Mat 24:4 And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked.
Mat 24:5 For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.
Mat 24:11 Many false prophets will rise up and lead multitudes astray;
The term "do not be tricked" also means "do not be deceived", "do not be mislead".
This phrase does not mean we stop learning new things, acquiring new understanding. Some people tend to stop learning anything new out of fear of being deceived.
But that is not correct. We have a brain / mind and we should keep on learning new things. Our life is a life-long learning process.
Some leaders know that and they capitalize on that fear of learning new things and prevent their people from acquiring knowledge. It reminds me of the early church period where common people were not allowed to read, understand or keep bibles. They were to only listen to their leaders. Leaders used this trend to control the people, by misinterpreting the bible (out of context) to suit their objectives and mainly do it out to put fear. Compare this with God who leads us out of love!
Such unhealthy actions have hurt people more instead of helping people. The fear has held back the people to learn and explore new things.
Also, it is noted that Christians tend to be lazy, ignorant and waiting to be spoon-fed. They are also afraid of learning new things just to remain comfortable in their current lifestyle.
In v4, Jesus prepared his disciples (not us) to be careful of false Christs (or false Messiahs). These false Christs were going to lead them astray in regards to their 3 troubling questions in v3: "when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?"
So the FIRST Sign and the First answer to their questions in v3 is "false Christs will come to deceive".
The End of the Age happens in AD70 (see previous posts). So false Christs will come before the coming of the End of the Age, which is the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. This is the End of the Mosaic Age (or the Old Covenant Age).
Did false Christs came within that period i.e. the period from the death and resurrection of Jesus, till the destruction of Jerusalem? This period is about AD33 to AD70 (the city was completely destroyed from AD70 to AD75).
Let's see by looking at the bible and other historical sources, to see what they say about false Christ within that period.
There were many uprisings of false Christs (or false Messiahs or antichrists).
Mt 24:5,6 says false Christs will come, BUT the End is NOT yet. Why NOT yet? Jesus was forewarning them and giving them little time before the End.
Q: What is the sign of Jesus Coming and the end of the Age?
Answer: Firstly false Christ will come.
1. Simon the sorcerer
See Acts 8:9-10
Act 8:9 Now for some time past there had been a man named Simon living there, who had been practising magic and astonishing the Samaritans, pretending that he was more than human.
Act 8:10 To him people of all classes paid attention, declaring, "This man is the Power of God, known as the great Power."
In the 17th Century, there was a Christian commentator Henry Hammond who wrote and expounded on this Simon the sorcerer, also called Simon Magus.
See a write-up on Henry Hammond:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hammond
In 1653, Henry published a book "Paraphrase and Annotations on the New Testament". In page 272, he was translating and quoting Irenaeus, who was the early church father between AD130 - AD202.
See a write-up on Irenaeus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus
Ireneaus wrote about Simon Magus, and this was the translation by Henry Hammond:
[ Simon Magus (Simon the magician) kept up the contention with the apostles, that he might appear glorious. Because of his magic he was honored with a statue by Claudius Caesar (the Roman emperor at that time). Simon was glorified as a god by many and taught that he himself was the Son among the Jews. In Samaria, he came as the Father and in other nations as the Holy Ghost. He was the most sublime virtue that he was the Father over all, the highest title among men. ]
See a write-up on Simon Magus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Magus
Later, Henry Hammond wrote that he believed that Simon Magus could be the Man of Sin as described by Paul in 2 Thes 2.
In another historical writing, Eusebius also wrote about Simon Magus, the sorcerer.
Eusebius was one of the early church father living between AD260 - AD339.
Eusebius in his writings quoting Justin Martyr (AD100 - AD165), also another early church father:
[ After the LORD was taken up into heaven, the demons put forth a number of men who claimed to be gods. These not only escaped the persecution but were actually objects of worship. For example, Simon, a Samaritan from the village Gitta, who in Claudius Caesar's time, worked wonders of magic and in the imperial city of Rome was regarded as a god. Like a god, he was honored by the Romans with a statue on the island of Tiber with the inscription "To Simon the Holy God" hanging between 2 bridges. Almost all Samaritans and a few from other nations acknowledge him as their principle god and worshiped him. ]
See a write-up on Eusebius:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusebius
See a write-up on Justin Martyr:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Martyr
This is 1 biblical example of Simon the sorcerer who claimed to be the Christ.
2. Another false Christ was Theudas.
Act 5:36 Years ago Theudas appeared, professing to be a person of importance, and a body of men, some four hundred in number, joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and annihilated.
Josephus, the Roman historian wrote that 12 years after the death of Jesus, Theudas deceived people into believing that he was able to divide the Jordan river and open a path for them to walk through.
In Acts 5:36, the respected Pharisee leader Gamaliel was asked what to do with the apostles and he mentioned Theudas, which Josephus wrote about.
Theudas was another bible character from Acts who set himself up as a false Christ/Messiah, and we have historical accounts to confirm such a man.
See a write-up on Theudas:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theudas
3. Another false Christ was an Egyptian in the bible (his name was not mentioned).
The early church father Eusebius wrote about this Egyptian:
[ A greater blow was inflicted on the Jews by an Egyptian false prophet. Arriving in the country, this man was a fraud, who posed as a seer. He collected 30,000 people, led them around the wild country, and to the Mount of Olives, and from there was ready to force an entry into Jerusalem, to overwhelm the Roman garrison and seize supreme power with his fellow raiders as bodyguards. But Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, anticipated his attempt by meeting him with the heavy Roman infantry, and the whole population rallying to the defense. When the clash occurred, the Egyptian fled with a handful of men and most of his followers were killed or captured. ]
Now lets, look at Acts 21:38
Act 21:38 "Are you not the Egyptian who some years ago excited the riot of the 4,000 cut-throats, and led them out into the Desert?"
Paul was preaching to the people, and they thought that Paul was this Egyptian.!
v37 : Paul was about to be taken to the barracks, before he was given a chance to speak. So they asked him the question in v38: Are you that Egyptian?
Eusebius, writing historically about this Egyptian who led so many people into error, making them believe that he was their Christ / Messiah (their military leader).
Here is a write-up on the Egyptian false prophet:
https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-10-the-egyptian-prophet/
4. Another false Christ was Judas of Galilee.
Act 5:37 After him, at the time of the Census, came Judas, the Galilaean, and was the leader in a revolt. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.
In v37, Gamaliel talked about another rebel leader Judas of Galilee, after he talked about Theudas. Judas was another leader who rose up as a leader, drew the people to follow him, and were defeated and scattered.
Here is a write-up on Judas of Galilee:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_of_Galilee
These 4 examples of false Christs fulfilled Jesus prophecy in Mat 24:5, saying they will come before the End of the Age. They were found in the bible and external historical sources.
Q: How did the early church responded to these false Christs?
1Jn 2:18 Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come.
In the lifetime of John, there were already some false Christs whom he called antichrists or not the real Christ. It wasn't just limited to the 4 persons listed above. John heard Jesus forewarned them about the coming of the false Christ before the end of the age. So in his writings in 1 John, he is aware of these false Christs.
1 John was written just before AD70.
John is calling his time of writing as the "last hour". From "many days" to now the "last hour". It is almost close to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the End of the Age in AD70. It is nearing the End.!
Note: In the book of Revelations, there is NO mention of "antichrist". The word "antichrist" comes from 1 John.
John identifies the antichrist as those who denied Jesus is the Christ or the anointed one.
1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ.
1Jn 4:3 and that no spirit is from God which does not acknowledge this about Jesus. Such is the spirit of the anti-Christ; of whose coming you have heard, and it is already in the world.
Q: Who is the antichrist.?
He is not a demon or a spirit. He is not Nero or Trump or the Pope.
John said: the antichrist is he who denies Jesus is Christ.
So the antichrist is not 1 or 2 persons, but any deceiver that is against Jesus as the Messiah or the Christ. the antichrist will deny that Jesus ever came in the flesh or existed.
John is confirming the prediction of Jesus about false Christs in Mat 24:5, 11.
Side note: In fact, 1 John begins his book by writing to those who do not know Jesus as the Christ yet. He was writing to somebody who may not believe that Jesus has came in the flesh. These undecided ones could be following after those false Christs. From 1 John 1:1-10.
John wrote to confirm with them in v1 - v10:
v1 - we have seen and heard Jesus (physically)
v1 - we have touched Jesus (physically)
v2 - we have seen Jesus (physically)
v3 - we have seen and heard Jesus (physically)
John wasn't writing to those who already believe, because the disciples and Jesus followers cannot deny that they have seen, heard, handled and touch Jesus physically.
And if they were to believe too they will have fellowship with them and with Jesus and the Father (v4), and Jesus will cleanse their sin (v9).
In 1 John 2, the audience changed to believers, when John called them "little children of God".
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