(allIsraelnews) One of the most important themes running throughout the Hebrew Bible is that the God of Israel promises to send the Messiah to earth one day to redeem the Jewish people and rule Israel and the entire world.
Obviously, the world’s 2.6 billion Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and that He is coming back to earth in the “last days” of history.
Also obvious is that the vast majority of Jews worldwide – and here in Israel – do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
Yet here is a fact that is not obvious at all.
Nearly half of all Israeli Jews have given up believing that the Messiah is real and coming any time in the future.
When asked by researchers, “Do you believe the Messiah is coming?,” a shocking new survey finds that a mere 54.9% of Israeli Jews say “yes.”
Fully 45.1% say “no.”
No one said, “I don’t know.”
The survey of 1,200 Israeli Jews was designed by two Jewish professors in the United States.
For the record, neither believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
The survey was conducted last month in Hebrew by one of the top research and polling firms in Israel.
It was partially funded by ALL ISRAEL NEWS and the results are being published here for the first time. More results will be published over the next few days and will also be released at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Orlando, Florida, this week.
WHY HAVE SO MANY ISRAELIS ABANDONED BELIEF IN THE MESSIAH?
Why have upwards of three million Israeli Jews given up believing that the Messiah is ever coming to earth?
It’s an important question and one that will require serious analysis.
Unfortunately, the survey didn’t ask.
I look forward to interviewing a range of Israeli scholars, religious leaders, and others in search of the answer and reporting my findings here on ALL ISRAEL NEWS and on my weekly, prime time TV show, THE ROSENBERG REPORT, that airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
That said, I suspect that the simplest answer is likely the most accurate.
Large numbers of Israelis have stopped reading the Jewish scriptures.
They might have grown up hearing the Bible read in the synagogue.
But they are not reading the Torah or the prophets for themselves.
So, they’re not focusing on the specific prophecies that describe who the coming Messiah will be, much less taking those prophecies to heart.
What’s more, given that religious Jews believe that God still hasn’t sent the Messiah for more than 3,000 years since the first prophecies were given in the Bible, is it likely that traditional, secular, and non-religious Jews would hold to a belief that the Messiah will still come one day?
MASSIVE SPLIT BETWEEN RIGHT-WING AND LEFT-WING VOTERS
Here we find some interesting data inside the survey.
There is an immense chasm between Jewish right-wing voters in Israel and Jewish left-wing voters on the matter.
Consider a snapshot of Jews who still believe:
- 93.8% of Israelis who voted for right-wing Orthodox political parties still believe Messiah is coming one day.
- But only 54.9% of those voting for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party agree – a number that precisely mirrors the overall view of the country.
- An even sharper contrast can be found among those who voted for the opposition parties, including those led by Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz – only 22% of these voters believe that the Messiah is literally coming some day in the future.
- Even more striking is that only 15% of Israelis who voted specifically for left-wing parties like Labor and Meretz believe the Messiah will ever literally come to earth.
Now consider a snapshot of Israelis who have given up believing:
- Fully 85% of Israelis who voted specifically for left-wing parties say “no,” they don’t believe the Messiah is ever coming to earth.
- A stunning 78% of Israeli Jews who voted for any of the opposition parties say “no,” they don’t believe the Messiah is ever coming.
- A remarkable 45.1% of Netanyahu/Likud voters say they don’t believe the Messiah is ever coming.
- Curiously, 6.2% of those voting for the Orthodox religious parties say they don’t believe the Messiah is coming.
Bottom line: There is no question that the more religious an Israeli Jew is, the far more likely it is that he or she will believe that the Messiah will still come one day, while the more secular one is, the more likely it is that they have given up on the concept of the Messiah altogether.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH?
Throughout the ages, Rabbis and other Jewish scholars have pointed to a range of Biblical passages as evidence that Messiah will come one day.
