The last Prophecy Chat served to introduce some of the Biblical background of The Antichrist. In this installment, we will look at his Revelation 13 description verse-by-verse.
Revelation 13:1-4
Antichrist is described symbolically in this chapter. John MacArthur points out that he is revealed in such a way as to explain truth to those who belong to Christ but to hide him from others. The symbolism is explained in other scripture passages.
| * "Verse 1: The “Beast” represents both a person, Antichrist, and his system, the one-world global government. We will look in particular at the Beast system in chapters 17 [his global religion built on his global government] and 18 [his global economy]. The final satanic world empire will be inseparable from the demon-possessed man who leads it. Is it any wonder that discerning believers are not quick to get involved with movements that seek “global” unity, whether for religious or political purposes. THE NEXT GLOBAL RELIGION AND GLOBAL EMPIRE IDENTIFIED BY OUR LORD IN DANIEL 2 IS NOT OF GOD—IT IS THE SYSTEM OF ANTICHRIST—THE BEAST! This is truth, even when well-meaning evangelical leaders unite with groups to Christianize the world. To do so, they are willing to compromise core doctrine for the sake of unity. Such compromise of the Gospel confirms that these groups are not operating in God's will. * “seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns…” This description of the Beast is identical to the description of the Red Dragon of chapter 12, Satan, except that here, the crowns are on the horns instead of his heads. * The heads may represent successive world empires—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the final kingdom of Antichrist. These particular empires also practiced the Babylonian Mystery Religion that arose out of the heresy and rebellion against God at the Tower of Babel [Genesis 11]. We will look at the false religion of “Mystery Babylon the Mother of Harlots” in Revelation 17. * There are ten horns and ten crowns. Horns represent power or authority, just as they do in the animal kingdom. Antichrist is wearing crowns on all ten horns meaning his authority is manifested under a division of ten. We see in The Revelation chapter 17 that ten kings are under Antichrist. Daniel 2 also tells us the final kingdom will have ten toes. Therefore, we believe Antichrist’s Beast system will exist in ten units or regions or kingdoms, each administered by a sub-authority [king] to Antichrist. As the Little Horn, Antichrist will uproot three kings to become the supreme authority. [Daniel 7:16-24] * “on each head a blasphemous name”: See also Verses 5-6. The term “raising his horn” against another power is used in the Old Testament to represent a king going out to conquer another king. The kings of Daniel 2, because they dominated Israel and worshipped false gods, were blaspheming the true God and His authority [Psalm 2]. In verses 5 and 6, Antichrist personally blasphemes God, slanders His name and His dwelling place [heaven], and those who live in heaven. He will present such blasphemies in the guise of “truth” and “enlightenment,” but they are the lies and deception of Satan. Perhaps the lies against “those who live in heaven” may refer to the deception he uses to explain away the disappearance of the Saints after the Rapture of the Church. Or, it may be the lie that those thought to be in heaven through faith in Christ alone are not—that they are the ones who are eternally lost. * Daniel 7:25 adds that Antichrist will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws, possibly referring especially to Orthodox Jewish law or perhaps Christian holidays—things he seems to support in the beginning. In the last half of the Tribulation, the False Prophet will enable the worship of Antichrist and Antichrist, alone, on pain of death. * Verse 2: What is the meaning of these animal body parts used to describe Antichrist? As the book of Daniel explains, the final empire is made up of parts of all Gentile empires that came before it but in particular the empires that also put Israel in subservience, those identified in Daniel 2. In the image of Daniel 2, the empires of man are described as parts of an idol made up of metals of decreasing value. This is how Nebuchadnezzar, the first king in the succession, sees man’s humanistic power. But, in Daniel 7, they are represented as ferocious animals because that is how the Lord sees them: Babylon is a lion, Persia is a bear, Greece is a leopard; and Rome is a non-descript beast-like animal with iron teeth. Antichrist and his empire are the Beast because he is a composite of parts of all of these animals as man’s power is passed down to him. He is like Frankenstein’s monster, a “dreadful and terrible” Beast, Daniel 7:7, a result of all the worst and all the best mankind can offer. But he is the Beast. [Daniel 7:23-24] |
Feet like a bear from Persia/Iran
Mouth of a lion from Babylon/Iraq
Huge iron teeth, from Rome [Daniel 7:7, Daniel 2]
Power of the Dragon [Satan, vs. 2]
We can speculate that The Antichrist may get his oratorical ability and absolute authority from the mouth of the lion, Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute ruler, placing himself even above the law of his own land. The speed with which Antichrist strikes his enemies may come from the leopard of Greece. Alexander the Great was known for the swift striking ability of his armies. Persia, on the other hand, won their battles due to the sheer massive numbers of their forces, like a lumbering bear. Antichrist may have both speed and numbers. In Daniel 7:23, Rome is described as an empire that devoured and trampled those it conquered; the iron teeth refers to this ferocity. All of these attributes may be found in the system of this Satanic world ruler. * Note that Daniel 7:12 states, “As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” In a sense, the past empires are reserved for future and final judgment in the Tribulation by their association with their progression through the Times of the Gentiles [Luke 21:24] to the Kingdom of Antichrist. Babylon is set apart for particular judgment in the Tribulation because it was the first of the world empires to conquer and destroy Jerusalem; and Babylon was the location of the first organized false religion that rebelled against God at Babel. What began in Babylon will end in Babylon! * Verses 3-4: THE FATAL WOUND – A particularly brilliant stroke by Satan will be to cause Antichrist to seemingly receive a fatal wound, “but the fatal wound had been healed.” Something like an assassination attempt or serious illness that is healed would throw the world into great fear and compassion for their leader. Think of the assassination of JFK. What would the reaction of the nation have been if his mortal wound had been healed? This healing causes the “whole world” to marvel at his miraculous healing, perhaps by the False Prophet, and to follow the beast, even worshipping him. This false miracle convinces the lost that there is no one like him and that he is invincible, like a modern-day super hero of sorts. The False Prophet may promote the lie that Antichrist cannot be killed. * Counterfeit – The fatal wound is also Satan’s attempt to imitate Christ’s resurrection. Because Satan does not have the Keys to death and hell and is not the creator of life, he can only counterfeit a resurrection by allowing Antichrist to “rise” from a near-death experience, or to supposedly rise from a fabricated death. [2 Thess. 2:9 – Satan performs signs and lying wonders in order to deceive.] * Verses 5-6: See verse 2, “blasphemous name…” * Verse 7: Antichrist, by God’s sovereign permission, is allowed to make war with the saints and even to over-come them, especially during the last half of the Tribulation. God’s people cannot be defeated spiritually, but they can be killed. Why would a loving God allow His true believers to die at the hands of this monster? The death of a believer for the cause of Christ is not a tragedy—it is a victory, for Christ Jesus and His glory. We have seen the exalted place of martyrs for Christ at the heart of the throne in heaven in Revelation 6:9. Although we do not seek death outside of God’s purpose, when we arrive in heaven, will any lover of Christ not wish we had done more for Him while “in the body”? Our Lord in this final showdown is demonstrating the believers’ ability to take victory from Satan in EVERY circumstance, even death [2 Corinthians 10:4]. Our weapons of warfare are spiritual, not human. Believers will truly “live by faith” in the Tribulation—those who die and those who are destined to live through it. Revelation 6:9. Although we do not seek death outside of God’s purpose, when we arrive in heaven, will any lover of Christ not wish we had done more for Him while “in the body”? Our Lord in this final showdown is demonstrating the believers’ ability to take victory from Satan in EVERY circumstance, even death [2 Corinthians 10:4]. Our weapons of warfare are spiritual, not human. Believers will truly “live by faith” in the Tribulation—those who die and those who are destined to live through it. |
| * Antichrist will have global authority over everyone—every tribe, tongue, and nation. This includes the United States. There is evidence that even now, deception is seducing the masses into a desire for a one-world government. * POWER TO MAKE WAR – The Antichrist will be allowed to massacre those who are God’s children [cf. 6:9-11; 10:7; 11:7; 17:14; Daniel 7:23-25; 8:25; 9:27; 11:38; 12:10; Matthew 24:16-22]. * His absolute reign is for the last half of the time of Jacob’s trouble, Jeremiah 30:7, indicating a particular persecution of the Jews, more terrible than the Holocaust. His orchestrated persecution is launched by the abomination of desolations, Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2, when Antichrist will sit as God in the Temple of God, trying to pass himself off as God. As the Jewish Temple was the place of Jehovah's presence, Antichrist may erect a throne and sit upon it inside the Temple. The image that is erected may be a statue of himself. This desecration will break the peace treaty Antichrist signed with Israel as the man of peace he presented himself to be in Revelation 6. His peace was a false peace. Daniel 8:25 – “by peace he [Antichrist] shall destroy many.” Christ alone is the Prince of peace, Isaiah 9:6. Christ warned His followers to flee Jerusalem when they see the “abomination of desolation,” Matthew 24:15-16. * Verse 8: God uses Antichrist as a lightning rod of human free will decisions in the Tribulation. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” And yet, God’s sovereign will in salvation is also found here. Those who worship Antichrist are not saved and demonstrate this by choosing to worship the man of Satan. They choose Satan over God. They are also shown not to be saved because their names were not written by the Lord in the Book of Life even before they were born [A href = "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20139&version=NIV">Psalm 139]. The names of those who ARE saved have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life [Ephesians 1:3]. |
The Book of Life is the registry of all of the elect of all the ages. A study of this Book affirms that God divinely elects those who are to be saved through Christ Jesus. [Acts 13:48; John 6:65; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Philippians 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 20:15; Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Ephesians 1:3] Note that it is this book that is consulted at the judgment of the lost, just to make sure their names are NOT in it, Revelation 20:15.
The Book of Life is mentioned seven times in Revelation as the book in which God inscribes the names of the elect. It’s the book which names His people. Those who are elect will not worship the Antichrist. That is a great and comforting statement about the elect. In light of the terrible days to come in the Tribulation, we can be sure no true believer will forsake Christ at the eleventh hour.
How graphic it is that those who names are not found in the Book of Life WILL worship Antichrist. The Tribulation serves as a black and white confrontation between the eternal truth of God and the lies of Satan. The majority of humanity will choose Satan and worship his Antichrist. If God did not elect the remnant to salvation, all of humanity would worship Antichrist because sinful humanity cannot choose the truth of the cross because it appears as foolishness to them [1 Cor. 1:18].
“If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:9-10
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:9-10
| 13:9-10: This admonition resonates with us as we heard it at the end of each of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. However, the words “what the Spirit says to the churches” are not included here because in the Tribulation, the church is no longer present. Church Age believers have already been Raptured [1 Cor. 15:50ff; 1 Thess 4:15ff] “If anyone has an ear, let him hear” is spoken to the saints of the Tribulation Age, those who come to Christ AFTER the Rapture.. CALL FOR ENDURANCE: This passage is difficult to receive in our human understanding. “If anyone is to go into captivity…If anyone is to be killed…he will be killed.” This is the full application of following in the footsteps of Christ, even in suffering. [1 Peter 2:19-24] When believers are under persecution for righteousness sake, our weapons are spiritual. [2 Corinthians 10:4] The most effective witness a believer can give is his life, even unto death. We are to receive our destiny with patience and endurance because true faith is not believing God will do what WE want. Faith is accepting whatever HIS will is for us. [Romans 8:28-30] John, the author of this book, is himself an example of suffering for Christ as we saw in chapter 1. |
NEXT TIME—The False Prophet of the Tribulation. The False Prophet is the last and the worse of the false prophets who came before him.
In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon
[Prophecy Chat is a commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@frontier.com]
No comments:
Post a Comment