Antichrist Identified?

I stumbled across a brief biography of the former Israeli Prime Minister/former Defense Minister/former long-time General of the I.D.F., Ariel Sharon. I knew he had suffered a major stroke back in 2006, but I hadn't heard whether he had survived it, or not. Apparently he has survived it though he has supposedly ended up in a coma, in a "permanent vegetative state". At least that's what the doctors thought until last January. They had a team of Israeli and American doctors examine him then to see if there was any discernible brain response to various stimuli, and they were surprised to find significant measureable brain activity in response to various pictures that would have been familiar to him before his stroke, as opposed to similar pictures that would have been unfamiliar to him. The doctors were careful to report that while this brain activity was indeed significant, it was a long way away from stating that they expected him to awaken out of his seven-year coma any time soon.

The reason I had Googled his name in the first place was because I had been reading the scriptures concerning the "Abomination of Desolation" in Revelation 13, and 17, and also in Daniel chapter 9. Like probably every other Born-Again Christian, I have long speculated as to the identity of the Antichrist, assuming he is already alive, and soon to be revealed. For a long time I wondered if it could be Mikhail Gorbachev, since the Antichrist was described as a man, "as though he was wounded in the head" ( but not actually saying that he was wounded). Gorbachev's very prominent scarlet-red birth mark on his forehead seemed very condemning to me, as someone viewing him in a vision ( like the apostle John) could easily presume it to be an open wound, yet he would be seen walking and talking normally. This seemed to fit the bill for someone presumed to have been miraculously brought back from the dead ( see Revelation 17: 8, and 11 where it talks of, "the Beast that was, and is not"). Yet there were obvious problems with the logic here.

First, Revelation 17 also talks about a perverse system of false worship, referred to as, "the great whore" (in contrast to the true "Bride of Christ" which is His Church), and it describes "her" as residing in a city that can be traditionally recognized as Rome, when it says in verse 9, "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." This can only refer to the Vatican, situated in the heart of Rome, a city renowned for being built upon seven great hills, with all apologies to our many Catholic brothers, and sisters. I am not attempting to start baiting Catholics as being false Christians; I'll leave that up to people like Martin Luther ( who was after all one of the most virulent anti-semites in history, so his understanding certainly had it's limits, just like all of us). But the Vatican does have a tainted history with its papal throne historically being available for purchase to the highest bidder; I believe it was one of Lucretia Borgeas' relatives who bribed himself into being elected Pope, and later was quoted as saying something to the effect that he found the concept of Salvation through the forgiveness of sins a very convenient concept for the manipulation of the believers. Somewhere in Revelation I believe it is talking about worshipers of the "great whore" when it quote's God as talking to the true believers when He says, "come out of her my people", meaning that God recognizes a difference between Catholics who are truly Born-Again Christians, by faith in Jesus, and those who merely trust in their Catholic (or Protestant, for that matter) traditions to get them into Heaven when they die. This is the crux of the issue that has caused Christians to believe that the throne of the Pope would eventually be taken over by the Antichrist, though it was never clearly stated to be so in the Bible.

Nonetheless, I can't quite picture Mikhail Gorbachev being able to purchase the papacy, or even wanting to. He has always seemed to be a confirmed secularist, so I guess that birth mark is probably just a coincidence after all.

Now this report of Ariel Sharon's brain reacting to various simple stimuli has peaked my curiosity once again. I'm sure various other "coincidences" will interest all of us, from time to time, until the actual moment of the "Abomination of Desolation" truly reveals the identity of the Antichrist. Yet if Ariel Sharon should one day completely awaken from his coma, there are certain "coincidences" that are remarkable, along with serious flaws in the logic. It could be that he might be the false Messiah which is prophecied in conjunction with the revelation of the Antichrist. Many Jews have believed in a soon coming Messiah ( so long as his name was not Jesus), and I understand that the popular belief is that they expect him to be a normal Jewish man of exceptional power ( but not the "Son of God") to lead his nation, as was Ariel Sharon for so many years. Also there were reports of Sharon allowing himself to be escorted around the site of the ancient Holy Temple not long before his stroke, as if he were attempting to act out the prophecied entrance of the Messiah into the Temple, which we Christians believe Jesus already did on Palm Sunday. He even went so far as to begin his tour of the Temple Mount from the inside of the East Gate, which has been blocked-up with stone and concrete for decades, or more. This was a blatant attempt to seem to "fulfill" the Messianic Prophecy stating that the Messiah would enter the Temple through the East Gate. Could this actually be the "Abomination of Desolation", way in advance? Well, probably not, as it is supposed to be accompanied by some sort of blasphemous setting up of an image, like some kind of giant hologram of the Antichrist proclaiming himself to be the third member of the Godhead ( the Holy Spirit?). I've long thought that this, coupled with the receiving of his "mark of the beast" might actually be the "unforgiveable sin" that Jesus mentioned, but did not clearly define, other than to refer to it as the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit". One must surely wonder if Sharon was attempting to place himself in position to be proclaimed the Messiah by his followers. Anyway this created such an outcry among the Palestinian Arabs that a new Intifada riot broke out because of it.

All this is reported to you as merely interesting facts to contemplate until the real "Abomination of Desolation" is carried out ( assuming we're still here, and the Rapture hasn't yet happened). I certainly mean no disrespect to the family of Ariel Sharon, especially if all this speculation should ultimately prove to be nothing more than coincidence. But, as he has been a very public personality for decades, I don't feel that this constitutes any form of slander, even if it proves to be wrong. At worst I suppose this seems a bit insensitive of me to even suggest the possibility of it being true. But for Christians this is a very significant issue to be concerned with, and ignorance of issues like this could possibly effect someone's salvation, though I certainly am not trying to make any definitive charges as to the truth of my conjecture. Again, all apologies to any family or friends whom I may have offended by it. God bless!

NOTE: (from January 12, 2014):

As noted above, I certainly meant no disrespect to the now late Ariel Sharon, who was reported to have passed away yesterday, with my wandering speculations concerning the identity of the Antichrist. I apologized in advance to his relatives should my suggestions prove untrue, and therefore offensive. But the larger issue stands irrefutable, that many secularly-inspired Jews have attempted to act out aspects of the Messianic Prophecies in the past, as Sharon clearly did, and others will likely follow until the real Antichrist actually comes forward to commit the "Abomination of Desolation" that Daniel referred to. As Christians, we would be remiss if we didn't examine these attempts to replace Jesus Christ with a secular impostor as Israel's Messiah, in order that we would not be fooled by the real Antichrist if we are still here ( which I strongly doubt we will be). My purpose was not to defame anyone, but to show the lengths that some have gone to in order to avail themselves of the worshipful loyalty that would be accrued by being declared the Jewish Messiah, again, so long as his name was not Jesus.