My dear readers,

The Antichrist (Part 2):

HIS ACTS

Daniel 7:21-25: "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."

The beast is called the “little horn” (Dan 7:8). He is “little” because he appears small, weak, and insignificant initially. But he has power, as the word “horn” depicts. His power will increase. He will subdue three kings, consolidating and strengthening his power in the process. He will speak great words against God. This includes attacking the Bible, thus undermining the doctrines of the Bible. The faith and trust of God’s saints will be challenged and in this way he will wear them out (Dan 7:25, “wear out” used only in the mental sense). Mental exhaustion will lead believers to capitulate and succumb to threats and fall into sin. He will behave like God by changing times and laws, i.e. new holy days and laws that promote the beast and the devil’s work like what is already seen in some countries today to quell any resistance to their evil rule. His despotic rule will last only three-and-one-half years.

Daniel 9:26-27: "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

In the midst of his seven-year rule, the beast will place the abomination of desolation in the holy place. He will first make peace with Israel at the beginning of his seven-year global reign. The beast will not be aware that his reign will last only seven years. This knowledge is for Christians only. This means that the Tribulation Temple will have to be constructed for the abomination to be placed in the holy place.

Daniel 11:36-45: "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

Once the beast assumes power, he will do as he wills. He will exalt himself above every god. This is the way of the worship of pantheon of gods where there will be one that is most powerful. This will be the diabolical assurance of the beast when he initiates acceptance of all religions when he first courts and seduces the world into accepting him as their world leader. He will continue to blaspheme God by bringing down the one living and true God through the harlot church. He will promote himself to be the fulfillment of Holy Scriptures thus replacing Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ. God will allow him to succeed in his evil deeds of deception. However, it will be short-lived.

In the process, he will reject the God of his fathers, implying that he is very possibly an Israelite. He will honour the god of forces, i.e. military might. His global army with all the present-day nuclear weapons of war will make him the most powerful man on earth. He will worship another God that his fathers know not, i.e. Satan himself. He will rule over many, dividing the world for gain, i.e. those who serve and rule by his side will be rewarded with nations and countries. Kings from the north and south will attack him. [That is why his kingdom will be described as a mixture of iron and clay as he will not enjoy the united one-world rule that the Caesars of the old Roman empire enjoyed.] But they will be soundly defeated.

He shall enter the glorious land, i.e. Israel. Note that he will make peace with Israel at the beginning of his seven-year reign. He will not attack the countries that will bow to him. Nations like Edom, Moab, and Ammon will eat out of his hands. (These will be the Middle Eastern countries.) Some of the countries that will not bow to him include Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia; some of the eastern and northern countries will trouble him. He will attack them with great fury to destroy them. He desires to consolidate his global kingdom. He will plant the tabernacles of his palace in the glorious mountain, i.e. Jerusalem.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12: "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

 The beast will be energized by Satan. He will be given all power and signs. These lying wonders, i.e. false miracles, will be the evidence to deceive the world into worshipping him as the Messiah. He will succeed. The only protection the world has against his lying wonders is God's inerrant and infallible truth, the Bible. But his followers will not listen nor obey the Bible. The ones who reject the gospel of Christ will be damned. They will die in their sins following the beast who will deceive them with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Because of their willful rejection of the gospel, God will send a strong delusion whereby they will believe a lie. This will be evidenced by their love for unrighteousness.

This is the ultimate global deception that will snare the world. The Bible warns us here that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thess 2:7). This means that a minor version of this global deception has already occurred. Take for example the gay movement. Some ecumenical churches and church pastors believe that Christians can be gay and go to heaven even though the Bible is absolutely clear that they will not. It is like saying that a fornicator or an adulterer need not repent but just need to believe in Christ and he will certainly enter heaven.

God states it absolutely and undeniably in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Some of the Christians in the church in Corinth were fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals (1 Cor 6:9: “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind”), but they repented of their sins; they were washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. They were saved from their sins. The beast, however, will tell such sinners in the last days that they will still go to heaven even when they remain in their sins.