AC#02 How antichrist rebuilds the Temple of God

Intro:

Just a reminder for choosing this topic: is COVID-19 part of the End Times judgment of God? Remember that COVID-19 is a worldwide judgment and many economies may collapse in the near future. This will be a ripe time for antichrist to come and deceive the world and take control of the world’s leadership.

@@ This is my main reference book for this series of messages “Return of the Anti Christ and the New World Order.”

The last time we saw that when antichrist comes, he will declare himself to be “God” in the temple of God. .

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 KJV 1900

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

What’s the problem with v4? Ans: there is no temple of God now. The original temple location is now occupied by a Muslim mosque. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about this temple location.

@@ The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was initially completed in 691–92 CE on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23.

What is the significance of this site for both Christians and Muslims? Wikipedia goes on to say:

@@ The Foundation Stone the temple was built over bears great significance in the Abrahamic religions as the place where God created the world and the first human, Adam. It is believed to be the site where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son, and as the place where God's divine presence is manifested more than in any other place, towards which Jews turn during prayer.

@@ The site's great significance for Muslims derives from traditions connecting it to the creation of the world and the belief that Muhammad's Night Journey to heaven started from the rock at the center of the structure.

So the location of the Jewish temple is very significant for both the Jews and the Muslims.

The Jews are waiting for a Messianic King to arrive. Since Jesus in His 1st coming wasn’t a political king, He was rejected by the Jews. Thus when antichrist comes as a political king, he would deceive the Jews that he was the Messiah they are expecting.

What about the Muslims? They must agree to the destruction of the mosque called the Dome of the Rock so that the temple of God can be build on it. But on what basis will they agree to do so? Anyone trying to destroy the Dome on the Rock today will virtually trigger a world war.

We’ll first see some background facts about the Muslim faith (wikipedia):

@@ The Mahdi is an eschatological redeemer of Islam who, according to some Islamic traditions, will appear and rule for five, seven, nine, or nineteen years before the Day of Judgment and rid the world of evil.

@@ There is no direct reference to the Mahdi in the Quran, only in the hadith (the reports and traditions of Muhammad's teachings collected after his death). In most traditions, the Mahdi will arrive with 'Isa (Jesus) to defeat "the false Messiah", or antichrist.

So the Muslims is expecting 2 persons to arrive in the End Times to defeat the antichrist. If the beast deceives the world that he is the Christ, then who will appear in the place of Mahdi?

According to Muslim tradition, Mahdi is the final Imam or worship leader of the Muslim community to come. But we’ll see his identity later in the message.

But we have 2 powerful communities waiting for a leader to come and lead them to victory and peace.

I. Both Jews and Muslims came from Abraham

A. Enmity between Isaac and Ishmael seed

Genesis 16:11–12 ESV

11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

I’m using ESV because it shows the hostility of Ishmael towards his kinsmen clearer (end of v12). The KJV “he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren” does make sense since Hagar was later chased out of the house by Sarah and they were never re-united.

The present enmity we see between the Jews and the Arabs in the news has its origin in Abraham around 1900BC.

The Jews came from Isaac and the Arab Muslims came from Ishmael. tells us that Ishmael is like a wild donkey and will be against all his kinsmen. We see not only the Arabs persecuting Israel but also killings between Arab nations today like Iran-Iraq war. In the past Persia (Iran) conquered Babylon (Iraq).

Ishmael’s descendants has become today’s terrorists.

B. Two different religious traditions

The Jews has written revelation from Moses and many prophets sent by God.

The Muslims has revelation mostly through Prophet Mohammed and subsequent teachers that passed on the traditions.

Because both came from Abraham, it should not be surprising to see some common traditions between them. Hence both are monotheistic and similar ceremonial laws.

Most importantly, they want the same spot, i.e. the temple mount where the former Jewish temple stood to be their most sacred place of worship but for similar (creation) and different (God’s presence vs Mohammed flight to heaven) reasons.

II. The antichrist and the false prophet

While the Jews are expecting only the Messiah to come, the Muslims are expecting Jesus and Mahdi to come.

The irony we saw in the intro is that Muslims are expecting Jesus and Mahdi to come and defeat the antichrist.

Hence the antichrist needs another person to help him deceive the Muslims. This other person is the false prophet.

And as we saw in the first lesson, when antichrist comes, there will be much deception.

Even Paul warns us about Satan:

2 Corinthians 11:14–15 KJV 1900

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

This is a general warning that can be applied to any preacher we hear. But it essentially tells us that Satan’s work is a work of deception which we must be aware of.

@@ Now how does the false prophet come in? Islam believe that the Mahdi hid himself down a well in the ground and will emerge from this hiding place one day. And the False Prophet is also to arise from the ground .

Revelation 13:11 KJV 1900

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Hence the 2nd beast will correspond to the Muslim’s Mahdi.

The second beast looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. The idea here is that of contrast. His inside is the opposite of what he looks like outside. The 2nd beast is equally deceptive.

further tells us that this 2nd beast can work powers like OT prophets and makes the people to worship the 1st beast through its image.

Revelation 13:13–14 KJV 1900

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

It is only when we come to that we see the term “false prophet” being used to describe the 2nd beast.

Revelation 16:13 KJV 1900

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

The dragon correspond to Satan, the beast to the 1st beast or antichrist and the false prophet to the 2nd beast.

Conclusion:

So we see that antichrist deceives the Jews that he is the Messiah or Christ. But for him to rebuild the Jewish temple of God, he also need to deceive the Muslims.

And he does it through the 2nd beast or false prophet who is the Muslim’s Mahdi or religious leader.

Christ declares Himself to be God through the resurrection as well as a life of service to the people.

The antichrist declares himself to be God through a fake resurrection or some supernatural power in the temple of God. His intend has always been the same: to dethrone God. That’s why he rebuilt the temple of God.

So we don’t speculate anyone world leader to be the antichrist since none of them declare themselves to be Christ (may want to be worshipped) and none can produce spectacular miracles to deceive people.

With the help of the false prophet, he will deceive the Jews, the Muslims and even professed Christians who do don’t know their God and His Word.