CHAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTION.
Across the varied scenes depicted by prophecy
there falls the shadow of a figure at once commanding and ominous. Under many
different names like the aliases of a criminal, his character and movements are
set before us. It is our intention to write a series of papers concerning this
one who will be the full embodiment of human wickedness and the final
manifestation of satanic blasphemy. Many others have made reference to this
mysterious personage in their general expositions of prophecy, but so far as
our examination of the literature on this subject has carried us (and we have
endeavored to make it as thorough as possible) there seem to have been very few
attempts made to furnish a complete delineation of this Prince of
Darkness. We do not know of any exhaustive treatment of the subject, and for
this reason, and also because there is no little confusion in the minds of many
concerning the character and career of the coming Man of Sin, these papers are
not submitted to the attention of Bible students.
For upwards of twelve years we have studied
diligently and prayerfully what the Scriptures teach about the Pseudo-Christ.
The deeper we have carried these studies, the more surprised we are at the
prominent place which is given in the Bible to this Son of Perdition. There is
an amazing wealth of detail which, when carefully collected and arranged,
supplies a vivid biography of the one who is shortly to appear and take the
government of the world upon his shoulders. The very fact that the Holy Spirit
has caused so much to be written upon the subject at once denotes its great
importance. The prominence of the Antichrist in the prophetic Scriptures
will at once appear by a glance at the references that follow.
The very first prophecy of the Bible takes note
of him, for in Gen. 3:15 direct reference is made to the Serpent's "Seed". In
exodus a striking type of him is furnished in Pharaoh, the defier of God; the
one who cruelly treated His people; the one who by ordering the destruction of
all the male children, sought to cut off Israel from being a nation; the one
who met with such a drastic end at the hands of the Lord. In the prophecy of
Balaam, the Antichrist is referred to under the name of "Asshur" (Num. 24:22),
- in future chapters evidence will be given to prove that "Asshur" and the
Antichrist are one and the same person. There are many other remarkable types
of the Man of Sin to be found in the historical books of the Old Testament, but
these we pass by now, as we shall devote a separate chapter to their
consideration.
In the book of Job he is referred to as "the
Crooked Serpent" (Job 26:13): with this should be compared Isa. 27:1 where, as
"the Crooked Serpent", he is connected with the Dragon, though distinguished
from him. In the Psalms we find quite a number of references to him; as "the
Bloody and Deceitful Man" (5:6); "the Wicked (One)" (9:17); "the Man of the
Earth" (10:18); the "Mighty Man" (52:1); "the Adversary" (74:10); "the Head
over many countries" (110:6); "the Evil Man" and "the Violent Man" (140:1),
etc., etc. Let the student give special attention to Psalms 10, 52, and 55.
When we turn to the Prophets there the references
to this Monster of Iniquity are so numerous that were we to cite all of them,
even without comment, it would take us quite beyond the proper bounds of this
introductory chapter. Only a few of the more prominent ones can, therefore, be
noticed.
Isaiah mentions him: first as the "Assyrian",
"the Rod" of God's anger (10:5); then as "the Wicked" (11:4); then as "the King
of Babylon" (14:11-20 and cf 30:31-33); and also as the "Spoiler" - Destroyer
(16:4). Jeremiah calls him "the Destroyer of the Gentiles" (4:7); the "Enemy",
the "Cruel One" and "the Wicked" (30:14 and 23). Ezekiel refers to him as the
"Profane Wicked Prince of Israel" (21:25), and again under the figure of the
"Prince of Tyre" (28:2-10), and also as "the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal"
(38:2). Daniel gives a full delineation of his character and furnished a
complete outline of his career. Hosea speaks of him as "the King of Princes"
(8:10), and as the "Merchant" in whose hand are "the balances of deceit" and
who "loveth to oppress" (12:7). Joel describes him as the Head of the Northern
Army, who shall be overthrown because he "magnified himself to do great things"
(2:20). Amos terms him the "Adversary" who shall break Israel's strength and
spoil her palaces (3:11). Micah makes mention of him in the fifth chapter of
his prophecy (see v. 6). Nahum refers to him under the name of "Belial (Heb.)
and tells of his destruction (1:15). Habakkuk speaks of him as "the Proud Man"
who "enlarged his desires as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied,
but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples" (2:5).
Zechariah describes him as "the Idol Shepherd" upon whom is pronounced God's
"woe", and upon whom descends His judgment (11:17).
Nor is it only in the Old Testament that we meet
with this fearful character. Our Lord Himself spoke of him as the one who
should "come in his own name", and who would be "received" by Israel (John
5:43). The apostle Paul gives us a full length picture of him in 2 Thess. 2,
where he is denominated "that Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition", who coming
shall be "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders". The apostle John mentions him by name, and declares that he will deny
both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). While in the Apocalypse, the last
book in the Bible, all these lines of prophecy are found to converge in "the
Beast" who shall ultimately be cast, together with the False Prophet, into the
lake of fire, there to be joined a thousand years later by the Devil himself,
to suffer for ever and ever in that fire specially "prepared" by God.
The appearing of the Antichrist is a most
appalling and momentous subject, and in the past, many well-meaning writers
have deprived this impending event of much of its terror and meaning, by
confusing some of the antichrists that have already appeared at various
intervals on the stage of human history, with that mysterious being who will
tower high above all the sons of Belial, being no less than Satan's counterfeit
and opposer of the Christ of God, who is infinitely exalted above all the sons
of God. It promotes the interests of Satan to keep the world in ignorance of
the coming Super-man, and there can be no doubt that he is the one who is
responsible for the general neglect in the study of this subject, and the
author, too, of the conflicting testimony which is being given out by those who
speak and write concerning it.
There have been three principal schools among the
interpreters of the prophecies pertaining to the Antichrist. The first have
applied these prophecies to persons of the past, to men who have been in their
graves for many centuries. The second have given these prophecies a present
application, finding their fulfillment in the Papacy which still exists. While
the third give them a future application, and look for their fulfillment in a
terrible being who is yet to be manifested. Now, widely divergent as are these
several views, the writer is assured there is an element of truth in each of
them. Many, if not the great majority of the prophecies - not only those
pertaining to the Antichrist, but to other prominent objects of prediction -
have at least a twofold, and frequently a threefold fulfillment. They have a
local and immediate fulfillment: they have a continual and gradual fulfillment:
and they have a final and exhaustive fulfillment.
In the second chapter of his first epistle the
apostle John declares, "Little 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" (v. 18). In strict harmony with this,
the apostle Paul affirmed that the "mystery of iniquity" was "already"
at work in his day (2 Thess. 2:7). This need not surprise us, for many
centuries before the apostles, the wise man declared, "The thing that hath
been, is that which shall be; and that which is done is that
which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecc.
1:9). History works in cycles, but as each cycle is completed we are carried
nearer the goal and consummation of history. There have been, then, and there
exist today, many antichrists, but these are only so many forecasts and
foreshadowings of the one who is yet to appear. But it is of first importance
that we should distinguish clearly between an antichrist and the
Antichrist. As we have said, there have already been many antichrists, but
the appearing of the Antichrist is yet future.
The first school of interpreters referred to
above, have lighted upon Antiochus Epiphanes as the one who fulfills the
prophecies respecting the Antichrist. As far back as the days of Josephus (see
his "Antiquities") this view found ardent advocates. Appeal was made to the
title he assumed (Epiphanes signifying "Illustrious"); to his opposition
against the worship of Jehovah; to his remarkable military achievements; to his
diplomatic intrigues; to his defiling of the Temple; to his sacrificing of a
pig in the holy of holies; to his setting up of an image; and to his cruel
treatment of the Jews. But there are many conclusive reasons to prove that
Antiochus Epiphanes could not possibly be the Antichrist, though undoubtedly he
was, in several respects, a striking type of him, inasmuch as he foreshadowed
many of the very things which this coming Monster will do. It is sufficient to
point out that Antiochus Epiphanes had been in his grave for more than a
hundred years when the apostle wrote 2 Thess. 2.
Another striking character who has been singled
out by those who believe that the Antichrist has already appeared and finished
his course, is Nero. And here again there are, admittedly, many striking
resemblances between the type and the antitype. In his office of emperor of the
Romans; in his awful impiety; in his consuming egotism, in his bloodthirsty
nature; and in his ferocious and fiendish persecution of the people of God, we
discover some of the very lineaments which will be characteristic of the Wicked
One. But again it will be found that this man of infamous memory, Nero, did
nothing more than foreshadow that one who shall far exceed him in satanic
malignity. Positive proof that Nero was not the Antichrist is to be found in
the fact that he was in his grave before John wrote the thirteenth chapter of
the Revelation.
The second school of interpreters, to whom
reference has been made above, apply the prophecies concerning the Antichrist
to the papal system, and see in the succession of the popes the fac-simile of
the Man of Sin. Attention is called to Rome's hatred of the Gospel of God'
grace; to her mongrel combination of political and ecclesiastical rule; to her
arrogant claims and tyrannical anathemas upon all who dare to oppose them; to
her subtlety, her intrigues, her broken pledges; and last, but not least, to
her unspeakable martyrdom of those who have withstood her. The pope, we are
reminded, has usurped the place and prerogatives of the Son of God, and his
arrogance, his impiety, his claims to infallibility, his demand for personal
worship, all tally exactly with what is postulated of the Son of Perdition.
Antichristian, Roman Catholicism unquestionably is, yet, even this monstrous
system of evil falls short of that which shall yet be headed by the Beast. We
shall devote a separate chapter to a careful comparison of the papacy with the
prophecies which describe the character and career of the Antichrist.
The third school of interpreters believe that the
prophecies relating to the Lawless One have not yet received their fulfillment,
and cannot do so until this present Day of Salvation has run its course. The
Holy Spirit of God, whose presence here now prevents the final outworking of
the Mystery of Iniquity, must be removed from these scenes before Satan can
bring forth his Masterpiece of deception and opposition to God. Many are the
scriptures which teach plainly that the manifestation of the Antichrist is yet
future, and these will come before us in our future studies. For the moment we
must continue urging upon our readers the importance of this subject and the
timeliness of our present inquiry.
The study of Antichrist is not merely one of
interest to those who love the sensational, but it is of vital importance to a
right understanding of dispensational truth. A true conception of the
predictions which regard the Man of Sin is imperatively necessary for an
adequate examination of that vast territory of unfulfilled prophecy. A single
passage of scripture will establish this. If the reader will turn to the
beginning of 2 Thess. 2 he will find that the saints in Thessalonica had been
waiting for the coming of God's Son from heaven, because they had been taught
to expect their gathering together unto Him before God launches His judgments
upon the world, which will distinguish the "Day of the Lord". But their faith
had been shaken and their hope disturbed. Certain ones had erroneously informed
them that "that day" had arrived, and therefore, their expectation of being
caught up to meet the Lord in the air had been disappointed. It was to relieve
the distress of these believers, and to repudiate the errors of those who had
disturbed them, that, moved by the Holy Spirit, the apostle wrote his second
epistle to the Thessalonian church.
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, That ye be not
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition; Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you I told you these things? And now
ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery
of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth (hindereth) will let,
until He be taken our of the way. And then shall that Wicked One 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 might believe a lie: That they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:1-12).
We have quoted this passage at length to show
that the Day of the Lord cannot come until after the Rapture (v. 1), after the
Apostasy (v. 3), and after the appearing of the Man of Sin (v. 3), whose
character and career here briefly but graphically sketched. The Antichrist is
to run his career of unparalleled wickedness after all Christians have been
removed from these scenes, for it it under him, as their leader, that all the
hosts of ungodliness shall muster to meet their doom by the summary judgment of
God. Has then, the Wicked One been revealed? or must we still say, as the
apostle said in his day, that while the "mystery of iniquity" is even now
working, there is something "withholding" (restraining), that he should be
revealed "in his time"? The vital importance of the answer which is given to
these questions will further appear when we connect with this description of
the Antichrist given in 2 Thess. 2 the other prophecies which reveal the exact
length of time within which his course must be accomplished. Our reason for
saying this is because the majority of the prophecies yet unfulfilled are to be
fulfilled during the time that the Antichrist is the central figure upon earth.
Moreover, the destruction of the Antichrist and his forces will be the grand
finale in the age-long conflict between the Serpent and the woman's Seed, as He
returns to set up His kingdom.
The dominant view which has been held by
Protestants since the time of the Reformation is that the many predictions
relating to the Antichrist describe, instead, the rise, progress, and doom of
the papacy. This mistake has led to others, and given rise to the scheme of
prophetic interpretation which has prevailed throughout Christendom. When the
predictions concerning the Man of Sin were allegorized, consistency required
that all associated and collateral predictions should also be allegorized, and
especially those which relate to his doom, and the kingdom which is to be
established on the overthrow of his power. When the period of his predicted
course was made to measure the whole duration of the papal system, it naturally
followed that the predictions of the associated events should be applied
to the history of Europe from the time that the Bishop of Rome became
recognized as the head of the Western Churches.
It was, really, this mistake of Luther and his
contemporaries in applying to Rome the prophecies concerning the Antichrist
which is responsible, we believe, for the whole modern system of
post-millennialism. The Reformers were satisfied that the Papacy had received
its death blow, and though it lingered on, the Protestants of the sixteenth
century were confident it could never recover. Believing that the doom of the
Roman hierarchy was sealed, that the kingdom of Satan was rocking on its
foundations, and that a brief interval would witness a complete overthrow, they
at once seized upon the prophecies which announced the setting up of the
kingdom of Christ as immediately following the destruction of the Antichrist,
and applied them to Protestantism. It is true that some of them did not seem to
fit very well, but human ingenuity soon found a way to overcome these
difficulties. The obstacle presented by those prophecies that announced the
immediate setting up of Christ's kingdom, following the overthrow and
destruction of Satan's, was surmounted by an appeal to the analogy furnished in
the overthrow of Satan's kingdom - if this was a tedious process, a gradual
thing which required time to complete, why not so with the other? If the
rapidly waning power of the papacy was sufficient to guarantee its ultimate
extermination, why should not the progress of the Reformation presage the
ultimate conquering of the world for Christ!
If, as it seemed clear to the Reformers, the
papacy was the Man of Sin, and St. Peter's was the "temple" in which he usurped
the place and prerogatives of Christ, then, this premise established, all the
other conclusions connected with their scheme of prophetic interpretation must
logically follow. To establish the premise was the first thing to be done, and
once the theory became a settled conviction it was no difficult thing to find
scriptures which appeared to confirm their view. The principal difficulty in
the way was to dispose of the predictions which limited the final stage of
Antichrist's career to forty-two months, or twelve hundred sixty days. This was
accomplished by what is known as the "year-day" theory, which regards each of
the 1260 days as "prophetic days", that is, as 1260 years, and thus sufficient
room was afforded to allow for the protracted history of Roman Catholicism.
Without entering into further details, it is
evident at once that, if this allegorical interpretation of the prophecies
regarding Antichrist can be proven erroneous,[2]
then the whole post-millennial and "historical" schemes of interpretation fall
to the ground, and thousands of the voluminous expositions of prophecy which
have been issued during the past three hundred and fifty years are set aside as
ingenious but baseless speculations. This, of itself, is sufficient to
demonstrate the importance of our present inquiry.
Not only is the importance of our subject
denoted by the prominent place given to it in the Word of God, and not only is
its value established by the fact that a correct understanding of the person of
Antichrist is one of the chief keys to the right interpretation of the many
prophecies which yet await their fulfillment, but the timeliness of this
inquiry is discovered by noting that the Holy Spirit has connected the
appearing of the Antichrist with the Apostasy: "Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away (the
Apostasy) first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition" (2
Thess. 2:3). These two things are here joined together, and if it can be shown
that the Apostasy is already far advanced, then we may be certain that the
manifestation of the Man of Sin cannot be far distant.
There is little need for us to make a lengthy
digression here and give a selection from the abundance of evidence to hand,
which shows that the Apostasy is already far advanced. The great majority of
those whom we are addressing have already had their eyes opened by God to
discern the Christ-dishonoring conditions which exist on almost every side. It
will be enough to barely mention the gathering of the "tares" into bundles,
which is taking place before our eyes; the rapid spread of Spiritism, with its
"seducing spirits and doctrines of demons", and the significant and solemn fact
that thousands of those who are ensnared by it are those who have departed from
the formal profession of the faith (1 Tim. 4:1); the "form of godliness" which
still exists, but which alas! in the vast majority of instances "denies its
power "; the alarming development and growth of Roman Catholicism in this land,
and the lethargic indifference to this by most of those who bear the name of
Christ; the denial of every cardinal doctrine of the faith once delivered to
the saints, which is now heard in countless pulpits of every denomination; the
"scoffing" which is invariably met with by those who teach the imminent return
of the Lord Jesus; and the Lacodicean spirit which is now the very atmosphere
of Christendom, and from which few, if any, of the Lord's own people are
entirely free - these, and a dozen others which might be mentioned, are the
proofs which convince us that the time must be very near at hand when the
Divine Hinderer shall be removed, and when satan shall bring forth his Son to
head the final revolt against God, ere the Lord Jesus returns to this earth and
sets up His kingdom. This then, shows the need of a prayerful examination of
what God has revealed of those things "which must shortly come to pass". The
very fact that the time when Satan's Masterpiece shall appear is rapidly
drawing nearer, supplies further evidence of the importance and timeliness of
our present inquiry.
The practical value of these preliminary
considerations should at once be apparent. What we have written in connection
with this incarnation of Satan who is shortly to appear, is not the product of
a disordered imagination but the subject of Divine revelation. The warning
given that the appearing of the Antichrist cannot be far distant springs not
from the fears of an alarmist, but is required by the Signs of the Times which,
in the light of Scripture, are fraught with significant meaning to all whose
senses are exercised to discern both good and evil. The many proofs that the
manifestation of the Man of Sin is an event of the near future are so many
calls to God's own children to be ready for the Return of the Saviour, for
before the Son of Perdition can be revealed the Lord Himself must first descend
into the air and catch away from these scenes, unto Himself, His own
blood-bought people. Therefore, it behooves each one of us to make "our calling
and election sure", and to heed that urgent admonition of the Saviour "Let your
loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men
that wait for their Lord" (Luke 12:35, 36).
[2] Erroneous in the sense that it is but a
shadowy and secondary fulfillment, rather than the ultimate and primary.