Sunday
Morning Bible Study
March
11, 2012
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
The apostle
John found himself caught up into heaven before the throne of God.
He saw Jesus
take a scroll from the hand of God that had been sealed with seven seals.
As Jesus broke each seal and unrolled the scroll a little further, events begin to take place
on the earth and the time that we call the Tribulation begins to unfold.
The Tribulation is a time when God’s wrath is poured out on an unbelieving
world and God begins to make right all the things that have been so wrong.
We’ve now begun
a chapter that looks at one of the key figures of the Tribulation period – the
“antichrist”, which we saw last week pictured as a beast with seven heads.
The word “antichrist”
doesn’t mean “opposite of Christ”, it means “in place of Christ”. The antichrist will come onto the world scene
to take the place of Christ, to take the role of the Messiah in place of Jesus.
Last week we looked at some of the ancient prophecies in Daniel 2,7
which speak of the same things as this chapter.
We saw that the antichrist’s kingdom will be some form of the Roman
Empire.
Revelation 13 began with a strange beast coming out of the sea, the
beast being a picture of the antichrist and his kingdom.
The beast had seven heads and ten horns.
I believe the seven heads seem to be a reference to seven great
Mediterranean based world empires:
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and
the one yet to come that looks like Rome. (We will see it clearer in Rev. 17).
The ten horns were a kind of confederacy of ten nations that will form the
antichrist’s latter day kingdom.
(Re 13:1–2 NKJV) —1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea.
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,
and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a
leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the
mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great
authority.
13:3-10 The Beast
:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded,
and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the
beast.
:3 wounded – sphazo –
to slay, slaughter, butcher
Literally, “slain unto death”
:3 wound – plege –
a blow, stripe, a wound
Literally, “wound of death”
:3 healed – therapeuo
– to heal, cure, restore to health
:3 marveled – thaumazo
– wonder at, marvel
:3 followed – opiso
– back, behind, after, afterwards
The whole world “marveled after” the beast.
:3 mortally wounded
Literally, “slain unto death”
We have some details of what this “wound” might entail.
(Re 13:14 NKJV) …the beast who was wounded
by the sword and lived.
The “sword” might be a reference
to a weapon of some kind, or it might be a reference to war.
Some suggest that a prophecy in Zechariah might be connected to this:
(Zec
11:17 NKJV) “Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall
be against his arm
And against his right
eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally
blinded.”
Sounds
to me like a pirate
:3 his deadly wound
was healed
It was one of the beast’s “heads” that was wounded and healed. Last week we talked about what the “heads”
could be all about.
This could mean:
An Empire restored
The Roman
Empire declined in stages, the Western Empire ending in 476, the Eastern Empire
ending in 1453.
The crumbling Western Roman Empire ended in 476 when
Romulus Augustus was forced to abdicate to the Germanic warlord Odoacer.
The Eastern Roman Empire (or, Byzantine Empire) ended in
1453 with the death of Constantine XI and the capture of Constantinople to
Mehmed II, leader of the Ottoman Turks.
There have been two succeeding empires claiming the name of the Roman
Empire.
The Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) (Heiliges Römisches Reich - HRR) centered mainly on Germany and
covered areas of France, Switzerland, Italy, and Poland.
When Hitler rose to power in Germany (1933-1945), The
German Empire was also known as the “Third Reich” (Romans were “first”, Holy
Roman was “second”, Hitler’s Germany was “third”).
We’ve already
talked about the antichrist’s kingdom being a form or the Roman Empire.
A nation rebuilt
The “heads” of
the beast could be seen as nations.
Perhaps the
current rise of Germany itself might be an example of what this could be.
Hitler’s
Germany was known as the “Third Reich”, a claim to be the third incarnation of the Roman
Empire. Germany has certainly been a
nation destroyed by war. I’m not making
a claim, I’m giving an example.
Germany is considered the leader in the European
Union. Germany is the one stable,
growing economy that the other nations are looking to in order to get them
through the recession.
The current Chancellor of Germany, Andrea Merkel, has
expressed some concern about Germany being the lead nation in Europe, because
of Germany’s history.
A man resurrected
If this is a reference to the man known as the antichrist, there might be
something that reminds people of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Wild idea: What if
they were able to clone Adolph Hitler? Sounds like a movie plot.
The antichrist’s reign will be accompanied with all kinds of miracles. He will not be an ordinary political leader.
(2 Th 2:9 NKJV) The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of
Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders,
:3 all the world
marveled
Whatever it is that happens, the whole world will be amazed at the event (that probably rules out
an Adolph Hitler clone – that would be scary, not amazing).
The antichrist isn’t going to be a fellow who comes off initially as
totally evil.
He’s going to
be something like a rock star when he steps onto the world stage.
:4 So they worshiped
the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast,
saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
:4 worshiped
– proskuneo – to fall upon the knees
and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
We’ve talked
about the temptation of Jesus to “worship” Satan in exchange for the kingdoms
of the world (Mat. 4:8-10)
(Mt 4:8–10 NKJV) —8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high
mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You
will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then
Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall
worship the Lord your God,
and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Last week we hinted that while Jesus passed this test, the antichrist will
fail the test. The antichrist will not only worship Satan,
but he will bring the world to worship Satan as well.
This is what the antichrist will crave, adoration and worship.
(2 Th 2:3–4 NKJV) —3 Let no one deceive you by any means;
for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the
man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
:4 authority – exousia
– power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; the power of authority
(influence) and of right (privilege); authority over mankind
:4 is able – dunamai –
to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources, or
of a state of mind, or through favorable circumstances, or by permission of law
or custom; to be capable, strong and powerful
:4 to make war – polemeo
– to war, carry on war
:4 Who is able to
make war with him?
The antichrist will be very shrewd when
it comes to warfare. We even have some future battles that he’ll fight outlined
for us by Daniel the prophet.
Daniel 11:36-45 speaks of
battles that will take place during the first part of the Tribulation, before
the antichrist is revealed as pure evil.
Israel is
attacked by Egypt and Syria, and because of a treaty between Israel and the
antichrist, the antichrist
will move his armies across Europe to defend Israel. It’s at this point that he will make Israel
the head of his global empire.
(Da 11:36–45 NKJV) —36 “Then the king shall
do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every
god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till
the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
We’ll see more of this back in Revelation.
37 He shall regard neither the God of his
fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself
above them all.
Some have suggested that the antichrist might be Jewish, yet not a
practicing Jew.
Some have suggested that the antichrist might be a homosexual, though
some consider the true Messiah (Jesus) is the ultimate “desire of women”. Every Jewish woman longed to be the one to
give birth to the Messiah.
38 But in their place he shall honor a god
of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with
gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.
It is thought that this “god of fortresses” might be his military
might, which the antichrist will honor with lots of money, building a large
military (“who is able to make war with him?”)
39 Thus he shall act against the strongest
fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its
glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
The “strange god” might be Satan.
Dividing the land for gain has been thought to deal with dividing up
Israel for the money.
Daniel then goes on to detail specific battle the antichrist will have
with the nations of Syria and Egypt.
40 “At the time of the end the king of the
South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a
whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the
countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
You have to follow the flow of Daniel
11 to understand these kings, but the king of the south is Egypt,
the king of the north is Syria.
They will attack Israel, which will have a treaty with the antichrist’s
restored Roman Empire.
In response to the attack on Israel, the antichrist will move his
armies across Europe to rescue Israel.
41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land,
and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his
hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Though the antichrist will control Israel, some neighboring countries
will remain out of his control, namely modern Jordan (Edom …).
I think this has to do with where the Jews have fled for refuge,
according to Rev. 12, Is. 14, Is. 63, Mat. 24:15, etc.
42 He shall stretch out his hand against
the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures
of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans
and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
The antichrist will conquer Egypt and take its wealth, and Ethiopia and
Libya will also be taken over by him as well.
44 But news from the east and the north
shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and
annihilate many.
It is thought that these “tiding out of the east” might include the
huge army mentioned in Rev.
9:14-16; 16:12-16,
possibly an army from China.
45 And he shall plant the tents of his
palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to
his end, and no one will help him.
The idea is that he’ll set up his global
headquarters in Israel, probably Jerusalem, which is between the Dead Sea and
the Mediterranean Sea.
He will one day meet his end, when Jesus returns.
:5 And he was given
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to
continue for forty-two months.
:5 given a mouth
We saw in Daniel 7:
(Da 7:8 NKJV) …And there, in this
horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous
words.
(Da 7:25 NKJV) He shall speak pompous
words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And
shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given
into his hand For a time and times and half a time.
:5 great things – megas
– great; used of intensity and its degrees: with great effort, of the
affections and emotions of the mind, of natural events powerfully affecting the
senses: violent, mighty, strong; things esteemed highly for their importance:
of great moment, of great weight, importance
:5 speaking great
things
It seems that the antichrist will be a great orator.
This was one of the things that
Hitler learned to use – the power of speech to influence people.
He might be a person who is known for giving great speeches, perhaps even
the idea of having “great things” to say, powerful ideas, or influential ideas.
:5 blasphemies – blasphemia
– slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another’s good name; impious
and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty
:5 authority – exousia
– power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; the power of authority
(influence) and of right (privilege); authority over mankind
:5 for forty-two
months
Our new favorite time period: Three and a half years. This is the last three and a half years of
the Tribulation, when the antichrist’s authority increases.
:6 Then he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and
those who dwell in heaven.
:6 tabernacle – skene
– tent, tabernacle, (made of green boughs, or skins or other materials)
:6 who dwell – skenoo
– to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide (or live) in a
tabernacle (or tent),tabernacle; to dwell
:6 His name, His tabernacle, and … heaven
:6 he opened his
mouth in blasphemy
Hare Krishna
The Bible tells us some of what Antichrist will be saying:
1. Jesus is not
the Christ.
(1 Jn 2:22 NKJV) Who is a
liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies
the Father and the Son.
He might be saying that Jesus is “a” Christ.
One of the forms of this is to talk about the “Christ”
that’s in all of us. Play Oprah
clip. Oprah already has the message
down.
2. Jesus didn’t
come in the flesh.
(1 Jn 4:3
NKJV) and every
spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of
God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was
coming, and is now already in the world.
Some people like to talk about the “Christ spirit” being everywhere.
The Bible says that He took on human flesh.
3. I am God.
(2 Th 2:4
NKJV) who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This may not even come across as abrupt as “I alone am God”, but might even
be, “I am god, you are god, we all have god in us...”
That’s what’s
at the heart of modern New Age teaching, that we are all “gods”.
:7 It was granted
to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was
given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
:7 the saints – hagios
– holy
We usually think of the “saints” being believers in general, but with
this being the middle of the tribulation period, this is more specifically the
Jewish people who have come to believe in Jesus after the Rapture.
:7 to make war with
the saints
The antichrist
will be killing those Jews who have come to trust in Jesus as their Messiah
during the Tribulation period.
:7 authority – exousia
– power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; the power of authority
(influence) and of right (privilege); authority over mankind
:7 tribe, tongue,
and nation
The antichrist
will have authority that will span across the globe.
:8 All who dwell
on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of
Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
:8 will worship – proskuneo
– to kiss the hand to (towards) one; to fall upon the knees and touch the
ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
:8 who dwell – katoikeo
– to dwell, settle
:8 the foundation – katabole
– a throwing or laying down; a founding (laying down a foundation)
:8 written in the
Book of Life
It’s those whose names are NOT in the Lamb’s book that are going to be
deceived to worship the antichrist.
Lesson
Good News
There is a way to know that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of
Life.
By accepting
God’s gift of grace, the sacrifice of Jesus who died for our sins.
When
Jesus died on the cross, He was paying the price for sins. He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed
a debt we couldn’t pay.
(Is 53:5 NKJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
When we choose to follow Jesus, to believe in Jesus, to
believe that He is the One who has paid for our sins, we are saved from having
to face the penalty for our sins – we are saved from having to spend eternity
in hell.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Paul describes those who will be deceived during the Tribulation:
(2 Th
2:9–10 NKJV) —9 The coming
of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all
unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love
of the truth, that they might be saved.
The people that will be deceived by the antichrist are
those who do not love the truth about Jesus.
Is that you? Do you love the truth
about Jesus?
Have you made up your mind about Jesus?
:8 from the
foundation of the world
Translation of Greek texts into English is sometimes as much of an art as
it is a science. It’s not always an
exact thing – and that’s why you can see differences in Bible translation.
Though some of your translations make it sound as if it’s the “names not
written” that have been from the beginning of time, and there is truth to that
(it’s in Rev. 17:8), here the passage is
speaking of the “Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world”
Depending on which Bible
translation you read, you can come up with two different ideas of what it was
that took place before the world was created.
Names not written
(Re 13:8 NLT) And all the people
who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names
were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made—the Book that
belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered.
This view believes that John is
saying that those who will be deceived by the antichrist were somehow
predestined to do so before the world was created.
John will clearly say this in a
later passage (Rev. 17:8), but I don’t think this is what our verse is talking
about.
(Re 17:8 NKJV) —8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out
of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth
will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the
foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet
is.
There is truth to the idea that God
has “predestined” things:
(Eph 1:4–5 NKJV) —4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
His choice has to
do with us who follow Him. It’s a good
thing to know that God has chosen you.
2) the Lamb slain
Greek translation doesn’t always follow the order of the words in a
sentence. Sometimes Greek reads more like Yoda talking: “Help you I will”.
But here, the
order of the Greek text follows the order in the NKJV. The thing that takes place “from the
foundation of the world” is the “Lamb being slain”.
From God’s eternal perspective, Jesus has been slain since eternity past.
It had always been in God’s plan for Jesus to die for our sins.
(Is 53:5
NKJV) But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are
healed.
Isaiah wrote as if this was something that had already happened … 700 years
before it did.
:9 If anyone
has an ear, let him hear.
We saw this phrase used seven times
in chapters 2-3, but it looked a little different. There is added the phrase “what the Spirit
says to the churches”. Here it’s
missing. Maybe because by this time, the
church has been long gone?
:10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with
the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of
the saints.
:10 captivity …
into captivity
This is a hint
as to the end of the antichrist. He will
be taking people captive, but he will one day be captured. He will kill people, but one day his end will
come.
:10 captivity – aichmalosia
(“spear” + “capture”) – captivity
:10 leads – sunago –
to gather together, to gather; to bring together, assemble, collect
:10 kills – apokteino
– to kill in any way whatever
:10 sword – machaira –
a large knife, used for killing animals and cutting up flesh; a small sword, as
distinguished from a large sword
:10 patience
– hupomone (“under” + “remain”) – steadfastness,
endurance; the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose
by even the greatest trials and sufferings
:10 faith – pistis –
conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or
belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with
the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it
Lesson
Endure
God’s going to work things out in the end.
The person who has been capturing people will be captured.
The one who has been killing people will be killed.
These will be the truths that the persecuted Jews of this time will hold on
to.
This is what they are counting on, their “faith”.
This is what helps them to endure.
The Iranian pastor ...
We think that
it takes superhuman people to endure some things. It doesn’t.
Illustration
In 1983,
Australia hosted its ultramarathon, a 573.7 mile foot race from Sydney to
Melbourne. This is a race that takes days to run, and professionals from
all over the world came to participate. Shortly before the race began, a 61-year-old farmer
named Cliff Young, wearing overalls and goulashes over his boots, walked up to
the registration table and requested a number to enter the race. The people at
the registration table thought it was a joke—that somebody was setting them
up—so they laughed. But Cliff Young said, "No, I'd really like to
run." So they gave him a number and pinned it on his old overalls.
Five days, 14 hours, and four minutes later, at 1:25 in the morning, Cliff Young shuffled
across the finish line. He had won the race. And he didn't win by a matter of
minutes or even an hour or two. The second place runner was nine hours and 56
minutes behind him. Cliff Young had set a new world record for the
ultramarathon.
Lesson
Look to Jesus Christ
We have a way to endure our ultramarathon called life. Cliff Young became
famous for his awkward “shuffle” way of running. We run and look to Jesus.
Whenever we study these passages about the antichrist, it’s very common for
people to start nominating various famous people to be the antichrist.
We’re not going to win any races looking for the
antichrist.
We
endure by looking to Jesus Christ.
Looking to Jesus is the key to our learning to “endure” life.
(Heb
12:1–3 NKJV) —1 Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of
our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who
endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls.
You need to look to Jesus. Study His
life. Follow His example.
(1 Pe
2:21–23 NKJV) —21
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 “Who committed
no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in
return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to
Him who judges righteously;