False Prophecy? Israeli Teenager Claims NDE Vision of the End Times and of Obama Being “Gog”

The Internet has been abuzz with the story of a 15-year-old Israeli boy named Natan, who testified having seen a vision of the end times and of US president Barack Hussein Obama being “Gog”, while having a near-death experience (NDE) on 28 September 2015.

For those who are unfamiliar with Natan’s testimony, an outline has been provided by Internet blog Dreaming of Moshiach:

• The beginning of Gog U'Magog began three days before the Rosh HaShana, September 11, 2015 or lunar calendar 27 Elul 5775.
• One of these days, there will be a security breach that will cause riots to erupt leading to severe civil unrest. This will burst into a war and will be all over the news internationally. Everyone will know and understand it.
• Israel will not yet be involved.
• This will cause the world to unite against Israel and come fight us.
• The war will begin by Gog ... Obama is Gog and he will fight us.
• After the first 2 days of war in Israel, Israel Defense Force (Tzahal) will be abolished and the nations of the world will enter Israel.
• People will be killed as well as kidnapped. It will be total chaos.
• An atom bomb will be aimed at Israel and HKB'H will freeze it in midair. After a few weeks, it will land in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
• They will capture Israel and enter Jerusalem.
• The entire war will take 2 weeks and millions will perish.
• To be saved we need to do Teshuva and learn Torah. Only true servants of HaShem will remain alive.
• The Moshiach (Messiah) is among us (living in Israel) and many know him, but did not know he is the Moshiach. When he will be discovered everyone will be surprised. He's a popular Baal Teshuva that does kiruv work.
• After the war, building of the Temple will be built followed by resurrection
• We will be able to see the patriarchs, Moshe Rabenu (Moses), and all the saints only from a distance because of their divine
• Graves will open and the resurrected will come out of their grave wearing beautiful clothes.
• Mount of Olives will split into two and all who remained alive will see Moshiach.
• It's a matter of months till the final redemption.

In addition, according to Dreaming of Moshiach, Natan allegedly claimed that:

• Moshiach will stand in the entrance of the Mount of Olives and thru smell, will decide who will enter the Mount of Olives.
• Moshiach will fight Obama and will bury him in Eretz (the land of) Israel.
• HKB'H will be revealed dressed in a white robe with blood stains from the blood of the Jews who were prosecuted because of their religion.

Natan’s testimony has been received with mixed reactions – either amazement intermingled with fear, or incredulity and denial.

Susan Constantine, a world renowned body language expert specializing in deception detection, vouched for the credibility of Natan’s testimony. “I have reviewed the entire video and it is my professional opinion the boy Natan truthfully believes he experienced a visitation in heaven and was not being deceptive,” said Constantine, in a signed statement obtained by Breaking Israel News. Constantine was hired by an Orthodox Jewish non-profit organization in Israel to assess the video.

Natan’s background makes his testimony convincing. According to Dreaming of Moshiach, “Nathan is a regular Israeli 15 year old teenager from a secular background and never learnt in Yeshiva (a religious school). He was clueless about the most simple Jewish things such as Tzizit (knotted ritual fringes)… After his near death experience, he went to a Rav and told him his frightening experience and asked him for a Kipa (skull cap) and Tzizit”.

There seems to be little doubt over Natan’s sincerity and truthfulness over what he has shared about his experience.

However, the source of Natan’s NDE vision must be carefully weighted – was it from God, or from an ungodly source?

From the perspective of a Christian, one area of concern is that in Natan’s NDE vision, the Lord Jesus Christ is not explicitly revealed as the Moshiach (Messiah), and it begs the question of “Why not?”

Indeed, according to Natan, the Moshiach (Messiah) is presently “among us”, “living in Israel”, and that “many know him, but did not know he is the Moshiach”. Some commentators have opined that Natan was referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. However, could it also be that Natan was instead referring to a False Messiah – someone who is actually alive in our present day and living in Israel, but who has yet to come under the media spotlight?

Another area of concern is that Natan seems to be alluding to the appearance of the “Moshiach” before the rebuilding of the Temple. In particular, Natan seems to have claimed that during the war, “Moshiach will fight Obama”, and that it is after the war that the rebuilding of the Temple will commence, with the “Moshiach” presumably having a role in its rebuilding.

That said, does the bible not say that it is the “man of lawlessness” who must come first before our Lord Jesus Christ comes, and that he (the “man of lawlessness”) comes to defile the Jewish temple?

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; NASB; with emphasis added)

On the issue of Obama being Gog, this seems to be highly unlikely. According to Revelation 20, the Gog-Magog war takes place at the end of the Lord Jesus Christs’ future millennial (1000-year) reign on earth. Revelation 20:8 suggests that Gog and Magog are not world leaders or some other personalities; rather, they represent “nations that are at the four corners of the earth”. In addition, Revelation 20:7 suggests that it is Satan who will instigate the Gog-Magog war all by himself, and not the beast, the false prophet or some other individual.

Further concerns that Christian believers might have over Natan’s testimony are expressed in the Youtube video below:

Overall Natan’s testimony is interesting and the teenager’s sincerity is not in doubt. However, one concern is that Natan could be unwittingly leading his audience to a False Messiah, and only time will tell.  Hence, Christians should exercise discernment and ask the Lord for wisdom and understanding before deciding whether to embrace his testimony wholeheartedly. Because the original testimony given by Natan was in Hebrew (and not in English), we (Singapore Christian) acknowledge the possibility that there may have been mistranslations in the subtitled video, or that we may have misunderstood some of the details given by Natan (for example, on his chronology of the appearance of the Messiah). If so, we stand corrected and humbly apologise in advance.