When ye therefore shall see The Abomination of Desolation spoken of by
Daniel the prophet ... whoso readeth, let him understand. (Matt 24:15)
The Abomination of Desolation
A series of articles published by
Father Athanasius Iskander
in
PAROUSIA
September, 1997 - January, 2003
SAINT MARY’S COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
www.stmarycoptorthodox.org
First printing January 2003
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET1
Shortly before His Crucifixion, the Lord Jesus was asked by His
disciples, “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the
sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt 24: 3) The Lord
then started to give them a discourse about the end of the world.
The discourse alluded to the destruction of Jerusalem, which took
place in the year A.D. 70, as a type for the destruction of the world, at
the time of the end. Exegetes agree that the prophecies of the Lord
Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, have been partially
fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, but will find their complete
fulfillment in the destruction of the world at the end of time.
One of the “signs” of the Lord’s second coming is given to us in
these verses, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come
down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the
field return back to take his clothes.” (Matt 24: 15-18)
There is no doubt that these words of Jesus found their partial
fulfillment when Titus placed an idol on the site of the burned Temple
after destroying Jerusalem2, however, it is equally doubtless that the
Lord was also alluding to the end of the world, for the following
reasons:
First, the whole discourse in Matthew 24 is in response to the
disciples’ inquiry regarding the signs of His coming and the end of the
world.
Second, the information concerning the Abomination Of
Desolation, and the following instructions to flee it in an urgent
manner, are immediately followed by this verse, “For then shall be
great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt 24:21)
1Published: September, 1997
2Life Application Bible: notes on Mat 24.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
From this, it is safe to assume that the Abomination Of Desolation will
be manifested standing in the “holy place” during the “Great
Tribulation” mentioned in the Book of Daniel 12:1, as well as the Book
of Revelation 7:14.
Then we are told, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
(Matt 24:29-30)
It is evident from this that the “Great Tribulation” will
immediately precede the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And, since
the “Great Tribulation” will coincide with the manifestation of the
Abomination Of Desolation, standing in the holy place, it follows that
the latter is an important sign that will immediately precede the
Parousia of the Lord (His second coming).
The importance of this “sign” of the second coming of Christ
becomes apparent if we carefully examine the words of Christ
concerning it, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth let him understand). This clearly indicates to the
reader that the Abomination Of Desolation is a “code name” for
something or someone, and that the reader has to attempt to “decode”
this expression, and understand what it stands for, so that he (or she)
can follow the Lord’s urgent demand to flee it.
Yet, in spite of this admonition to the reader that he (or she) must
strive to understand, only few of those who are reading this chapter
actually understand what the Lord means by the Abomination Of
Desolation standing in the holy place.
Now, hopefully, we have aroused enough interest, so let us answer
the question, “What is (or who is) the Abomination Of Desolation
spoken of by Daniel the prophet?” To find the answer, we have to go
to the writings of the Fathers of the Church, who wrote on the subject.
According to Irenaeus, Hippolytus of Rome, Cyril of Jerusalem,
Origen, and Cassian, the “Abomination Of Desolation spoken of by
Daniel the prophet” is none other than Antichrist, who must appear
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
before the second coming of Christ, seduce the world by his false
miracles, causing the final apostasy, and who will “sit in the temple of
God (the holy place), showing himself that he is God.” (II Thes 2:4)
Now, we will present a brief survey of the main scriptural passages
that refer or allude to the “Abomination Of Desolation spoken of by
Daniel the prophet,” also known as Antichrist.
The Book of Daniel has 12 chapters, the first six of which are
narrative while the last six are apocalyptic, sometimes referred to as the
“Apocalypse of Daniel.” An “apocalypse” is a scriptural passage that
deals with prediction of future events, but, unlike a prophecy which
concerns the future of one land or one nation (e.g., Israel or Edom), an
apocalypse has cosmic dimensions involving the whole universe, and
usually alludes to the end of the world. There are generally four
recognized passages in Daniel that concern the topic at hand. Chapters
7 and 8 speak of him under the code name The Little Horn. Here are
some excerpts of the passages concerning The Little Horn.
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron
teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with
the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before
it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there
came up among them another little horn, before whom there were
three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this
horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great
things. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which
the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body
destroyed, and given to the burning flame .... Then I would know
the truth of the fourth beast .... And of the ten horns that were in
his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three
fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very
great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 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
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
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. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away
his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions
shall serve and obey him. (Dan 7:7-27)
And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward
the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven;
and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince
of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the
place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him
against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast
down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered ....
And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and
sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the
appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks
of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to
understand the vision. So he came near where I stood: and when he
came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me,
Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the
vision ... And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall
be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy
wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the
mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall
cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in
his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up
against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”
(Dan 8:9-25)
Most of the ancient writers agree that the Little Horn who is also
described as a king of fierce countenance is Antichrist. Jerome wrote
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
a book about the subject1, a book that was already known to Saint
Augustine:
Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate
that Antichrist shall first come, and to carry on his description to the
eternal reign of the saints. For when in prophetic vision he had seen
four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by
a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the
eternal kingdom of the Son of man, that is to say, of Christ, he says,
‘My spirit was terrified, I Daniel in the midst of my body, and the
visions of my head troubled me,’ etc. . . They who desire to
understand the fitness of this interpretation may read Jerome's book
on Daniel, which is written with a sufficiency of care and erudition.
But he who reads this passage, even half asleep, cannot fail to see
that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short
time, assail the Church before the last judgment of God shall
introduce the eternal reign of the saints. For it is patent from the
context that the time, times, and half a time, means a year, and two
years, and half a year, that is to say, three years and a half.2
Hippolytus of Rome wrote three treatises about the same subject. Here
is a sample of his writings:
As Daniel says, “I considered the beast; and, lo, (there were) ten
horns behind, among which shall come up another little horn
springing from them;” by which none other is meant than Antichrist
that is to rise .... And when he has conquered all, he will prove
himself a terrible and savage tyrant, and will cause tribulation and
persecution to the saints, exalting himself against them.3
Origen also recognized these passages as referring to Antichrist:
The prophecy also regarding Antichrist is stated in the book of
Daniel, and is fitted to make an intelligent and candid reader admire
1Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel.
2Augustin of Hippo: City of God.
3Hippolytus: Scholia on Daniel.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
the words as truly divine and prophetic; for in them are mentioned
the things relating to the coming kingdom, beginning with the times
of Daniel, and continuing to the destruction of the world. And any
one who chooses may read it. Observe, however, whether the
prophecy regarding Antichrist be not as follows: “And at the latter
time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, there
shall arise a king, bold in countenance, and understanding riddles.
And his power shall be great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and
prosper, and practise; and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy
people. And the yoke of his chain shall prosper: there is craft in his
hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by craft shall
destroy many; and he shall stand up for the destruction of many, and
shall crush them as eggs in his hand.”1
The Book of Daniel has two more passages dealing with Antichrist, the
Great Tribulation and the end of the world: Daniel 11: 31-45 and the
whole of chapter 12.
Saint Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians contains a major
passage about the early Church’s tradition concerning Antichrist:
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, shewing 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
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
1Origen: Against Celsus.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
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. (II Thes 2:1-12)
It is unanimously accepted that the Man of Sin mentioned by Saint Paul
in this passage is none other than Antichrist. Here are some of the
sayings of the early Church writers about this passage:
I see that I must omit many of the statements of the gospels and
epistles about this last judgment, that this volume may not become
unduly long; but I can on no account omit what the Apostle Paul
says, in writing to the Thessalonians, “We beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. No one can doubt that he
wrote this of Antichrist and of the day of judgment, which he here
calls the day of the Lord, nor that he declared that this day should
not come unless he first came who is called the apostate --apostate,
to wit, from the Lord God. And if this may justly be said of all the
ungodly, how much more of him? But it is uncertain in what temple
he shall sit, whether in that ruin of the temple which was built by
Solomon, or in the Church; for the apostle would not call the temple
of any idol or demon the temple of God.1
“Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the
falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is
called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of
God, setting himself forth as God.” Here he discourses concerning
the Antichrist, and reveals great mysteries. What is the falling away?
He calls him “Apostasy”, as being about to destroy many, and make
them fall away. So that if it were possible, He says, the very elect
should be offended. (From Matt. xxiv. 24.) And he calls him “the
man of sin.” For he shall do numberless mischiefs, and shall cause
others to do them. But he calls him “the son of perdition,” because
he is also to be destroyed. But who is he? Is it then Satan? By no
means; but some man, that admits his fully working in him. For he
is a man. “And exalteth himself against all that is called God or is
worshipped.” For he will not introduce idolatry, but will be a kind of
1Hippolytus: Scholia on Daniel.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
opponent to God; he will abolish all the gods, and will order men to
worship him instead of God, and he will be seated in the temple of
God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every Church. “Setting
himself forth,” he says; he does not say, “saying it”, but
endeavouring to show it. For he will perform great works, and will
show wonderful signs.1
Paul, indeed, speaks of him who is called Antichrist, describing,
though with a certain reserve, both the manner, and time, and cause
of his coming to the human race. And notice whether his language
on this subject is not most becoming, and undeserving of being
treated with even the slightest degree of ridicule. It is thus that the
apostle expresses himself: “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, ....” To explain each particular here
referred to does not belong to our present purpose.2
Well, but who is the man of sin, the son of perdition, who must first
be revealed before the Lord comes; “who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; who is to
sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being God?”
According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in
both the ancient and the new prophecies.3
The Book of Revelation is, of course, one of the most important
sources of information on the subject of Antichrist and the end of the
world. Chapter 13 is devoted to describing him under the code name
the Beast.
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. 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: and the dragon gave
him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of
his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was
1Origen: Against Celsus.
2Origen: Against Celsus.
3Tertullian: Against Marcion.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 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? And there was given unto him a mouth
speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in
blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle,
and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make
war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If
any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed
with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 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. And he exerciseth all
the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and
them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And
deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying
to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to
the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he
had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of
the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed. 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. Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the
number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Those who object to the authenticity of the Book of Revelation or do
not take it as speaking of things to come in the future should read the
testimony of Irenaeus about it:
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found
in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and
those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it];
while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name
of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of
calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount
to six hundred and sixty and six.1
In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the
Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning
the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which
now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the
ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it
had been said to him: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten
kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power
as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give
their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord
of lords and the King of kings.” (Rev 17: 12-14) It is manifest,
therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay
three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be
himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste,
and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and
put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the
coming of our Lord.2
The saying of the Lord in John 5:43 is considered by most of the
Fathers as pertaining to Antichrist:
It is said of Antichrist, and all understand of him what the Lord said,
“I am come in My Father's Name, and ye have not received Me; if
another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”3
“I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another
shall come in his own name, him will ye receive.” Who is it that He
1Irenaeus: Against heresies.
2Augustin of Hippo: Sermon LXXIX
3Augustin of Hippo: Sermon LXXIX
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
here saith shall come “in his own name”? He alludeth here to
Antichrist.1
The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in Him:
“I have come in my Father's name, and ye have not received Me:
when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive,”
calling Antichrist “the other,” because he is alienated from the
Lord.2
That the Lord meant Antichrist when He spoke of the Abomination of
Desolation, will become quite obvious when we read the following
excerpts from the writings of the early Fathers:
This Jesus Christ who is gone up shall come again, not from earth
but from heaven: and I say, “not from earth,” because there are
many Antichrists to come at this time from earth. For already, as
thou hast seen, many have begun to say, I am the Christ: and the
abomination of desolation is yet to come, assuming to himself the
false title of Christ.3
For at that time there shall be great trouble, such as has not been
from the foundation of the world, when some in one way, and others
in another, shall be sent through every city and country to destroy
the faithful; and the saints shall travel from the west to the east, and
shall be driven in persecution from the east to the south, while
others shall conceal themselves in the mountains and caves; and the
abomination shall war against them everywhere, and shall cut them
off by sea and by land by his decree, and shall endeavour by every
means to destroy them out of the world; and they shall not be able
any longer to sell their own property, nor to buy from strangers,
unless one keeps and carries with him the name of the beast, or
bears its mark upon his forehead. For then they shall all be driven
out from every place, and dragged from their own homes and haled
into prison, and punished with all manner of punishment, and cast
1John Chrysostom: Homily on John V.
2Irenaeus: Against heresies.
3Cyril Of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
out from the whole world.1
He who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall
terrify those men of whom we have been speaking [the saints],
having a name containing the aforesaid number [666], is truly the
abomination of desolation.2
What is stated by Paul in the words quoted from him, where he says,
“so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is
God,” is in Daniel referred to in the following fashion: “And on the
temple shall be the abomination of desolations,” .... So many, out
of a greater number of passages, have I thought it right to adduce,
that the hearer may understand in some slight degree the meaning
of holy Scripture, when it gives us information concerning the devil
and Antichrist.3
Elias came in the person of John [the Baptist], and is again to be the
precursor of the Lord's Advent: and in the matter of the
“Abomination of Desolation” which “stood in the holy place,” by
means of that idol of Jupiter which, as we read, was placed in the
temple in Jerusalem, and which is again to stand in the Church
through the coming of Antichrist, and all those things which follow
in the gospel, which we take as having been fulfilled before the
captivity of Jerusalem and still to be fulfilled at the end of this world.
In which matters neither view is opposed to the other, nor does the
first interpretation interfere with the second.4
1Hippolytus: Scholia on Daniel.
2Irenaeus: Against heresies
3Origen: Against Celsus.
4Abbot Serenus: in Cassian; Conferences.
THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING1
The revelations given to Daniel the prophet in chapters 7 - 12, tell us a
great deal about the Abomination of Desolation, however, information
about the things that have to happen before his advent are very sketchy.
In chapter 7, Daniel saw a vision of “four great beasts, coming out
of the sea, diverse one from another.” He also saw ten horns on the
fourth beast, and “another little horn” that came among them. (Dan
7:3-8)
Daniel was troubled by what he saw, so he went and asked one of
the angels about the meaning of the vision. The angel interpreted the
vision in the following manner, “These great beasts, which are four, are
four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” (Dan 7:17) Concerning
the ten horns coming out of the fourth beast (the fourth kingdom), and
the “little horn” that came among them, the angel said, “The ten horns
out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall arise
after them; and shall be diverse from the first [kings].” (Dan 7:24)
If we read the rest of the Book of Daniel, and consult the Fathers
who wrote on the subject, we will learn the following.
Concerning the four kingdoms, all are agreed that these are the
Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greek and the Roman Empires.
The ten horns represent ten kingdoms that will arise after the fall of the
Roman Empire, and after them will come the Abomination of
Desolation. One may be tempted to count the empires that came after
the fall of Rome like the Germanic, the Moslem, Mongolian, Ottoman,
the French, British . . . and the greatest kingdom of them all; the mighty
U.S.A.! And, perhaps convince oneself that the ten horns have already
come and that the little horn is around the corner! But, before we go
any further, let us have a word about the use of numbers in prophetic
and apocalyptic Scripture.
Numbers in these types of Scriptural passages are usually symbolic
and not literal, e.g., “The seven Spirits of God” (Rev 4:5), are not to be
interpreted literally, but could mean the “perfect” Spirit of God, since
the number seven symbolizes perfection. Similarly, the number three
and a half symbolizes imperfection, so, when we are told that the Great
1Published: November, 1997
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Tribulation, or the duration of the reign of the Abomination of
Desolation shall be three and a half years, this means that it will be a
time that will not be completed but rather suddenly cut short by the
glorious coming of our Lord. The Lord Himself told us so, “And except
those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for
the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt 24:22) Similarly,
the ten horns (or ten kingdoms) that should arise after the Romans,
and after which comes the Abomination of Desolation, may very well be
a symbolic number. Here is what Saint Augustine says about this:
As for the ten kings, whom, as it seems, Antichrist is to find in the
person of ten individuals when he comes, I own I am afraid we may
be deceived in this, and that he may come unexpectedly while there
are not ten kings living in the Roman world. For what if this number,
ten signifies the whole number of kings who are to precede his
coming, as totality is frequently symbolized by a thousand, or a
hundred, or seven, or other numbers, which it is not necessary to
recount?1
In chapters 8, 11, and 12, Daniel is given more revelations but is
instructed by one of the angels, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan 12:4) When Daniel tries
to get more information, he is told, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words
are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Dan 12:9)
From this, one can deduce that the prophecy was kept deliberately
obscure until the “time of the end,” when the seals of the book shall be
opened.
If we read Revelation, chapter 5, we find mention of “A book
written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” (Rev 5:1)
Later on, we are told that only Christ can open the seals of the book.
(Rev 5:5-9) Hippolytus of Rome comments on this saying:
And that the things spoken of old by the law and the prophets were
all sealed, and that they were unknown to men, Isaiah declares when
he says: ‘And they will deliver the book that is sealed to one that is
1Augustin of Hippo: City of God, XX: Ch. 23.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
learned, and will say to him, Read this; and he will say, I cannot read
it, for it is sealed.’ (Isa 19:11) It was meet and necessary that the
things spoken of old by the prophets should be sealed to the
unbelieving Pharisees, who thought that they understood the letter
of the law, and be opened to the believing. The things, therefore,
which of old were sealed, are now by the grace of God the Lord all
open to the saints . . . He took the book, therefore, and loosed it, in
order that the things spoken concerning Him of old in secret, might
now be proclaimed with boldness upon the housetops. For this
reason, then, the angel says to Daniel, "Seal the words, for the vision
is until the end of the time." But to Christ it was not said "seal," but
"loose" the things bound of old; in order that, by His grace, we might
know the will of the Father, and believe upon Him whom He has
sent for the salvation of men, Jesus our Lord.1
So, let us leave the Apocalypse of Daniel for the time being and turn to
the Book of Revelation, in order to loose the seals of the mysteries
spoken of by Daniel.
Chapters 6-12 of Revelation speak of things that should happen
before the Abomination of Desolation is manifested, while chapters 13
and on speak about his reign, his tyranny and his end.
The prophecies in Revelation are arranged in three heptads of
events that resemble a telescope with three sections, as each section is
extended, another unfolds. So, we have seven seals, the last one of
them leads to the seven trumpets and these in turn lead to the seven
bowls. Interspersed between these are heavenly scenes that depict the
victorious church in heaven, or the striving church on earth.
THE SEVEN SEALS:
When the first seal was opened, John saw “a white horse; and he
that sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went
forth conquering and to conquer.” (Rev 6:1-2) The same scene is
repeated in Revelation 19:11-16, where the identity of the rider is
revealed. “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:16)
The first seal depicts the triumph of Christianity and its spread in
the world, as a prelude to the events that will follow.
1 Hippolytus: Scholia on Daniel.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
The second seal reveals a red horse, “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.” (Rev 6:4) This
represents war.
The third and fourth seals represent famine and pestilence. We
are then told that these three plagues (war, famine and pestilence) will
kill one fourth of the world. (Rev 6:8) This agrees with what the Lord
told His disciples in Matthew 24, “And ye shall hear of wars and
rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the
beginning of sorrows.” (Matt 24:6-8)
Wars, famine and pestilence are probably as old as civilization
itself, however, recently, they have been escalating at an alarming rate.
The first half of the twentieth century has given us a new concept
of war; the world war. Yet, as brutal as the two world wars were, they
seem like child’s play compared with what mankind is capable of
inflicting on itself should another world war arise.
The second half of the twentieth century gave us the concept of
ethnic war; where ethnic groups within a country fight each other. The
ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and the war between the
Hutus and the Tutsis, in which close to a quarter of a million died, are
examples of what the Lord meant by “nation arising against nation.”
The world has known famines since the time of the Patriarchs, but
the extent of famine has probably never matched what has been
happening in Somalia and the Sudan. Recently, North Korea, a country
with major war capability, has joined the ranks with thousands dying of
hunger, as the newscasts tell us.
Even in highly industrialized countries like Canada and the U.S.A.,
food banks are faced with major challenges to feed the hungry in the
lands of plenty!
As far as disease is concerned, in spite of all the advances in
medicine, yet all is not well in today’s world. New diseases like AIDS
and Ebola are causing major threats to man’s life, with no cure in sight.
Old diseases that medicine is supposed to have conquered are making
a frightening come back. TB is rampant among aboriginals as well as
in prison populations, and newer drug-resistant strains are emerging.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Many of the bacteria that cause diseases are becoming antibiotic-
resistant. Sleeping sickness is rampant in Somalia and Lyme disease is
making a come back in the USA.
The incidence of skin cancer has doubled in Caucasian females.
Malaria, a disease that was supposed to have been eradicated, is
becoming endemic in the tropics, with new drug-resistant strains
appearing. Prophylactic drugs given to travellers going to these areas
are becoming useless. Recently, Canadians coming from these areas
are increasingly being diagnosed with a malignant strain of Malaria that
attacks the brain, and several fatalities have occurred.
In a recent article in Time Magazine (September 8, 1997) titled
“Mosquitoes get deadly,” we are told that, “The virus causing the
deadly brain disease [Encephalitis] is at large and that nature’s most
loathed insect was carrying it.” Outbreaks were reported in Florida,
New York’s Long Island, Massachusetts, North Dakota and Georgia.
West Nile Virus, another deadly virus carried by mosquitoes is now
commonly found in both the USA and Canada.
THE FIFTH SEAL:
The fifth seal depicts the persecution of the faithful, again
predicted by the Lord in the next verse, “Then shall they deliver you up
to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for
my name's sake.” (Matt 24:9)
When the sixth seal is opened, the scene is that of the end of the
world:
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was
a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto
the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when
it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out
of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and
the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the
rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is
come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:12-17)
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Again we notice the similarity to Matthew 24:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory. (Matt 24:29-30)
Although the prophecy leaps from the “beginning of sorrows” to the
coming of the Son of Man, the second heptad of the seven trumpets will
fill the void left by the seven seals:
We must not regard the order of what is said, because frequently the
Holy Spirit, when He has traversed even to the end of the last times,
returns again to the same times, and fills up what He had before
failed to say. Nor must we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we
must follow the meaning of those things which are prophesied.1
THE SEALING OF THE ELECT:
Before the plagues of the seven trumpets, John saw an angel
putting the seal of the living God on the foreheads of the servants of
God. Then he tells us the number of those sealed; one hundred and
forty-four thousand. (Rev 7:1-3) This number symbolizes the total
number of the elect, who will be given protection against the remaining
plagues. Here, the Holy Spirit gives us assurance that even if we
happen to be around during the Great Tribulation, we will enjoy God’s
protection. The number is a composite one (12 X 12 X 1000). The
number twelve is symbolic of being chosen by God. The Tribes of
God’s chosen people, Israel, were twelve and so was the number of His
chosen disciples. When 12 is multiplied by 12, that means God’s elect
from among the converted Jews as well as from among the Gentiles. St.
Paul assures us that from among the Jews a remnant shall be saved,
(Rom 9:27) and later on in Revelation 11, there is allusion to a mass
conversion of the Jews to Christianity. The number one thousand
symbolizes a great number. So, 144,000 symbolizes the large number of
1Victorinus: Commentary on the Apocalypse.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
God’s elect from both Jews and Gentiles. The reference to the Tribes
of Israel is here to be understood as referring to the New Israel, which
is the totality of God’s elect, for whose sake the days will be shortened.
This point becomes clear when we read on:
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about
the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their
faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in
white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. (Rev 7:9-14)
Here the picture becomes clear; a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues. And who
are they? They are the elect that have come out of the Great
Tribulation, victorious, the same that were sealed and protected by
God’s own seal. Their number, no man could count, for only God
knows the number of His elect, the number that is symbolically given to
us as 144,000.
THE SEVEN TRUMPETS:
When the seventh seal is opened, we are told that there was silence
in heaven about the space of half an hour. (Rev 8:1) I could not find
any satisfactory explanation for this. Perhaps what it means is that the
plagues already mentioned, wars, famine, pestilence and persecutions,
will be separated from the coming plagues by a time interval
(symbolized by half an hour.) This really makes sense, for the Lord
tells us that “all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
(Matt 24:6) The plagues announced by the seven trumpets being closer
to the end, may be better indications that the end is near.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Before the first trumpet sounds, St. John sees an angel offering incense,
together with the prayers of the saints. Here is a reminder that the
prayers of the Church on earth are not forgotten before God.
“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled
with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of
trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” (Rev 8:7)
Many are of the view that this represents an environmental plague.
God is using man’s failure to protect the earth as a warning sign that the
end is near. We are all aware of the menace of acid rain and its
devastating effects on the trees and vegetation.
The problem of acid rain originated with the Industrial Revolution,
and it has been growing ever since. The severity of its effects has
long been recognized in local settings, as exemplified by the spells of
acid smog in heavily industrialized areas. The widespread
destructiveness of acid rain, however, has become evident only in
recent decades. One large area that has been studied extensively is
northern Europe, where acid rain has eroded structures, injured
crops and forests, and threatened or depleted life in freshwater
lakes. In 1984, for example, environmental reports showed that
almost half of the trees in Germany's Black Forest had been
damaged by acid rain. The northeastern United States and eastern
Canada have also been particularly affected by this form of
pollution; damage has also been detected in other areas of these
countries and other regions of the world.1
The latest report on the condition of the European forests, published
in 1996, shows that one quarter of Europe’s trees is either sick or dying,
and that acid rain is among the chief causes of the death of Europe’s
forests.2 A recent radio newscast tells us that the planet has already lost
one third of its trees because of environmental mismanagement.
THE SECOND TRUMPET:
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain
burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea
1Encarta Encyclopedia.
2Time Magazine: Special Report, November 1997.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the
sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
(Rev 8:8-9)
I was watching the news one day in March 1989, the tanker
EXXON VALDEZ was shown spilling oil in the Gulf of Alaska. The
whole sea was covered with the red crude and thousands of dead fish
were floating on the surface. The moment I saw this, Revelation 8
immediately came into my mind! Here is what TIME magazine reports
about pollution of our seas:
The life-support functions of earth’s oceans are burdened with oil
ballast and other wastes dumped overboard from millions of
motorized vessels and pollution flowing from the land and air into
the sea, along with millions of tons of hard trash. Oil spills are
among the most obvious forms of pollution.1
No one can deny that oil spills and other forms of pollution are
depleting the seas from fish. Cod is disappearing from Canada’s east
coast and salmon from the west coast. The recent closures of the
fisheries in Atlantic Canada, and the ongoing quarrel with the U.S.A.
about salmon fishing are indications that the second trumpet may have
sounded already!
THE THIRD TRUMPET:
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from
heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is
called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood;
and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Rev
8:10) Again, here we can make a case for pollution of rivers and springs.
According to the United Nations, in 1995, 20% of the world population
had no access to clean drinking water.
Rivers and streams that run through human settlements are
increasingly contaminated with pesticides from agriculture,
industrial waste from manufacturing plants and, of course, untreated
1Time Magazine: Special Report, November 1997
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
sewage. That makes water both the giver of life and the bearer of
disease and death. The report declared that at any given time, half
the people in the developing world are suffering from a water
related sickness. Another recent U.N. report noted that every day
25,000 of the afflicted die.1
Poor countries are not the only ones concerned about the safety of
drinking water. In the U.S.A., no less than 25% of all underground
water sources are polluted, the ratio is 75% in Latin American
countries.2
A 1996 report by China’s National Environmental Protection
Agency concluded that 78% of the water in rivers flowing through
Chinese cities is no longer drinkable. The Yangtze river, for
example, is being polluted with 40 million tons of industrial and
sewage waste a day. A report by the U.N. Development Program
estimates that 79% of the planet’s most populous country (China)
are drinking contaminated water.3
THE FOURTH TRUMPET:
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was
smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars;
so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a
third part of it, and the night likewise.” (Rev 8:12)
Two recent events may help us understand the meaning of this plague,
the volcano eruption on the island of Montserrat, and the smog that
blanketed South East Asia. Anyone who had watched these two events
on T.V. will not fail to see how in both cases the amount of sunshine
reaching the earth was significantly reduced.
“The sky in Southeast Asia has turned yellow, and people are
dying,” Dr. Claude Martin, director General of the World Wide
1Time Magazine: Special report, November 1997
2Encarta Encyclopedia
3Time Magazine: Special Report, November 1997
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Fund for Nature, said in a statement released from the fund
headquarters in Switzerland. “There is no sunrise or sunset,” said
a resident of Kuala Lumpur. Time Magazine reported that people
in the region drove at noon with lights ablaze because of the haze.
A Jet crash that killed 234 people in Sumatra was also blamed on
the poor visibility.1
Even in industrialized nations in the West, smog created by emissions
from cars and industry often makes the day seem shorter than usual.
And, with governments reluctant to enforce what they agreed upon
concerning emission levels, it is likely that these problems will continue,
and even worsen.
The problem with emission levels is not confined to the smog that
covers many of the major cities of the world, but leads to a more serious
problem; Global Warming. The much talked about “greenhouse
effect” is now recognized as a possible threat to Man’s existence on this
planet.
There is ample evidence that global warming is accelerating:
The sultriest three years in the century have occurred in the last
decade, and the hottest year ever recorded was 1995. The change
is evident not just in thermometer readings. Spring is arriving a
week earlier in the Northern hemisphere than it did a decade ago,
and strange things are happening with wild life. A butterfly in the
American West has moved 200 km north of where it used to live.
Cold water brook trout have disappeared in some areas of North
America as streams warm up. Mountain ice caps in tropical zones
are melting fast, as are glaciers in northern climes. Then there are
the unusually frequent bouts of nasty weather: flooding in central
Europe, vicious cyclones in South Asia, freak spring snowstorms in
the American plains. Scientists have found that the amount of
moisture in the air has gone up 10% in the last 20 years. The extra
moisture could disrupt weather patterns, producing stronger, more
frequent storms in some areas and drought in other places.2
1Time Magazine, October 6, 1997
2Time Magazine: Special Report, November 1997
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
The disastrous results of unchecked global warming are probably
alluded to in the plague of the fourth vial (Rev 16:8-9), but even the
changes that are already happening have been predicted by an early
Church writer in the second century:
There will be earthquakes in every city, and plagues in every
country; and monstrous thunderings and frightful lightnings will
burn up both houses and fields. Storms of winds will disturb both sea
and land excessively; and there will be unfruitfulness on the earth,
and a roaring in the sea, and an intolerable agitation on account of
souls and the destruction of men. There will be signs in the sun, and
signs in the moon, deflections in the stars, distresses of nations,
intemperateness in the atmosphere, discharges of hail upon the face
of the earth, winters of excessive severity, different frosts, inexorable
scorching winds, unexpected thunderings, unlooked-for
conflagrations.1
THE FIFTH TRUMPET:
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto
the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And
he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the
pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of
the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power,
as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded
them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the
seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they
should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months:
and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh
a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find
it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the
shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and
on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were
as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and
their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as
it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the
sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had
1Hippolytus: Discourse on the end of the world
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and
their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over
them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name
Apollyon. (Rev 9:1-11)
The star that fell from heaven is probably a fallen angel who was given
permission to open the bottomless pit. In apocalyptic literature, the
bottomless pit is a place where evil spirits are temporarily detained and
punished. When Christ exorcized the man that had a legion of demons,
the evil spirits besought the Lord not to send them to the bottomless
pit, but rather give them permission to enter into the swine. (Luke 8:31)
Most commentators are agreed that the locusts symbolize demons
that are unleashed to torture the people who do not have the seal of
God (the elect).
Most likely, those locusts are demons; evil spirits ruled by Satan.
They are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion. God limits
what they can do; they can do nothing without His permission.
Their main purpose on earth is to destroy, prevent or distort
people’s relationship with God. Because they are in a corrupt and
degenerate state, their appearance reflects the distortion of their
spirits. In the Old Testament, locusts were symbols of destruction
because they destroyed vegetation, here, however, they symbolize an
invasion of demons, called to torture people who do not believe in
God.1
The context shows that the plague is an eschatological calamity that
transcends the familiar plagues of locusts. John lists eight
characteristics that show that these locusts are fantastic diabolical
creatures; demons that will torture people that do not have the seal
of God.2
The locusts symbolize spiritual torments inflicted by demons.3
1Life Application Bible: Footnotes on Revelation
2The Jerome Biblical Commentary
3Jerusalem Study Bible: Footnotes on Revelation
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
A foretaste of hell is given to mankind before the great day of reckoning.1
Having spent 19 years as a physician before being ordained, I cannot get
rid of the part in my gray matter that still thinks like a physician! So,
when I meditate on the phrases, “spiritual torment,” “foretaste of hell,”
and “men shall seek death and shall not find it,” one word keeps
flashing in my mind, DEPRESSION!
Depression is the closest thing to being in hell. It is a state of utter
hopelessness, where the present is worse than the past, and the future
is even worse than the present. The torment and mental agony are so
overpowering that the only deliverance often seems to be death. And,
indeed, in spite of the major advances in medical treatment, some
depressed people commit suicide to escape the torment.
A patient once told me, “I know that if I kill myself I’ll go to hell,
but, I am already in hell!” It is for this that I personally believe that the
fifth trumpet will usher an epidemic of depression, the like of which the
world has not seen.
But, can this really happen? Some people think it is already
happening. A recent article in Air Canada’s in-flight magazine “En
Route” tells us that we live in a period in which depression seems
rampant. One in five Canadians experiences some form of mental
illness. Last year, pharmacists filled more than five million
prescriptions in Canada for Prozac or other antidepressants. This
represents a fivefold increase in the prescriptions written in 1996 over
those written in 1991, according to IMS Canada, a supplier of
information and analysis to the health care sector, and, there is nothing
to suggest a slowdown. Four percent of those prescriptions are
dispensed to those between the ages of 10 and 19. Prozac now even
comes in a liquid form, and between 10 and 15 percent attending a
children’s clinic at the Clarke Institute of Toronto receive it, including
one patient who is six. We are also told in the same article that even
veterinarians dish them out to snarling dogs!
About a year ago, Time Magazine reported that in one small town
in NY, the whole population is on Prozac. They claim it increases their
productivity and competitiveness!
1Culleton R. : The Reign of Antichrist
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 24 million people swallow
Prozac daily. The article asks, “What accounts for this apparent
depression epidemic as we enter the 21st century?” Some believe that
the explanation is in modern life itself; the fraying of the social fabric.
Respondents to a Daniel Yankelovitch poll conducted in the U.S. at
the end of 1996 isolated five factors accounting for our general
malaise: weakened family values, the erosion of respect, the
impersonality of day to day life, individualism at the expense of
personal responsibility, and a lack of community.1
“Society has a psyche and ours is unhappy at the moment,” says
Margaret Sommerville, of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics
and Law in Montreal. “I think depression is an infectious disease.
There is truth to the old saying ‘misery loves company’ and there’s
a huge sense of sadness out there now.2
The main reason, however for this epidemic is that people are
increasingly estranged from the Grace of God. “Medicine has become
our substitute religion,” says McGill’s Sommerville and then she adds,
“If you’re treating your spiritual yearnings with Prozac, you have a
problem, haven’t you?”
A recent CBC radio news item tells us the results of a survey done
by some researchers in Georgia. People who go to church are healthier
than those who do not, especially when it comes to mental health. This
is especially true in the case of depression. Depression is a state of
utter hopelessness, and hope is one of the three major Christian virtues:
Faith, Hope and Love.
There is no doubt that there are cases of genuine depression that
need drug treatment even among church goers, but depression we are
speaking about is a demonic manifestation permitted by God. We are
told that those demons that sting like scorpions, only sting those who
have not the seal of God, because to those who have accepted the seal
of God and have become His own, He has said, “Behold I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
1En Route, Air Canada’s in flight magazine: October 1997
2En Route, Air Canada’s in flight magazine: October 1997
THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING II1
THE APOSTASY:
Saint Paul tells us in his second letter to the Thessalonians, that
Christ cannot come “... except there come a falling away first, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” (II Thes 2:3) That man of
sin is none other than the Abomination of Desolation, also known as
Antichrist. The Lord Jesus confirms this when He tells us, “When the
Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 15:8)
Although the apostasy or falling away will be completed only after
the Abomination of Desolation sits in the temple of God (the Church),
showing himself to be God, (II Thes 2:4) and when “All that dwell on
the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book
of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev 13:8),
yet the seeds of that apostasy have been sown everywhere. Beginning
with the last half of the last century, the seeds of disbelief have been
growing into pernicious weeds and thistles that are choking “the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
The roots of apostasy have even been firmly planted among people
who claim to be Christian. The recent declarations of the Rev. Bill
Phipps, moderator of the United Church of Canada, the largest
Protestant denomination in the country, are proof of this. Mr. Phipps,
who was elected as moderator in August of this year, wasted no time.
He called a press conference in which he delineated his “Creed”:
!
I don’t believe Jesus is God.
!
I don’t believe in heaven or hell.
!
I don’t accept the Bible as a valid historical record.
!
I don’t accept the traditional Christian concept of Jesus as the Son
of God.
!
I don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to God.
!
I don’t believe that He rose from the dead.
In the beginning, there were some faint voices of protest, but every
thing is quiet now in Canada’s largest Protestant church.
1Published: December, 1998
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
Some people may be surprised at this, but I am not! To me, Mr. Phipps
is not a “fluke,” he is the product of the “system,” that system of
Theology that, for the last 30 years, had been taught in seminaries all
over the world.
Here are some quotations from the world’s leading “Theologians”
who teach in world-class seminaries, whose purpose is to graduate
“ministers” of the word of God:
As modern people, we have to abandon Theological realism ..., the idea
that God actually exists as the Creator of the Universe, and that Christ
was actually raised from the dead.1
Belief in God is ... fiction, a myth!2
We must now learn to view Christianity, like Buddhism or any other
religion, as a historical human construction. All of our beliefs originate
in the human imagination.3
A serious mistake was made when the Church began to fix its dogma in
creeds. The Protestant Reformation was a help, but fell far short of its
proper goal, when it failed to liberate the Church completely from
inherited dogma.4
The subject that has received the most attacks by these “Theologians”
is the Divinity of Christ, His virginal birth and His Resurrection. The
current opinion on all three aspects is in the negative. John Hicks of
Birmingham U.K. writes:
Theology must learn to center itself around God, rather than on Christ,
and learn to regard the other faiths as honest responses to the One God
of us all. Traditional Christianity tends to divide Christians from
1Don Cuppit, Dean, Emmanuel College, Cambridge U.K.
2Lonnie Kliever, professor, Southern Methodist University, Texas
3Gordon Kaufman, Professor of Theology, Harvard School of
Divinity
4Edward Farley, Vanderbilt Divinity School
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sincere believers of other religions by reason of the absolute claims it
makes for Jesus. Christian Theology must not continue to maintain that
Christ is the only Saviour of sinners, but recognize that He is one
saviour among many.
S. M. Ogden further tells us:
Christian Theology will need re-thinking so that Jesus will be perceived
as the challenge of God’s love for people. There will be no need of a
unique incarnation or bodily Resurrection.
A recent series of books about the “real Jesus” are now filling the
shelves of bookstores everywhere. Here are some quotations:
He was a good Jewish lad with a brilliant flair for shrewd moral
teaching, and he would have been horrified to think of a ‘church,’ let
alone people worshiping him as if he were ‘divine.’ He certainly did not
rise from the dead; that was all a mistake.1
He was part of the sect living at Qumran in Palestine; he was married
an had three children; then he divorced and remarried. He did not die
on the cross, but lived on and went with Paul on his missionary travels.
It was in Philippi that he met his second wife.2
The madness goes on, with John Shelby Spong, bishop of the Episcopal
diocese of Newark, New Jersey, who appeared on a CBC talk show with
Ann Petrie, in which he attacked the divinity of Christ, denied the
virginal birth, and the bodily Resurrection.
What do these Theologians, pastors, bishops and the like advocate
then? The new gospel that is being preached now is summarized in the
following points:
!
This world and not another is the only legitimate concern of
Christians. Peace marches and not prayer are the preferred way of
expressing faith.
!
Our knowledge and judgment should be based on our experience in
1A. N. Wilson: Jesus (Best seller)
2Barbara Thiering: Jesus and the riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls
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this world and not on Divine revelation or Church authority.
!
Jesus can be held up as the paradigm of the liberated individual, but
not the incarnate Son of God.
!
Belief in God is not essential.1
This is the gospel that Mr. Phipps preaches! In an interview with the
“Ottawa Citizen,” he had this to say:
The divinity of Jesus and the reality of heaven are irrelevant, what really
matters is mending a broken world. Jesus was more interested in life on
earth than the afterlife, and had more to say about poverty than any
other subject.
The same newspaper tells us that he developed his views as a student
in the mid 1960s, who observed civil-right marches in New York and
Chicago, and that later on as a minister, he has been quick to
demonstrate against everything from nuclear arms to Canada’s
treatment of its aboriginals. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, writing 16
centuries ago, describes what is happening now in the Church:
Formerly the heretics were manifest; but now the Church is filled with
heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and have
itching ears. Is it a plausible discourse? all listen to it gladly. Is it a word
of correction? all turn away from it. Most have departed from right
words, and rather choose the evil, than desire the good. This therefore
is the falling away, and the enemy is soon to be looked for: and
meanwhile he has in part begun to send forth his own forerunners, that
he may then come prepared upon the prey. Look therefore to thyself,
O man, and make safe thy soul. The Church now charges thee before
the Living God; she declares to thee the things concerning Antichrist
before they arrive. Whether they will happen in thy time we know not,
or whether they will happen after thee we know not; but it is well that,
knowing these things, thou shouldest make thyself secure beforehand.2
The effect of this on the ordinary man, the average member of the
1The Gospel of Humanism (page 128)
2Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XV
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congregation, became apparent to me two months after Mr. Phipps
made his “Declaration of lack of faith!” During a visit to Eastern
Canada, I had a most sobering discussion with a bright young man from
Nova Scotia. He was a brilliant university student, studying to become
a professional. He told me that he was a member of the United church,
and, sooner or later, I brought up the subject of Mr. Phipps. He calmly
told me that he totally agreed with Rev. Phipps. “As a matter of fact,
the majority of our congregation supports him.” I asked him, where
does his minister stand on this, and he told me, “He leaves it up to
every individual to make up his/her mind on these matters. He tactfully
avoids discussing these controversial issues on the pulpit!” When I
asked him, “Do you believe in God?” He said “No!” I asked him again,
“What do you believe in?” His answer was, “I believe in helping others,
and hurting no one.” He thought that the Bible was a forgery, that it
was written at least half a century after the fact, and that no one with
brains should take it seriously.
Isn’t this what St. Paul wrote about to his disciple Timothy? “ For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned unto fables.” (II Tim 4:3-4)
Allow me now to add some anecdotes to elaborate on this point,
mainly that the apostasy is indeed in the world in a way that most
Christians are not aware of. One of our youths came to ask my advice
about taking a course in “Theology.” He had two spare courses and he
thought that it was a good idea to take Theology. The first shock came
when he did not find the word “Theology” in the calendar. When he
inquired, he was told, “We now call it ‘Religious Studies.’” So, he
looked under “Religious studies 101." The second shock came when
he read under course description, “The way we create and name gods.”
It was most appropriate that they changed the name from “Theology,”
which means the study of God, to religious studies, because today’s
religion can be practiced without the need for God.
I asked the same young man to give me a guesstimate of how many
persons in his class believed in God. After a short pause, he told me,
“About 15% believe that there is ‘someone up there,’ but those who
believe in Christ, the virginal birth, the Resurrection, the after-life and
so, are no more than 2%!”
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I thought that this is peculiar to the province where we live, so,
during a visit to Newfoundland, I posed the same question to one of the
youth in our Church there, who attends the University of Saint John’s.
I was shocked to find that he gave me exactly the same figures I have
received in Waterloo, Ontario. The Apostasy is not completely here,
but its roots are firmly grounded everywhere.
WHEN TRANSGRESSORS ARE COME TO THE FULL:
The prophet Daniel was told by the angel Gabriel many things
concerning the end of the world and the Abomination of Desolation.
The angel told him that the vision he saw was for the “Time of the end.”
(Dan 8:17) The angel then told him, “When the transgressors are come
to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences shall stand up.” (Dan 8:23) That the “king” referred to here
is the Abomination of Desolation, there is no dispute among the
ancient writers. The same writers tell us that what Daniel has been told
means that before Antichrist comes, there shall be an abundance of sin
and sinners. The fullness of sin will have been accomplished!
The same is foretold by the Lord, “Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matt 24:12) St. Paul gives us an idea
about the kind of sins that will prevail in the world at the last times:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without
natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (II Tim 3:1-5)
Saint John Chrysostom echoes the words of Saint Paul, in his “Homily
on Matthew 24,”:
When Antichrist is come, the pursuit of unlawful pleasures shall be
more eager among the transgressors, and those that have learnt to
despair of their own salvation. Then shall be gluttony, then revellings,
and drunkenness. For like as when the ark was amaking, they believed
not, saith He; but while it was set in the midst of them, proclaiming
beforehand the evils that are to come, they, when they saw it, lived in
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pleasure, just as though nothing dreadful were about to take place; so
also now, Antichrist indeed shall appear, after whom is the end, and the
punishments at the end, and vengeance intolerable; but they that are
held by the intoxication of wickedness shall not so much as perceive the
dreadful nature of the things that are on the point of being done.
Anyone who watches the daily news on TV or listens to the Radio, will
surely notice that sin has become the norm today. Sexual immorality
has become tolerated, even encouraged. With the recent revelations
about Mr. Clinton’s affair, we are told that his popularity has never
been higher. We are even told that what he has been doing is actually
good! A recent study by some “Psychologist” concludes that extramarital
relations are actually good for marriage! In another “study,” we
are told that “office sex” is also good! It releases tension and increases
productivity, explains the author. No wonder the sexual behaviour of
children all over the world has been constantly deteriorating.
According to the Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health
(U.S.A.,) more than half of the females and three quarters of the males
aged 15-19 have experienced sexual intercourse. A survey in Florida
found that 75% of the kids had sexual experience by the time they
reached 12th grade, and 20% have had six or more sexual partners.
Sexual harassment has become so common in schools that programs
to deal with it are initiated in many places. Sex has become so
prevalent among school children that some Christian Schools are now
asking students to sign “vows” not to have sex before they marry.
The reasons for this permissiveness are many. TV is probably the
most prominent among these. Sex is glorified by TV. It is portrayed as
a normal requirement of life like food and clothes. According to Time
Magazine, kids today as young as 7 are picking up the first details of
sex even in Saturday morning cartoons! (June 15, 1998) A 14 year old
told the reporter, “If you watch TV, they’ve got everything you want to
know. That’s how I learned how to kiss, when I was eight. And the girl
told me, ‘Oh, you sure know how to do it.’”
TV is now overshadowed by the Net! It is more discrete, and, unlike
TV, where you have to wait for a certain show to be aired, it is readily
available on demand! There are more than one thousand sites that
offer pornography on the Net. Kids receive unsolicited pornographic Emails
according to Time Magazine. (December 15, 1997)
The attitude of parents is also another factor in this sexual revolution
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among children. In a recent survey by the Alan Guttmacher Institute,
only one third of the adults thought adolescent sexual activity is wrong,
while the great majority of adults thought it was O.K. and, under certain
conditions, normal, healthy behaviour.
A few weeks ago, an item on the news disgusted me utterly. A single
mother celebrated her daughter’s 15th birthday by inviting twenty of her
friends (all girls of the same age,) and “treating” them to a male
stripper! The stripper not only exposed himself to the girls, but even
fondled them, to the delight of the mother. Both mother and stripper
were charged when the matter became public.
No wonder that the attitude of children towards sex reflects the
distorted opinions of their parents.
One ugly side effect is a presumption among many adolescents is that
sex is an entitlement, an attitude that fosters a break-down of respect
for self and others. A Rhode Island Rape Centre study of 1700 sixth-
ninth graders found 65% of the boys and 57% of the girls believing it
acceptable for a male to force a female to have sex if they have been
dating for six months.1
An insight into how teens view sex now is given by Time Magazine, in
a conversation with a 13 year old from Denver. She told Time
Magazine, that she is glad that sex isn’t so taboo now! When she tried
discouraging a classmate from having sex for the first time, the friend
turned to her and said, “My God Shana. It’s just sex!”
The attitude of Governments is even more pathetic. The emphasis
is on “safe sex” rather than on abstinence. In the U.K., it was proposed
that the age of consent for sex should be reduced to 13, in order to
reduce the number of teen pregnancies. It was reasoned that if this was
done, 13 years old children could legally obtain birth control pills, and
the pregnancies among 13-15 years would be drastically reduced!
Homosexuality has now become accepted as a “life style.” Gay pride
parades are all over the place, and Mayors and other officials are
clamoring to attend them. A public TV station in the Kitchener-
Waterloo area broadcast a two hour program featuring a Lutheran
minister, who teaches in a seminary, proclaims that homosexuality is a
1Time Magazine, June 15, 1998
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gift from God that should be cherished! He claims that he got this view
after watching a video showing homosexual sex! According to him, the
video has become essential viewing for 4th year seminarians, so that they
graduate with a healthy attitude towards gays.
Same sex “marriages” are now performed in many “churches.” And
legislation to recognize these “marriages” as legal and binding are
gaining acceptance almost everywhere. The most mystifying
phenomenon, however, is the militancy and zeal with which “ministers”
of the “church” are defending these “marriages,”
In Nashville, Tenn., some local churches decided that until the United
Methodist Church allows gay marriages, no marriage ceremonies of any
kind will be allowed! Similar acts of protest are reported elsewhere.
The Rev. Jan Nunly, rector of St. Peter and St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church in Providence, R.I., will preside over church weddings for
straight couples. But she won’t sign marriage licenses for them. She
complies with her bishop’s wishes by conducting gay weddings off
church property. The Rev. Robert Warren of Trinity Episcopal Church
in San Francisco performs gay weddings, though his bishop opposes
them. “I don’t obey a bad law,” he says.1
Gay rights have become the topic of the hour, and under the pretext of
protecting the rights of gays, the rights of everyone else is trampled
upon. A case in point is the Church in Vancouver, that published an ad
in their Newsletter offering counseling to Gays who want to amend
their ways. The Church was taken to the Human Rights Commission,
on the grounds that the ad constituted “Hate Literature!”
In the province of Newfoundland, in a Catholic School, 9th Grade
children are taught by a nun-turned-lesbian. She told the girls in her
class that she had found out that her calling from God was not actually
to virginity but to lesbianism.
In another Catholic School in Ontario, where a member of my
congregation used to teach, an in-class discussion about homosexuality
took place. The teacher simply told the children that according to the
Bible, homosexuality is a sin. The whole class went up in arms, and one
of the children screamed at her saying, “How dare you call yourself a
1The Houston Chronicle, November 22, 1997
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Christian and say this!”
No wonder that the view of the younger generation towards sexuality
has become very skewed. According to Time Magazine, in certain parts
of suburbia, gay is becoming more than O.K., it’s cool! (Dec 8, 1997)
A recent study shows that 18% of the teens in the San Francisco Bay
area are gay. In the same area, gay kids have two Webzines, dozens of
on-line chat rooms and some 500 community support groups, usually
run by social workers not affiliated with local schools.
The myth that sexual orientation is something one is born with has
now become “scientific fact!” In September 1997, the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops (U.S.A.) urged parents of gay children
to recognize that, “generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as
a given, not as something freely chosen.”
Acts of violence are shown every day on TV, and yet no one cares.
People have become de-sensitized towards the daily news. As a matter
of fact, people’s appetite towards watching violence has become
insatiable. As if movies that depict gore and blood are not enough, the
trend now is towards real-life shots that show real people drowning or
being burnt to death. A currently advertized video called “Revenge of
the Bulls,” shows actual footage of bull fights, where the bulls win!
The most disgusting piece of news I recently read, was what the
Globe and Mail reported about a Catholic church in the USA. The
church celebrated “Halloween” by exhibiting in one of its halls a horror
chamber, complete with scenes of real people being tortured! In an
adjacent room, a husband-wife team (members of the congregation)
were simulating “date-rape,” while in a third room, a teenager was
enacting a scene of teen suicide!
Satanism and human sacrifice are commonly reported, and yet they
fail to produce any outrage in the viewers or readers. A friend of mine,
a psychiatrist, is treating a woman who used to be a surrogate mother,
getting pregnant through prostitution, delivering her babies, only to be
sacrificed to the Devil. She lost 3 babies this way. Now she has
nightmares for which she seeks treatment. This happened recently in
a small Ontario town. It is probably happening now in your own town.
Satanic sex abuse of children was the theme of a conference held in
the Durham region, and reported on in the Toronto Star. “If you think
that this is something that happens in the medieval era, think again. It
exists very much today,” said Robert Tucker, an expert on cults. “The
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phenomenon right now is exploding. It’s not just a bunch of malarkey,”
he added. Detective James Bradley, a consultant on satanic cults for
U.S. police forces told the same conference, “You’re hearing it from
hundreds of hundreds of kids, you’re hearing it from juvenile workers’
social workers, teachers and psychiatrists.” Bradley said that sexual
abuse of children is one of the “purest forms” of satanic sacrifices.
Unfortunately society is reluctant to deal with many of these
allegations.
Today, ordinary people are afraid that others may think that they
are “religious!” In a completely secularized society, everyone’s rights
are protected except the right of the religious. Yale University professor
Stephen Carter calls this “the culture of disbelief, the oppressive
assumption that no one of any learning or sophistication could possibly
be a religious believer.” Carter notes, for example, that one is allowed
to have any view on abortion so long as it derives from ethical or
practical or sociological or medical considerations. But should
someone stand up and oppose abortion for reasons of faith, he is
accused of trying to impose his religious beliefs on others!
Churches today are more like entertainment outlets than houses of
prayer. I am sure that you heard about drive-in communion and
confession on the Net. But this next piece of information is the
ultimate! In an article in the New York Time Magazine dated June 22,
1997 and titled, “Raving My Religion,” we are given a picture of the
latest trend in church services.
The article describes the “Techno Cosmic Mass,” created by
Matthew Fox, a former Dominican Priest from California. Fox started
holding his own rave-inspired masses, drawing young and old alike. In
a mass called “Gaia Our Mother,” this is what happened. The crowd
enters, ethereal music is playing as slides of mountains, clouds and
women flash on the four walls above makeshift altars to fire, water,
earth and air. While worshipers sit in concentric circles around a
central altar, a young rapper leaps on stage to sing about the “Big
Bang!” Then Fox exhorts the group to “cry out to the mother with real
feeling and grief.” As voices rise in a collective wail of “Ma!” the walls
flash with graphics of screaming women.
Pressing palm to palm, the audience sways as Fox administers the
Eucharist: chunks of whole wheat bread, served with wine or grape
juice. Finally, the speakers blast house music and worshipers dance
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together. Fox explains his method by saying, “the old forms of worship
are boring,” arguing that his mass can help prevent social ills like
teenage pregnancy! On the way out, one middle aged woman turns to
her friend. “I haven’t been to church in years. That was such a moving
experience.”
Writing in the second century, Hippolytus wrote the following about
evil that will abound before the coming of Antichrist:
The temples of God will be like houses, and there will be overturnings
of the churches everywhere. The Scriptures will be despised, and
everywhere they will sing the songs of the adversary. Fornications, and
adulteries, and perjuries will fill the land; sorceries, and incantations,
and divinations will follow after these with all force and zeal. And, on
the whole, from among those who profess to be Christians will rise up
then false prophets, false apostles, impostors, mischief-makers,
evil-doers, liars against each other, adulterers, fornicators, robbers,
grasping, perjured, mendacious, hating each other. The shepherds will
be like wolves; the priests will embrace falsehood; the monks will lust
after the things of the world; the rich will assume hardness of heart; the
rulers will not help the poor; the powerful will cast off all pity; the
judges will remove justice from the just, and, blinded with bribes, they
will call in unrighteousness.1
DISTRESS OF NATIONS WITH PERPLEXITY:
Luke 21 is the equivalent of Matthew 24. It speaks about signs of
the end. One of these signs is the “distress of nations with perplexity.”
(Luke 21:25) Never did I understand the meaning of these words until
recently! Watching the daily news over the last several months, I
became acquainted with these newly coined phrases, “Asian contagion,”
“Russian melt-down,” “South American collapse,” “financial market
roller coaster,” and “World-wide recession.” I watched in amazement
as the world’s greatest brains tried to make sense of what was
happening in the global financial circles. The word most often used by
the “experts” was: confusion. The markets are confused! the investors
are confused, even the experts became confused. Governments tried
to intervene, only to find that the results are opposite to what the
interventions were designed to achieve. Conflicting advice came from
1Treatise on the end of the world and on Antichrist
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different self proclaimed “gurus.” Rumors turned into major losses. If
Alan Greenspan sneezed or Yeltsin had a hiccup, the financial markets
reacted hysterically. We became familiar with newspaper captions
reading like this:
Unhappy investors bail out
Miffed by Greenspan’s comments
global markets sell off dramatically
loonie gets caught in the crossfire1
Even though now, the situation has stabilized, many believe that this is
the calm before the tempest, and that a global recession is unavoidable.
A recent article in the Globe and Mail titled, “Fear and loathing of a
global recession,” had the following to say:
A deadly financial virus continues to wreak havoc in markets around the
world, fears are growing that the global economy will soon be plunged
into a devastating worldwide recession. Billionaire speculator George
Soros, who has made and lost billions betting on stock, currency and
commodities, likened the financial markets to a wrecking ball ‘knocking
over one economy after another.’ The global capitalist system, he
warned, ‘is coming apart at the seams, and the United States, at the
centre of the system, cannot remain unscathed.’ The United Nations
issued a stark warning of global recession if the three main economic
engines; the United States, Europe and Japan don’t take quick action
to drag Asia out of its deflationary funnel.
Could this state of affairs be the one predicted in Luke 21: 26, where we
are told, “Men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth?”
One may wonder, what could this financial crisis have to do with the
coming of the Abomination of Desolation? In a well-researched
article we published in “Parousia” Vol III, No 8 (December, 1992),
entitled, “The Reign of Antichrist,” we wrote the following:
THE SECOND PERIOD of the life of Antichrist will be opened with
1The Toronto Star, September 18, 1998
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his conspicuous entry into the role of universal teacher or "prophet". It
is very possible that he will begin his activity under the conditions of a
world war, or a great international financial crisis, when man will not
see any way out of his calamitous blind alley, because all the means for
the resolution of it will be in the hands of Antichrist. He will offer a
plan for the successful resolution of the world crisis, based on social and
political wisdom - the establishing of a uniform political and social
structure over the whole world. Mankind, being spiritually blind, will
not recognize this project as a cunning snare luring it into the most
merciless, continual slavery. To the contrary, man will hail Antichrist's
manifestations of great erudition, wisdom and genius.
What we are witnessing now is such a situation where a “Universal
teacher” would be welcomed by everyone. Actually influential
newspapers are advocating this “new leader” with a new plan for
rescuing the world through a new, unified global financial order!
Under the heading, “A global central bank could help,” the Globe and
Mail of September 28, 1998, wrote:
Even as emerging markets sink into depression and stocks plunge from
Montreal to Melbourne, a global economy is slowly emerging. But
governments seem paralyzed, unable to deal with both the crisis and the
opportunity. The world needs an institution that has a hand on the
economic rudder when the seas become stormy. It needs a global
central bank. The sad fact is that we cannot rely on existing institutions
or on national leaders for global economic stability. An independent
central bank with responsibility for maintaining global financial stability
is the only way out. No one else can do what is needed.
The paper ended its article by quoting what the eminent economic
historian Charles Kindleberger said in examining the causes of the
Depression: “For the world economy to be stabilized, there has to be
a stabilizer, one stabilizer.” Will the Abomination of Desolation turn
out to be that one stabilizer?
In the article “The Reign of Antichrist” referred to above and which
was published in Parousia six years ago, it was mentioned that
Antichrist will be introduced as a “universal teacher.” A few days ago,
while on the plane back from St. John’s, NF, I read this ad in the Globe
and Mail (December 12, 1998):
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AS THE BUDDHA of Compassion, Messiah,
Imam Mahdi and Christ, Maitreya the World
Teacher is now here. All humanity will see
him soon. How will we recognize him? What
is he saying? Free info: 1-888-278-TARA.
THE SEA AND THE WAVES ROARING:
The same verse in Luke 21:25, which tells us about the “distress of
nations with perplexity,” gives us another important sign, the sea and
the waves roaring. I have to admit that I read this part of the verse
many a time without understanding its meaning. I came to realize what
it means only in the last six month or so. During these months, it
seemed that the one thing that competed with the financial market
crisis on the daily news were the floods! Floods were everywhere, in
Asia, in Europe, in Australia, in America. The floods we have been
witnessing lately are such that the like of them was not seen since
Noah’s time. Ten meter waves were reported in some of the storms
that caused these floods. The recent tropical storm Mitch caused
destruction that defies the imagination. As I sat watching these storms
I kept wondering, could this be what the Gospel meant by “the sea and
the waves roaring?”
THE FLIGHT OF THE CHURCH: (Revelation 12)
Revelation 12 is a very intriguing chapter in a very intriguing book!
It speaks about a “woman clothed by the Sun” (the Church) and a “red
dragon.” (Satan) That the woman is the Church is evident from the
sayings of Victorinus in his “Commentary on the Apocalypse”:
The woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet,
and wearing a crown of twelve stars upon her head, and travailing in her
pains, is the ancient Church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and
apostles.
Hippolytus of Rome is also of the same opinion:
By “the woman then clothed with the sun,” he meant most manifestly
the Church, endued with the Father's Word, whose brightness is above
the sun. And by the “moon under her feet” he referred to her being
adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, “upon her
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head a crown of twelve stars,” refer to the twelve apostles by whom the
Church was founded. And those, “she, being with child, cries, travailing
in birth, and pained to be delivered,” mean that the Church will not
cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the
unbelieving in the world. “And she brought forth,” he says, “a
man-child, who is to rule all the nations;” by which is meant that the
Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who
is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the
nations. And the words, “her child was caught up unto God and to His
throne,” signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and
not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, “The
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine
enemies Thy footstool.”1
The “red dragon” is defined for us in verse 9 as “that old serpent, called
the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” In verse 4, we
are told that the dragon’s tail “drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth.” This is understood as referring
to the fact that, “of the angels that were subject to him, since he was
still a prince when he descended from his estate, he seduced the third
part.”2
In verse 7, we are told about a battle that takes place in heaven,
where Michael and his angels fight against Satan (the dragon) and his
angels. Michael wins, and as a result, Satan and his angels are driven
out of heaven and into the earth. Satan can no more stand before God
to accuse His children, as he did with Job (Job 1:9-11) and Joshua the
high priest, (Zech 3:1-3) and as he still does to all of us. Satan means
the “accuser.” He is the prosecutor of God’s children. That is why the
inhabitants of heaven rejoice, “for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night.” But, in the
same time, they pity the inhabitants of the earth, “for the devil is come
down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time.”
The coming down of Satan into earth after being banished from
heaven marks the beginning of the reign of Antichrist, which is also
1Discourse on Christ and Antichrist
2Discourse on Christ and Antichrist
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
called the Great Tribulation.
“ There was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed not;
nor was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon
was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast forth into the earth.” This
is the beginning of Antichrist.1
During the Great Tribulation, “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison
and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of
the earth.” (Rev 20:7-8)
Christ will not come to judge quick and dead unless Antichrist, His
adversary, first come to seduce those who are dead in soul; although
their seduction is a result of God's secret judgment already passed. For,
as it is said "his presence shall be after the working of Satan, with all
power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all seduction of
unrighteousness in them that perish." For then shall Satan be loosed,
and by means of that Antichrist shall work with all power in a lying
though a wonderful manner.2
Satan’s power is currently restricted, he cannot hurt people as he
wishes, as is evident from reading chapters 1-2 of the Book of Job.
When Antichrist comes, Satan will have the power to act directly
through Antichrist to inflict on humanity the perils of the Great
Tribulation, the like of which has not been since the creation of the
world. (Matt 24:21) This, however should not disturb us, since the
Church, according to God’s plan, shall be carried away into a place
prepared for her by God, where neither the dragon, nor his agent
Antichrist, can hurt her. Revelation 9:13-19 tells us more about what
will happen when Satan and his angels are unleashed on the inhabitants
of the earth:
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns
of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which
1Victorinus: Commentary on the Apocalypse
2Augustin of Hippo: City of God, chapter 19
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great
river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third
part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two
hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And
thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having
breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the
horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire
and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men
killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued
out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails:
for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them
they do hurt.
The sixth trumpet corresponds to the unleashing of Satan and his four
“Generals,” which command the whole army of the fallen angels, which
Saint John tells us number two hundred million! The description of the
creatures is as grotesque as the other creatures which were unleashed
by the fifth trumpet, because both are demonic creatures. But, as we
were told in Revelation 7: 2-3, those sealed by the seal of the living God
cannot be hurt by the “four angels,” or by any of the plagues that will
come after that.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the
living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom
it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our
God in their foreheads.
The “woman clothed by the sun” is the sum total of those sealed by the
seal of the living God, who will be allowed to escape to a safe haven,
away from harm’s way. For when the dragon tries to persecute the
woman, we are told, “And to the woman were given two wings of a
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of
the serpent.” (Rev 12:14) The time, times and half a time, are the three
and half years, the same as the “thousand two hundred and threescore
days,” the symbolic time of the Great Tribulation.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
“And the dragon,” he says, saw and persecuted the woman which
brought forth the man-child. “And to the woman were given two wings
of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is
nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent.” That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore
days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and
persecute the Church, which flees from city to city.1
This flight of the Church during the reign of Antichrist, is attested to by
many of the Fathers of the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ, instructs us
to do the same, “When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of
Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand:)Then let them which be in Judaea
flee into the mountains.” (Matt 24:15-16) St. Cyril of Jerusalem
comments on this passage by saying:
For this cause the Lord knowing the greatness of the adversary grants
indulgence to the godly, saying, Then let them which be in Judea flee to
the mountains. But if any man is conscious that he is very stout-hearted,
to encounter Satan, let him stand (for I do not despair of the Church's
nerves), and let him say, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ
and the rest? But, let those of us who are fearful provide for our own
safety; and those who are of a good courage, stand fast: for then shall
be Great Tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the
world until now, no, nor ever shall be. But thanks be to God who hath
confined the greatness of that tribulation to a few days; for He says, But
for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened and Antichrist shall
reign for three years and a half only. We speak not from apocryphal
books, but from Daniel; for he says, And they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and half a time. A time is the one year in
which his coming shall for a while have increase; and the times are the
remaining two years of iniquity, making up the sum of the three years;
and the half a time is the six months. And again in another place Daniel
says the same thing, And he swear by Him that liveth for ever that it
shall be for a time, and times, and half a time.2
1Hippolytus: Discourse on Christ and Antichrist
2Cyril Of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
Hippolytus of Rome sees this flight of the elect as foretold in the Old
Testament, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut
thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until
the indignation be overpast.” (Isa 26:20)
The three and half years is, as we said earlier, a symbol and should
not be taken literally. It means a time that shall be shortened,
according to the promise of the Lord, “But for the elect’s sake those
days shall be shortened.” (Matt 24:22)
Revelation 12:14-15, tell us that when Satan saw that the woman
fled, he, “cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth
helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up
the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Water, in the
apocalyptic language refers to people. This means that when Satan
tries to attack the Church, using the multitudes at his command, she
will be miraculously rescued by God. “He signifies by the water which
the serpent cast out of his mouth, the people who at his command
would persecute her.”1
The problem we have with Revelation 12, is that it speaks of two
flights of the Church, the one is mentioned in verse 6, and the other is
mentioned in verse 14. Both flights are to a “place prepared by God,”
and both are of the same duration, three and a half year; the
apocalyptic symbol of the duration of the Great Tribulation. The
difference between the two is that one happens before the battle in
heaven and the casting of Satan and his angels into the earth, and the
other happens after this. That means that the first flight is before the
manifestation of Antichrist, and the other one after it. I could not find
any satisfactory interpretation for this in the writing of the Fathers, but,
allow me to offer my own interpretation.
I think the two incidents described represent two phases of the flight
of the Church. The first one is a leisurely emigration of the Church,
where the Church flees to the “wilderness.” The second, however, is an
urgent flight, where the Church is given the two wings of a great eagle
that she might fly into the wilderness. In the first phase, the Church
flees, while in the second phase she flies. It is this second phase that the
1Victorinus: Commentary on the Apocalypse
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
Lord refers to when he says, “Let him which is on the housetop not
come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is
in the field return back to take his clothes.” (Matt 24:17-18) This will be
the case when the Abomination of Desolation shall be seen in the holy
place, i.e., when Antichrist is worshiped in the Church as god.
A few years ago, the Toronto Star published a news item under the
heading, “Christianity is dying in the land of its birth.” Quoting the
“Economist” magazine, the Star said,
Christians are leaving Palestine and Lebanon in such numbers that local
churches fear for their future. Arab Christians have long suffered an
identity crisis in the strife-torn Middle East and have sought passage to
the West, but those numbers have risen dramatically. In the Israeli-
occupied territories, the 45,000-strong Palestinian Christians are losing
more 2,000 people a year. There were 30,00 Christians in Jerusalem in
1944; today there are 11,000. In Lebanon, it is estimated that 125,000
of the Lebanese Christians have emigrated in the past six month alone.
What the Star did not report is that the Christians of the Sudan have
now joined the trend, so did the Christians of Syria and Iraq. The
11,000 Christians in Jerusalem reported when the article appeared, few
years ago, have now dwindled to less than 3,000. Among the Christians
of Egypt, it is estimated that two million have emigrated, 25-30% of the
total number of Christians in Egypt.
Could this be phase I of the flight of the “woman clothed by the
sun?” The orderly emigration that precedes the appearance of
Antichrist, to prepare the “place in the wilderness” for phase II of the
flight, which will be completed once the Great Tribulation is visited
upon this earth? Have we been sent here to the West in order to be
protected from the tyranny of the one that will come, persecuting the
elect, who will remain faithful to Christ and defy him? Are we going to
be among those who will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony? (Rev 12:11)
The last verses of Revelation 12 tell us that when the dragon saw
that the woman had succeeded in fleeing his tyranny, he became wroth
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is
obvious that not all the Christians will flee from the Abomination of
Desolation. Those who will be called to martyrdom will stay and earn
SIGNS OF HIS COMING II
their crowns. Some will also remain of their own will, having been
seduced by the imposter.
In Revelation 11:1-2, Saint John is given a measuring reed and was
told by an angel “Rise up and measure the temple of God and the altar
and them that worship therein. But the court which is without leave it
out and measure it not.” In the Apocalyptic literature, measuring an
object means assured protection of that object by God.1
The temple is most likely a symbol of the Church (all true believers.)
John measured the temple to show that God is building walls of
protection around His people, to spare them from spiritual harm, and
that there is a place reserved for all believers who remain faithful to
God. Those worshiping inside the temple will be protected but those
outside will face great suffering. This is a way to say that true believers
will be protected through the persecution, but those who refuse to
believe will not.2
1The Jerome Biblical Commentary
2Life Application Bible: Footnotes on Revelation 11
THE UNHOLY TRINITY1
Chapter 12 of the book of Revelation introduces us to the great red
dragon (Rev 12:3). We are later told that the great dragon is none
other than "that old serpent the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the
whole world" (Rev 12:9). We are also told that at the time of the
end the Dragon will be cast out from heaven. That means he will be
no longer allowed to appear before God to accuse God's children.
(Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Rev 12:10, Zech 3:1)
When Satan loses his position as accuser (the word Satan literally
means accuser) having been cast into the earth, he starts the final
phase of his career as persecutor of the children of God. Revelation
12: 13-16 tells us that the children of God will escape this by fleeing
into the wilderness where God will protect and nourish them for the
duration of the Great Tribulation, i.e., the time period that starts
with the casting out of Satan from heaven into earth and ends with
the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus to take His children to
Heaven as He promised.
When Satan is cast into the earth, the Great Tribulation starts
and thus commences the Reign of the Antichrist (also known as the
Abomination of Desolation). The coming of Satan to earth is also
the time when he is “loosed” for a little season (Rev 20:3).
Revelation 13 resumes the story started in Revelation 12. As soon
as Satan was cast into earth, St. John saw a "beast rise out of the
Sea." That beast is none other than the Abomination of Desolation,
also known as Antichrist, the Man of Sin, the little horn ...
The beast comes out of the sea, for the sea in apocalyptic
literature symbolizes sin and chaos. It is for this reason that the new
heaven and the new earth which St. John saw (Rev 21:1) had no sea.
THE SEVEN HEADS:
The beast that St. John saw had seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 17:10 tells us that the seven heads symbolize seven kings;
1Published: December, 1999
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
five are fallen, one is, the other is yet to come. These seven kings
are prototypes of the Abomination of Desolation, little Antichrists
installed by the devil as "rehearsals" for the time of the end when the
real Antichrist will be revealed.
The first head represents Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who persecuted
the Israelites, the children of God at the time of Moses. God saved
His children from the tyranny of Pharaoh by taking them into the
wilderness of Sinai, where God nourished and protected them for
forty years. Many see in this a figure for the end of times, when the
Church, being threatened by Antichrist, will be saved by God when
she will fly into the wilderness, where God will nourish and protect
her for the duration of the reign of Antichrist (the Great
Tribulation). (Rev 12)
When Pharaoh went after the People of Israel, God defended
them by drowning Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea.
Similarly, Revelation 12 tells us that when the Dragon will follow the
Church with all the people that are at his command, God will defend
the Church by making the earth open its mouth to swallow the flood
that the Dragon cast out of his mouth (Rev 12:16)
The second head is the Assyrian, King Sennacherib (Isa 36, II
Chr 32). Sennacherib took on all the strongholds of Judah and set
siege to Jerusalem, vowing to destroy it. Hezekiah, the king of
Judah at that time sent messages to Isaiah the prophet asking him
to intercede on behalf of Jerusalem. The Lord indeed heard the
prayers of Isaiah and all the people and saved Jerusalem by sending
an angel who “went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a
hundred and fourscore and five thousand.” (Isa 37:36)
The parallelism cannot escape anyone, for in the time of the end,
Satan acting through Antichrist will surround the Church trying to
destroy her, using all the people under his command, but God will
miraculously defend His Church (Rev 12:15-16).
The third head is the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (II Chr
36:6-9, Dan 3). Nebuchadnezzar set up an image and ordered the
people to worship it. He decreed that anyone who does not worship
the image, will be thrown into the fiery furnace. When the Three
Children refused to worship the image they were thrown into the
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
fiery furnace, but the Lord sent His angel to save them. In the last
days, an image of Antichrist will be set up and “as many as would
not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Rev 13:15)
Christians who will refuse to follow Antichrist or worship his
image will be thrown into the fiery furnace (the Great Tribulation)
but as in the times of old, they will be saved from the Tribulation by
the Lord even as He saved the Three Children from the fiery
furnace. The size of the image that Nebuchednezzar had set up
bears semblance to the number of the beast (Rev 13:18):
For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a
height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of
which Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when they did not worship it,
were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what
happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise
towards the [time of the] end. For that image, taken as a whole, was
a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should
undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then,
the six hundred years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred
because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image
for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate
the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the
whole apostasy of six thousand years, and unrighteousness, and
wickedness, and false prophecy, and deception; for which things'
sake a cataclysm of fire shall also come [upon the earth].2
Note the symbolism that the destruction of the world in the time of
Noah bears to the destruction of the world under the reign of
Antichrist; only those inside the Ark (the Church) will be saved
from the destruction in the “cataclysm of fire which shall come upon
the earth.” (II Thes 1:7-8, II Pet 3:6-10)
The fourth head represents the Persians which followed the
Babylonians.
The fifth head is the Greek tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes who
destroyed the Temple built by Ezra.
2Irenaeus: Against heresies, book V
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
The book of Maccabees tells us that Antiochus put an "abominable
idol of desolation" upon the altar of God and ordered people to
burn incense and offer sacrifices to it. Antiochus' persecution of the
children of God and his claims to be God make him a very close type
of Antichrist.
These are the five kings that were, that is, those who had already
gone by the time Revelation was written.
The "one that is," or the sixth head represents the Roman Empire
which reigned at the time of Revelation's writing, and which
banished St. John (to the Island of Patmos.) The Emperor Nero had
persecuted God's children and so became another type of Antichrist.
The seventh head, or the one that is to come, represents a future
politico-religious movement that was not yet present at the time St.
John wrote Revelation; but was to come five centuries later.
The beast, coming out of the sea, Antichrist, Abomination of
Desolation, will be a summation of all the characteristics of the
seven heads: a compilation of the tyranny and craftiness of all seven
prototypes, a perfected version after many trials. For with each of
the seven heads Satan gained increasingly more experience that he
will use in equipping the final Antichrist with. In other words, he
will include all the evil traits of the seven little or minor Antichrists
that preceded him.
And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation
made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all
apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent
into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess
the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his own
person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous
to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was six
hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping
away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous
generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also
sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just.1
THE WOUNDED HEAD:
“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.” (Rev 13:3) This head, which we are later told was “wounded
by a sword, and did live.” (Rev 13:14) is thought by some to be the
same politico-religious movement that arose to power five centuries
after Revelations was written. To be wounded by a sword, in
apocalyptic language, signifies a military defeat. Some see this
fulfilled in the lack of military success of nations that follow this
politico-religious system, over the last 50 years. But, in spite of the
mortal wounds these nations experienced, many of these countries
have recovered their military might (the deadly wound is healed.)
At least one of these countries is known to have nuclear capabilities
while three others are suspected of having the same.
THE TEN HORNS OF THE BEAST:
Revelation 17 tells us that the ten horns are “ten kings that will
receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one
mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast and
make war with the Lamb.” These will be ten nations that will enter
into a military alliance with Antichrist. Hippolytus, writing 18
centuries ago, describes these ten nations as ten “Democracies.”2
This is a very intriguing prophecy, since democracies did not exist
at the time of Hippolytus.
The number 10 does not have to be taken literally, but
figuratively, to mean a certain number of nations. The fact that they
are described by the Book of Revelation as “having one mind”
coupled with Hippolytus’ prophetic description of these nations as
“democracies” makes one wonder whether these nations that will be
allied to the future Antichrist are not those nations that form the
1Irenaeus: Against heresies, Book V
2Hippolytus of Rome: Treatise on Christ and Antichrist
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
European Union. It is a fact that these nations have “one mind”
represented by the European Parliament which sets the policies and
speaks for all of these nations. It is also a fact that they are
“democracies.”
RELATION TO THE DRAGON:
Revelation 12:2 tells us that the Dragon (Satan) gave the beast
(Antichrist) his power, his throne, and his great authority. This
means that he will be a man endowed with all the power and
authority of Satan (now that Satan has been loosed for the period of
the Great Tribulation). This agrees with what the Book of Daniel
tells us, “And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.”
(Dan 8:24) What is meant here is that his power is not his own,
because it actually comes from Satan (the Dragon.)
A WONDERFUL BEAST:
“And all the world wondered after the beast.” (Rev 12:3) What
is meant here is that the whole world will admire the beast. He will
be an instant “idol” with the majority of people. The reasons for this
admiration by people of the world has been the subject of much
speculation by the ancients. These reasons can be summarized as
follows:
FALSE PIETY:
Most of the Fathers believe that Antichrist will present to the
world a false facade of piety and righteousness that will make him
look blameless to the eyes of the naive and unspiritual. Faced with
corrupt politicians and money-crazed tele-evangelists, the world will
see in the beast (Antichrist) a fresh leader, whose reputation is so
impeccable, that any one trying to warn people against his deceiving
exterior will be looked upon as a raving fanatic or even a lunatic!
But in his first steps he will be gentle, loveable, quiet, pious, pacific,
hating injustice, detesting gifts, not allowing idolatry; loving, says he,
the Scriptures, reverencing priests, honouring his elders, repudiating
fornication, detesting adultery, giving no heed to slanders, not
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
admitting oaths, kind to strangers, kind to the poor, compassionate...
helping widows, defending orphans, loving all, reconciling in love
men who contend, and saying to such, "Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath;" and he will not acquire gold, nor love silver, nor
seek riches.1
And in the beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the
role of sanctity.2
Evil spirits dispersed over the universe will excite in men a universal,
most exalted opinion of Antichrist; a general rapture and irresistible
attraction to him ... he will come in such a manner as to deceive all.
He will appear humble, meek, a hater (as he will say himself) of
unrighteousness, shunning idols, showing a preference to piety,
good, a lover of the poor, beautiful to the extreme, steadfast, affable
to all ... He will take cunning measures to please everyone in order
that the people will quickly come to love him; he will not accept gifts
nor speak in anger, nor show a gloomy appearance, but with a
decent exterior he will set about deceiving the world, until he is
enthroned.3
ORATORICAL SKILLS:
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things.”
(Rev 13:5) This agrees almost word for word with Daniel’s
description of the “little horn,” “And, behold, in this horn were eyes
like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” (Dan 7:8)
In Daniel 7:11, we also read, “I beheld then because of the voice of
the great words which the horn spake.” Again, in Daniel 7:20 he
refers to the “Horn” as, “the other which came up, and before whom
three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake
very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
1Hippolytus: Discourse on the end of the world and on Antichrist
2John Damascene: Expounding the Orthodox faith
3St. Ephraim the Syrian (Word 16)
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
What this means is that the beast (Antichrist, Abomination of
Desolation, little horn, Man of sin etc ...) will be a great orator, a
charismatic speaker able to move the multitudes with his words, just
as Hitler and Nasser did before him, but only on a grander scale. A
very eloquent rhetorician that will appeal to everyone: young and
old, male, female, Muslim, Christian, Jew, and Hindu alike. He will
be so persuasive that people will believe his claims that he is actually
God!
HIS REIGN:
This false facade of righteousness, together with his “great
words” that is his great ability to dupe people by his speeches, will
lead to the great majority of people demanding that he is to be
proclaimed king or universal ruler.
And all this he will do corruptly and deceitfully, and with the
purpose of deluding all to make him king. For when the
peoples and tribes see so great virtues and so great powers in
him, they will all with one mind meet together to make him
king. And above all others shall the nation of the Hebrews be
dear to the tyrant himself, while they say one to another, Is
there found indeed in our generation such a man, so good
and just? That shall be the way with the race of the Jews
pre-eminently, as I said before, who, thinking, as they do, that
they shall behold the king himself in such power, will
approach him to say, We all confide in thee, and
acknowledge thee to be just upon the whole earth; we all
hope to be saved by thee; and by thy mouth we have received
just and incorruptible judgment. And at first, indeed, that
deceitful and lawless one, with crafty deceitfulness, will refuse
such glory; but the men persisting, and holding by him, will
declare him king.1
Some writers believe that Antichrist will begin his activity under the
conditions of a world war, or a great international financial crisis:
1Hippolytus: Discourse on the end of the world and on Antichrist.
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When man will not see any way out of his calamitous blind alley,
because all the means for the resolution of it will be in the hands of
Antichrist. He will offer a plan for the successful resolution of the
world crisis, based on social and political wisdom - the establishing
of a uniform political and social structure over the whole world.
Mankind, being spiritually blind, will not recognize this project as a
cunning snare luring it into the most merciless, continual slavery. To
the contrary, man will hail Antichrist's manifestations of great
erudition, wisdom and genius. Worldwide publicity of Antichrist as
a genius-thinker, a new leader and a saviour of all peoples will flash
throughout all nations in the shortest period of time.1
The result of this deceit will be that, from mankind, there "will arise
a demand for an invitation to Antichrist. A voice of appeal will issue
forth in human society, expressing the urgent need for a ‘genius of
geniuses', who would elevate material development and progress to
a higher plane and bring about prosperity on earth."1
If indeed, he comes at a time of a world-wide recession, and
miraculously turns things around, filling every pocket with money,
then people will want to make him king. When the Lord Jesus fed
the multitudes with the two loaves and two fishes, the multitudes
wanted to seize Him by force and make Him a king! (John 6:15-16)
The Book of Daniel gives us some insight into other ways this
imposter will use to convince people to make him ruler in a short
time. “And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they
shall not give the honour of the kingdom, but he shall come in
peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.” (Dan 11:21) “And
such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by
flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong,
and do exploits.” (Dan 11:32) “Now when they shall fall, they shall
be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with
flatteries.” (Dan 11:34) The preceding passages from Daniel 11 tell
us that Antichrist will use flatteries to deceive or corrupt people.
Flattery is a very potent weapon, for it plays on people’s desire to be
1The Reign of Antichrist II: in Parousia, December 1992
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praised and “appreciated,” and it seems that Antichrist will perfect
this potent weapon, becoming a master of flatteries in order to
deceive all and “obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”
Another weapon he will use is money and worldly possessions
which he will shower on his followers. “But he shall have power over
the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things
of Egypt.” (Dan 11:43) He will use the vast riches at his disposal to
reward his followers. He will also entice people by giving them gifts
of land and good positions in his government. “And he shall cause
them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.” (Dan
11:39)
He lieth in ambush with the rich" (ver. 8). What rich, but those
whom he will load with this world's gifts? And he is therefore said to
lie in ambush with them, because he will display their false
happiness to deceive men; who, when with a perverted will they
desire to be such as they, and seek not the good things eternal, will
fall into his snares.1
DURATION OF HIS REIGN:
“And power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months.” (Rev 13:5) Forty two months is three and a half years, the
same as “A thousand two hundred and threescore days,” of
Revelation 12:6, and “A time, and times, and half a time,” of
Revelation 12:14.
The Book of Daniel also predicts that the reign of Antichrist will
be for, “A time, times and a half,” (Dan 12:7) the Apocalyptic three
and a half years which is interpreted as a time that will be cut short,
according to the promise of the Lord that, “For the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened.” (Matt 24:22)
HIS WORSHIP:
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
1Augustin of Hippo: Commentary on the Psalms
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foundation of the world.” (Rev 13:8)
That Antichrist will be worshiped as God is most certain from the
scripture as understood by the Fathers of the Church:
But who is he? Is it then Satan? By no means; but some man, that
admits his fully working in him. For he is a man. ‘And exalteth
himself against all that is called God or is worshiped.’ For he will not
introduce idolatry, but will be a kind of opponent to God; he will
abolish all the gods, and will order men to worship him instead of
God, and he will be seated in the temple of God, not that in
Jerusalem only, but also in every Church.1
These things, then, shall be in the future, beloved; and when the
three horns are cut off, he will begin to show himself as God, as
Ezekiel has said aforetime: “Because thy heart has been lifted up,
and thou hast said, I am God.” (Ezek 28:2) And to the like effect
Isaiah says: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven: I will be
like the Most High. Yet now thou shall be brought down to hell, to
the foundations of the earth.” (Isa 14:13) In like manner also
Ezekiel: “Wilt thou yet say to those who slay thee, I am God? But
thou (shall be) a man, and no God.” (Ezek 28:9)2
But, to worship the beast is really worshipping Satan, for this reason
we are told in chapter 12:13, “all the world marvelled after the beast
and they worshipped the dragon that gave power unto the beast.”
This means that people worshipping Antichrist as God will be
worshipping Satan.
For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil,
shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e.,
one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one;
as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating
in himself [all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade
1St. John Chrysostom: Homily on II Thessalonians
2Hippolytus: Treatise on Christ and Antichrist
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[men] that he himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol,
having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols. This he
does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of
many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the
apostle thus speaks in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians:
‘Unless there shall come a failing away first, and the man of sin shall
be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth
in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.’ The
apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted
up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped--that is, above
every idol--for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really]
gods; and that he will endeavour in a tyrannical manner to set
himself forth as God.1
One may wonder, how can he fool almost the whole world into
believing that he is God. There are many reasons for this. Foremost
among those is his deceiving exterior.
Antichrist will seem to man blessed to that degree, that he will even
be thought God.2
HIS MIRACLES:
Another reason for his worship by people of the world is the
many miracles he will make in order to deceive all into believing that
he is God.
Christ will not come to judge quick and dead unless Antichrist, His
adversary, first come to seduce those who are dead in soul; although their
seduction is a result of God's secret judgment already passed. For, as it
is said, ‘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.’ (II Thes 2:9-10) For then shall Satan be loosed,
and by means of that Antichrist shall work with all power in a lying
1Irenaeus: Against heresies, book V
2Augustine of Hippo: Commentary on the Psalms
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
though a wonderful manner. It is commonly questioned whether these
works are called "signs and lying wonders" because he is to deceive men's
senses by false appearances, or because the things he does, though they
be true prodigies, shall be a lie to those who shall believe that such things
could be done only by God, being ignorant of the devil's power, and
especially of such unexampled power as he shall then for the first time
put forth. For when he fell from heaven as fire, and at a stroke swept
away from the holy Job his numerous household and his vast flocks, and
then as a whirlwind rushed upon and smote the house and killed his
children, these were not deceitful appearances, and yet they were the
works of Satan to whom God had given this power.1
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem has another point of view:
And who is this, and from what sort of working? Interpret to us, O Paul.
Whose coming, he says, is after the working of Satan, with all power and
signs and lying wonders; implying, that Satan has used him as an
instrument, working in his own person through him; for knowing that his
judgment shall now no longer have respite, he wages war no more by his
ministers, as is his wont, but henceforth by himself more openly. And
with all signs and lying wonders; for the father of falsehood will make a
show of the works of falsehood, that the multitudes may think that they
see a dead man raised, who is not raised, and lame men walking, and
blind men seeing, when the cure has not been wrought.2
He will work signs and terrible wonders, false wonders and not true, in
order to deceive his impious equals. For if it were possible, he would
seduce even the elect from the love of Christ .... Under the eye of the
spectators he will remove mountains from their places, he will walk on
the sea with dry feet, he will bring down fire from heaven, he will turn the
day into darkness and the night into day, he will turn the sun about
wheresoever he pleases; and, in short, in presence of those who behold
him, he will show all the elements of earth and sea to be subject to him
in the power of his specious manifestation .... what machinations and
deceits and delusions will he not bring into play, with the purpose of
seducing all men, and leading them off from the way of truth, and from
1Augustine of Hippo: City of God
2St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XV
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
the gate of the kingdom? ... Behold the deceit of the enemy, know the
machinations of the beguiler, how he seeks to darken the mind of men
utterly. For he will show forth his demons brilliant like angels, and he will
bring in hosts of the incorporeal without number. And in the presence
of all he exhibits himself as taken up into heaven with trumpets and
sounds, and the mighty shouting of those who hail him with indescribable
hymns; the heir of darkness himself shining like light, and at one time
soaring to the heavens, and at another descending to the earth with great
glory, and again charging the demons, like angels, to execute his behests
with much fear and trembling.1
But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real, and
he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests
on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it
be possible, be made to stumble.2
Great will be the contest, O brethren, in those times, especially for the
faithful, when signs and wonders will be wrought with great authority by
the serpent himself; when he will show himself in awful apparitions as
being similar to God - he will fly about in the air and all the demons, like
angels will exult before the tormentor. For he will cry aloud with might,
transforming his countenance and dismaying all men without measure.3
Antichrist's signs, worked by the power of Satan, will produce an
irresistible influence on spectators. Men will not grasp the fact that his
miracles do not have any good, intelligent aim, that they are freakish,
evil and aimless, able to produce amazement, to bring the mind into
perplexity and self-forgetfulness, to delude and deceive and to captivate
one by the enchantment of splendorous, empty performances.
HIS POWER:
Having seen these "miracles", men, because of their spiritual
1Hippolytus: Discourse on the end of the world and on Antichrist
2John Damascene: Expounding the Orthodox faith
3Saint Ephraim the Syrian: Word on Antichrist
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
blindness and the triumph of their carnal understandings, will
immediately acknowledge these demonstrations of Satanic power to be
the greatest manifestation of the power of God and they will ecstatically
receive Antichrist as a God. Antichrist will terrify with his threatening
and amazing miracles. With them he will satisfy imprudent curiosity and
coarse ignorance, he will satisfy men led by the guidance of their fallen
nature, estranged from guidance by the light of God, will be allured into
submission by the deceiver. People will adore him both because of
amazement as well as fear of him. “... and they worshipped the beast,
saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”
(Rev 13:4) Saint Augustine comments on this by saying:
By a lion in a den, he means one in whom both violence and deceit will
work. For the first persecution of the Church was violent, when by
proscriptions, by torments, by murders, the Christians were compelled
to sacrifice: another persecution is crafty, which is now conducted by
heretics of any kind and false brethren: there remains a third, which is to
come by Antichrist, than which there is nothing more perilous; for it will
be at once violent and crafty. Violence he will exert in empire, craft in
miracles.1
And former persecuting kings only put to death; they did not pretend to
raise the dead, nor did they make false shows of signs and wonders. But
in his time there shall be the evil inducement both of fear and of deceit,
so that if it be possible the very elect shall be deceived.2
RELATION TO THE JEWS:
It is generally agreed by the Fathers that the first to accept him as
king and God will be the Jews. The Ancients base this on what the Lord
Jesus said in John 5:43 concerning the coming of Antichrist.
It is said of Antichrist, and all understand of him what the Lord said, “I
am come in My Father's Name, and ye have not received Me; if another
1Augustine of Hippo: Commentary on the Psalms
2Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures
THE UNHOLY TRINITY
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”1
“I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall
come in his own name, him will ye receive.” But who is it that He here
saith shall come "in his own name"? He alludeth here to Antichrist.”2
The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in Him: “I
have come in my Father's name, and ye have not received Me: when
another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive,” calling
Antichrist "the other," because he is alienated from the Lord.3
For the Lord said to them: 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. And the apostle says, Because they received not the love of the
truth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them a
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 Jews accordingly did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ who was the
Son of God and God, but receive the impostor who calls himself God.4
Since the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary, taking
occasion by the expectation of the simple, and especially of them of the
circumcision, brings in a certain man who is a magician, and most expert
in sorceries and enchantments of beguiling craftiness; who shall seize for
himself the power ..., and shall falsely style himself Christ; by this name
of Christ deceiving the Jews, who are looking for the Anointed, and
seducing those of the Gentiles by his magical illusions.5
What is said above gives us an insight into how the imposter will deceive
Christians too. For we are told that since Christ will come a second
1Augustine of Hippo: Sermon LXXIX
2Saint John Chrysostom: Commentary on the Gospel of John
3Irenaeus: Against Heresies, Book V
4John Damascene: Expounding the Orthodox Faith
5Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures
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time, Satan will use the expectation of the simple to delude them into
believing that this is Christ in His second coming. To that end, the Devil
has been preparing for close to 17 centuries, by spreading among
Christians the heresy of:
THE MILLENNIAL RULE OF CHRIST:
This heresy which started in the third century is based on the wrong
interpretation of Revelation 20:1-7:
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed
a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which
had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.
Followers of this heresy, which the Church repudiated in the Second
Ecumenical Council, believe that prior to Christ’s coming to judge the
world, He will actually come to earth to reign for a literal thousand years
with the elect. If we examine the passage carefully, we find out that
those who reigned with Christ were the souls of the elect who had died,
for we are told that the rest of the dead did not share in this reign with
Christ. This thousand year reign of the souls of the elect with Christ is
called the first resurrection, and those who participate in this first
resurrection, will not suffer the second death (eternal damnation in the
lake of fire.) The Church believes that we are already in the thousand
year reign of Christ. Satan has been bound by Christ when he died on
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the Cross and he will be loosed for a little season at the time of the end
when Antichrist will appear and the Great Tribulation is visited upon
the earth. The souls of the righteous, beginning with the soul of the thief
that was crucified with our Lord are now reigning with Christ in
Paradise. This is their first resurrection (resurrection of the soul.) The
second resurrection is when those souls are united with their new
heavenly bodies on the day of the Second Coming of our Lord
(resurrection of the flesh.) Obviously, those souls who attained to
Paradise will not taste the second death which is the lake of fire, a place
reserved for the souls that are now in Hades. Those souls who are now
tormented in Hades, will also be resurrected but into damnation, for
they will be thrown, body and soul, into the Lake of fire (the second
death.) That is why we are told that the rest of the dead did not
participate in this thousand year reign with Christ.
The meaning of the binding of Satan is that Satan has lost his hold on
the souls when Christ came to save us. When the Jews accused the Lord
of casting out devils by the power of the prince of demons, he answered,
“How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods,
except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.”
(Matt 12:29) Jesus did bind the strong man (Satan) and released the
souls that were enslaved to him from that bitter bondage, even the souls
of the righteous, who died before Christ, that were held in Hades were
released from that prison when Christ descended into Hades, after His
death on the Cross.
Someone may wonder how come Satan is bound with all the evil
around us? The answer is that Satan’s power has been curtailed, so that
we now have the power to resist him. But, our free will is not bound, so,
if we decide to use our free will to follow Satan, we are left to do so.
The prevalence of evil today means one of two things, either that a lot
of people are choosing to follow Satan than to follow Christ, or that we
are nearing the time of the end when the love of many shall wax cold and
iniquity will abound.
It is also important to know that numbers in Revelation are symbolic
and are not to be taken literally, so, a thousand years means a long time.
And, even though Satan has been bound for nearly two thousand years,
we are still living in the thousand year reign of Christ.
The Abomination of Desolation - A series of articles published by Father Athanasius Iskander in PAROUSIA September, 1997 - January, 2003 - Part One
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