In an op-ed published on Charisma News, Ron Cantor, a Messianic Jewish spokesman actively involved in attempts to convert Jews in Israel, accused the nascent Sanhedrin of preparing the way for the Third Jewish Temple. According to Cantor’s assessment it will be a temple to the Antichrist.
“If this group one day becomes recognized as the Sanhedrin, it seems they will make a deal with the Antichrist for the rebuilding of the temple,” Cantor wrote. “So, I guess in that sense, they could have an end-time role.”
“There is no such thing as a modern Sanhedrin. They are just a group of men claiming, without any biblical authority, to be the Sanhedrin. They have no power or authority — governmental or religious. God has not re-established the Sanhedrin. And teaching that they are end-time agents is simply deception.”
Rabbi Dov Stein, secretary of the Sanhedrin, refuted Cantor’s questioning of the religious body’s authority.
“The original Sanhedrin established by Moses was not established by God, nor was any Sanhedrin that came after,” Rabbi Stein explained to Breaking Israel News. “This is not the Biblical method for creating a Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was appointed. When we re-established the Sanhedrin, we did so precisely according to the laws set out by Maimonides for this.”
It is Cantor’s belief that the only basis for Jewish-Christian relations can be one based on Jews accepting Jesus.
“As a Jewish believer, I am deeply conflicted: On the one hand, I love that Christians are seeking friendship with Jews,” Cantor wrote. “On the other, I am deeply concerned that it is in an effort to affirm a Yeshua-less Judaism.”
“While I love the fact that evangelicals are establishing relationships with Orthodox Jews, it seems that some of it is coming at the cost of compromising our most holy commission — to spread the message of Yeshua to all nations. And, of course, that includes Israel. Christians, while absolutely having a calling to reach out with love to the Jewish people, should never assume that Judaism without Yeshua is acceptable.”
Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the Sanhedrin, was critical of Cantor.
“Despite his Jewish origins, he is reenacting every anti-Semitic act ever perpetrated throughout history,” Rabbi Weiss told Breaking Israel News. “This is no different than Torquemada demanding that Jews convert or die during the Spanish Inquisition. It is the classic Jew hatred expressed in the Protocol’s of the Elders of Zion, a vile fiction that claimed the Jews seek global dominance. This is a perversion of the Bible which gives us a leadership role in the world, but the Torah states that it is a role of service and sanctity.”
You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:6
“This is the role of Israel that Cantor rejects. Though Cantor claims he is showing love, it is not. It is hatred and an act of evil,” Weiss exclaimed. “It is to be despised and rejected.”
Rabbi Weiss noted that Cantor’s criticism comes in the wake of the World Creation Concert in which the Sanhedrin reached out to the 70 nations, inviting them to join in prayer praising the Creator in Jerusalem.
“It is more the pity that he has chosen this time to reject the Sanhedrin and the Third Temple,” Weiss said. “The Sanhedrin decided to act now to unify the world to counter global threats. Each nation needs to bring its unique and specific point of holiness to Jerusalem, as was done in the times of the Temple when all the nations came to praise God.”
The Sanhedrin stated concern for universal issues such as the proliferation of atomic weapons in the hands of despotic regimes, ecologic dangers, pollution, and terrorism. Their call for the nations to join around Jerusalem as part of a solution to these issues clearly resonated with others. At the concert, representatives from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico signed a proclamation declaring their intention to join the Sanhedrin in building the Third Temple. After the concert, several other nations expressed a desire to join in the pact and the Sanhedrin is planning on sending emissaries to South and Central America in the near future.
“His vision of what this must be, with one person forcing his belief on others, is the opposite of what the Temple in Jerusalem once was and what it must be again,” Rabbi Weiss said.
Source: Israel in the News
