The Justice of God: The Justice of God: The Antichrist: Rev. Paschal Huchede's view of the Antichrist 6

The Justice of God: The Antichrist: Rev. Paschal Huchede's view of the Antichrist 6

VIII. Mission of Elias and Enoch

In the Church's infancy, St. Peter and St. Paul received, individually, a special mission, though not exclusively so; St. Peter was destined to evangelize the Jews, and St. Paul became the Apostle of the Gentiles. (Gal. 1 :16). In the latter times, two new Apostles will divide between them the work of evangelizing the world. Enoch will preach to the Gen­tiles, whose faith and charity he will stir up and revive (Ecclesiasticus 44:16), while Elias, Jew by birth, will be charged with the conversion of the Jews. (Ecclesiasticus 48:10).

IX. Conversion of the Jews

We here meet with the difficult task of reconciling two prophecies which are apparently in contradiction: Antichrist will be received by the Jews; Elias will convert the Jews.

Still it becomes an easy task by making use of a distinction furnished by the Sacred Scriptures. "And at that time shall thy people be saved, everyone that shall be found written in the book" of life. (Dan. 12:1). "And all that dwelled upon the earth adored him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb." (Apoc. 13 :8). According to these texts, a portion of the Jews will remain obstinate and will adhere to Antichrist, but the greater part [there is no indication of the number and certainly not those who received the mark of the beast] will hear the voice of Elias and will be converted. This final conversion of the Jews is spoken of in various places of the Bible. The prophet Osee speaks of it (3 :4-5): "For the chil­dren of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim; and after this the children of Israel will return and shall seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the last days." Moses expresses the same prediction. "After all the things aforesaid shall find thee, in the latter thou shalt return to the Lord thy God and shalt hear his voice." (Deut. 4:30). St. Paul speaks in similar terms: "Hath God cast away his people?" (Rom. 11:1). And again he adds: "That blindness in part hath happened in Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved, as it is written." (Rom. 11 :25-26). In light of language so clear and formal of the sacred text, St. Augustine and St. Gregory do not hesitate to affirm that this conversion of the Jews is a truth of divine faith. (Aug. 20 de Civitate, C. 39; Greg. in prim. Lib. Reg. C 2 et 20, Moral. C. 23, Super. Cant. C 6).

X. Miracles and Combats of the Two Patriarchs

In order to discharge the duties of their mission with greater effi­ciency, the two patriarchs willbe invested with the power of the Most High God.

St. John, speaking of them in the Apocalypse (11 :3-6), says: "I will give my power unto my two witnesses; and they will prophesy. . . clothed in sack-cloth. These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire will come out of their mouths and shall devour their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain. These have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with plagues as often as they will."

In virtue of this power they will be able to console the Church and diminish the evils with which she will be afflicted in those days of sor­row and desolation.

St. Peter and St. Paul were not deterred from announcing the Gospel to pagan Rome, the mistress of idolatry. In those latter times the two prophets will also come and attack with intrepidity the enemy of Christ. They will attack him at Jerusalem, the center of his empire. This as­sertion seems to be founded on the Apocalypse, (11:8), "And their bodies shall lie in the street." By this passage they are represented as dying in the city of Jerusalem.

XI. Duration of Their Preaching

The mission of Elias and Enoch will last for 1260 days; that is to say, three years, five months, and fifteen days; in other words, about three years and a half, which is about the length of Antichrist's reign. (Apoe. 11:3). Antichrist and these two patriarchs will very probably appear simultaneously. The Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Fathers all concur in corroborating this opinion.



Addendum:

When Elijah (Elias) preaches to the Jews in the future - it is to the individuals that have ears to hear, that they may be converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. (Individuals that have ears to hear can come to Him now and be saved.) The nation of Israel that had been gathered around the Temple and the sacrifices there which were only a TYPE of the sacrifice of Christ to Come in the Old Testament will never again be a nation gathered around a legitimate Temple condoned by God with animal sacrifices awaiting the coming of Christ. He came once 2,000 years ago for the purpose of Redemption by His Kenosis. The temple will never be built again for any legitimate reason of God. The meaning of Matthew 24 and Hebrews 6 in this regard is specific and absolute. There are two things to enumerate and remember in this, One - Any Temple rebuilt by the Jews has absolutely nothing to do with salvation in any regard, but is only an offense against God and a place for the Antichrist to blaspheme God and such a Temple will be utterly condemned and destroyed by God; therefore any attempt to revive the Old Testament progression towards Christ by any giving any credence to Judaism is blasphemous and an act of Apostasy by anyone claiming to be Christian. Nostrae Aetate is the prime offender in this - it is absolute Heresy and Apostasy. Two - Our Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY High Priest, Victim, Sacrifice, Altar Tabernacle, Temple, Head over His body which each of the faithful, of His body, holds directly. There is no other faithful and no other true Church and this is the true Catholic Church that the Apostles and Apostolic Fathers and the full consensus of the Church Fathers solely and completely defines as the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Only Blessed and Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He rules absolutely co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit from eternity before all time and creation to the endless ages of ages to come. Faith in the Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for anyone who has ears to hear, Jew and Gentile, is available now in this life by His grace and that will not change. Elijah's preaching to the Jews is NOT for the purpose of giving any validity to the Perfidy and Deicide of the Nation of the Jews nor to make them a renewed Old Testament vehicle of salvation, as if such a thing were possible - IT IS NOT. It is only for the recovery of the lost sheep of Christ who happen to be mired in the blasphemy that is Judaism which individuals are called Jews in the final consummation of the age of grace. The veil of the Temple two thousand years ago was ripped in half signifying the absolute breaking of the barrier between Jew and Gentile by Our Lord Jesus Christ by His one unrepeatable All Holy Cross and Passion and Death. His Resurrection in the flesh is likewise unrepeatable. Any suggestion to the contrary or any other Salvation is impossible and a complete denial of the faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator in the flesh between God and man. He said:

John 14:6
Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.

John 11:25
Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live:

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.

John 8:12
Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Apocalypse (Revelation) 21:6
And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. To him that thirsteth, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely.

Gospel According to Saint John, Chapter 1

The divinity and incarnation of Christ.

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

[2] The same was in the beginning with God. 

[3] All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. 

[4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 

[5] And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 

Only the Word of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity has the requisite power to reach and save fallen man. See Kenosis.

MATTHEW 24

CHAPTER XXIV.

Christ foretells the destruction of the temple: with the signs that shall come before it, and before the last judgment.  We must always watch.

1 And *Jesus being come out of the temple went away.  And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things?  Amen, I say to you, *there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.

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*

1:  A.D. 33.; Mark xiii. 1.; Luke xxi. 5.

2:  Luke xix. 44.

MATTHEW 24

CHAPTER XXIV.

Ver. 1.  After the fatigues of preaching and teaching, Jesus towards evening left the temple, as it is in the Greek, eporeueto apo tou ierou, and went towards Mount Olivet, where he was accustomed to spend his nights, as we learn from S. Luke, c. xxi. v. penult.  Jans. — His disciples came to shew him the buildings, not moved by curiosity, for they had seen them frequently before, but by pity; because he had on a former occasion, and only just before in Jerusalem, threatened the destruction of the temple and city, hoping that the splendour and magnificence of so fine a structure, consecrated to God, might alter his determination, as S. Hilarius observes.  But the anger of God, provoked by sins, is not to be appeased with stones and buildings.  He therefore answered them: (Jans.)

Ver. 2.  Do you see all these things?  Examine again and again all this magnificence, that the sentence of heaven may appear more striking. — A stone upon a stone.  We need not look on this as an hyperbole.  The temple burnt by the Romans, and afterwards even ploughed up.  See Greg. Naz. orat. ii. cont. Julianum, Theodoret l. iii. Histor. c. xx. &c.  Wi. — Julian the apostate, wishing to falsify the predictions of Daniel and of Jesus Christ, attempted to rebuild the temple.  For this purpose, he assembled the chief among the Jews, and asking them why they neglected the prescribed sacrifices, was answered, that they could not offer any where else but in the temple of Jerusalem.  Upon this he ordered them to repair to Jerusalem, to rebuild their temple, and restore their ancient worship, promising them his concurrence in carrying on the work.  This filled the Jews with inexpressible joy.  Hence flocking to Jerusalem, they began with scorn and triumph to insult over the Christians.  Contributions came in from all parts.  The Jewish women stripped themselves of their most costly ornaments.  The emperor opened his treasures to furnish every thing necessary for the building.  The most able workmen were convened from all parts; persons of the greatest distinction were appointed to direct the work; and the emperor's friend, Alipius, was set over the whole, with orders to carry on the work without ceasing, and to spare no expense.  All materials were laid in to an immense quantity.  The Jews of both sexes bore a share in the labour; the women helping to dig the ground, and carry away the rubbish in their aprons and gowns.  It is even said that the Jews appointed some pick-axes, spades, and baskets, to be made of silver, for the honour of the work.  Till this time the foundations and some ruins of the walls had remained, as appears from S. Cyril, in his catechism xv. n. 15. and Euseb. Dem. Evang. l. viii. p. 406.  These ruins the Jews first demolished with their own hands, thus concurring to the accomplishment of our Saviour's prediction.  They next began to dig a new foundation, in which many thousands were employed.  But what they had thrown up in the day, was, by repeated earthquakes, the night following cast back again into the trench.  When Alipius the next day was earnestly pressing on the work, with the assistance of the governor of the province, there issued, says Ammianus Marcellinus, such horrible balls of fire out of the earth near the foundations, as to render the place inaccessible from time to time to the scorched workmen.  And the victorious element continuing in this manner obstinately bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, Alipius, thought proper to abandon, though reluctantly, the enterprise.  This great event happened in the beginning of the year 363, and with many very astonishing circumstances is recorded both by Jews and Christians.  See the proofs and a much fuller account of this astonishing event, which all the ancient fathers describe as indubitable, in Alban Butler's life of S. Cyril of Jerusalem, March 18th.  Thus they so completely destroyed whatever remained of the ancient temple, that there was not left one stone upon another; nor were they permitted by heaven even to begin the new one.  Maldonatus.

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HEBREWS 6

CHAPTER VI.

He warns them of the danger of falling by apostacy; and exhorts them to patience and perseverance.

1 Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect, not laying again the foundation of penance from dead works, and of faith towards God,

2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and imposition of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

3 And this we will do, if God will permit.

4 *For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, have tasted also the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 Have moreover tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 And are fallen away, to be renewed again unto penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and making a mockery of him.

7 For the earth that drinketh in the rain which cometh often upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is tilled, receiveth blessing from God.

8 But that which bringeth forth thorns and briers, is rejected; and very near to a curse, whose end is to be burnt.

9 But my dearly beloved, we trust better things of you, and nearer to salvation: though we thus speak.

10 For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shewn in his name, you who have ministered, and do minister to the saints.

11 And we desire that every one of you shew forth the same carefulness to the accomplishing of hope unto the end:

12 That you become not slothful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience shall inherit the promises.

13 For God promising to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear, swore by himself,

14 Saying: *Unless blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee.

15 And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

16 For men swear by one greater than themselves; and an oath, for confirmation, is the end of all their controversy.

17 Wherein God, meaning more abundantly to shew to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed an oath:

18 That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have the strongest comfort, who have fled for refuge, to hold fast the hope set before us:

19 Which we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, and which entereth even within the veil,

20 Where the forerunner, Jesus, is entered for us, made a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

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*

4:  Mat. xii. 45.; Infra x. 26.; 2 Pet. ii. 20.

14:  Gen. xxii. 16.

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