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John the Baptist, Son of Zechariah: The beheading of John the Baptist, the prophet of God Most High (El-Elyon), speaks of an attempt to silence all prophecy related to the grace of God. John's Hebrew name (Yochanan) means Grace of God. The beheading of John the Baptist speaks of a pagan ruler's vain attempt to violently and permanently separate the rule of God's Torah of Grace (the head, new covenant) from the complete body of God's teaching located in the whole of the Tanach (the body, old covenant). This scripture fragment is a Torah picture of Satan using a proud, arrogant, degenerate political authority to oppose the testimony of Messiah, His new covenant of grace, and the Spirit of Grace who regenerates, matures and perfects all who repent of their sins and believe the gospel, the Great Torah of Messiah. Herod Antipas beheaded the prophet whose name means grace of God because of His own pride. Herod illegally married his sister-in-law, Herodias. The prophet John rebuked Herod and greatly embarrassed Herodias when he publicly announced their marriage, according to the Torah of God, was clearly illegitimate, illegal, invalid. Authentic conversion to God necessarily begins with conviction of sin. If one sincerely repents of his or her sin and believes in the message of God's Torah of Grace, then they will be saved. However, if a person fails to humble his self before God, thereby directly insulting the Spirit of Grace by rejecting His convicting message, then that person will incur divine judgment. Herodias hated the convicting doctrine of the Grace of God: Herodias hated the prophet John for his public humiliation of her. She remained lawless. She refused to repent. She wanted vengeance, self-justification, self-vindication, not the conviction of sin that precedes all true repentance and conversion. Herodias in a violent spirit of hatred and rebellion plotted to destroy the messenger of God's grace and his convicting message by using her very own daughter Salome to trick Herod into executing him. On Herod's birthday his step-daughter and niece, Salome, whose name means "peace" (shalom), was directed by her mother to dance seductively before her lustful step-father. After Herodias' daughter Salome erotically danced before her perverted and very likely drunken step-dad, who also was her uncle, Herod impulsively and foolishly invited her to ask for anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. Herodias then instructed Salome to ask Herod for John's severed head to be presented to her on a platter. The request deeply disturbed and grieved Herod, nonetheless because he had made his promise to his step-daughter in front of several very important guests, he ordered John to be beheaded and his head presented to Salome on a platter, just as she had requested. Strangely after the disciples of the prophet had buried John's body, the mentally imbalanced Herod began to live in a state of constant fear and dread that the prophet John might one day soon be resurrected from the dead so that he might exact some kind of vengeance on him. It is even reported in the Scriptures that for a time Herod thought that Rabbi Yeshua might actually be John, the prophet, resurrected and dwelling in a new body (possibly this strange fear was influenced by Herod's occult belief in reincarnation). God's Grace was severed from the Body of the Prophets: Herod Antipas' name means, Heroic Like Father. Herod Antipas was named after his father Herod the Great the Idumean King of Israel. The Idumeans were direct descendents of the father of Edom, Esau. Like his ancestor Esau, the Idumean Herod the Great, King of Israel and his son, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee (Israel was split into three parts after the death of Herod the Great's in 4 B.C.) were both true worshippers of their own narcissist Self-life. Herod Antipas killed the Prophet of God's Grace because he loved the vain things of the world more than the will of God. All three of these Idumean rulers, Esau, Herod the Great and Herod Antipas, were so intent on putting the value of their own lives above everyone else's that they were more than willing to murder anyone who was a threat to their power or who wounded their easily bruised pride. Esau would have killed his brother Jacob if his mother Rachel had not intervened and warned him in advance of his brother's plan to kill him. Herod the Great was a psychopath. He was notorious for killing countless thousands of people to foster a fearful subordination of all the citizens of Israel, to remove potential political adversaries, and to fulfill his demonic desire to terrify, torment, torture and kill others for his own sadistic pleasure. Like father, like son: Like father, like son. Herod the Great failed in his attempt to murder the Messiah as a child. However, Herod Antipas not only unjustly killed the prophet John to protect his own easily offended vanity but he also succeeded where his father failed, he got to participate in the murder of his family's greatest enemy, the Messiah Yeshua. Before Messiah's crucifixion Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas lived as political adversaries. However, after their mutual support and joint cooperation in killing the King of Glory, Herod and Pilate, the two previously conflicted political leaders of Rome and Israel, became political allies. "Heroic like father:" The Herods were heroic in their own way. They excelled at pursuing self-glorification. No matter what the cost and no matter how much their behavior might offend Almighty God, Herod the Great and Herod Antipas, like their fathers before them, could always be expected to zealously pursue their own self-interests. Esau, Herod the Great, and Herod Antipas were all heroic when seeking self-glory above everything and everyone else. In this way, these historic, murderous, deceitful rulers were all just like their father, the Devil. The Elijah to come: The evil conduct of Herod Antipas and Herodias toward Yochanan, Ben Zachariah (John, Son of Zechariah) is strikingly similar to Elijah’s maltreatment at the hands of King Ahab and his exceptionally wicked wife, Jezebel. The significant difference between both prophets was that John did not flee to save his life and died a martyr for his faith, while Elijah fled from danger so that he might not die at the hands of the wicked king and queen of Israel, asking God to take his life instead. The contrast in the endings of the two prophets’ lives is worth making note of. Like Enoch, the first Elijah committed his life to God and he was taken up (translated alive) into heaven without physically experiencing death. However, unlike Enoch, the second Elijah, Yochanan, Ben Zachariah (who came in the Spirit of Elijah) also committed his life into God’s hands, however, he was beheaded and his severed remains gathered up by his disciples and put in a grave. What are we, if anything, to make of these very different endings in the lives of these two great prophets, both of whom are identified as the Elijah (My God is Yahweh) and the Elijah who is to come? Three Elijahs in the Order of Eternity: The answer to the previous question is wrapped up in the wide spectrum of witness that exists in the ministry of Elijah (My God is the Eternal One, i.e. Yahweh). In the Scriptures Elijah's ministry transcends space and time. In Judaism (and messianic belief) the testimony of Elijah involves at least three prophetic-historical events that so far have spanned a period of time that has already been over 2,800 years. The prophetic ministries of the three Elijahs are: 1. The first Elijah did not die but ascended alive into heaven (850 B.C.) and along with Moses appeared to Messiah at the Mount of Transfiguration. He will return in a glorified body, on Yom Kippur, at the Second Coming of Messiah. 2. The second Elijah, John the Baptist, is the blessed prophet who publicly introduced the Messiah to Israel at the Jordan (27 B.C.), was beheaded by Herod, was buried by his disciples (28 B.C.) and is now awaiting the soon approaching day of the resurrection of the righteous (he is the first Elijah to come). 3. The third Elijah when he comes in the midst of the Great Tribulation (future), will testify of not just one but all three elements of the Elijah testimony. Unlike the first Elijah who testified of Messiah's glorified ascendance into heaven, or the second Elijah, who was a witness to the sacrificial death of Messiah, the third and final Elijah will testify to all three elements of Messiah's atoning death, resurrection, and glorified ascension into heaven. When the Tribulation Elijah completes his mission of testifying to all three elements of Messiah's glory, then a full and complete witness will have been accomplished (i.e. these three miraculous signs will turn the hearts of God's people, Israel, to ultimately believe the doctrines (hearts) of the Patriarchs; cf. article, "Messiah in Sukkot"). 4. After, the ministry of the final Elijah to come is completed the fourth and final element of messianic prophecy will be fulfilled when Messiah will dramatically and triumphantly return to earth a second time to put down all humankind's rebellion against God and to finally establish the Millennial Kingdom that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David (the promised restoration of all things).
This means that there is a first and second Elijah to come. John the Baptist is the Elijah to come whose ministry ushers in the beginning of the Halakha of Messiah (i.e. Gospel). He is the Elijah who gives witness to the death and burial of the Messiah Ben Joseph, the Suffering Messiah. The second Elijah to come will have a greater testimony than that of the prophet John. His miraculous death, resurrection and ascension will introduce the imminent coming of the Messiah Ben David, the Conquering Messiah (who will complete the Gospel promises by restoring all things; cf. prophetic articles on the "Twelve Festivals of Messiah"). When the Messiah returns from heaven to earth a second time, all three Elijahs will accompany Him in their glorified bodies. At that time the fulfillment of God's promises to the fathers (patriarchs) will occur, the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, and the permanent rule of King David's greater son, Mashiach Yeshua Ben David, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Rabbi Jose Ben Halafta: Rabbi Jose Ben Halafta rightfully stated in the second century (around 160 A.D.), in his highly respected work the Seder Olam that there must be three different and separate appearances of Elijah. In the seventeenth chapter of his work, the "Order of Eternity," we read: "In the second year of Azariah (King of Israel) Elijah was hidden away and is not seen until Mashiach comes. In the days of the Mashiach he will be seen and hidden away a second time and will not be seen until Gog will arrive. At present he records the deeds of all generations." This well known second century rabbi's statement sheds light on Rabbi Yeshua, Ben Joseph's teaching that the Elijah to come refers to both the prophecy and martyrdom of the prophet, Yochanan, Ben Zechariah and a yet future Elijah whose life will also be martyred in the time of Jacob's Trouble (Matthew 11:11-15; Mark 9:11-13). Elijah to come will restore God's halakha, "The Way:" During the Great Tribulation, the final Elijah to come will shut the sky so that no rain may fall. He will be killed by the beast from the bottomless pit. He will miraculously be raised from the dead after three and one half days. Then visibly this last Elijah to come will gloriously ascend into heaven (for the whole world to see). Thereafter, many in Israel will finally "begin" to believe in the testimony of Rabbi Yeshuah and begin walking in His Halakha, "The Way" (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22; Revelation 11:4-7). The last Elijah’s death, resurrection and ascension occurs at the midpoint of the seven year Great Tribulation (at the three and a half year mark). At this time the False Messiah's future rebuilt temple in Jerusalem will utterly be destroyed in an earthquake. The two witnesses: The divine judgment upon the temple mount occurs when the coming two witnesses (who are Elijah like and Moses like in Spirit) are killed, resurrected and ascend into heaven. Their deaths occur after a three and one half year period of giving testimony in support of their faith in the true Messiah Yeshua. These two prophets also warn the world about and voice their opposition against the ant-Messiah (ant-Christ) who will rise up to become a world dictator at that time. At first the anti-Messiah will appear to be a man of peace. He will also appear tolerant of people’s variance in belief. However, at the mid-point of the seven year period, in the month of Nisan, when the birth of kings is celebrated and the festival of Pesach is observed, the anti-Messiah will declare himself to be God in human form. With the whole world watching the anti-Messiah will then kill the two Elijah like and Moses like prophets. At that time the whole world will be ordered to celebrate the deification of their False Messiah-god. The dead bodies of the prophets of God will be left on display on the temple mount so the whole world can celebrate anti-messiah’s magnificent victory over them. Sovereign governance of the Temple Mount: Prior to this dramatic event the temple mount area will likely have become an autonomous, self-governed sacred district, like the Vatican is now. The population of this autonomous, special religious government will include 70,000 persons. One-tenth of the temple religious district population, seven thousand persons, will perish in the earthquake that will destroy the desecrated temple. The number of persons who will perish during the temple mount earthquake that will swallow up alive the 7,000 false worshippers wil be equal in number to the number of authentic followers that God long ago declared to the original Elijah would never worship the false god Baal: "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1Kings 19:18).
This destruction of the Jerusalem temple at the mid-point of the seven year Great Tribulation will result later on in the building of a new temple at Shiloh (not Jerusalem). The construction of this Shiloh Temple will begin immediately after the Messiah returns to earth from heaven, on the day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (cf. our articles, "Messiah in Yom Kippur," "Return to Shiloh," and "Rosh Hashanah II"). Abomination of desolation: "From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days" (Daniel 12:11). "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing where it should not be, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains" (Consolidated: Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).
A detestable, disgusting, foul, defiling act: An abomination is a foul, detestable thing. The Hebrew word that abomination is translated from is shiqquwts. This word refers to what is foul and detestable, a thing that pollutes people and the environment. In the prophecy of the prophet Daniel this word refers to the fashioning of an idol, the setting up of an object of worship in a sacred, dedicated, holy place reserved only for the worship of God. It also refers to the actual act of the people of the world worshipping an idol that is located on the sacred temple mount. The abomination of desolation includes the twin works of crafting the idol and believing in the ultimate lie that the anti-Messiah (indwelt by Satan) is God. The abomination is an idolatrous act and image that utterly desecrates and defiles the temple by blasphemously claiming that the indwelling spirit of this false god is the Holy Spirit, when in fact he is Satan. The disgusting, detestable prophetic event in view here is that one day Satan (in the guise of the Antimessiah) will be worshipped on the sacred Temple Mount in Jerusalem as if he were the Holy Spirit. Spiritual desolation: The Hebrew word translated desolation is shamem. This Hebrew word is principally used by the prophet Daniel to communicate the horror, destruction, waste and ruin that will result from the blasphemous acts that will be committed on the temple mount during the reign of the False Messiah, soon to come. In the time of the False Messiah, soon to come, the world will be shocked, horrified, appalled, and terror stricken (shamem) when the two witnesses miraculously resurrect and ascend into heaven. As stated before, then divine judgment will immediately fall upon the temple mount in the form of an earthquake that will destroy the temple precinct, instantly killing 7,000 of the false messiah’s followers. Ironically, these devoted followers of the anti-messiah will have been joyously celebrating their deified leaders’ short lived victory over the two witnesses. The three and one half days of global celebration dramatically and abruptly comes to an end when the two witnesses are gloriously resurrected and triumphantly ascend into heaven. Thereafter, according to God’s judgment, the idolaters are immediately condemned to shameful death, swallowed up in the earth, with their souls made to descend into hell. Three and one half years: Prophetically we see that in the time it took in days for the two witnesses to be raised from the dead so it will be exactly three and one half "years" later (after the abomination of desolation event) that the true Messiah will return to earth to end the rule of the devil through his false king and usher in the "real" Kingdom of God. It is important to take note of the irony of the justice of God. As God so long ago encouraged the first Elijah that He had preserved alive 7,000 true followers of Yahweh who had not bowed their knee to Baal, here there are 7,000 false followers who perished for their blasphemy. These persons blasphemously claimed the true God was Satan and foolishly confessed Satan to be Yahweh. The Law of Reciprocity: It is important to observe in the prophetic narrative that in the exact manner judgment was falsely pronounced upon the righteous, so it is pronounced upon the wicked. After the Lord returns at the end of the seven year Great Tribulation, we discover: "And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20).
The Great Deception: Why are the anti-messiah and the false prophet treated in this manner? What insult, what great lie could they have committed against Almighty God and His righteous ones that would make it necessary for these two persons to be publicly thrown alive into the Lake of Fire? Could it be that the false messiah and false prophet slandered a very large group of righteous, holy and beloved followers of God? Could it be that when these true followers of Yahweh suddenly and mysteriously disappeared that the satanic anti-messiah and his fake prophet spoke a great slanderous lie about them? Is it possible that these wicked world leaders falsely claimed that the true followers of God were actually demonized heretics in disguise and that Yahweh Himself had in an instant actually thrown these apostates "alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone"? What likely will happen after the entire world populace begins to believe they too might experience a similar fate if they do not completely reject the false doctrine of the condemned followers? In believing this doctrine of Satan nearly all the people of the world will then become hesitant, even terrified to risk walking in the Halakha of Messiah, "The Way." This false teaching will bring about the ultimate beheading of God’s doctrine of grace. In fear the deceived peoples of the World will reject outright the Torah of God’s Grace. Like Herodias, the earth's populace will begin to hate, abuse, persecute and plot to destroy both the message and the messengers of the Grace of God. In this way immediately following the Rapture, an international movement of false religion will spring up that will embrace as its mission the permanent severing of God's Gospel of Grace from the entire body of tolerated religious and philosophical beliefs that are allowed to be practiced throughout the earth. It is this great global apostasy of man’s religious and secular beliefs that will set up the rise of the False Messiah. The global severing of God's Torah of Grace: The global severing of the Torah of Grace at the outset of the time of the seven year Great Tribulation will ultimately pave the way for the world to believe anti-messiah’s blasphemous mid-trib (three and one half years) lie that he is the one true God. Building upon the anti-messiah and false prophet's early deceit about the Gospel of Grace being a damnable heresy, all the world’s populace will be prepared by mid-trib to embrace exclusive faith in the satanic messiah-god, the "Beast" and his Torah of Satan. Afterwards, the anti-messiah’s spiritual followers will be permanently sealed to him when they receive the Mark of the Beast (a marking on their hand or forehead). These satanic followers will wholeheartedly and zealously reject, persecute, and destroy all other competing philosophies, beliefs, and religions. Freedom of speech and belief will cease to exist. The universal penalty for not receiving the Mark of the Beast will be death by decapitation. Prophetically this means martyrdom will occur, for those who refuse to put their faith solely in the false messiah, in the same exact manner that the prophet John (the Grace of God) was executed. They will be beheaded. This is Satan's cruel way of saying he must be professed to be your Lord (be your Head) or else he will savagely torture, torment and kill you. Anti-messiah's sadistic cruelty will surpass that of every other satanic dictator that has ever lived before him. The man of peace who brilliantly deludes the world into trusting him in the first half of Jacob's Trouble will become the sadistic, savage, depraved, satan-indwelt Beast in the second half of the seven year period; also known as the Great Tribulation. |
Teaching 
