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END-TIME PROPHECY E-NEWSLETTER ... an extension of www.prophecyfulfillment.com ...
ISSUE NUMBER 19
Obama as The Messiah? “For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.”
COMMENT: I am presently behind on everything I want to do. I have many duties at church, in the community, and at home, and God has not granted me the forty-hour day I wish I could have. I am behind writing the third part of the series on abortion, which I will try to write next week. Today, I again heard someone refer to Barack Hussein Obama as “The Messiah.” I have been greatly troubled by the misuse of this Holy Name for months. I sit down at my keyboard this afternoon and blast out this newsletter, which is little more than a rambling thoughts. I should give more thought to this subject, but I will send out this rough draft of a newsletter. Perhaps it will suffice to convince people not to misuse a holy name reserved for Jesus.
NEWSLETTER TEXT: Not infrequently, I hear people refer to Obama as “The Messiah.” Many political cartoons have been drawn, depicting a messianic Obama. Numerous photographs and artwork of Obama have been circulated, depicting Obama with his head compassed about by a halo, striking a crucifixion pose, and riding on a donkey into Washington. Numerous jokes have been told about a messianic Obama. Signs have circulated, exclaiming “Obama Is God!” And so forth.
Sometimes this designation is meant in a derisive, sarcastic way, but at other times in a serious manner. I find extreme and distressing irony in calling this man The Messiah.
I caution any person NEVER to call Obama “The Messiah,” even in jest. Nor, should any other person ever be called “The Messiah.”
“Messiah” comes from either of two Biblical words:
■ From the Hebrew (Old Testament): משיח – transliterated: Mashiach (usually, with the article “The,” Ha, preceding it: HaMashiach) – pronounced: mah-SHEE-akh – translated “The Messiah.”
■ From the Greek (New Testament): Χριστός – transliterated: Christos – pronounced kree-stos – translated “The Christ.”
(I apologize if your Internet browser does not support Hebrew and Greek letters. Also, I have copied and pasted the Hebrew letters from another site, and it appears the author has made the letters read incorrectly from left to right, instead of right to left.)
Both words, HaMashiach and Christos, have the same meaning: “The Anointed” or “The Anointed One.”
In Biblical times, anointing with oil was afforded for kings and high priests of Israel, King Cyrus, and patriarchs.
At the present time, though, the holy name of Messiah should be reserved for that singular Holy One who is to come– Jesus the Messiah (Jesus the Christ).
A Christian should not cheapen this holy name, whether used for Obama or any other person.
The Bible is very specific in how we use the name of God. For example:
We are commanded not to take the name of God in vain:
■ (Exodus 20:7, one of the Ten Commandments): [The LORD said] "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
■ (Deuteronomy 5:11): [Moses told that the LORD said] “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
“Vain” in these verses translates to: emptiness, vanity, falsehood, emptiness of speech, or worthlessness of conduct.
Ancient Israelites/ Jews were so fearful of misusing the name of God that they would not even speak His Holy Name– usually given as the sacred tetragrammaton , יהוה (yod -hey-vav-hey), which is anglicized to the letters YHVH, which spells Yehovah in Hebrew. Rather than risking even an inadvertent use of God’s Holy Name, Israelites/ Jews usually referred to God by such names as: HaShem (The Name*), Adon (The Lord), or Adonai (my Lord). (*”The Name” referred to is the ineffable, or unutterable sacred name for God: Jehovah.) Other names for God incorporated forms of El or Yah. Discussion of the Hebrew names for God is beyond the subject of this newsletter, but maybe I will do this in a future newsletter.
How far we have come! At one time, people would not speak God’s name, fearful they might stumble and accidentally misspeak the name. Today, though, many persons curse in the names of God or Jesus. Many persons tell blasphemous jokes about God or Jesus. Artists use images of Jesus in blasphemous poses. Filmmakers and authors contrive blasphemous films and books about Jesus. Many (most?) persons no longer love or fear God and Jesus.
I looked up “Obama as Messiah” in the Google search engine. Amazingly, there are approximately 1,990,000 Web links to these keywords. This Google link is: www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS260US261&ei=vOirSurLLoeutgetm42SCA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=obama+the+messiah&spell=1
Then, I looked at one of these Web links: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS260US261&resnum=0&q=obama+the+messiah&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=wOirSqbfBMeutgeqgvGtCA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=12 . Here, Obama is depicted in approximately 449,000 messianic images, some in sarcasm but most raising him up to the level of The Messiah. Scroll through some of these images, and you may be shocked.
Of interest, it was exposed this week that the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), an agency supported with Americans’ taxes, in concert with the White House is calling for American artists to apply for grants to promote Obama and his agenda through works of art. If you are an American and do not know this, you are not watching the only television network which will air such information (complete with proof) – Fox News Channel.
Jesus clearly warned us in the beginning of His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:4-5): And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Similar verses are in Mark 13:5-6 and Luke 21:8. Luke’s narrative warns us not to go after such people.)
Paul warned that people in the last days will abandon strong Biblical beliefs and go after false teachers and false leaders (2 Timothy 4:3-4): For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Of course, one reason that people throughout the world look to Obama or any man as The Messiah, rather than the Jesus, is the lack of faith most Christians now have. This falling away from faith, or apostasy, was prophesied many centuries ago. I wrote another newsletter about apostasy, which may be accessed and read at: www.prophecyfulfillment.com/en003a.html .
In my church and others I have attended, a cruet of olive oil is present, and persons (ill persons, for example) may be “anointed.” This “anointing” is usually little more than placing a light smear of oil on the forehead, as prayers are offered, and is nothing like the anointing of Aaron to the degree the oil ran down his beard onto the hem of his garment (Psalm 133:2). Is this practice of anointing with oil acceptable? I see no problem with this custom, as God’s favor is asked. Certainly, a recipient of such anointing would never be called “The Anointed One (The Messiah) of God.”
Do not lose sight that America and most of the nations of the world are coming together in a globalist (one-world) cooperative. I love America, and it deeply grieves me to see that my country is becoming just another weakened, socialist nation, a Third World nation hopelessly in debt to other nations. However, I see the hand of God in this fall. I have told my Sunday School class for years that America must fail, in order that the future Antichrist’s government may prosper. Even though I know in my mind that God’s plan is unfolding before my eyes, it still causes me great pain and sorrow in my heart.
Always remember the Jews’ (and the Christians’) most sacred verse, the Sh’ma Yisrael (Deuteronomy 6:4): Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! There is only one God. And, He has only One Son (John 3:16): For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Never belittle our Christian faith or demean our Savior by misusing Jesus’ name in any manner. Your faith should be more important to you than this.
Is calling Obama The Messiah a significant problem? Maybe or maybe not, but little things in life lead to big problems. Keep the name of Jesus sacred at all times. Recall Jesus’ teaching about our spoken words (Matthew 12:36-37) [Jesus said] “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
CONTACT ME: raymondfinney@ymail.com or (865) 984.1424.
If you have questions, comments, or especially if you need to know how to become a Christian, please contact me. I will be honored to try to help you in any way possible. Unless otherwise stated, Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version.
May God bless and protect you and your family. Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20b)
Raymond Finney Maryville, Tennessee U.S.A.
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