Who is this guy that is called "The Antichrist"? The man of lawlessness? The son of destruction? How will we be able to recognize him when he comes? Is he coming soon?
John says:
I John 2: 18, 22
(18) Children,
it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming,
even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is
the last hour.
John says that there are lots of antichrists, because the spirit of antichrist is already busy in the world.
I John 4: 2-3
(2) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
(3) and
every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the
spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and
now it is already in the world.
(7) For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Jesus had to be God to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in time. And He had to be a genuine human to die a man's death in place of each of us, as the Lamb of God.
Anyone who denies the deity of Jesus or the humanity of Christ is denying who He is, so is spreading a lie. This is the spirit of antichrist.
Both God's Spirit and the demon spirits are in the world; God's Holy Spirit lives in His children on this Earth, and the demon spirits also try to inhabit and/or oppress people who don't have God's Spirit in them. Satan imitates God, promoting himself as the angel of light he used to be, so his people present themselves also as ministers of light, but teach heresy.
Some teachers in the early church were already teaching theological error that Paul corrected in his epistles. In Thessalonica they were saying that the Lord had already come. And today some theologians are saying the same thing. So Paul said:
II Thessalonians 2: 3-4, 9-12
(3) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come (the coming of the Lord) unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
Jesus will not come for His people to set up His Kingdom until after this antichrist is revealed as to who he is.
(4) 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.
We will recognize this man of sin as the one who demands worship as though he is God, enthroning himself in God's temple. This will happen in the middle of the 7-year stretch of tribulation and great tribulation described in Daniel and in Revelation.
(9) The one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.
He will be a political head of state who will display great power to perform supernatural signs and fake wonders, to convince people that he is God.
(10) 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.
He will deceive all the people who have refused to submit to God in repentance and faith, because by that they open themselves up to his seductive lies.
(11) For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
What kind of thing would be a "deluding influence"? An implantable chip? A vaccination with nanobots in it to reprogram all your cells? Who knows what that "mark of the beast" will be, but it will prevent people from having freedom to think and feel the way they want, to freely choose to be saved.
(12) in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Those who have refused God's gracious and generous gift turn instead to wickedness and erotic and worldly pleasures instead. So they will give account.
Matthew 24: 15
(15) Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand).
Jesus quoted Daniel, and He wants us to understand. So let's see what Daniel says:
Daniel 9: 26-27
(26) Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Daniel says that there will be war until the end.
(27) And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week,
This is some kind of treaty among Middle Eastern nations including Israel.
but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;
This is the middle of the seven-year period, the last "week" of Daniel's "70 weeks".
and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
The one who does this will be completely and utterly destroyed.
Daniel tells us how he gets to this point:
Daniel 11: 30-39
(30) ... Will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action;
The holy covenant is the promise God gave the children of Israel to give them the land of Canaan. This will enrage him as most of the Arab nations are enraged in their hatred of God's chosen people; but he will not just talk, but will take action against them.
so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled these prophesies, but as Jesus quoted Daniel here, Antiochus was only a forerunner to the antichrist to come. He will also partner with and promote those Jews who are willing to do anything for material rewards.
(31) Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
The man of sin who is still future will also set up the abomination of desolation, a statue-idol, set up in the temple of God to worship it instead. So there may be a Temple built in Jerusalem for the Tribulation period.
(32) By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant,
Smooth words have always been one of Satan's enticements. Those who are willing to turn their backs on God's promises for earthly wealth will be turned to more wickedness than the world has seen heretofore.
but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.
Only those who recognize their Messiah will have the strength and courage to take action to promote righteousness and godliness in Israel.
(33) Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many;
People who have been born into God's family and understand more of God's plan for us will be charged with teaching the rest how to connect the dots in His word to recognize what God is doing.
yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.
Yet there will be many martyrs, persecuted and overcome by the evil ones.
(34) Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.
So many people today who consider themselves to be Christians only have a religion, not that relationship with God He wants to have with us as His children, and many of these will join with them; but because they don't have the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom and courage, they will not be able to be faithful when the hammer falls.
(35) Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.
Even some of the godly teachers will be martyred, as the blood of the martyrs waters the fields of God, and their example will embolden others, giving them the courage to fight on.
Now we will see the character of this antichrist:
(36) Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. (37) He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers
This man is a megalomaniac, with a god-complex and a boldness against everything else that could be worshiped, as Satan has always wanted to be God. So he must slander and disparage the real God.
or for the desire of women,
This man is so evil that he isn't even attracted to women, but is probably more inclined to sexual pleasure with his own gender.
nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.
He'll have such a high regard for himself that he thinks he has power over every god.
(38) But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.
He worships strength and victorious battles, and is willing to pay a high price for supernatural, demonic help.
(39) He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.
This man is the consummate politician, handing out bribes to everyone who will sell out to his "religion" and worship him and help him in his tyranny over the masses of people all over the world.
O my Father, please help Your children to recognize this man who You have called the man of lawlessness, of sin. Open our eyes to see all that is going on around us in the world that we can have some effect on, or to teach others to be warned of. Let Your word go out over the whole world to every living person, to accomplish what You have sent it to. Send out all of Your children to share our stories, to tell everyone how much You have loved us, and that You want to do for them as You have for us through Your Son.
My Father, You are so good to us, You have told us ahead of time what to look for, what to anticipate, what to look forward to. You have told us the last chapter, and we win with You! This gives me courage to persevere. Let me get Your word out, let me be Your messenger, Your missionary. Let me tell many of Your spiritually unborn fetuses how they can come to the birth into Your family, and grow up to maturity.
O Father, grow us all up into the full stature of the Son of God.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of the Father, Lord God Almighty, sovereign King of the World and all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, please come soon, Lord Jesus!
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