THE SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRST

THE SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST

by Dr. Reginald K. Lisemby

Executive Servant, Messianic Ministry to Israel

    In the ISRAEL TODAY magazine (February 27, 2020) an article stated that Israel’s leading rabbis are not leaving Israel for fear of missing the messiah. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky one of the two senior rabbis of Israel is said to already be in direct contact with the Messiah. Another Israeli Rabbi, Rabbbi Zisholtz said, “the process of redemption is about to start happening very quickly and at a fast pace. It is important that people remain calm and steady to act properly in the right time....There is a potential Messiah in every generation and there are righteous men who know precisely who it is. This is, of course, true in this generation….Getting the word out now that the Messiah is closer than ever is a matter of life and death. Haven’t you heard of Gog and Magog? That is what is going to happen very soon. Right now, the situation is explosive more than you can possibly imagine. Everyone needs to know whether they are on the inside or if they are going to be left out.” One more Israeli rabbi stated “...according to the current situation in heaven, there will not be Israeli elections – rather, there will be a war. If the elections do take place, it’s pointless since it will end like the other elections; no government will come out of it. No one will take the government away from Netanyahu.” 

    The ultra-orthodox are very supportive of Netanyahu while they attempt to eradicate messianic Jews (Jews believing in Yeshua) from Israel. Netanyahu has embraced the orthodox community and especially so if they help him win the election. Israel’s most revered sages, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, and Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, both predicted Benjamin Netanyahu would be the state of Israel’s last prime minister prior to the messianic age. All of the ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel believe this. What are the significant signs of the messianic age? (1) Israel’s unprecedented though embarrassing inability to elect a government; (2) US President Donald Trump the most powerful leader in the world is likened to Cyrus of old, and he has endorsed Jewish sovereignty of Jerusalem; (3) the kings of the Gentiles came to Jerusalem in January to honor the Jewish people. Jerusalem was royally ready for the visits of King Philip VI of Spain, King Willem-Alexander of Holland, King Philip of Belgium, Prince Charles, and heir to the throne of Norway, Prince Haakon Magnus, French President Emanuel Macron, German President Frank Walter-Steinmeier, and the presidents of Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, as well as numerous others came. Even Vladamir Putin was scheduled to appear. 

    Israeli rabbis are urged not to leave Israel, but to commit themselves to Torah study, and keeping Shabbat, for the messiah will not come until all Jews sanctify the Sabbath; and they are committed to prayer. All of this sounds biblical, salvific, and messianic. In fact, myriad “Christians” are embracing the idea of modern Israel as the messianic, “chosen” nation, and holy people. One Christian recently said to me, “If Trump loses the next election, I’m moving to Israel.” Do Christians not know what is soon to happen to Israel if the Jewish nation does not embrace Yeshua, God's Son Who is the only way, truth, and life, the only door to God? Israel is not a way, truth, life, or a door! Israel is a nation of unregenerate souls. Yet, rather than evangelizing the Jewish people with their only hope of salvation, the Gospel of Yeshua, many “Christians” (e.g. John Hagee) suggest there is a “dual” way to God, Israel for the Jews and Jesus for the Gentiles. 

Yeshua the true and the only Messiah of Israel, said that in the last days before the final holocaust called The Great Tribulation (Matthew 24), there would be such prophetic and messianic fervor, with miracles and wonders, so much so, that if it were possible the very elect would be deceived. Observe how Christian ministries exalt and celebrate modern Israel, speaking of Israel as the hope of other nations, while Israel is without and continues to reject the Messianic King, Yeshua!  The spirit of antichrist is not only preparing religious Jews for the counterfeit, it appears that “Christians” are being deceived by the anti-Yeshua spirit. 

PART TWO

What will the world be like when the antichrist comes? Will his title be “Antichrist,” “Christ,” “Messiah,” “Czar,” “King,” “President,” “Prime Minister”? Is the antichrist a person, a spirit, or a belief system? Perhaps, all three?

Antichrist is a term that appears only in 1 John 2:18-22 and 4:3. Yochanon used the term in the singular (“you have heard the antichrist is coming”) and the plural (“many antichrists have risen”). Yochanon defines antichrists as liars denying that Yeshua is the Messiah, and denying the Father and the Son. 

Yeshua made clear that the antichrist was a person when He referenced him, “another will come in his own name. Him you will receive” (John 5:43). Yeshua’s audience was the Jews. In Matthew 24 Yeshua referenced The Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, and the subjects of that abomination were the Jewish people.
The Syrian, Antiochus Epiphanes IV committed the abomination of desolation in Israel, in the Jewish Temple, by sacrificing a pig, and forbidding Jews to observe the Torah, to be circumcised, and forbidding Jews to worship their Elohim. Yeshua’s reference in Matthew 24 was that such an abomination was to occur again in the future. Nothing similar to this abomination has ever occurred, though some suggest Rome’s invasion in AD 70 was that abomination. However, Titus or no other Roman entered the Temple and replicated Antiochus Epiphanes IV. The abomination is still future.

The Apostle Shaul (Paul) also referenced a strongman coming, and although he did not call him “antichrist,” Shaul did acknowledge a “man of lawlessness,” “the son of destruction” who opposes and exalts himself above every god. It is very interesting that Shaul also referenced this one coming in likeness of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, that he too will display himself as god in the Temple. Shaul wrote in concert with Yeshua saying the Temple in Jerusalem will be the epicenter of this man who will be energized by Satan with power, signs, false wonders, and deception for those who did not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9).

The Antichrist is referenced by the following names and titles in the Bible: “The Beast” (Rev.13:1), “The Man of Destruction” (2 Thes.2:3), “The Lawless One” (2 Thes.2:8), “The Little Horn” (Daniel 7:8), “The Insolent King” (Daniel 8:23), “the ruler to come” (Daniel 9:26), “the despicable person” (Daniel 11:21), “the strong-willed king” (Daniel 11:36), “the worthless shepherd” (Zec.11:16,17), and “the antichrist” (1 John 2:18,22). At his inception the Antichrist will be pseudochristos or a “false Christ” because he will affirm that he himself is a messianic kind of leader to Israel, and according to Daniel 9:27 will make a pact to protect Israel. The Antichrist is also antichristos or “anti-Christ” meaning he will be “against” the idea of a Christ or Messiah for Israel, he will eventually turn against Israel, and he will undoubtedly speak against the messianic prophecies of another, that being Yeshua of Nazareth.

The Antichrist will be a Gentile just as Antiochus Epiphanes IV who was a Syrian. He will lead the European Union of Gentile nations (Daniel 7:8-24), and his covenant with Israel will promise protection to them by His Gentile armies (Daniel 9:27). Also, his rule over the whole world is that era which the bible calls, “The Times of the Gentiles.”
The antichrist is to arrive on the world scene in lieu of some great peril, some colossal upheaval akin to the coronavirus which will be feared as annihilation of the human race. The antichrist will administrate a pseudo peace which will win him world fame and position. He will be a genius in every way, oratorically, intellectually, politically, militarily, commercially, and religiously (Daniel 7:20; 8:24,25; 11:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:1,2). 

The Holy Scriptures also reference the spirit of antichrist that we can say is already at work and has been at work since the last days that began when Yeshua came (Hebrews 1:2). The spirit of antichrist is a world energized by spiritual imps, elves, fairies, and ghosts all which are demons, dark tyrant spirits, and powers of darkness in the atmosphere who are not yet assigned to hell, but free to inhabit our world and walk the earth. The antichrist is in harmony with them and their leader, the former once-upon-a-time cherub, Lucifer. Only authentic regenerate Christians believe in spiritual beings identified in the Holy Scriptures who presently inhabit the atmosphere battling for our souls, so the deception of the unregenerate world by the son of Satan will be an easy one. The antichrist will be welcomed! The spirit of the antichrist is the same deceptive spirit that crafted Rabbinic Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Karaite, Reconstructionist, Lubavitz, Hasidic, Gur, Yad L’Achim) deceiving the Jewish people! The spirit of antichrist is the deceptive spirit of Islam, the Druze, and the Bahai. The spirit of antichrist is the spirit of Popes, Unitarianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, African Spiritism, even forms of Christianity that deny the one true God, YHWH, His Holy Scriptures, and His Messiah, Yeshua Who is the only way of salvation, and the one mediator to God!


PART THREE: THE FUTURE FUHRER

He’s coming! The serpent’s seed (Gen.3:15); the little horn (Dan.7:8, 24-25); the insolent king of fierce countenance (Dan.8:23-25); the prince who is to come (Dan.9:26); the despicable person (Dan.11:21); the strong willed king (Dan.11:36); him who comes in his own name (John 5:43); the man of lawlessness and son of destruction (2 Thes.2:3); the antichrist (1 John 2:18,22); the beast (Rev.13:1; 11:7) with a number (Rev.13:18). The antichrist is denoted in Scripture by Yeshua, Shaul, and Yochanon, as a person, and the biblical imagery of the antichrist is as a Gentile. He is typed in theTeNaK or OT by Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the Assyrian (Dan.8); he is Roman (Dan.9:27); he rises out of the “sea” (Rev.13:1-10; 15:17); he is ruler in the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24); and he leads the European Union of Gentile nations (Dan.7:8-24) against Israel. He is a Gentile, but will the Jews accept a Gentile as their messiah? 

The typical premise is that the Jews will not accept a Gentile as Messiah, therefore, the antichrist must be Jewish. However, nowhere does the Holy Scriptures say that Israel accepts the antichrist as their Christ or Messiah, only that the antichrist makes an accord with Israel. The Jewish nation many times has made contracts with Gentile rulers, even recently an accord with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. On August 6, 1806 Jewry declared Napoleon to be messiah since he favored a Jewish state. Napoleon declined. The Jewish nation today would gladly sign a peace treaty with their Muslim enemies! 

The antichrist and his covenant/contract will be received by Israel (John 5:43, Daniel 9:27) and his dominion will be world-wide (Revelation 13:3,7,17). The antichrist will act in concert with ten kings (Daniel 2:31-45; 7:19-28; Rev.13:1-9), three of whom he will subdue. At some point “he” will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and that visit to see the Temple will incite him to defame the god of the Jewish Temple for whom the Jewish people worship. He will then commit the abomination of desolation spoken of by Yeshua in Matthew 24:15 and Shaul (Saul) in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the same blasphemous declaration that was committed twenty-five hundred years ago by Antiochus Epiphanes IV (Daniel 8). 

Shaul says that this “lawless one” and “son of perdition” will oppose all that is called God and will exalt himself to be God, and he will commit another abomination by murdering the saints, and he will kill many (Revelation 13:7,8). 

The only other person in the Bible spoken of as “son of perdition” beside this “man of lawlessness” is Judas (John 17:12; 2Thess.2:3). If Israel is the chosen people of God, why will God allow such a devious and sinister Judas-like person to betray Israel? The antichrist will be the instrument of God’s vengeance, the rod of God’s anger against the Jewish people for continuing to deny His son, Yeshua, the true Messiah of Israel (Isaiah 10:5, 24-25). YHWH God thinks very much of His son Yeshua, and all who deny the son are doomed to everlasting destruction, the Jews first, and then the Gentiles (Rom.2:9). 

God, will insulate Edom, Moab, and Ammon from the antichrist’s grasp (Daniel 11:41), but God will allow the incarnated devil to deceive Israel. In fact, this era of time is called Yaaqov’s trouble; it is designed for Israel in order to gain the remnant, and to judge and punish the non-remnant of Israel. The Holy Scriptures term the antichrist as the spoiler/destroyer (Isaiah 16:4), the profane wicked prince of Israel (Ezekiel 21:25), the adversary (Amos 3:11), Belial (Nahum 1:15), the Assyrian (Isaiah 10:5), and the destroyer of the goyim or Gentile nations (Jeremiah 4:7). 

Where is he, today? Who can say? It is very possible, perhaps probable, that the antichrist is alive and being politically, militarily, intellectually, commercially, nationally, and religiously groomed for his act. His coming is calculated and his appearance will be necessary to sustain the whole earth from some peril. But, for now, he is being restrained! Shaul wrote to the church of Thessalonica consoling believers who thought they had missed the coming of Yeshua and the Day of the Lord spoken of in OT apocalyptic scrolls (2The.2:1); he assured them of two things necessary that precipitates The Day of the Lord: (1) an apostasy or defection from belief in Yeshua, and (2) a revealing of the antichrist.However, the man of lawlessness cannot be revealed even in a world that has become lawless in every way and been made ready for him, until God’s restraining and governing force, His body, the Church is removed. Shaul referenced “he”/”him” that is being restrained, by the “He”/”Him” who restrains the son of perdition (2 Thess.2:3-9). He does so by His indwelling of His NT Temple, the Church Who will soon be raptured!