Quote: "There is "no particular reason for optimism," Segev said later on Thursday, adding that nothing has changed, and that there is "no indication" that Sharon will emerge from his semi-conscious state any time soon.

The former Israeli prime minister has been hospitalised ever since suffering a massive stroke on the 4th of January, 2006. On the 18th of December, 2005, Ariel Sharon was rushed to hospital by his son Omri after complaining of feeling ill. He was later confirmed by doctors to have suffered a minor stroke, and was subsequently released from hospital with medication. He received the well- wishes of world politicians, having just presided over Israel's disengagement from Gaza. But he was readmitted to hospital within weeks after suffering a massive brain haemorrhage. The stroke affected his speech and caused paralysis in his lower body. Doctors placed Sharon in a medically induced coma to try and improve his chances of recovery, but he failed to regain consciousness when the anaesthetic drips were removed. Sharon's decision to disengage from Gaza, which was intended to bring about peace on Israel's southern border, has proved to have been disastrous for Israel and the former prime minister. Gaza residents were given their eviction notices on the anniversary of the destruction of the First and Second Temples, prompting some to perceive the disengagement as a second Diaspora from the land of Israel. Some religious Jews perceived the disengagement as a judgement from God upon the nation for their failure to rebuild the Temple after recapturing Mount Moriah some thirty eight years previous. According to them, history was repeating itself. The nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness for thirty eight years following their refusal to believe the good reports of the promised land given by Joshua and Caleb. And now the modern nation of Israel was in a spiritual wilderness. Many Jews and Christians also perceived Ariel Sharon's coma as being directly related to his decision to divide God's land. Even before Sharon's stroke, some in my own assembly commented on those verses in Isaiah 29,and wondered that there was a prime minister in Israel bearing the same name. But who could have thought that these verses might have had any significance in relation to Sharon's present condition?

Isaiah29:1-4,9-10
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

But the strange coincidences don't end there. One of Israel's most prominent Kabbalist rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, once claimed during a Yom Kippur address that the Messiah would not come until Ariel Sharon died. What makes that statement interesting, apart from the fact that Ariel Sharon is still alive after having spent four years in a coma, are the other things that Kaduri has revealed about the nature of  the Messiah. His portrayal of the revelation of the Messiah reads almost like a summary of the life of Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. 

Quote: ""It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign. "Will all believe in the Messiah right away? No, in the beginning some of us will believe in him and some not. It will be easier for non-religious people to follow the Messiah than for Orthodox people. "The revelation of the Messiah will be fulfilled in two stages: First, he will actively confirm his position as Messiah without knowing himself that he is the Messiah. Then he will reveal himself to some Jews, not necessarily to wise Torah scholars. It can be even simple people. Only then he will reveal himself to the whole nation. The people will wonder and say: 'What, that's the Messiah?' Many have known his name but have not believed that he is the Messiah."

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is said to have told Kaduri that he would meet the Messiah before he died. Kaduri later claimed to have met the Messiah in a vision in 2003. He died five years later. Kaduri revealed the name of the Messiah to his stunned followers after he died. He wrote a coded message on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope with the strict instructions that it not be opened until one year after his death. The note contained the following words...

Quote: "Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid. This I have signed in the month of mercy, Yitzhak Kaduri

In Hebrew, the letter abbreviation of the phrase, "He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid", apparently spells out the name Yehoshua or Jesus. The rabbi also seems to have had a fascination with drawing crosses, which he described as being "the sign of the angel". Did Yitzhak Kaduri come to know Israel's true Messiah before his death? Did he recognize the significance of His sacrifice upon the cross for our sins? Did he see Jesus in his dream? I don't know the answer to those questions, but if he did, it wouldn't be the first time a prominent Israeli rabbi has prophesied of the Messiah through Divine revelation.

John 11:49-52
And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Will the Messiah return after Ariel Sharon dies? Sharon is 81 years old now. If this were true, even if he did recover from his stroke and lived a normal life, there wouldn't be much time left before the Messiah would return. We don't know when Jesus Christ will return, but we know that He will return. He promised it (John 14:3). The question is, are you ready to meet Him? You don't need a coded message to tell you who the Messiah is. It's written in the New Testament. Read it for yourself. And put your trust in the one who died for you, that your sins might be forgiven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today.

John 4:25-26
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Source Arutz 7, Israel Today