Our ancestors of blessed memory had the tradition that we
will be overtaken by many sufferings and evils because of which we shall
choose to repent, and then we shall be worthy of Redemption. And this
is what they said:
If Israel repents, it will be redeemed, and if not, the Holy One, blessed
be He, will raise against them a king whose edicts will be cruel like
those of Haman, and thereupon they will repent and will be redeemed. And
they said that for this reason there will arise a man from among the Children
of Joseph in the mountain of Galilee, and men of the children of our people
will gather around him. And he will go to the Temple which will be in
the power of Edom, and will stand there with them for a while. And then
up will come against them a king whose name is Armilus, and he will wage
war against Jerusalem and will conquer her, and he will kill and enslave
and torture, and the man from the tribe of Joseph will be among the slain.
And our people will be in great distress. . . and they will be driven
into the deserts until they suffer hunger and thirst. And because of the
great sufferings, many of them will abandon their Tora, and only the select
and the purified will be left.
- - -
Then the men of Gog will hear the tidings about Ben David
and his people, and about the goodness of their land and the riches of
their property, and that they dwell in safety without fortresses and without
walls and similar things, and it will arise in their hearts to capture
them...And he will gather a great multitude from many nations, and will
pass through many lands until he will reach them…And those who gather
around him will be of two kinds: one of them totally evil who will be
delivered to death, and the other people who will consider entering into
the Tora of Israel. . . .
- - -
And then the nations will understand that the greatest thing
they can do in order to approach Ben David is to carry to him someone
of his people as a gift. . . . Each nation will do as best it can: their
wealthy ones will carry the Children of Israel on horses and mules and
litters and carriages, displaying largess and honor…
- - -
And when all the living of Israel who believe will be ingathered,
as I mentioned, then will be the resurrection of the dead. . . . And Ben
Joseph will be at their head, for he is a saintly and much-tried man,
and the Creator will recompense him in good measure. Then the Creator
will renew the building of His Temple … with precious stones. .
. .
And all the land will be settled until no desolate place will be left
in it. Then the light of the Shekhina will shine on the Temple until the
luminaries will be dimmed by its light… so that those who do not
know the way to the Temple will go toward that light, because it will
be from heaven to earth. Then prophecy will spread in our people until
even our children and our servants will prophesy
(Sa'adya Gaon, Emunot w'De'ot, ch. 8, pp. 152-57)
Source: Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, Wayne
State University Press