Antichrist - Part 7
The Antichrist in Revelation
The revelation of St. John is mainly devoted to a description of the judgments that God will send upon the earth, reflecting His wrath to flow upon the lost gentiles and a portion of Israel. It allows us the most complete view of the tribulation period (the 70th week of Daniel) and presents a strong view of the work of the Antichrist in those last days.
This book reveals the work of the unholy trinity as well as the doom of this evil incarnate son of Satan.
We first meet this evil one in chapter six as we see the opening of the seals, that no man was worthy to open therefore only opened by the lamb of God.
Just as we have a fourfold view of Jesus on the four Gospels, we see a similar fourfold view of the counterfeit Jesus in the first four seals:
He imitates Christ in the first seal opening as he rides on a white horse with a bow but no arrows, reflecting bloodless victory. Remember he is presenting himself to the Jews for their acceptance, simulating the Prince of Peace. This first seal parallels Daniel 11:21-23.
He imitates Christ who is the mighty warrior on the second seal, for just as Christ will conquer all and make His enemies a footstool, now the Antichrist will begin to defeat all who defy him and slay them. The parallel is Isaiah 63:3. His horse is red.
He imitates Christ as the bread of life in the third seal as the controller of food. His horse is black, showing famine.
He imitates Christ with his power over a fourth of the earth as Jesus has power over all things on earth & heaven. Now this evil one is seen as the destroyer of men’s bodies and spirit through hunger. His horse is black, representing death.
We next meet this evil one in Revelation 9:11 where he is shown starting there as the king of the horrible locusts, the angel of the abyss, and the destroyer. Some teachers say the star seen falling in the first verse of chapter 9 is Lucifer sent to open the pit to allow the horrors to appear. We do see a prediction of this event in Joel 2, which prophecies the extent of these horrors.
In chapter 11, we see this evil one coming out of the bottomless pit to kill the two witnesses (temporarily) as they finish their witness. Here we see the name used as “The Beast”.
It is always interesting to take a moment when studying chapter 11 to ponder who we think are the two witnesses. There are many opinions and mine is that they are Enoch & Elijah because we are taught that to every man is appointed once to die, but scripture teaches us that these two were taken up without physical death so this death seen of the two would fulfill finally the promise of death to all men.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
Notice that these two witnesses lay dead three and a half days in the street, without burial, and then are revived by God to stand again and their enemies then saw them ascend to heaven by God’s command.
Our next major view of the evil one appears in chapter 13 where we see the view of the two beasts. Much opinion has been given on who is who among these two, but the largest leaning seems to be that the first is the actual Antichrist and the second is the false prophet who accompanies him. These two, plus Satan make up the unholy trinity, again a counterfeit group versus the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
We see in chapter 19 the true power of our savior as he defeats alone the armies of the evil son by the sharp sword of His word as the angel calls all the fowls of the air to come and feast upon the bodies from what is known as the supper of the great God and the armies of heaven attend the slaughter but observe only. These are His faithful believers, chosen from the foundation of the world. THESE ARE US !!!!!!!!
We are told in 19:19-20 that the two are cast into the lake of fire and in 20:10, the devil joins them there.
It makes sense to recall in conclusion of this part of our study the many powers that this evil one will demonstrate over his empire and the world left to his wonders after the rapture:
He conquered many in his thirst for power (13:7).
He made the image of himself appear to live and speak (13:15).
He caused many to receive his mark so they might buy or sell (13:17).
He brought fire down from above (13:13).
His ability to perform wonders is sure as is his ability to gather many followers to his side, perhaps millions.
In chapter 18 we view the destruction of Babylon, the center of iniquity, and in chapter 19 & 20 we see the ultimate destruction of the Antichrist and his false prophet, as well as the devil himself, all to remain in the lake of fire forever in torment. This event follows closely the release of Satan for a little season and is just before the second death, in which death itself and hell are also cast away into the lake of fire.
Now New Jerusalem appears with God wiping away all tears, with no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying nor pain. Former things are passed away and like the soul of each faithful believer, all is made new.
The first creation, light itself will no longer be needed (21:23) as the Lord will live with His own and be their light for eternity.
AMEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!