11 Tevet 5777
Yesterday, I came across a video on Youtube that got me thinking. It claimed that a book written by a Catholic priest in 1907 (and recommended by both recent popes) is actually a "prophecy" about to be fulfilled at the Peace Conference to be held in Paris next Sunday.
The Christians, over time, developed a profile of an individual that they call The Antichrist. For most of that time, the Christian world believed this "Man of Sin" would be a Jew. Some still do. And the antichrist figure of the above-referenced book entitled "Lord of the World" has a decidedly Jewish-sounding name - Julian Felsenburgh.
However, in more recent times, anyone perceived to be evil incarnate (like the present Pope and President Obama) have qualified.
So, how much truth is there in the belief that an Anti-Messiah is out there somewhere plotting to wage the final war against God and His chosen people? And is this strictly a Christian belief or is it rooted, like a lot of Christianity, somewhere in a Jewish source?
Although the idea of Mashiach figures prominently in Jewish belief, as evidenced by its inclusion in Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Faith, it became the central pillar of its offshoot - Christianity. It stands to reason that any persons or forces standing in opposition to the Messiah and the fulfillment of his mission in the world would be termed anti-Messiah (or anti-Christ in Christian terminology). But, if you are looking for a singular person, you need look no further than the Christian so-called Messiah himself.
This is part of a long game being played out by those who worship the Satan as their god, God forbid!
From the beginning of time almost, there have been those who believe that the Satan is not only equal in power to the Creator, but the ultimate liberator of mankind. And those who propound "freedom", especially "freedom from the Law", are among his most ardent worshippers. The core followers of the Satan do not espouse Christianity, but they created it in order to take in those who could not be convinced outright.
Furthermore, they know that HKB"H intends to send Mashiach to redeem the world and slaughter the Satan, so they have spent the last two thousand years setting up their defense which hinges on mass confusion about the true nature of God and who is His Messiah and how the world will be redeemed. They are no doubt also behind the birth of Islam which also has a messiah figure.
At this time, both the Christian world and the Islamic world have been prepped to expect an Anti-Messiah figure to appear claiming to be Messiah just prior to the arrival of the real one. Talk about confusion! According to Judaism, there is no fake messiah to come and fool the whole world before the arrival of the true messiah. But, there are most certainly forces and people who are working across millenia to thwart the mission of the real Messiah and they are anti-messiahs, coming, as they say, "in the spirit of antichrist".
All of this has primed most of the world's religious adherents to perceive the actual, real Mashiach as the ultimate enemy of God, against whom they are obligated to wage war. And that is primarily why there is no meeting ground between the adherents of these false religions and real Jews. Just as their messiah is our anti-messiah, our true Mashiach will be their antichrist!
When Mashiach is revealed to the world, it will be the final birur, the final test. Who will follow and who will oppose him?
As a side note, the Chistians are still looking for an anti-christ who will seal a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. If you tell them it already happened with Oslo, their heads can't even take it in. The Oslo peace accords were signed on the White House lawn September 1993 and it ended, for all intents and purposes, when the Al Aqsa War broke out in September 2000. I think this was HKB"H's little joke with The Powers That Be - that He instigated its end after seven years in fulfillment of their "prophecy".
If Christian "prophecy" appears to be "fulfilled", it's only because "they" first explain the "prophecy" (like the "mark of the beast") and then "they" bring it about. Hamavin yavin.
