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.
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.
Read more at: www.allisrael.com