He Is Antichrist

Revelation: A Narrative Of The Tribulation...And A Word Of Caution. The book of Revelation is not an exact verse-by-verse sequential account of the Tribulation, but it is broadly chronological insofar as the major events are concerned. Occasionally, particularly between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals and between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets, the chronological narrative pauses while John is showed visions of things behind the scenes or glimpses of the final triumph of God over Satan. In the first chapter John is given a vision of heaven and Christ, and is commanded to write what he sees and put it in a book to the seven churches of Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.) Chapters two and three contain specific, individual messages to each of those seven churches. Although the messages were specifically intended for those churches in that time, virtually every prophecy scholar agrees that the seven churches also represent seven stages of the church age from Pentecost to the Tribulation. In chapter 4 John is called up to heaven in a clear type of the rapture. He describes a scene of worship, and then his attention is turned back to earth. A book sealed with seven seals is opened by Jesus Himself, each of the first six seals containing a judgment upon the earth during the first half of the Tribulation. At the opening of the seventh seal in the middle of the Tribulation, the seven trumpet judgments are sounded. Finally the seven vial judgments come during the final three and one half years of the Tribulation, culminating in the near destruction of the planet and Christ’s literal, physical return to earth to set up His kingdom. It is a virtual certainty that nobody begins the examination of Biblical prophecy in general or specifically the book of Revelation with a blank slate. Almost everyone that tackles the subject has heard something about it preached or taught. Sadly, most Christians accept the teaching they receive as truth without question; they believe what they believe about Bible prophecy solely because they heard it in church or saw it on TV or read it in a book. And those that actually do read and study the scripture for themselves can be hamstrung by a theological mind-set that governs their interpretation of it. Because we are living in the church age, we understandably tend to apply a church-age-centric thought process to the task. However, that must be carefully guarded against. The church age will end with the rapture, and the church will cease to be the instrument of God’s work in the earth. During the Tribulation the true church will be gone. There will be no church except the apostate church, those left behind that will honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him: organized, perverted, Godless Christendom that also will shortly fall sway to the worship of the Beast. The church age is the focus of the second and third chapters of Revelation, but after that the church is never mentioned again. As the Apostle Paul promised, the wild branch of the Gentiles will be removed and the natural branch of Israel grafted back in. (Romans 11:23-24) The Tribulation will be more than the period of God’s wrath upon the earth. It will also be the time when God will remove the veil of spiritual blindness from the Jewish people. Not every Jew will be saved; many if not most will follow the rest of the world in worshipping the Beast. Still, God will use the Tribulation to ultimately bring forth a regenerate nation of Israel that bows before Jesus Christ as the Messiah. But before that will happen, the false Christ will rise and deceive many Jews and Gentiles alike; and Jesus Himself declared “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” (Matthew 24: 9) During the Tribulation, the world’s politics, personalities, and conflicts will center on Israel. The Tribulation will be an Israel-centered dispensation. It is imperative in interpreting prophecy to understand that Israel and Christianity view the concept of “Messiah” quite differently. The church sees Christ as the Savior to be worshipped, before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess as Lord. Israel does not view their Messiah the same way at all. Israel is now and will then be looking for a prophet, priest, and king to sit on the throne of David, not a person to be worshipped as God. The final, personal Antichrist is a product of the Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble. (Jeremiah 30: 1-7) Accordingly, to find the Antichrist, one must look from Israel’s perspective, not the church’s.