Dr. Johnson. Org
The
Antichrist
Have you heard of "The Assyrian" or
"The King of the North" or "The Little Horn" or "The
rider with a bow on a white horse"?
These are a few of the many titles given in the
Bible to a man called "The Antichrist" - The Ultimate Dictator -
fierce, cruel and meciless. He is the "Man of sin" who is to rule the
world during a period of 7yrs - (The tribulation) after the
"Rapture". He is probably now in the World; plotting, manipulating
things. He is the right hand man of Satan.
Antichrist basically means anyone against Christ.
If we read 1 John
Also in 1 John 2:2 we read, " Who is a liar but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the
Father and the Son."
Again in 1 John 4:3 we read, "And every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and
this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come:
and even now already is it in the world."
In 2 John 7 we read " For many deceivers are
entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh,. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist."
From the above passage we infer that many
antichrists have alread come - liars, who have denied that Jesus us the Christ.
And the spirit of the antichrist. i.e. Satan or the Devil is already in the
world.
But 2 Thessalonians 2 speaks of a specific
antichrist or "The man of sin".In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 we read,
"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition:
So the day of the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ will
not occur until "The man of sin or "The antichrist" or "The
son of perdition" is revealed. But why is the Antichrist not revealed yet?
Simply because the Church is still functioning spreading the Gospel and the
born again believers are still not raptured.
In
2 Thessalonians 2: 6,7 we read, "And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way":
Unless "Rapture" takes place the Antichrist will not come on
the scene. He may be out there somewhere; scheming things. Once Rapture occurs
and the world is in utter chaos concerning the disappearance of millions of born
again persons; at that moment "he will make his grand entry"
providing a peaceful solution to the crisis.
This crisis will be great, because when millions of
believers disappear, accidents will occur all over the world involving cars,
trucks, buses, planes and ships as their drivers, pilots and navigators would
be missing suddenly.
As we read in Revelation 6:2 "And I saw, and
behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow: and a crown was given
unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer."
He comes on a white horse. i.e. proclaiming peace
and though he is out to conquer he has only a bow but no arrows.
In Daniel
This "one week" here refers to the 7 year
convenant that "the Antichrist" will establish with many nations.
In Isaiah 10:27 we read "And it shall come to
pass in that day his burden shall be taken away from of they shoulder, and his
yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.This
means that "The Messiah" at His 2nd coming will destroy the
Antichrist who persecutes Israel.
From Isaiah 10:28-33 we understand that "the
Antichrist" will conquer many places with great armies and that he will
stay a city called Nob which is north of Jerusalem while he is waiting to
capture it.
In Daniel 7:8 we read about the "little
horn" in which there were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking
great things. This "little horn" agains refers to the Antichrist.
Let's see where the "little horn" comes
from!
In the same chapter we read about the four great
beasts that come up from the sea (Daniel 7:3-7) namely beasts like a lion, a
bear, a leopard and unnamed dreadful one. These refer to the Babylonian empire
headed by King Nebuchadnezzar; the Medopersian Empire with Cyms the Persian,
Darias the Mede and others ruling; the Grecian empire founded by Alexander the
Great and the old Roman empire.
In Daniel 7:7,8 we read about "the little
horn" coming out of the 10 hours. i.e. 10 Kingdoms of (the
Daniel 8:3-5 speaks of ram with 2 horns and a goat
with a horn between his eyes. Horns in almost all contexts here refer to kings
of kindoms. The ram with 2 horns being the kings of Media and
Daniel 8:8 says,
"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and
when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable
ones toward the four winds of heaven.
The 4 horns that come out of the broken great horn
are the 4 kingdoms formed out of the Grecian empire. Today they are known as
In Daniel 8:9 we read,
And out of one of them came forth a little horn
which waxed exceeding great……
So the Antichrist will come from one of the above
countries.
In Daniel 9:2 we read,
"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel
understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came
to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish Seventy Years in the
desolations of Jesusalem."
The 70 Years mentioned here has relevance when we
read of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24.
The phrase 70 weeks literally mean 70 sevens (Hebreq
for week is shabua, seven)
Daniel
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many
for one week; ….."
Here we see the Antichrist making or providing a
peace treaty for 1 week,1 seven.
Keeping this in mind we read Daniel 7:25 where the
Bible says,
"And he shall speak great words against the
most High, and shall wear out of the Saints of the most High and think to
change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time.
Here the Bible speaks about the Antichrist warring
with God's saints and that they will be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time.i.e for 3 ˝ years.
In Revelation 13:5,7 we read about the same thing.
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty
and two months."
"And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and to overcome them………"
If he (the Antichrist) is to continue of 42 months
(3 Yrs) and he makes a peace treaty of one week or one seven. Surely it is 7
years that the Bible speaks of and not 1 week.
.
In Revelation
The Antichrist will force upon all people to take
his mark, either on their right hand or their foreheads. ''and he causeth all,
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their
right hand or in their foreheads; And that no man might buy or sell, save he that
had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is
wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it
is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and
six."(Revelation 13:16-18)
Alphabets of Greek and Hebrew system represent
certain numbers. The total of these numbers in the Antichrist's name will be
666. Those who do not take the mark of the beast on their bodies will be killed
by the Antiochrist and his armies.
What happens to the "little horn" or
"the Antichrist" finally?
Revelation 19 speaks in detail of the fate of the
Antichrist. In Revelation
In Revelation
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of beast, and out of
the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the Kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
And he gathered them together into a place called in
the Hebrew tongue "Armageddon"
Here we see 3 demonic spirits working miracles and
wooing men to worship the Antichrist and be his followers and join his armies.
These verses also imply that the devilish spirits will gather all the armies of
Antichrist fo fight Jesus and the place where the battle of the great day of
God Almighty will take place is "Armageddon".
This battle will last only for 1 day as we read in
Zechariah 14 and it will be a day where the light will be faint all througout.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which sahll be
known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening
time it shall be light." (Zechariah 14:6,7)
2 Thessalonians 2:8 also speaks about the
destruction of the Antichrist.
"And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming."
The final destiny of the Antichrist and the false
prophet is clearly outlined in Revelation 19:20
"And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both are cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.'
Terrible times are ahead dear friend, Living during
the reign of the Antichrist is asking for trouble.
Either you accept his mark or if caught by his
armies be killed by behading. Rev. 20:4 says that those not accepting the mark
of the beast or worshipping it will be beheaded ruthlessly.
Also the tribulation is a period when God pours
forth his wrath on mankind. Wars, pestilences, famines, plagues are all going
to happen during that period.
Why wait for that trial? Be prepared to meet the
Lord in the air during Rapture and be with Him forever.
Cry our to God today. "O God, be not far from
me: O my God, make haste for my help."
(Psalm 71:12)