We now come to the most
interesting and yet the most difficult part of our subject.
When will the Antichrist be manifested? where will he appear?
what will he do? are questions which readily occur to all who
have given any thought to the matter. It is not our purpose
to seek to satisfy the idly curious, still less is it to
gratify those who love the sensational. We are well aware
that our present theme is one that appeals strongly to the
curiously inclined, and were it not for the importance of our
inquiry we would leave it alone. But without due regard to
the person and place of the coming Superman, it is impossible
to understand the eschatology of either the Old or New
Testaments.
The chief difficulty is to
arrange in chronological sequence the many passages which
treat of the Antichrist. It is by no means easy to discover
the precise order in which the prophecies which deal with the
Man of Sin will receive their fulfillment. There is great
need for much prayerful study along this line. We can only
write according to the light we now have, and our readers
must examine for themselves what we say in the light of the
Scriptures. It ill becomes any one to be dogmatic where the
Word itself does not plainly state the exact time when
certain prophecies are to be fulfilled.
In this chapter we are placed
somewhat at a disadvantage, because we shall be obliged to
give brief expositions of many scriptures where it will be
impossible for us to pause and furnish proofs or reasons for
each interpretation. For example, it is our firm conviction
that the Assyrian of Isa. 10, the king of Babylon of Isa. 14,
the Little Horn of Dan. 7, the Little Horn of Dan. 8, and the
first Beast of Rev. 13, each and all view the Antichrist
himself in different relationships. There are some Bible
students who may take issue with us on these points, and
complain because that in this chapter we make assertions
without endeavoring to prove them. We regret this, but would
ask all to bear with us patiently. In the later chapters of
this book we shall devote separate studies to the Antichrist
in the Psalms, in the Prophets, in the Gospels and Epistles,
and in the Apocalypse; when we shall endeavor to examine each
passage separately and attempt to give scriptural proofs for
every interpretation adopted.
While it is admittedly
difficult, and perhaps impossible, to fit each prophecy
concerning the Antichrist into its proper chronological
place, we are able to determine the relative position of most
of them. The career of the Antichrist is divided into two
distinct parts, and there is a clearly defined dividing line
between them. In previous chapters we have pointed out how
that the name "Antichrist" has a double meaning,
signifying one who imitates Christ, and one who is opposed to
Christ. This double meaning to his name corresponds exactly
with the two chief parts in his career. In the first, he
poses as the true Christ, claiming to be indeed the Messiah
of Israel. This claim will be backed up with the most
imposing credentials, and all excepting God's elect will
be deceived. He will sit in the Temple (a rebuilt temple in
Jerusalem) showing himself forth to be God, and Divine honors
will be paid him. But at a later stage he will throw off his
mask, and appear in his true character as the opponent of
Christ and the defier of God. Then, instead of befriending
the Jews, he will turn against them and seek to exterminate
them from the earth. Thus, with many of the scriptures which
describe the person and career of the Antichrist it is a
comparatively easy matter to decide whether they belong to
the first or to the second stage of his history. But beyond
this it is difficult, with some scriptures at least to
go.
We shall now consider, first
the time of Antichrist's appearing. It is hardly
necessary for us to enter into a lengthy argument to show
that the Antichrist (as such) has not already appeared. Many
antichrists have already come and gone, and some are in the
world even now; the same is equally true of the many false
prophets foretold in Scripture; but all of these are but the
forecasts and foreshadowings of the Antichrist and the False
Prophet, who are yet to be revealed, and who will receive
their final overthrow by the Lord Jesus at His return to the
earth. Before the Antichrist can appear the Holy Spirit must
be "taken out of the way" (2 Thess. 2:7); the old
Roman Empire must be revived and assume its final form -
divided under ten kings" - before the "Little
Horn" comes into prominence (Dan. 7:24 - he rises
"after them"): Israel must be restored to their
land and the Temple be rebuilt, etc., etc.
At the present time the
ultimate development of "the Mystery of Iniquity"
is being hindered. God's people are the salt of the
earth, and their presence here stays the corruption of the
"carcass" (Matt. 24:28 - The "Carcass" is
the antithesis of the "Body" of Christ). The saints
are the light of the world, and while they remain in it is
impossible for darkness to cover the earth and gross darkness
the people (Isa. 60:2). The Spirit of God is here, indwelling
believers, and His holy presence checks the final outworking
of Satan's plans. But when all believers of this
dispensation have been "caught up to meet the Lord in
the air" (1 Thess. 4:16), and the Holy Spirit has
departed from the earth, all restraint will be removed, and
Satan will be allowed to bring forth his false christ, who
will be "revealed in his time" (2 Thess. 2:6), and
it would seem that even now signs are not wanting to show
that God has already given permission to Satan to prepare the
stage of action for the ghastly consummation of his evil
efforts. There can be no doubt but that the Devil has desired
to reveal the Son of Perdition long before this, so that by
means of him he may reduce the whole world to submission. But
the restraining hand of God, now so soon to be removed, has
held him back.
The time, then, when the
Antichrist will be revealed is after this present
Dispensation of Grace has run its course; after the Mystical
Body of Christ has been completed; after the whole company of
God's people have been caught up to meet the Lord in the
air; after the Holy Spirit has departed from the world. How
soon after we cannot say for certain. The majority of
prophetic students seems to think that the last great Caesar
will come into prominence almost immediately after the
rapture of the saints. Personally, we believe there will be
an interval, long or short, between the two. As there was a
period of thirty years after the birth of the Lord Jesus - a
period of silence - before His public ministry commenced, so
there may be a similar interval between the Rapture and the
Revelation of Antichrist.
The Antichrist will enter the
arena of public affairs before the beginning of Daniel's
seventieth week, for at the beginning of it he makes a
seven-years covenant with the Jews, then in their land. But
at that point he will be the Dictator of the world's
policies, and as he begins in comparative obscurity (at least
from a governmental standpoint), some time - probably years -
must be allowed for his gradual rise to political supremacy.
His meteoric course will not be terminated until the Lord
Himself descends to earth to usher in the Millennium. Just as
the reign of Saul preceded that of David, so shall that of
Antichrist antedate that of the true Christ.
We turn now to consider the
place of Antichrist's appearing. So far as the writer is
aware there are only two scriptures which give direct
information upon this point, and they are each found in the
prophecy of Daniel. We refer to the passages which speak of
"the Little Horn". In Dan. 7:7,8 we read,
"After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, a
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly;
and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and break in pieces,
and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was
diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had
ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up
among them another little horn". This fourth Beast is
the last world-empire, prior to the setting up of the
Messianic kingdom. This empire will, at first, be ruled over
by ten kings - the "ten horns" of v.7 and defined
as ten kings in v. 24. After them arises another, the
"Little Horn", which signifies another
"king', see v. 24. He is termed "little"
because at that stage his kingdom is but small compared with
that of the others, and the power he then wields is
insignificant when contrasted from the ten kings. But not for
long will he remain weak and insignificant. Soon the ten
kings will themselves own allegiance to this eleventh - see
Rev. 17: 12,13. We reserve for a later chapter the proofs
that this "Little Horn' is the Antichrist, asking
our readers to study carefully the description furnished of
him in Dan. 7:8, 20-27; 8:9-12, 23-25.
Taking it for granted (at the
moment) that the Little Horn of Dan. 7 is the Antichrist let
us see how what is there said of him helps us to determine
the quarter from which he will arise. In Dan. 7:7 the
"fourth Beast" is described, and in 7:23 we are
told, "the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it
in pieces". This Kingdom will be divided into ten parts,
over which will be the ten kings (7:24). This kingdom will
be, we believe, the old Roman Empire revived in its final
form, and divided into two great halves - the Eastern and the
Western. This fourth kingdom will include within itself all
the territory and will perpetuate all the dominant
characteristics of the other three which have preceded it,
i.e. the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and Grecian. Turning
now to Dan. 7:8 we are told, "I considered the horns,
and, behold, there came up among them another little
horn". The Antichrist, then, will have his rise within
the limits of the old Roman Empire. This narrows considerably
our circle of inquiry. The next question is, Can we determine
from which part of the empire he will arise - the Eastern or
the Western? Dan. 8 furnishes light upon this point.
In Dan. 8:8,9 we read,
"Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was
strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four
notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one
of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding
great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the
pleasant land". Now v. 21 of this same chapter tells us,
"The rough goat is the king (kingdom) of Grecia",
and v. 22 informs us "and the great horn that is between
his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas
four stood up for it, four kingdoms (or kings) shall stand up
out of the nation". This, of course, refers to the act
of Alexander the Great who divided his kingdom into four
parts - Greece, Egypt, Syria, and the rest of the domains of
Turkey - under his four great generals: Ptolemy, Cassander,
Lysimachus, and Seleucus. This, again, very appreciably
narrows our circle of inquiry. Dan. 7 tells us the Little
Horn is to arise in a part of the territory covered by the
old Roman Empire, which Empire gradually included within its
domains that the the preceding empires. Now here in Dan. 8 we
learn that the Little Horn will spring from that part of the
revived Roman Empire which was included in the Grecian
Empire. But this is not all that Dan. 8 tells us. The Grecian
Empire is here viewed as disintegrated into four parts or
kingdoms, from which of these parts, then, may we expect him
to issue - Macedonia, Egypt, Syria, or Thrace? This question,
we believe, receives answer in Dan. 8:( where we are told,
that the Little Horn "waxed exceeding great toward the
south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant
land". Practically all students are agreed that
"the south" here refers to Egypt, the
"east" to Persia and Greece and "the pleasant
land' to Palestine, hence it would seem that the country
from which Antichrist will first be manifested is Syria. It
will be noted that nothing is said in Dan. 8:9 about the
Little Horn "waxing great" toward the north, and we
believe the reason for this is because that is the quarter
from whence he shall arise. This is confirmed by the fact
that "the king of Assyria" in Isa. 10:12 is clearly
none other than the Antichrist. We may say this was the
current view of Christian writers on prophecy through the
first ten centuries A.D. The late Mr. W. B. Newton in his
splendid "Aids to the Study of Prophetic Inquiry"
has succinctly summarized the various arguments of the
ancients in the following language: -
"In the first place, as
Nimrod - the founder of Babel, that is, the Tower of Babylon
- a savage tyrant and cruel oppressor of men, was the first
person who declared open war against God; so it is meet that
there should arise from the selfsame Babylon, the last and
most atrocious persecutor of the saints - the Antichrist.
Moreover, seeing that Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus Epiphanes
- two monsters who bore down upon the people of God with an
overwhelming power of destruction, and who were the
antichrists of the old Testament and remarkable types of the
Antichrist which is to come; seeing, I say, that these
monarchs reigned in Babylon, it is fitting that the true
Antichrist of the New Testament should arise from the same
Babylon.
"Besides, no place can be
pointed out more meet for the nativity of Antichrist than
Babylon, for it is the City of the Devil - always
diametrically opposed to Jerusalem, which is deemed the City
of God; the former city, that is, Babylon, being the mother
and disseminator of every kind of confusion, idolatry,
impiety - a vast sink of every foul pollution, crime, and
iniquity - the first city in the world which cut itself off
from the worship of the true God - which reared the city of
universal vice, - which perpetually (according to the record
of Holy Writ) carries on the mystery of iniquity, and bears
imprinted on her brow the inscription of blasphemy against
the name of God. The consummation, therefore, of impiety,
which is to have its recapitulation in Antichrist, could not
break forth from a more fitting place than Babylon".
Having dwelt at some length on
the time and the place of the Antichrist's appearing, we
shall attempt to give now a brief outline of the leading
events in his career. We have seen that the scriptures which
help us to determine the direction from which he will arise,
speak of him under the title of the Little Horn. Now the
first thing this title denotes is that he is a king, king of
Assyria. Some, no doubt, will wonder how a Jew will succeed
in obtaining the throne of Syria. Several answers might be
suggested, such, for example, as heading a successful
rebellion - the spectacle of an obscure plebeian speedily
rising to the rank of national Dictator, has been forcibly
exhibited before our own eyes in Russia. But on this point we
are not left to speculation. Dan. 11:21 tells us that the
"Vile Person" will come in peaceably, and obtain
the kingdom by flatteries. With this agrees Rev. 6:2, where
the Antichrist is seen riding a white war-horse, and with bow
in hand, but with no arrow fitted to it. The symbol suggests
bloodless victories.
As soon as this Jew acquires
the crown of Syria he will speedily enlarge his dominions. As
Rev. 6:2 tells us, he will go forth "conquering and to
conquer", and as we are told further in Hab. 2:5,
"He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who
enlarged his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be
satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth
unto him all people". The first thing which is predicted
of him (as "the Little Horn") is that "he
shall subdue three kings" (Dan. 7:24). As to what kings
these may be, appears to be intimated in Dan. 8:9 where we
are told, "And out of one of them came forth a little
horn, which waxed exceeding great toward the south, and
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land". He waxes
great first toward the south, that is, most probably, by a
victorious expedition into Egypt. Next, he is seen moving
toward the east, reducing, to what extent we are not told,
the dominions of Persia and Greece; finally he turns his face
toward the pleasant land, which is Palestine. Without being
dogmatic, we would suggest that the three kings he subdues
are those of Egypt, Persia, and Greece.
Having subdued the three kings
by his military prowess a "league" is made with him
(see Dan. 11:23). Probably it is the remaining seven kings of
the revived Roman Empire, plus the three vassals of the
Antichrist who take the place of the kings he had deposed,
that enter into this League with the Little horn, or king of
Assyria; but he shall work deceitfully, and shall become
strong with a small people (Dan. 11:23). So strong does he
become that in a short time he rises to political supremacy,
and the whole of the ten kings shall "give their kingdom
unto the Beast". (Rev. 17:17), and he will then be
recognized as the imperial Emperor. Thus as King of kings he
will dictate the policies of Europe and Asia.
"The Little Horn will
revive in himself all the personified glory of Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. And let not this be regarded as
an event incredible. We are to remember that Antichrist will
be Satan's masterpiece; furnished with every auxiliary of
influence and wealth, for wresting the sceptre from the hands
of Him who won it by His humiliation of the Cross. Thus it is
said he will `resist the God of gods'. The accumulated
and restored honors of each royal successor are thus to crown
the brow of this last and greatest of Gentile monarchs. And
so shall he stand in his unrivalled magnificence till the
Stone shall smite him and his power, and grind all to
powder" (Mrs. G. Needham).
After the Antichrist has
acquired the political sovereignty of the prophetic earth he
will then enter upon his religious role, claiming to be the
Christ of God and demanding Divine honors. At first sight it
appears strange, if not incongruous, that a military despot
should be found filling the character of a religious
impostor. But history shows that there is a point at which
one character readily merges into the other. Political
ambition, intoxicated by success, finds it an easy step from
self-glorification to self-deification, and the popular
infatuation as easily passes from the abject adulation of the
tyrant to the adoration of the god. Or again; a religious
impostor, encouraged by the ascendancy he has acquired over
the minds of men, grasps the sceptre of secular power and
becomes the most arbitrary of despots. Rev. 13:4 makes it
plain that the military prowess of the Antichrist first
induces men to render him Divine homage: "And they
worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the Beast: and
they worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the
Beast? who is able to make war with him?" But no
ordinary honors will suffice him. His religious ambitions are
as insatiable as his political, for he will "oppose and
exalt himself above 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" (2 Thess. 2:4). This
claim to be God Himself, incarnate, will be backed up by
imposing credentials, for his coming will be, "after the
working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying
wonders" (2 Thess. 2:9). These miracles will be no mere
pretenses, but prodigies of power.
The Jews, previously returned
to Palestine, and with temple in Jerusalem rebuilt, will
receive this Son of Perdition as their long-promised
Messiah" (John 5:43). In imitation of the true Christ
who will, at His return to the earth, "make a new
covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of
Judah" (Heb. 8:8, compare Jer. 31 and Ezek. 36), the
Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews (see Dan. 9:27
and 11:22). Under a seven years' treaty, and in the guise
of friendship, he will gain ascendancy in Jerusalem, only
later to throw off the mask and break the covenant.
About seven months after the
Antichrist, the "Prince" (i.e. of the Roman Empire)
of Dan 9:27 has made the Covenant with the Jews he will begin
to "practice" in Jerusalem (Dan. 8:24). This we
believe is the explanation of the two thousand three hundred
days of Dan. 8:14 which has puzzled so many of the
commentators. This two thousand three hundred days is the
whole period during which the false messiah will practice in
Jerusalem and have power over the "sanctuary": two
thousand three hundred days is seven years less seven months
and ten days.
There, in Jerusalem, he will
pose as the Christ of God, the Prince of Peace. The world
will suppose that the long looked- for Millennium has
arrived. There will be every indication that the eagerly
desired Golden Age has, at last, dawned. The great Powers of
Europe and Asia will have been united under the ten-kingdomed
Empire. It will be expected that the League of Nations
guarantees the peace of the earth. For a season quietness and
amity will prevail. None will dare to oppose the mighty
Emperor. But not for long will the hideous war-spectre hide
himself. Soon will the "white horse" of Rev. 6 be
found to change his hue. A "red horse" will go
forth, and then "peace shall be taken from the
earth" (Rev. 6). At the very time the world is
congratulating itself that all is well, and the slogan of the
hour is "Peace and Safety", then "sudden
destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thess. 5:3).
In the midst of the seven
years the Antichrist will throw off his mask, break his
covenant with Israel, and stand forth as the most daring
idolater who has ever trodden this earth. After he has
"practiced" in Jerusalem for two years and five
months, he will take away the daily sacrifice (Dan. 8:11;
9:27) from the Temple, and in its place rear an image to
himself in the holy place, which is the "abomination of
desolation" referred to by Christ (see Matt. 24:15).
This brings us to the great
dividing line in his career, to which reference was made near
the beginning of this chapter. It is a point not only of
interest but of considerable importance to ascertain what it
is that causes this startling change of front, from posing as
the true Christ to that of the open defier of God. There are
several scriptures which throw light on this point. Satan
will cause the Man of Sin to crown his daring imitation of
the Christ of God by being slain and rising again from the
dead.
Both the Old and the New
Testaments refer to the death of the Antichrist, and
attribute it to the sword. In Rev. 13:14 we read that the
false Prophet shall say to them that dwell on the earth that
they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound
by the sword and did live. In harmony with this we read in
Zech. 11:17, "Woe to the Idol Shepherd that leaveth the
flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right
eye". It is to be noted that before we read that
"the sword shall be" upon him, we are told that he
"leaveth the flock", and the previous verse tells
us that he was raised up "in the land", which can
only mean that he was ruling in Palestine. Hence it is clear
that he leaves the Land before he receives his death wound by
the sword. In perfect accord with this is what we read in
Isa. 37:6,7 (in a later chapter we shall treat at length of
the future Babylon, restored; the connection of Antichrist
with it, and the typical and prophetical significance of Isa.
37 and 38); "Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and
he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I
will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
land".
Leaving Palestine, the
Antichrist will "return to his own land", that is,
the land of his nativity - Assyria - which confirms what we
have said previously about Assyria being the country where
Antichrist will first be manifested. There, in his own land,
he will fall by the sword. Most probably he will be slain
there by his political enemies, envious of his power and
chafing under his haughty autocracy. In death he will be
hated and dishonored, and burial will be refused him. It is
to this that Isa. 14 (speaking of the King of Babylon, see
v.4) refers: "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an
abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are
slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the
stones of the pit. As a carcass trodden under feed, thou
shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast
destroyed thy land, and slain thy people" (vv. 19,20).
But his enemies will suddenly be filled with consternation
and then admiration for to their amazement this one slain by
the sword shall rise from the dead, and his deadly wound will
be healed - note how this is implied in Isa. 14, for v. 25
shows him once more in the land of the living, only to meet
his final doom at the hands of the Lord Himself. It is to
this amazing resurrection of the Antichrist that Rev. 13:3,4
refers: "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded
to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world
wondered after the Beast. And they worshipped the Dragon
which gave power unto the Beast: saying, Who is like unto the
Beast? who is able to make war with him?" Details of his
resurrection are supplied in Rev. 9, from which we gather
that just as Christ was raised from the dead by God the
Father, so the Antichrist will be raised from the dead by his
father the Devil, see v. 1 where the fallen "Star",
which refers to Satan, is given the "key to the
bottomless pit", and when this is happened there comes
out of it the mysterious "locusts" whose king is
the Destroyer (v. 11), the Antichrist.
A further reference to the
resurrection of the Antichrist, his coming forth from the
Bottomless Pit, is found in Rev. 17:8: "The Beast that
thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
Bottomless Pit, and go into Perdition: and they that dwell on
the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the
book of life from the foundation of the world, when they
behold the Beast that was, and is not, and yet is". It
is to be noted that the earth-dwellers wonder when they
behold the Beast that was (alive), and is not (now alive),
and yet is (raised again). The world will then be presented
with the spectacle of a man raised from the dead. All know
him, for his career and amazing progress were eagerly
watched; his wonderful achievements and military campaigns
were the subject of daily interest; his transcendent genius
elicited their admiration. They had witnessed his death. They
stood awe-struck, no doubt, at the downfall of this King of
kings. And now he is made alive; his wound of death is
healed; and the whole world wonders, and worships him.
It is about this time,
apparently, that the "False Prophet" (Rev.
13:11-16), the third person in the Trinity of Evil will
appear on the scene. From a number of scriptures it is
evident that the Antichrist will not spend all his time in
Palestine during the last three and a half years of his
career. It seems that shortly after the middle of the
"week" the Beast will turn his face again toward
Babylon, leaving the False Prophet to act as his vicegerent,
compelling all in Jerusalem to worship the image of the Beast
under pain of death (Rev. 13:15). It is to be noted that Hab.
2:5 tells us that the Antichrist is "a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlarged his desire as hell,
and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto
him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people".
The reason for the
Antichrist's return to Babylon is not far to seek. Having
thrown off his mask of religious pretension, he now stands
forth as the Defier of God. His first move now will be to
blot out from the earth everything that bears His name. To
accomplish this the Jewish race must be utterly exterminated,
and to this end he will put forth all his power to banish
Israel from the earth. He will make war with the saints (the
Jewish saints) and prevail against them (Dan. 7:21; 8:24):
this is the going forth of the "red horse" of Rev.
6:4.
Those of the godly remnant who
are left will "flee to the mountains" (Matt.
24:16), and there they will be hunted like partridges. It is
then they will cry, "Keep not Thou silence, O God: hold
not Thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, Thine
enemies make a tumult: and they that hate Thee have lifted up
the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people,
and consulted against Thy hidden ones. They have said, Come,
and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the
name of Israel may be no more in remembrance" (Psa.
83:1-4). Then, because many of the Jews will be found in that
day dwelling in Babylon (see Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; Rev. 18:4)
the Antichrist will go thither to wreak his vengeance upon
them. But not for long will he be suffered to continue his
blasphemous and bloody course. Soon will heaven respond to
the cries of the faithful remnant of Israel, and terrible
shall be the punishment meted out on their last enemy. This,
however, must be left for consideration in our next chapter,
when we shall treat of the last days and doom of the
Antichrist.