The Messiah in Jewish Thought [9] – The New Jerusalem

We are continuing our discussion on the Messiah in Jewish thought, concentrating mainly on the messianic section of the tractate Sanhedrin, between pages 95a and 105b.

I will continue our study from tractate Sanhedrin, p. 100a, second paragraph.

The River from the Holy of Holies

Let us analyze this first section. The quotation, from Ezekiel chapter 47 verse 12, speaks of a time when a river of water will flow from Jerusalem eastward toward the Dead Sea, and on the banks of that river will be trees whose leaves do not wither or fade, green all year round, bearing fresh fruit every month, with leaves used for medicine.

To understand this, one has to know a little about the geography of Jerusalem and of Israel. East of Jerusalem is the Judean desert — one of the most desolate deserts in the world, with hardly any trees — descending to the lowest point on the face of the earth, the Dead Sea, where the ground is salty and it is very difficult to grow anything on the parched, dry earth. For this reason, when the prophet describes the messianic reign, the messianic kingdom, and the last days, he describes them in terms of Jerusalem — high up in the mountains — producing a river that flows eastward toward the Dead Sea, bearing fruit year-round, with leaves for medicine.

The Talmud tells us that R. Jeremiah, sitting before his own rabbi, R. Zera, in Babylon, told him this remarkable thing from the book of Ezekiel: that a river will flow from Jerusalem, and the trees on its banks will bear fruit. And then a "certain old man" speaks — we are not told who he is. When the Talmud uses this phrase, "a certain old man," it is usually a euphemism for Elijah the prophet. One of the commentators says it is Elijah who comes and tells R. Jeremiah, "You speak well, but I have already heard R. Johanan, an earlier rabbi, say the same thing." Basically the old man is saying, "What you say is fine, but it is not original — it is taken from R. Johanan's teaching."

R. Jeremiah then says to R. Zera, "Such an attitude [of this old man, whether it be Elijah or someone else] savors of irreverence" — that is, it casts a shadow over the teaching. But R. Zera replies, "He merely supported you!" In other words, by saying, "You have spoken well, and I have already heard it from R. Johanan," he is not criticizing you at all, but actually agreeing that it is true, even if you took it from R. Johanan.

The Giant Jewels — and the Disciple Who Doubted

Now this brings the Talmud to show, by comparison, how the old man (Elijah) did not really speak irreverently of R. Jeremiah. So it brings another story of R. Johanan, to show what irreverence really is in the rabbinical context.

Let me explain. R. Johanan was teaching that God is preparing jewels — huge jewels, thirty cubits high and thirty cubits long. A cubit is about a foot and a half, so these are jewels forty-five feet high and forty-five feet long. And for what? For the gates and windows of Jerusalem — and he brings a passage from Isaiah chapter 54 verse 12, which says God will make the windows of Jerusalem of agates and its gates of carbuncles (something like jade). So this was R. Johanan's teaching.

The disciple made fun of his rabbi, saying, "We can hardly find a jewel as large as a dove's egg, much less these forty-five-by-forty-five-foot stones you speak of." But later he took a sea journey and found, in reality, that it was quite possible for God to make such huge jewels for the gates and windows of Jerusalem. He saw the beings — he called them "ministering angels" — carving out these stones, and he came back and told R. Johanan, "You were right; there really is such a thing." But R. Johanan's response was, "You are a wretch!" Why? Because you did not believe unless you saw. And by that, you derided the words of the Sages; you did not accept the authority of the Sages by faith, until you could see it for yourself. And the disciple, cursed by the rabbi, died on the spot, turned into a heap of bones.

The New Jerusalem of Revelation

This is a story about what it means to deride, disbelieve, or doubt the words of the Sages. Let us analyze it in connection with the New Testament. R. Johanan's teaching was that in the city of Jerusalem the gates will be made of precious stones. We find the same, or a very similar, teaching in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation chapter 21. I read from verse 9:

And continuing from verse 18:

When we read R. Johanan's passage and then the book of Revelation, we see they speak of the same thing: the city of Jerusalem with its gates made of agate, of precious stones, of pearls. What the disciple in the Talmud doubted was the size of the stones — whether it was even possible for such stones to exist. Before his sea journey to the far country, he couldn't believe there were stones and pearls of such size. But when he went and saw the beings — the "ministering angels," as he called them — carving them out, he came back and said to R. Johanan, "You were right; there really is such a thing." And R. Johanan's response was, "You are a wretch!" Why? Because you did not believe until you had seen — and by that you derided the words of the Sages.

The Parallel with Doubting Thomas

This is another of these connections with the New Testament. In the Gospel of John chapter 20, we have the story of Thomas doubting the resurrection of Yeshua and asking to touch his hands and feel the print of the nails. Yeshua appears to the disciples in Jerusalem, where Thomas is with the rest, and lets Thomas see and touch the wounds. When Thomas does so, he says, "My Lord and my God!" And Yeshua says to him [verse 29]: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

So here is the same situation as with R. Johanan's disciple: Thomas doubted the report that Yeshua rose from the dead until he could see the hands and the wounds, and then he made that great confession, "My Lord and my God!" But Yeshua then says — not as a compliment — "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." The difference is that Yeshua does not curse Thomas the way R. Johanan curses his disciple, turning him into a heap of bones. Thomas saw and then believed, which is already a good thing; but it is far better to trust God, his report, and his word, even when you have not seen the physical evidence with your own eyes. In the Talmud, one is likewise expected to accept the authority and integrity of the messengers of God — in this case, the Sages, the rabbis of the day.

In these two sections we see the connection with the world of Yeshua: the Jewish rabbis believed in this new Jerusalem, with gates made of precious stones, drawn from the promise God gave in Isaiah; and we see the relationship between a rabbi and his disciple regarding the sin of doubting or deriding the rabbis' report, of not taking it, by faith, to be true.

The Renewal of Jerusalem in Isaiah

I would like to return to Isaiah chapter 54 and to the whole concept of a new Jerusalem, its walls and gates of agate and precious stones. In my opinion, this vision of the New Jerusalem — and the one in the book of Revelation — needs to be understood from its first-century Jewish perspective, or at least a Jewish perspective, and not from some mystical, apocalyptic viewpoint, as it is traditionally understood in many of the Protestant denominations.

The verse the Talmud quotes here — about gates of agate and carbuncle and walls of precious stones — is Isaiah chapter 54 verse 12. But let us first look at the general context, and at the idea of a New Jerusalem in the prophet Isaiah more broadly. It is Isaiah who first foresees the destruction of this world and the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth. In Isaiah chapter 60, we are told of the work of God on Zion, from verse 15:

This wonderful promise is about Zion, the city of the Lord, Jerusalem. God will change the very material nature of Jerusalem — instead of wood, bronze; instead of stones, iron; instead of bronze, gold; instead of iron, silver. He changes the material structure, and he changes the cosmic order: the sun and moon will pass away, and God himself will be the light of Jerusalem and of his people.

In this same context comes the plea of God, and of the prophet himself, in chapter 62:

The chapter continues that Zion will be glorified, the walls of Jerusalem vindicated, watchmen set on the walls by day and by night; God will no longer remember the sin of the people, and the gates of Jerusalem will be a passageway for all people to the Lord. This vision of a new, changed Jerusalem is the same general context in which Isaiah 54 speaks its blessing to the city. That chapter begins:

Here the prophet speaks to Jerusalem: there will be a major change; instead of desolation, suffering, and war, there will be joy, glory, and celebration with the Lord. And in verse 5:

And it is in this context, speaking of Jerusalem in this unusual style, that the prophet says:

It is the renewal of Jerusalem after a long period of God hiding his face from her — after a long desolation, a renewal. This is the context of the promise that precious stones will be the gates and walls of the city of Jerusalem. And out of this context the writer of the book of Revelation takes his description of the new Jerusalem that descends from heaven and, as it were, swallows up the old Jerusalem after it is destroyed, together with the order of the cosmos, as Isaiah 60 describes.

Conclusion

In my opinion these connections are important for understanding the messianic concept within the Talmud — how they saw the coming of the Messiah and his kingdom. And it is interesting, too, to see how the Talmud regards the relationship of a rabbi and his disciple, and what a sin it is for a disciple to doubt or deride his master. We will continue on page 100a in the next study.