The God-bearing Holy Fathers and other good
teachers of the Orthodox Church are quite clear about one of the events that
will happen together with Antichrist’s appearing - the rise of Israeli power
and influence in the world: ‘the Beast
of the Apocalypse’ is ‘“Jewish might reborn at the end of time”’ (Fr Sloet, Revue Biblique, 1893, quoted in Archpriest
Boris Molchanoff, Antichrist,
Liberty, Tenn.: St. John of Kronstadt Press, p. 10). ‘The initial phase of this plan [Antichrist’s
plan to attain worldwide rule--W.G.] will be the achieving of popularity among
the Jews’ (Antichrist, p. 6). When
Antichrist reveals himself to the world, ‘The triumph of Judaism will be great,
for there will be the command to celebrate the Jewish sabbath and follow the
Jewish law. The countless sects, like
sheep without a shepherd, will gather to Antichrist as to their own pastor in
the re-built temple of Solomon in Jerusalem’
(Apostasy and Antichrist,
Jordanville, Ny.: Holy Trinity Monastery, p. 40).
This should put us on our guard, for Israeli power
and popularity are indeed rising:
. .
.
The
twin crises in Syria and Egypt have marked the emergence of a new
superpower coalition in the Middle East, the odd-couple alliance of Israel and Saudi
Arabia, with Jordon serving as an intermediary and the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms playing a supporting role.
The
potential impact of this new coalition can barely be overstated, with Israel bringing to the table its remarkable
propaganda skills and its unparalleled influence over U.S. foreign policy and Saudi Arabia
tapping into its vast reservoir of petrodollars and exploiting its global
financial networks. Together the two countries are now shaping international
responses to the conflicts in Syria
and Egypt,
but that may only be the start.
. . .
Source: Robert Parry, ‘The Saudi-Israeli Superpower’,
29 Aug. 2013, https://consortiumnews.com/2013/08/29/the-saudi-israeli-superpower/
Add to this the beguilement of so many evangelical
churches by the false teaching of Dispensationalism (that there will be a
‘rapture’, that ethnic Israel is as important as, if not more important than,
the New Testament Church founded by our Lord Himself (which is now the True Israel -
Gal. 6:16), etc.), which has made ethnic Israel such a darling of those churches,
and one may see that the world is racing toward great danger (if not the
greatest danger).
And the danger is acute here in the South, where
the Dispensational-evangelical view dominates so many of the churches. What Southerner of this sort would not be
tickled to see a great leader arise in the world who would help the Jewish people
live peacefully with their neighbors on terms favorable to the Jews, be at the
center of world political decision-making, and rebuild their Temple? Thus the fondness of these Southerners for
ethnic Israel
will endear them to Antichrist when he steps out of the shadows onto the world
stage.
Already these Southrons cheer men and women like
Col Allen West, the Tea Party’s favorite son (he may live in Florida, but he is
no friend of Dixie’s), when they say that America should ‘crush America’s and
Israel’s enemies’ and ‘bring them to their knees’ and then yell ‘God bless America,
God Bless Israel!’ like madmen (see the last 30 seconds of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaHe9PBnFdA).
But to go forward in such a ghost (spirit) only
hastens the day of Antichrist, and thus their own fordoing (destruction).
‘Awake thou that sleepest’, O Souðron, and come
into the haven of the Holy Orthodox Church while there is yet time.
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