Tanachreader
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In the Midrash on the book of Ruth there are several fascinating quotes by the rabbis that demonstrate the belief that Messiah would appear on the scene twice.
In the second chapter of the text we read the story of Ruth and her introduction to Boaz. She had been gleaning grain in a field when Boaz meets her and tells her that he has heard of her faithfulness to her mother-in-law Naomi, one of his near relatives. During their first meal together we read:
"And at mealtime Boaz said to her, 'Come this way, eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the sour wine.'"
One of the commentators in the Midrash Ruth Rabbah states that:
"'Come this way', refers to King Messiah, 'Eat from the bread', means the bread of royalty, and 'dip your morsel in the sour wine', refers to the sufferings of the Messiah, as it is written, 'but he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities'" (a reference to Isa 53:5).
After accepting Boaz' invitation, Ruth:
"Sat beside the reapers; and he [Boaz] served her roasted grain; and she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over."
According to the Midrash;
"'She sat beside the reapers,'...means that for a short while the kingship will be snatched away from the Messiah, as it is written, 'For I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to wage war' ((Zech 14:2),while the passage, 'and he served her roasted grain', means that the kingship will be restored to him, as it is written, 'He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth' (Isa 11:4).So, according to this portion of the Midrash, the Messiah will come on the scene only to suffer ('dip your morsel in the sour wine'), then he will have the kingdom temporarily taken from him and he will withdraw, ("for a short while the kingship will be snatched away from the Messiah"). Then after an unspecified period of time the Messiah will return in power and glory ("the kingship of Messiah will be restored to him.").
In another startling comment in the Midrash Ruth Rabbah, we find Rabbi Berachya, speaking in the name of Rabbi Levi declaring:
"It will be with the last deliverer,(the Messiah), as with the first (Moses); as the first deliverer revealed himself first to the Israelites and then withdrew, so also will the last deliverer reveal himself to the Israelites and then withdraw for a while."
The fact that rabbis of the Midrashim, men who were among the most respected Jewish scholars of their time, believed that the Messiah would come to the people of Israel, have his kingdom temporarily removed, suffer, and then return in glory to regain his kingdom.
