The Modern Day Sanhedrin: Preparing the Way…But What Way?

The Modern Day Sanhedrin: Preparing the Way…But What Way?

Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Guest: Chris Katulka

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 8/12/26. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Sam Rohrer:

Hello and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Stand in the Gap Today. And it’s also our bimonthly focus on Israel, the Middle East, and biblical prophecy. Today, great to have back with us, Chris Katulka. He’s the Vice President of North American Ministries of the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. He’s also host of the Friends of Israel Today Radio Program. He writes for Israel My Glory Magazine as well. And you can actually get a subscription to that by going to their website at Israelmyglory.org. Well, today we’re going to open the pages of history and prophecy. Look back, we’re going to look ahead to examine a development from Jerusalem just some days ago that I think demands some close examination. I’m going to call deep discernment. The title I’m giving the program today to kind of frame all of this is the modern day Sanhedrin: Preparing the Way, but what way?

Now, like I normally do on this program emphasis, we’ll combine an element of relevant headline news, what I just referred to, the Sanhedrin announcement and biblical prophecy. Now, just a few days ago, as I mentioned, a formal decree was issued in Israel by the modern day Sanhedrin. This body self-proclaimed, we’ll get into all of that, but it has publicly called upon heaven to do three things. One, reveal the Mashiach, the Messiah. Two, remove obstacles to the rebuilding of the third temple. And thirdly, to restore prophetic revelation to the Jewish people. Now, when I became aware of this proclamation, my years perked up as something that I ought to further investigate, and that’s our purpose today. Now to understand why this decree was made, we have to look back to the historic great Sanhedrin, which traced its roots to the 70 elders appointed alongside Moses. And that’s found in Numbers chapter 11.

Now, historically serving as the Supreme Judicial Counsel in Judea, it was this very institution under, if you recall, high priest Caiaphas. He was the one, and that body was the one that conducted that night trial against Jesus, convicting him ultimately of blasphemy and reframing the charges to secure his execution under Roman rule. Now, following Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD, the council collapsed and the original ordination was lost. Today, leaders of what is referred to as the nascent Sanhedrin or the upcoming or the rising Sanhedrin established in 2004, they’re attempting to reclaim that ancient mantle. But where’s the path leading and to whom? That’s the question. So stay tuned as we now consider the modern day Sanhedrin preparing the way, but what way? And with that, I welcome into the program right now. Chris Katalk, it’s so great to have you back, Chris. Just briefly, the last time your actual predecessor brother Steve was with us here on the program, you were being operated on.

We prayed for you on this program. Give us an update on what God’s done for you. Well,

Chris Katulka:

Sam, I just want to thank you and your listeners for prayers. They were heard. The surgery went well. I had surgery because of cancer and all the cancer came out. My margins were clear, nothing in the lymph nodes. So everybody’s very happy with the progress. And I give glory to the Lord for that. And I was telling you earlier, I also thank the Lord for the prayers that were lifted up from mouths and hearts that I don’t even know. And so I’m praising the Lord for that and believing in the power of prayer as well.

Sam Rohrer:

Amen. Thank you so much for sharing that, Chris. Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted you to know that because many of you prayed along with us on that day. And does God hear a prayer? Yes, he does. He absolutely does. Thank you, Steve. All right. I mean, Chris, Steve was with me then. But let’s get into this. Given that the historical Sanhedrin dissolved roughly 1600 years ago, here’s my question. What legal or rabbinic grounds did the organizers of the 2004, it was a Tiberius gathering, what did they claim to justify the reconstituting of this body today?

Chris Katulka:

Well, Sam, I love that you asked this question because it jumps into an area that my heart leaps over. And that is, believe it or not, I value and I love studying rabbinicism. And actually the reason Tiberius was chosen was on purpose because buried in Tiberius is one of the Jewish people’s most famous rabbis, Rabbi Moses Maimonides, also known as Rambam. And Rambam is somebody who did something that no other Jewish person could do. He was a genius. There are so many Jewish laws, so many Jewish conversations about the laws, laws about the laws that it was almost impossible for a Jewish person, even in the medieval era, to understand the laws that were written. There were so many, so copious, the laws that were there. But he was able to boil all of them down because he studied them into 13 principles, basically the doctrinal statement of Jewish people.

And so he’s a very famous rabbi. And a lot of what we’re going to talk about boils down to these 13 principles. But Rambam actually believed that the ordination that you were talking about, the semi-ha, as they call it, is something that could have been reestablished. The law would have continued on in continuity from Sinai to today, but the judges, that was the big thing. Who are the judges that are judging the law and making sure it’s enacted properly? And Rambam believed that if a group of sages of Israel could gather together and make an announcement and choose their 71 judges, the Sanhedrin, then it could be reinstituted. And that ordination process that you’re talking about, it might have been skipped over 1600 years, but it could be reinstituted. And all of that is predicated on what a former rabbi, Moses Maimonides, which is a great saying among the Jewish people, “From Moses to Moses, there’s no one like Moses.” Talking about from Moses on Sinai to Moses Maimonides.

And so because of his fame and accolades and understanding of Jewish law, they were clinging to that. And that’s the reason they chose Tiberius as well, because that famous rabbi from Spain actually is buried there.

Sam Rohrer:

Chris, that’s excellent. Now, as I did the research on this, I’m looking at this. It wasn’t actually a resolution that they voted upon. It wasn’t some kind of a silent prayer that was uttered or even a mild wish. They actually called it almost like an ultimatum or a verdict directed to heaven. Here’s a quick question here. How would you describe their choice of the three demands that they made? And is it a legitimate claim or an ultimatum or desire? I mean, how would you describe it?

Chris Katulka:

Well, if you think about the law, if you believe the law of God is in accordance with God’s revelation to the Jewish people, it’s not necessarily an ultimatum. It’s almost using God’s words against him. If you think about it, King David did the exact same thing in Psalm 51 when he’s pleading for forgiveness, when he knows he’s sinned. And the only thing that he can fall on is the compassion and mercy and grace of God. And he knows that. And that’s why he goes back and he says, “I know you’re a God who can do that.” He’s using God’s words against him. The Jewish people in the Sanhedrin are only clinging to the law that already exists and saying, “Let’s make it happen as soon as possible, God.” So I don’t know if that helps make sense.

Sam Rohrer:

Oh, it does.

Chris Katulka:

It’s really important to understand that they’re judges of the law and they want to see the law enacted. All

Sam Rohrer:

Right. Thank you so much. Chris, stay with us, ladies and gentlemen, as we go further into the program today. The modern day Sanhedrin, preparing the way, but what way? Well, if you’re just joining us today, welcome aboard. This is our focused program. We do it bimonthly on Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. Today with special guest Chris Katulka, he’s with me often, generally once a month, but he’s the vice president of North American Ministries of the Friends of the Israel Gospel Ministry. We’ve chosen today to pick up something that’s current in the news, but has a lot of history associated with it. And that is the body called the Sanhedrin. And we opened the program in the last segment talking about a decree that they just made, actually a call to heaven for a number of things. And we’ll get into those further as we walk through.

But one of the questions that. Wait a minute, we’ll deal with it here in the second segment. What about their authority? Because we stated in the first segment that they’re a self-appointed body. So does it make any difference what they say? And that is the question. What authority does this modern body of the Sanhedrin, what does it actually hold? It’s authority. They just talk because they like to hear themselves speak. Does it make any difference? Does anybody listen? Well, to evaluate their recent decree where they called for the Messiah and the third temple, we have to distinguish between civil law. I’m going to say mainstream rabbinic recognition because that’s a separate area. And then what I’m going to refer to it as the perceived global influence, because it seems that when they say things, that people listen. Now within the state of Israel, neither the Knesset nor the civil court system grants any legitimate or any legal standing or judicial authority to this self-constituted Sanhedrin.

Furthermore, the vast majority of mainstream Orthodox rabbis, both Haredi and modern Orthodox, as well as Israel’s official state chief Rabinate, which is group that’s oversees all of that, they seem to distance themselves from this initiative. And I’m going to ask Chris to comment further on this, but they view attempts to reestablish this ancient council as invalid. And without global rabbinic consensus or the explicit arrival of the Messiah, they say this isn’t a real thing to be overly concerned about. But yet it appears that despite lacking official government backing, this body does command significant attention worldwide. And through public declarations, some of which we just talked about what they did about a week ago, media campaigns and alliances with religious activist networks, their actions seem to generate substantial influence. And I’m going to say particularly to me anyways, among observers who are tracking end times prophecy.

So that question is, how should we view this whole matter between having no official status and yet having some influence? So Chris, let’s get back on it. From your perspective, do you agree that the Sanhedrin, at least at the moment, is operating without formal authority? First, and then secondly, if neither the Israeli government nor mainstream Orthodox Judaism recognizes this rising nascent, called nascent or rising Sanhedrin, why do their decrees carry, or at least anyway, seem to carry such tremendous weight and interest among international Christian observers, and I’m going to say end times researchers?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah, this is a great question. And to begin with, of the vast majority of Israelis don’t get their judicial rulings from the Sanhedrin that was put together in 2004. They get their judicial rulings and their understanding of government and a judicial body from the state of Israel, from the Knesset. So that’s one of the reasons why most people don’t really gravitate to the rulings that they give. And you also have to think about this. During the days of Jesus, the laws of the Torah and the judges of the Torah, the Sanhedrin, they were the ones who were judging. That’s why Jesus was judged by the Sanhedrin, was because of the judicial judging that needed to take place there. But when you look at it, that’s where everything was centralized under Israel. But since Jesus, the destruction of the temple and the exile of the Jewish people, now all of a sudden, those judicial rulings move from Israel.

And over time, over the centuries, they get moved and decentralized primarily into the rabbinate throughout the world in the diaspora as Jews are all around the world. So that’s primarily the reason why most of the rabbinical Jewish organizations around the world don’t really pay close attention to it because they have their own systems that are set up functioning in diaspora and such. But for Christians, oftentimes we are looking. To me, one thing that is true is that Israel is the time piece to what God is doing in the prophetic future. It remains that way. God’s restoration of the people to the land, the land of Israel, all of these things still matter prophetically. And so Christians that value that, that interpretation of the scriptures, which I’m one of them, when you look at what’s going on and you see this old body from 1600 years ago, 2000 years ago that seems to be resurrected, your mind begins.

I think people begin to look and say, “I wonder what’s going on over there. This must be connected to prophecy,” even though there’s no prophecy whatsoever about a Sanhedrin

Sam Rohrer:

Being

Chris Katulka:

Reconvened after 1600 years. And so again, I think this is really important for your listeners to see that you have to take all of what’s going on in Israel. There are big picture things that are happening that should not be ignored. At the same time, I think it’s important for Christians to study their Bible diligently and to ask really good questions as to whether or not this is something on God’s prophetic timetable or not. Me watching the in-gathering of the Jewish people in the 21st century happen right before my very eyes. The rise of antisemitism again in the 21st century, the criticism of Israel all around the world, the rise of Marxism and socialism and the Islamic all over the world. That’s a big concern. I see what God’s doing big picture. And Israel seems to be the target and blame for everything in Jewish people.

That’s big. But the Sanhedrin, that form 2004 that most people don’t pay attention to, it’s just something that you don’t want to try to find a Bible passage for because it’s not there actually.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. And that’s good. I’m glad that you’re on as we walk through this. But let me make connections here because as we’re saying, they have no authority granted by civil government. There’s history involved. And they go back to the 70 elders in numbers 11 with Moses and the help to come along and decide issues. So there’s a great history. But at the same time, there are things that they are pursuing. For instance, Temple Mount. They are pushing hard. Part of their request was that God would grant an ability to restore worship on the Temple Mount and all that goes with that sacrifices and a third temple and all of that. But I have noticed and have met these individuals, as you no doubt have. I’m going to ask you about two of them. But one of them is current Israeli Prime Minister of National Security.

You’ve referred to as Ben-Gvir . And there’s a former Knesset member, Yehuda Glick. Now I’ve interfaced with both of them just a little bit. You no doubt have. One’s a part of civil government. One was in a Knesset Yehuda. But both of them have very specific ambitions to restore worship on the Temple Mount. I think they have had interaction with the Temple Institute as an example. So here’s my question. Are these entities, these individuals working in tandem with the Sanhedrin? Or do some of their purpose just happen to cross over? Is there some alignment? Or are we just watching God take and do moving in a number of different ways in a remarkable way?

Chris Katulka:

I’d probably go with the latter on that one because I do believe Ben-Gvir and Yehuda Glick would agree with the desire of the Sanhedrin, but probably aren’t getting their rulings from the Sanhedrin as a judicial body. But again, at the same time, the tough part about it all is that at the heart of a religious Jewish person is the Torah. And what is two thirds of the Torah about? It’s about the temple. It’s about the central location place of worship. So when you talk about law, especially with the Sanhedrin as a judicial body, of course temple’s a part of it. And that’s why Rambam, Maimonides and his 13 principles, which are like the doctrinal statement says the Torah is from God. You can’t ignore it. That’s why he was definitely pro the restoration, even in the medieval area, pro the restoration of a Sanhedrin and pro the restoration of Israel and a rebuilding of a temple.

It’s the reason why the 12th doctrinal statement from Rambam Maimonides is that the Messiah will come, it says. And it says, even if it’s delayed, the Messiah, one must continue to await for him. That’s what Rambam wrote down as one of the key principles and doctrines of being Jewish. And the other is the dead will be resurrected, that there’s resurrection that will take place. These are all prophetic things. And again, all of it ties, it’s not just this crazy idea that they’re coming up with.

As a Christian, I see it vastly different because in Christ, it’s seen in a way that Christ is going to bring about these things. But honestly, from a Jewish perspective, understanding the Torah and understanding the prophets and the writings, they’re only, as you say, they’re only appealing to what the Torah had already taught. So they’re not making things up. In fact, this is about as plain as you could possibly get. Lord, bring about the Messiah, rebuild the temple and restore Israel. That is really at the heart of what Jewish people have been praying for a long time. All

Sam Rohrer:

Right, ladies and gentlemen, I hope this is informative. And I’m going to say encouraging because things that are happening, it’s appropriate to look forward to the return of Christ. It is appropriate. We’ll get into more of this as to who the Sanhedrin is really looking. And we’ll touch more on that specifically in the last segment, but stay with us here as we talk further about the Sanhedrin and its push for a third temple. Well, as we delve more deeply now into our program focus, again, the theme today is this. We’re looking at the Sanhedrin. I’m calling it the modern day Sanhedrin because it is a modern day Sanhedrin really in 2004 in the city of Tiberius. It was self-convened, but formed over 1600. It existed when Christ was here. It was the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus of blasphemy and condemned him to death. And it started way back as we’ve talked about it back with the 70 elders in the days of Moses when there was help that was needed to make judicial rulings for the people.

So there’s a long history. But as we look at today, there does appear to be an intense, and we’ve already talked about it a little bit today. And my guest, Chris Kotalka, who’s with Friends of Israel, has been sharing some really good insights into this. But as an entity, there seems to be an undeniable, I’m going to say an organizational engine, a drive, put it that way, with this reconvened Sanhedrin, which is pushing even more aggressively, it seems, day by day toward a single decisive objective. And that’s the rebuilding of the third temple on Mount Moriah. That’s what it is. Now, while secular authorities, the Knesset and the civil authorities, they have to manage these political interests, those religious interests in a political setting. So if you’re following at all, Israel, you know that there is a political entity about this. Who’s going to control the mount?

And for those who want to go up and allow the Jews to prey on the mount, and ultimately to have a new temple with sacrifices reconvened, that’s religiously driven, but it has to be politically managed. And that’s a tough thing, but that’s happening. So as we look at, that has to be taken into account. But we’ve talked about it here many times on this program about potential temple, preparation for the temple, the fabricating of sacred vessels and the training of a modern priesthood to conduct the ritual elements. Things like the red heifer. We’ve talked about that here and so much more. But there’s an element within this. I want to talk with Chris now about it. And that’s the movement that is not merely, I’m going to say theoretical, but I think it represents a deliberate strategy of what some refer to, and I think it’s an accurate word, but active redemption.

And that’s designed to shift public consciousness and establish the legal framework for a restored temple. But it’s really this whole urgent momentum and how the physical preparation intersects with the spiritual realities of end times prophecy. And Chris, I want to get your perspective on this. Not many people have talked about it. We chatted about it just briefly before the program, but that’s this aspect of active redemption and the sense that those who are able must do everything they can to bring about the return of Messiah and all of that. So here’s the question. How does this theological perspective, how does it drive organizations like the Temple Institute to prepare, Princeton’s physical vessels, priestly garments, the ritual elements before the Messiah appears? And even the motivation of the Sanhedrin themself. Is this a part of what they are thinking that they’ve got to do something in order for God to do something?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah. You’re actually, as I had said to you, even off air, you’re waiting in the waters of big Jewish theological concepts, especially when it comes to prophecy, especially in the Orthodox world and conservative world that believe and study the Torah, the law, the prophets, the writings, the Hebrew Bible, and other laws as well. And the reason that it’s important is because the question is, do we begin the process now of active redemption? Redemption being that the Messiah comes and redeems his people and establishes Israel as he intended to do according to the law. And so do we make that happen? Do we usher these things along through our own will and our own initiative? Or do we just sit back and wait patiently for the Messiah to come and he will rebuild the temple? He will establish the priesthood. He will reestablish the things that are supposed to be put in place.

And so I think that even within institutions like the Temple Institute, they might have some that go, “No, no, we can push this along. We can make this happen.” And others within the Institute that go, “No, the Messiah will do this, but hey, we’re just building the instruments before he comes.” That’s all. I’ve gone through the Temple Institute several times. And their line is that once the Messiah comes, for the most part, once the Messiah comes, we’ll be ready to rebuild. Once there’s an opportunity, we will have that temple built in two minutes and we’ll have everything ready to go to make it a sufficient temple according to the law. So they have all of their specs planned out and everything. It almost seems like they went ahead of the Messiah, if you will. They got their blueprints, they’ve got their cornerstone, they’ve got everything that they need.

And again, that’s really important because it’s not just the question of active redemption with the temple. It’s even active redemption. Should we even be in the land of Israel until the Messiah comes? There are certain Orthodox Jewish groups that believe that it’s better for there to be a Palestinian state than there is an Israeli state. Not because they hate Israel or the Jewish people as Orthodox Jews, but because they believe we’re not going over there until the Messiah comes. He’ll be the one that prepares the way. Until then, it’s just in the hands of the Gentiles, but the Messiah will come and clear the path, get rid of the enemies, rebuild the temple, and then we can finally be back in the land. There are Jewish groups over here like that, and you often see them at pro-Palestinian marches, but it’s not because they’re necessarily pro-Palestinian, it’s that they’re pro-Messiah coming and not active redemption.

And so again, these are great questions to be asked. For me, I see that God throughout history has always worked, Sam, where he’s using the human will according to what his word had taught. So it’s the reason Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel got up upon the permission of Cyrus to return to their homeland and to rebuild. God gave a Gentile king the permission to do that, the ability to do that. And then they listened and they said that’s from God. And they did it and it was from God according to Ezra. So the question is, what played in there? Well, I believe God’s providence is written with everything that’s happening in Israel right now. But when you get into those deep theological issues about the temple, for instance, now you’re really in the waters there because this is a big question. Do we get the party started essentially?

Or do we wait for the Messiah to do it?

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. That is excellent. That’s an insight that I don’t think anyone shared on this program before. Chris, that’s excellent. But I found this element. It keeps coming up, this active redemption part. What do we do? And what do we let God do? And that I think is a question that’s not just present in the Jewish world. It’s actually in the Christian world too. There are some people think that they’ve got to take over, well, the Dominion theology of people who think they’ve got to take over the reins of government in order for Christ to come back. There’s an element of this that’s in both sides. We can’t get into all of that, but I just throw that out, ladies and gentlemen, understand that it’s not limited just to one area. But here’s a question for you in remaining minutes. Within the various sectors within Israel, and of course we’ve talked much about, and you’ve talked about it today.

There’s Orthodox, there’s the ultra Orthodox, there are the secular Jews who don’t really care. There are those who are just politically minded. There are the Messianic, those who have embraced Yeshua. Now, if you take these groups, just to the extent that you can, how important is the discussion about worship on the Temple Mount for all of those groups? How is that viewed?

Chris Katulka:

I’ll divide it into two cities. It’s a tale of two cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. If you go to Tel Aviv today and you talk about what’s going on with Ben Gavier, as you have mentioned in the last segment, and his desire to see Jewish people worshiping on the Temple Mount next to the Dome of the Rock and things like that, very sensitive situation, then in Tel Aviv, you’re going to hear most people say they’re loony tunes. They’re far right. They’re causing nothing but consternation. And they would say they’re Mashugana. They’re crazy. If you go to Jerusalem though, it’s a different conversation. In Jerusalem, there’s a lot of Orthodox Jewish people. And you can’t fault them. Why can’t they go up on top of the Temple Mount and worship? If Israel is a free democratic country and an Arab Muslim could walk up to the Western wall without any complications, the only thing he has to do is put a little kippah on that they give you for free and you can walk to the Western wall.

Whenever you want, why can’t a Jewish man walk up onto the Temple Mount and worship God up there? So again, there’s a lot of angles to it, whether it’s theological, political, democratic, all of these components that make it out to be the way it is. But if you go between these two cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, they’re two vastly different worlds. And there’s a lot of, I believe, more and more Israelis that are saying, I don’t know if they necessarily want to rebuild a third temple, but they certainly want to see religious freedom enacted everywhere, not just in certain locations, but then you have your more moderate to left leaning Israelis that are saying, “They’re only causing trouble for us. This whole thing is nothing but trouble. Let’s just keep the status quo.” This goes back even to 1967, Sam, after the six day war when Israel took Jerusalem and there were calls to rebuild the temple and it didn’t happen.

They maintained status quo, but a lot of people aren’t happy with status quo anymore.

Sam Rohrer:

And ladies and gentlemen, you get the sense all of these things are working together. Throw all these ingredients into the pot and what comes out? Well, we only know what comes out at the end. It’s God’s will. And that’s what prophecy’s all about. We’re going to go there in the next segment and conclude this by talking about the Sanhedrin’s appeal for the Messiah. Is that a way? Good way? All right. As we go into our final segment now, again, just one reminder, my guest today is Chris Katulka. He’s the vice president of North American Ministries for the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. They are the producers of Israel My Glory Magazine. And if you go to their website, israelmyglory.org, I think you can get a subscription to that there and I think it’s free, but anyways, do that. It’s a good magazine and it’s a good way to stay in contact with what they’re doing.

But Chris, let’s get into this final part. We’ve covered a big topic here today, the Sanhedrin. A lot of people don’t even know that they exist, but it is yes, the same Sanhedrin, although not the very same people, obviously, as the ones that brought judicial action and ruling condemning Jesus in his first appearance. And when he came about 2000 years ago, that body dissolved in 70 AD when Jerusalem fell, and then they reconstituted it. A group did in Tiberius, and you gave the reason earlier why it was significant that they chose Tiberius, but they self-formed themselves, and we’ve been talking about some of that. But they have no standing, but they do have influence. And that was the question here in the title, the modern day Sanhedrin Preparing the Way, but what way? So let’s now turn to the spiritual core of the Sanhedrin’s recent ruling.

So we’ll go back to what started the program. They issued a formal legal decree calling for the revelation of the Messiah. And we talked a little bit about that, plus some other things, remove the impediments for a third temple and so forth. But I want to go here with the Messiah because while this appeal stems from centuries of genuine longing for divine redemption, we’ve talked about that, it also presents, I’m going to say, a subtle and perhaps dangerous theological shift because there’s an aspect about it that seems to, as I’ve been reading and looking, seems to almost link the Messiah’s identity directly to the physical rebuilding of the temple and the removal of the political obstacles. Almost like it’s making it so that perhaps if somebody can make that happen, that person might be actually embraced as the Messiah, particularly if he says he’s the Messiah or he’s there as a protector of Israel.

Scripturally though, this criteria, I think, in my mind anyways, opens the door for a counterfeit figure, the antichrist, to step onto the global stage and take his seat ultimately in the temple, which will be rebuilt halfway through the tribulation period. And I can almost see it happening, fulfilling Jesus’s warning in John 5:43 where it said, Jesus said to them, “If another shall come in his own name, him, you will receive.” It almost seems like he was talking at that point, almost like to the Sanhedrin and others there. But as believers, Chris, how do we maintain spiritual discernment, loving the Jewish people in every regard? At the same time, recognizing the prophetic dangers of a counterfeit, which we know will arise. So here’s the question. When a rabbinic decree defines the Messiah primarily as the figure who can successfully, say, rebuild the temple and remove the obstacles, how does that functional definition perhaps open the theological door for the counterfeit man of sin as described in two Thessalonians chapter two?

And for us, tie this into our program titled about the saying heater and preparing the way, but which way?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah. Again, this is really deep. And I think you kind of nailed it in your statement because you talked about the identity of the Messiah. If you think about it, if you just say it out loud, if you and I were both saying, Lord, Maranatha, our Lord come. Maranatha to the Messiah. Now we understand who the identity of the Messiah is. It’s Jesus. And so I think you and I and your listeners probably appeal to God often. Even John did at the very end of Revelation. Maranatha, our Lord come. It’s an appeal to heaven for the Messiah to come. But we understand who the identity of the Messiah is. And then we’re not being deceived about a temple. We’re not being deceived about. We know what the truth is about these things because we know who the identity of the Messiah is and what he says about what the future plans are and the revelation that he’s given to us through the word.

Where a Jewish person, they’re saying the exact same thing. If you think about it, Sam. When they make an appeal for the Messiah to come, they’re saying the exact same thing, but here is why it’s important. And I’m glad that you connected it to two Thessalonians two, the man of lawlessness, lawlessness, is that they don’t know the identity of the Messiah. They can’t say it’s this person or that person. The only thing they’re doing is appealing to heaven saying, send the Messiah. We don’t know who it is.

We don’t know all the details. We don’t know any of those things, but send this person. Well, if the person comes along and is able to deceive the Jewish people, then it becomes a pathway for what I believe is exactly what two Thessalonians two boils down to. And a third temple being rebuilt. This is the reason why the identity, unknowing the identity of the Messiah is so important. And I consider this one of the greatest works of the Friends of Israel, Gospel Ministry. We’re not just a friend of Israel. Our title is Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Our heart is to understand that the Jewish people are longing for Messiah doesn’t just come from anywhere. It comes from the Jewish roots of our faith. But we have the identity of the Messiah, Sam. We know what the Messiah has told us. His name is Jesus.

He’s given us his revelation. We have his word and we know what we’re looking forward to. Unfortunately, for our Jewish friends who we love, we are trying to share who the identity of the Messiah is so they know that truth or else deception continues to move forward. And that’s why the antichrist is called the man of lawlessness. He’s able to do that because of deception. And that’s what happens when you don’t have the complete story of who the Messiah is and his identity. So I don’t know if that helps answer your question, but identity of who the Messiah. We’re literally begging God of the same thing. Maranatha, our Lord, come. Maranatha, send the Messiah now, but we know who the Messiah is and sadly they don’t. And that’s going to create a vast difference about how we understand what’s going to happen in the future.

All

Sam Rohrer:

Right, Chris, we only have about a minute left. As I look at this, I’m sharing everything that you are saying. And I’m saying, yes, as true believers, we say even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. All right. He came the first time. He’s going to come back again for us in the rapture. And yes, there will be a second coming, but there’s a lot that happened before the second coming at the end of the tribulation period. And part of it is we know the world is going to embrace, and Israel will embrace a false Messiah. So in conclusion, the Sanhedrin is appealing to heaven for the coming of the Messiah, but they think he’s coming the first time. They’re setting up the world for acceptance of the false Messiah. We’re saying, come Lord Jesus, because he has come, we know. So as one looks at this, how should we pray?

And then we only have about 45 seconds left. A quick answer and then close the program in prayer, would you?

Chris Katulka:

I would be honored. I just want to say that this is, again, the heart of the Friends of Israel, what you’re tapping into. It’s understanding the truth of God’s word and conveying the truth of the identity of the Messiah, Jesus. In other cultures, it’s very hard to identify the Messiah because they don’t even understand what a Messiah is. But when it comes to the Jewish people, our very understanding of who Christ is, is grounded in everything that’s Jewish. So we should be able to point our friends in the loving way, understanding all that’s going on, trying to balance what the scriptures teach, but at the same time, seeing forward to know that our Messiah is the true Messiah, Jesus. Pray, Lord.

Sam Rohrer:

Go ahead.

Chris Katulka:

Sorry, go ahead. I was going to say, praying for the peace of Jerusalem’s there.

Sam Rohrer:

All right. And ladies and gentlemen, we just ran out of time, but let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem because we are told to do that. And who is the peace of Jerusalem? Jesus Christ, the Messiah who says, “I am the way and the truth.” He is the peace. I hope that you have found that peace and have trusted in him. Chris Katulka from the Friends of Israel, thank you so much for being with me today. God bless you and the ministry. Ladies and gentlemen, see you back here tomorrow, the Lord willing.