Section A: The Antichrist and End-time Judgements
Prophecies on the last days should not be considered in isolation but seen as the end-time culmination of an age-old war in the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. These two kingdoms exerted their influence on the world from unseen spiritual realms, but in the end-time they will both be physically revealed. These revelations will begin with the appearance of the Antichrist as king in Satan’s world empire, while Christ will make His appearance as the King of kings on the Mount of Olives seven years later, to destroy His enemies and rule the world from Jerusalem.
From a study of world religions it is evident that they all share the expectation of a great spiritual leader who will appear on the scene to reform and unite the world. Within the framework of this expectation, the devil will send a political/religious world leader to further deceive humanity on their way to perdition.
Globalism will be the basic ideology of the coming world government of the Antichrist. Various forms of globalism are currently established as postmodern reforms, thereby preparing the way for the appearance of this treacherous world leader.
The Bible mentions specific signs of the times, by which the Lord warns end-time humanity against deception as well as great judgements that will be poured out upon the world. That will happen during the day of the Lord, an ominous period that will coincide with the seven-year reign of the Antichrist.
The times of the Gentiles will be terminated on the day of Christ’s second coming when He will take over the kingdoms of the world (Rev. 11:15), restore Israel’s kingdom and reign from the throne of David (Acts 15:16-17). The literal nature of these world reforming events calls for an equally literal interpretation of the prophecies which announce their fulfilment. The spiritualising and allegoric interpretation of biblical prophecies leads to tremendous confusion and uncertainty on what the end-time holds.
1. The War Between Two Kingdoms
If we wish to gain a deeper understanding of the dramatic end-time confrontation between the kingdoms of God and Satan, we should review the antagonism and hostility which existed between them since the beginning of time. Within this wide perspective it will be evident how these opposing spiritual powers operated throughout the ages, and how this serious conflict is now escalating towards its final and decisive stage.
The kingdom of darkness is a reality of which each of us should take notice since we are all involved in a war against it. This war started in prehistoric times when Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven. God said to Lucifer: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. ... You became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God. ... Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour; I cast you to the ground” (Ezek. 28:15-17).
In the book of Isaiah, the Lord gives more information on the casting out of the devil: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit” (Isa. 14:12-15).
Lucifer was cast out of heaven together with a third of the angels (Rev. 12:4). The consequences of Lucifer’s eviction from heaven were enormous. He used his vast powers and large following to wage war against God’s kingdom by destroying His works of creation. This declaration of war finally rendered him Satan, the adversary of God. Since the creation of Adam and Eve he was, and still is, intent on deceiving people who were created in the image of God, thereby alienating them from God and transforming them into habitual sinners who are conformed to his own, evil character.
The war between these two kingdoms occurs largely in the spiritual realm, and for that reason we should learn how to use spiritual weapons against the enemy and his methods of deception. Paul says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against a spiritual enemy in the air (Eph. 6:12). To the Corinthians he says: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
With all his might, Satan strives to prevent fallen humanity from restoring their broken relationship with God through repentance and faith. Wherever relationships established in faith exist between God and His people he relentlessly attacks the faith of these believers. Satan primarily makes use of spiritual deception as well as negative experiences aimed at undermining, weakening and even destroying people’s faith in God. He has achieved such astounding success with these efforts that all dispensations in human history have ended in large-scale apostasy. These rebellious situations gave rise to dramatic interventions by the Lord, during which the followers of Satan were judged, while new phases were introduced in the progressive unfolding of God’s plan for humanity.
According to biblical prophecies, demonic intervention will cause all future dispensations to also end in unbelief among the majority of humanity. The culmination of unbelief and spiritual deception will occur during the coming reign of the Antichrist. Let us consider from historical as well as prophetic sources the extent of demonic attacks on faith and ensure that we do not, like thousands of other people, depart from the faith and end up as victims of deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1):
1. The dispensation of innocence in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had no knowledge of good and evil. They walked in the garden, had a trusting relationship with God and believed what He had told them. With great cunning Satan deceived Adam and Eve into rebelling against God by disobeying Him. He disguised himself as a snake and sowed the seeds of unbelief in their hearts. God had commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning them that they would surely die if they did (Gen. 2:17). Satan deceived Eve by alleging that she and Adam would not die when eating the fruit but instead become all-knowing and immortal like God (Gen. 3:4-5). These are the same lies still being proclaimed today by the New Age Movement: humans can discover their own divinity and through reincarnation they will become immortal.
Satan’s lies had far-reaching consequences when Adam and Eve’s relationship of faith in God, who is the giver of life, was broken. They immediately died spiritually, while physically they became mere mortal beings. Instead of obedience to God they now became subservient to a foreign god – the devil. By this means they acquired a fallen nature which was also inherited by all their descendants (Rom. 5:12). This original sin accounts for the fact that all people are born as sinners. If they are not regenerated by Christ they remain under the control of the god of this age, thereby heading for eternal death (Rom. 5:13-19).
Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their unbelief, and the dispensation of innocence ended in a great tragedy for all of humanity.
2. The dispensation of conscience. God enabled fallen humanity to distinguish between good and evil through their conscience. They could communicate with God through prayers and sacrifices, thereby establishing a relationship with Him. They had the ability to make moral choices between good and evil lifestyles. The Lord said to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). However, the inclination to sin got the upper hand. All people, Noah and his family being the one and only exception, degenerated into a lifestyle of total infidelity and apostasy. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). People were so utterly corrupt that they became perpetual enemies of God, evoking His anger. Scoffing at prophetic warnings through Noah’s preaching they hardened their evil hearts even further.
The unbelief and moral depravity with which this dispensation ended gave rise to a major intervention by God in which He poured out His wrath upon the wicked and destroyed all of them: “And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark” (Gen. 6:13-14). Already at this early stage of human history it was obvious that God does not judge the righteous with the wicked, as Noah and his family escaped the judgements.
3. The dispensation of human government after the Flood. This stage of human history was characterised by the forming of peoples with independent rulers. They had the choice whether to serve God or not. By their own choice they all developed into heathen nations who worshipped idols. By building the tower of Babel they endeavoured to establish a heathen world government under the leadership of a king who deified himself. God defeated their effort by the confusion of languages, after which event the different peoples (or nations) continued with their idolatry and unbelief in the true God.
The Lord revealed Himself in this spiritually dark situation by calling for Himself a special people from among the heathen nations, who were to be a holy and separated people. They were called Israel. Unfortunately, they did not live up to their spiritual calling. During a severe drought they were forced to move to Egypt where they apostatised and became the slaves of the heathen Egyptians. Nowhere in the world was there any group of people left who still believed in God and served Him.
4. The dispensation of the law. The Lord introduced a new dispensation by delivering Israel from Egypt so that they could serve Him as a holy and independent people in the Promised Land. He gave them His law and also guided, strengthened and blessed them through the priestly service in the tabernacle. He gave clear instructions to Israel not to mix with heathen nations seeing that they would spiritually defile themselves with the idolatry of these nations.
Tragically, Israel’s long history in the Old Testament was mainly characterised by apostasy, disobedience to the law, unbelief in the true God, and the worshipping of idols. God often surrendered them to their enemies, and at one stage allowed them to be taken captive by the Babylonians for 70 years. Despite all the chastising, Israel often backslid into sin and unbelief; consequently, they rejected and even killed some of God’s prophets. Because of their hardened hearts God sent no further prophets to them during the long period of 400 years after Malachi. The Chosen People of God had lapsed into spiritual darkness and unbelief.
5. The dispensation of the church. With the birth of the Messiah a great light shone upon a people who walked in darkness. “That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:9-11). In New Testament times, a major revelation of God and His kingdom occurred during the coming of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Many people came to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit’s work of convicting people of their sin, as well as spiritually regenerating those who put their trust in Christ for salvation. Because of Israel’s unbelief in the Messiah, the Great Commission was given to preach the gospel to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. In this way the worldwide church of Christ was established.
The extended revelation of God’s kingdom in the New Testament coincided with increased knowledge of Satan and his kingdom. The struggle between these two kingdoms took on a new dimension as the devil strives with every effort to prevent people from having faith in Christ as their Saviour. The faith of those who have already accepted Christ is severely attacked in an effort to corrupt, weaken or even destroy it. Because of this intensified battle, active resistance against Satan and his subversive works is called for.
Many of the early believers, at their own peril, did not comply with this command. Paul said to the Corinthians, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you put up with it well” (2 Cor. 11:3-4). The Galatians also deviated from true faith by trying to combine law and grace. Apart from faith in Christ they also subjected themselves to the law by observing the Sabbath and having themselves circumcised. Paul said, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). He strongly denounced any effort to proclaiming false gospels, declaring those who do so as being accursed (Gal. 1:8).
Believers know from their own experience that the faith of Christians is relentlessly attacked by Satan. If they don’t resist the devil these demonic attacks can have devastating effects on their spiritual lives. Paul admonished Timothy to have “faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” (1 Tim. 1:19).
Because of large-scale deception the early Christian church became unfaithful to the Lord, adhering to various false doctrines (cf. Rev. 2 & 3). The light of the gospel was extinguished and spiritual darkness set in, leading up to the thousand years known as the Dark Ages. This period (the 6th to the 16th centuries) is often referred to as Satan’s millennium since it was characterised by the widespread spiritual deception perpetuated by the Vatican. During this time there were only small groups of persecuted evangelical Christians, e.g. the Waldenses in Italy, who took refuge in caves high up in the mountains against the so-called ‘holy armies’ of the pope.
After the Church Reformation in the 16th century many of the Protestant churches followed the Roman Catholic idea of a state church with powers to persecute and even execute heretics. The true Christians (e.g. the Anabaptists) also suffered under them. It was only in the 18th and 19th centuries when great revivals took place in which missionaries came forward to preach the gospel everywhere in the world. The 20th century was again a time of widespread falling away in the world – not because of materialism and the human-centred ideologies of socialism and humanism only, but also by the proclaiming of false religious doctrines. The falling away gained momentum and now, early in the 21st century, is taking on unprecedented proportions. Some of the false teachings, like those promoted by the Word of Faith Movement, are taught in the name of the Holy Spirit and are accompanied by strange manifestations. It is in view of this kind of deception that the Holy Spirit Himself warns against end-time falling away as being part of the devil’s programme to gain full control over people: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
Apart from doctrinal errors, falling away from faith can also be the result of indulging in sin: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:12-13). Such people do not “hold the beginning of [their] confidence steadfast to the end” (Heb. 3:14).
When members of a congregation backslide for whatever reason, they become estranged from Jesus Christ and His love. To such congregations He says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” (Rev. 2:4-5). The Lord Jesus also warned His first disciples against backsliding: “Abide in Me, and I in you… If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:4, 6).
In light of the widespread falling away which the Bible predicts for the last days it is obvious that the world is heading for a situation similar to those which occurred at the end of previous dispensations. The Lord Jesus warned that the time shortly before His second coming would be like the times of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30). During those times the true believers were such a small minority that they could not be a decisive factor in the character of society and were unable to curb the proliferation of evil. The Lord then intervened and removed the believers to a place of safety before judging the wicked.
We are in a similar situation today since the minority of evangelical believers can no longer ensure the observance of Christian principles in society. Christian constitutions, Christian education, Christian morality, and the biblical administration of justice with fitting penalties for criminals are all disappearing institutions in our society. These are replaced by immoral, lawless, corrupt, violent and utterly depraved institutions and lifestyles which, being worse than even those in the times of Noah and Lot, are the most evil in human history. In our case the Lord will also remove the small group of true believers, this time by way of the rapture, and then pour out His wrath upon the wicked during the ensuing tribulation period.
6. The dispensation of the Antichrist’s rule. The Antichrist will be revealed directly after the rapture, when the dispensation of his seven-year long reign on earth will begin. At the onset of this period there will be no believers on earth, which accounts for the fact that the whole world will follow the Antichrist in amazement and also worship him (Rev. 13:3-4). Soon after his revelation though, 144 000 Jews will be saved, and through their testimony many other people from all nations will believe in Christ as their Saviour (Rev. 7). The Antichrist will be empowered by Satan to impose the kingdom of darkness upon all people. Halfway through the tribulation he will declare himself to be God and order the execution of all who refuse to accept his number and worship him (Rev. 13:15; 20:4). According to Revelation 6:9-11, Christians will die as martyrs during this time. It was with reference to this situation that the Lord Jesus asked: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).
Not only will this dispensation end in world-wide apostasy but also in a demonic-inspired effort to kill the true Christ when He comes again. Satan knows that Christ will return to earth after the seven-year tribulation when He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives. Demons will be sent out to mobilise all nations for this confrontation. John says, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. … And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon” (Rev. 16:13-16). Their main objective with the mustering of these forces is also described: “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:19-20).
7. Dispensation of the Millennium. Jesus Christ will return to the earth to judge His enemies who will be gathered together under the leadership of the Antichrist and the false prophet, and also to bind Satan in a bottomless pit for 1 000 years (Rev. 19:19–20:3). At that time He will save the remnant of Israel and the nations as they will have bitter remorse for their sins of not having believed in Him as the Saviour of the world: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:29-30; cf. Zech. 12:10-11).
The Lord Jesus will rule the world from the restored throne of David in Jerusalem (Acts 15:16-17; Rev. 19:15). His saints will also share in His government by ruling as kings with Him (Rev. 2:26-27; 20:4). The saved Israel will be the Lord’s special witnesses who will evangelise the world during this dispensation (Isa. 27:6). They will be highly regarded by all nations (Zech. 8:23). Although the first generation of people after Christ’s return will all be saved, their children will still be born with sinful natures and will therefore have to be evangelised.
During the Millennium, the devil as the deceiver of the world (cf. Rev. 12:9; 20:3), together with all his evil spirits, will not be able to actively deceive people into committing deeds of rebellion against God. Everyone will enjoy the advantages and benefits of that special time in world history. As incredible and unlikely as it may seem, a mere form of godliness will in course of time set in during the Millennium and give rise to widespread unbelief. This will be the direct consequence of people not being truly born again and crucifying their old sinful nature. Because of their unsaved nature, they will be potential victims of the devil once he is unbound and gets the opportunity for deceiving them.
When Satan will be released from the pit after 1000 years to once more tempt humanity in order to reveal the hidden thoughts and desires in their hearts, the majority of them will immediately fall victim to his deceit and shall wilfully participate in the last big rebellion against God and His kingdom: “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:7-10).
The end-time confrontation
In the protracted war between the kingdoms of God and Satan, the following major confrontation will be during the seven-year tribulation period. The antichrist will be the personification of all Satan’s hatred for God, His Son, and the millions of saved ones who have entered into His kingdom. Since we are so close to the end of the church age, it is incumbent on us to acquaint ourselves with the signs of times which point to the impending revelation of the final and most cruel world dictator of all time. The spirit of apostasy, compromise, globalism and self-exaltation which prepares the way for him should be resisted by evangelical Christians. We were commissioned to be withholders of the man of sin until God’s purpose with the church age has been achieved (2 Thess. 2:6-10).
At a given moment the Lord will take away all true believers, thereby surrendering the apostatised world to the deception and usurpation of power by the coming false christ and his false prophet. He will soon rise to a position of undisputed world leadership. In the following chapters we will review this end-time ruler’s appearance and deceptive strategies. His main aim will be to fight against the true Christ in an effort to prevent Him from destroying His enemies, saving Israel, restoring the throne of David and ruling the world as King of kings.
2. Appearance and Actions of the Antichrist
The end-time appearance of the Antichrist will be the final step in a demonically inspired programme for the establishment of antichristian thinking and actions which have persisted through many centuries. The final objective with this programme is to alienate the world population spiritually, morally and intellectually from God and His Word, in order that deceived humanity may voluntarily accept full control by an antichristian world government.
The realisation of this objective is dependant on the revelation of the Antichrist as a diplomat and prince of peace who will be so successful that he will be accepted as world leader and even be honoured and worshipped as messiah. He will be the personification of satanic power on earth because the devil will give him “his power, his throne, and great authority” (Rev. 13:2).
Since Lucifer’s expulsion from heaven this hostile, demonic power operated from a mystical sphere to deceive people and cause them to be untrue to God. All people are engaged in a battle against Satan and his demons: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). The devil is “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) who succeeded in spiritually and morally dominating virtually the entire world (1 John 5:19).
Under the leadership of the Antichrist and the false prophet, Satan’s spiritual power will give rise to the establishment of a physical world government. That will be a renegade government which will first subject people to its authority through deception, but after 3½ years it will be transformed into a merciless military dictatorship when opposition against the Antichrist will have become widespread.
There are different aspects of the Antichrist and his future government which are described in the Bible:
Imitation of the triune God
The kingdom of Satan is engaged in a war against the kingdom of God with the firm objective of gaining control over the universe. The opposing kingdom of darkness is under the control of a satanic triumvirate which constitutes an imitation of the Triune God. The devil is the antitype of God, who aims to be worshipped as the universal god of all faiths. The Antichrist is the antitype of Christ, who is intent on presenting himself to the entire world as saviour and king. The false prophet is the antitype of the Holy Spirit and he will deceive the world through miraculous acts to accept and worship the Antichrist. He will also impart occult gifts to his victims, which will enable them to perform supernatural acts.
Spiritual deception has already progressed to the level where, on an interfaith level, almost the entire world is ready to give recognition to the universal god of all faiths. They regard him as the singular Creator-god who revealed himself to humanity through all religions and by different names. This “god” has no son – only a large number of prophets, or masters of wisdom, who acted on his behalf. Among them are Buddha, Krishna, Jesus and Mohammed. The interfaith Jesus, who also forms part of this group of co-equal prophets, is clearly “another Jesus” who is neither God nor the Son of God (2 Cor. 11:3-4).
The Bible describes the deceived followers of the universal god of all faiths as victims of Satan, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). This false god is preparing to send a false christ to the world to replace the true Christ as king and saviour of deceived humanity. He will be known as the cosmic messiah, the world messiah, or the messiah of all faiths, and will follow an inclusive approach by claiming that he represents all religions.
The false prophet will most likely be the head of a multireligious organisation, and as such the spiritual leader of the world religions. He will have special satanic powers which will enable him to deceive people through spectacular signs. In his function of convicting people of spiritual truths he will imitate the Holy Spirit but proclaim lies to establish the power of delusion in their hearts (2 Thess. 2:6-8). The “spirit of error” will proceed from him (1 John 4:6).
End-time revelation and condemnation
All biblical prophecies on the Antichrist clearly indicate that he will appear in the end-time, shortly before the second coming of the true Christ. He will be revealed after the church dispensation will have been concluded by way of the rapture, and will then rule the world for seven years. These seven years are also referred to as the 70th year-week of Daniel (Dan. 9:27; a year-week is a period of seven years – Lev. 25:8). At the end of the seven years of tribulation, the Antichrist will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ. Paul says:
“And now you know what is restraining, that he [the Antichrist] may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way [the rapture of the church]. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thess. 2:6-8).
The Antichrist will therefore be a living person on earth when Christ comes again. The face to face meeting between the two of them will be brief and end in the impostor’s condemnation to the lake of fire. John says: “And I saw the beast [the Antichrist], the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse [Christ] and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:19-20).
It is important that biblical prophecies on the end-time be interpreted futuristically and that, particularly in times such as these, we should eagerly expect their fulfilment. We must guard against the error of historical (preteristic) interpretations of prophecies on the Antichrist, in terms of which they are regarded as irrelevant for the present time. People who follow this approach do not seriously regard the signs of the times (Luke 12:54-56) and consequently disqualify themselves to be withholders of the Antichrist who take a strong stand against his apostate ideology.
Origin
Many people try to determine the Antichrist’s place of origin. In Daniel’s discussion of the ancient world empires it is evident from which province (or country) the Antichrist will arise. Within the framework of the Roman Empire, Daniel describes him as one among ten (Dan. 7:20-26), and subsequently, in the context of the Greek Empire, as one among four (Dan. 8:8-9). In Daniel 11, the circle is narrowed down further by referring to the Antichrist as one among two within the Greek Empire: the king of the North (Syria) or the king of the South (Egypt). In the war between these two kingdoms the king of the North is victorious, and in Daniel 11:31-45 the end-time king of the North is described as the Antichrist.
The only region which fits into all these descriptions is Syria – it was one of the ten provinces of the Roman Empire, one of the four provinces of the Greek Empire, and later also the power base of the king of the North. The ancient Syrian province was much larger than modern Syria as it also included the present Iraq, Lebanon and Kuwait. In ancient times this region was also known as Assyria or Babylonia, depending on whether it was controlled from Damascus or Babilon.
According to Revelation, the Antichrist will have characteristics of all the ancient empires. In Revelation 13:1-2, John uses the same symbols for the old world empires as those used in Daniel 7:4-6. The Antichrist is presented as a composite beast with the mouth of a lion (Babylonian), the feet of a bear (Medo-Persian), the body of a leopard (Greek), and a head with ten horns (Roman). As in the Babylonian Empire, he will compel all subjects of his empire to worship the image of an idol. As in die Medo-Persian Empire, he will order genocide of the Jews after they have fallen into disfavour with him, and he will also rule in accordance with the unchangeable laws of the Medes and Persians (i.e. by military decree). As in the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great, he will establish a rapid deployment force that can be deployed anywhere on short notice to enforce his policies. As in the case of the Roman Empire, immorality, corruption and violence will occur everywhere, as well as the public execution of his empire’s adversaries.
The fact that the Antichrist’s world empire will represent the concurrent revival of all four these world empires, implies that he will arise from a region which can be associated with all these empires. Only the Syrian-Babylonian region complies with this demand as it was the heartland of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. That is the reason why Isaiah refers to the Antichrist as the Assyrian (Isa. 10:12-13). Furthermore, Syria was one of the four provinces of the Greek Empire in which, among others, Antiochus Epiphanes ruled, while it was also one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. The latter was a Mediterranean Empire which not only included countries in Western and Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East and North Africa. The end-time restoration of the Roman Empire strongly suggests that countries in these regions will also join the European Community.
Progressive revelation
The Antichrist’s initial revelation on earth will be in the guise of a prince of peace. That will most probably coincide with a big war in the Middle East (Ezek. 38 & 39) and he will claim credit for ending this war. His plan of a new world order will also offer hope to the world on economic recovery and political stability, and because of that all nations will enter into a covenant with him. During the midpoint of the tribulation, revolts will occur against his empire and that will induce him to institute a military dictatorship in order to forcibly subject all people to his authority. In Revelation 6, the progressive revelation of the Antichrist is described in terms of the imagery of four horsemen who will appear on the world scene in quick succession:
The white horse and its rider depict the Antichrist as a prince of peace who will promote globalism and harmony in all spheres of life (Rev. 6:2). Political globalism will become manifest when all people are regarded to be planetary citizens who are united under the authority of a one world government with executive powers. Religious globalism will be ensured when all faiths, under the influence of ecumenical thinking, recognise and worship the coming christ of all nations as their common messiah. Economic globalism will be realised in a centrally-controlled, cashless world economy.
After 3½ years of false peace and unity brought about by antichristian globalism, uprisings will occur against the world empire of the Antichrist and an attempt will also be made on his life (Rev. 13:3, 12). He will suddenly be transformed from false prince of peace to military dictator and continues his march to world domination as the rider on the red horse of war (Rev. 6:4). Due to aggravating circumstances in his war economy, leading to widespread famine as well as severe shortages of various commodities, he will institute a strict system of rationing and thus become the rider on the black horse (Rev. 6:5). As the rider on the pale horse (Rev. 6:8) he will increasingly engage in devastating wars in order to take along as many people as possible on his way to perdition (Dan. 11:44).
Character of the Antichrist
The Antichrist will succeed in pretending to be what he is not. In the same way in which the devil can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), the Antichrist will do the same and appear under the guise of a special representative of God who has come to bring peace and unity to the world. His pretence will be so convincing that the Jews will accept him as the promised Messiah (John 5:43). Other religions will do the same, and their acceptance will afford him further titles such as the Christ, the fifth Buddha, Krishna, and others – indeed a universal Messiah for all faiths. But in his heart he will abhor and hate all who worship the true God or any other gods, and he will endeavour to be worshipped as God himself. He will continuously be engaged in hidden agendas, and his followers will never know exactly where they stand with him.
Halfway through the tribulation, the dark side of his character will be revealed when he declares himself to be God in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem (2 Thess. 2:4), and then order the summary execution of all who refuse to worship him as such (Rev. 13:15). He will institute a military dictatorship and become a mass murderer. It will then be obvious to all that he is the man of sin and the son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3). He will establish a worldwide culture of sin, in which violence, corruption, fraud, lawlessness and all manner of immoral acts will be rampant. He will be the personification of sin, and because of that he will blaspheme against God, Jesus Christ, and all those who confess the Name of the Triune God (Rev. 13:5-6). He will wage war against the Christians (Rev. 13:7), and also against Jesus Christ when He comes again (Rev. 19:19-20).
His political and economic policies
The Antichrist will reject God’s order of sovereign nations within their own independent territories (Acts 17:26), and merge all of them into a global state in which national boundaries will be less significant. People everywhere will be encouraged not to entertain a limited, nationalistic view but to rather see themselves as planetary citizens. All local governments will be subjected to the supreme authority of the global government, and be compelled to fully observe its policies. The Antichrist will be “given authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7).
In conjunction with the political globalising of the world population, the Antichrist will also gain control over the world economy: “For he says: By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries; so I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep” (Isa. 10:13-14).
According to Revelation 13:16-18, a cashless world economy will be instituted during the second half of the tribulation period, in which nobody will be able to buy or sell without taking an oath of allegiance to the Antichrist, which will involve the accepting of his number. The electronic control of this system will not only enable the world government to monitor all financial transactions, but also the movements of economically active people – wherever they buy or sell.
Ideology of the Antichrist
The basic ideology of the Antichrist will be based on the concept of monism or holism – everything is one. In accordance with this ideology he will unite the world by promoting globalism in every sphere of life, particularly in the political, religious and economic spheres. Everything which is at variance with his monistic reforms will be regarded as detrimental and divisive, and therefore rejected. That means that all forms of nationalism which hinders the promotion of internationalism will be forbidden. In the same way, no form of religious exclusivism will be tolerated as it will impede reforms towards religious equality and ultimate religious unity in the world. In the same way, economic unity will be achieved through the institution of a single monetary system, a single controlling body for the world economy, as well as an equitable way of the redistribution of wealth. Nations will lose their sovereignty as well as economic independence.
Synthetic thinking of this nature is in conflict with biblical principles of antithetic thinking (the ability to think in opposites). To a Christian, there are two major realities which confront him (dualism). There is not only a singular truth but a diversity of conflicting ideas which forces him to take decisions. He should be able to distinguish between God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom, Christ and the Antichrist, light and darkness, the only true religion and all the false religions. Diversity should not be sacrificed for the sake of unity. In all the areas of their existence, the worldview entertained by Christians is incompatible with the values, objectives and reforms of the Antichrist. There is no way in which their non-compromising lifestyle will allow them to adapt to the global empire of the Antichrist. Consequently, they will be persecuted.
Final objective of the beast
The final objective of the Antichrist is to completely replace the Triune God of the Bible by the alternative concept of god in his satanic new world order. Instead of Yahweh, the god of this world should be worshipped; instead of Christ, the universal christ of all faiths should be worshipped and followed; and instead of the Holy Spirit, the interfaith prophet (the false prophet who will be the Antichrist’s co-ruler) should be trusted for gifts and spiritual empowerment.
In the light of biblical prophecies, the Antichrist will know that his new world order will only last for seven years. During the first 42 months of his government the various religions will continue to function under his leadership, while the temple of the Jews will be rebuilt. During this time there will be two special witnesses of the Lord in Jerusalem, who will warn the Jews against the false messiah. Because of this, there will be rising opposition against the false messiah and his government. However, midway through the tribulation the Antichrist will overpower and kill these two witnesses (Rev. 11:1-10).
The dramatic events during the middle of the tribulation period will be followed by the last 42 months of the Antichrist’s military reign of terror. That will begin on the day when he desecrates the temple by declaring himself to be God, forbids any further sacrifices, and sets up an image of himself in the Most Holy Place: “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Dan. 12:11-12).
At the end of the second half of the tribulation, after 1 260 days, the true Messiah will return and destroy the Antichrist and his followers. After 1 290 days (including 30 days of mourning – Zech. 12:10-14), Israel will be reconciled with the Messiah. After 1 335 days they will enter the Messiah’s rest when the throne of David is restored and His millennial reign begins (Acts 15:16-17).
The Antichrist is aware of biblical prophecies which predict the end of his short-lived world empire, and he will do everything in his power to fight against Christ in an effort to kill Him, thereby proving the Bible to be wrong: “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army” (Rev. 19:19). Satan and the Antichrist will also commission demons to deceive governments throughout the world to send troops to the Middle East to fight against Christ and His heavenly army (Rev. 16:13-14, 16).
The final destiny of the Antichrist and his followers
There is no uncertainty about the final destiny of the Antichrist and his deceived followers who will be as arrogant as to think that they can take up arms against the true Christ and prevail:
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:20-21; cf. Zech. 14:12-13).
The strongest possible warning is issued to all who give recognition to the Antichrist, accept his number and worship him, thereby taking sides with the enemies of God:
“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:9-11).
A choice between two christs
We are presently in the final approach to the rapture, which will be the dividing moment between the church dispensation and the subsequent dispensation of the Antichrist’s seven-year reign. This terminal period in the church age is characterised by intensive spiritual influences aimed at preparing humanity for the appearance and acceptance of the universal messiah of all faiths. False propaganda of this nature is obviously very successful, since in the end the entire world will follow the Antichrist in amazement – they will also worship him together with the false, universal god of this age (Rev. 13:3-4). Deluded people will regard his holistic approach as the only solution to a highly divided and hostile humanity.
The campaign of unification with the depraved world coincides with blasphemous statements about the true God and His Son. Liberal theologians are deconstructing the image of Jesus by completely stripping Him of His divine attributes. Their aim is to replace Him with “another Jesus” who was not born from a virgin, is not the Son of God, is not the only Saviour of the world, does not condemn the supporters of other faiths, did not redeem people through His crucifixion, did not rise from the dead and ascended to heaven, and can therefore not return form heaven to the earth (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4). When these lies are believed, the way is open for the Antichrist to be accepted as the messiah of all faiths.
The “historical Jesus” is the product of speculative theological reasoning which is based upon fictitious premises rather than facts. According to this approach, Jesus was only a fallible man whose thinking was determined by the primitive worldview of His time. However, there is no objective historical credibility regarding the historical Jesus who was conceptualised by theologians who have no regard for the authority of Scripture. The liberal, Jesus Seminar orientated theologians clearly distinguish their Jesus from the kerygmatic Jesus, or Jesus of faith, in whom Bible believing Christians trust. It is of vital importance to be able to distinguish between these two Jesuses since we are confronted with a choice between the true Jesus and various false presentations of Jesus which are all proclaimed to establish a mindset which is conducive to accepting the Antichrist.
What does Paul say of theological deception which contradicts biblical teaching? “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:6-8; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2-4). In a true Christian’s life there is no place whatsoever for distortions of Jesus Christ and the biblical doctrine of salvation.
The blasphemous things which postmodern theologians say of the Lord Jesus emanate from the spirit of Antichrist, and indeed he himself will open his mouth to blaspheme against the Triune God (Rev. 13:5-6). The present campaign against Christ is devil-inspired and aimed at preparing the way for the revelation of the Antichrist. When the relatively small group of withholders of the Antichrist has been taken out of the way, the lawless one will be revealed to deceive the peoples of the world through great signs and wonders (2 Thess. 2:6-10). The signs of his coming can already be discerned – even in the lecture halls of large theological seminaries in which the Bible is no longer honoured as the infallible norm for Christian living and thinking. In these circles there is also a notable absence of a sound faith which alone can supersede the vain arguments of scholars whose minds are not enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
All people on earth are either followers of the true Christ and His unique gospel of salvation, or of the false christ and his religious lies – there is no neutral middle road between the two. Jesus said to the Jews that if they did not receive Him as Messiah they will inevitably end up as followers of the false messiah (John 5:43). That also applies to all other people.
3. A Universal Christ of all Faiths
Is it possible that the whole world with all its divergent religions will accept and also worship the same person as saviour and king? Can one person build a bridge between mutually antagonistic faiths? The answer is “yes” – the power of deception will work so strongly that all people will unite behind the same leader. Christ explicitly warned against this serious form of end-time deception and emphasised that it will be a very popular way of thinking:
“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5). The Lord Jesus applied this warning to the time immediately preceding His second coming. The end-time will be characterised by the propagation of various false christs who will appear in the world. They will all prepare the way for the final false christ, i.e. the Antichrist.
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Our only defence against these multireligious impostors is a sound, biblical expectation on the coming of the true Christ. We should expect God’s Son from heaven, “even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). Evangelical Christians look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus who will catch away His bridal congregation by way of the rapture and take her to heaven (John 14:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). In this way we will escape the Antichrist’s reign of terror on earth. After the seven-year tribulation we will return with Christ. He will then destroy the Antichrist, have Satan bound, restore the throne of David in Jerusalem and establish a global government of righteousness.
The kingdom of darkness is well aware of this prophesied intervention by God in the course of world history. Satan has declared war against God because he himself wishes to be worshipped as God and to rule over all people on earth. Before the second coming of Christ he will put his evil plans in practice in a very deceptive way by sending a false christ to the world to be served, worshipped and honoured by all people.
This false christ will be empowered by the devil to perform great signs and wonders and, according to the Bible, the entire deceived world will follow him in amazement (Rev. 13:3). His power to deceive will be so convincing that even the Chosen People (Israel) will accept him (John 5:43). The same situation applies to adherents of other faiths, who will likewise embrace him as the promised messiah.
The names Messiah, Christ and Jesus Christ are currently used in most of the world religions as one of the important titles of the coming world messiah. Because of this, we should be able to discern, more than ever before, between the true Christ and the many false presentations of Him. False christs are encountered in the following faiths, and they are all forerunners of the Antichrist:
Deceived, nominal Christianity
A false image of Christ is presently taking root among a large number of Christian churches. Many of the members of deceived churches are nominal believers who do not really know the Lord Jesus; neither do they know exactly how He will appear when He comes again. They reject evangelical Christians’ expectation of a rapture directly before the dark time of divine judgements, and also do not believe in the appearance of a personal Antichrist. Such people are vulnerable to accepting anyone who claims to be Jesus Christ and intends to establish peace and unity on earth.
Due to the multireligious thinking of the ecumenical movement, nominal believers will not have a problem if the coming Christ pretends to be the common Messiah of all faiths and also freely applies other names and religious titles to himself. Their concept of God has already changed to such an extent that most of them believe in a universal God of all faiths, and will therefore not find it strange if a single Messiah claims to represent all faiths. According to the Bible, the entire deceived world will indeed be spiritually united under one leader: “And all the world marvelled and followed the beast; ... and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast?” (Rev. 13:3-4).
There are many Christian churches that have completely departed from a biblical faith and are now ready accept a Jesus Christ who was not born of a virgin and does not claim to be the Son of God. The Antichrist will echo their views and comply with their expectations. He will come up out of the earth and offer an earthly kingdom to all his followers.
Judaism
Jews have a strong expectation on the coming of a mighty Messiah-King who will conclude a covenant with Israel and bring peace to the war-racked Middle East. They call Him the Messiah, which is the Hebrew version of Christ. As far as they are concerned, he must be of Jewish origin, restore the throne of David in Jerusalem, and allow Israel to rebuild the temple. Ecumenically-minded Jews describe the coming Third Temple as a centre or worship for all religions (cf. Isa. 56:7). Orthodox Jews nevertheless expect a time of tribulation and wars described as “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), but believe that the Messiah will suddenly appear to help them gain victory over their enemies. They reject the expectation of evangelical Christians with regard to a pretribulation rapture of believers.
Orthodox Jews will wholeheartedly accept the Antichrist when he claims to be the Messiah of Israel who is descended from King David (Dan. 9:27). He will secure a peace agreement by which Israel will benefit, and also allow them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. They will reinstate the Old Testament sacrificial system, thereby demonstrating their continued rejection of the once for all sacrifice of the Messiah, Yeshua, on the cross. Jesus warned them against a covenant with the false messiah (John 5:43). However, all indications are that they will not heed this warning but accept the Antichrist when he appears during a serious survival crisis, and convincingly pretends to be Israel’s Messiah. The covenant which the Jews will conclude with the false messiah will be a covenant with death. It will lead them into a situation, 3½ years later, when they will find themselves on the brink of extermination after revoking their covenant with the self-declared messiah from the kingdom of darkness.
Islam
Muslims also expect the coming of Jesus Christ. Concerted efforts are made to define Jesus in terms of Islamic concepts, thereby relegating Him to a position of an Islamic prophet. These views are advanced in various booklets which are printed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and distributed by various Islamic propagation centres around the globe. Examples of these booklets are: “We believe in Jesus” by Soliman H. Al-But’he, “Qur’anic verses about Christianity” by Abdullah Al-Saeed, “A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam,” by I.A. Ibrahim, and “Jesus is coming” by A.H. Jacob. In his booklet “Jesus is coming,” A.H. Jacob says, among others:
“The Bible is distorted, changed and no longer the Book of God (p. 22). The Qur’anic teaching is that Jesus Christ was neither crucified nor killed by the Jews. Somebody else was crucified in his place and under his name (p. 25). Jesus will come back as a follower of God’s last Messenger, Mohammad and revive the true religion of God, Islam. ... He is coming back to rule mankind justly by God’s last and final message to mankind, the Holy Qur’an, as well as by the tradition of the Prophet Mohammad. He will guide humanity towards Islamic monotheism, to worship God alone, and to follow the footsteps of His last Messenger, Mohammad, and warn people against the eternal consequences of polytheism” (p. 17, 18).
“Jesus will deny that he has any of God’s attributes. He never claimed to be God or referred to himself as the son of God. He was only a prophet and a grateful slave of God (p. 20, 21). In his second coming, he will declare that he is a slave of God, who follows his brother, Prophet Mohammad, the last Messenger of God. Jesus will perform the prayer in the right way as the Muslims do, give charity, fast during the month of Ramadan, and perform the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and the Umrah” (p. 23). Jesus will strictly forbid selling, keeping and eating pork. He will even order the pigs to be killed. ... Jesus cursed whoever eats it (. 27-29).
“Jesus is coming back to deny the false claim that the Jews killed him, and those Christians who, in ignorance, believe them. He will fight the Jews and kill the False Messiah. ... He will also kill the Christians who adore the cross. Thereafter, when both parties are defeated and polytheism and disbelief are cleansed from the earth, that is the time when peace and tranquillity will prevail amongst the people” (p. 24; end of quotations from Jacob’s book).
These views on the world messiah are held by the great majority of Sunni Muslims. The Shiites also say that Jesus will come again, but that he will be the assistant of the Muslim Messiah, the Imam Mahdi, who will be a descendant of Mohammed. Shiites expect the Mahdi to make his appearance at the Ka’aba in Mecca, then proceed from there to defeat the Zionists and their allies in Israel, after which he will establish his headquarters at Kufa near Babylon in the present Iraq.
From a biblical perspective, it is evident that the “Jesus” with whom Islam will form an alliance will be the Antichrist. However, their hopes will be dashed that the actions of the Koran’s Isa and Mahdi will lead to the establishment of Islam as the only world religion at the cost of Israel and Christianity.
The Hindus
Hinduism believes in the unity of everything. This totality is called Brahman and all people are regarded to be part of the cosmic god. By good deeds one attains enlightenment as measured by your karma, and that determines the nature of your reincarnation after death. You can be reborn at a higher or lower level.
Many deities are worshipped in Hinduism. There are religious leaders, or ascended masters of wisdom (avatars), who had various life cycles due to reincarnation, allowing them to progress to higher levels of divinity. Although the Hindus are not monotheistic they have a triad of gods who are higher in rank than the others. They are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Brahma is regarded as the creator god. Vishnu is worshipped as saviour and is second in rank after Brahma. Thirdly, there is Siva who is associated with fertility and the powers of reproduction.
Krishna is the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu and is one of the special avatars in Hinduism. It is alleged that Jesus was an incarnation of Krishna and lived a very similar life. It is expected that there will be a new incarnation of the avatar who, in different periods in history, was known as Vishnu, Krishna and Jesus. Any of these names can be used for him but he will also be known as the Kalki Avatar (the White Horse Avatar) as he will be riding a white horse.
The Kalki Avatar will fight the apocalyptic snake and achieve the final victory over evil on earth. He will renew humanity, enabling people to lead pure and honourable lives. The expectations of all religions will be fulfilled in him as he will be the world messiah that they all looked forward to.
On the website of Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife (www.near-death.com/) is an articled titled: Jesus as a Reincarnation of Krishna. It is alleged that there is a great similarity between Jesus and Krishna, and this is taken as proof that Jesus should be regarded as an incarnation of Krishna. Some of the similarities discussed in this article are as follows:
· Krishna was miraculously conceived and born of the virgin Devaki (the Divine One) as a divine incarnation.
· He was born at a time when his family had to travel to pay the annual tax.
· His father was a carpenter, yet Krishna was born of royal descent.
· His birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds, and he received many gifts.
· He was persecuted by a tyrant who feared that the divine child would supplant his kingdom. The tyrant ordered the slaughter of thousands of infants in an effort to kill Krishna.
· He was baptised in the River Ganges.
· His mission was the salvation of humanity.
· Krishna worked miracles such as raising the dead and healing lepers, the deaf and the blind.
· He used parables to teach the people about charity and love.
· He lived poor and he loved the poor.
· Krishna was crucified on a tree between two thieves.
· He descended to hell, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended to heaven which was witnessed by many.
· He is the second person of the trinity, and proclaimed himself the resurrection and the way to the Father.
· His disciples bestowed upon him the title “Jezeus” which means “Pure Essence.”
· Krishna is to return again riding on a white horse to do battle with the prince of evil, who will desolate the earth.
That which the end-time Krishna will do, i.e. to imitate Jesus and to allege that he is a new incarnation of Jesus, is exactly what the Antichrist will do. Jesus said about the time shortly before His second coming: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5).
Buddhism
Buddhists believe in Buddha, which means The Enlightened One. The first Buddha, Gautama, lived between 566 and 486 B.C. It is alleged that he led a similar life to that of Jesus and also contended with a satanic figure. In an article, Buddhist Messianism, in World Religions, Vol. 2, Dr. Young Oon Kim says that Buddhists believe in a personal devil whom they call Mara – the lord of misfortune, sin, destruction and death. Mara was unable to subjugate Buddha but was more successful with Buddha’s followers. As the source of evil, he caused misunderstanding between teachers and pupils and cast doubt on Buddha’s sayings. He also appeared in the guise of a monk or nun and tempted people to adopt attitudes that would encourage sinful pride. Mara could even appear in the form of Gautama Buddha in order to confuse Buddhists or lead them astray. He was a master in the art of delusion.
Buddhists are looking ahead to a time of peace, harmony and prosperity when the fifth Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha, will appear to rule the world. Four Buddha’s have already appeared, and when the fifth one comes he will set up a kingdom of righteousness and peace.
Dr. Kim says: “The present human race will continue to deteriorate; righteousness will gradually disappear as injustice, cruelty and lust increase. This age will last for 2500 years (since the first Buddha), followed by the dawn of a new era. Men as we know them now will gradually die off but the remnant will provide the nucleus for a better race to come. … There will no longer be any killing, stealing, adultery, drunkenness, filth or mud huts. The cities will be lighted; parks and gardens will abound. Humanity will then enjoy heaven on earth.”
In Buddhist eschatology, other titles are also ascribed to Maitreya Buddha, of which “the Christ” is one of the most important ones. The leader of one of the Buddhist organisations in England, Benjamin Creme, has written a book titled The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom. In this book he says that a world messiah will soon appear on the scene, in whom the messianic expectations of all the major religions will be fulfilled. To the Buddhists he will be the Maitreya Buddha, to the Hindus Krishna, to the Jews the Messiah, to the Christians Jesus Christ, and to the Muslims the Imam Mahdi or Jesus Christ. He will be regarded as a saviour for humanity and everybody will follow him in amazement.
The Shinto messiah
Shinto is the ancient Japanese religion which recognises the existence of various nature deities (Kami). Belief in the inherent divinity of all people is the common ground between Shintoism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Efforts are made to associate Shintoism with these faiths, and even with Christianity, in order to promote the idea of a common messiah for all people. In a book, Messiah, the desire of all nations, E. A. Gordon says that this idea has taken root in Japan and China, where there is a strong relationship between Buddhism, Shintoism and Christianity.
The author comes to the conclusion that these religions are basically the same but manifest differently. They all proclaim spiritual awakening, self-discipline, love and simplicity of life. In one of the sacred shrines of Shinto there is even a statue of Jesus Christ, and in another one an image of the god Susa-no-o, who is associated with Jehovah. They are therefore open to the idea of a universal Christ for all faiths, who will guide the world into an era of peace.
The Antichrist will be the common messiah of all the false religions. He will act on behalf of all of them to unite humanity and ensure their peaceful co-existence. After having achieved this false sense of unity, and being universally praised for it, he will advance to his following objective, which is the forced worship of himself and his father, Lucifer: “And all the world marvelled and followed the beast [the Antichrist]. So they worshipped the dragon [Lucifer] who gave authority to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast?” (Rev. 13:3-4). What a futile exercise this will prove to be! United humanity will still say, “Peace and safety! then sudden destruction comes upon them. … And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3). The reign of terror of the beast and the dragon will be short-lived as they will be destroyed when the true Christ comes (Rev. 19:19-20; 20:1-2).
That will be the tragic end of all people who worshipped another Jesus under the influence of a foreign god. Are there still preachers who will stand up to warn the deceived masses against the coming of the Antichrist?
The challenge
We are faced by the big challenge to remain faithful to the only true Christ of the Bible during this time of multireligious thinking when all religions are expecting a messiah who will come in the name of Jesus Christ. We have been warned that human impostors will come in the name of Christ to deceive the followers of all religions (Matt. 24:4-5). Only true Christians believe in the Son of God who was incarnated to save us. He promised to come for His bridal congregation to take her to heaven before the tribulation period (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
We have to resist all the deception emanating from false beliefs if we wish to be ready for the sudden coming of the heavenly Bridegroom. The Lord Jesus says: “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:11-12).
There is currently a far advanced process of polarisation in the world. On the one hand, there is a tremendous moral and spiritual falling away, but on the other hand a commitment to more holiness and fruitful service to the Lord. This renewed dedication to the Lord, as well as separation from the world, is prompted by the message of Christ’s soon return and also by the appointment which we have before the judgement seat of Christ to give an account of our lives. In view of this fact we should actively proclaim the second coming of Jesus Christ and take a strong stand against any multireligious alliance that is paving the way for the appearance of an interfaith messiah. He will be the man of sin who will promote extreme forms of moral apostatising in the world (2 Thess. 2:3).
Those who don’t entertain the correct future expectation, usually pursue an earthly kingdom which is driven by the transformation rallies and associated actions by the ecumenical movement. Their main aim is to institute a kingdom now, before the second coming of Christ. However, it is obvious that all their efforts will lead to the establishment of an evil world empire under the control of the Antichrist who will be “Satan’s angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). He is the universal christ of all faiths who is now enthusiastically awaited everywhere. His government will initially appear to be very good but it will end up in a great tribulation which will eclipse all previous dictatorships.
We resist this manmade unitary movement which is committed to realising a kingdom here and now, but rather reach forward to Christ’s reign of peace which will only be revealed after His second coming. If we wish to reign with Christ in His kingdom we must be prepared to suffer with Him while we are following the way of the cross (Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12); this is the narrow way. Soon, Christ’s faithful disciples will appear before Him in glory and hear the following words from Him: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matt. 25:21). Do you live for the coming of this kingdom?
4. Globalism and the Reign of the Antichrist
It is often alleged that the humanistic agenda of globalism is paving the way towards a new world order under the personal leadership of the Antichrist. The Bible confirms this scenario and gives a number of prophetic warnings against an end-time movement of this nature. However, the Bible also promises a Christian new world order under the leadership of Christ during the Millennium. Discernment is needed to be able to distinguish between the two kingdoms. In this article we will concisely review the ideology of humanistic globalism and indicate how it is skilfully used to promote a mindset which is conducive to the acceptance of the false christ.
The politically, culturally and spiritually divided nations of the world are moving closer together and are gradually merging into an international community which is bonded together by an expanding range of common interests. Multinational actions are needed to address threats such as the international war against terrorism, the endangering of world peace by excessive military build-up, the manufacture and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction, crimes against humanity perpetrated by fanatical dictators, religious animosity and the waging of “holy wars”, unchecked overspending and corruption leading to national bankruptcy and threatening economic implosions in both rich and poor countries, widespread suffering due to overpopulation, unemployment and poverty, gross disrespect for basic human rights, the devastating pollution and destruction of natural resources, global warming, the rapid spread of contaminating diseases across the world, the need for coordinated, multinational relief operations in cases of severe natural disasters, etc.
Concurrent with the rising tide of global threats there is also an awakening of a global consciousness. A new world order is not only pursued by the nations with a view to joining forces to solve global problems, but also to underpin efforts to unite and empower themselves to become the masters of their own destiny. The most pronounced feature of the emerging new world order is the ideology of globalism, which makes its influence felt in all spheres of life. During the final stage of the transformation from nationalism to globalism, the nations will express their unity and common destiny by accepting global leadership in the form of a world government with executive powers. International experts will be commissioned to find solutions and assist in determining policies that will promote the best interests of all societies on the globe.
The practical implementation of the global humanist agenda will be achieved by using advanced computer networks and other sophisticated technological systems. The harnessing of modern technology, as well as the high degree of control which it affords, opens the way to establish a revolutionary new system of global governance which is popularly described as a “technocracy”.
The proper functioning of such a system is dependant on a common set of humanist principles and rules, as well as multiple databases which have been scientifically compiled to ensure the best possible quality of life for all. In this way, expertise in every sphere of life will be built into an electronic brain, thereby creating a “global mind” with the ability to impose the best available scientific solutions to any problematic situation, and even to make moral rulings based on certain values. The computerised global mind with its hidden electronic eyes will operate together with its human master [the Antichrist], and they will jointly represent the supreme global authority.
A mindset of globalism has to reach an advanced stage before a comprehensive technocracy will be able to emerge from it. The international community should first agree on generally acceptable rules for human rights, the ethics of an equitable economic system for the globe, a multireligious organisation in which the participants are non-hostile partners in an alliance of religions, as well as the moral right of military intervention by a world body to ensure that all nations and individuals comply with the principles and dictates of the new world order.
The computerised global mind of the international community will represent the supreme authority on earth, which means that united humanity will be their own god. They will say: “We are one ... we are God.” This will be an expression of the ultimate lie which the devil has imposed upon a spiritually lost and morally depraved humanity. No recognition whatsoever will be given to a transcendental God in the heaven above – neither to His Son as the only Saviour and King of the world, nor to His Word with its spiritual and moral guidelines, its denouncing of sin, and its warning against divine judgements upon unrepentant sinners.
Once the nations have united themselves, usurped all power on earth, and reduced religion to a handy political tool to unite and deify people, they will rise against God and utterly reject His supremacy (Ps. 2). By then, the infrastructure for Satan’s alternative government will have been established and it will be opportune for his false christ to be revealed. The following are the six different forms of globalism which will be the building blocks of this evil kingdom:
1. Ideological globalism
Planetary citizens of the end-time will be united behind a single person (the biblical “beast”) who will be the epitome of their holistic dream of global unity. John says: “And all the world marvelled and followed the beast” (Rev. 13:3). The Amplified Bible says: “... and the whole earth went after the beast in amazement and admiration.” This highly successful person will, in a most remarkable way, gain the support of all nations and “confirm a covenant with many” (Dan. 9:27). In his diplomatic campaign for peace and unity he will achieve what no other diplomat or leader before him has accomplished, hence the utter amazement among his worldwide following.
Global unity will soon become manifest after he has been accepted as undisputed world leader. National boundaries will either be removed or significantly scaled down, thereby abolishing national sovereignty and rendering the different countries no more than regions within a global state: “For he says: By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations” (Isa. 10:13 NIV).
According to Revelation 17:12-14, the beast and his co-rulers will all be of one mind and make war with Christ and those who believe in Him. The followers of the beast will wholeheartedly share his anti-God ideology of self-deification. Their new-found unity as planetary citizens will induce them to declare themselves as their own God and sole masters of the universe. They will not recognise or respect any authority outside that of the global government and its leader.
In a joint declaration they will reject God’s authority and moral laws, and encourage all people to live as they please: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us” (Ps. 2:2-3). Under the leadership of the devil’s counterfeit christ, fallen humanity will boldly state: “We are one ... we are God!” No rules will apply, other than those which are laid down by “the man of sin” (2 Thess. 2:3). An international culture of sin will guide human behaviour and impose no restrictions. Spiritually and morally, people will apostatise to a level which is reminiscent of the days before the Flood: “... the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
This will be the tragic and self-destructive end of fully-fledged humanism – a futile effort by man to become his own God, while in the process wilfully rejecting the only source of true life, orderly existence and constructive engagement in the affairs of fellow-humans. That will render people victims of the kingdom of darkness, where suffering, false peace, power abuse, lies and all sorts of evil works predominate.
2. Religious globalism
The majority of fallen mankind has never accepted the supremacy of a transcendent God. Preference was mostly given to manmade religions in which human cult leaders are deified as divine masters of wisdom, while people also prefer to bow down before images made by themselves. Even the majority of Jews to whom the true Creator God was revealed, will ultimately follow a messiah of human origin. This world leader, referred to as the Antichrist or the beast in the Bible, will openly glory in himself and refuse to recognise the authority of any god in heaven or on earth. The true Christ warned Israel against the false christ of the end-time, who will exalt himself: “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” (John 5:43).
The wide array of religions invented by deceived humanity have always been incompatible with one another and therefore highly divisive. Even within the same religion, different factions are often engaged in a violent and bloody struggle. However, the ideology of globalism is rapidly transforming these antagonistic religions into a seemingly harmonious alliance of world religions, based on the premise that they complement one another and are all jointly preparing the way for the coming world messiah.
The global alliance of religions will finally be unified when the false messiah appears and associates with all of them. They will follow him in amazement and also worship him (Rev. 13:3-4). This will be a universal reaction: “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him” (Rev. 13:8). There are already a growing number of interfaith movements in which members of different religions deliberate with one another with a view to promoting world peace through a greater degree of unity based on the ideal of a mutual mystical brotherhood.
After having been well established as world messiah the Antichrist will make the next move in his contemplated deification by declaring himself to be God. Daniel says he will magnify himself above every god – also the God of heaven – by disregarding all of them (Dan. 11:37). Paul describes him as the great adversary of God who “exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:4). This extreme act of rebellion will clearly occur within the global context of the end-time’s humanistic religious system, and will be the final step of affirming man’s status and authority on the highest level.
An important fact about the self-deification of the Antichrist is that modern technology will be used to enforce it. The false prophet will deceive the nations, “telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image of the beast. ... He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:14-15). It is obvious that a form of electronic life will be given to the image, which will make it possible for the image to be linked to a worldwide computer network and surveillance system which can identify people and monitor their reactions.
3. Economic globalism
Source: http://davidszondy.com/future/Dystopias/technocracy.htm
A core objective of the ideology of globalism is that centralised control should be exercised over the world economy, thereby ensuring the equitable distribution of wealth as well as free access to resources by all people. Managing a vast range of resources, including financial resources, calls for expert knowledge in the relevant fields. All the expertise and knowledge needed for the smooth running of the world economy will be entered into the computerised global brain which will play an important part in the government of the beast. This technological management system will drive a cashless monetary system of electronic funds transfer, and will have the ability of global control by authorising and monitoring all transactions:
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666” (Rev. 13:16-18). The same computer system will control and monitor economic as well as religious and various other activities to ensure that they all comply with the Antichrist’s policy of globalism.
As the supreme leader of a global government, the Antichrist will rule in six different capacities at the same time – he will be the chief ideologist, messiah and self-declared God, controller of the world economy, political ruler of the world, chief judge, and commander of the global military force. It will therefore be impossible to only enter into political or economic allegiance with him without fully recognising him in all his other capacities, and worshiping him. Accepting his number will be an overt act of condoning all his activities, and specifically also his rebellion against God. Those who do that will subject themselves to the judgements of God:
“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:9-11).
4. Political globalism
The end-time reign of the Antichrist will be the seventh and final political manifestation of satanic globalism since the ancient Babylonian Empire of Nimrod. The first six of these empires were all characterised by a close integration of political and religious globalism – to the extent that many of the emperors deified themselves and demanded religious worship together with political allegiance, while the others often enforced the idolatrous religion of their empires upon all their subjects. It will be no different during the coming world empire of the Antichrist.
Revelation 17 describes the symbiotic relationship between a satanic world leader and an apostate religious system, i.e. between the beast and the harlot (an idolatrous woman). This scenario has a much wider application than the Roman Empire, hence the identity of the harlot as “Mystery Babylon” which refers back to the early postdiluvian days when the first global empire was established and the tower of Babel erected. The angel said to John: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication” (Rev. 17:1-2).
In the subsequent verses it is indicated that the woman sits on seven mountains which represent seven successive kings or empires throughout the history of the nations: “Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time” (Rev. 17:10). Five of these empires had fallen before the time of John, i.e. the Babylonian Empire of Nimrod, the Assyrian Empire, the restored Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Greek Empire. The sixth one, the Roman Empire, was in power while the seventh and last one, that of the Antichrist, was still future.
This inclusive review of all world empires is again confirmed at the end of this chapter: “And the woman whom you saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). She is the personification of a mystical (spiritual) kingdom headed by Satan who is the god of this evil world (2 Cor. 4:4). Frequent references are made to this evil mystical kingdom in the New Testament, e.g. in Ephesians 6:12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.” The Lord Jesus also referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30).
Satan is “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), but he was always intent on physically manifesting his kingdom under the authority of an evil king. The Bible describes the end-time ruler in Satan’s kingdom as the beast and states: “And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Rev. 13:2). This global empire will be bigger and stronger than all its predecessors as it will reign over all people on earth, which includes vast regions that were unknown in ancient times: “And he was given authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7). He will have the power and authority to depose kings and rulers who refuse to relinquish their sovereignty: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, ... I removed the boundaries of the nations, ... like a mighty one I subdued their kings” (Isa. 10:13 NIV).
Towards the middle of the tribulation period the beast will become an even greater despot, but his co-rulers will be so mesmerised by his power and achievements that they will voluntarily hand over their power to the beast, who will reduce them to mere puppets in his global empire: “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Rev. 17:12-13).
5. Judicial globalism
The Antichrist will make every effort to maximise his influence and legitimise his radical actions. He will see to it that the encoding of his extreme humanist manifesto is supported by all the political and judicial authorities in the world. Evil judges will be appointed to draft and enforce the constitution of his global government. Consequently, all disputed policies and other matters will be referred to global courts for a verdict. It is obvious that the corrupt judges of the end-time will only voice the wishes of their master. One of his explicit wishes will be the eradication of the Christian faith, as well as all uncompromising religious beliefs, and severe punishments will be imposed upon those who do not comply with his rules.
One of the constitutional pillars of this global empire will be the forced worship of the emperor, as well as the explicit rejection of God’s ruling that His Anointed is the only legitimate King of the world. This is the reason why God will also judge the corrupt and deceived judges: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Ps. 2:10-12).
The wrath of God will be poured out upon the evil kingdom of the beast, including all those who collaborated with him to uproot evangelical Christianity by rejecting the only true Saviour and King of the world, and also for persecuting those who believe in Him.
6. Military globalism
The global government of the Antichrist will have a strong military force at its disposal that will not only serve as a peace-keeping force to stamp out rebellion against his regime, but also to fight wars of conquest against kings who might dare to challenge his policy to abolish national sovereignty. He will be a much feared militarist – even more so than historical dictators such as Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, and Nero, who were notorious for crushing their foes and instituting a reign of terror. The Antichrist’s followers will say: “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4). Daniel says that this end-time king of the world “shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Dan. 11:44).
It is evident that many of the wars will be fought against religious dissidents who will refuse to worship the beast as messiah and ultimately also as God. Many of these adversaries will be Christians who will be killed on the spot or executed in public places by beheading. In his vision on the end-time, John heard the loud cries of the martyrs who pleaded with God to intervene and judge the beast for slaying those who believe in His Son:
“When He [the Lamb] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Rev. 6:9-11).
Christians will be persecuted as never before in history. The same fate will befall religious Jews who will revoke their covenant with the false messiah after his blasphemous self-deification in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Christians and Jews will both proclaim that the true Messiah will shortly come to judge His enemies and then establish His reign of peace on earth. This will greatly infuriate the beast and he will start mobilising a huge multinational force in the Middle East to fight against Christ and His heavenly army. Evil spirits will be sent out to instigate the rulers of the world towards participating in the biggest “religious war” ever fought on earth.
John says: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. ... And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon” (Rev. 16:13-16).
The greatest of all wars in the entire history of humanity will be fought in and around Israel when the true Messiah comes. The beast and his cohorts will arrogantly think that they can fight against Him who has all power in heaven and on earth. The angelic messenger said to John: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is the Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14). The scene of this coming world war will soon become the graveyard of God’s enemies:
“And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:19-21; cf. Zech. 14:12-13).
Aftermath of the Antichrist’s reign
After judging and obliterating His enemies, and also binding Satan in a pit, Christ will restore the throne of David in Jerusalem and set up His millennial kingdom on earth. Globalism will then be founded upon the truth, righteousness and mercy of God’s kingdom. The Lord says: “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice” (Isa. 32:1). In the Millennium, the Messiah will reign in righteousness (cf. Isa. 11:1-5), and rulers under Him will be just. The bride of Christ will rule with Him (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:9-10). The martyrs of the tribulation period will be resurrected and also share in this government:
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ... Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4, 6).
In the spiritual realm, there are only two kingdoms – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Both are preparing to physically manifest themselves on earth – the one under Satan’s counterfeit Messiah-King and the other under God’s true Messiah-King. Satan is trying to pre-empt the revelation of God’s kingdom by first sending and empowering the beast who will appear as an “angel of light” to deceive humanity into joining the wrong kingdom (cf. 2 Cor. 11:14-15).
Christians have been warned against the great end-time deception and apostasy which will pave the way towards the Antichrist’s global kingdom. The persecution of Christians under his reign will be so severe that the evangelical church of Christ will not be able to survive as an institution under his rule. John says: “And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and overcome them” (Rev. 13:7). Despite severe persecution during the church age, a situation like the one under the Antichrist’s dictatorship cannot occur before his end-time rise to power. The Lord Jesus said: “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). However, this guarantee is not given with regard to the tribulation period. During that time, individual persons who turn to Christ will indeed be saved, but they will die as martyrs (Rev. 12:11).
A very clear dispensational line will be crossed between the church age and the reign of the Antichrist. In fact, the Antichrist cannot even be revealed and start with his unmitigated destructive works while the church of Christ is still here: “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:6-9).
The restrainer is the true church of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The end of the church age will occur at the rapture, when Christ will catch them away from planet earth: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
Only after the one who withholds has been taken out of the way, the Antichrist will be able to be revealed and perpetrate his spiritual deception to greater extremes, while he will also have the political and military power to exterminate his adversaries. However, Christians who are ready and worthy will escape this time of unprecedented judgements (Luke 21:36). Those who are only saved during the tribulation period will be faced with bloody persecution.
5. The Writing on the Wall
The end of the church dispensation will come suddenly and dramatically, and it will cause great perplexity among unbelieving and prophetically ignorant people all over the world. There are various signs which point to the end of the church age and the revelation of the Antichrist, but they are a mystery to unbelievers. These people will suddenly be overcome by big calamities.
Most people naively think they can bring peace and prosperity to the world without being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, without honouring His Word and its moral principles, and without taking account of the devil and his evil plans. Their disillusionment will be very big: “For when they say, Peace and safety! then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).
A similar situation prevailed before the unexpected fall of the Babylonian Empire. We can learn much from it as we are in the same position. Contemporary political leaders also boast in their ability to remain in power without God, and to solve the world’s serious problems on their own. However, they will suddenly be shaken by God’s intervention and also by the appearance of an extremely evil world leader.
Fall of the Babylonian Empire
Daniel 5 describes the highly dramatic final hours before the fall of the once mighty Babylonian Empire. King Belshazzar gave a great banquet in his palace for 1 000 of his nobles, as well as his wives and concubines, to celebrate the greatness of Babylon. At this feast he acted disdainfully towards the God of Israel and arrogantly said that Israel’s God was unable to save them from the hands of the Babylonians. The king showed his contempt for the Jews and their God by having liquor served in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem when the city was captured by his forces. In his megalomania, Belshazzar honoured the mighty gods of Babylon and gloried in the invincibility of his empire.
While this celebration was under way, the Persian army was already deployed outside the city for three months. However, Belshazzar was not concerned about them as Babylon was heavily fortified with an enclosed wall which was 26 metres wide and 106 metres high, with 250 watchtowers. The Euphrates River flowed right through the city, and large sluice-gates were constructed to prohibit entrance to the city by boat. Furthermore, the inhabitants had stored up enough food in the city for 20 years.
But the Persians had dug a channel to divert the flow of the water to a nearby lake. The moment when they succeed with this plan the way was open for the enemy forces to enter the city from the north and the south below the sluice-gates, under the cover of darkness. In the meantime, Belshazzar’s feast continued and his bravado had no limits.
Time had run out for the haughty king, and the Lord not only announced his own end but also that of the Babylonian Empire in which he gloried so much. Suddenly, a hand appeared on the plastered wall just opposite the lampstand where all could see it. The king was overcome with shock and fear, and intuitively knew that his party was over.
Confusion also reigned supreme among his counsellors and not one of them – including the most learned men in Babylon – could interpret the writing. It is significant that Daniel, who was a senior official, did not attend this pagan party. He was summoned and a great reward was offered to him, including promotion to third in rank in the empire, if he could interpret the handwriting.
Daniel reminded Belshazzar and his officials of the fact that Nebuchadnezzar was punished and humbled by the Lord because of his haughtiness. At the time, Daniel counselled Nebuchadnezzar to break with his sins and pursue righteousness (Daniel 4:27). But he did not heed this advice, and afterwards his royal authority was taken away from him; he also became insane and lived with wild animals for seven years. When he subsequently repented, his sanity was restored to him and he was reinstated on his royal throne. Nebuchadnezzar abandoned all idol worship and only praised and glorified the Lord as the King of heaven who has all power in heaven and among men.
Belshazzar, his wives and his nobles did not take the lessons of history to heart and exalted themselves. Daniel confronted him in the light of Nebuchadnezzar’s experience and said: “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this” (Dan. 5:22). Belshazzar reverted completely to idolatry and arrogantly scoffed at the God of Israel. But the time of grace soon expired for him, as is evident from Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end; tekel: you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; peres: your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
During that same night Babylon was conquered by their enemies and Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. This is a terrifying account of what may happen to people who ignore God’s warnings in His Word. It certainly has a message to us also since we have even more explicit warnings about a great tribulation which will, like a thief in the night, come suddenly upon the whole world.
The Day of the Lord
According to the Bible we know that the time of grace in the New Testament will also come to an end after the whole world will have had the opportunity of accepting the gospel message (Acts 17:30), and then the judgements of the Lord will suddenly be poured out upon unrepentant humanity during the tribulation period. Isaiah says the following on the coming day of the Lord:
“Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. ... I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isa. 13:9, 11).
The God-rejecting world of the end-time is in the same situation as that of Belshazzar many centuries ago. They do not only reject the God of heaven of whom they know very little, but they also reject His Son who has come to the world, as well as His Word and the gospel message which was proclaimed to the world during the past 2000 years. The end-time judgements will therefore be more severe, since the Lord Jesus said that there will be a great tribulation as there has never been, and if those days were not shortened no flesh would be saved (Matt. 24:21).
We read about the great end-time rebellion against God and His Son in Psalm 2: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.” (Ps. 2:2-3). During the past few decades, most nations in the traditional Christian world have turned their backs upon the Bible as God’s Word by abrogating Christian constitutions, discontinuing Christian education, and rejecting Christian morality. Even many of the theologians also participate in this rebellion by questioning the authenticity of the Bible as God’s Word, denying the deity of the Lord Jesus, and relegating Him to the same level as the idols of the pagans.
All that now remains is that the judgements of the Lord will suddenly be poured out upon the wicked after the Lord has taken away His children who were not party to this rebellion. There are various signs of the times which are meant to be the writing on the wall to the whole world that the dispensation of grace will soon come to an end, and will immediately be followed by the time of judgements. In the Word of God we have a much clearer exposition of what the future holds for us and for the whole world, than was the case during Old Testament times.
Peter says: “We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as to a light that shines in a dark place” (2 Pet. 1:19). The question is: Do we heed these prophecies or are we not concerned about the writing on the wall? Ignorance on end-time prophecies does not only cause the virgins in the kingdom of heaven to fall asleep during the midnight hour, but together with them the whole unsaved world is also in the grip of fatal ignorance.
Where are the men of God who should interpret the message on the coming judgements in such a way that all will be able to understand it? Every Spirit-filled child of God has the obligation to proclaim this message in a pure and correct way. Or did you neglect to make a full surrender to be filled with the Holy Spirit? If that is the case, you will also be unable to interpret the writing on the wall. The Lord Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, and also tell us what is yet to come (John 16:13).
The threat from Iran
There is a further correlation between the present situation and that of Babylon, and that refers to the Persians who played a big role in the fall of Belshazzar. In the end-time they will again play a major role since Persia, the present Iran, is busy developing nuclear weapons and they have repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel and wipe this country off the world map. The Iranian government also entertains a strong expectation that the Imam Mahdi – that is the Islamic Messiah – will appear shortly to subject the whole world to the authority of the Koran. They see it as their prophetic calling to cause chaos in the world, as the Mahdi will allegedly only come to establish peace during a time of great calamity.
Apart from Islam’s resistance against Judaism and Christianity, they also insist that all of Israel should be part of Palestine and under full control of the Palestinian people. Their final objective is to establish an Islamic world state with Jerusalem as its capital. Because of all these considerations they have often declared holy wars (jihads) against Israel and its allies. They also say that the last big war will break out when the Mahdi comes; it will be fought mainly in Israel and that Islam will be victorious.
However, their greatest stumbling-block is Israel, and this fact gives rise to the great emphasis on arming themselves in order to be able to wage a war of annihilation against Israel. Iran’s threats are clear and taken seriously by most Western powers in the light of Iran’s nuclear development programme. Because of this threat, European countries have decided to stop buying crude oil from Iran as of July 2012. In reaction to this boycott action Iran is threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which about a third of the world’s crude oil is transported. A blockade of this nature can cause a severe crisis with the potential to cripple the world economy. American and British warships are regularly deployed in the Persian Gulf to monitor the situation and take action if needed.
In the meantime, threats from Israel or Iran continue and increase the tension between them considerably, as well as the possibility of a war that may break out any time. When that happens, several of the big powers will probably become involved as their strategic interests will directly be affected by a war in the Middle East and the Gulf region.
Iran has concluded a defence treaty with Russia, while Israel concluded a similar treaty with the United States. A war between Iran and Israel can therefore trigger off a global war involving many other countries. Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe and Russo-Arab invasion of Israel in which Russia (Gog in the far north) and Iran (Persia) are specifically mentioned, together with several other countries that will be drawn into the conflict. This war may precipitate a new world order in which the Antichrist will be revealed to gain control over the whole world. He will succeed in being accepted as Messiah and global Prince of Peace by all faiths, including Israel and their Muslim enemies. When that happens, the church dispensation will already have been concluded by way of the rapture, as the Antichrist cannot be revealed until he who restrains him has been taken out of the way – that is the true church of Christ as a temple of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess, 2:6-8).
Joel Rosenberg
Fortunately, there are men who do not hesitate to proclaim the Lord’s end-time message to all people – including powerful political leaders. One of them is the prominent Messianic Jew, Joel Rosenberg. He writes books, manages websites, addresses pastors’ conferences, visits Israel and conducts discussions with government officials, and visits various other countries in the Middle East to liaise with religious leaders and to organise and support gospel outreaches.
Rosenberg likens America with the severe apostasy that prevailed during the time of Belshazzar. He draws attention to the USA’s national debt of $16 trillion, while the Bible warns us not to go into debt. He also refers to the 53 million abortions in the US to date, to legalised homosexual marriage, and to a pornography industry that makes billions of dollars profit. He then asks the following question to fellow Americans:
“How much longer will the Lord wait before He lets us reap what we’ve sown? Is God going to give us another chance, or is He finished with us? Is America in a Nebuchadnezzar moment where we still have an opportunity to repent and be restored, or a Belshazzar moment where God removes His favour from us and turns out the lights? Honestly, I’m not certain.”
Rosenberg proceeded to explain a Nebuchadnezzar situation. In a like manner as that king of ancient times who came to his senses, repented and was fully restored to his throne, Americans can also be restored today. He referred to revival times in the USA’s history, and the positive reaction to the preaching of revivalists such as Charles Finney and D.L. Moody. That situation can be repeated. However, if Americans persist to harden themselves spiritually and to continue with their sin and agnosticism, the end may suddenly come upon them as in the case of Belshazzar.
More or less the same question which Rosenberg asked to Americans may also be asked to governments and their subjects in all other countries. The collapse of spiritual and moral values occurs al over the world, as well as the present financial crises due to reckless overspending by governments and individuals. Economic disaster will give rise to widespread poverty, unemployment and starvation, and that is an ominous sign of the times.
Joel Rosenberg has recently published a book titled Implosion. In it he discusses the impending implosion of the world economy, which will happen suddenly and be much like the demolishing of an old building with explosives. Most of the big economies in the world are threatened by a major recession or by total bankruptcy. Shares and government bonds will lose most of their value, while currencies will also lose much of their buying power. The value of property will drastically decrease, and due to the widespread poverty there will be few buyers. All these factors suggest that, politically as well as economically, a new world order will have to be instituted in a desperate move to offer chances of survival to the seven billion inhabitants of planet earth.
It is conspicuous that the current economic crisis is more severely felt in the rich countries of the developed word. The US is on the brink of an economic collapse as a result of unconstrained spending over many years. There is no ready solution to this crisis, since a drastic reduction in spending will be the final nail in their economic coffin. Such a step will cause large-scale dismissals and salary cuts, which means that people can no longer meet commitments with regard to mortgage bonds and other expenses. This, in turn, will negatively affect the survival chances of money-lenders in the banking sector, and motor manufacturers. Escalating unemployment and the congruent problem of political instability will be the off-spins this situation, as well as decreased exports to other countries. An economic implosion in America, and possibly also in Europe, will bring the world economy to its knees.
The end-time writing on the wall
We are in a similar situation to that of Daniel in Babylon. While a God-rejecting world is increasingly shaken by serious signs of the times, Christians should not attend meetings where they drink, honour idols, and boast in their own achievements, while scoffing at the servants of God and humiliating them. Neither should we keep silent about our convictions, but always strive to shine like lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. We must take a bold stand for the authority of Scripture, particularly also for the prophetic word.
When the world unexpectedly becomes perturbed and unnerved by unprecedented signs of the end-time, agnostics should know that there are believers who are able to interpret these signs. The Bible says: “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).
Are you, like Daniel of old, able to interpret to the world the prophetic writing on the wall, and also to warn them against the impending judgements of God? Or is biblical prophecy also a closed book to you because of ignorance? We should not be guilty of remaining silent about the prophetic word and in so doing conceal it from people. In that case we will, together with the unbelieving word, unexpectedly fall victim to divine judgements.
The same principle also applies to Christian churches, fellowships, radio stations, websites and other Christian ministries. We are committed to proclaiming the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and that definitely includes the prophetic word. Believers who disregard prophecies are usually engaged in promoting a false prophetic scenario in which there is no reference to an impending great tribulation, neither to a rapture as an escape for true believers from the coming judgements (Luke 21:36). We should first get our own lives and spiritual perspective in order, then only will the Lord open our eyes to correctly understand and proclaim biblical prophecies.
Spiritual preparations
What should we as Christians do in times like these? We must be able to discern the approaching footsteps of the Messiah in these events. In His Olivet Discourse He said: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). The following command is added to this: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
True Christians do not have an Antichrist expectation but a Christ expectation. We are not appointed to the wrath of God during the coming day of the Lord but to obtain the salvation which the Lord Jesus has promised to His faithful disciples. In Egypt, Israel was also not destined for the plagues that came upon the unbelievers but they had to sprinkle their doorposts with the blood of the Pascal Lamb, while trusting fully in the saving grace of the Lord.
For the same reasons, Noah and his family were not destined for the Flood, neither were Lot and his family to suffer under the divine judgements that were poured out upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Only unbelievers and nominal believers who merely have an outward form of godliness will remain behind when the trumpet sounds, and they will then be faced with unprecedented tribulation. They will still be able to obtain salvation, and their faith in the true Messiah will give them courage to deny the false messiah and his new world order, but that will lead to their death as martyrs (Rev. 6:9-11; 12:11).
Rather settle your case with the Lord now. When the trumpet sounds and the call is heard to go out and meet the Bridegroom it will be too late to quickly get the oil of the Holy Spirit, without which nobody is worthy to appear before the Messiah. He has done a complete work of redemption to prepare us for this meeting.
Paul says: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her ... that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). After we were purged from our old sins we should be sanctified completely in our spirit, soul and body to be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
It is the responsibility of each of us to make very sure about our spiritual standing before the Lord. Some church members are unsaved and only have the name that they are Christians, but in reality they are spiritually dead (Rev. 3:1). Others are saved but they are fleshly and carnal, full of envy, strife, and divisions, and are consequently tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine (1 Cor. 3:1-3; Eph. 4:14; Gal. 5:17). Only a relatively small group can testify about sanctification and victory in their spiritual lives. A characteristic of their lives is that they do works which are worthy of repentance – that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit which the Lord wishes to see in the lives of all His children. They are the ones who do not hide their talents but use them in the service of the Lord.
Dark clouds of wars and rumours of wars are gathering over the Middle East and the whole world, attended by spiritual and moral decline which is unprecedented in the entire history of humanity, as well as an economic crisis of apocalyptic proportions which is gaining a firm grip on all countries, the rich and the poor. In times like these we can expect the imminent appearing of the bright morning star above a dark horizon. Are you ready for this? During His secret coming before the tribulation period, He will only come for those who eagerly wait for Him (Heb. 9:28).
6. End-time Destruction of the Nations’ Kingdoms
We are very close to the final fulfilment of the prophecy on the history and destiny of the world empires described in Daniel 2, and should therefore study this chapter in Scripture wit renewed interest.
Through a dream, the Lord revealed to Nebuchadnezzar the nature and succession of Gentile kingdoms, from the destruction of Israel’s kingdom by the Babylonian Empire until the end of the times of the Gentiles when the Antichrist’s global empire will be destroyed by Christ (Rev. 19:19-21). Directly afterwards, the throne of David will be restored in Jerusalem by the Messiah Himself (Acts 15:16-17). This prophetic scenario is uninterrupted and extends right through the church dispensation while Jerusalem will continue to be trodden down by Gentile rulers: “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). The sudden termination and destruction of Gentile rule in the world will occur at the second coming of Christ (Rev. 11:15). He is the stone that will destroy the image (Dan. 2:34-35).
Nebuchadnezzar did not understand his prophetic dream, but Daniel had divine insight and was able to describe and interpret the dream to him:
“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendour was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:31-35).
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The following interpretation of the dream by Daniel was accurately fulfilled during the subsequent course of world history. We are now on the threshold of its final fulfilment:
“You, O king of kings ... are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” (Dan. 2:37-45).
Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream revealed a succession of pagan empires that would rule over the known world of ancient times, and therefore also over Israel. The Babylonian Empire was the head of gold. The Lord appointed Nebuchadnezzar in order to execute His plan for the nations. All the people were subjected to his authority, even the animals and birds. The Babylonian Empire ruled from 626 to 539 B.C.
The second part of the image was the chest and arms of silver. That represented the Medo-Persian Empire (the two arms of the image) which conquered and subjected the Babylonians in 539 B.C. Although the Medo-Persian Empire reigned for more than 200 years, from 539 to 330 B.C., which was much longer than the 87 years of the Babylonian Empire, it was inferior to the Babylonian Empire, like silver which is worth less than gold.
The belly and thighs of bronze represent the third kingdom, i.e. the Greek Empire. Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persian Empire in 330 B.C. and subsequently controlled their entire territory. He expanded the Greek Empire further east as far as India.
The legs of iron represent the Roman Empire. They conquered the Greek Empire in 63 B.C. Although the Roman Empire was divided into two parts in accordance with the two legs of the image, and finally ends into ten toes which will be a mixture of iron and clay, it was nevertheless one empire. This empire was exceedingly strong, as indicated by the fact that iron is stronger than bronze, silver and gold. The Roman Empire acted in a vicious and merciless way during their conquests and incorporated countries that belonged to the preceding three empires into their own empire. During the course of time the Roman Empire lost its solidarity and in 476 it disintegrated and ceased to exist as a centralised political unity.
Subsequently, however, various countries of the former Roman Empire became very strong in their own right and exerted a marked influence on the political, economic and cultural landscape of the rest of the world. A European language, English, became the major language for communication throughout the world.
Perpetuation of the two legs
The Roman Empire was never conquered and replaced by another world empire, and in a concealed form it continued to exert its influence in all spheres of life over the entire world. In spite of its political fragmentation as a coherent world empire, its constituent countries continued to develop and produce new knowledge in the fields of literacy, science, technology, medicine, religion, philosophy and politics. Two important growing-points were established with a view to exploring and developing the outside world – the one in Western and the other one in Eastern Europe. In this way, the two legs of the image continued throughout the centuries to exert their influence on the rest of the world. The dynamics of European culture were the impetus for a new civilisation in the world.
The western part of the Roman Empire which was controlled from Rome was an important growing-point for the Western civilisation and its capitalistic free market system, which is characteristic of the first world. West European cultures, Roman law and the Christian faith (Catholicism and Protestantism) spread from here – also to other parts of the world which, through colonisation, came under the control of West European countries. The impact of West European culture was phenomenal, and at a certain stage the British Empire had colonies around the globe – from America in the west to India and beyond in the east. This fact gave rise to the expression: “The sun never sets over the British Empire.”
The eastern part of the Roman Empire, which was controlled from Constantinople, expanded further into Russia and other parts of Asia. This movement facilitated the expansion of the Greek Orthodox Church, which eventually resulted in the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church. In this way, Eastern Europe became a growing-point for the second world, which later became under the control of communism. The revolutionary ideology of communism was also exported from Europe. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher who subsequently moved to Paris, Brussels and London. He and his friend Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1847, and in its preamble they say: “A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism.” However, communism was not accepted and implemented in Europe. The subsequent acceptance of communism by Russia, China and various other countries resulted in about a third of the world population being subjected to communism at one stage or another.
The ideological, economic and religious division of the world between a first and second world, manifested particularly strong as an ideological divide between capitalist and communist states. After World War II, Europe was graphically cut in two by the iron curtain (another clear manifestation of the two legs of the image). For many years, reference was made to the rigid distinction between the west and the east, caused by the two worlds of capitalistic freedom on the one hand, and restrictive, atheistic communism on the other hand. Both of them, in their own right, tried to control the world but none of them could entirely succeed in doing so. The two legs of Daniel’s image continued to be seen in the world, while the influence of each of them continued to increase – capitalism to a much larger degree than communism.
During the course of time a so-called third world was added to the international community, originating from the discovery and colonisation of unknown territories far from Europe. However, the third world does not have a distinct ideological identity of its own as it mainly came under the control of the first world. Colonial powers such as Britain, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands strongly imposed their views, practices and institutions on these countries, even determining their boundaries and names, thereby rendering an even wider application to the two legs of the Roman Empire.
In due course communism, except in China, succumbed before economic realities and was abandoned in Russia, the great protagonist of this radical ideology. In consequence, communist regimes in the entire Union of Socialistic Soviet Republics (USSR) were rejected in order to embrace western-style capitalistic free markets, free, democratic elections, as well as allowing much greater liberties in general. Even in China, a transition was made to a capitalistic economy but without abandoning their authoritarian communist regime.
Capitalism, together with all its liberties in society, gradually became a dominant power in the world, giving rise to a situation in which economic power also determines the political and military power of a state. The god of money, Mammon, gained a strong grip on all societies, thereby bringing about the end of the Roman Empire’s east-west-division in the world. A new development was set in motion in favour of the establishment of independent, geo-political power blocks in the world.
The ten toes of the image
It is highly significant that the two legs of the image as seen by Nebuchadnezzar, finally subdivide into the toes. They are like iron and clay that cannot bond firmly to form a strong unit, which implies that there is a large measure of ideological, cultural and religious diversity among them. Neither are they equal in strength or level of development, as some of them are brittle as clay while others are strong as iron (Dan. 2:42).
Prophetically, the ten toes definitely refer to the last days as the destruction of the image in the end-time is associated with the destruction of the ten toes. Daniel says: “...a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces” (Dan. 2:34). These ten toes therefore do not refer to the ten historical provinces of the ancient Roman Empire, but to ten end-time regions in the entire world which largely derived their economic and political character from Europe.
The emerging new world order is an effort towards unifying the first and second worlds which evolved from the two legs of the Roman Empire, including all the subdivisions which subsequently occurred. The purpose with these reforms is that the political structure of Gentile (pagan, humanistic) rule will again, as in ancient times, manifest as a single world government which has the power to enforce a uniform political, economic and religious policy on all its subjects.
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In modern times, the world has become fragmented into a large number of independent countries. However, serious economic problems due to overspending by governments as well as individuals, has prompted countries, e.g. in Europe, to form larger economic units on a regional basis in order to promote development and maximise their chances on survival. There are also other considerations for the forming of such alliances e.g. to defend themselves against wars and terrorist attacks. In course of time, every region develops a stronger political identity as can be observed in Europe, the Arab world in the Middle East, North America, etc.
It is interesting that the entire world is presently being subdivided into ten economic power blocks or growing-points. Because of internal competition as well as ideological and religious differences among countries, the delimitation of some of these regions is still disputed; nevertheless, the process is irreversible. When conducting a Google search under “Ten economic regions of the world”, various sources are offered in which reference is made to these ten regions. Not all of them are in agreement on exactly how these regions should be demarcated, but they all agree to the fact that there are ten such regions. The following are the most likely delimitations:
1. The European Union; 2. North America (USA & Canada); 3. South America; 4. Australia and adjacent island states in the Southern Pacific; 5. Russia and various countries in its sphere of influence; 6. China and bordering countries; 7. India and states in its proximity; 8. a South-eastern Asiatic block with Japan as leading country; 9. the Middle East; and 10. Africa, as represented by the African Union.
It is for other reasons also obvious that the ten toes of the image do not refer to ten states in Europe and the Middle East. The restored Roman Empire as represented by the European Union, already has 27 member states and it is very unlikely that they will be reduced to ten. Neither are there any indications that the end-time group of ten will be controlled from Rome.
The ten toes are economic and geo-political regions in the world which were either under direct European rule at on or other stage, or have to attribute their economic development to the Western civilisation in various other ways. The USA and Canada are former British colonies and are therefore effectively part of the West European leg of the ancient Roman Empire. The ten toes are indeed representative of the whole world; hence it is unnecessary to ask questions such as: “Why is the United States not mentioned in biblical prophecies?” America is an important part of the end-time world which was established as a result of European expansion, and will continue to play an important role.
In the emerging new world order, the ten economic regions in the world are each forging closer political ties with their allies in order to be better able to advance the interests of their own region within a future world government. In the same way in which the European Union has a leader, as have the Arab League in the Middle East and the African Union, other regions will also be united under an appropriate form of political leadership. In some cases, the head of state of the most prominent country in the region will take the lead, e.g. in the cases of Russia, China and India.
It is interesting that the question of leadership in the ten regions will only be finally determined when the Antichrist has appeared on the scene. That is an indication that he will appoint leaders of his own choice. In Revelation 13 and 17, the ten toes of the image are represented by ten horns on the head of the beast (the Antichrist). John says: “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Rev. 17:12-13).
These ten kings (leaders of the ten regions) will join the rest of the world in following the beast in amazement. They will be so enchanted by him that they will even worship him as world messiah (Rev. 13:3-4). John says: “And he was given authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7). He will not only be a Middle Eastern or European leader – he will also be a fully-fledged word leader. In his rise to world supremacy he will significantly expand his own power-base, causing the 10 toes, or regions, to be reduced to eight (Dan. 7:8).
Government of the Antichrist
In later chapters of the book of Daniel, further reference is made to these ten offshoots of the Roman Empire, but then as ten horns upon the head of a vicious animal (Dan. 7:7-8, 20-28). This is the same beast with the ten horns also referred to by John (Rev. 13:1; 17:3, 12, 16). In a historical application, the horns may refer to ten provinces of the ancient Roman Empire but in its end-time application, when the Antichrist appears, they definitely refer in a broader context to ten economic regions which will exist among the Gentiles. Three of the ten horns will be uprooted by the end-time leader (the Antichrist) and joined together under his personal control.
According to Daniel 11:31-45, one of the Antichrist’s titles will be “the king of the North” (north as seen from Israel). During different times this kingdom referred to Syria, Assyria or Babylonia (cf. Isa. 10:12-14). This connotation implies that the Antichrist will arise from the Middle East. Syria was one of the provinces of the ancient Roman Empire, and is destined to play an important role in end-time events.
Within the larger scenario of the ten economic power blocks of the world, the Antichrist will emerge from the Middle East, and will then proceed to merge this region with two other power blocks within a reduced group of eight regions. The Bible does not indicate which three of the regions will be merged by him, but that will become evident when the time draws nigh. It may be that he will merge the Middle East, Europe and North America. The USA is already involved with European and Middle Eastern affairs through NATO, and they are the strongest en biggest representative of the Western, European culture outside Europe.
It is quite evident that a new world order will be instituted, and that will lead to the establishment of a world government with executive powers. The Antichrist will gain control over it, while the leaders of the ten regions will voluntarily transfer their powers to him. After the example of the Antichrist (Rev. 13:5-7), this empire will be fanatically opposed to the kingdom of God and the true Christ. “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14).
The global government of the Antichrist will constitute the resumption and continuation of a long tradition of world governments that acted in association with false religions – but on a much bigger scale than in the past. This end-time government will use all its means to fight against Christ and His heavenly army when He comes again. Extensive use will even be made of demonic deception to mobilise military powers around the globe to participate in this war (Rev. 16:13-16).
Present developments in the Middle East are very significant with a view to the establishment of a future world government which will gain control over the political power and economic assets of all nations. Oil rich Arab states will play a key role in the emerging new world order, since the economic future of the world depends largely upon the uninterrupted supply of oil which is produced by them. The involvement of various world powers in the Syrian war is an indication that a solution to world peace must be found here. Russia, China and Iran are supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, while virtually the entire rest of the world supports the opposition powers. This is an important focal point for conflict which even has the potential for giving rise to a world war. However, if proactive steps are taken, effective global structures may be put in place to promote unity and peace and avert a full-scale war.
The peace which the Antichrist will succeed in bringing about will be short-lived as he will be the special representative of the kingdom of darkness, who will only use peace and unity as a smokescreen to hide his evil objectives. John says: “And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Rev. 13:2). The Antichrist will rule in association with an alliance of false world religions and do everything in his power to obliterate the worshipping of the true Christ on earth (Rev. 13:7; 17:3-6). Divine judgements will be poured out upon his empire, which will lead to its sudden end.
Destruction of the image
A clear description is given about the destruction of the image of Gentile rule on earth. A stone will be cut out without hands, which will strike the image on its feet of iron and clay and break them in pieces. When the kingdoms of the Gentiles are finally destroyed, it will be done without human involvement. The stone which will descend and strike them refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ, who is also Israel’s Messiah. He is often likened to a stone in the Bible (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 8:14; 1 Pet. 2:6-8). This stone will increase in size and fill the whole earth. The coming of Christ, and His destruction of the earthly powers that will be deployed in Israel under the leadership of the Antichrist, is described as follows:
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. ... And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:11-15, 19-20; cf. Zech. 14:12-13).
This is a concise and dramatic description of the battle of Armageddon, which forms part of the judgements of the day of the Lord. Isaiah says: “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. ... I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ... It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land” (Isa. 13:9-14). The judgements of the Lord will not only terminate evil human governments, but also stop the chaos and loss of cultural identity caused by the large-scale intermingling of nations due to globalism and uncontrolled immigration.
After Christ has destroyed the earthly kingdoms He will establish His eternal kingdom in their place. That will be the fulfilment of Revelation 11:15: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever!” It is evident from this scripture that at Christ’s second coming He will bring an end to all earthly kingdoms so as to rule in their place – this does not only refer to European governments in the region of the ancient Roman Empire. Daniel says: “And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:35). A Christian new world order will be instituted on earth, which will ensure continuous peace on earth:
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isa. 2:2-4).
Jeremiah also confirms this prophecy: “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts” (Jer. 3:17).
The throne of the Messiah will be in Jerusalem where He will restore the Davidic kingdom. That will be the fulfilment of a prophecy given two thousand years ago to Mary by the angel Gabriel: “He [Jesus] will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:32). When Christ rules from this throne, the dispensation of power-hungry Gentile governments permeated by selfish motives and evil institutions will be something of the past. These evil institutions rendered the Gentiles hostile towards Israel and the kingdom of God.
Individually, we have the responsibility of making a personal decision with regard to Jesus Christ. If He is the rock and foundation upon which our lives are built, we will not fall down during the storms of life (Matt. 7:24-27). But if we reject the Lord Jesus as Saviour, we are building our lives upon the sand of self-deception and will find ourselves among the enemies of Christ to whom He will be a stone of stumbling in the coming final judgement (1 Pet. 2:4-8).