From the Writings of the Gaon of Vilna –(my 23rd great
grandfather)
The mission of the great Gaon (who claims the Divine
Mandate for being ‘the Light of Mashiach ben Yosef’), with
regard to the final generation, is as follows: “All the steps, all the rules and details concerning the period from the beginning of the Redemption until its conclusion, which include the ingathering of exiles and settlement of the Holy
Land–all these are the assignment of the exiles and settlement of the Holy Land–all these are the assignment of the first Mashiach, Mashiach ben Yosef.”
“According to the Gaon, all the work involved in gathering in
the exiles, building Jerusalem and broadening the settlement of the land of Israel so that the Shechina will return to it, all the principles of the work and all the major and minor details are connected to the mission and role of the first Mashiach, Mashiach ben Yosef. Mashiach ben Yosef is the miraculous power who will assist every act done when the awakening starts.”
”According to the Gaon, the ingathering of exiles at the
beginning of the Redemption will proceed by means of deliverance and ransom, as is written, ‘then the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come to Zion with glad song’ [Isa. 35:10]. All this will be accomplished by Mashiach ben Yosef:”
“All the deeds concerned with ingathering exiles in the Land
of Israel in general, and in Jerusalem in particular, every
general and private act, everywhere of everyone together or separately–all these depend on the existence and success of
Mashiach ben Yosef. The existence and success of Mashiach ben Yosef depend on the awakening from below, on the
fulfilment of the things and acts that are given and concealed
in the 156 qualities, appellations and aspects of Mashiach ben Yosef as explained above and below.”
“[Jer. 31:9] “Efraim is my firstborn”; [Jer: 31:5] “Mount
Efraim, ” [Jer. 31:17] “Efraim wanders”; (Jer. 31:20) “Efraim is
my favourite son” – all these are basic aspects of Mashiach ben Yosef that appear in the same chapter. Efraim is called
G-d’s firstborn, because he is the first Mashiach through whom the ingathering of the exiles will occur, which means the exodus from exile.” “the revealed End” Sanhedrin 98; Megilla 17) on the verse (Ez. 36:8) “Rashi, in his commentary on this verse, writes that the revealed end will make the end of the Redemption come
closer, and this is the task of the first Mashiach, for anything
that prepares for the Redemption is part of the task of Mashiach ben Yosef and is called the ’revealed’ end, after the
’revealed’ G-d.”
“Repair of the world in the Malchut (Kingdom) of the Almighty”— Wherever repair is mentioned, it is part of the mission of Mashiach ben Yosef. This is the ultimate purpose of all the work connected with the beginning of the footsteps of the
Mashiach, whose main gaols are as follows: to gather in the
exiles, rebuild Jerusalem, remove the impure spirit from Eretz
Israel, redeem Truth, sanctify the name of G-d, and repair the
world in the Malchut of the Almighty, as is written: “with their own eyes they will see when G-d returns to Zion” (Isa. 52:8).”
“G-d has exposed His holy Arm before all the nations” (Isa.
52:10), refers to sanctifying the name of G-d. “All ends of the
earth will see the salvation of our G-d” (Isa. 52:10), refers to
repairing the world in the Malchut of the Almighty. All of these are the mission of the mashiach of the beginning, the first Mashiach, Mashiach ben Yosef, who comes at the time of the awakening from below, and will find completion when
Mashiach ben David comes, speedily in our day, Amen.”
“The revelation of the hints in the Torah progresses along with
the progression of the footsteps of the Mashiach in our Holy
Land, until all the hints in the Torah will be revealed during the
last generation. This is taught by our righteous Mashiach, because the Torah will come forth from Zion [Isaiah. 2:3], meaning that hidden things and secrets will be revealed.”
“During the period of the footsteps of the Mashiach, the
revelations will begin little by little, like the beginning of the
Redemption which is compared to the dawn according to our
Sages, with the characteristic of gathering in the exiles and
eradicating the impure spirit from the land by settling the land
and setting up people of Truth. For the goal of the sanctification of God as explained in previous chapters.”
“Then the prophet calls out: “burst out, sing joyfully together,
O ruins of Jerusalem” [Isaiah 52:9], which apparently refers to
the rebuilding of Jerusalem and ridding it of the odor of impurity. The joy is because “the Lord has comforted His People; He has redeemed Jerusalem” [Isaiah 52:9]. These words relate to the redemption of truth, for Jerusalem is called the City of Truth. This statement is followed by: “G-d has uncovered His holy arm before the eyes of all the
nations” [Isaiah 52:10], which refers to sanctification of G-d.
The verse alludes to Israel’s victory in the War of Gog and
Magog, through Mashiach ben Yosef who, according to the
Gaon, will appear following the first redemption from the
oppression of the kingdoms, with the great force revealed in
the words that G-d is truth and His seal is truth. Then “all
ends of the earth will see the salvation of our G-d” [Isaiah
52:10], which is a reference to the revelation of our righteous
Mashiach, Mashiach ben David.”
“All the work involved in gathering in the exiles is in
preparation of setting up and “maintaining people of truth, ” in
order to reach the level of redemption of the truth and
sanctifying G-d and repairing the world in the Malchut of the
Almighty that is the goal of the complete Redemption. For
without the existence of people of truth, there is no hope, G-d
forbid, for all the work involved in the beginning of the Redemption.”
Further Mandatory achievements for Mashiach ben Yosef.
“Unity.” This refers to the unification of the Holy One blessed be He and the Shechina …, because when the two pieces of wood, the wood of Yosef and the wood of Judah, are
combined into “one in My hand, ”that is, in the hand of G-d,
then truth is redeemed …, i.e., the Redemption is completed.
The plain meaning is that unity refers to unification with the
Holy One Blessed be He. After rising all the previous six levels, it is possible to attain the level of the unification of the Holy One Blessed be He with the Shechina, and the return of the Shechina to Zion and the completion of the Redemption, may it happen speedily, Amen.”
“The term ‘during the footsteps of the Mashiach,’ which is used by our Sages, should be interpreted literally: during the time of the footsteps of the Mashiach and at its high point, i.e., at the height of the activities at the beginning of the Redemption — primarily the ingathering of the exiles,
rebuilding Jerusalem, redemption of Truth and sanctification
of G-d’s name, as noted above–during this time the Sitra
Achra will become more powerful in attempting to disturb and
precipitate failure by uprooting the truth and preventing
sanctification of God. This is what is meant by “who taunted the footsteps of Your Mashiach [Ps. 89:52]”
According to the Gaon od Vilna, Messiah Ben Yosef will be a
Body of People who, according to the sole Divine Mandate of
Messiah Ben Yosef will:
rebuild Jerusalem;- resettle and develop the Land;-regather the exiles of Israel;- restore
Truth;- heal the World;- become the very Ruling Body on David’s Throne in the Divine Kingdom to Come.
Concluding Words:
If the Gaon od Vilna is correct and if Messiah Ben Yosef is an
ongoing Group Event initiated since 1740 then this all refers
to the Messiah Ben Yosef being:
Israel citizens – religious and secular, returnee exiles;- the
Body of re-awakening Ephraim across the World.
Non-Jews drawn to Torah and Israel identity;- all those
individuals and groups involved in bringing about
reconciliation as per the actions defined here above, thus
fulfilling the Mandate of Messiah Ben Yosef.
This entire Body of people is referred to in Scripture in 9
consecutive chapters of Isaiah (40 – 49) as ‘The Servant of
G-d,’ an End Time formation process by G-d.‘ (Isaiah
42:1,5,6; 43:10,19,20; 45:4-6; 49:3,5,6; 41:8,9; 42:6;
42:10,5-7; 42:8; 43:21)
Gog is listed in 1-Chronicles 5:4 as a sub-clan of the tribe of Reuben. Magog is listed in Genesis as a part of the sons of Yaphet. The Gematria (Numerical Value in Hebrew) of Gog and Magog is 70 and 70 represents all of the nations of the earth (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 12). Perhaps it should be interpreted figuratively as the peoples hostile to Israel and its Creator and the war to destroy them.
The Rosh is listed as a sub clan of the tribe of Benjamin in Genesis 46. The ancient book of Jasher has Tubal as the people east of the Volga River. Meshech, a son of Yaphet in Genesis, is believed to the founder of a settlement on the
Volga that is now known as Moscow.
Incidentally, the family name of the current Pope (Francis,
officiating since 13 march, 2013) name is [Jorge] Bergoglio.
Which could be interpreted as ” of the Sons of Gog”.
There is a source (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 12) from the
Sages that says what you say i.e. that Gog and Magog represent all the nations of the earth.
At least one other source (Abarbanel) assumes that the
forces of Edom (Esau) will be synonymous with those of Gog
and Magog.
As far I understand the sources:
- First of all the Israelites lead by Messiah son of Joseph
and Ephraim and allied with Judah will fight against Edom
and defeat them. This will be followed by the Union of
Judah and Joseph, etc. The Messiah son of David then
appears. He helps Messiah son of Joseph complete the
defeat Edom. - Gog and Magog come after this. Messiah son of Joseph
may be killed by Gog and Magog – the most likely. Messiah son of David leads
Israel in defeating Gog and Magog. After that the Messiah son of David will rule over all the earth. It would seem from this that in effect Gog and Magog will have somehow represented all the anti-Israelite nations who will have remained after the wars against Edom.
The Messiah son of David will rule over all mankind. At the beginning this may be more by way of nature but evolve in a spiritual direction. Messiah son of David will rule over
mankind with the help of his Israelite subjects. There are
70 sons and grandsons of Jacob who went down to Egypt. These became 70 Tribes and clans of the Tribes. These parallel the 70 nations of the word. It may be that each of the nations will be guided by one of the 70 sons of Jacob. Gog of Reuben may became the supervisor of Gog and Magog son of Japhet. Similarly Tarshish was another one of the sons of Japhet (Genesis 10:4) and Tarshish is the name of an entity (great-grandson) in the Tribe of Benjamin (1.Chronicles 7:10).
