23. The Holy Spirit Will Open The Way For Satan's King
Chapter 23 The Holy Spirit Will Open The Way For Satan’s King Satan Wants To Confuse Us About The End Times
Many people have heard about the end times, but they are confused about details. Some people go too far and say things or set dates which God has not given. So, it’s important to remember that God always keeps some things a mystery so that Satan does not know what God is going to do. He always seems to have some surprises in store for Satan and so he can’t tell us every detail in the Bible. But God does give us enough details so that we generally know what to look forward to and have hope—even if the world continues to get worse. The Bible does tell us clearly that a terrible time of judgment is coming on the earth that is much worse than any other time in history (Matthew 24:21). It will be especially terrible for Israel (Jeremiah 30:7), but Jesus will return a second time to save them. Satan wants to confuse us about the end times, so he has spread his confusion everywhere. As always, he wants to frighten believers and also confuse unbelievers. He doesn’t want anyone to understand and believe the truth.
2 Peter 3:3-4 says: “…in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
It’s true, there are many scoffers like this even today who mock the idea of end times or judgment or Christ’s second coming. God says that they will be lost. But what about Christians? And what about Satan and his demons? What will happen to them in the end times? We will try to discuss these topics in the next few chapters, but since the end times is such a huge topic, we cannot cover every detail. Other good books have been written about it, so we will just try to look at general details and specifically focus on what things Satan is involved in and what the Bible says aboutSATAN’S ROLE during the last days.
God Delayed Destroying Satan To Do Some Work In The End As we have seen already, Jesus conquered Satan’s power through Jesus’ death on the cross and the empty tomb. But he hasn’t removed Satan from the earth yet because he still has a purpose for Satan. But what is it, and how will God use Satan in the last days? We know that two of Satan’s names are the Murderer and Destroyer (John 8:44; Revelation 9:11). Satan loves to hurt and kill people, but God doesn’t allow him to just go around killing anyone he wants to. Satan needs God’s approval first before he is allowed to do certain things. And God has a purpose for allowing Satan to do certain things—like using Judas to betray Jesus. But other times we don’t know what God’s purposes are. It seems pretty clear from Scripture that God will use Satan in many ways during the end times especially in bringing hardships and suffering to the world—especially to unbelievers. For example, God plans to use Satan to punish rebellious people and bring some people to repentance, and even to strengthen some believers. God is all-powerful and can use even his worst enemy to accomplish these goals.
Every Day Begins In The Night The Bible often compares darkness and light, night and day throughout the Old and New Testament. We know that every day begins in the darkness of night (Genesis 1:5 b) The Jews begin their day in the evening. In a similar way, the “Day of the Lord” will begin with a time of great spiritual darkness—a time of tribulation when Satan is very active. But God will use this for his purposes. The Coming Tribulation And Kingdom—The Day Of The Lord The world has always had times of suffering. But the Bible talks about a time of “Tribulation” in the end times—a time of great suffering which the world has never yet seen, or ever will again (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14). It is also called the “Day of the Lord,” because during this time, the rebellious people of the world will finally begin to see that Jesus is actually the true LORD over the earth,not Satan. When the Lord begins to judge the earth and show his power and authority over it, he will finally receive the glory and praise that he deserves, and every knee will have to bow before him as the true LORD. Also, during this time, God will punish Israel so that the nation will repent and believe in the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. Then “the people living in darkness” will see “a great light.” Jesus will finally rule his people Israel in his kingdom during the second part of the Day of the Lord. “…a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16).
God’s Wrath Against Sin Will Be Seen In The End Times
God has always been patient and gracious to all people everywhere. But if people continue in stubborn rebellion and sin, God must judge them. God hates sin and the Day of the Lord will show how much he hates it. Some people think that God never gets angry, but the Bible has many examples of God’s anger and wrath against sin (Revelation 6:16-17; Revelation 11:18; Revelation 14:10; Revelation 14:19; Revelation 15:1; Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 21:9). The Tribulation is called a time of great WRATH.
God Will Rescue The Church First The apostle Paul talks about a time of God’s wrath that is still coming, but before that happens, God will take the believers away to heaven so they won’t experience God’s great wrath during the tribulation. God has not appointed us to suffer his wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-9 says: “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly...and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness ...You are all children of the light and children of the day.We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ... For God did not appoint us to suffer wrathbut to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
God says that we will be saved and avoid his wrath during the “Day of the Lord”—the time of tribulation darkness—because he did not appoint us to suffer wrath. What will the tribulation be like? And how will Jesus rescue us from it? The Bible has some answers: The Rapture
Many people talk about the Rapture, but since the word is not in the English Bible some people are confused and think it is just a lie. But the teaching about the rapture is in the Scriptures as we will see. The English word rapture has been used for a long time and it comes from the Latin word “RAPTURO.” The biblical Greek word is “HARPAZO.” It means to be “caught up or snatched away.” It’s also found in 1 Thessalonians where Paul talks about God’s wrath:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will becaught uptogether with them in the clouds tomeet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Verses About The Rapture Should Encourage Us
Some people are fearful of the end times. But as we can see from verse 18, God doesn’t want to frighten us but to encourage us. If we believe in Christ, this verse is very encouraging because it says that God will take us away to be with him when the time of wrath comes. The Bible says the Day of the Lord will begin with the Great Tribulation, a time of wrath—far worse than any other time before—so we can thank God that he will keep us from that wrath. Instead, we will be taken away. We will be “caught up”—snatched away to meet the Lord in the air. But in order to meet Christ in the clouds, our bodies need to be changed instantly. The Lord will give us new resurrected bodies and then take us away and we will live with him forever. This ‘Rapture’ was not yet revealed in the Old Testament. Paul calls it a mystery that was newly revealed to him:
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 says: “Listen, I tell you amystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
Some Christians don’t believe in the rapture and are afraid of experiencing the tribulation and God’s wrath along with the unbelievers. But we shouldn’t be frightened by this. Paul said that God has not appointed us to suffer the time of wrath that is coming (1 Thessalonians 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). And he said that he wrote these words to encourage us, not frighten us. So we can rejoice and thank God for that precious hope! But we should be concerned for those that don’t believe and will remain on earth during the tribulation. Satan will unleash his fury on them during that time.
During The Tribulation, Satan Will Use The Antichrist To Rule
We’ve already seen how Satan has his own type of demonic government which he uses to influence governments from all nations so that they rebel against God and be under his rule. At the present time, God is preventing some of Satan’s efforts to have full control over the world, but later, after God takes us Christians away in the rapture, it looks like he will allow Satan to do much more during the tribulation.
Satan will raise up a new world leader (the Nauseating Nobleman in our outline). He will be the worst king this world has ever known. He will have Satan’s power and be his representative on earth. Satan may even indwell this man (Revelation 17:8). People from all over the world will follow this man and he will rule with great authority (Revelation 13:2-3). The Bible calls him the ANTICHRIST (1 John 2:18; 1 John 4:3) since he opposes Christ and wants to take his place as king of the world. Maybe he will even pretend to be Jesus. The Bible also calls him the Beast (Daniel 7:7 Revelation 13), and the Man of Lawlessness, etc.
What Is Holding Back Satan And The Antichrist Now?
Some people think the antichrist already came long ago, and they claim to know who he was. Some say that he is here today and they even claim to know his name. But all that is very doubtful because the Bible tells us that something else must happen before the antichrist (the “man of lawlessness”) is revealed:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 says: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching...asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”
Notice here in verses 6 and 7 we see these two phrases:
‘...whatis holding him back…’ and ‘the onewhonow holds it back…’ So “who” and “what” is restraining or holding back the “man of lawlessness” from being revealed by Satan? It looks like the “who” is the Holy Spirit, and the “what” is the removal of the church—the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit And The Church Restrain Satan’s Work
We know that only God is powerful enough to restrain or hold back Satan and his work on this earth. Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit especially to “...convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8 NASB). So it looks like the Holy Spirit is the Restrainer. Similar to brakes on a car, which slow it down, the Holy Spirit is keeping Satan from leading the world into self-destruction. But how does he do that? He “convicts the world” by speaking into people’s minds and hearts and tries to convince them to repent. But he also uses us, the church, to teach people about God’s word and show them what godliness and the love of God look like. Ever since the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is the indwelling power and identifying mark of the church. And the church is the body of Christ here on the earth. So, the Spirit of Christ who resides within the church is the one who is restraining or holding back Satan—hindering him from doing many of the things he would like to do on the earth. Satan wants to put his own king on the throne, an evil king—“the man of lawlessness” (the antichrist). But for now, the Spirit of God and the church are restraining Satan from revealing the antichrist who will be the leader of all nations. And so it looks like when the rapture occurs, then the Holy Spirit (the Restrainer) will be “taken out of the way” (vs. 7) and also remove the church from the earth. And that will allow Satan much more freedom to do whatever he wants. So it is the Holy Spirit that will open the door for the “man of lawlessness” to be revealed. Then Satan will use the antichrist to confuse the rebellious unbelievers of this world and bring them to their final destruction. The Holy Spirit’s Work May Change During The Tribulation So if the Holy Spirit will allow Satan and the antichrist to do their work, does that mean the Spirit will not be working at all during the tribulation? No. We know that the Holy Spirit is always at work! From the very beginning (Genesis 1:2), at the creation of the world until now, he is always at work and will continue to work forever. But he works differently at different times. For instance, in the Old Testament he worked differently than he does today. During that time, we see that he mostly helped the leaders of the people. He came and gave special messages from God to the prophets and priests, and he empowered the judges and kings to guide and lead his people. But at that time the Holy Spirit did not live inside all believers like he does now. During the Old Testament times he would come and go and leave people whenever he chose. But Jesus told his apostles that that would change during the church age.
John 14:16-17 says: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with youforever—the Spirit of truth. ...he lives withyou andwill be in you.”
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit (our Advocate and Helper) would no longer just be WITH the disciples, but he would be IN us—forever (Ephesians 1:13). Jesus kept that promise, and ever since the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament, we know that the Spirit lives inside us permanently. We believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit—his dwelling place. So, in the future when Christ takes the church away to heaven, then his main dwelling place will also be there in heaven. So the work of the Holy Spirit on the earth will probably change then too. It’s possible that he will revert back to what he did before indwelling the church, by coming and going—as he did with Israel before the church age. That could be part of what he meant by saying the Restrainer will be “taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
What Will The Antichrist Do?
After the Holy Spirit takes the church up to heaven, the antichrist will be revealed and start to work during the tribulation.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 says: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless onewill be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wondersthat serve the lie, and all the ways that wickednessdeceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.For this reason God sends them apowerful delusionso that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
So, is God going to deceive these rebellious people? No. God could never lie or deceive people. Verse 11 says that God will send something that is a powerful delusion—something which will deceive people. He will send Satan and the “lawless one” and will allow them to use their power and deceitful miracles to deceive people during the tribulation. God will just be allowing Satan to do what he always does—deceive!
Why Will God Send Satan To Deceive People?
Why would God send a delusion to these people? The Bible says that they are “perishing” because they are proud and rebellious people who don’t want to believe in God (see 2:8-12 above). These verses are very clear. God wants to save them and he even sent his Son to die for them. He has given them the truth in the Bible, but they themselves “refuse to love the truth.” They do not want to hear the truth and believe. God tries over and over to help people with truth, but if they continue to reject Jesus and resist God, then God, who is righteous and holy, must judge their rebellion. So, since they love to hear lies, God will allow Satan and the lawless one to deceive them with powerful lies, so they will be condemned. During the tribulation, God will use Satan to deceive and punish the people who love to believe lies. They “refuse to love the truth.”
God Knows Who Will Believe In Christ
These verses also show us that God knows everything that is going to happen and how people will think. He already knows who will believe in Christ and who will not. So during the Day of the Lord, God will use Satan to test people and punish them if they are stubborn and don’t want to believe God’s Word. The Antichrist Will Make An Agreement At The Beginning Of The Tribulation
One of the major things that will happen after the rapture is that the antichrist will make an important agreement with Israel. At the beginning of the tribulation, the antichrist will make some sort of a peace agreement or covenant with Israel. It looks like he will agree to let them rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and start offering sacrifices again. The prophet Daniel spoke about this covenant:
Daniel 9:27 says: “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’ (7 years). In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
Daniel says that after 3½ years of the agreement, the antichrist will break his covenant, and it looks like he will take over the new temple himself. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says that he will proclaim himself to be God at that time. We’ll talk more about that later. Since we have not seen this agreement happen yet, we know that the antichrist has still not been revealed. Again, we know that the Holy Spirit is still holding him back and will keep doing so until the rapture happens.
We Don’t Need To Be Afraid Of The Mark Of The Antichrist
Some people claim to know who the antichrist is. But whoever they might name is not likely the antichrist because the Bible says he hasn’t been revealed yet. The Holy Spirit is still holding him back (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8) and will continue to do so until Christ has taken the Spirit (or Restrainer) out of the way (with the church at the rapture). So, if the church is still here, the antichrist has not yet been revealed.
So, if the antichrist has not yet been revealed, then we do not need to worry about accidentally getting his mark either. Many people worry about the mark of the beast. Some believe it is a type of ID card or a computer chip that they will put underneath their skin, or some sort of tattoo or other kind of mark. But we believers don’t need to worry about this mark because it cannot be revealed until the beast is revealed. And they won’t be revealed until after we are caught up to heaven. Then everyone who believes in him will receive his mark. Andthe mark will not be hidden anymore. But for now, it is not here, so we don’t need to fear it or even guess what it is. The False Prophet Has Not Appeared Yet The Bible also tells us about another “beast” that will come, and he will force everyone to receive the mark of the antichrist in the last days (Revelation 13:11-18). This second beast is the False Prophet of the antichrist and Satan. He will perform many miracles by Satan’s power and tell everyone to worship the antichrist and listen to him. This false prophet has not yet appeared, so we know that the mark also has not yet appeared. So again, we Christians do not need to fear the mark. When the antichrist and the false prophet arrive, we will be gone along with the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit. Who Will Receive God’s Seal During The Last Days?
Revelation 7:3-4; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 14:3 tell us that 144,000 people will receive God’s special mark or seal during the tribulation. Some religious groups claim that they alone will be included in that number. Some even claim that the “seal” is actually the Old Testament Sabbath day (Saturday). And they think that worshiping on Sunday is the mark of the antichrist. But the Bible doesn’t say that at all.
Revelation 7:3-8 says: “…Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed thesealof God on the foreheads of His servants." And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 weresealed from all the tribes of Israel: from Judah, 12,000; from Reuben, 12,000; from Gad, 12,000; from Asher, 12,000; from Naphtali, 12,000; from Manasseh, 12,000; from Simeon, 12,000; from Levi, 12,000; from Issachar, 12,000; from Zebulun, 12,000; from Joseph, 12,000; from Benjamin, 12,000.” (NLT)
These verses make it very clear that God is not talking about a specific religious group or church, but rather “144,000 people from thetribes of ISRAEL.” God did not use figurative language here. Instead, he used several verses to list very specific names and very precise numbers in saying who it is. He said it was going to be 12,000 people from each of the Israelite tribes listed. During the tribulation, the church will already be gone, so God is going to use believers from Israel again to be his witnesses to the world. 12,000 people from each of those tribes will have a special mark of protection from God. We don’t know exactly who those people are, but we do know they will be ONLY from Israel, because God was very precise in naming those tribes and he knows exactly who is in each tribe that will be marked with a seal. The Sabbath day cannot be the mark of God or the mark of the antichrist as some people claim. The Bible says that the mark of the antichrist will be on their hands or foreheads (Revelation 13:16; Revelation 14:9), and people cannot put a day like Sunday on their foreheads! And besides, the antichrist’s mark will not be hidden or secret. It will be something out in the open and people will receive it willingly because they believe in the antichrist.
Also, the Bible is clear that we no longer need to worry about the law of the Sabbath or on which particular day we worship (Colossians 2:14-17).
Romans 7:4 says we who are in Christ have “died to the law…” (Romans 8:1; Romans 3:19-22)