The End of History—Messiah Conspiracy

CHAPTER 23—The False Messiah Armilus Equals Antichrist

“This king will make a seven-year treaty with the people, but after half that time, he will break his pledge and stop the Jews from all their sacrifices and their offerings; then, as a climax to all his terrible deeds, the Enemy shall utterly defile the sanctuary of God. But in God’s time and plan, his judgment will be poured out upon this Evil One.”

Daniel the prophet, 9:27 The Living Bible, 538 BC

“...this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains....”

Jesus’ warning of Antichrist in the New Testament, Matthew 24:14-16 KJV, 33 AD

“...it is also our duty to search with all diligence into these Prophesies. And if God was so angry with ye [the] Jews for not searching more diligently into the Prophesies wch [which] he had given them to know Christ by: why should we think he will excuse us for not searching into ye Prophesies wch he hath given us to know Antichrist by?....& therefore he may easily seduce thee if thou beest not well prepared to discern him. But if he should not be yet come into ye world yet amidst so many religions of wch there can be but one true [faith] & perhaps none of those [religions] that thou art acquainted with it is great odds but thou mayst be deceived & therefore it concerns thee to be very circumspect.”¹ Sir Isaac Newton,1642-1727

“...I believe the end of the age is very near. Why?....there is a growing tendency within Christendom to make room for the rise of the Antichrist.”² Israeli Professor Flusser

“Into a world prepared to receive him, the Messiah will then be born. He will be a mortal human being, born normally of human parents....Now, imagine a charismatic leader greater than any other in man’s history. Imagine a political genius surpassing all others. With the vast communication networks now at our disposal, he could spread his message to the entire world and change the very fabric of our society....One possible scenario could involve the Middle East situation. This is a problem that involves all the world powers. Now imagine a Jew, a Tzadik, solving this thorny problem....such a demonstration of statesmanship and political genius would place him in a position of world leadership. The major powers would listen to such an individual....Thus, the Rambam (Maimonides) writes, ‘If he is further successful in rebuilding the Temple on its original site and gathering the dispersed of Israel, then his identity as the Messiah is a certainty’....these accomplishments are a minimum for our acceptance of an individual as the Messiah.”³ Rabbi Kaplan, The Real Messiah, 1976,

his modern anti-Christian rabbinical opinion, if heeded, may set the stage for world Jewry to be deceived into believing that the Antichrist is the “real Messiah.”

23
THE FALSE MESSIAH
ARMILUS EQUALS ANTICHRIST

For those of you who do not take the Antichrist seriously—for those of you who take the Bible lightly or with “a grain of salt”—for those of you who are “scientifically-minded”—let me present Sir Isaac Newton and what he had to say about the Antichrist. As you may remember from our chapter 18, “Israel—Is Real,” Sir Isaac Newton predicted that the “Jews will return to Jerusalem in the twentieth century.” Newton was right on the money with his law of gravitation, he was right on the return to Zion and he is right on the Antichrist.

ARMILUS IS ANTICHRIST—THREE QUESTIONS
WHICH COULD COST YOU YOUR SANITY

1. Armi-what? 2. Who, what, where and when is Armilus? 3. Does anyone know? The Armilus is virtually unknown to the vast majority of people, even those who are Jewish and consider themselves religious! A handful of Bible scholars have looked up the word in various encyclopedias and then take the person for which it stands about as seriously as do the encyclopedias. If you do not believe this, just ask a rabbi, or any person who professes to have a knowledge or interest in the Jewish religion, about Armilus (“the Jewish Antichrist” or “the last evil king against Israel and the Messiah”). I am willing to bet that they either look completely bewildered, or look at you like you should be put in an asylum!

Many believe the Antichrist is a Christian concept, having nothing to do with Judaism. This is not true! The ancient rabbis wrote about him under the name of Armilus. In this chapter we will quote rabbinical commentaries (such as certain Midrashim, Targums and selected writings of Bar Yohai) to illustrate this point.
In The Jewish Encyclopedia, it is admitted that a “Jewish Antichrist,”⁴ called Armilus in ancient Jewish legend/tradition, will come to wreak havoc on the Jews of Jerusalem just prior to the
Messiah coming to destroy him and save them. The Jewish Encyclopedia says: “ARMILUS: In later Jewish eschatology and legend, a king who will arise at the end of time against the Messiah,
and will be conquered by him after having brought much distress upon Israel. The origin of this Jewish Antichrist (as he can well be styled in view of his relation to the Messiah) is as much involved in doubt as the different phases of his development, and his relation to the Christian legend....[Rabbi] Saadia (born 892; died 942)...speaks of Armilus. He mentions the following as a tradition of the ancients....If the Jews do not prove themselves worthy of Messianic salvation, God will force them to repentance by terrible persecutions. In consequence of these persecutions, a scion of the tribe of Joseph [known as Messiah ben Joseph] will arise and wrest Jerusalem from the hands of the Edomites....Thereupon the king, Armilus, will conquer and sack the Holy City....then begin a general campaign against the Jews, forcing them to flee into the desert [Petra],^[5] where they will suffer untold misery. When they have been purified by sorrow and pain, the Messiah will appear, wrest Jerusalem from Armilus, slay him, and thereby bring the true salvation....This creature, Armilus by name—the Gentiles called him Antichrist, says the ‘Otot’—will set himself up as Messiah, even as God Himself, being recognized as such by the sons of Esau....Armilus, inflamed against the Jews, will march against the Messiah. But now God Himself will war against Armilus and his army and destroy them; or the Messiah, as one version has it, will slay Armilus by the breath of his mouth (Jellinek, ‘B.H.’ ii. 51, line 3...[the encyclopedia goes on to instruct its readers] compare II Thess. ii. 8) [of the New Testament].”⁶

Incredibly enough, The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia admits,
in so many words, that Armilus is the Antichrist. In this encyclopedia, under another heading near Antichrist and Armilus, there is a section called “Anti-Messiah.” This encyclopedia reads: “ANTI-MESSIAH, legendary opponent of the Messiah and leader of the heathen forces in the battle against the latter which will take place at the end of time. Such a figure, under the name of Armilus, becomes a definite part of Jewish eschatology....[who] will overcome and destroy the Messiah of the house of Joseph and rule over the entire world, but will ultimately be defeated and slain by the Messiah of the line of David. In Pesikta Rabbathi (edit. Friedmann, p. 161b) the Anti-Messiah is apparently identified with Satan and the Angel of Death....According to Bousset and Moritz Friedlaender, the idea of an Anti-Messiah goes back to...Ezekiel’s prophecy of Gog, the prince of Magog, who was to attack Israel and to be miraculously overcome (Ezek. 38 and 39). The pseudepigraphic writings describe him as a powerful tyrant, with the characteristic traits of Antiochus Epiphanes, Herod the Great, Caligula or Nero, or else as a false prophet, who established his power by means of deceptive signs and miracles (Ascension of Moses 8; IV Esdras 13:33 et seq.; Sibylline Oracles 3:46-92).”⁷

This encyclopedia continues along these lines in its section on Armilus, where it reads: “ARMILUS, representative of Roman power and arch-enemy of the Jews, who will rise at the end of time against the Messiah and will be vanquished by him only after he has brought much distress upon Israel....The name of this last king is debated by the rabbis. Saadia (882-942), in his Emunoth Vedeoth (8:6), speaks of an Armilus, king of Edom (Rome), who will arise and defeat the Messiah ben Joseph....but will in turn be defeated by the Messiah ben David. This is the opinion also of Hai Gaon (d. 1038), who states that the wars with Armilus will precede the final struggle with the hosts of Gog.”⁸

The Encyclopaedia Judaica Jerusalem contains two headings, Antichrist and Armilus, both deserving of our interest. This encyclopedia reads: “ANTICHRIST, Gr. ‘Anticristo",’ a term first occurring in the Johannine epistles in the New Testament (I John 2:18; 22:4:3; II John 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 II Thessalonians
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 Antichrist, and he is destroyed by ‘the breath of the Messiah’s mouth’ (cf. Isa. 11:4, Targ. ibid., and many other places in Jewish writings).
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 (cf. Ezek. 28:2; Dan. 7:24-25; 11:36; cf. 9:27). Another form of the same idea can be found in the eschatological battle in which the forces of evil and their leader are finally to be overcome (QM xviii:1; 1 QS iv:18-19, Test. Patr., Levi 3:3, et al.)....One particular form, basing itself on Jewish traditions (see Test. Patr., Dan. 5:6), makes the Antichrist a Jewish pseudo-messiah of the tribe of Dan....The idea of the rise of evil to its height before the coming of salvation, the embodiment of this evil in the eschatological king (cf. Test. Patr., Dan. 11:36, 37, Ass. Mos. 8), the overweening pride and blasphemy of the figure (Test. Patr., Dan. 7:11, 20, II Thess. 2:2-4, etc.), all these are old Jewish motifs.”⁹

THE E.J.J. “ARMILUS” SECTION ADMITS THIS ONE,
WHO WILL FIGHT OVER JERUSALEM,
IS THE GENTILE ANTICHRIST

Concerning Armilus, the Encyclopaedia Judaica Jerusalem says of this wicked creature: “ARMILUS, legendary name of the Messiah’s antagonist or anti-Messiah. Armilus appears frequently in the later Apocalyptic Midrashim, such as Midrash Va-Yosha, Sefer Zerubbavel, and Nistarot shel R. Shimon b. Yohai. He is also mentioned in the Targum pseudo-Jonathan, Isa. 11:4 and in the Targum Yerushalmi A (Deut. 34:3). Armilus is...mentioned otherwise in Saadiah Gaon’s Emunot ve-De’ot (Ma’amar 8)....the talmudic legend of Messiah the son of Joseph, who would be slain in the war between the nations prior to the redemption that would come through Messiah the son of David (Suk. 52a). In Otot ha-Mashi’ah (Midreshei Ge’ullah, p. 320), there is reference to ‘the Satan Armilus whom the Gentiles call Antichrist’....This Armilus will deceive the whole world into believing that he is God and will reign over the entire world. He will come with ten kings and together they will fight over Jerusalem.”¹⁰

***
THE N.E.B. ADMITS THAT SOME JEWISH SOURCES
SAY THAT ARMILUS IS THE SON OF SATAN

The New Encyclopædia Britannica tells us: “Armilus, in Jewish legends, an enemy who will conquer Jerusalem and persecute Jews until his final defeat at the hands of God or the true Messiah. His inevitable destruction symbolizes the ultimate victory of good over evil in the messianic era. Some sources depict Armilus as...the frightful offspring of Satan....”¹¹

The Jewish scholar, Pinchas Lapide, writes of the famed ancient Rabbi Saadia Gaon of the tenth century and his warning regarding Armilus! Lapide says: “Saadia describes—he is the first writer to do so—the Jewish eschatological legend of...Armilos, who has been called, not altogether inaccurately, ‘the Jewish antichrist.’ In the fourth chapter of his major work, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, we read, ‘[Our fathers] have also handed down to us...that a man will appear in Galilee from among the sons of Joseph, and men of the Jewish nation will gather around him....This man will go up to Jerusalem....There he will be surprised by a man named Armilos, who will wage war on him and take the city, whereafter he will murder its inhabitants, dishonor them, and take them prisoners....’ ”¹²
Lapide goes on to reveal that fragments of the Midrash (ancient rabbinical commentary), which speaks of the Armilus, can be traced to the second century.¹³ It is common knowledge that most Midrashim, before committed to writing, were oral traditions handed down for hundreds of years. This illustrates that ancient Judaism¹⁴ expected the Antichrist before Jesus walked the earth. This is something liberal Bible “scholars” do not want to face. That the Antichrist is prophesied in Daniel, chapter 8 (553 BC), as Jesus Himself pointed out (Matt. 24:15), is unthinkable! Most liberals like to imagine the Antichrist to be a late or comparatively modern superstitious fantasy.¹⁵

One such modern liberal who attempts to refute the Bible’s predicted Antichrist is Gary DeMar of the Christian Reform Movement. This arrogant individual, in his book Last Days Madness, attempts to discredit nearly all of the reputable dispensational authors on biblical prophecy. In respect, or I should say disrespect, to the Bible’s teachings on the Antichrist, DeMar has said: “Modern advocates of the Armageddon doctrine have combined these and other Megiddo battles into one great future ‘Great Tribulation’ conflict where the ‘Antichrist’ will bring all the nations of the world into a final war against Israel....Revelation is describing a past battle between first-century Rome and Israel: ‘The notion that Armageddon refers to some great cataclysm of the world’s affairs in the future is hardly warranted.’ ”¹⁶
DeMar may truly believe that the idea of the Antichrist leading the last war on Israel is a modern concept, thus disproving the Antichrist’s role in future events, as he also said: “...the modern doctrine of the Antichrist is an amalgamation of biblical concepts and events that are either unrelated or find their fulfillment in past events....Modern Antichrist hunters are pursuing a figure who does not exist.”¹⁷
As you have just read, The Jewish Encyclopedia documents a very early belief in the Antichrist coming against Israel in the last days, except it calls him by the name Armilus. D. S. Russell tells us: “Although the expression ‘Antichrist’ first appears in Christian writings the idea is to be found in earlier Jewish apocalyptic works. M. R. James, basing his findings on Bousset’s studies on the subject, states that in his opinion ‘there was among the Jews a fully developed legend of Antichrist....’ ”¹⁸
Doesn’t the old saying, “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it” have a familiar ring here? DeMar and liberal theologians the world over would do well to read all of the ancient Jewish and Christian literature before claiming ancient doctrines to be modern. Then he would know better.

GAON ON GAON, REGARDING THE THEN FUTURE JEWISH REGATHERING TO ISRAEL AND THE REASON
FOR THEIR PERSECUTION THEREAFTER

The famous rabbi and scholar, Saadia Gaon, who died over 1000 years ago, spoke about the ancient traditional rabbinical warnings by the Jewish forefathers concerning Armilus. The Gaon (a Hebrew title meaning “genius”) wrote: “Hence, if after our having lingered in exile for a long time without returning to God, God would bring us back to our land even though we should not have improved, [might one not ask whether] our exile has [not] been in vain?
However, it has been transmitted by the traditions of the prophets that God would cause misfortunes and disasters to befall us that would compel us to resolve upon repentance so that we would be deserving of redemption. That is the sense of the remark of our forebears: If the Israelites will repent, they will be redeemed. If not, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, will raise up a king whose decrees will be even more severe than those of Haman, whereupon they will repent and thus be redeemed (Sanh. 97b.)
<239> [Our forebears] also tell us that the cause of this [visitation]....they will be surprised by a man named Armilus, who will wage war against them and conquer the city and subject its inhabitants to massacre, captivity, and disgrace.”¹⁹

DR. PATAI IS AMAZED THAT THE MIDRASH
EQUATES THE ANTICHRIST WITH ARMILUS

The Jewish Bible scholar, Dr. Raphael Patai, notes regarding the Midrash Otot haMashiah (an ancient Jewish Bible commentary on the signs of the Messiah), which compares Armilus to Antichrist: “It is remarkable that, in speaking of Armilus, this Midrash identifies him with Satan on the one hand, and with the ‘Antichrist’ of the nations of the world, on the other....[The Midrash reads] and his name is Armilus the Satan. This is the one whom the nations of the world call Antichrist.”²⁰
Patai also illustrates his amazement that these beliefs (now virtually unknown) were once common knowledge among Jews. He writes: “...Sa’adya Gaon (882-942), the great Jewish philosopher, scholar, and head of the academy of Sura in Babylonia. The fact that a scholar of his stature unquestioningly accepts all...about the Messiah indicates that these beliefs were a heritage common to the simple folk and the most learned in medieval Jewry.”²¹

In Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies, it is noted: “The Calabrian abbot Joachim [of Fiore] said that the man who was to rebuild the Temple on Mount Zion would come out of Spain....Peter d’Ailly wrote a great deal about the end of the Mohammedan sect and the coming of the Antichrist in his treatise, De concordia astronomie, veritatis & narrationis historice....The philosopher Ethicus says in his cosmography that the people who were confined within the Caspian Gates will burst forth into the world and will go out to meet the Antichrist and will call him...the God of gods....I know that if the Church should wish to consult the sacred text and the sacred prophecies...greater certitude would be found concerning the time of the Antichrist.”²²
Columbus included excerpts from D’Ailly’s book, On Law and Sects, in his Book of Prophecies (Libro de las Profecias), thus attesting to his interest in the Antichrist and the Messiah Jesus, who is to follow the Antichrist in His triumphant return. Amazing events, which are soon to occur, occupied Columbus over five hundred years ago. Interesting, wouldn’t you say?

Hitler is reported by a reputable source to have said in his bunker: “In a hundred years time, perhaps a great man will appear who may offer them a chance of salvation. He will take me as his model, use my ideas and follow the course I have charted.”²³
The movie Hitler: The Last Ten Days, from which these words are taken, was dictated from first-hand testimony. These words are certified as true by the eyewitness, Rittmeister Gerhard Boldt, who was in the bunker with Hitler. The Bible says that the Antichrist will persecute Jews and Christians to an extent never before witnessed.
If Hitler was truly demon-possessed, we speculate that he may have foreseen Satan’s plans and their schedule in the future. We cannot help but notice that these words stand out in light of the prophecies of the Antichrist. Hitler’s estimated one hundred years would end somewhere in the 2030’s or 2040’s, and would line up with the biblical calculation for the generation of the Messiah’s arrival to stop the Antichrist and Armageddon, which we have detailed in chapter 27, “Speculating on Messiah’s Second Coming—Whether They Know It or Not.”

In truth, all branches of modern Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, Lubavitch and Hasidic, do not take the Armilus seriously! In fact, most are not even aware that he exists²⁴ in the writings of the ancient Jewish sages, or that he is one and the same with the Antichrist of the New Testament, about whom Jesus warned. This ignorance is very dangerous because it leaves the Jewish person who is unfamiliar with the New Testament, and for that matter, the Old Testament predictions of the Antichrist, open to be deceived by Armilus into thinking that he is the Messiah. This, as predicted by Daniel,²⁵ would set up the Jewish people for political and spiritual sabotage in the mid-twenty-first century.
Shortly, we will present what the ancient rabbinical commentaries, and more importantly, what the Old and New Testaments have to say about Antichrist. But first, let us take a look at how history is setting the stage for his arrival and acceptance by millions of innocent, unsuspecting people.

The Antichrist, or rather the false Messiah, will not be the first mere man in history to have terrifying control and be worshipped as God! William Barclay, in his book, The Revelation of John, documented: “The first temple to be erected to the godhead of the emperor was built in Pergamum in 29 B.C. Caesar worship had begun.”²⁶
The worship of Caesar began before the birth of Christ! The historian, Arnold Toynbee, commented during a radio broadcast: “...technology has brought mankind to such a degree of distress that we are ripe for the deifying of any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace.”²⁷
This coming false Messiah will be like the Caesars in many respects. The people who lived in the days of the Roman Caesars often said, “Who can make war with Caesar?” The New Testament says of the future Antichrist: “...they worshipped the beast,^[28] saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?’ ” (Rev. 13:4 NASB).
Near the end of the seven-year Tribulation period, when the beast and his helper, the false prophet, attempt to use nuclear force to exterminate man from the planet, the prophet Isaiah and apostle Paul foretell²⁹ that Jesus the Messiah returns to stop him! Only Jesus will be able to defeat this Satanic personality in his attempt at a future showdown with God Almighty!

In the Gospel of Luke, Satan offered Jesus the temptation of becoming world ruler: “And he [Satan] led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 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. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours’ ” (Luke 4:5-7 NASB; [ ] and bold mine).
Jesus, at that time, refused this offer. Why? Remember Satan’s words: “ ‘...it [the title deed to world dominion] has been handed over to me,^[30] and I give it to whomever I wish.’ ”
Adam, the first man, was given world dominion (ownership of the earth) in Genesis, chapters 2 and 3. Adam forfeited this title deed when he gave in to Satan’s deception in the third chapter of Genesis. The rulership of the earth can only be taken back from Satan by someone who will redeem the earth.
Redemption (Ligol, lagl in Hebrew) means to “buy back.” If someone gives you something, they can take it back; however, if you redeem it, they cannot. This was the crux of Satan’s offer to Jesus. The New Testament tells us Jesus redeemed the world spiritually when He said “Paid in Full” (Tetelastai)³¹ on the cross. However, the world will not be physically redeemed until Israel receives and honors Him as their Messiah (Zech. 12-14; Acts 3:21; Matt. 19:28). When Jesus returns in His Second Coming, He will physically take back world dominion, legally!

The New Testament details this as follows: “For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children....For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again and will never die....Does this mean that God has rejected his Jewish people forever? Of course not! His purpose was to make his salvation available to the Gentiles, and then the Jews would be jealous and begin to want God’s salvation for themselves. Now if the whole world became rich as a result of God’s offer of salvation, when the Jews stumbled over it and turned it down, think how much greater a blessing the world will share in later on when the Jews, too, come to Christ....And how wonderful it will be when they become Christians [Messianic believers in their Messiah]!^[32] When God turned away from them it meant that he
turned to the rest of the world to offer his salvation; and now it is even more wonderful when the Jews come to Christ. It will be like dead people coming back to life. And since Abraham and the prophets are God’s people, their children will be too. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be too....I want you to know about this truth from God, dear brothers, so that you will not feel proud and start bragging. Yes, it is true that some of the Jews have set themselves against the Gospel now, but this will last only until all of you Gentiles have come to Christ—those of you who will. And then all Israel will be saved. Do you remember what the prophets said about this? ‘There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer....’ ” (Rom. 8:19-23; 11:11-12, 15-16, 25-26 The Living Bible; [ ] mine).

Reverend Larkin illustrates the Messianic dispensation which will take place during the millenial kingdom of Messiah after Jesus returns.
ORIGINAL HEBREW TEXT WRITTEN 553 BC

al¿°y´wÒ /Ùy´jKo !x3⁄4|[;y´wÒ .t/dyji @ybi?mey´W !ynIÁP;Az[? &l,m2? dmo?[}y !y[i=v]Poy´h? !t«?h;y´K] !y´t;<eth>Wkl]m? t~yrIj}a?y´b]y´W?
j?yli|x]hiy´wÒ /y´l%k]ciAl[?y´wÒ .!yvi?doq]A![?y´wÒ !ymi?Wx[} tyji?v]hiy´wÒ hcÉ=[;y´wÒ j?yli¢x]hiy´wÒ tyji?v]y? t/a?l;p]nIy´wÒ /y´j<eth>koy´b?
.rb«?V;yI dy:Á sp,a2?y´b]y´W dmo<eth>[}y? !~yrIc;Arc?Al[3⁄4|y´wÒ !yBi=r? tyji¢v]y? hw:Ál]v?y´b]y´W lyDI<eth>gÒy? /y´b°b;l]y´biy´W /y´d<eth>y:y´B] h~m;rÒmi
.!yBi?r? !ymi?y:y´l] yKi? @/z±j;y´h2? !to°s] h~T;a?y´wÒ aWh<ETH> tm2¢a> rm3⁄4?a>n< rv2?a} rq,Bo?y´h?y´wÒ br<[2?y´h; haeÙrÒm?y´W

wk-gk.j laynd

Manuscript from Yemen in the Cambridge
University Library, no. 890, Add. 3381

“And he will [further] say to them: ‘I am your god, I am your Messiah and your god!’ In that hour he will send [a messenger] to...all Israel, and say to them: ‘Bring me your Tora and testify that I am god.’ Instantly all Israel becomes confused and frightened.”³⁴ T’fillat R. Shim’on ben Yohai, BhM 4:124-26

“He will capture the West. And many wicked men, lovers of war, will be in those days, and they will gather around him from the whole earth, and will tell him that he is the Messiah, and this rumor will spread all over the world. And the whole earth will submit to him, and he will slay those who do not submit. There will be suffering in the whole world....And the people will have to bear and suffer distress and much trouble, and the Children of Israel more than all the others....And he [the evil king] will become angry and will command that they be killed....”³⁵

The second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians,
II Thessalonians 2:3-4, 9-12 NASB

MODERN RABBINIC COMMENT/REFUTATION

None of the modern Jewish writing I examined seemed to know anything of an Armilus in relation to taking him seriously or attempting to dispute the Antichrist of II Thessalonians and the Messianic Jewish and evangelical New Testament teachings which we have outlined in this chapter. In 1983, Rabbi Shalom Lewis in Atlanta, Georgia told me: “There is no belief in Judaism of an Antichrist at all. Obviously, there is no belief in Christ so there is no belief in an Antichrist.” All of the polemical books were silent on the subject of Armilus. However, we do not doubt that once this is read, someone will attempt to write a refutation of our work, thereby addressing him. Philip Moore

HISTORICAL/POLITICAL COMMENT

Eminent historian, Arnold Toynbee

AUTHOR’S COMMENT—EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN POSITION

THE ENIGMA OF HOW THE ANTICHRIST
FOOLS THE JEWS IS IN HIS TIMING

The Antichrist will come before Jesus, but after the Rapture. As established by the Scriptures, seven years prior to Armaggedon, Jesus will come in a veiled form to rescue His people. During this event known as the Rapture, believers will be caught up in the air and removed from Earth. Their absence will give the Antichrist the opportunity to present himself as the true Messiah, a lie that will be exposed at the Second Coming.
The New Testament adds: “...Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’ ” (Matt. 19:28
KJV).
Before this occurs, Satan will bring in his masterpiece (the Antichrist) and attempt to rule the world through the physical incarnation of this creature,³⁷ before the world’s Jews realize who their true Messiah is, was, and will be—Jesus.

The Antichrist, since he is Satan in human flesh,³⁸ will deceive the world through incredible miracles. Paul tells us of this in one of his letters to the Thessalonians: “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders....” (II Thes. 2:9 KJV).
The greatest of Satan’s deceptive miracles, which he will use to fool the world into receiving the Antichrist as the Messiah, will be a counterfeit of the resurrection of Jesus! Revelation 13:3 speaks of this world leader receiving a fatal wound to his head, which is supernaturally healed. This is the way Satan will catapult himself onto the world’s stage as the Messiah and Savior, and as the answer to the world’s quest for peace, including the solution to the Middle East Crisis. He will accomplish this through a false miracle that will appear to be so great, all the world’s people will sit up and take notice—a man resurrected from the dead.

In order to give you a modern, updated and educated idea about how the Antichrist comes to power, we will quote Hal Lindsey, who is more than qualified on this issue. “The way in which this dictator is going to step onto the stage of history will be dramatic. Overnight he will become the byword of the world. He is going to be distinguished as supernatural; this will be done by an act which will be a Satanic counterfeit of the resurrection. This writer does not believe it will be an actual resurrection, but it will be a situation in which this person has a mortal wound. Before he has actually lost life, however, he will be brought back from this critical wounded state. This is something which will cause tremendous amazement throughout the world.
We could draw a comparison to the tragic death of John F. Kennedy. Imagine what would have happened if the President of the United States, after being shot and declared dead, had come to life again! The impact of an event like that would shake the world.
It is not difficult to imagine what will happen when this coming world leader makes his miraculous recovery. This man, the Antichrist, will probably not be known as a great leader until the time of his
revival from the fatal wound. After that the whole world will follow him.
He will have a magnetic personality, be personally attractive, and a powerful speaker. He will be able to mesmerize an audience with his oratory.
‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?’ These are the expressions the people who live at the time of the appearance of the Antichrist will be saying. They will accept anyone who offers peace, since this is the great cry of the world.
What does this indicate? We recall that the Pax Romana, the Roman peace, was the reason the provincials willingly turned to Rome and eventually initiated Caesar worship. Law and order—peace and security—freedom from war. The same needs, the same desires were expressed in ancient times that the Bible says will be prevalent before the Antichrist begins his rule. He will be swept in at a time when people are so tired of war, so anxious for peace at any price, that they willingly give their allegiance to the world dictator who will promise them peace.”³⁹

YOU NEED NOT WORRY, IF YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS!
IF YOU DON’T, OH BOY! WE HOPE YOU REMEMBER
WHAT ISAAC NEWTON SAID—BE CIRCUMSPECT

You may have read, in one of this chapter’s opening quotes, the recommendation of the famed scientist Sir Isaac Newton, concerning the Antichrist: “...it is also our duty to search with all diligence into these Prophesies. And if God was so angry with the Jews for not searching more diligently into the Prophesies which he had given them to know Christ by: why should we think he will excuse us for not searching into the Prophesies which he hath given us to know Antichrist by?....Antichrist was to seduce the whole Christian world and therefore he may easily seduce thee if thou beest not well prepared to discern him. But if he should not be yet come into the world yet amidst so many religions of which there can be but one true and perhaps none of those that thou art acquainted with it is great odds but thou mayst be deceived and therefore it concerns thee to be very circumspect.”⁴⁰

In the New Testament, II Thessalonians 2:6-12 makes it very clear that people who have believed in Jesus before the Rapture will not be here during the terrible reign of the Antichrist. “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed....” (II Thes. 2:6-8 KJV).
We believe the restrainer is the Holy Spirit,⁴¹ who takes up residence in all who put their faith in Jesus as Messiah. The Holy Spirit can never⁴² be separated from the receptacles in which He dwells. Since the New Testament promises that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until the Spirit is removed (see our chapter 25, “The Rapture Factor”), we believe God will remove the Spirit by removing all the receptacles in which He dwells. That’s us folks—all who believe in Jesus. We believe that during this time, known to us as the seven-year Tribulation (a period of persecution following the Rapture; Matt. 24:21; Jer. 30:7), we will be with Jesus celebrating the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9; I Thes. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-57).

Does the Bible mention anything about what the Antichrist will say regarding believers who were removed to Heaven because of his reign? The apostle John informs us in the book of Revelation: “Then the Dragon encouraged the Creature to speak great blasphemies against the Lord; and gave him authority to control the earth for forty-two months. All that time he blasphemed God’s Name and his temple and all those living in heaven. The Dragon gave him power to fight against God’s people and to overcome them, and to rule over all nations and language groups throughout the world. And all mankind—whose names were not written down before the founding of the world in the slain Lamb’s Book of Life—worshiped the evil Creature” (Rev. 13:5-8 The Living Bible; bold mine).
The Antichrist blasphemes the saints by saying they are not in Heaven. How? Maybe he borrows a line or two from the film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which dramatized a cosmic kidnapping, or some of the other films⁴³ which have depicted a portion of the world’s people being abducted by aliens and taken aboard ships from outer space. I wonder who is inspiring the plots of these films, at a time when the Rapture is so close at hand. Could it be Satan himself? They certainly provide an explanation for millions of missing persons—something the Antichrist will grasp as an answer for those who may have heard about the Rapture.⁴⁴ According to Revelation 13:6, the Antichrist will blaspheme “all those living in heaven” (The Living Bible).

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE 144,000 JEWS WHO WERE TOLD THAT JESUS IS MESSIAH BEFORE THE RAPTURE? WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THEIR CHRISTIAN FRIENDS ARE GONE?

Many Jews who do not presently believe in Jesus, have been told by their Christian friends, and perhaps even other Jewish believers, known to us as “Messianic Jews” or “Jews for Jesus,” that Jesus is the Messiah. They have been shown countless Old Testament prophecies which prove Jesus conclusively to be the Jewish Messiah. Only the pressure of religious identity and peer acceptance seems to hold many back from believing.
When these 144,000 (12,000 from each of the twelve tribes) see the Rapture take place, they will begin to tell the world, including their fellow Jews, that Jesus really is the Messiah. They will suddenly realize that their Gentile Christian and Jews for Jesus friends were right. They will see through the sham of the Antichrist’s lies and become, as Revelation 7:4 says, 144,000 sealed witnesses.
Revelation, chapter 7, speaks of them bringing a multitude to believe in Jesus—so great they cannot even be numbered! Of course, the Antichrist will try to persecute them (Rev. 13:7), but God’s seal will protect them. In the end, those who live in Jerusalem with all of those who believe because of them (multitudes), will escape into the mountains of Petra, where God has promised protection (Rev. 12:6). We will discuss this further in our chapter 26, “We Win Armageddon—Our Final Battle,” and our Vol. II, chapter 38, “They Escaped to Petra”).

ORIGINAL HEBREW TEXT WRITTEN 760 BC

.$r<aÉ?y´h; $ro[}y´l? /y´mÁWqy´B] /y´n±/aGÒ rd?°h}y´mey´W h~w:hyÒ dj?P3⁄4| ynEÈP]y´mi rpÉ=[; t/LÁjim]y´biy´W !yrI<eth>xu t/r?[;m]y´Bi WÙab;~y´W
hNE¥hiAyK .![?z r/b[}y?Ad[? [g?r<ÁAf[?m]y´ki ybi?j} *y´d<<ETH>[}B? *y´yt,l;DÒ rgOs]y´W? *y´yr<<eth>d:j}y´b? aBo° yÙy´Mi[? &l....
hS2?k?t]Aal¿?y´wÒ h;y´ym,<eth>D:Ata $~r<a;~y´h; htÉ|L]gIy´wÒ wy´ylÉ=[; $r<aÉ?y´h;AbveyO @wO[} dqo?p]y´li /y´m<eth>/qM]y´mi ax«¢yO h~w:hyÒ
bk-k.wk ;fy.b hy[`y .hÉy´yg<?Wrh}Al[? d/[Á

OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE TRANSLATION

Isaiah 2:19; 26:20-21 NASB

ANCIENT RABBINICAL COMMENTARY

REJ 52, p. 183; 1906

NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY RECORDED 37 AD

Matthew 24:15-20 NASB. [ ] mine

AUTHOR’S COMMENT—EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN POSITION

The author examines the three hundred and fifty-foot-high entrance to Petra known as the Siq, which is one mile in length. These stone structures are capable of protecting people from radiation, nuclear bomb blasts and the Antichrist!

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At the end of the Siq, at the opening to the city of Petra, lies the magnificent building known as the Treasury, hewn from the solid rose-red rock of Petra.

As we travel further into the city of Petra, we see the ancient homes of the Nabateans, carved from the rock. Many Bible teachers believe that the Jews will take refuge here during the Tribulation.

Bait Jubrine Cave, near Kibbutz Bait Jubrine in Kiryat Gat, Israel. These Bell Caves are so named because they were carved from a hole, which was bored in the top of the mountain, and then extended hundreds of feet into the rock in the shape of a bell. These caves could also provide shelter for Israelis during the time of the Antichrist.

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ANTICHRIST HIGH-TECH MARK—ECONOMIC
COMPUTER BLACKMAIL

The Antichrist will offer solutions to the world’s problems that will seem incredible. The Bible foretells that the masses of the world will be saying: “...who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4 KJV).
Toward the middle of his seven-year rule, his solutions will begin to fail. Ultimately, they will crumble. He will use economics
to blackmail all who will not worship him or swear allegiance to him as God. The book of Revelation predicts this: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark
in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six” (Rev.
13:16-18 KJV).

THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ULTIMATELY
FULFILL JOHN’S PROPHECY IS PRESENTLY
BEING DEVELOPED AND TESTED

Through our new and ever advancing computer technology, it is now possible to number everyone. They have even experimented with electronic money in our own country. Hal Lindsey, in his updated book, There’s A New World Coming, notes: “Along with the governments of France, Holland, and Norway, the U.S. is testing what is known as the ‘Smart Card.’ This plastic credit card contains a microchip feature which allows the card to retain and sort information. The cardholder, of course, has a secret code number to activate the card, which carries a ‘memory’ of past financial transactions and the sum of the person’s account. Amazingly, France, according to U.S. News and World Report, is testing the cards ‘for use as children’s portable school records and for storage of vaccination and other personal health information’...Germany may be the next nation to try out the Smart Card.
In an article on the Smart Card entitled ‘Your Life May Be Sandwiched in a Card,’ the Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tennessee, stated, ‘It may well be the ultimate transaction vehicle of our consuming world. It could bring about the much-discussed cashless, paperless society....And it may also end up as a national identification card—a prospect that chills many....’ The article
pointed out the various functions the card could be used for,
including: crediting and debiting, all other banking functions, computer data access, medical information, telephone access, passport use, Social Security information, identification purposes, security access....the Defense Department is eyeing the card for its security value. In seeking to think through all the possible problems that could arise from this, one of the first considerations has been the problem of theft of your card or loss of it in some other manner. Since your whole financial and personal history might be wrapped up in your card, a thief or spy could wipe you out overnight. The apostle John says that the Antichrist will require everyone to have an identifying mark on either his forehead or right hand. Strangely enough, that is the same solution that’s being talked about by some who have been wrestling with this problem for a decade. There’s no way to lose your number or have your identification subverted if it’s tattooed on you!”⁴⁶

Sometime in the near future, not too many decades into the twenty-first century, we will see fingerprints,⁴⁷ blood vessel prints,⁴⁸ handprints (bio-metrics) and possibly microchip Smart Cards used in conjunction with bio-metrics and even microchip implantation⁴⁹ to keep track of us in a global government system. No doubt, this system will be appropriated by the Antichrist and used against those left behind after the Rapture; they will have to receive his terrible mark and worship him or starve. Modern technology is setting the stage for this very scenario!
Peter Lalonde, in his videotape, Mark of the Beast II, recalled a conversation with his Israeli friend, Daniel Man. Lalonde said: “...he was saying, I would like to propose to the Israeli government that we implant a chip under the skin of all of our diplomats and leading political figures. And then if they get kidnapped, we won’t have to search around in Lebanon for two years, like the Americans had to do, or five years or longer trying to search someone out, because you now have tracking satellites...that can pinpoint the location of a microchip, even if you had it implanted under the skin, within three feet of where it’s located on the earth....One of the big developments they’re talking about now are the no-contact Smart Cards. And what that means is, leave your card in your wallet and when you walk through the machine, it will just read the card, right on the seat of your pants and you just keep walking without even knowing it’s there and it’s all done. They’re doing it with toll highways and so on....but these kind of ideas of the ability to track people sound like very good ideas. It doesn’t sound fearful anymore. It sounds like it’s being done for your own good, to help find missing children, to help people with Alzheimer’s, to help people in a medical emergency. Suddenly, the aura of Big Brother is gone and it just sounds like such a very good idea.”⁵⁰

Paul Lalonde (Peter’s brother) added: “A general rule of thumb in scientific research is that if you want to see what will be a part of everyday life in the future, go see what’s in the labs today. Nowhere
is that truer than in the study of implantable microchips. However, the ‘lab’ may be a little different than you’d expect. That’s right, it’s
your black lab or golden lab that we’re talking about here. You see, a program is now being carried out all over North America in which cats, dogs, horses, cattle and every type of animal that you can
imagine are being implanted with computer readable microchips. As part of an effort to keep track of lost pets and as a way to identify livestock, InfoPet Systems of California and several other microchip developers have created a unique system that has effectively replaced the old system of dog tags and branding. The animals are implanted with a microchip that contains an electronically encoded number.
That number is matched to a file and entered into a computer database. Then, if the animal runs away and is found by someone, they can simply bring it in to the local Humane Society. All the Humane Society has to do is run a scanner, no more technologically advanced than the bar code readers in your supermarket, over the skin of the animal and a nation-wide database can identify your lost pet. At last count, the system had the capability to track over 34 billion animals’ identification devices. The Colorado based manufacturer of the chip, however, leaves the door open to future uses. According to their promotional materials: ‘...consider how these innovations might be employed to solve the age-old problem of providing positive identification of people, animals and equipment.’ So once again, it’s not only the Bible prophecy teacher who sees where all of this may be leading us.”⁵¹

At the beginning of the same program, Paul Shantz⁵² said: “It will be done so that you can extract information off people’s bodies and it’ll be done for very good...very practical reasons; for security, for protection of an individual’s identity and so on.” Paul Lalonde asked Shantz what he thought of all of this, in light of Revelation, and he answered: “So, I would say, yes. I think the prophecies in Revelation are quickly, quickly becoming reality, as we look at the developments in the marketplace today.” Lalonde further noted: “When we spoke to computer systems expert Randy Sistelli, on our video, The Mark of the Beast [I], we asked him the same question. [He answered:] ‘Do I think that the prophecies in Revelation are coming true? I think the technology is there...that’s a serious concern. Yeah, I can see it happening.’ ”⁵³
Peter Lalonde mentioned that the EEC is contemplating a law which would require all of their cattle to be implanted with microchips. He observed: “The groundwork for this whole thing is being tested right now. You have the work on the Smart Card technology, you have the work on the electronic banking systems. You have the need to make sure that the card is attached to the person and at the same time you are implanting microchips under the skin of animals and then, on top of that, you’re building a database that can keep track of thirty-four billion different cats and dogs. You’re building a system that could be utilized in Revelation 13. A system that did not exist in any other generation before this one....This is the kind of technology that exists today and it’s a great concern to us because the Scripture says, speaking of the false prophet working under the Antichrist: ‘And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark....’ [Rev. 13:16 KJV]. He causeth all. This system eventually is going to be developed in such a way that you have to be within the system to conduct any business. If you’re outside of that electronic system, you are locked out of everything and that’s exactly what the Scriptures say.”⁵⁴
When you couple this economic mark with the one-world religion and global government predicted in the book of Revelation, you have a prescription for disaster—a disaster that will befall you if you become a believer after the Rapture.