The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2019 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 58

The Missing Messiah

What do you do when you reject your Messiah?

You look for another one.

That’s just what the Jews did.

John 5
39) “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.
40) Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
41) I don’t receive glory from men.
42) But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.
43) I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

Another did come as the Messiah and the Jews did receive him.

Yeshua had warned His followers not to follow another Messiah.

Matt 24
4) Yeshua answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.
5) For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.

The English rendering of Christ is from the Greek Christos. Christos or Christ is not a name but an equivalent of the Hebrew word for messiah, meaning “anointed one.” The International Standard Version translates the passage like this.

Matt 24 International Standard Version
4) Yeshua answered them, “See to it that no one deceives you,
5) because many will come in my name and say, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many people.

That passage can be taken two ways. One way is people will say Yeshua is the Messiah and then will lead many astray with false teachings that He didn’t teach. Another way is some will say “I am the Messiah,” applying the title to themselves personally.

That second option is what happened 62 years after the Temple fell.

In 30 CE, when they were calling for Yeshua to be executed, the Jews declared they had no king except Caesar. Yet in 66 CE the Jews rebelled against Caesar Nero, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70. Then 62 years later in 132, they rebelled against another Roman Caesar, Hadrian.

Had the Jews chosen the wrong king?

Perhaps they shouldn’t have rejected the one who came as the King of the Jews, and as the Messiah, and as the Son of God. But they missed all that, so they were still looking for their messiah.

When the Jews revolted against Rome in 132, a bold leader emerged.

Who was this guy?

New World Encyclopedia – There is little historical information about the early stages of the revolt. It apparently began in 132, when the rebuilding of Jerusalem as a Roman city damaged the supposed tomb of Solomon. According to the ancient historian Cassius Dio, (Roman history 69.13:1-2):

Soon, the whole of Judaea had been stirred up, and the Jews everywhere were showing signs of disturbance, were gathering together, and giving evidence of great hostility to the Romans, partly by secret and partly by open acts; many others, too, from other peoples, were joining them from eagerness for profit, in fact one might almost say that the whole world was being stirred up by this business.

In this situation Simon ben Kosiba emerged as a decisive and effective military and political leader. His surviving letters make it clear that he was in a position of authority among the revolutionary forces by April 132 until early November 135.
New World Encyclopedia, “Simon bar Kokhba.” 5/11/19

Simon the son of Kosiba was not seen merely as a military leader. He was seen by many Jews as the king and messiah they had been waiting for, a messiah who was a human king who would lead them against Rome. Ben Kosiba became their king and gathered an army of 400,000 men, to lead them against Rome.

Originally named ben Kosiba, he was given the surname Bar Kokhba, meaning “Son of the Star,” by the leading Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva, who believed him to be the promised Messiah. (Ibid)

That rabbi said of Simon ben Kosiba, “This is the King Messiah” (Yer. Ta’anit iv. 68d). That’s the reason he was called – even to this day Bar Kokhba — Son of the Star.

Encyclopedia Judaica says:
The appellation Bar Kokhba was apparently given to him during the revolt on the basis of the homiletical interpretation, in a reference to messianic expectations, of the verse (Num. 24:17): “There shall step forth a star out of Jacob.” Bar Kokhba was general midrashic designation for the “king messiah”, and customarily used before the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus, in the verse “a star out of Jacob … a scepter … out of Israel” (ibid.), Onkelos renders “star” as malka (“king”) and “scepter” as meshiḥa (“messiah”), a midrashic interpretation current among the Zealots who joined in the war against the Romans.
Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Bar Kokhba.” 5/11/ 19
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bar-kokhba.

Livius.org, a collection of articles on ancient history, said this about the Son of the Star.

According to the Christian church historian Eusebius (c.260-c.340), Simon claimed to be a luminary who had come down to the Jews from heaven (History of the church 4.6.2). On some of his coins and in his letters, he calls himself ‘Prince’ (Nasi), a word that had very strong messianic connotations (cf. Ezekiel 37.24-25 and several Qumran documents). His loyal followers liked to make a pun on his name: his real name was Simon ben Kosiba, but he was usually called Bar Kochba (son of the star), which again is a messianic claim.

Rabbi Aqiba, the president of the rabbinical academy at Yavne and the official religious leader of the Jews in this age, declared that the successful Jewish commander was the Messiah; at least two rabbis – rabbi Gershom and rabbi Aha – agreed…

The revolt was clearly religious in nature. The rebels were convinced that this was the apocalyptic war that had been predicted by prophets like Daniel and Zechariah.
Livius.org, “Wars between the Jews and Romans: Simon ben Kosiba (130-136 CE).” 9/30/11

Maimonides, who lived in the twelfth century and was one of the most respected Torah scholars of the middle ages, wrote this about Simon ben Kosiba, but with still another name, Ben Koziva.

“Rabbi Akiva, the greatest of the sages of the Mishnah, was a supporter of King Ben Koziva, saying of him that he was the king messiah. He and all the contemporary sages regarded him as the king messiah, until he was killed for sins which he had committed.” Maim. Yad, Melakhim, 11:3.

Although sometimes denied, the belief that Bar Kokhba was the messiah was widespread, supported by “the greatest of the sages” and “all the contemporary sages.” Apparently, the Sanhedrin gave their approval to Bar Kokhba.

The basically authentic statement about a Sanhedrin at Bethar (Sanh. 17b) suggests that at a certain time a bet din participated in Bar Kokhba’s rule. Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Bar Kokhba.” 5/11/19”
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bar-kokhba

The Jews gave fanatical allegiance to this new leader, even in the face of the overwhelming force of Rome’s armies. Hundreds of thousands of them fought to the death behind their new messianic leader.

So what was this new messiah like?

You recall what the rejected Messiah was like.

Matt 20
25) But Yeshua called the disciples and said, “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them.
26) That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,
27) and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.
28) That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

The new messiah wasn’t quite like that.

As a dictator, Bar Kokhba declared that all the land was his.

The economic documents found in Wadi Muraba’at show that leases were made in the name and with the sanction of Bar Kokhba: “On the instructions of Simeon b. Koseva.” Apparently the land belonged nominally to the nasi, it being clearly stated in a lease, “You have leased the ground from Simeon, the Nasi of Israel.” In his name the lessors laid down the quota of grain that was to be given to them. As was to be expected in a time of war, the authorities insisted on the cultivation of the fields and confiscated the lands of those who neglected to till them. They “were dispossessed of the land and lost everything.” In effect, Bar Kokhba regarded himself as holding the authority of the Roman emperor and transferred the lands of liberated Judea to his own possession. Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Bar Kokhba.” 5/11/19
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bar-kokhba

When Israel first entered the Promised Land, the land was divided up among all the families. It was not owned by a Nasi but by the people.

The Messiah that the Jews rejected for Caesar did not rule like Caesar at all. The messiah they accepted did rule like Caesar, as an “imperious dictator.”

Jewish Virtual Library
Bar-Kokhba was an imperious dictator who was in charge of both the army and the economy during the Jewish revolt against Rome… Bar-Kokhba had unlimited authority over his army and was concerned with even the most minor details. He was not afraid to threaten senior officers of his army with punishment. The 400,000 soldiers in his army were said to have been initiated either by having a finger cut off or by being forced to uproot a cedar tree. Bar-Kokhba relied on his own powers and, according to aggada, when he went to battle he asked God to “neither assist nor discourage us.” Jewish Virtual Library, “Shimon Bar-Kokhba.” 5/11/19

The Son of the Star was cruel, even to his own followers.

In other letters found in Naḥal Ḥever, the nasi writes to Masbelah b. Simeon and Jonathan b. Bayahu, who were apparently in command of the En-Gedi front… His language is harsh, and he frequently threatens them with punishment if they fail to carry out his orders (“and if you will not do this, you will be punished”). Ibid

And those were his own right hand men.

As might be expected, this messiah was also cruel to followers of the rejected Messiah.

Ancient Christian historian Orosius wrote:

He [Hadrian] also finally exterminated and subdued the Jews, who, roused by up troubles caused by their own crimes, were at that time laying waste to the province of Palestine which had once belonged to them. In this way, Hadrian avenged the Christians whom the Jews, under their leader Cocheba, had tortured because they would not join them in opposing Rome. Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, by Paulus Orosius, Translated with an introduction and notes by A. T. Fear, Liverpool University Press, 2010, 4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, copyright 2010 by A. T. Fear

In his First Apology, Justin Martyr wrote: “For in the Jewish war which now occurred, Bar Kokhba, the leader of the revolt of the Jews, ordered that Christians alone should be led to terrible punishments unless they would deny Jesus, the Christ, and blaspheme,” 1 Apol. 31.6

With his dedicated followers and his dictatorial control, Bar Kokhba was able to set up a kingdom independent of Rome, which lasted from 132 to 135. But then —

“Cassius Dio stated 580,000 Jews were killed in the war against Bar Kokhba, with 50 fortified towns and 985 villages being razed. Jerusalem also was destroyed, and the new Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, was built in its place, this time with no accommodation to Jewish sensibilities whatsoever,” New World Encyclopedia, “Simon bar Kokhba.”

We mentioned that Maimonides called Simon Ben Kosiba by the name Ben Koziva. Ben Koziva sounds like the original name, but it means Son of a Liar. That became Ben Kosiba’s title in later rabbinic literature after their messiah fizzled out and was killed by Rome.

That messiah did not arise from the dead after three days.

So the Jews had picked Caesar as their king, which led to their slaughter and the destruction of their city and its Temple. Then the messiah they picked, the Son of the Star, led to more hundreds of thousands of them being killed.

And it led to modern day “Palestine.”

In the aftermath of the war, Hadrian consolidated the older political units of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria into the new province of Syria Palaestina (Palestine), a name that has since passed into most European languages as well as into Arabic.
New World Encyclopedia, “Simon bar Kokhba.”

After the Bar Kochba rebellion, Rome wouldn’t even let Jews into Jerusalem. That included “Jewish” Christians.

And Rome gave the Holy Land a new name, named after the Philistines who had plagued Israel during the time of the judges. To this day that name – Palestine – and those who are called by that name – Palestinians – still plague Israel.

And in Palestine today, the Jews are still looking for another Bar Kokhba, the missing messiah.