean, who gave out at Samaria that he was the great Power of God. In the following Age Barchochebas by his Impostures drew the most terrible Persecution upon the Jews that they had ever suffered. See his Article, and what we have related under the Name of this Impostor.

In the fifth Century, about the Year 434, there appeared in the Isle of Candy a false Messiah called Moses, who pretended to be the ancient Legislator of the Jews, descended from Heaven to procure a glorious Deliverance for the Jews of that Island, by making them pass over the Sea, and return again into the Land of Promise⁶. The Jews of Candy were Fools enough to be persuaded by him; many of them jumped into the Sea, in Expectation that it would open to give them a safe Passage. A great Number of them were drowned, and the rest got out again as well as they could; the Impostor was sought for in Order to be punished, but he disappeared. This made it suspected that he might be some Demon, who had assumed a human Shape to abuse the Jews.

In the following Age there appeared in Palestine a false Messiah called Julian; he gave himself out to be a Conqueror, and undertook to his Followers, that he would deliver them from the Oppression of the Christians by Force of Arms. Misled by such Promises, the Jews took up Arms, and cut the Throats of many Christians. But the Emperor Justinian sending some Troops to their Assistance, Julian was taken and executed, and his Party dispersed.

In 714⁷, a Jew called Serenus, pretended to the Spanish Jews, that he would conduct them to Palestine, and set up his Empire there. Several believed in this new Messiah, forsook their Countrey and their Business, and began to follow him. But they soon found him out to be a Cheat, and had Time enough to repent of their Folly and Credulity.

The twelfth Century was very fruitful in this Kind of Impostures⁸. One appeared in France, who brought upon his Followers a severe Rebuke from King Louis le Jeune; he was taken and put to Death, but his Name and Countrey are not known. He appeared about the Year 1137. The Year following another started up in Persia; the Army he had got together was numerous, and hardy enough to offer Battle to the King of Persia. But this Prince chose rather to compel the Jews in his Dominions, to oblige this Man to lay down his Arms; the false Messiah answered, that the present Succes of his Undertaking was a Warrant to him of the future, and that they had nothing to fear. However at last he promised to quit his Arms, if he might be reimbursed the Charges he had been at in preparing for War. The King complied with this Proposal, but no sooner was the Army disarmed, but the King forced the Jews to pay him again what had been paid to the Impostor.

In the same Century were seen no fewer than seven or eight false Messiah’s, not only in Spain, but in Arabia, in Persia, in Moravia. He that appeared in Moravia was said to have the Secret of making himself invisible when he pleased, and to charm the Eyes of those that followed him. Another called David Al-roi was a Conjurer, who by the Assistance of some false Miracles deceived a great Number of Jews, whom he had persuaded to take up Arms. The King being amazed at the Rapidity of his Conquests, and at the Multitude of his Followers, ordered him to appear at Court, with a Promise of submitting to him, if he could prove himself to be the true Messiah. David attended upon the King, was put in Prison, but he came out again, was pursued, he disappeared. His Voice was heard, but nothing was seen of him. The King set himself at the Head of his Army in Hopes to catch him, and arrived at the Banks of the River Goran, where he heard him cry out, O Fools, but he was not seen. A Moment afterwards he was observed dividing the Waters of the River with his Cloak, when he passed over. The Army followed him, but he was no more to be found. The King then wrote to the Jews in his Dominions, to deliver up David to him, on Penalty of all being massacred without any Quarter. Zaccheus the Head of the Captivity, wrote to the Impostor to deliver himself up and save the Nation, but he made a Jest of this. However at last the Father-in-Law of David, gained over by a great Sum of Money, tempted him to him, made him drunk, and then cut off his Head.

At the Beginning of the sixteenth Century, the Jews of Media and Persia, being puffed up by the Valour, the hasty Conquests, and Succes of the Sophi Ismael, Head of the House that lately governed in Persia; they imagined that he might be the Messias. But this Prince proving a steddy Mussulman, despised all their Honours, and kept them at a Distance. He died in 1523.

James Zieglern, who died in 1559, loudly proclaimed the coming of the Messias. He maintained that he had been born for fourteen Years, and that he had seen him at Strasburg. He kept a Sword and a Scepter to put into his Hands, as soon as he should arrive at an Age that was proper for fighting. Then he was to pull down Anti-Christ, and the Turkish Empire; was to extend his Monarchy to the utmost Limits of the World, should assemble a Council at Constance, which would hold for twelve Years, and in which all Disputes about Religion should be finally determined. But the Messiah did not appear, and this Imposture was manifest. Another Visionary called Philip Zieglern arose in Holland, in 1624, and promised a Messiah whom he had seen, and who only waited for the Conversion of the Hearts of the Jews, in Order to manifest himself.

All these Impostures, with the ill Succes that has attended them, have not yet been able to cure the Jews of their whimsical Notions, concerning the pretended Messiah that they expect. One of their Nation born at Aleppo⁹, in the last Century, called Zabatai Tzevi, attempted about the Year 1666 to make himself received as the Messiah. He had concerted this Design very early, and learned whatever might be necessary for him, for the better acting of this Part. He preached in the Fields be-

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fore the Turks, who only derided him, but Isai. xiv. 14.his Disciples were in great Admiration of him. He bragged that he could raise himself above the Clouds, as Isaiah had foretold. And having asked his Disciples if they had not seen him do it, he reproached the Blindness of those who had Sincerity enough not to affirm it. He was summoned before the Heads of the Synagogue at Smyrna, where he then resided, and was condemned to Death; but no one would execute this Sentence, so that they were contented to banish him.

Tzevi was three Times married, but did not consummate his Marriages. Having gone through Greece, he came to Alexandria, and thence to Gaza, where he found a Jew called Nathan-Levi, or Benjamin, whom he persuaded to act the Part of the Prophet Elias, who was to go before the Messiah. They came to Jerusalem, Nathan declared Tzevi to be him whom they expected. Part of the Jews of the Countrey were inveigled into the Cheat, but the wiser Sort opposed him, and excommunicated him. He withdrew to Constantinople, and thence to Smyrna, whither Nathan-Levi sent four Ambassadors to him, who acknowledged him for the Messiah. This Embassy imposed upon the People, and even upon some of the Doctors; they owned him as a King, and every one brought him Presents, that he might support his royal Dignity. Those of a better Understanding opposed these Innovations, but in vain. They even pronounced two Sentences of Death against him, but he was not concerned at it, because he knew they durst not put them in Execution. He waited on the Cadi of Smyrna, and put himself under his Protection. The whole Discourse was of Tzevi; he had a Throne set up for himself, and another for his Spouse. He called himself The King of the Kings of Israel, and Joseph Tzevi his Brother was The King of the Kings of Judah. He caused the Name of the Ottoman Emperor to be erased out of the Liturgy, and had his own put in the Place. Before he began the Conquest of this Empire, he distributed the Offices and Employments to all his Favourites.

He departed for Constantinople. The Grand Seignior being informed of it, gave Orders to his Vizier to seize him, to put him in Prison, and make him undergo the Bastonade. They laid hold of him, and asked him why he assumed the Title of a King: He answered, because the Jews had compelled him to do so. The Vizier ordered him to be kept in Prison at the Dardanelles. The Jews thought it was for want of Power to hurt him that Tzevi was spared. They corrupted the Governor by great Presents, and even in his Prison the Impostor was entertained with all possible Honours. In the mean Time the Grand Seignior caused Tzevi to be brought to Adrianople, and ordered him to be run thro’ with a Sword, to try if he was invulnerable. But Tzevi chose rather to turn Mahometan, than thus to suffer Death. And such was the Conclusion of this famous Transaction¹⁰.

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