What gets me is how people can read verses like…: Matt. 24:24 - "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
…then turn around and believe that a blood-thirsty, warmongering, Islamic leader whose (apparent) sole purpose is to destroy Israel and Christianity (in their eyes) could deceive anyone? No matter how many miracles a guy like this would do, the world won't "follow" that type of leader. They seem to have this picture of the a/c being some frothing at the mouth insane Saddam type character, when in fact the opposite is the most likely scenario.
I thought it might be a good idea to review what Israel’s end times beliefs are. I think their beliefs should give Christians a better idea on what the a/c will try to accomplish through deception. The following are excerpts from an article by Nissan Dovid Dubov on Chabad.org, a website on Jewish beliefs. Their word for Messiah is Mashiach. (non-italicized words in parenthesis mine)
“In Talmudic literature the title Mashiach, or Melech Hamashiach, (the King Messiah) is reserved for the Jewish leader who will redeem Israel in the End of Days.
One of the principles of Jewish faith enumerated by Maimonides is that one day there will arise a dynamic Jewish leader, a direct descendant of the Davidic dynasty, who will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and gather Jews from all over the world and bring them back to the Land of Israel. All the nations of the world will recognise Mashiach to be a world leader and will accept his dominion. In the messianic era there will be world peace, no more wars nor famine and, in general, a high standard of living. (1 Thess. 5:3)
The leadership quality of Mashiach means that through his dynamic personality and example, coupled with manifest humility, he will inspire all people to strive for good. He will transform a seemingly utopian dream into a reality. He will be recognised as a man of G–d with greater leadership qualities than even Moshe (Moses). Our prophets speak of the advent of a human leader, the magnitude of whom the world has not yet experienced. His unique example and leadership will inspire mankind to change direction…and will entail a return to Torah law, firmly ruling out any “other” messianic belief. (Christ) Mashiach will be a man who possesses extraordinary qualities. He will be proficient in both the written and oral Torah traditions. He will incessantly campaign for Torah observance among Jews and observance of the Seven Universal Noahide Laws by non-Jews. He will be scrupulously observant and encourage the highest standards from others. He will defend religious principles and repair breaches in their observance. Above all, Mashiach will be heralded as a true Jewish King, a person who leads the way in the service of G–d, totally humble yet enormously inspiring.
Jews anticipate the arrival of Mashiach everyday. However, the Talmud states that there is a predestined time when Mashiach will come. If we are meritorious he may come even before that predestined time. This “end of time” remains a mystery, yet the Talmud states that it will be before the Hebrew year 6000.
Any potential Mashiach must be a direct descendant of King David as well as erudite in Torah learning. It should be noted that many people living today can trace their lineage back to King David. The Chief Rabbi of Prague in the 16th Century, Rabbi Yehuda Loew (the Maharal), had a family tree that traced him back to the Davidic dynasty. Consequently, any direct descendant of the Maharal is of Davidic descent.
Maimonides, a great Jewish philosopher and codifier of the 12th Century, rules that if we recognise a human being who possesses the superlative qualities ascribed to Mashiach we may presume that he is the potential Mashiach. If this individual actually succeeds in rebuilding the Temple and gathering in the exiles then he is the Mashiach.
Maimonides states in his Mishnah Torah – a compendium of the entire halachic tradition – that Mashiach will first rebuild the Temple and then gather in the exiles. Jerusalem and the Temple will be the focus of Divine worship and “From Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the L–rd from Jerusalem.” The Talmud describes the period immediately prior to the advent of Mashiach as one of great travail and turmoil (birth pangs). There will be a world recession and governments will be controlled by despots. It is in this troubled setting that Mashiach will arrive…
…There is a tradition that Elijah the prophet will come to the world and announce the imminent arrival of Mashiach. However, according to other opinions, Mashiach may arrive unannounced. Elijah would then arrive to assist in the peace process. (The false prophet and the order of Rev. 13) Some suggest that if the Mashiach arrives in his predestined time then Elijah will announce his arrival, but if Mashiach comes suddenly then Elijah will appear after Mashiach has come. As mentioned before, it is unclear as to exactly how these events will unfold. However, this uncertainty does not affect the general matter of Mashiach’s arrival. (end of quoted material)
Remember a few years ago there was all this talk about a 12th Imam. Well also remember that Islam is a false religion with false prophets and false prophecies. There never will be a real 12th Imam. However, I wouldn’t put it past the Islamic leaders to “create” one to stimulate the war they so desire. This WW3 will probably be the event that will bring the Jewish messiah (Anti-Christ) to the forefront. Remember that the arrival of the Anti-Christ is a Jewish event not an Islamic one. He will come as Israel’s friend and benefactor, not their enemy. His goal is to get them to worship him, instead of God (the abomination of desolation). This what the term “anti” in anti-christ means, not the opposite of, but in place of.
Now a little about the anti-Christ. I don’t believe that Islam will be the vehicle of the antichrist. They will, in fact, ultimately go to war against each other. The anti in antichrist does not mean against Christ, it means instead of Christ. The antichrist’s goal will not be to destroy Israel but to take the praise and worship due to God and have the Jews worship him instead as foretold by Christ in John 5:43 - I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. Israel will believe the a/c is their prophesied messiah since they did not accept Christ and are still looking for another.
Satan is not a creator but he does copy or mimic the things of God to deceive people. Much of his and the a/c’s time on earth will be spent duplicating as closely as possible Jesus Christ in order to convince the world that he is Christ and to convince the Jews, he is their Messiah. We Christians have our Holy Trinity consisting of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Satan has his unholy trinity. In this unholy trinity, Satan wants to replace God, the a/c will be the acting god the son (even mimicking his death and resurrection in Rev. 13:3) and exercising the power of the Holy Spirit will be the false prophet, (compare Acts 1: 8 with Rev. 13:14). Satan will even have an equivalent archangel to Michael, his name is Abaddon or Apollyon as given in Rev. 9:11. They will excel at deceit as Matt. 24:24 points out. Only the elect, those who are born again with a knowledge of what to look for in the latter days, will be able to see through this deception.
For the Jews to accept him as their Messiah, there are some things that will need to fall into place. He will need to prove himself as coming from the line of David and thus will be of Jewish descent. He will likely come from the tribe of Dan as suggested in Jer. 8:16, and that is why Dan is not listed as one of the tribes in Rev. 7. It is possible that the faux messiah could be half Israeli and half Moslem, maybe even of the line of David “and” the line of Mohammad.
When he comes against the woman in Rev. 12, he is not coming against all of Israel but only those whose eyes are opened at the abomination of desolation and have now become believing Israel and reject him as messiah and turn to Christ per Zech. 12:10. They will most likely include the 144,000 of Rev. 7.
Some confusion undoubtedly arises from misinterpreting the sequence of Ez. 37 & 38. Chapter 37 has pre-millennial significance but chapter 38 has post millennial significance and is the same prophecy that is repeated in Rev. 20:8. However, cp.39 goes back to post 70th week significance. These are the only two places where Gog and Magog are mentioned together. So to sum up, the a/c will be Jewish, not Islamic.
He will fight against the Moslems as protector of Israel, not with them against Israel. His cohort, the false prophet could possibly be a pope and the a/c’s goal is to destroy the church and the Israel remnant who reject him because they will refuse to give him the worship that should be God’s, and thus in a manner of speaking, spit in God’s eye.
