Thursday, September 1, 2016

The difference between Yeshua and the Beast of the Abyss

Some day soon 3 fold lie will be resurrected and promoted again on a grand scale with the appearance of the Antichrist. He will preach to the world that through his example and by accepting his teachings all of these things will be gained for humanity. In a sense the human family will be faced with the very same temptation that Eve faced in the Garden of Eden, with the Antichrist offering a spiritual form of the forbidden fruit. Satan's lie is an old lie and it has been closely connected with Paganism from the beginning. Historian Franz Cumont summarizes the message of salvation and eternal life as promoted through the cults of the Dying God during the time of the Roman Empire:
"This constant endeavor to secure an after-existence for one's self and relatives manifested itself in various ways, but it finally assumed a concrete form in the worship of Osiris. The fate of Osiris, the god who died and returned to life, became the prototype of the fate of every human being that observed the funeral rites. "As truly as Osiris lives," says an Egyptian text, "he shall also live; as truly as Osiris is not dead, shall he not die; as truly as Osiris is not annihilated, shall he not be annihilated."
    If, then, the deceased had piously served Osiris-Serapis, he was assimilated to that god, and shared his immortality in the underworld, where the judge of the dead held forth. He lived not as a tenuous shade or as a subtle spirit, but in full possession of his body as well as of his soul. That was the Egyptian doctrine, and that certainly was also the doctrine of the Greco-Latin mysteries.
    Through the initiation the mystic was born again, but to a superhuman life, and became the equal of the immortals. In his ecstasy he imagined that he was crossing the threshold of death and contemplating the gods of heaven and hell face to face. If he had accurately followed the prescriptions imposed upon him by Isis and Serapis through their priests, those gods prolonged his life after his decease beyond the duration assigned to it by destiny, and he participated eternally in their beatitude and offered them his homage in their realm." [17]
The promises are the same but the methods to receive the promises are different. The cult of paganism's Dying God promoted contact with the spirit world and offered hidden initiations to higher and higher levels, while holding out the promise of hidden knowledge that could be applied by the initiate as the key to eternal life. On the other hand, Jesus taught that eternal life demands submission to the Creator, and acceptance of the death of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sins. There are no secrets and the knowledge has never been hidden. From the very beginning Jesus told His followers to preach His message openly to the entire world. Eternal life is not a hidden mystery that we can discover, or something that we can achieve or earn, but is a gift of God given to those who are able to humble themselves and accept it. Jesus claimed to speak for God, and He gave a clear message concerning this gift of eternal life:
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." (John 6:44-47)
"When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life." (John 10:44-50)
Furthermore, Jesus was very clear that the only path to eternal life was through Himself alone when He said (John 14:6),
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus claimed that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that He was the only way through which to receive these blessings. He also predicted that the majority of humanity would not make the right decision to follow Him. In the text below the two possible destinations are given by Jesus as either Destruction or Life.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
In Hebrew the name of Jesus (which is an English form of the Greek "Iesous") is Yeshua. In the Old Testament the English translation of Yeshua appears as Joshua, which is a named derived from the Hebrew root word yasha, which means "salvation." Yeshua is therefore a very fitting name for the Savior of the World.
In the book of Revelation the figure known as the Antichrist is predicted to rise up from "out of the Abyss." The Abyss is simply another name for Hell, known the Hebrews as Sheol. It is the place where the souls of all deceased humans were kept up until the sacrifice of Jesus, and then afterwards it became the place where only the souls of the unsaved have been kept. In Revelation 9 the Abyss is opened by a fallen angel (Lucifer) which allows the earth to be invaded by demonic forces. These forces are said to be led by another figure who is then introduced (Revelation 9:11):
"They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon."
Bible scholars have debated the identity of this figure over the years and the consensus is that Abaddon is either another name for Satan, or else he is one of Satan's chief fallen angels who rules over the Abyss. Other scholars have submitted the possibility, however, that Abaddon may be a name for the Antichrist himself, a conclusion made recently by author and Bible scholar Patrick Heron. Opponents of this view argue that Abaddon cannot be the Antichrist because he is described as an "angel." However, the Greek word for angel, which is aggelos, is a word that simply means "messenger" or "envoy," and is not a hard and fast term that must always refer to the angelic B'nai Elohim, or "sons of God" that make up God's heavenly host. The soul of the Antichrist is currently confined to the Abyss, yet his legacy endures as a message of deception for those who seek to gain eternal life by acquiring hidden knowledge or through their own efforts. In this way the Antichrist is most certainly an "angel," and more specifically an "angel of the Abyss," because those who accept his message will end up in Hell.
If Abaddon is indeed a name for the Antichrist then it is a perfect fit because the Hebrew word Abaddon means "destruction." This is additional evidence that the true relationship between paganism's Dying God and Jesus Christ, is a relationship of mirror opposites. The meaning of the Hebrew name Yeshua derives from the word meaning "salvation," whereas the meaning of the Hebrew name Abaddon means "destruction." One Messiah will save His followers and lead them to eternal life, while the other will deceive his followers and lead them to destruction. The difference cannot be made more clear.
The idea of mirror opposites continues in the descriptions of these two figures within the book of Revelation. Near the beginning of the vision God identifies Himself by saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Near the end of the vision Jesus identifies Himself as God when He says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." In this way Jesus Himself can also be viewed as the eternally existent one "who is, and who was, and who is to come." On the other hand the Antichrist is identified in Revelation 17 as the one who "once was, now is not, and yet will come."
Jesus lived on this earth and He died. After His death He was resurrected and taken up into Heaven. The Antichrist lived on this earth as Nimrod, and he died. After his death his soul was confined to the pit of Hell, and one day he will be resurrected. Both Messiahs, when all is said and done, will have experienced resurrection, and both will make a "Second Coming" to the earth. Jesus will return from Heaven, while the Antichrist will return from Hell.
The final destiny of each of these Messiahs can also be shown to be completely different. The second coming of the Antichrist will result in a short period of triumph during which he will rule over the entire world, yet his end will come and he will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will result in His triumph and victory over the Antichrist. Jesus will then rule over the entire world for eternity and continue to exist for eternity.
In terms of the purpose of their deaths there is another relationship between the two Messiahs along the lines of mirror opposites. The death of Nimrod, as has been explained, led to the division of the nations and the beginning of the Pagan Era during which the "gods" ruled over humanity as they wished. In this context the death of Nimrod can be viewed as a human sacrifice that was offered on behalf of the "gods" enabling their period of authority over humanity. Jesus Christ was the exact opposite. He was indeed a sacrifice, but His sacrifice was a divine sacrifice of God offered on behalf of humanity. He was the Son of God, and God incarnate in human flesh, whose death liberated humanity and provided eternal life, so that human beings could replace the fallen "sons of God" and become immortal members of the family of God.
In the book of Revelation, after John is brought into his visionary state, the Son of God appears before John which causes John to collapse at His feet like a dead man. Jesus then places His hand upon John and introduces Himself:
"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18)
Jesus Christ refers to Himself as "the First and the Last," which speaks of His connection with God the Father and His presence at the beginning and end of Creation. The Antichrist is also, in his own way, the first and the last. In Revelation 12 Satan is introduced as a dragon with seven heads, which we have identified as seven kings that have ruled throughout history on behalf of Satan. There are seven kings, but these kings make eight appearances on the world's stage. The Antichrist, as Nimrod, was the first to appear, and he will also be the last, when he is resurrected and allowed to rule as the eighth manifestation of Satan's seven kings:
"The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction." (Revelation 17:11)
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