עברית
Faith
What is the meaning of the phrase: "Nations shall serve you and bow down to you"?
Question
Hello, "Nations shall serve you and bow down to you"? Does this mean that at the coming of the Messiah all the nations of the world will serve us, (as many claim)? I ask this even though many say yes, because it still does not seem logical or characteristic of our Torah to say such a thing, which also contradicts the meaning of the phrase: "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore," which claims that at the coming of the Messiah there will be world peace. I would appreciate your answer.
Answer
With the help of Heaven,
Peace and blessing,
There will be world peace, and with it recognition of the importance of the people of Israel to the existence of the world. Therefore, the nations will rejoice to assist and help us in whatever they can so that we can engage in Torah and mitzvot that bring light to the world. When we currently hear the word "serve," we imagine coercion, similar to what the Americans did to Africans in the United States. But Judaism has a completely different definition of the concept. After all, we are called both "sons" and "servants" to Hashem our God! The prophets said that in the end of days all the nations will recognize the true Messiah, and then they will want to honor and exalt the people of Israel and assist us in learning Torah. That is, they will recognize the importance of Torah and the service of the Temple, and will desire to help every Jew willingly and with great love, not by coercion or anger, God forbid. I saw a nice response from someone who wrote: It is similar to offering a simple farmer to be the bodyguard of the President of the United States! In the end of days, every nation will understand that the Jew is important to the world like the President of the United States.
Blessings, Daniel Bales
