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A NON-JEWISH ANTICHRIST? The general consensus among Bible believers is that the Antichrist will have to be Jewish, mostly because of the "God of his fathers" comment in Daniel 11:37 and the possible tribe of Dan connection from Genesis 49:17, Judges 17-18, and the fact that Dan is missing from the sealed tribes in Revelation 7. Because of these scriptures and a few others, it is commonly argued that the Antichrist will have to be a Jew, or at least a Syrian/Jew, in order for Israel to receive him as Messiah. That could be, but I've never been convinced of it. As for Daniel 11:37, the verse does not say that Israel will REQUIRE their messiah to honor the God of their fathers. It simply says, "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers . . ." That's the Holy Spirit stating a fact, not Jews requiring anything. It could be a historical reference to the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, which is only a TYPE of the Antichrist, not the Antichrist himself, in which case "the God of his fathers" would not be a reference to the true God at all. And don't let the capitalization throw you. Just read the next verse where "God" is clearly not the true God: "But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things." (vs. 38) It could be that every "God" and "god" mentioned in verses 37 through 39 has no reference to the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at all, but rather to different Gentile gods. To say that the capital "G" means the true God won't work either, because verse 38 speaks of the same false deity by using both "God" and "god": "But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour . . ." The Jews were given a Jewish Messiah 2,000 years ago, and they rejected him while saying, "We have no king but Caesar." (John 19:15). This is in the same gospel account in which it is recorded that Jesus said, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." (John 5:43) Then we have the old warning from Deuteronomy 17:14-15: "When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother." It is GOD who chooses Israel's proper king, not Israel. In fact, if we view the text as a prophecy of the Great Tribulation, the wording could indicate that their choice king would NOT be Jewish: " . . . I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me . . ." Perhaps a Gentile king. After all, modern Israel does not exactly adhere to the precepts of Orthodox Judism anyway, so expecting them to demand a Jewish king might be a bit much. Some of the types of Antichrist were Jews, and some were not, so I can see it going either way. I'm not sure how it's all going to play out, but I'm just not seeing clear prophecies that say Israel will require a Jewish Messiah. Also, let's not forget that another character known as the False Prophet has to figure into all this as well.