Rabbi Schneider - Characteristics of the Antichrist
I want to today just do a quick review of what I talked about on last week's broadcast. On last week's broadcast, I was talking about when the anti-Messiah or the anti-Christ would arise. I talked about the conditions that existed or will exist on planet Earth when the anti-Messiah comes, comes to fruition, when he becomes exposed. In other words, how it is that somebody like an anti-Christ could get an entire world's population behind him. How is that possible? And I used the analogy of Adolph Hitler. We think, how could that have happened in Germany just approximately 70 years ago where so much of the world got behind this mad man, Adolph Hitler, that was killing people in droves, taking little Jewish babies, throwing them up in the air as target practice. That's what his soldiers were doing.
We ask ourself, how could that have happened? It happened, beloved, because people in Germany were so desperate for change, so desperate for economic recovery, so desperate for a sense of national pride that when Adolph Hitler began to spew his, his doctrine, he was so charismatic, so energetic that the German people were willing to, to, to throw common sense aside simply because he gave them confidence and hope. And that's gonna be the climate on planet Earth that will exist when the anti-Christ comes to power. Now what I want to do today is move into some fresh material, and I want to talk about the, the type of person this anti-Messiah is going to be. And I'm gonna do that first of all by showing you the supernaturally demonic anointing that will be upon him.
So I'm gonna go right now to the Word of God, and we're gonna go to Revelation today. We're gonna begin today with Revelation, chapter 12, verses number 4-5. I want you to hear the Word of God. Once again, we can see how creation will, will, will, how, how, how the planet's sense of neediness for an answer is gonna make them ripe to believe an anti-Messiah. Let's look now at what's gonna be inside this anti-Messiah, even though he's gonna appear to have good will, even though he's gonna appear to be a loving person, even though he's gonna be very charismatic, very attractive. He's gonna be one of the most attractive political leader that ever arose. He's gonna seem tolerant of everybody. He's gonna seem to embrace all people. He's gonna seem to be a servant. He's gonna seem to really care. But what's really gonna be inside him?
Let's go now to Revelation, chapter 12, verse 4-5, and then 13 and 17: And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her Child. And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. Now what we're doing is we're going back to the fall of Lucifer, or Satan, from heaven. And we're seeing who he is because the anti-Messiah is gonna be anointed by this one that we're reading about here in Revelation, 12, just as Jesus is anointed by the Father. So let's go back to this verse. I'm gonna go a little slower, and we're gonna make some certain emphasis here: And his tail, this is the dragon's tail, the devil, and his tail swept away a third of the starts of heaven and threw them to the earth. And so these are the fallen angels with him. And the dragon stood before the woman.
Who's the woman? The woman, church, is Israel. So the dragon, or Satan, Lucifer stood before the woman who was about to give birth. Who was the woman? Who was Israel about to give birth to? To Messiah, to Jesus. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her Child. And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is to rule all the nations with the rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Now I want you to think about this in relationship to what happened on earth physically, in physical manifestation, when Jesus was born. And I want you to see how the Scripture that we read about here was fulfilled in the physical world. Again, we read this mystical passage in Revelation that the dragon stood before the woman, Israel, so that when the woman gave birth, he might destroy the Son, the Child, because the Child was to rule the nations. What happened? In time and space, what happened? Israel gives birth to Jesus, right. We read about Jesus' genealogy in the Book of Matthew. Israel gives birth. And what happens when Israel get, gives birth? Herod is inspired by Satan to have all the Hebrew children killed, right.
This is exactly the fulfillment of what we just read about in Revelation, 12. The dragon tried to kill the Child, we read. Even so this is taking place now in time and space when Israel gives birth to Jesus, who is the one that's to rule the world, Herod is inspired now by this dragon to kill the male children. But rather than being successful, we read that the Child instead of being killed was caught up to God. So what happens? The Father protects Jesus while He's on earth for 33 years, approximately, and then the Father raises Jesus to heaven, and so He's caught up to God. Let's continue looking at this again. Verse 5: And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. So the dragon was not successful. He tried to kill Jesus, but instead Father raised Him from the dead and now Jesus sits at the right hand of God.
Now let's continue with another Scripture, Revelation, 12:13. Hear the Word of God: And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to earth... Now this is, this right here is when Jesus spoke to us. He said, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Remember, Jesus said that in the Gospels: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. So in the Book of Revelation, we're reading now about Satan falling from heaven. And the point that I'm making, beloved ones, is that when the anti-Messiah arises, when the anti-Christ arises, he is gonna be anointed by this one we're reading about right now in the Book of Revelation. So I'm trying just to connect the dots for us here. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. And in verse 17: So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
So what's the point? What is in the anti-Messiah? In the anti-Messiah is the rage of the dragon who was unsuccessful in killing the Child that was birthed from the woman, Israel, and that Child was the Messiah. The dragon was unsuccessful in his rage to kill Jesus, the Messiah, because Jesus was raised up to the throne of God where the dragon can't touch Him. So what the dragon is now doing is he's taking out his rage on the woman who was Israel and the children of the Child who, beloved, is the church, who the children are the church. So Satan's enragement right now, his hatred is towards Israel and towards born-again believers, towards those that belong to Jesus. And so even though the anti-Messiah is gonna appear loving, even more loving than Christians, because Christians are gonna speak about sin. They're gonna talk about right and wrong. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're not gonna embrace all lifestyles.
Whereas the anti-Messiah is gonna act like, you know, God is love. We love everybody. We don't make any distinction. We don't make any discrimination. We don't make any judgements. We welcome all lifestyles. We welcome all peoples. You know, the political correctness that we're hearing in society preached now, he's gonna seem more loving than you and I are. But deep inside, he is gonna be filled with such rage and such hatred. And what he's gonna do is he's gonna deceive. You see, Daniel told us that he would prosper through deceit. He's gonna prosper through deceit. He's gonna make everybody feel that he's loving, but deep down inside, he's gonna be controlled by the devil. And what the devil wants to do, beloved ones, is wipe out Israel and wipe out the church. And so it's very critical that you and I have enlightenment so that we're not deceived.
Let's continue on now in our study of the Word of God. Now, again, Daniel told us in Daniel, chapter 8, verse 24-25, these words: His power shall be mighty, and not by his own power. By his cunning he shall cause deceit to succeed under his hand; Daniel, 8:24-25. He's gonna succeed by power, but his power of deceit is gonna come from a supernatural source. It's gonna come from Satan himself. Now listen to what the New Testament tells us about this in the Book of 2 Thessalonians, verse 9-10: His coming is gonna be in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness amongst those who perish.
So once again, remember, Daniel, hear me now, Daniel told us in Daniel, chapter 8, that this anti-Messiah was gonna succeed through the might of his power of deceit. Now you think about someone that's deceitful, and when you think about someone that's deceitful, for example, in business, what does that mean? They appear like they're gonna help you, right. They appear like they're gonna give you a good deal. They appear like they're gonna take care of you. They make you trust them. You think they've got your best interest in mind. But underneath it, it's deceit because they don't really care about you. They've got a completely different agenda. That's exactly what the Hebrew prophets tell us about the anti-Christ; that he's gonna succeed by a supernatural power of deceit.
Let me read it again. I'm reading Daniel, chapter 8, verse 24-25. Hear the Word of God. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of God abides forever: His coming, it's gonna be in cunningness. By his cunning or his deceit, he shall cause deceit to succeed under his hand. Now here's the counterpart, 2 Thessalonians, 2:9-10. Hear the Word of God: His coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, now get this word, with all... Get the word all there. All. How much power is gonna be on this anti-Messiah to deceive people? Listen, Paul says: With all power and signs and false wonders, now listen, and with all deception of unrighteousness amongst those who are perishing. In other words, the coming of the anti-Messiah is gonna be part of the unholy trinity.
Okay, we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But when the powers of Satan are manifest on the earth through the anti-Messiah, the anti-Messiah is going to be anointed by Satan in the same way that Jesus again is anointed by the Father. And there's gonna be someone standing next to the anti-Messiah. He's called the false prophet in the Book of Revelation. He's a type of the Holy Spirit and he backs up what the anti-Messiah does with signs and wonders. And there's going to be so many healings that are gonna take place under the anti-Messiah, people are gonna think it's a good thing. He's gonna heal those that are sick. He's gonna heal those with cancer. Some people think he's even gonna be raised from the dead.
There's an obscure Scripture in the Book of Revelation that some interpret as being he's gonna die and be raised back to life, that people are gonna think this is God. That's why Jesus said, Many false christs, in Matthew, 24, are going to emerge. And so, beloved, we need to get ready. We need to stand tall because when the anti-Christ arises, it's going to be with all power, signs and lying wonders.
Now I want you to think about this. We're talking about he's going to arise through the power of deceit. Now consider this. When we look back to Adolph Hitler, his ascendency, listen beloved ones, it was slow. He started preaching his anti-Semitic rhetoric as early as the beginning of the 1920s. So because it started out slow, Germany kind of got used to hearing it and it gave the power of that deceitful language, that deceitful ideology, it gave it an ability to succeed because it started happening slowly. It's like that old story that we heard, right, about the frog. If you put a, drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it immediately jumps right out. But if you put a frog in some lukewarm water and then just gradually begin to turn it up, because it gets turned up so slowly the frog won't even know what's going on and it will end up dying in that pot of boiling water eventually.
Now consider, beloved one, what I just said, with a very unique Scripture in the Book of Daniel. I'm reading now from the Word of God, Daniel, 8, verses 9-12. Remember we're talking about how Hitler rose to power, get this church, slowly. Now consider that because Hitler was a type of the anti-Christ with what Daniel tells us about the rise of the final anti-Christ that we read about in the Book of Revelation. Hear the Word of God: Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn. Get that word small horn. He's talking about government powers. Daniel is seeing into the end of the age. He's seeing future leaders and he sees this future leader that is the anti-Christ, and he began to arise, Daniel said, get it now church, as a very small horn.
Just like Adolph Hitler, he started out small. Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. And it even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him. So here is this small horn. He begins to arise. He tears down from heaven some of its hosts, and he begins to exalt himself, this small horn that grows begins to exalt himself to be equal with the Commander of the host. And now we read, Daniel says: And it removed the regular sacrifice from Him. Who's the Him? From God. So this small horn got bigger and bigger. It tried to even challenge the Commander, who is God Himself, and it sought to remove sacrifice, get it now, church, or worship from Him.
Now let's continue on: And the place of his sanctuary was thrown down... And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn, along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform it's will and prosper. Now I'm gonna pick up here next week, but let me just make some closing comments here. What we're seeing happening here is the arise of the anti-Christ slowly. He gets more and more power. As he does, listen, he seeks to remove the worship of God because in his heart he wants to be God. Now think about that, church, in relationship to what we're seeing today. Remember, the anti-Christ and the spirit of the anti-Christ is seeking to remove the worship of God.
What are we seeing in the world? Europe, which used to be on fire for God, is by and large now a dead place. The churches are closed just as we read here that the anti-Messiah's gonna try to close down his sanctuary. He's gonna remove worship and try to shut down the sanctuary. Are we seeing that in America? Well listen, we can't pray in Jesus' name at public school events anymore. We removed the Ten Commandments from government properties. All these types of regulations that are taking worship of God, listen now, out of our culture, and what we're seeing, beloved ones, before our very eyes, is the fulfillment of Scripture, thousands of years after it was written. We are entering in to the end of the age. Times are dark and they're gonna get darker. Jesus gave us the Book of Revelation and God gave us His Word so we could understand what's happening and not fall for the deceit of the power that is now working in those that don't know Jesus. Beloved, I love you. This is a very important word. Jesus' last words to us in the Bible were: Behold, I come quickly, and I'm gonna reward each one according to what he has done. Church, let's get ready.