Immanuel.at Forum for Discussion Discourse 113: Do the acts of war in Syria have a prophetic background?

(Do the acts of war in Syria have a prophetic background? / Hannelore Weitzel 00, 2012-06-12)

Dear Mr. Horak, hello and could you please tell me whether I can find anything on your website with reference to this "information" (the article by David Dolan quoted below / FH)? I mean in particular Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49 and Psalm 83, which he writes about here. The rest relating to Ezekiel 38 etc. I am familiar with from your site and can make sense of it. I have taken a look, but I don’t know whether you have gone into this matter in detail. (…) David Dolan is a very well known figure, here in Germany and internationally. Here in Germany he makes the rounds of conferences and congregations with his information and his "biblical doctrine about Israel". But not just here in Germany, all over the world as well. (…) I know David as a serious journalist, but I am still not entirely on his side because, like many others, he too supports the aliyah ("homecoming" of the Jews to Israel from Russia and other nations / FH), and so also has a "Zionistic" mindset. All the same, what do you say to these interpretations?

Hannelore Weitzel, Internationales Netzwerk der Versöhnung e.V. [International Network of Reconciliation, Regd. Assn.], Reutlingen, GERMANY

i-n-d-v [intern-netzwerkderversoehnung@gmx.de https://www.christsheavelyjerusalem.webs.com

(See also Discourse 1013: "Report from the camp of the "Israel movement"." by Hannelore Weitzel)

(WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST / Article by David Dolan 00, 2012-06-11)

(…) I received mostly negative feedback when I wrote a commentary for World Net Daily on the eve of the 2003 war in Iraq, warning that President Bush’s declared goal of promoting Western-style democracy there was not necessarily a good thing. I pointed out that Algeria had tried to go the democratic route in the early 1990s. When the militant Islamic Salvation Front won the first election round, the army stepped in, sparking off a decade of bloodshed that took 160,000 lives. Last year, Islamists won the first democratic elections in Tunisia and they are now taking over Egypt – both as a result of the "democratic process." Will the Muslim Brotherhood be better for Israel? If unfettered elections were held in neighboring Jordan, Muslim militants would probably prevail. When the Palestinians held parliamentary elections in early 2006, it was the radical Hamas movement that triumphed.

The sad fact is that all of Israel’s neighbors are Islamic dominated states comprised of "voters" who would most likely follow the same path that Egypt is currently embarked upon, to Israel’s clear peril.

(…) With the Middle East spinning around at present faster than a Hanukkah dreidel, some have been writing to seek my opinion on the possible prophetic implications of the escalating warfare in Syria and the dramatic Muslim Brotherhood advance in Egypt. Although I am a journalist by profession, having reported the news from Israel and the region since the early 1980s, I also have a longtime personal interest in eschatological biblical prophecy. This is evidenced by my authorship of two prophetic novels, THE END OF DAYS and MILLENNIUM: THE LORD REIGNS. I also touched upon some prophetic themes in my 2001 book, ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? Plus there is the fact that the essence of all biblical prophecy is nothing less than news that has not yet transpired. It is history (His story) revealed before it has actually unraveled on the world stage. In other words, it is hardly divorced from the news.

In particular, I have been getting inquiries concerning the possible connection of the growing Syrian conflict with prophecies found in Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39. As some of you will know from reading the aforementioned books, or other articles or public talks I’ve given over the years, I have long felt that Isaiah 17 is most likely the next major end-time biblical prophecy that will unfold in the turbulent Middle East. This prophecy seems to be echoed by a similar one found in Jeremiah 49, verses 23-27, which tells of a future time when "panic" would grip the Syrian capital city, Damascus, as its "young men fall dead in her streets" and the city’s walls are "set on fire."

As most of you will already know, Isaiah’s prophecy begins with the total destruction of Damascus, which the seer foretells will become completely uninhabited with only "flocks" of animal wandering around in its ruins (Isa 17:1-2). Located fifty miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea east of Lebanon, the historic city is home today to nearly two million people, with another half million living in its suburbs.

Isaiah’s stark prophecy goes on to speak of Israel suffering greatly during the same time frame, implying that an intense war between the two longtime enemy countries stands at the heart of the jarring oracle. It mentions that while Damascus will be "removed from being a city" and "sovereignty" will disappear from it as well (Isa 17:1,3), the "glory of Jacob will fade, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean" (Isa 17:5). As bad as that sounds, the Hebrew prophet is foretelling that Israel will NOT be destroyed as Damascus will be, but instead "gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree" (Isa 17:6). So many "olives" will be shaken off the Tree of Israel, but by no means all of them. Isaiah uses the olive tree analogy later on in Chapter 24, which speaks of the final judgment of the world, giving further evidence that Isaiah 17 is also an "end time" prophecy.

David Dolan is an American author and journalist who has reported from Israel since 1980.

owner-IsraelUpdate@grmi.org acting for dolan@grmi.org www.ddolan.com

Dear Ms. Weitzel, of course I have also studied the biblical passages David Dolan refers to, though in some respects I come to different conclusions. In what follows below I will include in my commentary links to the relevant documents at Immanuel.at, so as to make it easier for you to get your bearings. But first let me say a few words on the political statements emanating from this journalist.

Statements on the level of global politics.

"When the Palestinians held parliamentary elections in early 2006, it was the radical Hamas movement that triumphed."

Here he touches on a general problem with democracy as such, which has received too little attention worldwide to date. The system of democracy is based on the assumption that the majority of people in a state think and act rationally. In times of worldwide corruption, where dictators swindle the people with so-called "free" elections (Africa, South America, Asia), on the other hand, there are countries where democracy – in spite of government by parties elected by a popular majority – itself becomes the root cause of terror. This is the case with Palestine, referred to by Mr. Dolan above (Gaza/Hamas), and it is also the case with Israel, which he shamefully fails to mention, where the Zionists are in the majority and Zionism forms the basis for aggression and the oppression of the Palestinians.

When he then complains:

"The sad fact is that all of Israel’s neighbors are Islamic dominated states comprised of "voters" who would most likely follow the same path that Egypt is currently embarked upon, to Israel’s clear peril."

the short lived nature of such superficial pronouncements becomes very evident. Yesterday (14 June 2012) the Egyptian Constitutional Court dissolved the parliament, currently dominated by Islamists, and new elections must be held. The presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood party Mohammed Mursi, described by the Zionists as "dangerous", has few chances of success now that the court has also decreed that the candidacy of Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak’s last prime minister, is legal. So it is highly likely that the presidential election due to take place this coming Sunday (17 June) will see the return to power of the old guard of Mubarak’s day, with whom Israel has after all always had a good understanding.

The biblical interpretations

But now let us consider Mr. Dolan’s biblical interpretations. In view of all the books he tells us he has written on biblical themes, and the lectures he has given all over the world, it is surprising to find him perpetrating such an incorrect attribution of the biblical texts. So, for example, he associates the Ezekiel 38 and 39 with "the growing conflict in Syria".

These two chapters, Ezekiel 38 and 39, are not in any way, as Mr. Dolan tries to make out, to be understood as referring to a single event, and they certainly do not point to our own time. Ezekiel 39 in its entirety is concerned with the Battle of Armageddon, an event still far in the future, after the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, when the hosts of the entire world under the leadership of the Antichrist will be opposed to our Lord Jesus Christ and his heavenly host, and will be overcome by them.

Ezk 39,4 "You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. Eze 39, 4;

Ezk 39,17 "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ’Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.

39,18 "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

39,19 "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 39,20 "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.

39,21 "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. Eze 39,17-21;

Nor does Isaiah 24 have anything to do with the Last Judgment – on the contrary, it describes the reshaping of heaven and earth which is to follow the Battle of Armageddon. Seeing that humanity, with its greed and recklessness, has devastated the earth in every possible way, God turns everything upside down in order to create the conditions on this planet which will guarantee the blessed and peaceful existence of human beings in the subsequent Millennium, the thousand years kingdom of peace of the Son of God.

Isa 24,1 Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. 24,2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. 24,3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken this word. Isa 24, 1 – 3;

The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they broke the everlasting covenant.

Isa 24,3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken is word. 24,4 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 24,5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. 24,6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. Isa 24, 3 – 6;

Ps 102,25 "Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.102,26 " Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. Ps 102,25 – 26;

Chapter 38 of Ezekiel’s prophecy relates to Satan’s "Last Battle" against God. After the thousand years of the Millennium, Satan will march on Jerusalem with a great army, with the aim of conquering the City of God. In this last battle of the First Creation, God will cause fire to fall from heaven and so the entire host of the adherents of Satan will be annihilated. This is the event of which we have a report in chapter 38 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel – and not the acts of war happening today in the Middle East.

Rev 20,1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 20,2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 20,3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Rev 20, 1- 3;

In the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword.

Ezk38,5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 38,6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples with you. 38,7 "Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 38,8 "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. 38,9 "You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you." Eze 38, 5- 9;

The temporal classification of the biblical texts relating to Israel.

Turning to the passage in Psalm 83, for the interpretation we have a quite simple method in exegesis for assigning this text to a specific time in world history. Here we need to take a rather closer look at the first verses of this passage:

They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

Ps 83,1 <<A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.>> O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. 83,2 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. 83,3 They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. 83,4 They have said, "Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more." Ps 83, 1- 4;

Here in Psalm 83,3 we find a reference to "Your treasured ones". This means the people of God from Israel, who here find protection with their God.

Now we know from the Bible that when Israel’s Messiah, the Son of God, came two thousand years ago to save the people of God from its sins, they rejected him. They condemned him as an impostor and blasphemer, and handed him over to the Romans to be crucified. With this act of deicide, Israel broke the covenant with its God.

The consequence was that God dissolved the covenant. In the year 70 the city of Jerusalem was annihilated by the Roman legions of Titus, and the sole connection of the people of Israel with its God, the Temple – and above all the sacrificial altar in the Temple – was burned down.

The destruction of the Temple.

On 1 July in the year 69 AD, Titus, the son of the reigning Roman emperor Vespasian, was sent to Jerusalem to end the Jewish War as supreme commander of the army delegated to this task. In April of the year 70 he marched on the city with a host of four legions and numerous auxiliary troops from tributary kings (Josephus, Bell, 5,40-6,120). Titus besieged the city, surrounding it with a high siege wall (Josephus, Bell, 5,130-135.491-511; Tacitus, Hist. 5,1.10-14).

In early September, AD 70, Jerusalem then fell to famine. There was also a bloodbath, which Titus, it is claimed, tried in vain to prevent(!). The Temple, where 6000 Jews had taken refuge – placing their trust in an oracular prophecy that the sanctuary would be saved in the Last Days (Josephus, Bell, 6,285f) – was destroyed by fire. According to Josephus, Titus tried up to the last, in vain, to prevent the destruction of the Temple (Bell, 6,241.266). This was the way in which Titus wanted to be exonerated from personal responsibility for the disaster visired on the Jews. But the soldiers, in their blind fury, ignored his orders (Bell, 6,254-259). The city was razed to the ground. Only the towers of the citadels were left intact, and strengthened for future use by a military garnison.

If we look at the above accounts of the historians, we can see that it was not worldly power – in the form of the Roman general Titus – that aimed to destroy the Temple. On the contrary, Josephus tells us that Titus ordered his troops to save the Temple above all. But this entire war was not being decided on an earthly level. It was God the Almighty who had determined that both the city and the Temple were to be destroyed. And so Titus had the experience – probably for the first time in his life – of seeing Roman legionaries refusing to carry out an order from their commander. Instead, they stormed the Temple and burnt it to the ground.

Now from an objective point of view we should of course inquire whether this assertion – that the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple happened by the will of God – actually finds confirmation in the Bible. And here we have, first of all, the lament of the Lord over Jerusalem in Lk 19,41-44:

They will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

Lk 19,41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 19,42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 19,43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 19,44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." Lk 19,41-44;

Here in Lk 19,43 the Lord not only foretells the "barricade", the high wall which Titus built in order to besiege the city, he also alludes to the fact that the besiegers would not leave one stone upon another in the city – as the historian Josephus was later to confirm in the words "The city was razed to the ground" (see above).

With reference to the Temple, we then find the prophecy of its destruction in the Lord’s response to the admiring words of the disciples about the Temple’s glories in Mt 24,1-2:

Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.

Mt 24,1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 24,2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." Mt 24, 1- 2;

These, however, are just prophecies of events which were actually going to take place some 40 years later. We still do not know why God had resolved on the destruction of this city and the Temple. But another statement of the Lord’s, at first sight quite unobtrusive, tells us more. When we look at it closely, we find it contains quite unexpected implications. The Pharisees had found fault with the Lord for his assertion that he was the Son of God, on the grounds that he had only himself as witness, whereas in Jewish law at least two witnesses were necessary, so his testimony, they claimed, was untrue. In Jn 8,24 he therefore tells them,

Jn 8,21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." 8,22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ’Where I am going, you cannot come’?" 8,23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 8,24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He (the Messiah), you will die in your sins." Jn 8,21-24;

In the above scriptural passage the Lord reiterates the prophecy "You will die in your sins", both in Jn 8,21 and in Jn 8,24. For the Pharisees to whom he was speaking, this was just further proof that this Jesus of Nazareth could only propagate lies and had no idea of the Mosaic commandments.

After all, the Law (the Torah) gave them the sacrificial ceremonies of the sin offering and guilt offering as described above, through which they were able to obtain forgiveness of their sins. And what is more, they had the tamid, the daily repeated offering in the Temple by which God granted them constant forgiveness of those sins which can be forgiven.

Neither the Pharisees at the time, nor the majority of biblical commentators today realized the dreadful seriousness that lies at the back of these few words. And it is right here that we find the key to understanding the actions of God in relation to his people Israel.

Just by regarding the surface of this pronouncement, we can see first of all that the Lord of course was not speaking out of ignorance – in fact, it was the Pharisees who had no notion that 40 years later neither the Temple nor the altar would exist, so that it would no longer be possible for the priests to carry out the prescribed offerings in the Temple at the sacrificial altar. And again 65 years later, in 135 AD, the Jews were driven out of Judea altogether into all parts of the world ̵ into the Diaspora.

The consequence of this was that all Israelites – from the destruction of the Temple and sacrificial altar right through to the present day (!) – have been without any possibility of having their sins forgiven, and so, just as the Lord prophesied, have died in their sins. And both in accordance with Mosaic and with Christian teaching, all these many people have thus been lost and will spend eternity in damnation.

But when we proceed to consider this passage in greater depth, we can recognize an even more serious implication in the background. Whereas many Israelites in the time of Jesus supposed that in rejecting the Nazarene they were entirely in line with Mosaic law and with the commandments of their God, in fact this was just the path that they had abandoned. The Jewish Sanhedrin, under its high priest Caiaphas, condemned Jesus because he confirmed to them that he was the Son of God:

Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! He deserves death!

Mt 26,63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God." 26,64 Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 26,65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; 26,66 what do you think?" They answered, "He deserves death!" Mt 26,63-66;

They found him guilty and deserving of death because he said that he was the Son of God. The Sanhedrin, however – Israel’s religious leaders – had no authority to carry out sentence of execution under the laws of the Roman occupying power. Such cases had to be handed over to Roman jurisdiction. But as far as the Romans were concerned, the internal disagreements of the Jews over their religion were no grounds for imposing a punishment, let alone a death sentence. This was why the Jewish Sanhedrin put about the accusation that Jesus had said he was the king of the Jews (Jn 18:33-35). Under Roman jurisdiction this would amount to the criminal offence of rebellion and insurrection against the authority of the emperor in Rome, for which according to Roman law death on the cross was the penalty (Jn 19:12).

But by denying Jesus as their Messiah, condemning him to death and handing him over to the Romans to be crucified, the Jews had also denied – and lost – their God.

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

1Jn 2,22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 2,23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 2,24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.1Jn 2,22-24;

Jn 14,6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Jn 14, 6;

Jn 5,22 "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 5,23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Jn 5,22-23;

He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

1Jh 5,10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
5,11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
5,12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.1Jn 5,10-12;

Along with other scriptural indications, the above prophecies constitute a further proof that since that point in time Israel has no longer had any connection with its God, and so is – in a double sense of the word – a God-less nation.

Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand. Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. Isa 1,2-5;

For two thousand years Israel has been God-less – and still is.

And here we can now see the reason why God had the city of Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed by the Romans. After the killing of his Son on the cross, God abandoned the Temple, the city and the people of Israel. In the following report of the death of Jesus on the cross from Mt 27,45-51 we find two concrete indications of this.

My GOD, My GOD, why have You forsaken Me?" And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two.

Mt 27,45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 27,46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "My GOD, My GOD, why have You forsaken Me?" 27,47 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." 27,48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 27,49 But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him." 27,50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 27,51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Mt 27,45-51;

The last words of the Lord on the cross were "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?". It was the moment at which the sin of the whole world was laid on the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit of the Father was compelled to leave the Son, because he cannot coexist in a body with unforgiven sin.

On the one hand this was the event to accomplish which the Son of God had come into the world – so as to make the vicarious sacrifice acceptable to God for the sins of all humanity.

On the other hand, however, this dying cry was a prophecy for the Jews, who from now on were precisely in this situation. As their Messiah had prophesied to them "Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (Jn 8,24), they no longer had any possibility of their sins being forgiven, because God had forsaken them.

So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.

Isa 1,14 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 1,15 So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 1,16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Isa 1,14-16;

And then there is the circumstance that the veil of the Temple, which served to separate the holy place from the holy of holies in which God dwelt (Ex 26:33), was torn in two pieces from top to bottom – a further confirmation of the fact that God had abandoned the Temple and that the people of Israel, who had become the murderers of his Son, were from now on God-less.

And this too had been prophesied to them by the Lord while he was still alive:

Your house is being left to you desolate!, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!’

Mt 23,32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 23,33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 23,34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 23,35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

23,36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 23,37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 23,38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 23,39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!’ Mt 23,32-39;

Here above, in Mt 23,38, the Lord says to the Israelites: "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate". This is originally a saying of David (Psalm 69,25: «May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents.»), which Peter also quotes in Acts 1,20, in his address on the election of a new twelfth apostle instead of the traitor Judas Iscariot, together with another saying of David, from Ps 109,8: «… Let another take his office.»

It is significant that these two sayings of Daniel apply not only to the traitor Judas Iscariot, but also to the betrayal of the people of Israel against their Messiah. Their house will be left desolate – God has dissolved the covenant with Israel – and their office – the government in the Kingdom of God on earth, the Millennium – will be given to to a people, producing the fruit of it (Mt 21,43).

From the biblical point of view, then, ever since its rejection of the Messiah and the subsequent destruction of the Temple, and so of the sacrificial altar in Jerusalem, the people of Israel have had no possibility – for all the time between the Lord’s death and resurrection, and his Second Coming to enter on his rule in the Millennial Kingdom – of entering into any kind of interaction with its God, either through prayer or through sacrificial offerings. So they have not had any forgiveness of their sins either, unless they convert to Jesus Christ – as a result of which, though, they would then be Christians.

Paul saw this very clearly in the Holy Spirit when he wrote to the Galatians, "But you, brethren, like Isaac, are the children of promise." So the believers in Christ are the children of the free and of the promise, and Israel, they are the children of the bondwoman, the ones bound to the law, they shall not inherit with the children of the free woman.

Gal 4,26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 4,27 For it is written, "rejoice, barren woman who does not bear, break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband." 4,28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. 4,29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. 4,30 But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman." 4,31 So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman. Gal 4,26 – 31;

All these connections now offer us, as biblical commentators, an important logical principle. All those biblical prophecies referring to Israel which describe this people as the "people of God", or – as above in Ps 83,3 – as "God’s Treasured ones", either relate to the time two thousand years ago, or else will not be fulfilled until the Millennium, when the remnant of Israel will convert and will once again be entitled to call itself the people of God.

It is thus incontrovertible that in our day, and for the entire Last Days through to the Millennium, Israel cannot expect any help from God. All claims in our own times that God will "lead" Israel, as for example in connection with the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 (the so-called "gathering by God"), or with the "alyah" referred to earlier by Ms. Weitzel (repatriation of the Jews from all over the world to Israel), are inventions of the Zionists, who simply "anticipate" the prophecies of the Millennium and take money out of the pockets of credulous Christians, in order to shore up the godless, Zionist and – as we will see below – Antichristian state of Israel.

Does the Bible say that the Antichrist will be a Jew?

This "1948 gathering" has also brought together atheist Jews from the former Soviet Union and from all over the world, so it was not the work of God but rather that of Theodor Herzl’s Zionists, who ‒ as so often in the history of Israel, when the Israelites apostasized from their God (e.g. on Mount Horeb/Sinai) ‒ did not want to wait for God’s good time but again made themselves a "golden calf" ‒ this time the state of Israel.

The believing Orthodox Jews who have remained in the Diaspora take a similar view, as the following statement by the Chief Rabbi of the truly believing Orthodox Jews in Vienna, Moishe Arie Friedmann, confirms:

"With the Holocaust as a justification, the state of Israel was founded by the use of force, which contradicts the will of God (Hos 1:7). As Jews true to our faith we accept the fate of the Diaspora which God has laid upon us. But the founding of the state of Israel has not just damaged the Jews on this religious plane; the means and the methods used by Israel to secure its existence against the Palestinians damage all Jews world-wide, and encourage the rebirth of anti-Semitism. For Jews true to their faith it is clear, however, that the Diaspora is the fate laid upon us by God until the coming of the Messiah."

Our Lord Christ, while he was alive, said to them that those who do not believe in the Son do not have the Father either, and so are "God-less" in a double sense. In as much as they have not converted to Jesus Christ, they have all been without forgiveness and have died in their sins for the last two thousand years. And so they have been assigned to eternal damnation in accordance with both Christian as well as Mosaic law.

1Jn 2,23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 1Jn 2,23;

Jn 15,23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also. Jn 15,23;

Jn 8,22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ’Where I am going, you cannot come’?" 8,23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 8,24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Jn 8,22-24;

And when the Jews indignantly claimed that they had God for a father, the Lord revealed to them that in truth they originated from the devil, and so would wish to fulfill the desires of their true father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not stand in the truth, because there was no truth in him, only lies.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

Jn 8,41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." 8,42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 8,43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 8,44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 8,45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 8,46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 8,47 "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." Jn 8,41-47;

So since Satan already in the past ‒ almost 2000 years ago ‒ made use of his descendants among the Jews to deprive the Jewish people of its Messiah by trickery and deception and to have him crucified at the hands of the Romans, it would make sense if the devil were again in future to elect his own false Messiah, the Antichrist, from the flock of his Jewish sons.

And just that is what the Lord Jesus actually prophesied to the Jews, when he told them: "I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him." If the Lord, who came as the Messiah, here compares this other who is to come with himself, then he can only be referring to the false Messiah, the Antichrist. And if he tells the Jews that they will receive this other, then this other must necessarily be a Jew as well – for the Jews would not accept a non-Jew as their Messiah.

Jn 5,39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 5,40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 5,41 "I do not receive glory from men; 4,42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 5,43 "I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. Jn 5,39-43;

1Jn 2,22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 1Jn 2,22;

The family tree of the Antichrist (the Greek prefix anti means "against", but Antichrist can also mean "instead of Christ") will presumably also go back to David, like that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will claim to be the true Messiah and portray Jesus Christ as an imposter and blasphemer ‒ of course, this is something that we have heard from the Jews long before.

He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy – he deserves death!

Mt 26,63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." 26,64 Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 26,65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; 26,66 what do you think?" They answered, "He deserves death!" 26,67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him. Mt 26,63-67;

The devil will claim to be God the Father and will lend his own power and great authority to his resurrected son, the demonic Antichrist (Rev 13:2). And this false Messiah will appear with power and signs and false wonders (2Thess 2:9), which the Jews above all, but sadly many Christian denominations as well, will see as a proof of his authenticity. He will promise the Jews world dominion, and imbue them with the power and authority of Satan as well.

Almost 2000 years ago Satan, to whom all power over the kingdoms of this world is entrusted, tempted our Lord Jesus Christ by offering him world dominion if he would worship him, Satan.

I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Lk 4,5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 4,6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 4,7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." 4,8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, ’You shall worship the LORD your God and serve Him only.’" Lk 4, 5- 8;

But the Son of God, the true Messiah, rebutted this attempt by quoting the words "You shall worship the LORDyour God and serve him only" (Deut 6:13, 10:20). The false Messiah will however be willing to accept this offer in order to prove to the whole world that he is the "true Messiah" and the "Son of God" and so claim that he fulfills all scriptural prophecies relating to the dominion of the Messiah.

He will also, above all, fulfill those promises which see Israel as becoming the "chief of the nations". But all these prophecies actually refer to the Millennial Kingdom of the Son of God in the distant future. So this attempt of Satan’s to deceive the world amounts to a complete plagiarism of the biblical prophecies. Already Luther named Satan "God’s ape", who is aping God in all things.

Rabbi Emanuel Rabinovich, whom we quoted earlier ‒ even if he is "from below", as our Lord revealed to the rabbis and scribes of his own day (Jn 8:23-24), or for that very reason ‒ may then actually have been telling the truth in describing plans for Jewish world rule and suggesting that Israel (with the help of the false Christ) would become a world power:

"Our final goal is to precipitate World War III, which will surpass in destruction all previous contests. (…) This war will end for all time our struggle against the Gentiles (…) and our race will rule undisputed over the world."

But by contrast with the Millennium, where God promises his glory to Israel "not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts" (Zech 4,6), the Antichrist will subject the world to battle and war with the help of Israel and its allies and make all non-Jews slaves, as Rabinovich actually prophesies in his speech.

All those genuine Christian believers who know their Bible and see through the deceit and refuse any truck with the deceiver will be persecuted, imprisoned and even killed by their "brethren" who have gone over to the other side, even by members of their own families.

Mt 10,16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. 10,17 "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; 10,18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 10,19 "But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 10,20 "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 10,21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 10,22 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. Mt 10,16-27;

The blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Rev 2,8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 2,9 ’I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 2,10 ’Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev 2, 8-10;

And this does not refer to Jews who will be hated and persecuted worldwide, as many commentators (especially Jewish ones) like to claim. We find confirmation of this in the Lord’s statement quoted above (Mt 10,22): "You will be hated by all because of my name". At this time, presumably only Christians can be hated because of the name of the Lord (Christ = Messiah) ‒ not the Jews, who in any case have never acknowledged Christ and regard him to this day as an imposter and blasphemer who according to the Jewish Talmud (with Mishna and Gemara part of the the Jewish holy scriptures) is now "burning in hell".

And our Lord actually prophesied this to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees while he was still alive:

I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues.

Mt 23,29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 23,30 and say, ’If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23,31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 23,32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 23,33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 23,34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 23,35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23,36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Mt 23,29-36;

These prophets, wise men and scribes whom the Lord will send are the Christian preachers, evangelists and biblical scholars of the Last Days who will be persecuted by the Jews, scourged in Jewish synagogues and in some cases put to death. But the Lord also gives us encouraging words to balance out these prophecies, which may seem gloomy from a Christian perspective, and at the same time confirms ‒ by saying (in Jn 15,23, quoted below) "He who hates Me hates My Father also" ‒ that the Jews, who have hated him for almost 2000 years, likewise hate God the Almighty and so have no God any more and in fact have been, ever since, a God-less people.

Jn 15,18 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 15,19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 15,20 "Remember the word that I said to you, ’A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 15,21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. 15,22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 15,23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also. Jn 15,18-23;

I know your tribulation and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Rev 2,8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 2,9 ’I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 2,10 ’Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 2,11 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’ Rev 2, 8-11;

If this interpretation is correct, the appearance of the Antichrist will be just the way the Jews have always imagined the arrival of their Messiah. All nations of the goyim (non-Jews) will have been conquered, and the Jewish race, with its Messiah, will dominate the world without contest. Only this Messiah will not be the true Messiah, the one who will reign in the Millennial Kingdom in peace and justice with Israel as "chief of the nations" (Jer 31:7). It will be the Antichrist, who will rule over the world with war and violence as the false Messiah in the Great Tribulation.

But the Jews have no idea about the Antichrist of course, seeing that they reject the New Testament and so have not come across him (Dan 9:27; Jer 28:14-15; Rom 11:25-26). So here too the prophecies of the Millennial Kingdom of peace of the Son of God ‒ including and especially those of the Old Testament ‒ have been suppressed or distorted by certain commentators. Of course there is no use in prophecies of a millennium in the future, if you want to make out that such prophecies have already been fulfilled in the "gathering of Israel" since the year 1948.

The Mosaic religion will then be declared a national religion, both in Israel and worldwide, through the substitution of a false God and a false Messiah. The prophecies of the Old Testament referring to the Messiah will be realized, through the power and authority of Satan, and the New Testament will be banned worldwide as a "work of imposture". The temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the Antichrist will take his seat in the temple pretending to be "God". And "all who dwell on earth" will worship this false Messiah.

Rev 6,2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Rev 6, 2

Rev 13,8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Rev 13,8;

So that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

2The 2,3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 2,4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.2The 2, 3- 4;

In Rev 13,11 we are then told about a second beast, seen by John as arising from the earth. He has two horns like a lamb, and speaks like a dragon. And he exercises the entire power of the first beast ‒ the false Messiah ‒ in his presence. As we learn from what ensures, it is this second beast which induces the people of the entire world to worship the false Messiah. As for the identity of this second beast, there remains a difference of opinion among commentators to the present day. Some would like to see him as a political ruler; others again would actually identify him, and not the first beast, with the Antichrist.

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.

Rev 13,11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 13,12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13,13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 13,14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 13,15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13,16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 13,17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 13,18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. Rev 13,11-18;

Here it emerges that if we see these matters just from the point of view of Revelation it does actually make it harder for us to work out what it is going on. But if we stick to the fact that all these events relating to the false Messiah are an attempt by Satan to imitate God in his actions (this was why Luther described Satan as the "ape of God"), then we must look at these prophecies in conjunction with related statements to be found in the Gospels, and for that matter in the Old Testament as well. And so we find in the prophet Malachi (Mal 3,23-24) an important indication of a certain sign heralding the appearance of the Messiah:

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

Mal 4,5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 4,6 "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." Mal 4, 5- 6;

Before the great day of the Lord comes, God will send the prophet Elijah, who did not die but ascended to heaven (2Kings 2:11), to reconcile the sons with the fathers in Israel and to convert them to their God. It was just this prophecy which so preoccupied the scribes in Israel in Jesus’ own time, so the first question which the Jews put to John the Baptist was, Are you Elijah?

Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?

Jn 1,22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 1,23 He said, "I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ’make straight the way of the LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said." 1,24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 1,25 They asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 1,26 John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. Jn 1,22-27;

Honestly enough, John the Baptist told them that he was not the Messiah but that the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, was already standing among them. But the disciples of the Lord also wanted him to tell them what this return of Elijah was all about.

Mt 17,10 And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 17,11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 17,12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 17,13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Mt 17,10-13;

The Lord’s answer contains two important statements. First of all he confirms the prophecy of the prophet Malachi, that Elijah will come. But then the Lord tells his disciples at the same time that Elijah has already come; only the Jews did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. Here the disciples understood that he was referring to John the Baptist, who had been beheaded at the orders of King Herod. But the Lord had already revealed to the Jews that the Baptist was Elijah who was to return.

Mt 11,13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 11,14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Mt 11,13-14;

So we can see that the return of the prophet Elijah and the coming of the Messiah are inseparable. And just as was to be expected, Satan, the dragon, has plagiarized these events by associating a false prophet with the false Messiah. It is the second beast, seen by John as rising from the earth in the above quoted passage (Rev 13,11), which is then also described (in Rev 16,13, 19,20 and 20,10) as the false prophet.

I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;.

Rev 16,13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 16,14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. Rev 16,13-14;

And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence.

Rev 19,20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Rev 19,20;

The devil was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also

Rev 20,10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev 20,10;

This proves to us that this second beast will not be the Antichrist, any more than John the Baptist was the Messiah. Nor will he be a political ruler, but possibly the Catholic pope. And just as the task of the real prophet Elijah on his return will be to convert the people of Israel to its God and its Messiah, so it is the task of this false prophet to induce all the people of the world to worship the false Messiah, the first beast, and to accept a mark on their right hand or forehead so that no one will be able to buy or sell if they do not have this mark. And all people who refuse to have the mark on their right hand or forehead because they are waiting for the Son of God, the true Christ, will be put to death.

The image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

Rev 13,15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13,16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 13,17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 13,18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. Rev 13,15-18;

John writes about these people again in Rev 20,4, telling us that those who have been put to death because they had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand, come to life again in the First Resurrection, the resurrection of the martyrs, to reign with Jesus as priests in the Millennium.

I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God.

Rev 20,4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Rev 20, 4;

Taking all these connections into account, we can now recognize the background to two phenomena which would otherwise appear quite inexplicable in the doctrinal teaching of many Christian congregations all over the world. In practically ninety percent of the Evangelical congregations in North America, Europe and Asia, we find on the one hand a false Pretribulationist doctrine being preached (that is to say, the Rapture of the congregation of the Last Days is said to come before the Great Tribulation), and on the other the thousand years of the Millennium are either denied or simply interpreted in a different sense. This even though both events are documented in the Bible with a clarity and lack of ambiguity that we find with few other prophecies (see e.g. Mt 24:29-30; Rev 7:13-15; 2Thess 2:1,3,8 and Rev 20:4-6, respectively).

The reason for this, of course, is that all the prophecies of the world dominion of Israel with the Messiah, which the Bible tells us will only happen in the Millennium, are "repositioned" to an earlier period, so as to make it possible to see the false Messiah as the real one. And likewise the Rapture has to be "repositioned" before the Great Tribulation, because, of course, the false Messiah will come before the Great Tribulation. If people were to teach – as is biblically correct – that the Rapture comes at the sixth seal, before the day of the wrath of God, so that then a so-called "Messiah" were to come before the Great Tribulation, they would have to ask themselves, obviously, who this "Messiah" could possibly be, and they might then have some considerable misgivings.

Even if on the appearance of this false Messiah many biblical prophecies will remain unfulfilled – like the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the Rapture of the congregation – this is something that will not be too closely looked into when it comes to the point. Now that the Messiah has finally come, everyone will be stigmatized as a heretic who has any doubts about it or who may feel inclined to check things against the Bible. Since these prophecies are only to be found in the New Testament, this is yet another reason why the New Testament will then be banned worldwide by this "synagogue of Satan" (Rev 2:9,3:9) as an antisemitic and inflammatory document . Incidentally, anyone who has doubts on this score is going to be betrayed by their own relations, will be thrown into prison and scourged in the synagogues (Mt 10:17-22).

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

Rabbi Rabinovich’s speech on the Jewish rule over the world. / Budapest 1952-01-12

The Canadian Intelligence Service – Excerpt from September 1952 issue – submitted by James Moorhouse:

The following speech was given by Rabbi Emanuel Rabinovich before a special meeting of the Emergency Council of European Rabbis in Budapest, Hungary, January 12, 1952:

"Greetings, my children;

You have been called here to recapitulate the principal steps of our new program. As you know, we had hoped to have twenty years between wars to consolidate the great gains which we made from World War II, but our increasing numbers in certain vital areas is arousing opposition to us, and we must now work with every means at our disposal to precipitate World War III.

The goal for which we have striven so concertedly for 3000 years is at last within our reach, and because its fulfillment is so apparent, it behooves us to increase our efforts and our caution tenfold. I can safely promise you that before ten years have passed, our race will take its rightful place in the world, with every Jew a king and every Gentile a slave (Applause from the gathering).

You remember the success of our propaganda campaign during the 1930’s, which aroused anti-American passions in Germany at the same time we were arousing anti-German passions in America, a campaign which culminated in the Second World War. A similar propaganda campaign is now being waged intensively throughout the world. A war fever is being worked up in Russia by an incessant anti-American barrage while a nationwide anti-Communist scare is sweeping America. This campaign is forcing all the smaller nations to choose between the partnership of Russia or an alliance with the United States.

Our most pressing problem at the moment is to inflame the lagging militaristic spirit of the Americans. The failure of the Universal Military Training Act was a great setback to our plans, but we are assured that a suitable measure will be rushed through Congress immediately after the 1952 elections. The Russians, as well as the Asiatic peoples, are well under control and offer no objections to war, but we must wait to secure the Americans. This program will achieve its objective, the Third World War, which will surpass in destruction all previous contests.

Israeli, of course, will remain neutral, and when both sides are devastated and exhausted, we will arbitrate, sending our Control Commissions into all wrecked countries. This war will end for all time our struggle against the Gentiles. We will openly reveal our identity with the races of Asia and Africa. I can state with assurance that the last generation of white children is now being born. Our Control Commissions will, in the interests of peace and wiping out interracial tensions. Forbid the whites to mate with whites. The White Women must cohabit with members of the dark races, the White Men with dark women. Thus the white race will disappear, for the mixing of the dark with then white means the end of the white man, and our most dangerous enemy will become only a memory. We shall embark upon an era of ten thousand years of peace and plenty, the Pax Judaica, and our race will rule undisputed over the world. Our superior intelligence will easily enable us to retain mastery over a world of dark peoples."

Question from the gathering: Rabbi Rabinovich, what about the various religions after the Third World War?

Rabinovich: "There will be no more religions. Not only would the existence of a priest class remain a constant danger to our rule, but belief in an afterlife would give spiritual strength to irreconcilable elements in many countries, and enable them to resist us. We will, however, retain the rituals and customs of Judaism as the mark of our hereditary ruling caste, strengthening our racial laws so that no Jew will be allowed to marry outside our race, nor will any stranger be accepted by us.

We may have to repeat the grim days of World War II, when we were forced to let the Hitlerite bandits sacrifice some of our people, in order that we may have adequate documentation and witnesses to legally justify our trial and execution of the leaders of America and Russia as war criminals, after we have dictated the peace. I am sure you will need little preparation for such a duty, for sacrifice has always been the watchword of our people, and the death of a few thousand Jews in exchange for world leadership is indeed a small price to pay. To convince you of the certainty of that leadership, let me point out to you how we have turned all of the inventions of the White Man into weapons against him. Hid printing presses and radios are the mouthpieces of our desires, and his heavy industry manufactures the instruments which he sends out to arm Asia and Africa against him.

Our interests in Washington are greatly extending the ‘Point-Four’-Program for developing industry in backward areas of the world, so that after the industrial plants and cities of Europe and America are destroyed by atomic warfare, the Whites can offer no resistance against the large masses of the dark races, who will maintain an unchallenged technological superiority. And so, with the vision of world victory before you, go back to your countries and intensify your good work, until that approaching day when Israeli will reveal herself in all her glorious destiny as the Light of the World."

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TANACH – God’s Word
TORA	The five books of Moses – God’s word to Moses (handed down in writing).
PROPHETS (Nevi’im)	Prophets in front (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) prophets behind (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 12 prophets).
SCRIPTURES (Ketuvim)	Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Daniel, Ezra, Chronicles.
TALMUD – Human word
MISHNA	Oral Torah – God’s word to Moses (orally transmitted).
GEMARA	Man’s word about the Mishnah, (commentaries and analyses). The rather factual style of the Mishnah was "expanded" with fables, sagas, Riddles, etc. "expanded".

Discourse 113 – Do the acts of war in Syria have a prophetic background?

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Do the acts of war in Syria have a prophetic background? / Hannelore Weitzel 00, 2012-06-12)

(WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST / Article by David Dolan 00, 2012-06-11)

Statements on the level of global politics.

The biblical interpretations

The temporal classification of the biblical texts relating to Israel.

The destruction of the Temple.

For two thousand years Israel has been God-less – and still is.

Israel in the light of the Bible.

Does the Bible say that the Antichrist will be a Jew?

The Hebrew Holy Scriptures

Summary

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

Rabbi Rabinovich’s speech on the Jewish rule over the world. / Budapest 1952-01-12