The Epistle to the Romans Predicts the Antichrist

At some point after the period known as the “fulness of the Gentiles”, national Israel will be saved by someone called the Deliverer.

This event is yet future, as is the appearance of the Deliverer. The Deliverer is not Jesus Christ. Jesus said the Jews would receive “The Other” Messiah: “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another [The Other] shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). So who then is this Other Deliverer? God provides the answer in the Bible.

Paul’s passage in verses 25 and 26 of Romans 11 reads:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this MYSTERY, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”.

It is quickly apparent that Paul is quoting from the twentieth verse of Isaiah 59. Isaiah provides other details regarding the Deliverer, including a description of his war accoutrements in verse 17, the place of his origins in the West in verse 19, and the eternal duration of his kingdom in verse 21:

[17] For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
[18] According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
[19] So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
[20] And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
[21] As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Earlier in chapter 59, Isaiah describes in bleak terms the social and religious condition of affairs when the Deliverer makes his appearance:

[8] The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
[9] Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
[10] We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

Unbeknownst to most, if not all, Paul himself in Romans 8:29 and 30 introduced us to the distant origins of this Deliverer. In this present life, the Deliverer is called the “firstborn among many brethren” because he is the Founding Father of the messianic, Jewish State of Zion. I believe that this Deliverer is none other than the Antichrist.

Verses 29 and 30 of Romans 8 are an important transition from Paul’s theme of “Solidarity (justification) in Jesus Christ” in chapters 3-8 to the subject of nation-building in chapters 9-11. It is the role of the Antichrist to raise up Israel. This is the purpose behind his origins.

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Without understanding this, it is impossible to arrive at the authentic meaning of this passage. Let’s now take a closer look at the original words in the King James English translations of these two verses.

ROMANS 8:29, 30

“For whom he did foreknow [proginosko, meaning ‘to have knowledge before hand; foreordain’], he also did predestinate [proorizo, meaning ‘to predetermine, decide beforehand’] [to be] conformed [summorphos, meaning, ‘similar; fashioned like unto’] to the image [eikon, meaning ‘likeness’] of his Son, that he might be the firstborn [prototokos, meaning ‘first begotten’] among many brethren [adelphos, meaning ‘having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman’]”.

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them [toutous, may be translated ‘these’ or ‘such’] he also called [kaleo, meaning, ‘to call by name; i.e. to name; to give some name to one, call his name; to be called, i.e. to bear a name or title (among men)’]: and whom he called, them [toutous] he also justified [dikaioo, meaning, ‘to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered; to declare, pronounce, one to be just; to be freed’]: and whom he justified, them [toutous] he also glorified [doxazo, meaning, ‘to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate; to honour, do honour to, hold in honour; to make renowned; to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged’]”.

“WHOM HE DID FOREKNOW”

To foreknow is to have knowledge from the beginning; i.e. before the object of the knowledge, be it a person or event, be-comes.

DIFFERENT TIERS OF FOREKNOWLEDGE

There are at least two levels of foreknowledge. Both Paul and Peter possessed the rare gift of forward-looking foreknowledge, which is the spirit of prophecy.

However, under inspiration of the self-same prophetic spirit, Peter and Paul looked back to A PERIOD BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF TIME and bore witness to a special classification of foreknowledge that pre-dates and supercedes our common notion of prophecy; a foreknowledge possessed by God Himself BEFORE THE WORLD WAS. This supreme foreknowledge has a prior right over typical prophecy and pre-empts all lesser prophetical considerations. It is THE master organizational and interpretational aid.

I call this select classification of foreknowledge “The Mysteries”. So far as I have been able to determine, there are only three identifiable Mysteries: the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the Antichrist, and the collective rebirth of the people of Israel.

Each was planned BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.

Peter asserts that the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ was foreordained “BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD” (1 Peter 1:20).

In the second half of the Book of Romans, Paul applies the concept of supreme foreknowledge firstly) to the mysterious, unnamed person (“he”) predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29, 30); and, secondly) to the people of Israel (Romans 11:2). There appears to be a direct, contextual relationship between this unnamed person and the covenant people of Israel.

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Paul applies the concept of foreknowledge to his mysterious, unnamed and person (“he”). I believe the “he” is in fact the Antichrist Messiah, referenced by his role in restoring Israel according to the ancient promises.

Foreknowledge and predestination are related concepts. After applying foreknowledge to the Antichrist, Paul then asserts that the Antichrist was predestined.

Because we have been socialized under the influence of Greek philosophy, which underlies the western educational system, we tend to recoil from the concept of predestination. Particularly, predestination implies a lack free will.

“Individualism” is a Greek, democratic philosophy that values the person, single to itself, as the standard. “Solidarity”, on the other hand, values the group over the individual.

“Solidarity” is a biblical concept that clashes with its cultural counterpart “western individualism”. Even in the West, vestiges of “solidarity” thinking survive in simple fatalistic expressions, such as “It was meant to be” or “It is God’s will”.

It is against this backdrop that we must consider Paul’s belief in predestination.

SOLIDARITY THEOLOGY AND PREDESTINATION

Although a problem for the western-style mindset, predestination is not a problem for easterners under their terms “solidarity”. In reality, predestination in the New Testament is limited to archetypal figures, i.e. Jesus Christ, the Antichrist, and national Israel.

Suffice it to say that in Pauline theology predestination is good news. All, both Jew and Gentile, are predestined for salvation “in Christ”.

The English translation of Paul’s proorizo is “predestinate”, meaning “to predetermine; decide beforehand”. Its use in the New Testament is infrequent. The following passages illustrate how it is used.

The betrayal and Crucifixion of Jesus was predetermined by God:

“For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before [proorizo] to be done”. Acts 4:27, 28.

The Antichrist is predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ:

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [proorizo] to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate [proorizo], them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”. Romans 8:29, 30.

God’s predetermined Plan of Salvation is a MYSTERY, alone subject to divine revelation:

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained [proorizo] before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. 1 Corinthians 2:6-9.

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We participate in predestination insofar as we are “in Christ”:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated [proorizo] us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated [proorizo] according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”. Ephesians 1:3-11.

“CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON [JESUS CHRIST]”

There will be many similarities between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. Unfortunately, as described in popular theology, the Antichrist is Satan’s evil caricature or counterfeit of Jesus Christ. Yet, according to Paul, God, not Satan, willed that the Antichrist should be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Although there are similarities between them, unlike Jesus Christ, the Antichrist is not sinless. The Antichrist is called the “Man of Sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and “That Wicked [One]” in verse 8.

“FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN”

The Antichrist Messiah restores Israel according to the ancient promises, thus becoming the Founding Father of messianic Zion.

CALLED, PREDESTINED, JUSTIFIED, AND GLORIFIED

There are many aspects of salvation. In the traditional, evangelical Christian sense, all, Jew and Gentile alike, are saved “in Christ Jesus”. Even the Antichrist himself, a Christian convert of sorts, is under the blood of Jesus. Nevertheless, the salvation of national Israel is an additional, unique deliverance. This is not to imply that the merits of Jesus Christ are not sufficient. On the contrary, understanding His significance and partaking of His merits enables the Antichrist and his many brethren to fulfill their appointed destiny. God made many unconditional promises to Israel that must be satisfied literally because God is true and cannot lie.

NOTE ON [TOUTOUS] IN ROMANS 8:30

The Greek word toutous is found 27 times in the New Testament. It appears to be somewhat select and precise in its use. In twelve of these 27 usages, toutous is coupled with the Greek word logos and translated, “these sayings”. Logos itself is translated “Word” (Christ) seven times. According to Strong’s, “A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John's purpose in John 1”.

It is perfectly proper for toutous logos to be translated “these sayings”, thus emphasizing the plural nature of toutous. Or, the phrase may be translated “this speech; this mandate, decree, declaration, teaching”. There is a subtle difference between a series of disconnected sayings versus one purposeful teaching comprised of many parts. The emphasis of this latter translation is “one in many”.

I think the second translation is better and consistent with the context. The Firstborn in verse 29 was himself called, predestined, justified, and glorified so that he might call out a people to fulfill their destiny; to FREE them to be acknowledged in their worth and dignity. He is the “firstborn among many brethren”. He is “One in many”.

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As stated, Romans 8:29, 30 serves as an important transition from Paul’s theme of “Solidarity (justification) in Jesus Christ” in chapters 3-8 to the subject of nation-building in chapters 9-11. It is the role of the Antichrist to raise up Israel. This is the ultimate purpose behind his origins. This is no easy task. Like Jesus Christ, the Antichrist endures hardships on behalf of his people.

One of the functions of the Antichrist is to suffer for Israel. To this subject I now turn.

THE ANTICHRIST IS THE SIN-BEARER OF ISRAEL

Romans 9:3 and 11:25-27 make it clear that the Antichrist is a sin-bearer.

Paul writes, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; Whose [are] the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen”. Romans 9:3-5.

The pathos in the Apostle’s words is striking and touching!

Like Paul, the Antichrist forfeits his own pursuits, and willingly surrenders himself -- physically and emotionally -- for his Jews to liberate them from the primeval curse.

THE CURSE

In Genesis 3:14-19, we are told about the curse God placed upon humankind and upon the earth in consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.

The curse pre-dates the law, which was given to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai. Furthermore, the curse is universal. It impacts all of humankind, not just the Jews. Even should all Israel perfectly obey the law – if that were possible – the curse would remain. The law is the secondary consequence of the curse.

In order to effect a complete atonement, the curse must be removed from all the earth.

Contrary to the popular notion of a one-messiah atonement, the Bible teaches a two-messiah/two-tier salvation. Paul calls this a MYSTERY in Romans 11:25-27: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins”.

What may we learn from this passage?

Deliverance happens for Israel after “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”.
It is not within the scope of this article to explain the meaning of the phrase “the fulness of the Gentiles”. For my present purpose, I wish to note that there is no current evidence that this condition or event “be come in”. It is the timeframe I am concerned with. Why is this important? Because the deliverance of Israel occurs afterward; hence, both events, especially the latter, are yet future.

Paul states that the sins of Jacob will be taken away AFTER the appearance of the future Deliverer! Without a doubt, the Antichrist, like his predecessor Jesus Christ, is a sin-bearer. In accordance with the ancient sanctuary and temple systems, the sin-bearer role Antichrist is typified by the goat offered on the Day of Atonement, which foreshadows the authentic and orderly everlasting gospel.

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Ironically, while the salvation of the Gentiles hindered upon the rejection of Jesus by the Jews and the work of Jewish missionaries in conveying the good news to them, the salvation of the Jews now hinders on what has become a mostly Gentile Christian Movement’s efforts in finding the Antichrist.

Their message had to go to world because it was out there, somewhere, that would be found the object of Jesus’ obsessive search, His lost brother, the Antichrist. This work is described at length in Matthew chapters 10-12.

Jesus evidently thought His brother and co-regent was inside the borders of Israel. This is why Jesus said, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” (Matthew 10:23).

Near the end of His own mission, Jesus realized that His undiscovered brother must be among the Gentiles in the Dispersion, so He gave explicit direction to His disciples in these famous words: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”. Matthew 28:19, 20.

Jesus knew that as the end of His physical life approached, the salvation of His beloved Jews depended on them finding His earthly brother, the Antichrist. Even the Apostles Paul desired that he himself was the Chosen One. But God had not chosen Paul to bear the curse (Romans 9:3).

For years, the disciples prayed and looked without ceasing. Peter himself resisted the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, as recorded in Acts 10:

[13] And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
[14] But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
[15] And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
[16] This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
[28] And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

It took a vision from God to change Peter. [All popes should draw a lesson from this.]

As long as the earthly temple remained, with all of the ethnocentrism centered in what it had come to represent, the spread of the Christian Movement to the Gentiles, including the Dispersion among the Gentiles, would be hindered. Christian believers were mostly exclusive, ethnic Jews. In order to enlarge their worldview, they had to be subjected to an earth-shattering event. It took a vision to awaken Peter; for Jewish Christians, it took the destruction of the Second Temple.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the center of the universe for Jewish Christians shifted from Jerusalem to Heaven. God, His temple house and His law are in Heaven, no longer in Jerusalem, which has become like Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8).

As long as Jewish Christians remained attached to Jerusalem, the spread of Christianity to the Gentiles would be impeded and the lost messiah would remain lost. This explanation is quite different than the anti-semitism that discredits Jews for the destruction of the Second Temple.

The authentic answer attributes the loss, at least in part, to the ethnic exclusivity and lethargy of Jewish Christians.

It is clear from the eleventh chapter of Revelation that the Book of Revelation itself was written before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which occurred in the year 70 A.D. Following the removal of Herod’s Temple, believers would have no alternative than to look upward: “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament” (Revelation 11:19).

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IN CONCLUSION

At the beginning of this article, I claimed that Paul’s Deliverer in Romans 11:26 is not Jesus Christ. Jesus said the Jews would receive “The Other” Messiah: “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another [The Other] shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43).

Additionally, Paul’s “he” in Romans 8:29 cannot refer to the body of believers because “he” is the “firstborn” of the brethren. This “he” is not Jesus Christ because he is destined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus.

This leaves us with the last alternative, a single unnamed, archetypal individual, the Antichrist.

The current state of affairs in this world is sufficient incentive for the Christian Movement to search out and find the Antichrist. He is the last, best hope for peace on planet earth.

The time for the division of the sheep and the goats into a two-state solution has arrived.

There will be many similarities between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. Unfortunately, as described in popular theology, the Antichrist is Satan’s evil caricature or counterfeit of Jesus Christ. Yet, according to Paul, God, not Satan, willed that the Antichrist should be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I don't think it's just some caricature or someone possessed by Satan. You need to be Son of Satan in order to deceive whole world not just war mongering lunatic under demonic influence. We have a lot of these in politics and so far most successful was Adolf Hitler but he was helped from Thule society and some of the monks who like Atlantis. If you monks read this, get over it, Atlantis was too retarded to survive.

Another thing which i always find fascinating is how people believe just one book and don't allow any other prophecy to influence that belief. All Christians will check anyones acts with Revelation and if he is not rebuilding temple or sign peace treaty, he won't be accepted as Antichrist.

Also i don't know why should Antichrist act in Israel only, like whole world revolves around Jerusalem. Yea right. It is also possible some of the leaders influenced by cults believe same thing and this was the reason they attacked Iraq, to rebuild stupid Babylon. If they worship Moloch everything is possible.

NEWS FLASH this is exactly what Antichrist doesn't like! He is against worship and mysticism. Global change is not following one "holy" book or another or to befriend corrupt leaders or to rebuild temple and request worship. That is pathetic and full of nonsense. People today are smart enough to laugh at any idiot who will do that.