CHAPTER ELEVEN. ANTICHRIST IN THE APOCALYPSE.
The scope of the Apocalypse is indicated by its
place in the Sacred Canon. Coming as it does right at the close of the
Scriptures, we should naturally expect to find it outlining the last chapters
of the world's history. Such is indeed the case. The Revelation is mainly
devoted to a description of the judgments which God will yet send upon the
earth. It furnishes by far the most complete description of the conditions
which are to obtain during the Tribulation period. It treats at greatest length
with the character and career of the Antichrist, who will be the "Rod" in the
hands of an angry God to chastise recreant Israel and apostate Christendom. All
of this is, of course, preparatory to the establishment of Messiah's kingdom,
which will exist during the last of earth's dispensations.
It is impossible to understand the Apocalypse
without a thorough acquaintance with the books that precede it. The more
familiar we are with the first sixty-five books of the Bible, the better
prepared are we for the study of its sixty-sixth. There is little that is
really new in the Revelation. Its varied contents are largely an amplification
of what is to be found in the preceding scriptures. Each of its figures and
symbols are explained if not on its own pages, then somewhere within the
compass of the written Word. For Scripture is ever self-interpreting. Most of
our difficulties with the Revelation grow out of our ignorance and lack of
acquaintance with the earlier books. Daniel and Zechariah especially should be
examined minutely, for they shed much light upon the various and prophecies of
the Patmos seer.
The Apocalypse not only reveals much concerning
the person and work of the Man of Sin, but it describes his doom, as it also
announces the complete overthrow of the Trinity of Evil. This, no doubt,
accounts for much of the prejudice which obtains against the study and reading
of this book. It is indeed remarkable that this is the only book in the Bible
connected with which there is a distinct promise given to those who read and
hear read its prophecy (1:3). And yet how very rarely it is read from the
pulpits of those churches which are reputed as orthodox! Surely the great Enemy
is responsible for this. It seems that Satan fears and hates above every book
in the Bible this one which tells of his being ultimately cast into the Lake of
Fire. But "we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11). Then let him not
keep us from the prayerful and careful perusal of this prophecy which tells of
those things "which must shortly come to pass".
1. We turn first to the sixth chapter of the
Revelation, where a fourfold view is presented of the Son of Perdition. Just as
at the beginning of the New Testament the Holy Spirit has given us a fourfold
delineation of Christ in the Gospels, so at the commencement of His description
of the judgments of God on the earth He has furnished us with a fourfold
picture of Christ's great opponent. We believe that the contents of the first
four of the "seals" describe four aspects of the Antichrist's character, and
also outline four stages in his career. First, he is seen aping the Christ of
God as the Righteous One. The "white horse" on which he is seated, speaking of
righteousness. Just as we are told in 2 Cor. 11:14 that "Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light", and "therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness", so the
Antichrist will pose as the friend of law and order. Second, he is seen
mimicking the Christ of God as the mighty Warrior. Just as the Lord Jesus at
His return will make a footstool of His enemies, and trample in fury all who
defy Him (Isa. 63:3), so the Man of Sin shall slay all who dare to oppose him.
Third, he is seen imitating Christ as the Bread of Life, for the third seal
views him as the Food-controller. Fourth, he is seen with his mask off,
depicted as one whose name is Death and Hades, that is, as the Destroyer of
men's bodies and souls.
Let us see how the identity of this Rider of the
various colored horses is established. In 6:2 we are told, "And I saw, and
behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer". Notice first, that he
is here viewed as seated upon a "white horse". This is in imitation of the
Christ of God, who, at the time of His second advent to the earth, will also
appear seated upon "a white horse" (Rev. 19:11). Second, it is said that "a
crown was given unto him". This at once serves to connect him with the first
Beast - the Antichrist - of Rev. 13, for of him it is written, "And they
worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the Beast" (v. 4). Again; in 6:4 we
are told, "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill
one another: and there was given unto him a great sword". Notice first, the
last clause - "There was given unto him a great sword". This stamps him plainly
as the pseudo christ, for of the true Christ it is written, "Out of His mouth
goeth a sharp sword" (19:15). Second, it is said "power was given to him to
take peace from the earth." So, too, of the first Beast of Rev. 13 we
read, "And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and all nations"
(v. 7). In the third seal he is viewed as the Food-controller, weighing out the
necessities of life at famine prices. This, no doubt, corresponds with what we
read of in 13:17. Finally, in the fourth seal he is named "Death and Hell".
This double title removes all doubt as to who is in view. When God remonstrates
with Israel for having made the seven-years treaty, He does so in the following
language: "And your covenant with Death shall be disannulled, and your
agreement with Hell shall not stand" (Isa. 28:18). Thus the Riders of the four
horses of Rev. 6 are not four different persons, but one person presented in a
fourfold way, as the Lord Jesus is in the four Gospels.
Before we pass from Rev. 6 a few words should be
added by way of amplification of our remarks above, namely, that in the first
part of Rev. 6 we have outlined four stages in the Antichrist's career.
The preparation of the Man Christ Jesus for His public ministry - the long
years spent quietly at Nazareth - are passed over by the four Evangelists. So
here in Rev. 6 the early days of the Man of Sin - in his "little horn"
character - are not noticed. Under the first seal he is viewed as seated on a
white horse, having a bow. The color of the horse and the fact that no arrow is
seen attached to the bow, suggests bloodless victories, for he goes forth
"conquering and to conquer". This first seal at once conducts us to the time
when the Prince of Darkness poses as the Christ of God and presents himself to
the Jews for their acceptance. He does not come out in his true satanic
character, rather does he simulate the Prince of Peace. The first seal is
parallel with Dan. 11:21,23, where we learn that he will gain the kingdom by
flatteries and political diplomacy. But not for long will he fill this pacific
role. War is in his heart (Psa. 55:21), and nothing short of universal dominion
will satisfy his proud ambitions. As God has plainly warned, at the very time
when men shall be saying, Peace and safety, "then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (1
Thess. 5:3).
It is to this the second seal brings us. Here the
Antichrist is seen no longer upon a white horse, but upon a red horse. And in
perfect accord with this, it is added, "And power was given to him that sat
thereon to take peace from the earth...and there was given to him a great
sword" (v. 4). Little wonder that he is called "the Destroyer of the Gentiles"
(Jer. 4:7). At the time of his overthrow it will be exclaimed, "Is this the man
that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as
a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" (Isa. 14:17,18). Jer. 25:29
throws light upon this "great sword" which is given to him - "For, lo, I begin
to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly
unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all
the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts" (read verses 15 to
33).
In the third seal he is portrayed as the
Harbinger of famine conditions. This is intimated by the change of the color of
the horse: for "black" in connection with famine see Jer. 14:1,2 and Lam. 5:10.
The symbolic significance of the "black" horse is intensified by the figure of
the "pair of balances in his hand" (compare Hosea 12:7, Amos 8:4-6). What
follows describes the wheat being doled out at famine prices. But it is added,
"See thou hurt not the oil and the wine". This intimates that the famine is by
no means universal: yea, it suggests that side by side with abject suffering
there is abundance and luxury. We therefore regard this third seal as denoting
the Antichrist's persecution of the godly Jews which, from other scriptures we
learn, will be the fiercest during the last three and one half years of his
career. Rev. 13:17 makes it known that they who will not be suffered to buy or
sell are the ones who refuse to receive his mark. These, of course, are the
faithful remnant of the Jews. But they who do render allegiance to the Beast
will not want - "oil and wine" shall be their portion.
The fourth seal, plainly conducts us to the end
of Antichrist's course. The fact that he is named Death and that we are told
Hades (that which receives the soul) followed with him, makes known the awful
doom which shall overtake this Son of Perdition and all his blinded followers -
see Rev. 19:20,21.
2. The next allusion to the Antichrist is found
in Rev. 9:11 where he is given a threefold appellation, namely, King over the
locusts, The Angel of the Abyss, and the Destroyer. A few remarks upon the
context are required if we are to expound, even briefly, the significance of
these three titles. The majority of pre-millennial commentators are agreed upon
the identity of the personage named in Rev. 9:11, though there is considerable
difference of opinion among them concerning the meaning of the context. We can
here only offer a few remarks on the preceding verses according to our present
light and submit the reasons for our conclusions.
The immediate context takes us back to the
opening verse of Rev. 9 where a "star" is seen falling from heaven unto the
earth, unto whom is given the key to the Bottomless Pit. This we believe refers
to Lucifer, or "Day-star" (see Isa. 14:12 margin). The reference, we think, is
not to his original fall, but to what is described in Rev. 12:9. The fact that
the key of the Abyss is given to him is in keeping with the fact that during
the Tribulation period God allows him free rein and suffers him to do his
worst. The R. V. correctly renders verses one and two as follows - "And there
was given to him the key of the Pit of the Abyss. And he opened the Pit of the
Abyss", etc., or, as it may literally be rendered, "the well of the
Bottomless Pit". This expression occurs nowhere else in Scripture. The "well of
the Bottomless Pit" is to be distinguished from the Bottomless Pit itself,
mentioned in 9:11; 11:7; 17:8, 20:3. What the distinction is we shall presently
suggest.
Out of the well of the Bottomless Pit issued a
smoke, so great that the sun and the air were darkened (v. 2), and out of the
smoke came "locusts upon the earth". We regard these locusts as identical with
the creatures referred to in the prophecy of Joel (2:1-11). By noticing what is
said of them in Joel 2 and Rev. 9 it is at once apparent that they are no
ordinary locusts. Joel says of them, "A great people and a strong; there hath
not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it" (2:2). It is said,
"When they fall upon the sword they shall not be wounded" (2:8). The fact that
they issue from the Pit also denotes that they are supernatural beings. In the
description furnished in Rev. 9 they seem to be a kind of infernal
cherubim, for "the horse" (v. 7), the "man" (v. 7), the "lion" (v. 8), and
"the scorpion" (v. 19) are combined in them. Their number is given as two
hundred thousand thousand. Who, then, are these infernal beings? No commentator
that we are acquainted with has attempted an answer. It is therefore with
diffidence that we suggest, without being dogmatic, that they are, most likely,
fallen angels now imprisoned in Tartarus. We give three reason which, in our
judgment, point to this conclusion.
First, we know from 2 Pet. 2:4 that the angels
which sinned were "cast down to Tartarus", and in Rev. 9:2,3 we are told there
"arose a smoke out of the Pit...and there came out of the smoke locusts upon
the earth". Now, as pointed out, these infernal locusts issue from the well of
the Pit", an expression occurring nowhere else in Scripture, and only the
locusts are said to come from there. So also the term Tartarus is found nowhere
but in 2 Pet. 2:4. It seems likely, then, that the well of the Pit may be only
another name for Tartarus (with which only fallen angels are connected), just
as the Lake of Fire is only another name for Gehenna. Who else could these
locusts be but the fallen angels? To say we do not know may savor of humility,
but shall the writer be deemed presumptuous because he has sought to furnish an
answer by comparing scripture with scripture?
In the second place, it is surely significant
that the "king" of these "locusts" is termed in Rev. 9:11 "the angel of the
Bottomless Pit"! A title which is nowhere else given to him. Just as Christ,
the Angel of the Covenant (Mal. 3:1 - cf Isa. 63:9, etc.) is, again and again,
termed an angel in the Apocalypse (see 8:3, 10:1, etc.), so the Antichrist is
here denominated "the Angel of the Bottomless Pit". And just as we learn from
Matt. 25:31 that "the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy
angels with Him" (cf Matt, 24:31), so when the Son of Perdition is manifested,
all the unholy angels will be with him!
In the third place, let the language of 2 Pet.
2:4 be carefully examined: "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but
cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment". It is to the last clause we wish to direct attention.
Let it be compared with the 9th verse of the same chapter - "The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the
day of judgment to be punished". Wicked human beings are said to be reserved
"unto the Day of Judgment to be punished". But this is not what is said of the
angels that sinned, though, of course, eternal punishment awaits them as we
learn from Matt. 25:41. 2 Pet. 2:4 simply says they are "reserved unto
judgment", and we believe this means that God is holding them in Tartarus until
His time comes for Him to use them as one of His instruments of judgment upon
an ungodly world. The time when God will thus use them is stated in Jude 6 - it
will be in "the judgment of the great day" (compare Rev. 6:17 for "the great
day"). Confirmatory of this, observe that in Joel 2:11 the Lord calls the
supernatural locusts "His army", then employed to inflict sore punishments on
apostate Israel.[5] If our interpretation of 2
Pet. 2:4 be correct, namely, that it makes no reference to the future
punishment of the fallen angels, this explains why the Lord in Matt. 25:41 when
referring to future punishment was careful to mention them specifically.
Returning now to Rev. 9:11 the Antichrist is here
termed the "King over" the locusts. Let the reader pay careful attention to
what is predicted of these infernal beings in Joel 2 and here in Rev. 9, and
let him remember they number no less than two hundred millions, and then see if
it does not throw new light on Rev. 13:4, where concerning the Antichrist the
question is asked, "Who is able to make war with him?"!! How utterly futile to
engage in conflict one who commands an army of two hundred millions, none of
whom are subject to death! In the second place, he is here termed "the Angel of
the Bottomless Pit", a title peculiarly appropriate as the leader of the fallen
angels; and, as well, a title which denotes the superhuman nature of the Son of
Perdition. In the third place, we are here told that his name "in the Hebrew
tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon". This title
serves to establish beyond a shadow of doubt the identity of this "King" of the
infernal locusts, this Angel of the Bottomless Pit. The Hebrew and the Greek
names signify the same thing in English - the Destroyer. It is the Destroyer of
the Gentiles of Jer. 4:7, translated "Spoiler" in Isa. 16:4 and Jer. 6:24.
Suitable name is this for the one who is the great opponent of the Saviour.
"Destroyer" is close akin to "Death" in Rev. 6:8. The reason why his name is
given here in both Hebrew and Greek is because he will be connected with and be
the destroyer of both Jews and Gentiles! But why give the Hebrew name first?
Because the order in judgment, as in grace, is "the Jew first" - see Rom. 2:9
and 1:16 for each, respectively.
3. "And when they shall have finished their
testimony, the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit shall make war
against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them" (Rev. 11:7). This is the
first time in the Revelation that the Antichrist is seen in his character of
"the Beast". The last scripture which we have examined serves at once to
identify him. He is termed "the Angel of the Bottomless Pit", because in a
peculiar sense the Abyss is his home. There he has been during all the
centuries of this Christian era. In Acts 1:23 (cf chapter 3, Section 3) the Pit
is called "his own place". Here the Beast is shown ascending out of the
Bottomless Pit. What, then, is the Abyss? It appears to be the special abode of
infernal creatures. As we have seen, out of its well issue the fallen angels.
From it comes the Beast. And in it Satan himself is incarcerated for the
thousand years (Rev. 20:3). The Abyss is quite distinct from Hades in which the
souls of lost human beings are now being tormented; as it must also be
distinguished from Gehenna or the Lake of Fire in which all the lost shall
suffer for ever and ever.
4. We come now to Rev. 13. A lengthy paper might
readily be devoted to its exposition, but as we have had occasion to refer to
its contents so frequently in earlier chapters, we shall here be as brief as
possible. The contents of this chapter center around two "Beasts". As to which
of them represent the Antichrist there is a difference of opinion. The majority
of those who have written upon the subject regard the first Beast as the Man of
Sin, and with them we are in hearty accord. We shall devote our next chapter to
a setting forth of some of the many proofs that the first Beast is the
Antichrist. Here we shall take the point for granted.
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a
beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his
horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (v.1). There is
here, as frequently in Scripture, a double reference. Two objects quite
distinct though intimately connected are in view. We believe that this Beast
which arises from the sea points to the Roman Empire revived and in its final
form, that is, resuscitated and confederated under the form often kingdoms. In
Dan. 7:3 we read, "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from
another". These four great beasts are interpreted in the verses which follow as
four kingdoms. In v. 7 we are told this fourth Beast (the Roman Empire) "had
ten horns". So the Beast of Rev. 13:1 also has ten horns. Each of the
successive Beasts or kingdoms of Dan. 7 retained the territory of the previous
one, though enlarging on it. In the symbolic description there furnished the
first Beast is likened unto "a lion" (v. 4); the second to "a bear" (v. 5); the
third to "a leopard" (v. 6). So also in Rev. 13 the Beast there is "like unto a
leopard", has feet like "a bear", and has the mouth of "a lion" (v. 2). Thus we
learn that the Roman Empire in its final form will include within its borders
the territory controlled by the earlier Empires and will also perpetuate the
dominant characteristics of the ancient Babylonians, Medo-Persians, and
Grecians.
But it is very clear from what follows in Rev. 13
that there is something more than the Empire here in view. In vv. 3-8 it is a
person that is before us. We are satisfied that this same person is also
described, symbolically, in the opening verses. As is frequently the case in
the prophetic scriptures, the king and his kingdom are here inseparably united.
Rev. 13:1,2 portrays both the Empire and its last Emperor. One of the proofs
for this is found in Dan. 9:26,27, where (as we have shown in Chapter 9) the
Antichrist is denominated "the prince" of that people who destroyed Jerusalem
in A. D. 70. We shall therefore interpret here according to this principle.
"And I saw...a Beast rise up out of the sea". In
Scripture, the troubled "sea" is frequently a figure of restless humanity away
from God. The Antichrist will come upon the scene at a time of unprecedented
social disturbance and governmental upheaval. He will appear at a crisis in the
history of the world. From other prophetic scriptures we gather that, following
the removal of the Church from this earth, and some time before Daniel's
seventieth week begins, there will be a complete overthrow of law and order,
both civil and political. All Divine restraint being removed, lawlessness will
prevail. We have no doubt that Satan will designedly bring this about. It will
create a situation beyond the diplomatic skill of earth's statesmen. This will
provide the desired opportunity for the coming Superman, who will be a
diplomatic genius. Just as many leaders today are satisfied that a League of
Nations would be the best device for preserving peace, so in the day to come
the Man of Sin will satisfy the world that this is the only solution to the
baffling problems then confronting the Powers of earth. Thus will the
Antichrist resurrect the old Roman Empire at a time of universal confusion and
tumult. He will himself be the acknowledged head or Emperor, the last of the
Caesars. Hence the double significance of this figure - "a Beast rising out of
the sea". Out of a state of anarchy will come forth this might Despot, who will
speedily arrogate to himself all authority, both Divine and human; and in the
end it will be seen that he embodies a lawlessness even worse and more fatal
than that out of which he sprang. A Beast indeed will he soon appear to be.
Pregnant with meaning is this title. Having rejected God's "Lamb"; a Beast
shall be the world's ruler. This will be God's reply to the satanic teaching of
Evolution now so popular almost everywhere. The leaders of modern thought
insist on the beastial origin of man, and so a Beast shall yet lead the
majority of his generation to Perdition!
"Having seven heads and ten horns". It is most
significant that identically the same features are attributed to the Dragon in
12:3. He, too, is there said to have "seven heads and ten horns". This clearly
implies his satanic origin: he will be a human replica of the Devil himself. As
wrote the late G. H. Pember (from whom we have borrowed a number of valuable
points), the Beast will be "the effulgence of the Antigod's glory, and the very
image of his substance". We take it that the "seven heads" are symbolic of full
intelligence, and the "ten horns" speak of imperial dominion.
"And the Beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of
a lion" (v. 2). Like the Beast rising up out of the sea of the previous verse,
we believe the terms of this second verse have a double significance. First, as
intimated above, they denote that the Empire will include the territory and
preserve the dominant features of the earlier Empires. Second, they supply a
figurative description of the Emperor himself. The Antichrist will combine in
his personality the characteristics of the leopard (beauty and subtlety), of
the bear (strength and cruelty), and of the lion (boldness and ferocity).
"And the Dragon gave him his power, and his seat,
and great authority" (v. 2). This is the Devil's travesty of what God the
Father will yet do to His Son: - "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one
like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
Him" (Dan. 7:13,14).
"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the
Beast" (v. 3). It is clear from a number of scriptures that during the early
part of the second half of Daniel's seventieth week the Antichrist will be
slain by the sword - cf Isa. 14:18,19; 37:7; Ezek. 21:25 R. V.; Zech. 11:17:
see our comments on these in the closing portion of Chapter 6. It is equally
clear that this wound of death will be healed (Rev. 13:4) and that the Beast
shall again live (Rev. 13:14).[6] Satan will be
permitted to bring his son from the dead. This is no wild speculation of ours
but a view which has been propounded by quite a number of devout students. In
his "Coming Prince", Sir Robert Anderson said, "The language of Rev. 13:3,12
suggests that there will be some impious travesty of the resurrection of our
Lord". It is useless to reason about it: we simply believe the record of
Scripture upon it. The raising of the Beast from the dead will remove whatever
doubt men may have entertained concerning his supernatural character. "All
the world wondered after him" is the statement which immediately follows
the reference to the healing of his wound of death.
"And they worshipped the Dragon which gave power
unto the Beast: and they worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the
Beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (v. 4). This cry of the world, "Who
is like unto the Beast?" is a travesty of the song of Moses. When celebrating
Jehovah's overthrow of their enemies at the Red Sea, Israel sang, "Who is like
unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gods! Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises, doing wonders!" (Ex. 15:11). The additional exclamation,
"Who is able to make war with him?" is evoked by the vast army of infernal
creatures at his command, and by his own triumph over death in battle.
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies" (v. 5). This is the one great distinguishing mark
of the Antichrist - cf. Psa. 52:1-4; Isa. 14:13,14; Dan. 7:11,20; 11:36; 2
Thess. 2:4, etc. But not for long will he be suffered to continue his
God-defying course. Another forty-two months and his career shall be ended.
This number - here designedly used by the Holy Spirit, rather than three and
one half years or twelve hundred and sixty days - is a very significant one.
Its factors are 6 and 7, which stand for man and completeness. It is man in his
fallen condition, here the Man of Sin, fully manifested. Forty-two stands for
intensified apostasy. Thus Num. 33 gives the various stopping places of
unbelieving Israel in the wilderness as forty-two in number. Judges 12:6 tells
us that the number of the apostate Ephraimites which fell before the Gileadites
were 42 thousand. See also 2 Kings 2:4 and 10:14.
"And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every
tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all they that dwell on the earth
shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the
foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain"
(vv. 7,8, R. V.). The "saints" here mentioned are the godly Jewish remnant who
will refuse to worship the Beast. Those "overcome" are they who disobeyed the
command of Christ recorded in Matt. 24:16; those who obey will be preserved by
God - see Rev. 12:6. Note how election is seen here: only they whose names were
written from the foundation of the world in the book of life will be preserved
from the unpardonable sin of worshipping the Antichrist - cf Matt. 24:22,24.
"And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the
earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon" (v. 11).
This brings before us the second Beast, called in 19:20 the False Prophet. He
is the third person of the Trinity of Evil. As there is to be an Antichrist who
will both counterfeit and oppose the Christ of God, so there will be an
Anti-spirit who will simulate and oppose the Spirit of God. Just as the great
work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, so the one aim of the Anti-spirit
will be to magnify the false christ (see 13:12). Just as the coming of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost was visibly attended by "cloven tongues like as of fire"
(Acts 2:3), so we read of the Anti-spirit that "he doeth great wonders, so that
he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men" (v. 13).
And just as it is the Holy Spirit who now quickens dead sinners into newness of
life, so of the Anti-spirit we are told, "He had power to give life unto the
image of the Beast" (v. 15).
5. "And the third angel followed them, saying
with a loud voice, If any man worship the Beast and his image, and receive his
mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His
indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" (Rev. 14:9,10). This looks
back to what we read of in the closing verses of the preceding chapter. "And he
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or
sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his
name" (13:16,17). This "mark" will be the official sign of allegiance to the
Emperor stamped either upon the hand or forehead of his loyal subjects. It will
be the satanic travesty of the "seal" which the angel will stamp on the
foreheads of God's servants (7:13). This "mark" on the persons of the subjects
of the Beast will be, we believe, the name of the Devil, (cf. Rev. 13:4), as
the seal on the foreheads of God's servants is defined in 14:1 as "having their
Father's name written on their foreheads". Here in Rev. 14:9-11 we have one of
the most solemn warnings in all the Bible. An angel from heaven will announce
the terrible punishment which shall be visited upon those who honor the Beast.
It is set over against the threats of the Beast and the False Prophet, who will
terrify men by the sentence of physical death for all who defy them. But here
God, by His angel, declares that all who heed the Beast and his coadjutor will
share their awful doom. This no doubt will strengthen the faith and patience of
the saints, and enable them to endure unto the end.
6. "And another angel came out from the altar,
which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry, to him that had the sharp
sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine
of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle
into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God" (14:19,20). The "Vine of the earth" refers, we
believe, to the Man of Sin at the head of apostate Israel. This appellation
points one more contrast. In John 15, we find the Lord Jesus saying, "I am the
true Vine, ye are the branches". The true Vine, then, consists of the Christ of
God and His people in fellowship with Him. Over against this is "the vine of
the earth", which is the Antichrist and those allied to him, particularly,
renegade Israel. In Deut. 32 there is a reference to the "Vine of the earth" -
"For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their Vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their clusters are bitter" (v.
31,32). That this is speaking of apostate Israel is clear from v. 28 - "For
they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them".
That the passage is speaking of apostate Israel in the days of the Antichrist
appears from v. 35 - "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot
shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and
the things which shall come upon them make haste" (v. 35).
7. In Rev. 15:2 there is a brief allusion to the
Beast, in connection with the godly Remnant: "And I saw as it were a sea of
glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast,
and over his image, and over his mask, and over the number of his name, stand
on the sea of glass having the harps of God", etc. The reference is to those
who had been slain by the Antichrist because they had refused to render him any
honor or worship. The same company is seen again in 20:4.
8. Rev. 16 describes the "vial" judgments which
are executed just before the end of the Tribulation. The Beast is noticed
several times in the chapter. In v.2 we read, "And the first went, and poured
out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon
the men which had the mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshipped his
image" (v. 2). This is a foretaste of the grievous torments awaiting the
worshippers of the Beast. Again in v.10 we read, "And the fifth angel poured
out his vial upon the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness
and they gnawed their tongues for pain". Here the Beast himself receives
intimation of the doom awaiting him. In vv. 13 and 14 we are told, "And I saw
three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out
of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet. For they
are the sprites of demons, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of
the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great
day of God Almighty". Here we behold, in symbolic guise, each of the persons in
the Evil Trinity. The figure of the "frog" is very suggestive. Frogs are
creatures which love the darkness rather than the light: they wallow in the
mire and filth: their croaking is heard in the dusk of twilight and by night.
Thus they are an apt symbol of the persons in the Trinity of Evil. Their very
form suggests inflation by pride. The reference here in Rev. 16:13,14 indicates
the superhuman character of the False Prophet as well as of the Beast and the
Dragon.
9. Rev. 17 calls for a lengthy exposition, so we
must defer to a later chapter the consideration of its details. The central
figures in it are "the great whore" and the Beast. While freely granting that,
historically, the great whore has received its fulfillment in the Roman
Catholic system, and while allowing that it will yet represent the whole of
apostate Christendom, nevertheless, we believe that the ultimate reference is
to apostate Israel. Here in Rev. 17 the "woman" is first seen sitting upon the
scarlet colored Beast - the Antichrist in his imperial glory (v.3); but later
we see him suffering his ten kings to destroy her (v. 16). This accords
perfectly with the dual relation of Antichrist to Israel: first posing as their
Benefactor (here seen in v. 3 supporting her), later standing forth as her
great Enemy. The eighth verse (see our comments on it in Chapter 3, Section
III,6) is one of the scriptures which show that Antichrist is a re-incarnation
of Judas.
10. Rev. 19:19,20 describes the end of
Antichrist's career. We need not enlarge now upon these verses for we have
already commented on them in Chapter 7. The final reference to the Antichrist
is in Rev. 20:10 where we read of the Devil being cast into the Lake of Fire
where the Beast and the False Prophet are, to be, with them, tormented for ever
and ever.
[5] Psa. 78:49 speaks of God using "evil angels"
(those mentioned in Rev. 12:7) in His judgments on Egypt.
[6] It is remarkable that just three times (the
number of resurrection) the healing of the Antichrist's wound of death is
referred to here in Rev. 13 - see vv. 3,12,14!