isa 2

What does it look like in Palestine... 

in Judea, before Jesus or Isa ﷺ comes?

Well, you have to understnad the political state first...

because the politics influence the religion.

Since Julius Caesar, the Romans practised what is called syncretism..

where you had client kingdoms, semi independent kingdoms, a people that ruled...

but they really were ruled, similar to our Muslim countries today, client kingdoms...

they don't actually have autonomy, right - that's kind of a joke, but it's not really a joke.

So back then you had Herod... 

who's known as the king of the Jews...

who operates under the Roman Empire, but is a semi independent kingdom...

it still has to pay taxes, they still have to answer to a higher Roman authority.

And that is something that causes a lot of hatred, a lot of resentment amongst the children of Israel.

Amongst many Israelis, that we are still ruled from an outside power...

that the temple has been destroyed...

that we don't have autonomy.

And this Herod... 

who rules from 37BCE up until 4BCE...

he's a succesful king, but he is brutal.

He targets political opponents, he murders anyone that he even senses threatens his rule.

And he is really taking away the Jewish character...

if you will, the Abrahamic character, from Jerusalem, away from Palastine...

these ideas of tawhid and monotheism, he is removing all of that character.

And instead, he is really focused on turning Philistine, Palestine, into a tourist destination.

So he is the one to introduce sculptures and statues in that area.

Even though these were people that believed in the oneness of God.

Everything in that context becomes to Bene Israel:

who is the Messiah that is going to come and liberate us...

from this humiliation, from this rule.

So the focus becomes on a Messiah that will liberate us from this domination that comes from outside 

and the wait is for particularly the Messiah son of David...

meaning a Messiah that is a child, a descendant of King David a.s....

A Messiah means someone who is anointed.

And what the focus of that Messiah becomes, is establishing the kingdom of God...

establishing the rule of God on earth, particularly establishing the temple... 

the Temple of Suleiman a.s....

reastablishing Jerusalem... 

upholding the Torah... 

ruling by that...

He is a great military leader.

He is someone that brings everyone to the worship of the God of Abraham...

and he restores the temple...

Now the emphasis in that time becomes on just the restoration of the temple:

who is going to come and restore the temple?

And you have to understand in that context, that there were many messiahs...

many people were looked at being the potential Messiah.

So the Messiah was never meant to be a child, a child of God...

or someone that brings about this new concept of salvation...

or that dies for the sins of men.

It meant a powerful, authorative figure...

E.g. the Persian King Cyrus is called a messiah.

Because he defeated the Babylonians and restored the temple...

Judas Maccabeus, 160 years before Christ...

Simon of Peraea, 4 years before Christ...

A lot of people thought they were the messiah.

So there is a desperate wait.

[bron]