What would happen if a 'Messiah' suddenly appeared in the 21st Century and walked on water in Washington DC?
The TV Series 'Messiah' from Netflix brings this fictional story with great actors and interesting questions, sadly due to the religious heat Netflix decided to cancel its production after the debut season.
Messiah is the story of an Iranian man who suddenly shows up in Syria and acts like a prophet. He speaks Arabic, Hebrew, English, has a Christian mother and Jewish father and brings a message of unity and how people should trust in God.
Throughout the episodes, we are led to sometimes believe in him and sometimes think he is an impostor. He sometimes heals, sometimes ignores, his brother gives an interview telling the world he is a trickster and a great liar, yet he does walk on water.
Although this series is by no means faithful to the Bible, it has some strong scenes, such as the last episode, when Aviram - the hardened Israeli agent and torturer, on the verge of his death asks for forgiveness for the murder of a Palestinian boy.
We can see some complex characters, such as Eva, the CIA agent with an interesting allusion to the first woman, but this one is barren and can't conceive from her dead husband. Or the 'apostate', a pastor who was initially a 'disciple', but as soon as he had his pride hurt, he decided to make a profit out of the 'Messiah' and ended up faithless and abandoned. What we saw happening to him is not so far fetched. He was a pastor in a small town, a decadent church where people just abandoned God. Drowned in debt, he decided to set his church on fire to get the insurance money, but ironically the church was the only building left after a tornado, which renewed his faith until his pride had the best of him. The pastor was putting all his faith in a man and forgot to pray. This excellent dialog between the pastor and Al-Masih is worth mentioning. The dialog goes more or less like this:
Pastor: What is my role in all this?
Messiah: Pray God for the answer
Pastor: Which God? I thought YOU were God
Messiah: You thought I was God? then kneel before me!
What happens afterwards is the result of putting our trust in worldly things. They let us down, they make us doubtful and apostasy is only a small step away. When confronted with the possibility that he was wrong about the Messiah, the pastor lost his faith and burned the very church which had miraculously resisted the tornado. The Bible warns us about the false prophets, because they create apostasy.
The pastor's daughter, an annoying teenager with visions of the end of the world becomes a prophetess to let us know that 'the Messiah' is the eye of the storm. Well, speaking of eye, the all-seeing eye is all over this production, but let's stick to the story.
What this series shows very well is the concomitant stories and how they interloop. Jibril, the Syrian boy with a good heart who believes in 'the Messiah', his friend who takes a different path and becomes a terrorist, the televangelist who got rich selling God, the people at the border of Israel and how regardless of the religion, everyone seemed to put their faith on worldly things and mortal men. With such a crude depiction, it's no surprise that this show pissed off so many people.
While I believe that the discussion of religion and faith is crucial in our days, it's also important for a true believer to filter a story and test everything in light of the Scriptures, because our visual sense is powerful to influence us. So this is my list of why we can be confident that Al-Masih could not be Yahuah's prophet or the return of Yahusha Ha'Mashiach:
1) The Messiah will not bring a message of unity, he will come to bring division. I know this sounds counterintuitive and even harsh. It does feel right to think that a Messiah would be that nice fella talking about bringing all religions together for peace, but that's just not what the Word says. That's not what the (real) Messiah said himself!
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)
Actually, the 'united religion' is going to be the message of the anti-Messiah. The one-religion is an anti-Christian message because the only way to the Father is through Christ, so unless the Atheists, Jewish, Muslims, (even Christians) etc. deny the world and bow down to Christ, there will be no conciliation. The doctrine of the Messiah is not a popular doctrine that will ever be able to unite all humanity. On the contrary, believers must be prepared to be despised and persecuted by the absolute majority of those who bow down to the world.
The message of unity can be either hidden or obvious and has roots on the New Age movement. Every time you hear about 'collective consciousness', 'connect yourself with Gaia/mother earth', 'wake up from the matrix', mind-emptying meditation mantras, 'we live in a simulation' theories and 'we are all one' speeches, you are being exposed to New Age, which is Satanism with perfume. The New Age message is that God is the Universe, 'it' is everywhere, all religions are the same and we are all gods in an experience with each other. Well, a load of bull crap. To know more about how to spot this sneaky doctrine, check this article.
Yahusha did not come to save all and not to unite people in this fallen world, he came to save those who belong to him. This is the reason that even those who declare to be Christians will not necessarily all be united in Christ because most are still slaves of worldly passions and hold the Messiah far from their hearts.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
2) When the Messiah comes there will be no doubt, for he will come from Heaven and every knee will bow and confess that he is Elohyim (even Atheists). The only one who will incite doubt will be the anti-Messiah, who will come with a strong and powerful message that if possible, would deceive even the elect.
3) The Netflix' 'Messiah' tells people when he is about to walk on water that the time to read the Scriptures is over. This is not Biblical, instead it tells us to test everything in light of the Scriptures. As long as one is still alive, it's never too late to read the Bible and repent.
4) Al-Masih, in his touching dialog with a prostitute, while full of compassion, when heard by a police officer, inspired him to go full gay because he had 'to accept who he was'. The problem is that in reality we should not 'accept ourselves', we need to accept Yahuah and submit to Him. The reason the world is this mess is precisely because people accept their destructive and vile nature. There is enough focus on ourselves and not enough focus on the One who created us.
5) The Netflix' 'Messiah' makes his prophetess a teenager who aborted her child, even when she showed zero repentance. All this while God starts punishing the world with natural disasters and an upcoming greater destruction. If the Messiah comes to this world and makes his own prophetess a girl who killed her child, why would Yahuah need to destroy the world? Leave things as they are, right? Al-Masih tells his prophetess 'you need to release the weight you carry' meaning she had to tell her father about her abortion. Well, how about repentance? was the weight she carried from the lie heavier than her sin of murder?
6) The 'Messiah' had a meeting with the president and told him to withdrawn the American troops from all countries. The question here is, if God needs our cooperation to make things happen, why should we be afraid? Or is God only all powerful to make rain in Florida? This encounter with the President confirmed to me that the 'Messiah' was a politician, not a man from God. 'What are you willing to do to bring one thousand years of peace?', Al-Masih asks the president. Well, if we depend on any puppet politician to do anything good for mankind, I have some bad news for this Messiah.
7) Note that 'Al-Masih' in prison is meditating in Hindu style, not praying. Not once we see the 'Messiah' praying or interceding for anyone to God. Isn't the Messiah an intermediary? what was he 'saving' us from?
8) He was a guy who became the 'Messiah'. When Yahusha comes back, he will not be born and live as a human again, he will come from Heaven in his eternal heavenly body.
Conclusion
'It's just entertainment', 'It's just a show' 'It's just a movie'. Sort of - The devil's trick is to mix truth and lies with a good story and emotional music. We can easily fall for it if we are not aware.
With the only season at hand my conclusion is that even if Al-Masih could perform wonders, he was representing the anti-Messiah or the false prophet. The Book of Revelation is clear that the anti-Messiah would be able to perform 'wonders'. Al-Masih had political inclinations and brought a message of unity in a rotten world. There is no unity possible between righteous and wicked, so when the Messiah comes, there will be division.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
How do we protect ourselves and recognize false prophets? The Scriptures have the answer!
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of Yahuah; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of Yahuah: Every spirit that confesses that Yahusha Ha'Mashiach has come in the flesh is of Yahuah, and every spirit that does not confess that Yahusha Ha'Mashiach has come in the flesh is not of Yahuah. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1John 4:1-3)
With the Scriptures in mind, the imminent destruction that we see in the show with floods, tornados and civil unrest is the beginning of the birth pangs and was indeed coming from Yahuah. When the situation gets worse and worse and the persecution against Christians gets worse and worse, the saints will collectively cry out and ask for the Father's help. That's when the real Messiah comes in the Day of Yahuah (or Day of the Lord) to separate the wheat from the chaff. It will be terrible, but also definitely necessary. Until then, we must be wise as serpents and harmless and doves.
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