Antichrist – Universalist Hope – Apocalypse of Elijah Explains

 

 

1) What are the signs the “Antichrist” can do?

 

To quote:

 

“6.He will say to the sun, “Fall,” and it will fall.

He will say, “Shine,” and it will do it.

He will say, “Darken,” and it will do it.

 

7.He will say to the moon, “Become bloody,” and it will do it.

 

8.He will go forth with them from the sky.

He will walk upon the sea and the rivers as upon dry land.

 

9.He will cause the lame to walk.

He will cause the deaf to hear.

He will cause the dumb to speak.

He will cause the blind to see.

 

10.The lepers he will cleanse.

The ill he will heal.

The demons he will cast out.”

 

Source:

 

http://www.3-in-1.net/Pseudepigrapha/Apocalypse%20of%20Elijah/The%20Apocalypse%20of%20Elijah.htm

 

 

 

 

2) What the “Antichrist” CANNOT do?

 

To quote (from the same source):

 

“11.He will multiply his signs and his wonders in the presence of everyone.

 

12.He will do the works which the Christ did, except for raising the dead alone.

 

13.In this you will know that he is the son of lawlessness, because he is unable to give life.

 

14.For behold I will tell you his signs so that you might know him.”

 

 

 

 

 

3) The Mysterious Rebellion of Tabitha against the “Antichrist”

 

To quote (from the same source):

 

“1.The virgin, whose name is Tabitha, will hear that the shameless one has revealed himself in the holy places. And she will put on her garment of fine linen.

 

2.And she will pursue him up to Judea, scolding him up to Jerusalem, saying, “O shameless one, O son of lawlessness, O you who have been hostile to all the saints.

 

3.Then the shameless one will be angry at the virgin. He will pursue her up to the regions of the sunset. He will suck her blood in the evening.

 

4.And he will cast her upon the temple, and she will become a healing for the people.

 

5.She will rise up at dawn. And she will live and scold him, saying, “o shameless one, you have no power against my soul or my body, because I live in the Lord always.

 

6.And also my blood which you have cast upon the temple has become a healing for the people.”

 

 

 

 

4) Enoch and Elijah will also Speak against the “Antichrist”

 

To quote (from that same source):

 

” 7.Then when Elijah and Enoch hear that the shameless one has revealed himself in the holy place, they will come down and fight with him saying,

8.Are you indeed not ashamed? When you attach yourself to the saints, because you are always estranged.

 

9.you have been hostile to those who belong to heaven. you have acted against those belonging to the earth.

 

10.You have been hostile to the thrones. you have acted against the angels. you are always a stranger.

 

11.you have fallen from heaven like the morning stars. you were changed, and your tribe became dark for you.

 

12.But you are not ashamed, when you stand firmly against God you are a devil.

 

13.The shameless one will hear and he will be angry, and he will fight with them in the market place of the great city. And he will spend seven days fighting with them.

 

14.And they will spend three and one half days in the market place dead, while all the people see them

 

15.But on the fourth day they will rise up and they will scold him saying. “O shameless one, O son of lawlessness. Are you indeed not ashamed of yourself since you are leading astray the people of God for whom you did not suffer? Do you not know that we live in the Lord?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) The Sixty Righteous ones will speak against the “Antichrist”

 

To quote (from the same source):

 

“30.The sixty righteous ones who are prepared for this hour will hear.

 

31.And they will gird on the breastplate of YHWH, and they will run to Jerusalem and fight with the shameless one, saying, “All powers which the prophets have done from the beginning you have done. But you were unable to raise the dead because you have no power to give life. Therein we have known that you are the son of lawlessness.”

 

32.He will hear, and he will be angry and command to kindle altars

 

33.And the righteous ones will be bound. They will be lifted up and burned.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

6) A Rebellion against the “Antichrist” will be strong as ‘some people come to their senses’

 

To quote (from the same source):

 

” 1.And on that day the heart of many will harden and they will flee from him, saying, “This is not the Christ. The Christ does not kill the righteous. He does not pursue men so that he might seek them, but He persuades them with signs and wonders.”

 

2.On that day the Christ will pity those who are His own. And He will send from heaven his sixty-four thousand angels, each of whom has six wings.

 

3.The sound will move heaven and earth when they give praise and glorify.

 

4.Now those upon whose forehead the name of Christ is written and upon whose hand is the seal both the small and the great, will be taken up upon their wings and lifted up before his wrath.

 

5.Then Gabriel and Uriel will become a pillar of light leading them into the holy land.

 

6.It will be granted to them to eat from the tree of life. They will wear white garments…and angels will watch over them. They will not thirst, nor will the son of lawlessness be able to prevail over them.”

 

 

 

7) Christ will Defeat the “Antichrist” upon His Return and send Elijah & Enoch to destroy the “Antichrist” too thereafter ushering in the 1000 years Millennial Reign of Christ

 

To quote (from that same source):

 

“32.After these things, Elijah and Enoch will come down. They will lay down the flesh of the world, and they will receive their spiritual flesh. They will pursue the son of lawlessness and kill him since he is not able to speak.

 

33.On that day, he will dissolve in their presence like ice which was dissolved by a fire. He will perish like a serpent which has no breath in it.

 

34.They will say to him, “Your time has passed by for you. Now therefore you wand those who believe you will perish.”

 

35.They will be cast into the bottom of the abyss and it will be closed for them.

 

36.On that day, the Christ, the King and all His saints will come forth from heaven.

 

37.He will burn the earth. He will spend a thousand years upon it.

 

38.Because the sinners prevailed over it, He will create a new heaven and a new earth. No deadly devil will exist in them.

 

39.He will rule with His saints, ascending and descending, while they are always with the angels and they are with the Christ for a thousand years.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Though this is not a Book in the Bible, I find it interesting.

 

 

 

 

P/S: Judgment vs Universalist Hope through the “Prayer Requests of the Righteous“

 

To quote (from that same source):

 

“26.The sins of each one will stand against him in the place where they were committed, whether those of the day or of the night.

 

27.Those who belong to the righteous and … will see the sinners and those who persecuted them and those who handed them over to death in their torments.

 

28.Then the sinners [ in torment ] will see the place of the righteous.

 

29.And thus GRACE WILL OCCUR. In THOSE DAYS, that which the RIGHTEOUS will ASK for MANY TIMES WILL BE GIVEN to them.”

 

Beautifully Mysterious indeed (e. g. The ‘Righteous, His Bride‘ asking for the ‘thirsty’ —-> who are most likely those from the ‘fire that is not quenched’ —> to be Given the WATER of LIFE FREELY eventually, Revelations 22:17).

 

The “righteous” NEVER THIRST again, to quote (from the same source):

 

” 5.Then Gabriel and Uriel will become a pillar of light leading them into the holy land.

 

6.It will be granted to them to eat from the TREE of LIFE. They will wear white garments…and angels will watch over them. They will NOT THIRST, nor will the son of lawlessness be able to prevail over them.”

 

 

 

 

 

P/S 2: What is the Apocalypse of Elijah or also known as the Apocalypse of Elias?

 

To quote:

 

“The Apocalypse of Elijah is an anonymous apocryphal work presenting itself as a revelation given by an angel. Two versions are known today, a Coptic Christian fragmentary version and a Hebrew Jewish version. The title derives from mentions of Elijah within the text, although there is no other reason to assume that he is meant to be the author.”

 

Source:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_of_Elijah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P/S 3: How serious was the Apocalypse of Elijah considered in First Christianity?

 

To quote:

 

“This apocalypse is mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions, the List of the Sixty Books, the Synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius, the Stichometry of Nicephorus, and the Armenian list of Mechithar. Origen, Ambrosiaster, and Euthalius ascribe First Epistle to the Corinthians 2:9 to it:”

 

and

 

“If they are right, the apocalypse is pre-Pauline. The peculiar form in which this quotation appears in Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus x. 94, and the Apostolic Constitutions vii. 32, shows that both have the same source, probably this apocalypse. Epiphanius ascribes to this work Eph. 5:14:”

also

“The Jewish version of the Apocalypse of Elijah was published by Adolf Jellinek in 1855 and Moses Buttenwieser in 1897. Theodor Zahn assigns this apocalypse to the 2nd century A.D. but other scholars reject such an early date.The two extant versions are thought to be derived from the same original, which would be the one quoted by Paul the Apostle. The Coptic version has been Christianized and the Hebrew version abridged.”

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_of_Elijah

Shalom

 

 

 

 

P/S 4: Further Discussions?

 

The Book ‘Lost Orthodoxy’ discusses the ‘Earliest Orthodox Christian’ thought regarding the “Antichrist” further in pages 430 to 446.

 

In Page 535 the Ancient Truth regarding the ‘Prayer of the Righteous’ requesting ‘Grace’ to be shown toward ‘sinners in the Lake of Fire’ is discussed for further edification in the Context of First Christianity’s Prophecies.

 

The Sibyline Oracles are also quoted and discussed in Pages 261 to 278.

 

Free Download Links for the Book ‘Lost Orthodoxy’:

 

(i) Book with Covers

 

https://www.anonymouschristian.org/download/lost-orthodoxy-heart-of-the-gospel-by-anonymous-christian/

 

 

(ii) Book with NO Covers

 

https://www.academia.edu/37907052/Heart_of_the_Gospel_In_First_Christianity_Through_the_Eyes_of_the_Kings_of_Christian_Theology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God’s Hardening vs God’s Mercy

 

God Hardens the ones He intends to Judge who ‘did their own sins first’.

 

God sees the heart. He knows ‘whom to Harden’ (to Judge) and ‘whom to lead to Him’ to ‘believe in Him’ (Good, God Influences, not evil – James 1:13 – 17).

 

Biblical Example: The “Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:3, Exodus 9:12) —-> God “Hardened” Pharaoh’s heart to JUDGE HIM —> so that the ‘Pharaoh does NOT easily repent’ and ‘escape’ all the evils which he has done by enslaving people in the past & bullying them.

 

Indeed:

 

“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should UNDERSTAND with their HEART, and should be converted, and I should HEAL them.” (Matthew 13:15, KJV)

 

God is Perfect and He SEES all ‘hearts’ before deciding to have ‘Mercy or Hardening’:

 

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10, NASB)

 

Yes, God makes NO Mistakes.