If the Bible Warns Against Future False Christs, then How Is the End-Times Earthly Messiah Not a Deception?
By Author Eli Kittim š
False Christs & False Prophets
The New Testament warns that the end of days will be characterized by great deception. Matthew 24 tells us that many false christs will appear, saying āI am the Christā (v. 5), and will deceive many. And many false prophets will also appear (v. 11). If they tell you āhere is the Christ,ā donāt believe them, for many false Christs & false prophets will perform great signs so as to deceive even the elect (vv. 23-24). In the text, Christ says (Mt 24.25-26 NRSV):
Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if
they say to you, āLook! He is in the
wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, āLook!
He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
But one may raise the question, āif the Bible warns against future false Christs, then how is the end-times earthly messiah not a deception?ā
I will try to answer this question using an excerpt from my book, āThe Little Book of Revelation,ā chapter 11, the section entitled āTHE CORPSE: A MISSING LINK IN BIBLICAL EXEGESIS,ā pp. 237-238:
// However, we must challenge the reader to go further. Because if you do not understand the specific timeline of these end-time events, the biblical script will become very confusing. For example, Matthew 24:23 reads, āif anyone says to you, āBehold, here is the Christ,ā or āThere He is,ā do not believe him.ā Some argue that this verse exhorts us to distrust any earthly Messiah that might appear in the last days. But this is simply not true. For one thing, Christ himself appears for the first time in the last days! (Heb. 1:2, 9:26; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:9-10; Acts 3:20-21; Rev. 12:5). Not to mention that the Jews themselves are still awaiting the Messiah. Furthermore, Matthewās gospel sets up the context of this exhortation in its proper chronological order. For instance, notice that Matthew first introduces Danielās prophecy of āthe ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION . . . standing in the holy placeā (Matt. 24:15) as the backdrop for this exhortation. This event is set to take place when the antichrist will take āhis seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being Godā (2 Thess. 2:4).
Next, we are warned that when this event transpires, we should āflee to the mountains; . . . for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shallā (Matt. 24:16-21). But we must remember that Christ will most certainly die before the antichrist could reveal himself to the world (Matt. 24:28). Paul writes, āHe [Christ] who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealedā (2 Thess. 2:7-8). That Christās arrival precedes that of the antichrist is further demonstrated in Johnās gospel, Jesus says, āI will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Meā (14:30, cf. Dan. 9:26). Hence, āthe ABOMINATION OF DESOLATIONā serves as the context in which the previous exhortation was made. So during this particular time period, we are rightly urged to distrust any physical being that claims to be the Messiah.\\
Hereās another excerpt from āThe Little Book of Revelation,ā ch. 3, the section entitled āFIRST COMES CHRIST; THEN COMES THE ANTICHRIST,ā p. 101:
// Christ, then, must be the first horseman of āRevelation,ā whose ārobeā (body) was ādipped in bloodā (Rev. 19:11-13, cf. Rev. 6:2). This episode marks the first of several incidents that lead up to the cosmic apocalypse. We already know that the anticipated child born during the end-times is clearly the Messiah (Rev. 12:1-5). And more than that, we are now in a better position to understand the preceding events leading up to his foretold ascension: being ācaught upā into heaven (Rev. 12:5). These include his incarnation, death and resurrection, when he āwill ariseā from the dead (Dan. 12:1) āto make the earth trembleā (Isa. 2:19). We are also told that the antichrist āwill be revealedā during the interim in which Christ will be ātaken out of the wayā (2 Thess. 2:7-8). Hence, it was very much the scriptural intention to instill insight in its advocates so that they might firmly distrust those who claim āthat the day of the Lord has comeā (2 Thess. 2:2).\\
