Jesus, Mahdi, Qiyamah and a Few Messiahs

UN scientists warn that strong El Nino will add fuel to ‘a planet already on fire’. So climate change’s fingerprints are all over extreme fire weather that sparked this week’s devastating  wildfires in Spain and France, and has spiked Southern Europe’s burning the past eight years, two new studies conclude. Human-caused climate change made the very hot and dry conditions responsible for Spain’s record-sized inferno 20 times more likely to happen, and it doubled the chances of extreme fire conditions for the flames in France. And half of England is in drought after a record dry spell and high temperatures the British Environment Agency said.

The Greek term christos occurs more than 500 times in the New Testament, and is used directly to Jesus of Nazareth. While many Christians today think “Christ” is the family part of Jesus’ name, it is a title, meaning “anointed one” as is reflected in the New Testament where the titles iēsous christos and christos iēsous occur 139 and 88 times respectively. But the title Messiah was rarely applied to Jesus prior to his death, as it is used only seven times in Mark’s account of the life of Jesus, unlike 65 times in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

Thus anointing is one of the most significant concepts associated with Jesus in the New Testament where the title Anointed/Christ/Messiah is strongly linked to the religious concept of a spiritual human kingship, an association that has a long history in Jewish tradition.

The book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible records how Kings Saul and David were anointed with oil by Prophet Samuel to signify their divine appointment to rule over the Israelites (1 Samuel 9:16; 10:1; 16:3, 6, 12-13). Mostly the Hebrew term māšîaḥ “anointed” denotes a human Jewish King or High Priest religious role. The title thus comes to expresses the expectation that God will send a human future king or religious leader, linked to the Davidic dynasty and its High Priests, to fulfill God’s redemptive purposes for the People of Israel and the whole world.

The prophecy in Ezekiel 38–39, which describes a vast coalition, including Persia—modern-day Iran—will rise against Israel. This future war is often called the battle of Gog and Magog. While the New Testament writers affirm that Jesus was the Anointed/Christ/Messiah, the four Gospels are consistent in observing that Jesus himself avoided using the title mešîḥā’/christos “anointed one” of himself. Jesus himself preferred to use the general term “son of man” which in Hebrew means a human being. The term “son of man” occurs 70 times in the three Synoptic Gospels, plus 12 times more in John’s Gospel, and every time “son of man” appears, it comes in words attributed to Jesus himself.

That a human being could be a Jewish Messiah and simultaneously be a God is totally foreign to the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an. As Qur’an 5:72 states: “They blaspheme who say: “Allah is Christ [Greek for Messiah] the son of Mary.” But said [Messiah] Christ: “O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden [of Eden], and the Fire [of Hell] will be his abode.”

And as Allah says: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say to people, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah’?” He will say: “Glory to You; never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, you would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart . . .” (Qur’an. 5:116) Jews are in full accord with this.

In the Hebrew Bible the primary cause of the Messianic Age is God. That a specific human being would play an important role in ushering in the Messianic Age, is a concept that only became defined during the post Biblical second century BCE.

For Jews, one of the most important events of the Messianic Age is the ingathering of those Jews still living in exile. “The Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you”. (Deuteronomy 30:3)

“He shall gather the lost ones of Israel, and the scattered ones of Judah He shall gather [them] from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12) and “I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place from where I exiled you”. (Jeremiah 29:14)

The Qur’an itself refers to this: “We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture that, “You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice [once before the first exile and again before the second exile], and you will surely reach [some degree of] great haughtiness. So when the [time of] promise came for the first [exile] of them {from Judea}, We sent against you servants of Ours [the Babylonians} those of great military might, and they probed [even] into the[the people’s] homes, and it was a promise fulfilled. Then We gave back to you a return victory over them [the defeat of Babylonia and the first ingathering aided by the Persian King Cyrus].

“And We reinforced you with wealth and sons and made you more numerous in manpower. [so], “If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [its} to yourselves.” Then when the final promise came, [We sent Rome] to sadden your faces and to enter the Temple in Jerusalem, as they [the Babylonians] entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with (much) destruction. [So], “It is expected, [if you repent], that your Lord will have mercy upon you [and gather you in again]. But if you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]. And We have made Hell, for the disbelievers, a prison-bed.” (Qur’an 17:4-8)

The Book 1 Enoch marks a new religious perspective. So familiar do 1 Ezra’s themes look in retrospect – angels, personal and national Judgment, one or two Messiahs, plus a Son of Man [the term Jesus almost always called himself]– that we can easily fail to appreciate just how startling they were in the third and second centuries BCE, and what a great departure they mark from the familiar words of Israel’s Prophets which rarely mention an individual messiah. The first book of Enoch includes a classic vision of the last days with a final Judgment, rewards for the blessed and punishments for sinners; all the result of God’s own actions.

In a later section known as the Parables, a messianic Son of Man is central to these events (chapters 37-71).

The richest sources for new ideas about Messiahs come from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which have revolutionized our view of last days debates in the generations before and after Jesus’s lifetime.

Taking the Dead Sea Scrolls documents together, the vision of an individual messiah king got a boost from events during the Maccabean (Hasmoneans) age, even though that dynasty clearly represented a break from the Davidic line to a novel priestly line of rulers. As messianic visions became more important to Jewish thought during the second and first century BCE the Dead Sea Scrolls give evidence of the diversity of those approaches.

The Qumran Scrolls are usually associated with a Jewish sect tied to the Essenes and to First and Fourth Book of Enoch traditions. Most of the texts were written or at least preserved at the Jewish settlement of Qumran, founded around 160 BC, which survived over two hundred years, until the Jewish revolt of the late 60s CE. The Dead Sea Scrolls discoveries show the role of multiple messiahs, and eschatological figures. At least three figures in the Scrolls, all of them totally human, fit the messianic definition; a Prophet, a Priest and a King.

When Prophet John the Baptist came, the Jews asked him if he was a Messiah and he said “No”; they asked him if he was a pre-Messiah warner like Elijah and he said “No”. then in apparent reference to Deuteronomy 18:18, they asked him “Are you that Prophet [like Moses}”; he answered, “No”. (John 1:19-21).

The Dead Sea Scrolls text the Damascus Covenant, for instance, refers to messiahs from Aaron and Israel. Broadly, the Scrolls offer a “dual messianism,” with two key figures, so that the messiah of Aaron is a priestly religious counterpart to the more political or militant Davidic messiah. Davidic titles are, much more common. The Genesis Pesher (4Q252 5:1-4) includes the words, “until the Messiah of Righteousness comes, the Branch of David.” Also 4Q521, a “Messianic Apocalypse,” which specifically mentions a Messiah, describes God alone “releasing captives, giving sight to the blind and raising up those who are downtrodden.’ And the “War of the Messiah,” which includes the text 4Q285 refers to a Messiah piercing, as in slaying his enemies.

According to the Qur’an (6:85) the last of the Jewish Prophets were: “Zakariya, John, Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the righteous.” Prophet Jesus was a Messianic figure who will return during the Last Days of turmoil preceding the victory of good over evil in God’s Judgement Day and Messianic Age for all the righteous of mankind. The term for Prophet Jesus “al-Masih” [the Messiah in Hebrew] is used eleven times in the Qur’an in verses: 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 4:172, 5:17 (twice), 5:72 (twice), 5:75, 9:30, and 9:31

If Prophet Jesus was a Messianic figure, a Messiah of Righteousness, the Branch [a descendent] of David; then Prophet Muhammad would be the Khatam an-Nabiyyin, the Seal of the Prophets; who was able to inspire a very long lasting religious community; plus being a Prophet validating previous messengers and their sacred scriptures. This dual role is unique to Prophet Muhammad as the Khatam an-Nabiyyin, the Seal [validator] of the Prophets.

“Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (Quran 2:62)

O mankind, We created you from male and female, and made you peoples and tribes, that you may know (respect) one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (Quran 49:13) “Let there be no compulsion in Religion: truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah (one God) has grasped the most trustworthy unbreakable hand hold: Allah hears, and knows all things.” (Qur’an:2:256)

A new survey published August 19, found that 74% of respondents believe Arab Israel society urgently needs new public figures and leadership, amid political divisions ahead of the Knesset elections. And 24% of Israeli Jews Support a Two-State Solution. According to Tel Aviv University’s Peace Index survey of Israeli public opinion conducted on July 26-30, 2026, only 12% of Jewish respondents believe that negotiations will lead to peace in the coming years.

And 24% of the Jewish public support the two-state solution, but only 13% believe it has a chance of being achieved in the foreseeable future.