In the article “Antichrist” in the Jewish Encyclopedia (published before WW I) it says, “Counterpart to the Messiah, and opponent of God himself, one of the most important personages in Christian eschatology. The name occurs for the first time in the Johannean epistles (1 Jn 2.18, 22, 4.3; 2 Jn 7) but the idea is met within earlier New Testament writings, and like the greater part of the eschatology of early Christianity, its beginnings are to be found in Jewish theology and modern scholars even hold the opinion that its true origin is to be found in the Babylonian chaos myths.” Obviously they do not agree with the Wikipedia article mentioned in Part 1.
The next one is from the Encyclopedia Judaica article on “Antichrist” and it says, “The background to this figure lies in Jewish eschatology, where the ideas of the wicked king of the last generation and of the rise of evil to the highest point preceding salvation are found at an early period (Ezek 28.2; Dan 7.24-25, 11.36, 9.27). Another form of the same idea can be found in the eschatological battle in which the forced of evil and their leader are finally to be overcome (QM 18.1; 1QS 4.18; Testa. Patri, Levi 3.3, et al).” These references are from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish Pseudo-Pigrapha predating the First Century. So, obviously, from the Jewish writings, they had a lot to say about the False Messiah and it is a factor as to why Christianity knows so little about the False Messiah. This has led Christian teachers into error, and that error is still going on in modern prophecy books, conferences and movies dealing with this subject.
In Wikipedia it continues, “Whether the New Testament contains a personal Antichrist or not is disputed. The five uses of the term ‘Antichrist’ and ‘Antichrists’ in the Johannean epistles do not clearly present a single latter-day personal Antichrist. The articles ‘The Deceiver’ or ‘Antichrist’ are usually seen as working out a certain category of persons, rather than an individual.”
When lookig at the Wikipedia, Jewish Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Judaica articles, every one of the articles went to 2 Thes 2 in order to describe the False Messiah. That is an important point because when studying “The Natzal” or “The Gathering”, otherwise known as the “Rapture”, you also go to 2 Thes 2 as the primary chapter that really defines some things. In the Wikipedia article on Antichrist, it says on 2 Thes 2, “Consequently, attention for a personal Antichrist figure focuses on 2 Thes 2, though the passage does not use the term and Paul’s picture that the “man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
The article on the Antichrist from the Jewish Encyclopedia says, “In 2 Thes 2.1-12, a passage probably of Pauline origin, it is stated that the Day of the Lord shall not come before the “man of sin”, the “lawless one”, the “son of perdition” be revealed. This opponent will appear and seat himself in the Temple of God at Jerusalem, “showing himself that he is God.” But he, the wicked one, will then be consumed by the Messiah through the Spirit of his mouth, who thus will make an end of him “whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” Paul declares further that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work. But that which now restrains will restrain until it be taken out of the way, and that wicked one be revealed.” We are going to deal with this passage and several possible meanings.
In the article in the Encyclopedia Judaica it says, “Antichrist, or Greek Antichristos”, a term first occurring in the Johannean epistles in the New Testament (1 Jn 2.18, 22, 4.3; 2 Jn 7) it refers to an eschatological figure, the opponent of God, the Pseudo-Messiah, who will be revealed at the end of days as the great enemy of Jesus. According to 2 Thes 2.2-4, the second coming will be preceded by apostasy and the “man of lawlessness” will be revealed, the “son of perdition” so evil that ‘he shall sit in the Temple of God, showing himself to be God.’ Perhaps this figure, too, is to be identified with the Antichrist, and he is destroyed by the breath of the Messiah’s mouth (Isa 11.4, Targums, and many other places in the Jewish writings).”
So, they are going to reference you to other Jewish writings on this New Testament passage. Now, let’s go back to the Wikipedia article. We have various passages in the New Testament referenced. It says, “Equation of the False Prophet of the Book of Revelation, Chapters 16, 19 and 20, with a personal Antichrist is also problematic. Medieval commentators more readily identified the figure of the beast of Revelation as a personal Antichrist as opposed to Satan.” Now, this statement is a problem. They were equating the False Prophet with the False Messiah and these are two, separate eschatological figures. The “beasts” you see in those chapters will be developed later. What will be very interesting is when we go back into the Tanak and see these characters and concepts from the very beginning. We will follow through from one passage to another. Now, let’s go to Dan 9.24-27.
In “The Messiah Texts” by Raphael Patai, in the Introduction, it says that the Messiah will be killed after the 62 weeks of Daniel 9.26. Why is that important? Some Jewish websites and teachings today will say that this verse has nothing to do with the Messiah to come. It is speaking of a priest who was killed at that time. However, that rabbinical interpretation is not correct. Patai is probably the leading expert in Judaism on the topic of the Messiah. This prophecy about the Messiah in Daniel is understood to be that way by other leading scholars in Judaism.
The “prince who is to come” is a term for the False Messiah. When this was written, the city had already been destroyed. There is a future city and Temple that will be destroyed, and this is the Roman destruction. So, we learn something here. The “prince who is to come” will come out of the “people” who come to destroy the city and the Temple. This will be the Roman Empire in 70 A.D. Dan 9.27 talks about the “he” who is the “prince” of 9.26, and how he will come and make a treaty with “many” (Israel) for a “shavuah” (a week). Now we are starting to build a profile. The False Messiah will come out of the Roman Empire and he will make a treaty with the Jewish people. This will be a military treaty and we are going to find out why later. This is referenced in the Tanak many times.
We learn that he is going to take away the sacrifices (korbanot) in the middle of the “shavuah” (week). He will place an image, an idol, called the Abomination of Desolation, in the Holy Place (the Heichal) of the Temple. We are going to find out what the Abomination of Desolation is and we are going to look at several descriptions of it in the Scriptures. Most people don’t realize that this idol is described in the Bible. We will see what the Abomination of Desolation looks like and we are going to see it in art, pictures, movies and even churches.
So, what do we have so far? We know that the False Messiah is a figure, a person prophesied to come. He will come out of the Roman Empire. He makes a treaty with Israel for seven years, the period of the Birth-pains. The Abomination of Desolation is a whole category by itself, and it will be an image of the False Messiah.
In Part 3, we will pick up here and begin to talk about the Abomination of Desolation. We will look at what the Hebrew term is, how it is defined in rabbinical literature and also from a historical perspective. We will look at Manasseh and how he was the first to erect an Abomination of Desolation, well before Antiochus Epiphanes did it during the time of the Maccabees. We will continue to lay the groundwork for understanding this topic, and the end result will be shocking. The human race has been groomed for this since the beginning of time and it will soon culminate with the coming False Messiah.
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