Posted on 05/29/2021 10:33:28 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
My just-released novel, MICHAEL: Last-Days Lightning, which all too briefly, but nonetheless, thankfully, went to number one in Christian fiction on Amazon, has sparked the beginning of a follow-up novel. I’ve tentatively given the next novel the title MESSIAH: The Prince That Shall Come.
The story will build on the protagonist’s experiencing Bible prophecy fulfillment while in a state of having dreams and visions as the result of a serpent bite he received while he was on the Island of Patmos. MESSIAH will deal with Antichrist coming to power as the world’s greatest deceiver. This understanding is based upon Jesus’ words:
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)
Lord willing, the novel will be the third of the books that began with REVELATIONS: The Rapture Generation, in which Tyce Grayson received that snake bite.
The purpose of mentioning all of that—along with, of course, admittedly hoping to promote the novels—is that while researching for writing the third novel, I cogitated on some things about the Antichrist I’ve often wondered about over the years.
One of the primary things that has piqued my thinking—and imagination—is that there are two people in God’s Word who are given the title “son of perdition.”
British theologian Arthur W. Pink (1886–1952) more or less framed the idea that provided impetus for my thinking.
As we have seen, in John 17:12 Christ termed Judas “the Son of Perdition,” and 2 Thess.2:3 we find that the Antichrist is similarly designated—“That Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition.” These are the only two places in all the Bible where his name occurs, and the fact that Judas was termed by Christ not a “son of perdition,” but “the Son of Perdition,” and the fact that the Man of Sin is so named prove that they are one and the same person. What other conclusion can a simple and unprejudiced reader of the Bible come to? (from The Antichrist, by A. W. Pink, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/p/pink/antichrist/cache/antichrist.pdf)
Pink went on to write that he believed Antichrist, the son of perdition, will be a reincarnated individual. There isn’t sufficient space in this commentary to totally explain his thinking, but I recommend that you read at the link given above if you’re interested in why he believed this.
I can’t fully embrace this notion because of my bias against the belief in reincarnation by those held by Hindus in India and other places, and the fact that God’s Word says it is appointed unto man once to die, then comes the judgment.
That steels the notion against reincarnation in my mind, but leaves open the possibility for a return from the dead in the case of this one man—Judas Iscariot, who was apparently lost from the beginning, according to Jesus Himself in His prayer as recorded by John:
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17: 12)
I, nor anyone, can fully explain to my satisfaction why Judas went to “his own place” upon death, or why he was apparently instructed by Jesus to do what he was supposed to do at the Last Supper—i.e., go betray the Lord to the Judaizers and the Romans. We see these strange things in the following verses:
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. (John 13: 27)
After Judas committed suicide, the disciples sought to replace him as the twelfth member of their group with one of two other men. They wanted the now resurrected and ascended Jesus to tell them what to do.
And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. (Acts 1:24–25)
We come then back to Arthur Pink’s statement that both Judas Iscariot and the one who will be Antichrist are called not “a” son of perdition, but “the” son of perdition. These are the only two who are so-designated as this evil individual.
Pink goes on, in depth, to point out that Judas was called by Jesus “devil.”
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. (John 6: 70–71)
This, Pink believed, meant that Judas was so possessed by a supernatural evil spirit–by Satan himself—that he was lost without chance of redemption. This certainly seems to be the case, considering the total context of what we know about Judas Iscariot and about salvation as given in God’s Word.
The key word in the matter seems to me to be the word “men.” Was Judas a “man” at the time of his accepting the sop given by Jesus,? Or was he something other?
We look again at the Scripture verse about death and judgment:
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9: 27)
Yet Judas Iscariot died, by his own hand, and went to “his own place.” Still, he is “the son of perdition”—same as Antichrist’s designation. Not “a” son of perdition, but “the” son of perdition.
Further, Pink writes the following.
It is hardly necessary to say that in the Greek there are two different words for “Devil” and “demon.” There are many demons, but only one Devil. Further, in no other passage is the word “devil” applied to any one but to Satan himself. Judas then was the Devil incarnate, just as the Lord Jesus was God incarnate. Christ Himself said so, [as recorded in John 6:70–71] and we dare not doubt His word. (Ibid.)
Pink then refers to the following Scripture to round out his thinking on the matter of Judas Iscariot being one and the same as the future Antichrist—a reincarnation, of sorts.
The Beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, and go into perdition. (Revelation 17:8)
He points out that most expositors of his time held that Revelation 17:11 referred to the final form of Rome as the last world empire over which Antichrist will rule. But his implication was that they denied that an actual being will come from the bottomless pit as that Antichrist character (verse 8). Pink maintains that it is Judas Iscariot in a reincarnation. But it is a supernatural man, indwelt by an evil spirit like no other.
He writes:
In Matt.12:43 the Antichrist is called “The Unclean Spirit,” not merely an unclean spirit, but “the Unclean Spirit.”…
[In] the writer’s mind there is no doubt whatever that none other than the Beast is here in view. If this be the case, then we have further evidence that the coming One will be no mere man indwelt by Satan, but a fallen angel, an evil spirit, the incarnation of the Devil. (Ibid.)
I’m not at all sure about the term reincarnation in this case. There certainly is something profound connecting Judas Iscariot and the one who will be Antichrist, however. This “beast” will be wounded as unto death, then supposedly brought back to life at the midpoint of the Tribulation—another strange element to consider.
My own thinking revolves around the prophecy that foretells the first and second beasts of Revelation being thrown directly in the lake of fire. They apparently get no time of judgment before the Great White Throne as do men of the human sort. These are apparently already judged. This, to me, means they might not be or any longer have human, redeemable traits, so are summarily cast into that final place of the damned. Nephilim? I don’t know, but it’s interesting to contemplate.
Bottom line is that if you don’t know Jesus Christ for salvation of your soul, you will end up in the place where these two beings, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, will spend all of eternity.
Here’s how to avoid their fate as well as the fate of Satan, who will be the third being thrown into that place of eternal punishment.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)
on the “end-times agenda” is not a secret rapture, but the final massive assault upon the Church by the forces of Satan (Apoc. 20:7–9). There is yet to be one final battle between good and evil. Nowhere does Scripture or the Church teach that there is any event that must precede this final cosmic battle.
Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution … will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth”
This entire “preterist “ thing seems like a 19th century creation just like the pre tribulation rapture.
Although we believe that here “on earth, the seed and the beginning of the Kingdom” has begun, we still wait “until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells”
An example of early Church belief exists in the Didache, written just after 100 A.D. It says, “May your grace come and this world pass away!”
The Catholic church is “whatever it takes to not be called the Antichrist power”, whether that’s preterist or futurist, or nothing at all. They are definitely NOT historicist. Don’t believe me. Ask the Jesuits.
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm
Luis De Alcazar
Francisco Ribera
Cardinal Robert Bellarmine
Michael Walpole
Manuel De Lacunza
The Catholic church says “Nope, we are not the Antichrist” “The Antichrist was either before us or after us” “No need to look any further.” “Thank you and see all of you at mass, where the priest will command Christ to come down to us, then we will eat his flesh and drink his blood, literally”. (”Christ must obey the priests”)
One of the lesser antichrists would be Ellen G white, the proohetess of the Seventh day Adventist cult.
Not unless she was moonlighting in the Catholic church as the Pope. (Billy says the Catholic church is the biggest cult)
You could have responded in much fewer words. All you needed to say is you are a “partial” preterist... differing only slightly from your brethren the “full” preterists, who believe all was fulfilled in 70 AD just like you, except for the second coming itself.
Glossing over the fact that both of you believe it is the 70 AD “generation” that is referred to in Matt. 24:34, “this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
At least your brethren the “full” preterists are consistent. To them, when Matt. 24:34 says, “all these things” would be fulfilled in 70 AD they believe it really means “all those things.” Including the second coming.
You “partial” fellows are not consistent, you arbitrarily decide to remove Jesus coming from “that generation.” Which the text you both use, Matt. 24:34, does not allow.
At least your fellow preterists are consistent...in their gross folly. That’s more than I can say for you.
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There is a problem though with the above calculation. According to the rules of Jewish numerology, known as gematria, when the letter Nun appears a second time in a word, it is known as a "Final", and takes the value of 700.* So to be precise, NRWN QSR actually adds up to 1316 and not 666.
Hominid or Bigfoot have a better chance of being the Antichrist than Nero does.
The two witnesses in Revelation will have miraculous powers to accompany their message (Revelation 11:6), and no one will be able to stop them in their work (verse 5). At the end of their ministry, when they have said all they need to say, the beast will kill them and the wicked world will rejoice, allowing the bodies of the fallen prophets to lie in the streets (verses 7–10). Three and a half days later, however, God’s two witnesses will be resurrected and, in full view of their enemies, ascend to heaven (verses 11–12).
There are three primary theories on the identity of the two witnesses in Revelation: (1) Moses and Elijah, (2) Enoch and Elijah, and (3) two unknown believers whom God calls to be His witnesses in the end times.
(1) Moses and Elijah are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses due to the specific miracles that John says the witnesses will perform. The witnesses will have the power to turn water into blood (Revelation 11:6), which duplicates a famous miracle of Moses (Exodus 7). And the witnesses will have the power to destroy their enemies with fire (Revelation 11:5), which corresponds to an event in Elijah’s life (2 Kings 1). Also giving strength to this view is the fact that Moses and Elijah both appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3–4). Further, Jewish tradition expects Moses and Elijah to return, based on the prophecy of Elijah’s coming in Malachi 4:5 and God’s promise to raise up a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), which some Jews believe necessitates Moses’ return.
(2) Enoch and Elijah are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses because of the unique circumstances surrounding their exit from the world. Enoch and Elijah, as far as we know, are the only two individuals whom God has taken directly to heaven without experiencing death (Genesis 5:23; 2 Kings 2:11). Proponents of this view point to Hebrews 9:27, which says that all men are appointed to die once. The fact that neither Enoch nor Elijah has yet experienced death seems to qualify them for the job of the two witnesses, who will be killed when their job is done. In addition, both Enoch and Elijah were prophets who pronounced God’s judgment (1 Kings 17:1; Jude 1:14–15).
(3) Two unknowns are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses because of the lack of specificity in Revelation 11. Scripture does not identify the two witnesses by name, and no well-known person is associated with their coming. God is perfectly capable of taking two “ordinary” believers and enabling them to perform the same signs and wonders that Moses and Elijah did. There is nothing in Revelation 11 that requires us to assume a “famous” identity for the two witnesses.
There is an interesting passage in Zechariah 4 that gives us a prototype of the two witnesses of Revelation. Zechariah has a vision in which he sees a solid gold lampstand. On top is a bowl of oil, and an olive tree stands on each side (verses 3–4). The lampstand gives its light without human maintenance, being constantly supplied by the olive oil flowing from the trees into the bowl. God’s message to Zechariah was that God’s work (rebuilding the temple) would be accomplished “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (verse 6).
Zechariah asks about the meaning of the olive trees and the branches supplying the oil, and the angel who speaks to him says, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14, ESV). In other words, God’s power to sustain His work is flowing through two individuals set apart for the task. In Zechariah’s context, these two individuals are Joshua (the current high priest) and Zerubbabel (the current governor of Judah). We can also see a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ here, as the Messiah would combine the offices of priest and king. Then we come to Revelation 11:4. In the description of the two witnesses, John says, “They are ‘the two olive trees’ and the two lampstands, and ‘they stand before the Lord of the earth.’” John quotes from Zechariah 4. The two witnesses of Revelation, like Joshua and Zerubbabel, will have God’s power flowing through them to accomplish God’s work.
So who are the two witnesses of Revelation? The Bible does not say. All three views presented above are valid and plausible interpretations that Christians can have. The identity of the two witnesses is not an issue Christians should be dogmatic about. (https://www.gotquestions.org/two-witnesses.html)
Excellent points and noted about Kabbalists. I totally forgot to even mention them.
I do think Transhumanism and the tinkering with DNA by ‘science’ (doctrines of demons) will play massively into our society over the next decade. You see it already.
Thanks for the post sis!
I’ve personally never really understood how Moses could be one of the witnesses since he has physically died already - that said, nothing is above the power of The Lord.
IMHO they would have to be easily identifiable by Israelis and Jews. Enoch was a Gentile however.
Romans 11, written by Paul from the tribe of Benjamin ... verse 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men,
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Nero was never called Baal... Some people being blinded already bend a knee to Baal.
The antichrist in the book of the Apocalypse is not your pastor, Satann.
The antichrist in the book of Revelation is clearly stated as
Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
666 is the Gematria for Nero.
Paul very clearly writes that the people of Christ are the new Israel
7 What then? What Israel was seeking it did not attain, but the elect attained it; the rest were hardened,
That’s in Roman’s 11. You shouldn’t read in excerpts. The chapter talks clearly of the greater, expanded Israel that is Christianity. And it separates the Jesus movement from the Pharisees who are likened to the followers of baal.
666 is the Gematria for Nero.
There is a problem though with the above calculation. According to the rules of Jewish numerology, known as gematria, when the letter Nun appears a second time in a word, it is known as a “Final”, and takes the value of 700.* So to be precise, NRWN QSR actually adds up to 1316 and not 666.
You do realise that Ba’al is a title meaning Lorr. The god Hadad from northern Canaan had that title. So yeah, nero too had the title baal.
But in the context of Roman’s 11, this refers to the Pharisees
Paul teaches in Romans 11 is that a “remnant” of Israel has passed into the New Covenant, therefore, God has not cast them off. The Apostle offers himself as an example of such a one. Those of the nation of Israel who rejected Jesus are compared to the ancient Israelites who worshipped Baal, while the Christian Jews are compared to the “seven thousand men, that have not bowed their knees to Baal.” Saint Paul never claims that the election of the Jews is permanent in the sense that they remain the chosen people even if they fail to accept Christ. What he did teach is that (1) they were the chosen nation in the Old Testament, (2) some of them — a “remnant” — have passed into the Church of the New Testament, and are therefore not cast off, and (3), the nation, as a whole, will also return to serving God in the true religion when they are corporately “ingrafted” back into it by accepting Christ.
Hominid and Bigfoot are Modern Engliwords. Good English itself didn’t exist at the time the book of Revelation was written.
The Gematria is clear. 666 is the numbering for Nero caesar.
Ah, Israel is reference of the ‘lost’ tribes of the House of Israel, of which Christ first sent His apostles to minister ... Christ knew who they were and where they were, even though because of their idolatries the Heavenly Father divorced them and sent them packing to the Assyrian king about 200 years before King Neb came up and took Judah and Benjamin captive to Babylon ... Christ kept track even though the devil has made it his intent to sow seeds of deception...
Paul says the ‘elect’ were chosen before the foundation of the world... that means before Genesis 1:2... mortal men love to play church and claim they have the power and authority to sanction ‘saints’... The Heavenly Father already chose them.
I just love it when distorter of the WORD of God tell me what to ‘read’ ... got to play church.. making claims that will not hold a sprinkle of holy water.
No, Ellen g white and her followers are following the teaching of the devil. The Adventist belief that Jesus is a mere angel Michael is of the devil.
Just like your sister cult, the Jehovah’s witnesses, neither are from God. The Adventist is the spawn of the failed millerite movement.
According to White and SDAs, Christ acquired a sinful nature. This is false. Christ had a sinless human nature. Christ took our sin punishment, not our sin nature.
According to SDAs, beginning on October 22, 1844, Christ entered upon the “judgment phase” of His ministry, whereby He blots out sin. The SDA “Investigative Judgment” doctrine rests on Ellen White’s claimed revelation that Christ entered the Holy of Holies not at His ascension, but in 1844
Baal worshippers worshipped Bal.
Astarte worshippers worshipped Astarte.
You don’t worship Jesus, I know, but those two cults worshipped different deities. Baal is a male title. Hence the baal Hada.
You really ought to read the biblical books and also history books.
Hominid and Bigfoot are Modern Engliwords. Good English itself didn’t exist at the time the book of Revelation was written.
Well, the rapture folks all claim that the Antichrist doesn’t exist yet, either. How about chupacabra? I’ll have to check back with MHGinTN on that one. I suppose that could be a Hominid. (unbelievable the stuff he comes up with).
(And, you are still wrong about Nero. 1316 isn’t 666.)
Good thing then that I only follow the bible. LOL
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