Yes, this is another long video by Bible expert, Nathan Lawrence, but this is a complex, multi-faceted subject with many contextual and historical threads. So if you want to understand what the Bible has to say about the current war between the Jews and the Palestinians (Hamas et al), then you will want to watch this. Nathan tags a lot of bases in this video explaining the 4,000 year old roots of this conflict, who Edom is in Bible history and prophecy and how that relates to Jews and Christians, as well as to Islam and Hamas. You will also learn what the Bible prophesies will happen in the future to all of these people groups and how this conflict will be resolved. You will not hear any of this in the current news reports, but this understanding will help you to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
In this epistles, John the apostle mentions a term that has become synonymous with the archenemy of Christ or the Messiah and Christians everywhere. It is Antichrist. This word’s meaning is self-evident, but, by John’s own definition, let’s now discover who really fits the strictest definition of Antichrist.
The first place John mentions this term is in the second chapter of his first epistle.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18)
The prophetic apostles then goes on to make two further references to this arch-villain of the Messiah and his disciples.
…and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 John 4:3)
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. (2 John 1:7)
How does John define the spirit of antichrist? From 1 John 2:18–19, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn the following:
The antichrist spirit was prophesied to come on the scenes. Presumably, this specific spirit could not emerge until the Messiah had come.
The Antichrist or the spirit thereof pretends to the Messiah or the Anointed One from heaven and deceives people into believing this lie.
Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist, in the most literal sense, emerged of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community or, by possible extension, its direct successors.
The spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man).
The satanic spirit denies that Yeshua is part of the “Godhead”.
Next, it denies that Yeshua is is deity and is the Son of Elohim.
Finally, it denies the incarnation of Yeshua.
This then is how the Bible defines the spirit of antichrist.
Other biblical references that many Christians scholars believe allude to this end times Antichrist figure include:
The Beast (Rev 13:4)
The abomination that causes desolation (Matt 24:15)
The desolator (Dan 9:27)
The man of sin (or lawlessness), the son of perdition (2 Thess 2:3)
The little horn (Dan 7:8)
The Assyrian (Mic 5:5; Isa 10:5; 14:25)
What should be our reaction when we encounter this demonic spirit of antichrist? The wise counsel of John in his second epistle sums up our firm conviction on this matter.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Messiah does not have Elohim. He who abides in the doctrine of Messiah has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2 John 9–11)
What additionally can we learn about the person of the Antichrist and the spirit of antichrist from the four passages where antichrist is mentioned in John’s epistles?
From 1 John 2:18–19, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn that the Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist have come out of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community. In the strictest sense, this eliminates some of the world’s largest religions (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism) as being contenders for the end times religious system of the Antichrist. That leaves paganized mainstream Christianity and Islam. From John’s writings, we also learn that the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man), denies that Yeshua is part of the “Godhead,” is deity and is the Son of Elohim, and denies the incarnation of Yeshua. This rules out mainstream Christianity, even in its paganized or somewhat apostate form. Of the existing major world religions extant on earth today, only Islam fits the strictest biblical definition of Antichrist and religion thereof.
Yes, it is true that Islam did not yet exist in John’s day. John died in the 90s A.D., and Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was not born until A.D. 570. However, Islam did not spontaneously combust out of a religious vacuum. If one reads the Koran, one will discover that the tenets of Islam are pulled from several already existing religious systems of the day including Judaism, Christianity, the moon worshipping religion of Muhammad’s own tribal religious system, as well as from the Greek philosophers including that of dualism and gnosticism. When one reads the entire Koran, it is becomes evident that Islam is a mongrelized, jumbled mixture of a various religious threads and traditions.
This then begs a relevant question: To what religious system was John specifically referring when he penned his first and second epistles probably late in his life in the A.D. 90s? What religious ideology was in existence in his day that had broken off of early Christianity and was proclaiming a false Messiah among other things? This most likely would have been the religion of gnosticism that Paul was already combatting in his epistle to the Colossians, and which rose to prominence under Marcion (the heretic) of Sinope (A.D. 85–160), who came to prominence in the early to mid-second century A.D. Eventually, the early church fathers branded gnosticism as a heresy and Marcion a heretic for denying the bodily manifestation of Yeshua the Messiah. However, later on, Muhammad would pick up and proclaim some elements of Gnostic heresy and it would be enshrined in the Koran. Thus, modern Islam is the descendant of this antichrist doctrine.
Now having established which major religious system fits the strictest definition of antichrist as John defines it, we cannot overlook the fact that John also states, “it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come….” While in the end times there may be one Antichrist figure that personifies a larger philosophy of rebellion against the YHVH Elohim and his divine Truth as revealed in his word, the Bible, John leaves the door open for there to be many other iterations of the antichrist spirit as well.
In the loosest sense, anyone, any philosophy, any religious system or anything else that opposes Yeshua the Messiah or Jesus Christ and the Word and Truth of the Bible is of the spirit of Antichrist. This would include anyone or anything that aligns itself with Islam and takes a stand against the followers of Yeshua or those who teach the Word of Elohim. Let’s be frank here. This eventually includes almost the entire world!
Moreover, there are strains of the spirit of antichrist in modern religious Judaism, and even mainstream Christianity. That is why YHVH pleads if not commands his people to come out of Babylon (Rev 18:4).
To be sure, the spirit of antichrist exists in all of the false religions of the world as well such socioeconomic systems as Marxism and all of its ungodly substrates.
Eventually, the nascence of the spirit of antichrist goes back to Satan the serpent in the Garden of Eden, when he deceived the first humans into joining him in his preexisting rebellion against the commands or the word of Elohim.
Ultimately, the evil spirit of antichrist, which is rebellion against YHVH’s Torah-word, has spread its destructive cancerous tentacles globally and now infest everyone and everything. In a word, the spirit of antichrist is nothing more than sin, which is rebellion against and the violation of YHVH’s Torah-law or commandments (1 John 3:4). Only through a relationship with Yeshua the Messiah, who came as Elohim in the flesh as the Son of YHVH Elohim, can sinful and rebellious man be redeemed and set free from the grip of the spirit of antichrist. Those who remain under the control of this satanic spirit will die in their sins, while those who repent and turn to Yeshua and receive him not merely as their Savior, but as their Lord and Master and love him by conforming their lives to his Torah-word will experience eternal life and inclusion in the kingdom of heaven as adopted sons and daughters into the family of Elohim.
A note from Nathan: I wrote the following expose on Islam after reading the Koran more than 15 years ago. After the recent horrific occurrences in Israel at the hands of Muslim terrorists, it is appropriate to understand the demonic forces that are behind Islam and the perverse and twisted nature of their “holy” book that gives license to the unspeakable acts of Muslims who believe and follow the Koran.
The True Face of Islam Unmasked
Introduction
The Koran (or Qur’an) is the sacred book of the religion of Islam. It contains the sayings of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. In the Koran, Muhammad (ca. 570 to 632) claims that the sayings of the Koran came to him from God (or Allah) via the angel Gabriel. Based on a passage in the Koran (Sura 7:157), many believe that Muhammad was illiterate and was incapable of writing these sayings down himself. At the very least, he was unlettered and unlearned. Shortly after his death, some of his followers who had memorized his sayings met together and recorded in written form what they remembered Muhammad to have said. This is how the Koran came to be.
The Koran forms the bedrock of the Islamic faith, although there are other sacred books belonging to the religion of Islam that have sprung up since the Koran was compiled.
Since some of the practitioners of Islam are presently on a crusade to forcefully convert many countries to Islam, and since many Muslims terrorists have demonstrated a specific hatred for Jews and Christians, and since there is much misinformation being broadcast in the western media, by western politicians and western educators as to what Moslems believe and what the Koran actually teaches, I took it upon myself to read the Koran from cover to cover to see for myself what it says. Below are some of the amazing facts about Islam that I learned from reading the Koran.
The following references are taken directly from the Koran. Chapter (Sura) and verse references may vary from Koran to Koran. Those listed below are from The Koran by Ivy Books (published by Ballantine books in 1993, a division of Random House, New York, ISBN 0-8041-1125-1). I will occasionally provide some alternate versions of the Koran from several other translations for the purpose of confirming some of the more controversial passages.
Alternate versions of the Koran that I use for comparative purposes are:
AKa (The Qur’an, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali; Elmhurst, N.Y. : Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Publishers and Distributors of Holy Qur’an, 2005, ISBN 1-879402-29-7)
AKb Koran: Quran—The Final Testament; Authorized English Version; translated from the Original by Dr. Rashad Khalifa, Ph.D. by Islamic Productions, 2003, http://www.quran-islam.org/93.html).
According to the Koran
The Purpose of the Koran
The main purpose of the Koran is to warn all creatures (p. 294, Sura 38:79).
The Koran is a warning to the God/Allah-fearing (p. 375, Sura 69:48).
Muslim Theology
Moslems are to believe the Koran and the Bible (p. 58, Sura 4:136).
The koranic law of abrogation states that if something was written later in the Koran that contradicts something that was written earlier, the later cancels out the former (p. 10, Sura 2:100; p. 153, Sura 13:39).
One earns (immortality and) a spot in paradise or heaven by doing things that are right, and on the basis of one’s good works (p. 57, Sura 4:23; page 92, Sura 7:42; p. 198, Sura 20:111; pp. 251 and 255, Sura 29:6 and 57; p. 318, Sura 43:72). A sinner can be forgiven of his sins by paying alms, by being prayed over, through repentance and by his good works (p. 121; Sura 9:5–7).
Those who oppose Allah and Muhammad will receive eternal hell fire (p. 117, Sura 9:64; p. 113, Sura 9:17; p. 164, Sura 16:31). The Koran portrays the torments of hell in the stereotypical manner reminiscent of Dante’s inferno (p. 208, Sura 22:20).
Allah misleads some people and guides others (p. 152, Sura 13:27; AKb 13:27; p. 154, Sura 14:4).
At the creation of man, Allah commanded angels to bow down to worship man (p. 159, Sura 15:30–33).
Allah gave the Torah to guide the children of Israel (p. 171, Sura 17:2; AKb 17:2; p. 264, Sura 32:23).
There are seven heavens (p. 214, Sura 23:17). This is a concept that the Koran borrows from the pagan Greek philosophers.
Ishmael was a prophet and an apostle (p. 190, Sura 19:55).
Camels are used for sacrifices (p. 209, Sura 22:37) and for eating (p. 210, Sura 22:36).
The Koran teaches that Allah and the God of the Bible (YHVH Elohim) are one in the same, and the same God sent down the Book of the Law (the Torah) and the Koran (p. 254, Sura 29:45–46; AKb 29:46–47).
The soul of man is immortal (p. 255, Sura 29:58). This also is a concept that the Koran borrows from the pagan Greek philosophers who taught the concept of dualism.
There is no variableness in the way of Allah; that is, the word of Allah does not vary. In other words, the Bible and Koran do not contradict (p. 279, Sura 32:45), since the Koran teaches that both books came from the same God (p. 254, Sura 29:45–46). At the same time, the Koran claims to clear up (or correct the errors of?) the Bible and replaces them with truth (p. 64, Sura 5:18; p. 127; Sura 10:38).
Allah created the earth in two days (p. 307, Sura 41:8; AKb 41:9). If this is true, how can the Bible and Koran both be truth and the word of God, since the Bible states the earth and everything else in six days? Elsewhere, the Koran claims that the earth was created in six days (p. 338; Sura 50:37).
Paradise or heaven is guaranteed for those who fight and slay for the cause of Islam (pp. 121–122, Sura 9:11).
The Koran on Muhammad
Muhammad was an “unlettered prophet,” which is interpreted to mean that either he was illiterate or was unlearned (p. 101, Sura 7:157; AKb 7:157 says Muhammad was a “gentile prophet” in place of “unlettered prophet”).
Muhammad had many slaves and wives and lots of sex (p. 269; Sura 33:49–51; AKb 33:50–51).
The persecution of Christians by Muslims is finally being reported by the mainstream media. It’s not anti-Islam bigotry to report on this — it’s simply reporting the facts. Now even the U.S. State Department is highlighting this issue (see article below).
Historically and at present this is how it works: Muslims immigrate into a county, and begin to increase in numbers until they have a large enough population to begin exercising dominance over that country’s native population. Once in control, Muslims then give the people the option to convert, be killed, flee or pay a heavy tax depending on the situation. Historically, many African and Middle Eastern nations were predominately Christian until Islam took over through the means listed above.
Don’t think it can’t happen where you live. Unless YHVH’s people repent of not whole-heartedly following and obeying him, the Bible speaks of YHVH using the wicked (e.g., the descendants of Edom, the Persians, Gog and Magog and the Syrians et al [i.e., the Muslims] to discipline his people to bring them back to him.
Watch, pray and repent of what the Bible defines as sin (i.e., Torahlessness,1 John 3:4).
State Department: Christian presence in Middle East becoming ‘shadow of its former self’
Egyptian Christians gather outside the Coptic Orthodox church after a car bomb attack, in Egypt’s northern city of Alexandria, January 1, 2011.Reuters
The State Department issued a dire report Monday on the state of religious freedom around the world, with an alarming warning that the Christian presence in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East is becoming a “shadow of its former self.”
The analysis was included as part of a comprehensive report on religious freedom around the world in 2013. The report cited a flood of examples of governments and militant groups cracking down on religious minorities, everywhere from Pakistan to Egypt to China. The victims included Christians, but also Hindus, Muslims and others.
The report offered a pointed warning about religious violence in the three-year-old civil war in Syria.
