http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1188356/jewish/Melachim-uMilchamot-Chapter-11.htm
...If a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.
If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach.
He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.’
If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah.
Rather, he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died.
God caused him to arise only to test the many, as Daniel 11:35 states: ‘And some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the appointed time, because the set time is in the future’...
Very interesting I look forward to reading more. Some basic questions: (to be sure I understand this resource correctly)
Is this (what you linked to) a record of the entire Oral Law?
Was this written in the 12th century?
Do all (or at least most) Jews accept this as authoritative, equal to the Torah itself?
Was there anything written later, or is this the “final word” so to speak on what is the Oral Law?
Thank you in advance.
“I do believe Jews are waiting for the Messiah to come yes? Since I believe this is correct this is my real question: how will you know who is the Messiah when he is born? Will he be born into a particular family or is there some test he will have to pass when he reaches the age of reason?”
....It still could be my senior partner... he is son-after-son from King David (we keep track of these things,) an observant fellow... fiesty (fights the wars of G-d...) and used to build houses. I’ll let y’all know.
Though— a traditional answer is that there will be no debate over who the Moshiach is. The world will be transformed and we will all know.
And what might these be?
Well; what if He comes back to life again?