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THE RETURN OF CHRIST AND THE ANTICHRIST THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ANTICHRIST |
The second Advent of Christ is intimately linked to the advent of the Antichrist. The Christians of nowadays, contrarily to their holy predecessors, do not bother about neither of these two events.
Yet, the divine Master had explicitly recommended keeping awake in order, to recognize His enemy and to fight against him. In spite of that, we see today's Christians applauding and protecting the Antichrist. Furthermore, they pray for the fulfilment of his plans.
"The spiritual light has been extinguished. The sun has lost its brightness" (Matthew 24,29; Revelation 6,12). "The salt has lost its taste" (Matthew 5,13).
The deceived world runs freely towards its perdition.
We still have to grasp the essential: the spiritual salvation by denouncing, before it is too late, the Antichrist, who, in his fall, very soon, will sweep away his allies together with himself.
Then could we be among the ones who, in joy, will prepare for the near Return of the Beloved Brother, Jesus the Messiah.
"Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches" (Revelation 3,22).
The Antichrist and the Return of Christ
In the traditional churches, for an incomprehensible reason, no one dares to talk about the Antichrist or cares about his identity, or even less runs the risk to denounce him.
The Independent Believers address this study to all the believers, Jewish, Christians or Muslim. Our purpose is to make them aware of the phenomenon of the Antichrist. We therefore demonstrate through the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures that the State of Israel is the State of the announced Antichrist due to appear in Palestine before the return of Jesus, whence the importance to denounce it.
The announcement of the Antichrist
The Antichrist was announced by Jesus and by the apostles John and Paul.
A precision is necessary before considering the subject: in French, some talk about the "Antéchrist", but this word means the precursor of Christ. Now, the Bible speaks of the Antichrist, the enemy of Christ. In fact, the original text of the Bible, written in Greek by Saint John, reveals the "ANTICRISTOS". The specific characteristic of this enemy is that he denies that Jesus is the Messiah:
"Who is the liar, if not the one who claims that Jesus is not the Christ? This is the Antichrist" (1 John 2,22).
Thus, the "liar" is neither evil in general, nor atheism (non belief in God), nor antitheism (opposition to God), but it is the refusal of and the opposition to the person of Jesus and his teachings.
The Gospel tells us that this "Liar" could be a single man or a group of people, "many Antichrists", people with the same spirit and plan opposed to Jesus'.
Jesus, the first, has warned us against this enemy by saying:
"Take care that no ones deceives you, because many will come using my name and saying, 'I am the Christ' and they will deceive many (Matthew 24,4)… If anyone says to you, then, 'Look, the Christ is here', or 'Over there', do not believe it; for false christs and false prophets will arise and provide great signs and portents, enough to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. Look! I have given you warning"(Matthew 24,23-24).
The Pope John Paul II himself has been deceived by those who deny that Jesus is the Messiah. He has received the First minister Binyamin Netanyahu exclaiming "God bless Israel!" Later, when visiting Jerusalem, he bowed before the Wailing Wall to please the Israelis.
All through history, many Jews, particularly in Europe, have proclaimed themselves the Messiah awaited by the Jews. But they did not have the quality of the Antichrist, because none has done "great signs" deserving to be cited in the history, and none has succeeded in "deceiving the elect" as it happens today.
Nowadays, many Zionists have been taken for the Messiah awaited by the Jews. As an example we mention some political men: Menahem Beghim and Ariel Sharon and among the rabbis: Meir Kahana and Schnoersen, the rabbi of Lubavitch.
Jesus' words lead us to believe that the Antichrist could be a homogenous group of men who deny Him and proclaim another messiah. This is the case of the Zionists who support their belief by the indisputable and obvious political sign of Israel's return or "resurrection" as they call it. This explains why Jesus had said: "Many will come using my Name" and that multitude will not say "We are Christs", but: "I am the Christ". We should understand: "I (the State of Israel) am the Christ, the saviour of the Jews". The Zionist multitude considers indeed the State of Israel as messianic for the political salvation of the Jews alone. Basing upon that, they want to master the world.
Now, God's salvation is not political. Jesus has been sent for the spiritual salvation of all mankind, not just of the Jews, through an Israeli state. That's why this state is the Antichrist because, to conceive it, one has to start by denying that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Antichrist has to make big deeds, able to dazzle multitudes, even among Jesus' disciples. Has this not happened with Israel? Numerous are the Christians who, still marvelled by Israel, overlook the Israeli crimes and injustice, and, most of all, the Israeli denial of Jesus. Christians are completely seduced by the "prodigious" victories of the Jewish army, so much so that they have forgotten the testimony they owe Jesus in order to please the Zionists and their powerful lobbies. Have we not seen Christian leaders on their knees before the graves of some Zionist chiefs? The world had to bow before the "Beast" (the Antichrist), as Saint John wrote in the book of Revelation, and to adore it saying : "Who can compare with the Beast? Who can fight against it?" (Rev 13,4). Even the ex US president Jimmy Carter kneeled, as well as other heads of states, at the grave of Theodore Hertzel, the founder of Zionism, to pay homage to the State of Israel.
Talking again of the Antichrist, Saint John said that he is due to appear in the future, but that his spirit was already in the world since his time, and that many Antichrists and false prophets had already appeared at that time:
"My dear friends, not every spirit is to be trusted, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets (the Zionist Jews opposed to the Gospel) are at large in the world. This is the proof of the Spirit of God: any spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in human nature, is from God, and no spirit which fails to acknowledge Jesus is from God (the Zionist Jews). This is the spirit of the Antichrist, whose coming you have heard of; he is already at large in the world (through the Zionist Jews)" (1 John 4,1-3).
John says again, in his second letter:
"There are many deceivers at large in the world who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus has come in human nature. They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist. Watch yourselves, or all our work will be lost and you will forfeit your full reward" (2 John 1,7-8).
This text is indisputably in favour of the Antichrist presenting himself as a homogenous group of people denying Jesus. Talking of "many deceivers", John immediately adds: "They are the Deceiver, they are the Antichrist".
Thus, John gathers in only one entity all those who deny that Jesus is the Messiah. This unique entity is the Antichrist. The spirit of this enemy of Jesus is embodied today in a visible political entity that the Zionists mask under the spiritual name of Israel in order to conceal their evil intentions. Here lies the seduction! This is why the Messiah recommended to stay awake and revealed to John, in the book of Revelation, that the Jews are "usurpers of title" (Rev 2,9 and 3,9). It is because the true Jews and the true Israel are Jesus' disciples (see Galatians 3,29 & Colossians 3,11). A Christian who acknowledges the Zionist State of Israel alienates himself. In fact, St Paul says: "Not all born Israelites belong to Israel" (Romans 9,6).
Thus, John warned us against the "Deceiver", the Antichrist. He explained that there will be many seducers who proclaim united: "Jesus is not the Messiah! Israel is the Messiah!" John asked Jesus' disciples to keep their eyes wide open, to stay awake, "or all our work will be lost" (2 John 8).
St Paul calls the Antichrist "the Apostasy", "The Wicked One", "the Lost One", "the Enemy" (Antichrist). He said that he will appear before Jesus' Return and he warned us, as Jesus had before him, that this Enemy of Christ will manifest himself showing powerful signs and that he will even be able "to enthrone himself in God's Sanctuary (Vatican)" (2 Thessalonians 2,3-12).
Indeed, writing to the Thessalonians about Jesus' Return, Paul warned the believers against all the falsehoods told about this subject:
"About the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, and our being gathered to Him: we ask you, brothers, not to be easily thrown into confusion or alarmed by any manifestation of the Spirit or any statement or any letter claiming to come from us, suggesting that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in any way. This cannot happen until the Great Apostasy has taken place and has appeared the Wicked One, the Lost One, the Enemy (Antichrist), who raises himself above all that is called God or object of worship (one rises against God by refusing His plan in Jesus Christ, who is God), so that he, as God, will sit in God's Sanctuary, (by infiltrating himself among the disciples of Christ in the various Churches even up to the Vatican), and claim that he is God (by claiming to be the Messiah, who is God). Surely you remember my telling you about this when I was with you? And you know, too, what is still holding him back (the powerful Roman Empire preventing the Jews from instituting the State of Israel) from appearing before his appointed time (when the political situation will be favourable). The mystery of impiety is already at work (through the Zionist Jews rejecting Jesus and persecuting the apostles), but let him who is restraining it once be removed, and then the wicked one will appear openly (in 1948). The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will annihilate him with his glorious appearance at his Coming.But the coming of the Wicked One will be marked by Satan ("you are from your father, the devil", Jesus told the Jews who refused Him: John 8,44) being at work in all kinds of counterfeit miracles (Israel's "Resurrection") and signs and wonders (military and other "wonders"), and every wicked deception (false peace based upon the injustice towards the Palestinians) aimed at those who are on the way to destruction because they would not accept the love of the Truth and so be saved.
And therefore God shall send on them a power of delusion (the Antichrist: Israel) so that they believe what is false, and so that those who do not believe the Truth and take their pleasure in wickedness (by supporting Israel) may all be condemned" (2 Thess 2,1-11).
All those supporting the Antichrist take their pleasure in wickedness and injustice. Those who feel satisfied with a false peace made to the detriment of other people's legitimate rights and against the witness owed to Jesus, please themselves with injustice.
Saint John's Book of Revelation was revealed to unmask the Antichrist called "The Beast" in chapters 13 and 17: John sees a Beast coming back to life after a period of disappearance. It has been hit at the head with a fatal blow (Titus' invasion in 70 A.D. & Hitler's crime). The "Dragon" (Satan) gives it an immense power upon the world. The "Beast" heals from its deadly wound and men wonder at its resurrection and adore it exclaiming: "Who can compare with the Beast? Who can fight against it?" Only God's chosen ones will resist against it. The Beast, sustained by a powerful nation John calls "the Other Beast", will triumph upon the saints themselves for a certain time (Rev 13), but it will finally be destroyed (Rev 17,8). It will gather its subjects from the four quarters of the earth in Palestine and in Jerusalem itself, before its final fall (Rev 20,7-9). After its fall, many will believe in Jesus and will prepare to receive Him, attracting Him with the cry "Come, O Lord Jesus!" (Rev 22,20).
The Antichrist, a sign of the Return of Christ
The attentive reader will notice that the advent of the Antichrist is intimately linked to the Return of Christ Jesus and announces it, whence the importance to recognize the enemy in order to be ready to receive the Friend.
The Antichrist appears at the end of his times to purify God's people by dragging after him all those who are attracted by lies and injustice. After the definite disappearance of the Antichrist, a purified humanity will take over to welcome Jesus.
At the moment of Jesus' Ascension, the Apostles were gathered together looking at Him rising, when two angels appeared and told them:
"Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen Him go to Heaven" (Acts 1,11).
Before his Ascension, Jesus Himself had talked about His Return:
-"You too must stand ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24,44).-"When the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth?" (Luke 18,8).
-"The disciples came and asked Him when they were by themselves: 'Tell us, when is this going to happen, and what signs will there be of Your Coming and of the end of the world?' and Jesus answered them: 'Take care that no one deceives you. Many will come using my name and saying: I am the Christ'" (Matthew 24,3-4).
These verses demonstrate that the most evident sign of the Return of Christ is the apparition of the Antichrist. Jesus has also given us many other signs:
"When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will not come at once…When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you must realize that it will soon be laid desolate…Jerusalem will be trampled down by the gentiles until their time is complete" (Luke 21,9-24).
This means, then, the end of the times of the pagans. The modern pagans are represented by the men of the Antichrist who "deny that Jesus is the Christ". Their armies occupy today Jerusalem, they trample it for the time given to them. The circulating rumours of peace (shalom) must not deceive us; they fully accomplish the prophecies regarding the Return of Christ. In fact, St Paul writes to the Thessalonians, about this Return:
"About times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you for you are well aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. It is when people will be saying: "Peace (shalom) and security" that sudden destruction will fall upon them, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape" (1 Thess 5,1-3).
Ruins will fall on the Antichrist and his allies. These severe words are addressed to the unfaithful believers, since St Paul says immediately after to the faithful ones:
"But you brothers, are not in darkness, that this Day should overtake you like a thief. You are all the children of Light, the children of the Day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thess 5,4-6).
There is only one way to stay awake: to recognize the Antichrist! Only one way allows us today to remain sober: not to become intoxicated and drunk by the false portents of the Wicked One, all based on lies and injustice. These false portents mislead only those "who are on the way to destruction" (2 Thess 2,10). Their refusal of the evident truth and their scorn of the evangelical prophecies have made them blind by "stifling the Spirit" (1 Thess 5,19-22).
Jesus has not fixed the date of His Return, but He asked us to recognize the signs of it. Those who think that it is not possible to recognize this time, refer to Jesus' words: "But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, none but the Father alone" (Matthew 24,36). Now, Jesus talks here about a fixed date He cannot reveal. This does not mean that the Lord did not ask explicitly to recognize the signs of the time of his Returns. In fact, He said that at the end of times "the Son of Man will send His Angels with a loud trumpet to gather His elect from the four winds" (Matthew 24,31), and He urged us to discern the signs of His Return:
"Take the parable of the fig tree as an example: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see all these things happening, know that He is near, right at the doors (of the hearts)" (Matthew 24,32).
The role of the Apostles of the end of times
The first Apostles' mission was to reveal that Jesus is the Messiah and to explain, by the prophecies of the Scriptures, "that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead" (Acts 17,2-3).
Jesus said that, at the end of times, "He will send His angels with a loud trumpet to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other" (Matthew 24,31). These "angels", in the prophetic language, are human envoys, Apostles "of the end of times". They are sent with a "loud trumpet", the apocalyptic Message. The role of these last Apostles is double:
-To reveal the identity of the Antichrist from the Holy Scriptures.
-To prepare the faithful to the Return of Jesus by explaining the historical signs of his Return.
The first Apostles met many difficulties in preaching Jesus to the Jews who did not expect a crucified Messiah, and crucified by them. The Apostles of the end of times meet, in their mission, similar difficulties because Christians do not expect such a glorified Antichrist, and glorified by them.
Although announced by the Apostles, the Antichrist is neither awaited, nor denounced by the regular hierarchies of the various Churches who do not even talk of this subject and consequently do not warn their respective communities.
The Antichrist, an expert false prophet, presents himself as a persecuted lamb, hiding his numerous crimes and machiavellian designs: "Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves", Jesus said (Matthew 7,15). In spite of all such recommendations of the Master, Christians do not expect Jesus' enemy to show up under this actual form.
Master of seduction, this deceiver presents himself in the name of peace: "shalom!" In this way, many have been deceived instead of staying awake by referring to the holy prophecies and remembering that true Peace only comes from the One Whom the prophecies define as "The Prince of Peace", Jesus, the one and only true Messiah beyond whom peace is illusory (Isaiah 9,5). The mission of the Apostles of the end of times is to proclaim and to remind this divine Truth.
The Antichrist, unsuspected and encouraged by all those he has deceived, penetrates everywhere. He is received with dignity in the Vatican itself, in God's enclosure, without anyone telling him a word about the need of the faith in Jesus and of human justice towards the millions of Palestinians tortured or violently exiled. Instead, he is congratulated for his pacific initiatives and prayers are offered for the fulfilment of his projects. Is not Saint Paul right by saying that the Deceiver "will enthrone himself in God's sanctuary?!" (2 Thess 2,4).
Christians have willingly accepted to be deceived; they freely take the persecutor, the Antichrist, for a persecuted lamb. Very few are perspicacious and recognize in him the persecutor and expansionist "ravenous wolf" whose dream is the "Great Israel", and against whom it is necessary to defend oneself.
Christians who support Israel are not justified because the prophecy is clear: "the Antichrist is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ". Christians are not ready to establish the link between John's prophecies and the historical manifestation of the Antichrist. Feeling guilty because of the so-called "Hitlerian holocaust" and marvelled by the Israeli victories, Christians refuse to identify Israel as the announced Antichrist in spite of the evident fact that Israelis "deny that Jesus is the Christ". Only the prophecy can awaken those who want to wake up.
The "Deceiver" knows how to make Western consciences feel guilty, particularly with Hitler's Aushwitz and its crematoriums. Yet, none makes him feel guilty for his own numerous crimes against the millions of Palestinians slaughtered or exiled by him. On the other hand, Hitler's crimes, monstrous as they were, are not greater in horror than those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, and do not allow us, in any way, to give to this Deceiver another name and another identity but those already given to him by Christ Himself and by His holy Apostles after Him: He is the Antichrist!
Moreover, Christians must not forget that the most hateful crime in History is Jesus' crucifixion. Some Christians refer to Saint Paul's letter to the Romans (Romans 11,1-32) to defend Israel. It is important to reveal that Paul speaks about the Jews, not about a Jewish State. Paul's purpose is to invite the Romans not to consider all the Jews, without distinction, definitely excluded from the faith in Jesus. Therefore he explains: "I too am an Israelite, descended from Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God never abandoned His people whom He recognized ages ago" (Romans 11,1). But to be "grafted in" amongst God's people, Paul submits the Jews to a condition: to believe in Jesus. In fact he says: "If they do not persevere in their unbelief, (by rejecting Jesus), they will be grafted in" (Romans 11,23). The condition of their salvation is crystal clear.
Furthermore, when referring to Romans 11,1-32, we should not neglect to mention what the same apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians about the Jews: "You have suffered the same treatment from your own country-men as they have had from the Jews, who put the Lord Jesus to death, and the prophets too, and persecuted us also. Their conduct does not please God, and makes them the enemies of the whole human race…the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost" (1 Thess 2,14-16). Thus, by rejecting Jesus, they are antichrist and antimen, against the Lord and against men.
The Christians' behaviour towards the modern Zionist Jews has to be that of Paul: testimony and appeal, a testimony in favour of Jesus and an appeal for their conversion and salvation. Nothing indeed in the teachings of the Churches can take the defence of a Zionist State whose spirit is totally opposed to the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus. Love towards the Jews incites us to invite them to salvation by believing in Jesus. The worst anti-semitism is to let the Jews rot in their mistakes.
The Jews who yesterday prevented the Apostles from preaching that Jesus is the Messiah, "did not please God, and made them the enemies of the whole human race". Likewise, today, all Christians who refuse to reveal that Israel is the Antichrist, are God's and men's enemies.
Some Christians refuse to oppose Israel because, in their opinion, the Council of Vatican II does not allow them to. This Council's intentions are misunderstood. These Christians refer to the Council's declaration "The Church and the none-Christian religions", divulged on the 15th of November 1965, soon after this Council. This declaration defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the different other religions. The article 4 of this declaration is reserved to Jewish religion. There is nothing in this declaration that could prevent a Christian from inviting the Jews to Salvation by believing in Jesus. Nothing prevents a Christian from saying what has been said here. We repeat that we do not oppose the Jews as persons - because we believe in religious freedom - but we oppose Israel as a biblical and messianic State. Many Jews and none-Zionist Jews share our opinion on this matter. Furthermore, we find in the same declaration of the Council, that "the Church disapproves all persecutions against all men, whoever they are". Therefore, the Church must remind Israel its obligations towards the Palestinian people unjustly persecuted by the Israelis.
Christians of the XXth century are ready to see the Antichrist in the atheist communism, in the society of consumption, in the nuclear bomb, in Islam (that yet recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah) and even in Christians of rites different from their own, but they are shocked when Israel is indicated and answer nervously: "You talk politics!!" It is odd indeed that Christians don't think that they are talking politics when considering that the Antichrist could be the communist Russia. "It is that Russia is atheist," they answer. Russia could even be anti-theist without having the specific characteristic of the Antichrist; Israel alone is obviously and specifically anti-Christ Jesus, against the person of Jesus.
Any true Apostle is sad seeing that, amongst Christians, every lie is swallowed, only truth and justice are rejected, often by those who are the most instructed and most responsible and yet allow themselves to be convinced by the seductions of injustice.
The Virgin has appeared at La Salette (France) in 1846. She denounced the clergy's betrayal, defining the priests as "cesspools of impurity", adding that "the devil has bedimmed their intelligence". She revealed that the Antichrist, the apocalyptical Beast, is due to appear in the near future. He will be born "of a false religious Hebrew woman (false Jews), his father will be a Bishop" (allusion to Christians' collaboration with the Antichrist). See our text "La Salette".
Jesus has promised to send His angels, the Apostles of the end of times, in order to gather His elect from the four quarters of the earth against the Antichrist. We are sure that the Blow of the Holy Spirit will set their hearts on fire and will awaken their spiritual enthusiasm, so much so that they will stand up all together as one man in defence of faith and justice. They will prepare the believers, after the fall of the Antichrist, to welcome Jesus with warmth the moment He returns…in our hearts.