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The OOOF Blog
Who or What is the Antichrist?
(posted 07/13/08)
Many believe that the Antichrist is a sinister
character at the end time, talked about in the book of Revelation.
Actually the word “antichrist” is not found in the book of
Revelation. Rather, it is only mentioned four times in the New
Testament (all of them are in the epistles of John).
So what is John
referring to, when he talks about “antichrist”?
After the
destruction of the Temple when the Jews were expelled from Jerusalem
and all the Hebraic leaders of “the way” had been killed, a dramatic
shift happened. Those who would become known as the “church
fathers” were all Gentiles. They all had Greek names, and were
scholars of Greek philosophy.
And although they
had given up the belief in many of the gods of Greek mythology,
their understanding of Hebraic concepts (like messiah, salvation,
and God) was quite limited. They were not Torah scholars. They did
the best that they could, but as “Christianity” continued to gain
more and more Gentile converts, it also grew further away from its
Jewish roots.
The Jewish
understanding of messiah being a man had given way to a Greek view
of messiah. Messiah now was beginning to be viewed as being deity.
This view began to develop while the Apostle John was still alive.
Many people were now saying that Jesus was not a man at all.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know you
the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit
that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof you
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world.
By making the
role of messiah into that of God, the Greeks were effectively making
messiah into the opposite of what he was suppose to be. Instead of
“saving” the House of Israel (by turning them back to the worship of
the one true God), they were turning the belief in One God into the
belief in a Triune God.
John warned the
people of his time not to turn from their Jewish roots. Not to make
Jesus into God.
2 John 1:6
And this is love,
that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That,
as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
For many
deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Look to
yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but
that we receive a full reward.
The role of
messiah, is one who brings Israel OUT of idolatry and back to the
worship of the One God. In essence the belief in “Jesus” (the
mainstream Christian view of who and what he was) is a belief that
goes AGAINST what the role of messiah is. It is an anti-messiah (or
antichrist) belief.
Yet John saw this
belief grow stronger
1 John 2:18
Little children,
it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist
shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know
that it is the last time.
They went out
from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they
would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
But you have an
unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.
I have not
written to you because you know not the truth, but because you know
it, and that no lie is of the truth.
In Jewish belief,
the “son of God” is NOT “God the son”. Messiah has never been
confused with God. He has NEVER been considered a deity.
John believed
that Jesus was the messiah.
Who is a liar but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
However, he
believed that by making Jesus into a god (and not
distinguishing between God and Messiah), those who did such a thing
were proposing a belief that was an insult to Jewish concept and
tradition of what messiah was to be.
He is
antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.
Whosoever denies
the Son, the same has not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledges
the Son has the Father also].
John then appeals
to his followers to abide by the Jewish traditions that they had
heard “from the beginning”.
Let that
therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If
that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you,
you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
And this is the
promise that he has promised us, [even] eternal life.
John anticipated
the messianic age, the resurrection of the dead, and the “world to
come”, were all at the doorstep.
He was unaware
that there was to be two thousand years to follow. He believed that
he was living in the end times. He saw the belief of Jesus being
God as a hindrance to the truth. It was. But it was also part of
God’s plan to NOT bring back the northern kingdom before the
appropriate time.
Today as
we see thousands of people returning to their Hebraic roots. Many
are beginning to question the pagan influences that formed the
beginnings of Christianity. It is, however, still the doctrine
that John labels as “antichrist” that is the biggest obstacle to the
final redemption.Rick Richardson
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