Monday, October 13, 2014

Signs of the Times (19)


  I am still discussing the sign of Antichrist as Jesus describes it in Matthew 24:15. I will quote the verse again, so that you may have it clearly before your minds. “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).”
            I have described this abomination of desolation as Daniel speaks of it in his prophecy; I also discussed what other Scriptures say about the Antichrist. But there is one more chapter in the Bible that gives us a detailed description of Antichrist. This is found in Revelation 13, a chapter you should read before you read the rest of this forum article. It would help you understand this chapter better if you would read Herman Hoeksema’s chapter on Revelation 13 in Behold, He Cometh.  I can only make a few remarks about it.
            John sees two beasts, one coming out of the sea and the other coming out of the earth. John saw this vision while he was exiled to the island of Patmos by the emperor, Domitian. Mrs. Hanko and I were on the island of Patmos several years ago and we were standing at the entrance of a cave on a high point of the island. We could see far out over the water, and we could visualize what that must have looked like when John saw this beast rising out of the water. What a dreadful sight it must have been.
            One of the first things John noticed is that its death-causing wound on one of its heads was healed. That wound was given the beast by God at Babel and was God’s act of dividing the people of the world into nations and races, and all with different languages. This work of God prevented the Antichrist from coming too soon and the wicked from building an antichristian kingdom prematurely, for if that would have happened, Christ could never have come, and the church would never have been gathered, for Antichrist destroys the church.

            But now John sees the wound as healed. That means that this beast is a universal kingdom in which all differences in languages, racial characteristics and patriotic feelings of nationalism are  gone. Antichrist rules over one world-wide kingdom. The dreams of the wicked will become reality. The League of Nations, the United Nations, the European Union, NATO and SEATO are all steps in that direction.
            That means that the Antichrist is a political figure who succeeds in bringing the entire world together into one universal kingdom. When George W H Bush was president of the United States, he, Khrushchev of Russia, and the pope spoke of a new world order. They argued among themselves about who would lead that world-order, for they all wanted the post. A man by the name of Malachi Martin wrote a book at that time with the title, The Keys of this Blood. Martin was a Jesuit who was high in the Vatican and had knowledge of its inner workings. He makes a case in his book for making the pope the head of this new world order, which was a one-world kingdom. The book is fascinating and worth reading.
            The description of this beast in Revelation 13 makes clear that Antichrist is a political power, but operates by the permission and encouragement of Satan: “The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (2). He brings peace to the whole world, though sometimes it is forced on them: “Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (4). He, as the tool of Satan, is the realization of Satan’s purpose: to depose God from His throne in this creation and rule to establish his own kingdom. It will be therefore, violently opposed to God (5). And he will persecute the church, for the church stands for the cause of God and His Christ (7).
            The second beast came out of the earth (11). It is clear from verses 4, 11-17 that Antichrist is also the head of a one-world church. A one-world church is also the dream of the wicked and apostate church and explains their push in ecumenism. The World Council of churches is probably the most powerful manifestation today of this power of Antichrist. The Medieval popes came the closest to becoming the head of the nations and of the church, and today’s popes would still grab that position if they could. See also Revelation 17:6-8, where the woman clad in scarlet and riding the beast is the false church who directs the Antichrist in its plans to destroy the church.
            That apostate church will be hand in glove with the Antichrist, doing his bidding and serving him as much as they are able. This too is happening today as one by one all the major denominations in the world approve of divorce and remarriage, abortion, homosexuality and same-sex marriages. This beast is the religious side of Antichrist and makes all men worship the one-world ruler (12).
            But it seems as if this second beast also represents culture in general and especially culture from the viewpoint of its scientific and medical achievements and the great advances in science and technology. He is able to do miracles in science and the medical field; he is able to subdue the earth and make all its powers, put there by God, serve Satan: TV, hand phones, atomic power, iPads and all the wonders of modern communication, miracles of surgery, powerful industrial tools run by robots, etc., etc.
            So religion and culture are in the hands of Antichrist. You can imagine what that means for the church!
            Above all, Antichrist is one who persecutes the church. He makes war with the saints and overcomes them (7). He deceives the whole world with his miracles (14). He uses a mark to identify his followers and kills all those who will not take the mark (16-17).
            But he is also the abomination of desolation that stands in the Holy Place where he is worshipped. That means that in every church or place of meeting for the church, Antichrist will place an image of himself, something easily done in our electronic society. If you intend to worship God on a Lord’s Day morning, you will discover that the only one whom you can worship is the image of the beast.  You either worship his image or you cannot worship at all!
            This is the meaning Revelation 11:7. The witnesses are a symbol of the witnessing and preaching church. They are slain. That is, the church is destroyed and there is no longer in the entire world any preaching or witnessing of the saints. There is no longer any worship of God possible – anywhere!
            Notice though that the text says, their testimony is finished. The work of the church is finished. It is finished because the whole church is saved; there are no more elect that still have to be brought to faith in Christ by the preaching.
            Notice too that this silencing of the church is the reason for the saints to flee. There is no point in staying where the church is, for the church has been silenced.
            And we must notice too that, although the church is silenced and the saints killed, they have the victory after all (11). The bodies of the witnesses are raised in the sight of the wicked; and then comes the judgment when Christ shall vindicate the cause of His people and show all the world that it was His cause after all, and His cause is victorious.
            We must prepare ourselves and our children for those days that shall surely come!


Prof. Herman Hanko

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