02.08. The Antichrist, His History and His Doom
VIII THE ANTICHRIST, HIS HISTORY AND HIS DOOM
I IN dealing with a subject of this kind, time spent in review is not always misspent. Therefore let us sweep the horizon once more, the better to relate the present mountain peak of prophecy to the rest of the range. We have seen:
(1) That God has a purpose of redemption for the race revealed in the promise of Eden that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.
(2) At a certain point in time, He called out the nation of Israel as an instrument in the execution of this promise.
(3) The failure of Israel to fulfill her mission has caused her to be set aside temporarily while the "times of the Gentiles" are in process.
(4) These times are to come to an end in catastrophic judgment by and by, at which time Israel will have been regathered to her own land and restored to fellowship with God in order to the renewal of her commission as His witness to the world. The millennial blessing follows.
(5) But now, while Israel is rejected and the“times of the Gentiles" are in their course, God is doing a new thing in the earth. He is calling out a people for His Name from all the nations. This people are being formed into the body of Christ, which, when its number is completed, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and to reign with Him over the millennial earth. To return now to those catastrophic judgments.Whenwill they fall upon the earth? What will be their character? And where, and in whom, will they be focused? To this last inquiry we address ourselves in this study. The prophet Daniel is our authority for saying that the Gentile nations, which in earlier times were federated under Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander and the Caesars, shall again be federated under a secular despot mightier and wickeder than they. He is described by him in Daniel 6:1-28 and Daniel 8:1-27 as a "little horn," in chapter Daniel 9:26 as a "prince" of the Roman people, and in chapter Daniel 11:36 as "the king." The details of the description indicate his intellectuality and boldness: "eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things." These "great things" are "words against the Most High," and he "shall wear out the saints of the Most High," and" think to change times and laws." "His power shall be mighty," and "he shall destroy wonderfully," and "through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand." His time will be "the time of the end,"i. e., as we learn from other Scriptures, the last seven years of the present age, during which time he will "make a firm covenant" with the Jews then residing in Jerusalem. This covenant he will break in the middle of that period and "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease"; he will deny the Jews liberty to worship God, and will set up his own image to be worshipped on a pinnacle of the restored temple. "Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." In other Old Testament Scriptures he is spoken of as "the king of Babylon," prouder even than Nebuchadnezzar--"I will be like the Most High" but he "shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:1-32; Micah 5:6). In Zechariah 11:15-17, he is spoken of as a shepherd, but a foolish and a worthless one, who "shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hoofs in pieces."
II The New Testament takes up the story of his career in the Gospels. It is a common opinion of expositors that our Lord refers to him in John 5:43, where, rebuking His fellow countrymen for their unbelief and rejection of Himself, He says: "I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." It is thus not improbable that this coming one may be a Jew, but in any event he will be accepted by restored Israel as their predicted Messiah. It is this fact which in a later writing of the New Testament gives him the title of“the Antichrist."
It is in the Olivet discourse of Matthew 24:1-51, however, that our Lord refers to him more particularly. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination or desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place" (Matthew 24:15). This "abomination of desolation" is none other than the wicked "prince" of Daniel 9:27, and the same "little horn," who shall have his image placed on a pinnacle of the temple where all may behold it, and who himselfon some occasion, or occasions, will be found sitting in the temple giving out that he himself is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). This allusion to Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians brings us to the next New Testament reference. In his first epistle to that church he had expatiated on the coming of Christ for His Church; but at this time a grievous persecution seems to have been raging in the city, and some of the Christians had come to believe that "the day of the Lord" had come. In other words, they thought they were already in the tribulation period, which a better intelligence doubtless would have led them to see could not be true while the Church was still on the earth. Moreover, they had been misled by a forged letter, as from Paul, that contributed to their error. The apostle is now seeking to correct this, and he tells them that that day shall not come until after the apostasy and "the man of sin (or lawlessness) be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above (or against) all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." A further description follows in the same chapter, in which it is said that his "coming is after the working of Satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." He will come to an end, however, for "the Lord shall consume him with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming." This may be as good a place as any to say that the common application of these words to the Pope does not fit. When he is carried into St. Peter’s, he may be seated somewhat higher than what is called the "tabernacle of the host"; but still, St. Peter’s is not the "temple of God." That temple was erected in Jerusalem by Solomon, according to the instruction of his father David, who said: "All this the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern" (1 Chronicles 28:19). And there it is to be reerected, according to the prophets; and there the "abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet" is yet to be seen.
It is the Apostle John who specifically calls this person the Antichrist. "Who is the liar," he exclaims, "but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ! This is the Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son" (1 John 2:22). Another evidence this is that the Pope is not he, for the Pope does not deny that Jesus is the Christ. On the contrary, he calls himself the "vicar of Christ," and in a way professes to exalt Him. He does not deny the virgin birth of Christ, but makes much of it rather, in the form of Mariolatry. Neither does he deny His atoning sacrifice, nor His resurrection, nor His coming again, though the Church he represents weakens these great facts and almost nullifies the doctrines they sustain by her traditions.
Indeed, Protestantism contains as many of the deadly elements of Antichristianism to-day as Roman Catholicism. It is time our eyes were opened to this fact. The destructive criticism of the Bible which began in Germany less than one hundred years ago, and which holds sway in so many of our Protestant theological seminaries at this time, and is voiced in so many of our Protestant pulpits and our religious periodicals, is doing as much as, if not more than, the Papacy to prepare the way for the coming of him whom humanity, in its blindness, will worship as the" Very God."
III
We now come to the book of Revelation. More is said about this being here than in any other part of the Bible. And the reason is that Revelation deals very particularly with the events upon the earth during the last seven years of this age, when the Antichrist will be revealed and have come into his great power. By many he is thought to be the rider of the white horse of Revelation 6:2, who goes forth "conquering and to conquer." He it is in Revelation 11:2, who is treading the holy city (Jerusalem) "under foot forty and two months," the latter half of the period of seven years. He it is who, "ascending out of the bottomless pit, shall make war" against God’s two witnesses in that holy city "and shall overcome and kill them."
He is the "beast" which John saw as revealed in Revelation 13:1-18, "coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." "And the dragon[i. e.,Satan] gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority." "And all the world wondered after the beast," saying, "Who is able to make war with him?" "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God." "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." The fact that this beast comes "up out of the sea identifies him with the vision of Daniel where he saw the four beasts come up out of the sea. The "sea" is commonly typical of the Gentile nations, and the particular sea in mind just now is doubtless the Mediterranean, the center, so to speak, of the former Roman Empire, and hence the center of what is called the prophetic earth. The "ten horns" are a further mark of identification, showing that the Roman Empire is referred to, not as it has been known during its entire existence, but as it shall be known in its last form.
The" seven heads" are a new feature not referred to in any earlier prophecy of the beast, but symbolizing, it is thought, the different forms of government in which the Roman Empire has existed, from the absolute monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar’s period to the constitutional monarchy and democracy of our own time. One of the heads was "as it were wounded to death," the prophet says, and "his deadly wound was healed." In other words, here is the renewal, as by Satanic power, of a certain form of government under which the Roman Empire once existed, but which had passed away. Itis this renewal that causes all the world to wonder, and to say, "Who is able to make war with him?" But this chapter also contains a revelation of another beast "coming up out of the earth." "He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." "And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast before him [or in his sight], and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast." "And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do." And he caused "that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." And" no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." "And his number is 666." This second beast comes up out of the "earth" rather than the "sea." If the sea symbolizes the Gentile nations, the earth possibly symbolizes Israel, so that this "false prophet," as he is called later on, may be a Jew, while the beast before whom he exercises his power maybe a Gentile. The first "beast" is the supreme civil or political power at the end of the age, but the second "beast" is the ecclesiastical power or what will stand for it at that time. His" two horns like a lamb" seem to set him off in contrast to Christ, but since "he spake as a dragon," it is evident that he is energized by Satan. Note the trinity of evil: The dragon, the beast, the false prophet! What a caricature of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Nor let it be forgotten that all this is in the name of religion. At the beginning of Gentile dominion, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, sought to ordain a public worship for all his subjects, by setting up his image to be worshipped, and here history repeats itself. "Nothing promotes discord among nations as diversity of religion." Hence, when the Roman Empire is once more federated politically, that federation will be sealed by what another aptly calls "a new common-sense, matter-of-fact sort of worship, obligatory upon everyone," and focused on the image of the beast, the great emperor himself. This is the abomination of desolation which will be set up in the Jewish temple, while perhaps facsimiles will be found in all the cathedrals and churches of Christendom in that day. And the second beast "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast." He deceives them by the miracles he does. Not pretended miracles, be it remembered, but real miracles. This is the time predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, when God shall send upon men strong delusion for their sin, that they should believe a lie; for while the miracles are real, the worship they sustain is false. And no insubordination will be tolerated. All must receive a mark, either on the hand or on the forehead. No man can buy or sell without it. This mark will be the name of the beast or the number of his name. That is, it may be expressed in letters, or in cabalistic numbers. In the Greek and Hebrew languages letters are used to express numbers as well as sounds.
"Putting aside vain guesses and efforts of ingenious men, the general idea of what this means is plain enough. Seven is God’s number in His present dealings with the world, while six is the utmost reach of man." This number is first mentioned in connection with man,i.e., in his creation on the sixth day, and, as Bullinger says, it thus becomes his "hall-mark," stamping everything with which it is used as belonging to him. God’s great human opponents have been so marked. Goliath was six cubits in height, his spear’s head weighed six shekels, and he had six pieces of armour. Nebuchadnezzar’s image was sixty cubits high and six broad, and six instruments of worship summoned its worshippers. But the great significance of this number, as Bullinger says further, is its symbolical use in the ancient pagan mysteries. And SSS, or 666, is still "the secret connecting link between them and their revival in spiritism and theosophy, which aim at the union of all religions in one."
"Here is wisdom," as the inspired prophet says. "He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast." It were as though he went on to add: Let not the faithful remnant be afraid; great and awful as his power is, he is not God, though he shows himself to be so. After all, his number is but “the number of a man."
IV
It is when we come to Revelation 17:1-18 and Revelation 19:1-21, that we perceive the doom of the" beast" and the "false prophet," together with the events immediately leading up to it. The former is depicted as "scarlet coloured," and he has a woman seated upon him. This "woman" is subsequently interpreted to symbolize" that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth," and "over peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." The city is then identified by the name written on the woman’s forehead as "Babylon the Great," meaning, as many believe, the same old Babylon (see Revelation 10:1-11) on the plain of Shinar, revived at the end of this age as the localized seat of power, or throne, of the Antichrist. As she is sitting on the beast, it means that the Antichrist is supporting her in all that she holds of blasphemy and idolatry and intoxication "with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." The record goes on to show the transfer of the power and strength of the ten kings unto the "beast, " "for God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." From one point of view, this is Satan’s work; and yet God ruleth over all, and He "shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11), and so surrender themselves to the Antichrist. These then make war with the Lamb, but are overcome. It is the battle of Armageddon that is here referred to, in which the beast is taken, and with him the false prophet, and "these both were cast alive into the lake of fire" (Revelation 19:20). The rest of the army which they led were ordinary men, and their dead bodies were eaten by the fowls of the air, for there was none to bury them. But these two, while also men, were nevertheless superhuman men. They came up out of the abyss and cannot now be slain as mortals (Bullinger); hence they are east alive into the "lake of fire." And there are they still found alive at the close of the millennium (Revelation 20:10).
QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON 1.Review the lessons thus far.
2. To what inquiry are we addressing ourselves in this lesson?
3. What Old Testament prophet is our first guide?
4. For what future event is he authority?
5. Have you read the chapters in Daniel to which the lesson refers?
6. Describe the wicked person therein predicted.
7. Identify his period and his “covenant."
8. What other Old Testament prophets allude to him, and in what way?
9. How does our Lord refer to him as recorded by John?
10. What title of him does this warrant?
11. What is he called in Matthew 24:1-51, and why?
12. Read carefully, and expound 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17.
13. Why do not these words fit the history of the Roman pontiff?
14. What is there in Protestantism to be feared, and why?
15. With what does the book of Revelation chiefly deal?
16. Trace this wicked person through the chapters of that book.
17. How does Revelation thus become identified with the book of Daniel in the history of this person?
18. Read carefully and expound Revelation 13:1-10.
19. Describe the second "beast" revealed in this chapter.
20. How are the two differentiated?
21. What is the office of the second beast and how will it be accomplished?
22. What, according to Bullinger, is the significance of 666?
23. What warning does this bring us against the demand for a "universal" religion?
24. What chapters in Revelation reveal the doom of the" beast" and the" false prophet"?
25. What city does the "scarlet-coloured woman" symbolize?
26. What wicked prominence is reserved for that city?
27. What explains the action of the kings of the federated Roman Empire in giving over their power to the" beast"?
28. In what great battle will they be overcome?
29. What is the doom of the "beast" and the "false prophet "?