Christians: Have you heard of Jewish Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri saying Jesus was messiah and coming back soon?
Apparantly this old rabbi was an extremely loved and respected figure in Israel. When he died, 300,000 people took part in his funeral procession. That's huge, but downright gigantic for a tiny nation such as Israel.
Here's the interesting part: Before he died, he had said that he had met and seen the messiah in a dream. He left instructions in a note that would show the messiah's name. He ordered the note to be opened a year after his death. What did the note say?: "He will raise the people and confirm that his word and law are standing" (translated from Hebrew, obviously). The acronym of this is......Yehoshua, meaning Jesus.
Apparently this guy was some kind of mystic who gave out charmed amulets, and who some said could foresee events. To my mind, that sets off the B.S.-ometer like crazy --a flaky old kook surrounded by flaky followers. That's my normal, knee-jerk, gut reaction to things like these. But anyway, the rabbi said that Jesus was going to RETURN shortly after Ariel Sharon's death. For those of you who don't know, Sharon had a stroke in 2006, and has been in a coma-like state ever since.
Like I said, I am 99% highly skeptical of all things mystical. An old guy giving out charmed amulets and who could supposedly foresee natural disasters is normally something I would scoff at. But not only did this guy say Jesus was the messiah (interesting thing in and of itself), but he said he was returning soon.
I believed that even before I read about this. I see a Soviet Union style collapse for the global economy around the corner. The whole world is printing money to pay bills it cannot possibly repay. For anyone who knows anything about economics, that is terrifying. The political and economic consequences of this collapse are almost certain to be wars...and famines. Matthew 24, anyone? And with the whole world selling out to Islam out of fear of unending global war on a civilizational scale, something really, really bad is on the horizon.
So, I'm willing to go on a little faith (or fear) with regards to this old mystic. When Sharon finally breaths his last, I'm going to be sweating a few bullets, and watching the TV like a HAWK.
Anyway, have any of you heard about this?
@Mark: Joshua, Yeshua,Yehoshua, are all versions of the same name.
Aren't Tony, Anthony, Antonio, Antuan all versions of the same name?
@affinity. Yea, I read that his son said it wasn't his writing, but I also read that his colleagues said it was, but were confused as to how he got to that conclusion. Kaduri apparently also had drawn a lot of crosses in the margins of the books he read duing his last few years. This is apparently forbidden for a jew. If this story is hearsay or allegation, it was an allegation amongst JEWISH people, not christians. It was a Jewish news source's online website that first broke the story.
Either way, I'll be watching TV like a hawk when Sharon breathes his last.
@allonyoa. Like I told Affinity, this story first broke amongst JEWISH folk, not christians who would "love" to see jews "buy into christianity", as you put it.
@Fievel. I doubt these were messianics, since that is the very FIRST thing that would have been mentioned. As for going to hell, maybe he genuinely believed what he believed. Islam teaches that its apostates go to hell (and are to be killed), and yet people leave Islam all the time. Lastly, yes, there has always been a tiny group that has (literally) always said the world was ending. But, there ARE occasions when Christian believers can be excused for thinking so, and when this percentage grows because of it. The Fall of Rome, Black Death, and most of the 20th century should come to mind. But it is only in the 20,21st century that all the fundamentals for the end are in place. An economically and technologically interdependant world is one. All the tribes, nations, civilzations on earth being aware of each others existence is another. There are more.
That is why I am a bit worried, and will watch the TV like a hawk when Sharon passes.
@Fievel. I doubt these were messianics, since that is the very FIRST thing that would have been mentioned. As for going to hell, maybe he genuinely believed what he believed. Islam teaches that its apostates go to hell (and are to be killed), and yet people leave Islam all the time. Lastly, yes, there has always been a tiny group that has (literally) always said the world was ending. But, there ARE occasions when Christian believers can be excused for thinking so, and when this percentage grows because of it. The Fall of Rome, Black Death, and most of the 20th century should come to mind. But it is only in the 20,21st century that all the fundamentals for the end are in place. An economically and technologically interdependant world is one. All the tribes, nations, civilzations on earth being aware of each others existence is another. There are more.
That is why I am a bit worried, and will watch the TV like a hawk when Sharon passes.
@Feival. Perhaps this note was Kaduri's way of telling the world he DID believe in Jesus.
As for the end of the world, I understand it sounds nuts, but the last 100 years or so have been compeletely out of whack with the rest of history. WWI, then WWII, then the Cold War... It seems to go from bad to worse. Either way, if it IS the end, you owe me a cheeseburger.