Mulling over Jeff Snyder to Lee Lofaso 15 Apr 2009

Hello Jeff,

 JS> Of course, the Jews do not view their messiah exactly the same as
 JS> we view Jesus Christ. Their messiah will not proclaim himself to be
 JS> the Son of God. 

Quite so, in fact wile Jesus Christ came in his Father's name, the
one [the Jews] accept will come in his own name (John 5:43). (While
Jesus was addressing the Jews, the statement appears to apply to 
anyone who accepts the false messiah)

 JS> Neither will he claim the right to sit in the Third
 JS> Temple, assuming that it will be built, as is anticipated by
 JS> Orthodox Jews, as well as some Christians. Instead, from everything
 JS> I have read on this subject, the Orthodox Jews themselves will
 JS> offer him the seat in the temple, after he has proven to them, by
 JS> his deeds, that he is truly their messiah. If he brings peace to
 JS> Israel, and sees to the construction of the temple, then they will
 JS> more than likely be convinced. Of course, we know where it will go
 JS> from there...2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

What is the role of the False Prophet (if any) in establishing the
"authenticity" of the (false) Moshiach? Does he act in a similar
way to John the Baptist pointing to the coming Jesus Christ?
(these are questions for me as much as for anyone)

 JS> Concerning the Muslims, again, I am aware of their prophecies
 JS> concerning the Mahdi. It is my personal belief at this time that
 JS> the Beast and the False Prophet may possibly be of Muslim origin, a
 JS> powerful team which will work together to convince the Muslim and
 JS> Arab nations to attack Israel. The Mahdi may possibly be the False
 JS> Prophet who will inspire and empower the Beast, who may be a
 JS> popular and powerful Arab/Muslim political and military leader. 

They may be of Muslim origin, but I have a problem with the idea of
the Beast sitting in the temple of God, showing that he is god,
and demanding to be worshipped as god if he is anything other than
a Jew who would be endorsed by the (nascent) Sanhedrin. I doubt 
that a muslim, or a Pope, or any non-Jewish figure would sit in
the Third Temple. This is not to reject your position - it is
simply the way in which I understand the Beast.

 JS> As I exlain in my "Glossary Of Endtime Terms", which I posted
 JS> earlier in this echo, unlike some Christians, I am not convinced
 JS> that the Beast and the Antichrist are one and the same person. In
 JS> my view and understanding of the Scriptures, the Antichrist will be
 JS> the Jewish false messiah, Moshiach ben David; while the Beast will
 JS> be the aforementioned Muslim political leader who will work in
 JS> conjunction with the False Prophet -- the Mahdi? 

I use Beast (whose number is 666) and Antichrist interchangeably - again,
this is my understanding, but there is a scenario where your view is
plausible, and this is the islamic concept of the Mahdi returning with
"Jesus" ("Isa") who will tell the world that islam is right and
Christians are wrong.

 JS> The truth is, until these events actually play themselves out, none
 JS> of us know with 100% certainty. We can only speculate.

I have to agree with that, and it was so much simpler when the Beast
could be identified as a Pope or the Papacy or something similar, when
it is the awaited Jewish "moshiach" who is the most likely candidate
(IMO),

(As with my attempt to reply to this last night, I have got quite
bogged down, as it is an excellent & thought-provoking post from
both you and Lee, but it is 3:30 am, and sleep calls.)

Cheers, Steve..

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