From: 	 heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: 	 Thursday, November 6, 1997 11:40 PM
To: 	 Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Armilus the Antichrist

From:          JOHANVR 
Subject:       Armilus the Antichrist
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com

Dear Talmidim of Hebraic Roots

For the benefit of new members, I submit some very interesting 
teachings of the ancient Jewish sages on the person we call the 
Antichrist.

I submitted a previous version of this information about 
one month after this newsgroup got off the ground.

Shalom & keep up the excellent work, Eddie.

Johann van Rooyen
South Africa

================================

A careful  exegesis of Daniel 9:24-27 indicates that Daniel 9:27
describes events that will occur subsequent to the events described
in verse 26; verse 27 deals with the 70th year-week that will unfold
in the acharit-yamim, just before the second coming of Messiah.

The person who terminates sacrifice and offering is not the Messiah.  
Who is he?

Daniel 9:26

After the sixty-two "sevens", Messiah will be cut off and
will have nothing [literally: but not for himself]. The people of the
ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end
will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed.

Daniel 9:27

He will confirm a covenant with many for one "seven".  In the middle
of the "seven" he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on
a wing [of the Temple] he will set up an abomination that causes
desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on the
desolator.

We see that the person who will confirm a covenant with many for one
"seven" (verse 27) is "the ruler who will come" (verse 26).  Verse 26
tells us that this man will rule over the people who destroyed
Yerushalayim after "Messiah was cut off but not for himself." 
Dani'el 7, 12, Mattatiyahu 24, Revelation 11, 12, 13 and
2Thessalonians 2 make it clear that this man is the Anti-Messiah,
who will forcibly terminate sacrifice and offering and desecrate the
rebuilt Temple.  Yerushalayim was destroyed by the Roman army.
Conclusion: the Anti-messiah will rule over the revived Roman Empire
of the last days.  According to Dani'el 2, 7 and Revelation 17, ten
subservient European heads of state will voluntarily hand over their
authority to the False messiah (hence the symbolism of a beast with
10 horns and a statue with 10 toes).  The capital city of the Roman
Empire was Rome.  If we allow ourselves the liberty of extrapolating
scriptural information just a little bit, we conclude that he will
most probably rule from the ancient capital city of the Empire, i.e.
the city of Rome.

It is noteworthy to realise that Rabbinic exegesis fully supports
this view _ ancient rabbis and sages wrote extensively about the
False messiah of the last days _ they identified sections in the
Tanakh that portray his latter-day rise in the West.  In Targum
Yonathan, the Anti-Messiah of the acharit-yamim is called "Armilus"
in Yesha'yahu 11:4.  Armilus is a Hebraic term for Romulus, the
legendary founder of the city of Rome. The implication is that this
self-exalting individual will rule from Rome.  The Hebrew
text of Yesha'yahu 11:4 reads:

but with righteousness he [Messiah the son of David] will judge the
needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath
of his lips he will slay the wicked.

However, the ancient Aramaic paraphrase in Targum Yonathan,
(Patai, 1979: 156) states:

and with the speech of his lips he [Messiah]will slay the wicked Armilus.

This shows that the ancient understanding was that the evil dictator
of the last days that will be slain by Messiah the son of David,
would (initially) rule the revived Roman Empire from Rome.

When Sha'ul haSh'liach (Paul the Apostle) states in 2Thessalonians 2
that the true Messiah will slay the man of lawlessness (i.e. the
Antichrist) by the "breath of his mouth," he is not quoting from the
Hebrew Tanakh, but from the Targum:

2Thessalonians 2:1-10:
Concerning the coming of Adonu Yahshua HaMashiach and our being
gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily
unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to
have come from us, saying that the Day of YHWH has already come.
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come
until the [great departure] occurs proton [first in the sequence of
events] and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to
destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything
that is called Elohim or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in
Elohim's temple, proclaiming himself to be Elohim. Don't you
remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be
revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is
already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to
do so till he is taken out of the way. 

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom Adonai Yahshua
will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the
splendour of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of
Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are
perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so
be saved.

In the article Antichrist, the Jewish Encyclopedia (Vol.I:627)
states that the name used for the Antichrist in this passage is of
rabbinic origin:

"The lawless one (2Thessalonians 2:8) is none other
than Belial_whom Paul mentions in another place as the opponent of
the Messiah (2Corinthians 6:15)_a name interpreted by the rabbis as
compounded of beth-lamed-yod (without) and ayin-wav-lamed (yoke):
"without yoke," so that Belial is the one who will not accept the
yoke of the Torah_"

In the post-Talmudic Midrash (8th century YM), Pirkei-Ha-Mashiach,
the False messiah is termed,

"Satan Armilus, whom the Gentiles call Antichrist_"

In Midrash Azeret haSh'vatim (circa 466 YM), the connection that the
sages saw between the city of Rome and Armilus, is stated explicitly
(Patai, 1979: 157):

"And after all this, Satan will descend and go to Rome_[there he
will have sexual relations with a famous stone statue of a
magnificently beautiful woman.  She will become pregnant and] give
birth to Armilus_ And he [Armilus] will issue evil decrees against
Israel, and men of good deeds will cease while men of plunder will
multiply.  If Israel is worthy, Messiah ben David will sprout up in
Upper Galilee and will go to Yerushalayim_"

In two 12th century aggadic rabbinic works, T'fillat Rabbi Shimon
ben Yohai, BhM 4:124-126 (Patai, 1979: 157-159), and the apocalyptic
midrash Otot haMashiach (Patai, 1979: 314) Armilus' strategy, his
blasphemous claims and his persecution of all who remains faithful to
the Set-Apart One of Israel, are vividly portrayed.  The parts of
these rabbinic works that we will quote are very similar.  To avoid
duplication, we have removed the mythical elements and have edited
these two descriptions into a single account:

"_His name is Armilus the Satan.  This is the one the nations of the
world call the Antichrist.  And Armilus will go to Rome and say to
them: "I am your Messiah, I am your god!"  And he will mislead them
and they will immediately believe in him, and make him their king. 
And all the [Romans] will gather and come to him and join themselves
to him. And he will go and conquer and announce to all the countries
and cities, saying, "Bring me my holy book which I gave you!"  And
the nations of the world will come and bring the book_ and he
[Armilus] will say to them: "This is the book which I gave you." And
he tells the nations of the world: "Believe in me.  I am your god, I
am your Messiah and your god."  And instantly they believe in him_
[Armilus will call for a delegation of Israel to meet with him. He
will say to them:] "Bring me your Torah and testify to me that I am
god."  Israel will read to Armilus from the Torah: "I am HaShem your
Elohim and you shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2-3).
And Armilus will say: "There is nothing in this Torah of yours; come
and testify to me that I am god."  [Israel refuses. Armilus responds
by proclaiming:] "I shall not let go of you [i.e. will not stop
forcing and persecuting you] until you believe that I am god in the
same manner in which the gentile nations (goyim) of the world believe
in me." _And the wrath of Armilus is kindled, and he gathers all the
armies of the nations of the world, and makes war against the
children of Israel, and he slays of Israel a thousand thousands_ And
those who are left of Israel will flee to the desert of the nations_
In that hour al the nations of the world will expel Israel from their
countries_ And it will be a suffering for Israel the like of which
has not been ever since the world exists and to that time_ _And
Michael the great Prince will arise_ [Israel will say to the
nations:] "This is the Redemption for which we have been waiting,
for the Messiah has been slain." Michael will arise and blow the
shofar three times_ Messiah the son of David will be revealed_ the
full Redemption has come_ _And Armilus will hear that a king arose
for Israel, and he will gather all the armies of all the nations of
the world, and they will come to King Messiah and to Israel.  And the
Set-apart One, blessed be He, will fight for Israel and say to the
Messiah: "Sit at my right hand." And the Messiah will say to Israel:
"Gather together and stand and see the salvation of HaShem."_ And
the Set-apart One, blessed be He, fights Armilus and his armies, as
it is written, "Then shall HaShem go forth, and fight against those
nations, as when He fights in the day of battle" (Z'kharyah 14:3)_
Instantly the wicked Armilus will die, and all the armies of the
wicked Roman Empire which destroyed the House of our Elohim and
exiled us from our land_ May that time and that period be near!


Armilus' rise in the West is portrayed in Ma'ase Dani'el, a 10th
century midrash (quoted in Patai (1979:162-164)):

"And another king, Armilus, will arise in the Maghrev [the West],
more wicked and evil than anyone who preceded him_ He will capture
the West.  And many wicked men_will gather around him from the whole
earth, and will tell him that he is the Messiah, and this rumour will
spread all over the world.  And the whole earth will submit to him,
and he will slay those who do not submit_And the people will have to
bear and suffer much trouble, and the Children of Israel more than
all the others_Armilus will say, "I am the Messiah, your king and
your prince." _Then all Israel_will_go to the desert_and clothe
themselves with sackcloth, and sit down on the earth and call upon
Elohim_And Armilus will become angry and will command that they be
killed_And the Children of Israel will flee with their wives and
children, together they will go to the desert, and will raise their
voices in weeping and mourning, and will sit on the earth, and will
cry to Elohim_And HaShem, His Name be blessed, will appear from
heaven_the banner of Messiah ben David will fly high_"

The fact that the False messiah will rule united Europe from Rome,
(before invading Israel towards the middle of the 70th seven (Dani'el
11:41) and setting up his headquarters there, after the plagues
described in the book of Revelation have turned Europe into a
wasteland), makes Rome the most likely capital city of the False
Prophet _ the powerful, miracle-working religious leader who will be a
false Eliyahu, will announce that Armilus is the "Christ" and "God,"
and will enforce his worship with cruel measures (Revelation 13).  If
we study Revelation 13 closely, we observe close union and
co-operation between the state and the religious machine.  The state
is ruled by a man who is empowered by Satan, and the head of the
religious system enforces the worship of an idolatrous image of this
man, with a combination of cruel measures and witchcraft. Some
ancient thinkers taught that the False messiah of the latter days
will be an apostate half-Israelite man who will descend from the
tribe of Dan.  The inference that he will be of Israelite or 
half-Israelite descent, leans heavily on what we would call the consistency
principle of hermeneutics: YHWH is the primary Author of Scripture,
so that symbolism retains a consistent meaning throughout Scripture;
the level of inspiration of Scripture is profound, organic and
radical. In Genesis 49, Ya'akov prophesies that will happen to his
descendants in the acharit-yamim.  He prophesies that King Messiah
will come from the tribe of Y'hudah - 

Genesis 49:8-12 (NIV):

8"Y'hudah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. 9You
are a lion's cub, O Y'hudah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a
lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness_who dares to rouse
him? 10The sceptre will not depart from Y'hudah, nor the ruler's
staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and
the obedience of the nations is His. 11He will tether his donkey to a
vine, His colt to the choicest branch; He will wash his garments in
wine, His robes in the blood of grapes. 12His eyes will be darker
than wine, His teeth whiter than milk.

In verse 17, Ya'akov states that Dan will be a treacherous nachash
(serpent):

Genesis 49:17 (NIV):

Dan will be a serpent [nachash] by the roadside, a viper along the
path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles
backwards.

Let us follow the prophetic picture of the nachash (serpent)
throughout Scripture. In Iyov (Job) 41 we read about the Liv'yatan, a
serpentine monster that dwells in the water. Liv'yatan featured
prominently in ancient Ugaritic Middle-Eastern literature. According
to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Liv'yatan is a seven-headed serpentine
beast from the sea.  From Revelation 13 we know that this
seven-headed beast is a picture of the eschatological False messiah,
his empire and his armed forces. Yesha'yahu 26:19-27:1 shows that
Liv'yatan is a picture of the False messiah and his armies, which
will be destroyed at the end of the Chevlai Shel Mashiach, the time
of wrath.  (Liv'yatan is also a picture of HaSatan.)

19But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in
the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the
morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. 20Go, my people,
enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a
little while until his wrath has passed by.  21See, YHWH is coming
out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her
slain no longer. 1In that day [ba'Yom ha-hu]. YHWH will punish with
his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Liv'yatan the
gliding serpent [nachash], Liv'yatan the coiling serpent; he will
slay the monster [Hebrew: tannin] of the sea.

Note the order of events in the above prophecy:

1) The tzadekim are resurrected.

2) YHWH's people (i.e. the tzadekim) are concealed in the
khedar.

3) The time of wrath (the Chevlai Shel Mashiach) comes upon the
earth.

4) The destruction of the Liv'yatan in the Day of YHWH.

In Iyov 41:4, we read that the Liv'yatan will make a b'rit (covenant). In
Iyov 41:6 we see that a banquet will be made of him.  (Important: use
a literal translation such as the NKJV to study about the Liv'yatan.
Many translators have tried to give an interpreted translation and
have given a meaningless, a-prophetic rendering.)  In Dani'el 9:27 we
read that the False messiah will make a covenant.  In Psalm 74,
Yesha'yahu 27:1, Yechezk'el 29, 32, Revelation 19 and in several
other places, we read of the banquet of Liv'yatan.  Let us
investigate this deeper. In Psalm 74:14, Liv'yatan is a term for
Pharaoh and his armies that were destroyed when the b'nai Yisrael
(the children of Israel) left Egypt:

12But you, O Elohim, are my king from of old; you bring salvation
[yeshu'ah] upon the earth. 13It was you who split open the sea by
your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. 14It
was you who crushed the heads [note the plural] of Liv'yatan and gave
him as food to the creatures of the desert.

The Liv'yatan is a dramatic, picturesque description of the satanic
working that uses evil, proud human leaders and their militarily
strong empires to seek to destroy YHWH's people and to prevent the
rulership of the Messiah. Throughout history, the Liv'yatan has
manifested 7 times; therefore it is a seven-headed beast from the
sea _ the sea symbolises peoples and nations, specifically in the
vicinity of the Mediterranean sea (i.e. the Middle-East and Europe).
The historical and future manifestations (the heads) of Liv'yatan are
mentioned in

Revelation 17:8-11

8The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up
out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the
earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the
creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast,
because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.  9This calls for
a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the
woman sits. 10They are seven kings.  Five have fallen, one is, the
other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a
little while.  11The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth
king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

The prophecy about the seven kings should be understood in light of
the Hebrew concept of corporate personality (cf. Robinson, 1980).  It
views the king as the personification of his kingdom and its people.
Accordingly, the seven kings  mentioned above are intimately
identified with their kingdoms.

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