"Behold I will send to you Elijah the Prophet before the arrival of the great and awesome day of God"—the Prophet Malachi. Elijah will appear in order to herald the coming of Mashiach, though there’s much speculation as to precisely when he will appear. With his arrival, he will also serve several other important functions.

The prophet Ezekiel describes a climactic war, the Battle of Gog and Magog, that will occur prior to the arrival of the Mashiach. This topic is shrouded in mystery: we are uncertain as to the identity of Gog and Magog, whether Gog and Magog are the names of nations or individuals, whether this battle will be a physical or spiritual battle, and even whether it has already occurred or not.

One of the most important aspects of the Redemption is the promise of the ingathering of the exiles from the Diaspora, with all Jews settling in their tribal portion of the Holy Land. We are assured that no Jew will be left behind—including the Ten "Lost Tribes." The rebuilt Holy Temple in Jerusalem will be the central focus of all humanity—as Isaiah says, "My home will be considered a ‘House of Prayer’ for all the nations."

The Messianic Era will be one of tremendous prosperity—"delicacies will be commonplace like dust." That will leave humankind with ample free time—and all the nations of the world will be preoccupied with one pursuit: the study of God and the Torah. Mashiach will reveal profound hitherto unknown dimensions of the Torah. The Midrash goes as far as to say that "the Torah which we study in this world is naught in comparison to the Torah of Mashiach." Furthermore, while our present-day knowledge of God is limited to intellectual perception, when Mashiach will teach about God, we will actually "see" what we are studying.

The famous medieval Jewish philosopher and Torah scholar Maimonides (Rambam), the author of the “13 Principles of Faith”, wrote the following commentary on Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10:1 describing the Messianic Age. His interpretation eschews some of the literalistic approaches to certain prophetic happenings (e.g. lions switching to eating straw). I find his interpretation interesting because it does reflect the many not-so-idealistic, non-clouds-and-harps biblical prophecies that do tell us that in the Messianic Age (not to be confused with the everlasting “World to Come” or Olam Habah) people will still be born, they will still marry, people will still work the land but with little effort, and while all diseases will be eradicated and life spans prolonged, people will still grow old and die. Israel will be vindicated and honoured in the eyes of all nations, and all Jews will be re-gathered finally and completely. Israel will regain its self-rule, with Messiah firmly at the helm, and they will, every last one of them, all serve HaShem with their hearts full of Torah. (See Ezekiel 40-48, Rev 20 “Messianic era” Rev 21 “world to come.”)

The Messianic age is when the Jews will regain their independence and all return to the land of Israel. The Messiah will be a very great king, he will achieve great fame, and his reputation among the gentile nations will be even greater than that of King Solomon. His great righteousness and the wonders that he will bring about will cause all peoples to make peace with him and all lands to serve him…. Nothing will change in the Messianic age, however, except that Jews will regain their independence. Rich and poor, strong and weak, will still exist. However it will be very easy for people to make a living, and with very little effort they will be able to accomplish very much…. it will be a time when the number of wise men will increase…. war shall not exist, and nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation…. The Messianic age will be highlighted by a community of the righteous and dominated by goodness and wisdom. It will be ruled by the Messiah, a righteous and honest king, outstanding in wisdom, and close to G-d. Do not think that the ways of the world or the laws of nature will change, this is not true. The world will continue as it is. The prophet Isaiah predicted “The wolf shall live with the sheep, the leopard shall lie down with the kid.” This, however, is merely allegory, meaning that the Jews will live safely, even with the formerly wicked nations. All nations will return to the true religion and will no longer steal or oppress. Note that all prophecies regarding the Messiah are allegorical. Only in the Messianic age will we know the meaning of each allegory and what it comes to teach us. Our sages and prophets did not long for the Messianic age in order that they might rule the world and dominate the gentiles, the only thing they wanted was to be free for Jews to involve themselves with the Torah and its wisdom.

The concept of the messiah according to Maimonides is accepted by the Orthodox Jews and Messianic Jews.