Is Obama the Anti-Christ?

Saturday, August 15, 2009

There is a video making the rounds on Youtube that claims to present biblical evidence that Barack Obama was declared the anti-Christ by none other than Jesus himself. Dan Wallace in a blog post at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries reports that the video is wildly popular and that many Christians find its arguments compelling. (I should mention that Dan thinks it's completely ridiculous, and that I really like Reclaiming the Mind Ministries which has no affiliation with the loony in the Youtube video).

The basic argument in the video goes like this :


Jesus says in Luke 10:18 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". The New Testament written in Greek, but many scholars believe that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic. The word for "lightning" in Hebrew is בָּרָקwhich is pronounced "bā∙rāk" (the Q at the end is pronounced like a K). Sounds like Barack right? (Hebrew and Aramaic are pretty close, so we'll just pretend they are identical here). Now as Aramaic scholar Steve Caruso points out, the Swahili word "Barack" does have a Hebrew etymology, but comes from the word בָּרַךְ or barak meaning "blessed", not בָּרָק or baraq meaning "lightning". The two words barak and baraq are pronounced similarly, but have no etymological connection. Just as the English words "write" and "right" sound the same but are unrelated.




Next the narrator decides that instead of looking at the word in Hebrew for "heaven" which is שָׁמַיִם pronounced shamayim, he would rather translate the word for "heights". Now the two most common words for "heights" in Hebrew are מָרֹום pronounced marum and קֹומָה pronounced qumah. That won't do of course so he takes the word בָּמָה which really means something more like an elevated hill, often referring to an alter or place of worship. Why does he pick this word? I bet you can guess what's coming can't you? Because it is pronounced bamah. Now nevermind that this translation would mean that Jesus said "I saw Satan fall off a hill like lighting" which would be a really weird thing to say, and instead imagine him saying

"I saw Satan fall like Barack from Bama"

So we're almost there, now all we need to do is stick an "O" in front of "bamah". The Hebrew for "from" here would be מִן but that would give us Barack Min-bama, so he makes it an "O" instead which would mean "and". Giving us

"I saw Satan fall like Barack Obama"

Or as his disciples would have understood him

"I saw Satan fall like lighting and a hill" (huh?)

Or the equally strange

"I saw Satan fall like lighting and a height" (again, huh?)

Of course since Jesus said "heavens" and not "height" it would have sounded like

"I saw Satan fall like Barack Min Shamayim" or if we go with "heights" it would be
"I saw Satan fall like Barack Min Bamate" since "heights" is plural.
Unfortunately, I don't know anyone with either of those names...

So, now that you have suffered through all of that, let me present you with my own theory based on the same type of argument.

Jesus says in Jn 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life." The Hebrew word for "the way" is דֶּרֶךְ which is pronounced "Derek". My name is Derek. Therefore Jesus said

"I am Derek, the truth and the life. "

So there you have it. If Barack Obama is the anti-Christ, then by that same logic I am the second coming of Jesus (hint: I'm not). The real exegetical problem here is that just because a word in one language sounds like another word in a different language does not mean there is any relation to them. The word for "drive" is German is fahrt which sounds like "fart" in English. The above exegesis is like that. It sounds like fart, so it must be a secret message about farts.

If we want to just take the word "lightning" in the NT and switch it out with the Hebrew for lightning pronounced "Barack" I could also then cite the passage in
Mt 28:2-3 which describes the angel at the tomb , was that angel really our President?

"An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like Barack, and his clothes were white as snow."
And while I'm at it, the word in Hebrew for "shame"
בֹּושׁ is pronounced "Bush" and the שׁ looks like a W. So "Bush" according to my Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains means:


"To have a painful feeling and emotional distress (sometimes to the point of despair), by having done something wrong, with an associative meaning of having the disapproval of those around them (Jdg 3:25; Jer 14:4), note: this wrong can refer to a social mistake, or a serious sin. Bring shame, cause disgrace, with an associative meaning of causing frustration, and loss of hope to the object one is shaming (2Sa 19:6)"
I report. You decide.

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17 Comments:

At 1:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

HI Derek, Love your website and the way you think! About the anti-Christ video: Seems to me that when we treat the Bible like a cryptogram, we can read into it anything we want. I told the person who sent me this silly video that perhaps it means God is going to use Obama to throw down Satan from heaven. I was kidding, of course, but it shows how completely subject this nonsense is. Keep up the great work. Greg Boyd (www.gregboyd.org)

 
At 2:47 PM, Anonymous Derek said...

Wow, Greg Boyd! What an honor! You are one of my all time favorite authors. Your book "God at War" was a big influence on my articles on "Christus Victor vs Penal Substitution" (listed above in the right sidebar) which I've been working on turning into a book.

 
At 8:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Strongs Hebrew Dictionary
#1300 baraq (baw-rawk')-from 'baraq' (1299); lightning; by analogy, a gleam; concretely, a flashing sword:--bright, glitter(-ing sword), lightning.
#1116 bamah (bam-maw')-from an unused root (meaning to be high); an elevation:--height, high place, wave.

Luke 10:18 "I saw satan fall like lightning from the heights."

Jesus spoke Aramaic, the earliest form of Hebrew. He was not known for speaking Swahili.

 
At 12:01 PM, Anonymous Derek said...

sigh.

I get the impression you didn't read my blog post. His name is Barak which means "blessed" in Hebrew, not Baraq which means lighting. So the verse in Luke is irrelevant, and shows that the person quoting it doesn't know their Hebrew very well.

 
At 11:22 PM, Blogger RBAR said...

Hi Derek. I too like the way you think. And I agree with Pastor Greg in saying that the silly YouTube video forward was a classic case of EISEGESIS, which allows the reader to insert anything at all.

Case in point: Jesus' mystery message on farting.

 
At 3:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Eya :D

i'm working on a school projekt about judmentday and i saw the antichrist video. Now most would think that these to doesnt seem to have a connection, BUT the maya's (sp?) foresaw that judment day would be in 2012 AND it has been proven that the poles (magnetic field thingy) will move drasticly.

now, me and my friend finds this amusing. Could there be a connection or something.

now on to my question: you say:
Jesus says in Jn 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life." The Hebrew word for "the way" is דֶּרֶךְ which is pronounced "Derek". My name is Derek. Therefore Jesus said


"I am Derek, the truth and the life. "


So there you have it. If Barack Obama is the anti-Christ, then by that same logic I am the second coming of Jesus (hint: I'm not).

If im using my brain correctly, you are saying that jesus is lying. Because if youre going to be jesus, then the antichrist thingy is correct. If the antichrist thing is incorrect, then youre not going to be the next Jesus (or any other Derek thingy). If im correct now, jesus said he was Derek. If he is lying there... why should i believe in god if he was the son of god, and were lying.

"I am the way and the truth and the life."

truth...

Now, am i correct or have i misunderstood anything?

 
At 8:44 AM, Anonymous Derek said...

I sort of think you are pulling my leg here Anon, but just in case you are not...

It's not a matter of Jesus "lying" its a matter of understanding languages. As I said above, just because the German word for driving a car "Fahrt" sounds like "fart" in English does not mean that Germans get in their Audi and VW bug to fart. Nor does it mean that Germans are "lying". That's ridiculous. You can't just take one language and stick it into another, the results will just be silly. That's why the assertion that Obama is the anti-Christ is silly, and rejecting God on similar grounds is equally silly.

 
At 1:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

okay :D thank you for answering my question.

but i have a new one. You see, Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, in Wyncote, has ''confirmed'' that the Hebrew word usage is correct.

you can watch this video for more information on that subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDRl3QNkExA&annotation_id=annotation_735185&feature=iv

Arent you saying pretty much the same as Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz?

 
At 8:07 AM, Anonymous Derek said...

First my friend you need to consider your sources. The video you linked to made by the guy who started the conspiracy theory. So of course he claims it's a "confirmation". But did you actually look up and read the article in Salon with Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz that he refers to? It's quite easy to find with Google.
Here it is

Read it, and you'll see he does not confirm anything.

1) The phrase "lightning from the heavens" in Hebrew would be "Baraq Min Shamayim"

2) Conspiracy guy's claim in your new vid that it should be translated as "heights" instead of heavens is wrong because it is lightning that falls from the "heavens" in this sentence and "heavens" in both Greek and Hebrew just means "sky" in that context which is where lighting comes from. Saying it came from "obama" would mean "like lighting from a hill" which makes no sense.

3) Even if one assumes that he did say "heights" or "hill" (which I don't) that would still be "baraq min bamate" which sounds nothing like his name.

4) In Hebrew Baraq Obama would mean "lightning and a hill" and Jesus did not say "I saw Satan fall like lighting and a hill" which again makes no sense.

The whole thing makes no sense and is just absurd. Check your sources. Don't believe everything you hear.

 
At 9:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those with no faith fall easy pray to persuasive speech. Twist it how ever you may, but I will believe my own thoughts because I I have faith in my Lord, and in my self.

 
At 2:07 PM, Anonymous Derek said...

um... happy 4th of July to you too.

 
At 8:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 4:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 4:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 4:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If baraq or barak obama means in hebrew Lighting and a hill, it would make more sense actually, that would be saying fast at large perportion as hill is also an synonym for mountain, to fall as light and a mountain or hill either or is saying at large... either greek or hebrew it is pretty much saying what the "consipiracy" says. Last the fact that revalation says stuff about the statue of liberty=horns to exact number and what not is very scary as well as the myan calander as well as the past events in our world http://youtu.be/EzX4Dk0GoSA

 
At 4:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

its odd enough that even in greek or maybe kinda hebrew barak obama or any variation is the spelling of scripture as such

 
At 8:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who's to say his name wasn't Baraq Min Shamayim from the start and switched to Obama to throw people off his trail? What proof do we have of where he came from and what his birth certificate may say. Regardless, these are dangerous times and I believe this man is one full of deception and divisiveness.

 

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