Messiah ben Joseph
In an article by rabbi Ari Kahn titled "The Beauty of Joseph", he writes,
"Joseph understood that one day the Jewish people will have to rally behind Joseph, not as a substitute for Judah, but as a preparation for the Kingdom of Judah.
...
"There will be two messiahs one day -- Messiah Son of Joseph, who prepares the way for the Messiah Son of David, himself a descendent of Judah. According to tradition, the Messiah Son of Joseph will unite all Israel in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah Son of David, but will die in the process [Sukka 52a] in an act of self-sacrifice for his people. Just like his ancestor Rachel, whose self-sacrifice allowed the building of the Second Temple, his self-sacrifice will allow the building of the Third Temple."
This is pure Jewish belief -- that a descendant of Joseph would prepare the way for the Messiah, descendant of David. I believe this is Joseph Smith. Just as the Jews do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah ben David, they do not recognize Joseph Smith as the Messiah ben Joseph, the harbinger of Christ's second coming and preparer of the way.
posted by ChssAddct @ 10:55 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
In the 1918 translation by Michael L. Rodkinsonof of the Babylonian Talmud there is a footnote to the reference in Sukka, which says,
"There was a tradition among the ancient Hebrews that two Messiahs would appear before the redemption of Israel one of the tribe of Joseph and one of the tribe of Jehudah, a descendant of David and the expression "who was killed" means who will have been killed. The Jewish Christians at that time, who did not believe in the divinity of Christ, but in his Messiahship (i.e., that the traditional Messiah ben Joseph meant the son of a man by the name of Joseph, but not of the tribe of Joseph, as Christ was, and that his fate was to be killed before the appearance of Messiah b. David), explain this passage to have reference to Christ."
There is also the possibility that this tradition of the ancient Hebrews that there would be two Messiahs has been misinterpreted that there would be two individuals, and the two Messiahs actually makes reference to the First coming and Second coming of the single individual, Christ. Christ as Messiah ben Joseph would be his role as a mortal (Joseph being his mortal 'father'), and his dying in sacrifice for his people was the culmination of that role, whereas Christ as Messiah ben David is indicative of his role as King, and Savior of his people, the lineage of David being that of the Kings.
URL for the above footnote is http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t04/suc07.htm#fn_26
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