Posted by Elana janson on April 12, 2011 at 17:12:55:
In Reply to: Anti-Christ posted by Richard Smit on March 31, 2011 at 07:16:25:
Anti-Christ
Because I believe I have been given insight into the time measures of Revelation and those time measures reveal meaning – also the meaning of the ‘beast out of the sea’ and the beast out of the earth’, I shall with this insight try to explain Anti-Christ.
The word “Anti-Christ” is not used in Revelation. The term is only used by the apostle John who in the first century AD made a clear distinction between those who believed that Christ was the Messiah and the strong opposition against that belief.
To fully understand “Anti-Christ” one has to firstly examine Anti-Christ in the first century AD, secondly understand it as a force or spirit against the Truth of God and God’s Word, and thirdly how the spirit of Anti-Christ developed into the massive force that is at the present time Anti-Christ and anti the entire global Christian community and all those of the Christian faith who adhere to the testimony of Jesus Christ that they believe to be the Truth of God.
I shall start with the force against the Truth of God for this was already present in the Garden of Eden.
The method of deceiving man or woman seems to have started there and if that is understood we have insight into the method of Anti-Christ in the past and present time.
Read the following two sections from Genesis.
Genesis 2:15-17
15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 3:1-7
1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Note how the serpent speaks absolutely contrary to Gods will “Ye shall not surely die” and then appeals to the desire of the woman “to make one wise”. In this way he convinced the woman that if she ate from the tree she would become wise and she forgot that God said they would die. She forgot that God is Truth. God’s words always hold true. The serpent used an argument that made the woman forget God’s Truth. He put forward an argument that appealed to her as a person.
I believe that if we fully understand how the serpent deceived Eve, then we have a greater understanding of how Anti-Christ has managed to subtly deceive mankind.
The method of the force against the Truth of God or God’s Word is further illustrated through the Tower of Babel.
Yes, man’s (and woman’s) main motive, to exalt himself/ herself, above God and to usurp God’s glory and authority, continues unabated from ancient times. Important in relation to the beasts of Revelation, the tower of Babel shows the method of the spirit against the Truth of God to slowly disguise the Truth over time with the result that sin overtakes man and he is deceived in thinking he can exalt himself above God.
Very significant are the words of Jesus Christ at the time that he was brought before Pontius Pilate. This section is from the book of John.
John 18:33-38
33Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
34Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
35Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
The words that are profound are: “I should bear witness unto the truth”. In other words Jesus Christ came to earth to bear witness to the Truth of God and God’s Word. What the prophets foretold of the coming Messiah Jesus Christ was born to fulfill.
John gives this insight into the conversation between Pilate and Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus said this to Pilate the crowd still called for Jesus to be crucified. Anti-Christ prevents man from seeing the Truth of God. John was given insight into this drive of the people to crucify Jesus in 1 John 4:3. There would be people that would in the time to come present arguments to conceal the Truth of the Jesus Christ.
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
John identifies a “spirit” of Anti-Christ. He makes a clear distinction between those that are of God and those that are not.
John says in 1 John 2:22
22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Revelation
All mankind has the desire to be wise and knowledgeable. What we have to understand in the twenty-first century is how the deception of man evolved to succeed in convincing modern man that only that which can be proved through science should be believed to be the truth.
In 1 John 2:18 John reveals that the spirit of Anti-Christ will be present in the end time.
18Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
John makes direct reference to the Anti-Christ that is coming in the end time. Therefore the end time will be characterized by Anti-Christ. This is so obvious at the present time - how modern man denies that there is a God and relies on his own theories and knowledge of the earth and the universe.
Anti-Christ, as was seen in the Garden of Eden, is driven by man’s desire to have knowledge and sinful nature. It becomes more powerful over man as man is deceived and turns away from God’s Truth.
Revelation, Chapter 13 gives insight into the development over time of the social structures (beast out of the sea) and accomplishments (beast out of the earth) of man that would give power to the spirit of Anti-Christ. The spirit of Anti-Christ has become so powerful that Revelation says in Rev 5:6:”Stood a Lamb as it had been slain”.
A man
The notion that Anti-Christ is a man comes from the misinterpretation of Revelation 13:18. It says “Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man: and his number is six hundred, threescore and six.”
Firstly one cannot say the beast is a man or the beast is 666, if you do not know what is meant by “count the number of the beast’. This insight can only come through a Divine intercession for Revelation 5:5 says that only “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals”. That means that only an intercession through the risen Christ could insight be given as to how to calculate the number of the beast.
As I have shown in my books and on this website, this verse relates to the time 1266 to 1932. This is a period of 666 years. Only the person who is given insight into the time measure of Rev 13:11 to18 can “count the number of the beast”. As I have shown on this website, the words of Rev 13 indicate years of increased knowledge by man. These years of increased knowledge can be illustrated through the words of Rev 13:13:
Counting the number of the beast in Rev 13:13
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men.”
This verse refers to the year 1866 when Alfred Noble discovered dynamite (“maketh fire”) and 1932 when nuclear fission by was discovered. In 1932 Sir John Cockcroft, an English physicist succeeded in bombarding the light element lithium with protons and splitting the atom. This discovery would lead to the development of the atomic bomb (“maketh fire come down from heaven to earth”).
Disguised in this verse is also the year 1926. This was the year of the discovery of the liquid-fueled rocket that was launched at Auburn, Massachusetts. It was emerging as a scientific tool for exploring space (“come down from heaven”). It was also the year that television, the moving image of light and shade, was demonstrated in London (“in the sight of men”). The words “in the sight of men” also relates to the year 1992 when rockets fired in Desert Storm were seen on worldwide television.
We see therefore a pattern emerging: 1866 + 66 = 1932
1926 + 66 = 1992
In this way the number of the beast is “counted”. Certain men would make discoveries, and because John received the book of Revelation in 96AD it was already then, for example, predestined that in 1926 a liquid-fueled rocket would be launched in Auburn, Massachusetts by a man. Revelation includes all mankind. The discoveries and achievements by men in the time 1266 to 1932 that would mislead man and the spirit of Anti-Christ would use man’s expertise and quest for knowledge and wealth to conceal God’s truth from modern man.
Why does Revelation give the development of the beast a certain time frame of 666 years? It does so to show all mankind that God will tolerate the rule of the beast for only a certain period of time after 1932.
I believe through the insight that was given me that this development of the beast over a period of time since 1266 is the same spirit of Anti-Christ that is spoken of by John in 1 John 2:18 that will make Christians know that it is the end time.
Rev 17:17 says that “God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.”
The unity of the Christian faith and the “king” of a state came to an end in the centuries after 1266. This is what I believe is meant by “give their kingdom unto the beast”. This whole transition is revealed in the symbolism of Rev 13:1-10. The whole analysis of this transition is given in my books and on this website.
You say: “Many Christians I know, believe that the “Anti-Christ” and its armies gather at Armageddon, to do battle (war) against each other, or to destroy the Jewish nation, just before the Second coming of Christ.
I think that most of the readers of your website, by now, know that Armageddon is the Hebrew name of a geographical place in Israel, known as Megiddo, a hill, that overlooks the Jezreel valley.”
You then quote:
Rev 16:16
“ And they gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place called Armageddon in Hebrew”
Rev 16:14
“These miracle working demons caused all the rulers of the world to gather for battle against the Lord, on that great judgement day of God Almighty”
The “miracle working demons” symbolize the final stages of the deception of mankind by the ‘beast out of the earth’ and the symbol of the “great whore”, “on a scarlet coloured beast” the final stages of the deception of the nations by the ‘beast out of the sea’ (“full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns”).
Rev 17:1-4
1And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Abominations
The words of Rev 17:4 “Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication”, I believe symbolizes how the nations have finally forgotten the Truth of God. God’s Truth of the cup filled with wine in commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 2:1 says
Why do the nations rage? Why do the people waste their time with futile plans? The Kings of the earth prepare for battle. The rulers plot together against the Lord and against His anointed one.
These words are amazing for they prophecy how leaders of nations have through the ages been misled and become austere. Moving against God and his Truth is ultimately futile.
Armageddon
I place great significance on the word “abomination” used in Rev 17:4 and in Matthew 24:15 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand;). I place great significance on the use of the word ”abomination” in both these verses for my understanding of Revelation only came through connecting words of Scripture to the words of Revelation. I therefore believe that when that which is represented by the ‘beast out of the sea’, that has contributed to the deception of the nations, reaches Jerusalem, it will be the time of the final battle.
At the present time it seems that we are seeing the ‘shortening of days’ Matthew 24:22. Therefore what about the conflict in Libya and the rebellion in North Africa and the Middle East in the context of Revelation? I contemplate the possibility of the word Armageddon having a symbolic meaning. Revelation deals with the entire earth, it divides the earth into “thirds”; it refers to “the four corners of the earth”, it brings twelve tribes of Israel into the symbolic structure of the Revelation through the number “144 000”. Therefore I wonder whether Armageddon has a symbolic meaning in relation to the entire earth. In ancient times the area of the plain of Jezreel and Ar (the city) Megiddo was a crossroad between East and West in the Middle East.
Midst
Must we not take greater note of the word “midst” in Rev 8:13 “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are yet to sound.” Revelation seems to be heralding the final time as relating to the “midst” or middle of the globe.
Also Rev 19:17 “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God”.
Could a line of longitude through Africa (South) and Europe (North) be a midpoint of the globe?