Billy Crone



In order to get a fuller understanding behind the purpose and meaning of the Seal Judgments, which occur over the first 3½ years of the 7-year Tribulation, Daniel’s 70th week, one needs to observe a couple of very important factors right out of the gate.

The first factor is that Parallel Passages also Cover these Judgements. Of course, I am referring to Matthew 24 or what’s also known as the Olivet Discourse. This parallel can be demonstrated by the following chart.

Olivet Discourse & Revelation 6

Signs of His Coming First Six Seals

24:4-5: False Christs 6:1-2: White Horse

(Antichrist)

24:6-7: War 6:3-4: Red Horse

(Global War)

24:7: Famine 6:5-6: Black Horse

(Global Famine)

24:9: Death 6:7-8: Pale Horse

(Global Death)

24:9-13: Martyrdom 6:9-11: 5th Seal Altar of Souls

(Global Martyrdom)

Luke 21:11: Signs in the Sky 6:12-17 6th Seal

(Signs in the Sky)5

What’s important about this chart comparing Matthew 24 to Revelation 6 is not only the fact that it gives us even more details about this prophetic time-frame to obtain that fuller understanding, which we shall soon see, but it also reiterates the timing of these judgements as well as once again to whom these judgments are referring to. Both are dealing with the first half of the 7-year Tribulation and both are referring to Israel not the Church. The Church will never be placed under God’s wrath. This is clearly seen when one observes the context of Matthew 24, Revelation 6, as well as Daniel 9. In Matthew 24, the Chapter starts out with the Apostles asking Jesus what are the signs of His coming.

Matthew 24:3 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’”

This “coming” that is being referred to is not the Rapture but the Second Coming of Jesus, which occurs at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. This is why the events that follow in Matthew 24, the “signs” of His Second Coming, are all signs that take place during the 7-year Tribulation leading up to His Return at the end. They start off with the first half, (false christs, war, famine, death, martyrdom, signs in the sky) then moving all the way to the end of second half with Jesus Second Coming. This lines up perfectly with the timing of Revelation Chapter 6. They are one and the same events dealing with the same time frame, the first half of the 7-year Tribulation (false christs or the antichrist, war, famine, death, martyrdom, signs in the sky). The dividing line between the first half and second half of the 7-year Tribulation is marked off for us in Daniel 9 with the event called the abomination of desolation.

Daniel 9:27 “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

As we’ve already seen, He the Antichrist will make a covenant with the people of Israel which is the very event that triggers or starts the final “seven” or “week” of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy, the 7-year Tribulation. This is paralleled in Revelation 6 with the breaking of the first seal, the Antichrist Seal.

Revelation 6:1-2 “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”

The “confirming of the covenant” and the “breaking of the first seal” both occur at the same time, the beginning point of the 7-year Tribulation, the final “seven” of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy. Then halfway into that final seven, the “middle of the seven” as Daniel says, the Antichrist goes up into the Jewish Temple and declares himself to be god, which is called the abomination of desolation. The Apostle also mentions this “halfway abomination marker” in 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

This is why Matthew 24 perfectly aligns with Revelation 6. The first half of Matthew 24 is dealing with the events of the first half of the 7-year Tribulation, just as Revelation 6 and the seal judgments are also dealing with the events of the first half of the 7-year Tribulation. The timing is impeccable.

Therefore, since both passages are dealing events that take place during the 7-year Tribulation, we know that neither of them can be referring to the Church, for as we saw earlier, the Church is clearly saved from, rescued from, and not appointed unto God’s wrath which includes His wrath being poured out during the entire 7-year Tribulation. This comforting truth is further reiterated when one takes a look at the context of Matthew 24. We know contextually that Matthew 24 cannot be referring to the Church period, first half or second half, because Jesus starts the chapter off by saying that the Jewish Temple will be torn down to the ground and destroyed, which did happen in 70 AD. But then a few verses later He says a rebuilt Jewish Temple comes back into existence with Jewish people apparently worshipping at it again.

Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand.”

As Jesus states, this “abomination of desolation” in the “holy place” or “temple” is mentioned in the Book of Daniel whereas we just saw, the Antichrist goes up into that Temple and declares himself to be god halfway into the 7-year Tribulation. The point is this. The Jewish Temple being destroyed or rebuilt has no significance for the Church. Jesus says the Church doesn’t need a manmade Temple because we have become the Temple of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

So the Church is only concerned about “being” God’s temple, not a “destroyed” or “rebuilt” Jewish Temple. However, a manmade Jewish Temple being destroyed and rebuilt is a very significant issue for the Jewish people to whom this Chapter is addressed.

Furthermore, Jesus also tells the people during that time frame to “flee to the mountains.”

Matthew 24:16 “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Notice He says, “those in Judea.” Where’s that? Israel. This is not the Church nor can it be the Church. Think about it. Only a small minute fraction of the Church, i.e. Christians live in Israel. If this were referring to the Church, it would make this command to flee absolutely meaningless.

Secondly, the command to flee is, “to the mountains.” Most scholars believe the place referred to here is the ancient rock city of Petra. Question: “Can the whole Church fit into Petra?” I think not. However, the remnant of the Jewish People can.

Next we see Jesus mentioning that those people of that time are apparently “keeping the Sabbath Day.”

Matthew 24:20 “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.”

Question: “Does the Church observe a traditional Jewish Saturday Sabbath?” No. But the Jewish people do, even to this day! We Christians not only worship on Sunday in honor of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but we are never given the command to worship on the Jewish Sabbath day. Why? Because we have the Lord of the Sabbath Himself, Jesus Christ. We have the “reality” not the “shadow.” That’s why the Bible says this when referring to the Church and the Jewish Sabbath:

Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Technically, we are free to worship Jesus any day we want as New Testament Christians. However, traditionally we usually come together “the first day of the week” (Sunday) in honor of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.”

Therefore, the point is this. How could Jesus be talking about the Church in Matthew 24 when He says these people need to “pray that their flight doesn’t take place on the Sabbath” if the Church doesn’t worship on the Sabbath? Could it be He’s referring to the Jewish people who still do to this day worship on the Sabbath? I think so.

In addition, this would also mean that the following often misquoted passages of Scripture in Matthew 24, that some would say is referring to the Rapture of the Church, cannot be referring to the Church as well. The whole Chapter of Matthew 24 is referring to Israel, not the Church.

Matthew 24:31 “And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Matthew 24:40-41 “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

Unfortunately, many people will misquote these passages as Rapture passages when they are not. As we’ve already demonstrated contextually, Matthew 24 has nothing to do with the Church, but rather Israel. Therefore, whatever is happening in these passages is happening to Israel. And wonder of wonders, it is! The angels coming and gathering the “elect” with one person being taken while another is left is simply talking about the angel harvest at the end of the 7-year Tribulation where the “elect” or Israel and any “believing” Gentiles who have not died during the 7-year Tribulation are “gathered” to enter the Millennial Kingdom. The “others” are the unbelieving unredeemed who are “taken” and cast into hell. Obviously, they are not going to be a part of the Millennial Kingdom at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. We see this angel “harvest” mentioned again in Revelation 14, Matthew 13 with the “pulling” of the Wheat and Tares of Matthew, and in the “separation” of the “Sheep and Goats” in Matthew 25.

Therefore, since the events mentioned in Matthew 24 are clearly not speaking about the Church, but rather the whole Chapter is referring to Israel, then neither can Revelation Chapter 6 be speaking about or be directed to the Church, because it perfectly parallels the first half of Mathew 24. Again this is why these two passages perfectly align. Both deal with the first half of the 7-year Tribulation, the Seal Judgments. The time when God’s wrath being poured out on the rebellious house of Israel and the rebellious Gentiles, not the Church, His Beloved Bride.

The second factor we need to keep in mind if we are going to get a fuller understanding of the purpose and meaning behind the Seal Judgements is that there is a Powerful Reminder of Who’s in Charge of these Judgments.

Revelation 6:1 “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’” 

It’s reiterated from the beginning of each seal

Revelation 6:3 “When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’” 

Revelation 6:5 “When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’” 

Revelation 6:7 “When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’”

Revelation 6:9 “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the testimony they had maintained.”

Revelation 6:12 “I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red.”

Revelation 8:1 “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

So now observing these two important factors, let us know begin to dive in verse by verse and exhaust the information contained within these Seal Judgments from God. And as you will soon see, this first seal is the breaking of the Antichrist Seal. God’s first judgment on planet earth is to send a false leader, with a false peace, promoting a false utopia.

Revelation 6:1-2 “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”

Matthew 24:4-5 “Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.’”

Chapter Six Six Seals Opened

As we begin our study of Revelation 6,1 wish to repeat that the great tribulation cannot begin until the redeemed are gathered around the Lord in glory and crowned there. It cannot be emphasized too much that no saints in Heaven now have crowns. The apostle says, “ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord…shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). “That day” when the saints are gathered around the judgment seat of Christ is the day when they will get their crowns.

Well then, after the church has gone, what is going to take place in the world? Look at this chapter from the standpoint that we are in Heaven already, the rapture having taken place. Let us suppose that last night, while things were going on in the ordinary way, suddenly there was a heartening shout heard from the glory. Every redeemed one responded to the trumpet of God. In a moment the graves were opened, and in every place where the believing dead were resting, the bodies were raised and the living saints were changed. We found ourselves caught away. We entered with Him into the Father’s house and gathered around the throne and fell down to worship. We will say that we have had twenty-four hours in Heaven. At first our hearts would just be too full of Christ to think of anything else. (O sinner, you wouldn’t be there. It is saved people I am talking about.) But He, Himself, stirs us at last to think of what He is about to do. We say to ourselves, What is going to happen next in that world we have left behind? We look down to that poor scene where we lived yesterday. Men are going on much as before, only in great excitement. Look at the streets of the great cities. We can see the headlines, “A great number of people have disappeared!” There is a rush to get the newspapers to find out all about this strange event. Throngs are crowding the popular churches to hear the preachers give their explanation of the great disappearance of so many people.

I believe there will be lots of church-going for a little while after the rapture of God’s people; those left behind will be crowding into the churches as never before. I think I see the Rev. Mr. Smooth-things standing in his pulpit, with pale, wan face. He looks at scores of parishioners he hasn’t seen for many years and thinks to himself, “Now, I have to explain to these people. I have been telling them for twenty years that this talk of the second coming is false.” People who believed in the second coming were looked on as idiotic ranters who didn’t know what they were talking about. I think I hear mutterings down in the congregation: “We trusted our souls to you. You had been to the colleges, seminaries, and universities, and read a whole library of books. We believed you when you told us the old idea of salvation by the blood of Christ was all worn out and that we could save ourselves by culture. We believed you when you said Christ’s second coming was only a fantastic notion. Now explain this to us.” Another cries, “What about my grandmother? She believed in her Bible to the end. She was reading just the other day, ‘In an hour when ye think not, the Son of man cometh.’ Now Grandmother is gone, and I am here. Now, Doctor, explain all this.” Oh, there are going to be some wonderful meetings after the Lord has come! There is that world seething with corruption, men’s hearts failing them for fear. Christian statesmen will have gone; Christian business men and people of all ranks who knew Christ will have disappeared. Cities and communities will be in turmoil. What are they going to do? Let’s look at the Book and see.

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. 

Matthew 24:4-5: False Christs 6:1-2: White Horse (Antichrist)

4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,F104 ' and will deceive many. 

EXPLANATION:

Beginning of 7-year Tribulation - Daniel 9:27

No Church - not appointed unto wrath - not about Church but Jewish people

The Lamb is opening the Seal – this is coming from God – it is His wrath not man or satan

False Peace Utopia – bow no arrows

Matthew 24 – Jesus speaking of the Jews in the tribulation

Assumes the Jews back in the land – 1948 back in the land

Assumes a new Temple – Jews are currently preparing for a new Temple

Desecration of the Temple – antichrist

Were are moving into one world government and one world communication

1 Thessalonians 1:9 –

We are to be serving Jesus and to be waiting for Him

He delivers us from the wrath to come

The Big Picture

1 Thessalonians 1:10 – Jesus rescues us from the wrath to come

1 Thessalonians 4:16 – We will be “jerked up” out of here

1 Thessalonians 5:9 - Why are we jerked out of here? Because God has not appointed us to the wrath of Revelation chapter 6

Verses 1-2

Thunder – “brontas” – thunder makes you know that something bad is coming

Come – come with me and observe

The White horse – why a white horse and who is on it? (various views)

the gospel and Jesus – no

a good sign – no

apparition of angels – no

antichrist – most plausible

Conquering and to conquer – the little horn – the antichrist

Bow – no arrows – may indicate he conquers by diplomacy not war at first

Crown – was given to him – authority was given to him – authority was given by Christ – Jesus gives antichrist permission (Revelation 13) much like in Job satan couldn’t even sneeze without God’s permission

All these verse are speaking of universal effect – therefore this is not dealing with just a localized Church persecution

Descriptions of the antichrist

This is no pretty picture.  But God is the Lord of truth, and He writes here things as they are, as they will be.  It is for the cheap and worldly optimist to speak words of “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” [Jeremiah 8:11], and to paint rosy pictures of human nature and of the destiny of nations, when God says, “It will end in a flood; war and desolations are determined to the end” [Daniel 9:26], so God says.  However man may say it, however the false leader may deceive a nation, God says this is the future.  And He unveils it to us in His honesty, that we might prepare ourselves, and save our souls, and deliver our people. 

Now the action of the Book of the Revelation begins here in chapter 6.  This is the act of our goel, our kinsman Redeemer, in whose hands God Almighty has placed the authority of this universe [Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 28:18].  This is the act of that great sovereign Lord who takes back out of the hand of the usurper and the interloper and the intruder and the stranger and the alien.  This is the act by which, in the judicial proceedings of God, our Lord and Savior takes back out of the hands of Satan our rightful inheritance [John 12:31; Revelation 12:7-10]. 

And the Lord God says, “Would you like to know how it will be?  How God shall place in the hands of His Son all of His creation, who shall give it back to us who lost it in sin?  Would you like to know?”  Then God says, “I have unveiled the glory and the wonder and the grandeur of that conquering Christ” [Matthew 16:27]: how He shall liberate God’s creation from the encumbrances sin and Satan and death and the grave have laid upon it, and how He shall give back to us these things that we have lost in our transgression [Hebrews 2:7-14].  This is the casting out of the dynasties of evil; this is the forever casting away of the powers of darkness, and this is the bringing in of light and life and liberty and everlasting righteousness [1 Corinthians 1:28, 15:54]. 

Now those seven seals [Revelation 5:1] encompass all of the story of God, from the rapture [Revelation 4:1] until the return [Revelation 19:11-21].  These seven seals include the whole proceedings of the Almighty after God’s people are taken out of the earth [1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17] and until they come back with their reigning Lord, given the possession of God’s inheritance [Revelation 19:14, 20:4]. 

The seventh seal is the seven trumpets [Revelation 8:1-2], and the seventh trumpet is the seven golden bowls, of the seven vials, of the wrath and plagues of Almighty God [Revelation 11:15, 16].  And when they are finished—when the seventh seal and the seventh trumpet and the seventh bowl, when these are finished, then is finished the judgment of God upon sin and upon iniquity [Revelation 15:1].  Then is the cleansing of this earth [Revelation 19:1-3].  Then is the binding of Satan [Revelation 20:1-2].  Then is the establishment of the millennial kingdom in which God’s children shall reign with Him in this earth [Revelation 20:4]. 

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the cherubim saying, Come [Revelation 6:1], or, “Go,” or, “Proceed.”  In the King James Version you have it translated, “Come and see,” as though it were addressed to the apostle John.  No, for John is already there looking; and if he needed to be told to come nearer, then there was no need for it to be repeated four times, as it is here in each instance.  And if it were addressed to John, it was no need that the cherubim cry in a voice of thunder [Revelation 6:1]. 

The cherubim are the administrative agents of God toward this earth, and this is the Lord God Almighty casting out of the powers and principalities of darkness.  And when [the] cherubim say, “Come,” it is addressed to one of the agencies by which the denouement of this time in history comes to its final consummation.  And the best way to see what it is that the word means is to see what comes when the cherubim cries, “Come!” [Revelation 6:1].  What happens? 

This happens in each instance: when one of the cherubim cry that erchou, “Go!” “Proceed,” or, “Come!” there comes across the stage of human history a horse and his rider [Revelation 6:2-8].  It would be almost impossible for us today to realize the awe and the reverence by which an Oriental looked upon the strength and the power of a horse.  I haven’t time, but you can read in Job [39] verses 19 through 25, a magnificent tribute to the strength and power of a horse [Job 39:19-25].  You’d find the same thing in Zechariah 1 [Zechariah 1:8], and especially in Zechariah 6:1-7.  These tremendous beasts, these great animals represented to an Oriental mind, a conquest, fearlessness, the attack, battle.  And you’ll see it as these four horses proceed across the stage and history of the world at the command of the cherubim:

And I heard one of the cherubim, with a noise of thunder—

a commandment—

say, erchou! And behold a white horse—

a charger, a sign of conquest and of victory—

and he that sat on him had a bow; and a stephanos, a crown, was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and in order that he might conquer.

[Revelation 6:1-2]

 

The first horse is a charger of victory, a white horse.  And he that sat upon him is a conqueror and a victor.  He has a crown and he has a bow. 

Now, because in those ancient processions of triumph the victor, the conqueror, the leader rode on a white horse, and because in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of the Revelation, when our Lord comes again out of heaven, He comes riding a white horse [Revelation 19:11]; and they who follow Him, God’s sainted people, blood-bought, blood-washed, victorious—because they follow Him on white horses [Revelation 19:11-14]; therefore, practically all commentators and scholars and students will identify this rider as Christ [Revelation 6:2].  He comes, the first of the apocalyptic horsemen, he comes riding on his white charger with a stephanos and with a bow [Revelation 6:2]; they identify the first horseman as being our Lord. 

Now there are several things to be said about that before such an identification is made.  The first thing is this: there is an incongruity about it to start off with.  There is a—I don’t know whether they have any rules or laws or principles they follow in dramatics or not, but this would be a funny thing to do.  Here is the Lord Christ, the Lamb, Lion of God.  He pulls aside the curtain in order that you might see.  And then as He pulls aside the curtain as the Lamb of God, in the snap of His finger He changes into the garb of a soldier and He comes riding out in a white horse.  The idea of it is sort of incongruous to begin with. 

There’s another thing about it that is sort of incongruous as you look at it: evidently these four horsemen have a common denominator.  There is something common to all four of them.  They all four ride in some particular meaning together—the white, the red, the black, and the greenish pale—they all have some kind of a meaning in common. 

Now, if the first one is Christ, if the white horse and its rider is the Lord God [Revelation 6:2], then He is associated with the bloodiest and the most pestilential and the most terrifically horrible of all of the associates that mind could imagine.  Now, I can imagine the Lord with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace; the Lord walked with His three children [Daniel 3:23-26].  I can imagine the Lord Christ with His disciples of His heart; there He is with Peter and James and John [Matthew 17:1-2].  But somehow, I don’t fit in the Lord with Ahab and Jezebel, or with Baal and Aphrodite.  Somehow, I don’t fit in the Lord with Herod the Great, who killed the babes at Bethlehem [Matthew 2:16], and Herod Antipas, who slew John the Baptist [Matthew 14:1-12], and Herod Agrippa I, who slew James, the brother of John [Acts 12:1-2].  And somehow, I can’t quite fit the Lord Christ into the blood of war and carnage and murder in the red horse [Revelation 6:3-4], and the awful raging famine in the black horse [Revelation 6:5-6], and the pestilential death of that pale ghastly green horse [Revelation 6:7-8].  They just don’t fit. 

All right, another thing to be considered: when the Lord Christ comes, He comes in the nineteenth chapter, in the eleventh verse of the Apocalypse, in its consummation and its denouement and its great, final, crowning victorious day [Revelation 19:11-16].  We look for the Lord from heaven, we look for Him to come with His people, we look for Him to come in triumph and in glory, and He does come.  But He comes in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of the Revelation [Revelation 19:11], and He doesn’t come here [Revelation 6:2].  It doesn’t fit. 

Then another thing: when you look at those two; the Man who rides on the white horse, the Lord God our Christ, in the nineteen chapter of the Book of Revelation, He has on His head a diadema [Revelation 19:12].  That’s a Greek word, a diadema, a diadem.  Never in the language is that word used for any other except the crown of a reigning sovereign monarch.  And that is the kind of the crown that we would expect to grace the brow of the Son of God and our Savior.  He comes with a diadem, a diadema, and His weapon is the sword of the Word [Revelation 19:12-15].  This white horseman is not like that at all: his crown is a stephanos, something a man could win down here in this earth, as in a race.  And he has in his hand, not a sword of the Word of the God, but he has a bow, and that with no shaft and no arrow [Revelation 6:2]. 

Well then, what is this, this white horseman [Revelation 6:2] that precedes the red of carnage and blood, that precedes the black of famine and dearth and want, and the ghastly green of Hades and of Death? [Revelation 6:3-8].  Well, to me now, to me, as I read the Book, I think that our Lord has given, in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, in the apocalyptic address of our Savior [Matthew 24:4-31]—I think our Lord has given us the outline of this time of the end. 

Now if the Revelation is a picture of the time of the end, then it ought to fit exactly with the outline that our Lord gave in Matthew 24.  Surely, what our Lord said in Matthew 24 will fit what our Lord reveals to John in the Apocalypse.  Now if you will look at the outline that our Lord Christ gives in His great apocalyptic discourse in Matthew 24, you will find it fits exactly with the thing that happens in the visions given to John in the Revelation. 

All right, look at the outline; in Matthew 24, starting at verse 4, first, Jesus said, He is answering the question of the disciples, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?” [Matthew 24:3].  And the Lord replies, “First, take heed that no man deceive you [Matthew 24:4].  For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the great Fuhrer; I am the great Il Duce, I am the great savior, I am the deliverer of the nations.  I am the leader of the world; I am the great Stalin, ‘steel,’ or I am Tojo to bring my nation to victory. There will be deceivers, there will be many deliverers, there will be many self-styled saviors, there will be many” [Matthew 24:5].   That’s the first thing the Lord says about this outline of history, “There will be false Christs.”  First, that’s the first thing He says. 

Then the next thing He says, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” [Matthew 24:6-7], that red horse of war and blood [Revelation 6:4].  Then He said, “And there shall be famine” [Matthew 24:7].  The third thing our Lord says, just following it piece by piece as our Lord outlined it: that black horse [Revelation 6:5-6], “Our [skin]” says Jeremiah, “was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine” [Lamentations 5:10]. And then He says, “And there shall be pestilences” [Matthew 24:7], that fourth horse of pestilential death [Revelation 6:7-8], following bloodshed and war and carnage and famine. 

Well, if I can trust the Lord in what He says [Matthew 24:4-7], and if I can trust the Lord in the revelation that He gives to the apostle John [Revelation 6:2-8], then I have the identification of those four horsemen.  The first one represents the great deceiver, the great and final Antichrist [Revelation 6:2], the great and final false deliverer of whom all of these others are but adumbrations, portents, prefigurations.  They’re just sketches, they are just shadows of that final great world dictator that is yet to come: just following the outline of our Lord.  Then He said, following his appearance as he comes in peace, and as he comes promising victory, and as he comes making treaties, and as he comes and upon him the eyes of all the nations of the earth [Revelation 6:2]; then following him, there are these indescribable bloodsheds and murders of the red horseman [Revelation 6:3-4]; then following him, the awful, awful want and famine that inevitably goes with war [Revelation 6:5-6]; and following that, the terrible pestilential presence of death and the grave; unsatiated, swallowing up its illimitable victims [Revelation 6:7-8]. 

Then if I can do this: if I can follow the outline of our Lord in Matthew 24 [Matthew 24:4-7], I can see the same thing as it is revealed to the apostle John in the Apocalypse [Revelation 6:2-8].  “First,” the Lord God says, “first, there will come on the scene the great deceiver, the great world deliverer, the great world savior” [Matthew 24:5], he is Satan’s masterpiece.  Satan always is an imitator.  There in the court of Pharaoh, when Moses and Aaron showed their signs before the king, Satan had his sorcerers and his witch doctors and his necromancers; he had them able to do those same marvelous signs [Exodus 7:11, 22, 8:7]: he’s an imitator, nothing original about Satan.  He never whispered a single new reason why a man should reject God since the days of the garden of Eden [Genesis 3:1-5].  And the things he whispers in your heart today about rejecting God are the things he’s been whispering ever since the beginning of creation.  There’s nothing original in Satan, nothing.  There’s no new quirks, there’s no new device, there’s no new appeal; it’s the same old thing through every generation.  He’s a great imitator, and so he imitates the Lord Christ here. 

As Christ is God’s Man, so Satan has his man; and his man will ultimately and finally appear [Matthew 24:5; Revelation 6].  When God’s people are taken away [1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 4:1] and the days of that terrible tribulation begin, the first thing that shall happen is: in the restlessness and in the revolution and in the prospect of a catastrophic war, there will appear this great, final dictator, this great, final world tyrant [Matthew 24:5].  And he will bring peace and he will bring every promise of affluence and prosperity.  And the nations of the world and the peoples of the earth shall flock after him.  “This is our Fuhrer, this is our Il Duce, this is our great leader, this is the savior and the hope of the world.”  And he comes riding a white horse, conquering and to conquer [Revelation 6:2]; the entire military and economic and political resources of the world are at his disposal and in his hands. 

Now, when you do that, when you make that identification, you will find that it will fit every prophecy in the Bible precisely.  For example: in the second Thessalonian letter, and the second chapter, God says, after this falling away, after this apostasy, and after God’s people are taken away, “The man of sin will be revealed” first [2 Thessalonians 2:3].  That’s the first thing that happens, the coming across of the stage of history of this white horseman [Revelation 6:2]. 

The first thing: “That man of sin will be revealed, the son of damnation, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God . . . [2 Thessalonians 2:3-4] the mystery of iniquity already works; only He that now preventeth prevents until He be taken out of the way” [2 Thessalonians 2:7]. God’s Holy Spirit in God’s people are here in this earth and as long as we’re here, that great denouement will not come to pass, Satan’s masterpiece cannot be revealed, the tribulation cannot come.  The fire and the flame and the fury cannot fall upon Sodom until Lot be taken hence, said the angel; “I can do nothing until thou be come hence” [Genesis 19:22].

First, God’s people have to be taken out.  But the minute Lot, even though he was a compromised Christian vexing his soul with the filthy conversation of Sodom [2 Peter 2:7], even though he was a compromised Christian, yet he was God’s man; he was a saved somebody.  And the angel said, “I can do nothing until ye be come hence” [Genesis 19:22].  And after Lot was taken away, the fire and the flames fell, the brimstone and the judgment of God [Genesis 22:24-25].  So it is here.  There is in this world what prevents this great and final judgment—it’s you!  It’s God’s people.  But there is coming a day when the Holy Spirit, housed and templed in the hearts of God’s people [1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19], will be taken out of the way.  And then the first thing, “And then shall that wicked one be revealed” [2 Thessalonians 2:8].

He will appear, Satan’s masterpiece, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His parousia, His appearing, His coming” [2 Thessalonians 2:8], in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of the Revelation [Revelation 19:11-20].  I’m just trying to say, to show you, that when you make that identification, it fits the prophecy all the way through. 

Now, let’s take one other, one other prophecy out of so many that you could discuss: and you would need a month solid speaking to follow through this prophecy in the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel.  One of the most significant and meaningful of all of the prophecies in the Word of God is the prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel.  It says there that this prince, this Antichrist, this Satan’s masterpiece, this great, false deceiver, it says that he will come in peace, and he will make his covenant with the people [Daniel 9:27].  He’s going to have the great systems of religion in this world back of him and for him.  The Roman church is going to acclaim him, just like it did Il Duce, just like it does any other Fuhrer or dictator by which they think they can strangle the life of a nation and of a people.  The Roman church is going to hail this dictator, this coming world tyrant. 

And the Jewish people find in him a marvelous surcease from the terrible afflictions that beset them on every hand.  And he’s going to write a treaty—all of this in the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel—and he’s going to write a treaty with the Jewish people, and they’re going to have their homeland, and they’re going to rebuild their temple, and they are going to reinstitute the Mosaic rituals and the sacrifices [Daniel 9:27].  And for a while, he is truly the savior of the world.  And the whole unbelieving world acclaims him, this masterpiece of Satan [Revelation 13:3]. 

Then according to the prophecy and according to the Revelation, then according to Daniel 9:27, and according to the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation [Revelation 13:7-8]—then in the midst of his meteoric rise to power and to conquest, then it is revealed what he really is: he’s the fiend of hell.  He’s the masterpiece of the devil.  He is the great Antichrist, the opposer and blasphemer of God [Revelation 13:6].  And in the midst, and in the midst of his career, he turns and he becomes the enemy of the Jewish nation [Revelation 13:7] and there is a wave of antisemitism like the earth has never known before [Revelation 13:15-17]. 

And then he turns on the Roman church, and according to the seventeenth chapter of the Book of the Revelation—and all of these things will come as we go through the book: that leader, that beast, that ruler with the ten horns, he shall hate the whore, and he shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire” [Revelation 17:16].  Oh, what this world dictator does as he moves across the stage of human history! 

Now I want you to remember and to bear in your mind that what you are reading here isn’t a peculiar thing, separate and apart from anything else that you have ever heard of.  This is the pattern of all history.  This is the story of all such Fuhrers.  I followed the career of four of them in my brief lifetime, and all four of them appeared in this same way.  First, he is the liberator of his people; he is the conqueror in the name of the great nation he represents.  He leads his people to conquest and to victory and then, and then the fiendish spirit of hell appears in him, and the world is plunged in blood.  Whether that Fuhrer or that Il Duce be Napoleon Bonaparte, or Frederick the Great, or Kaiser Bill, or Hitler, or Tojo, or Il Duce Mussolini, or Stalin—whatever his name—Caesar, Alexander the Great; named any time, anywhere in history, it follows the same pattern.

I just want you to see that these principles that God exhibits here in the Bible are eternal principles, and these things that happened before and these things that have happened in your lifetime are but adumbrations.  They are but sketches.  They are but outlines of that great and final denouement that shall come across the history of the world in that final and ultimate tribulation. 

So he comes [Revelation 6:2].  He comes first as the friend of humanity.  He is the patron of the Roman church.  He’s the friend of the Jewish nation and the people.  He gives each one what each one wants, and he leads this world out of death, and out of war, and out of all of the restless, convulsive revolutions by which it ferments.  He leads them into great heights: a white horse with a bow.  That is a bloodless conquest: no arrow, no shaft, and a stephanos, a crown of victory, and, “Conquering and to conquer” [Revelation 6:2].  He’s the world’s great dictator, sovereign ruler. 

And then, and then, these are the things that we shall follow after in the Revelation.  And then—now, all of that on the first horseman; just as rapidly as we can, keep your mind open, and let’s look at these other three:

3.6.1 - Revelation 6:1 Having taken the scroll from the Father, the Lamb now begins to open the seals. As each seal is opened, a new judgment comes upon the earth. John is shown the judgments associated with the first six seals. Now I saw The chapter break is unfortunate here. Recall that the previous chapter ended with the exaltation of the Lamb and the recognition of His unique worthiness to open the scroll sealed with seven seals (see commentary on Revelation 5:5[3.5.5] ). The scene of worship and praise which John beheld is an important precursor to the scenes of judgment to follow. “After five chapters of rather elaborate preparation, ‘the things which must happen soon’ (Rev. 1:1; 4:1) begin to unfold.”1 when the Lamb opened The Lamb had been slain to redeem men and the world Revelation 5:9[3.5.9] . Having paid the ultimate price, He is now worthy to open the first seal and initiate the steps which will lead to His global rule on earth. “Each time, with the opening of a seal, nothing is read from the scroll (Lenski), but actions occur that unquestionably match the corresponding part of the scroll exposed through each consecutive seal.”2 None of the horrendous judgments about to take place transpire until the Lamb opens a seal. Human history records a litany of wars, natural disasters, famines, and the like, but what is about to come forth upon the earth is completely unique. What has transpired up to now is the routine manifestation of human selfishness, sin, and the fallen world in which man lives. As Jesus explained, “all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Mtt. 24:6). But with the opening of the seals by the Lamb, a divinely-initiated series of judgments begin which are historically unique in a number of aspects: 1. Severity - The judgments are more severe than any previously experienced in history. This coming day is unique so there is “none like it” (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Mtt. 24:21; Mark 13:19; Rev. 3:10). (See Jacob’s Trouble and the Great Tribulation[2.13.4].) 2. Wrath of the Lamb - Unlike previous times when God the Father has manifested His wrath upon nations, this is the time of the “wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16). It is the Son, the Lamb of God, Who’s wrath is being manifested. 3. The Final Flowering of Sin - Humanism and Satanism will be at their apex on a global scale. The ascent of man, as humanists view human history, will have reached its apex—which is in reality its lowest point since the ascent is really a descent. At this time, there will be a full flowering of sin unique in all history for its depravity and extent. 4. Ushering in God’s Kingdom on Earth - The wrath of the Lamb which comes forth is not merely a disconnected judgment of sin. It is part and parcel of the sweeping away of the systems of man to make way for the promised Messianic Kingdom[5.2.39] on earth—the only kingdom which will never pass away. This last point, the ushering in of God’s earthly kingdom, can be seen in the similarities between the events found in this book when compared with the events leading to the establishment of the first Theocratic Kingdom on earth—when Israel was delivered from Egypt. There is a definite parallel between the supernatural preparation for the kingdom in history under Moses and the supernatural judgments which shall be poured out upon a rebellious world in preparation for the future Millennial Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ at His second advent. There is the same insolent challenge to the true God on the part of the Gentile powers (Ps. 2:1-3). There will be a similar gracious but infinitely greater preliminary miracle [like Ex. 7:12]—the Rapture[5.2.62] of the Church—warning men of the supremacy of Jehovah and the ultimate defeat of all who rebel against Him. There will be the same swift progression in the severity of the divine judgments which follow, and even a striking parallel in the nature of the judgments (cf. Rev. 6:1-17 through 18). There will be the same victorious outcome, the destruction of the antichrist and his armies in the judgment of Armageddon, and deliverance of the 3.6.1 - Revelation 6:1 323 people of Israel (Rev. 19:1-21). There will be another song of victory, significantly referred to as ‘the song of Moses... and the song of the Lamb’ (Rev. 15:1-3). 3 Everything which transpires from this point forward is completely within the control of God. For it is the Lamb Who initiates these events and there is no judgment, famine, or plague of demons which does not ultimately serve God’s purpose in what unfolds. This is seen by the frequently found phrase, it was given which attends both good and bad events recorded here (see commentary on Revelation 6:2). Since it is the Lamb Who unleashes the events about to transpire, we are not surprised by the close correlation between the sequence of events here and those which Jesus, the Lamb of God, taught would come (see The Synoptic Gospels[2.13.6]). They include:4 1. False Messiahs: Mtt. 24:5, 11; Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; Rev. 6:2. 2. Wars: Mtt. 24:6-7; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9; Rev. 6:4. 3. Famines: Mtt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:10; Rev. 6:5-6, 8. 4. Pestilences: Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:8. 5. Persecution: Mtt. 24:9; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17; Rev. 6:9-11. 6. Earthquakes: Mtt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:12. 7. Cosmic Phenomena: Mtt. 24:29; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:12-14. one of the seals Concerning the significance of the seals, see commentary on Revelation 5:1[3.5.1] . Each of the scroll’s seven seals (cf. Rev. 5:1) represents a specific divine judgment that will be poured out sequentially on the earth. The seals encompass the entire period of the Tribulation (Rev. 3:10), culminating with the return of Christ. It seems best to understand the first four seals as taking place during the first half of the Tribulation, the fifth stretching from the first into the second half, (called the “great tribulation” in Rev. 7:14 and lasting three and one-half years; Rev. 11:2; 12:6; 13:5) and the sixth and seventh taking place during that “great tribulation.” Apparently the seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments (Rev. 8:1-11:19) and the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:15) contains the seven bowl judgments (Rev. 16:1-21). The seven seals thus contain all the judgments to the end when Jesus Christ returns.5 As the Lamb opens the seals, a sequence of events are initiated which are closely parallel to Matthew 24 (also Mark 13 and Luke 21). The first four seals are set apart from the final three in their common representation by riders on horses. 324 A Testimony of Jesus Christ - Volume 1 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 6 Showers equates the birth pangs “beginning of sorrows” of Mtt. 24:4-8 with the first four seals of Revelation 6:1-8 and places them during the first half of the 70th week of Daniel.7 He also observes that the Day of the Lord[5.2.14] includes the notion of birth pangs (Isa. 13:6-10; 1Th. 5:3), so the first four seals are probably included within the first half of the 70th week (see The 70th Week of Daniel[2.13.5]). Since the beginning of birth pangs of Matthew 24 and the first four seals of Revelation 6 are the same thing, and since the broad Day of the Lord will include the beginning of birth pangs, we can conclude that the broad Day of the Lord will also include the first four seals of Revelation 6. . . . Since the beginning of birth pangs of the first half of the 70th week and the first four seals of Revelation 6 are the same thing, the divine wrath, anger, and destruction of the Day of the Lord will also be associated with the first four seals. 8 living creatures See commentary on Revelation 4:6[3.4.6] . voice like thunder Some speculate that the voice like thunder of the living creature may be the source of the seven thunders which John is prevented from recording (Rev. 10:3). However, the description of this voice is 3.6.1 - Revelation 6:1 325 probably meant to be an indication of its imposing volume to connect its command with the judgment to follow. See commentary on Revelation 4:5[3.4.5] . Come and see. Ἐρχου καὶ ἴδε [Erchou kai ide] (MT[5.2.45] ) or Ἐρχου καὶ ἴδου [Erchou kai idou] (TR[5.2.79] ). This phrase occurs in the TR and MT texts in conjunction with the loosing of each of the first four seals (Rev. 6:1, 3, 5, 7). These translations understand the living creature to be speaking to John. The NU[5.2.49] text omits καὶ ἴδε [kai ide], and see, understanding come as a command issued by the living creature to the rider of the horse bringing him forth in judgment. This would accord well with the emphasis found on the judgments being subject to divine control. The cry itself is very brief—Ἐρχου [Erchou]! It may be equally rendered Go, or Come! Our translators give it about as often one way as the other. It does not alter the sense here whichever way we take it. It is not an address to John, as many have regarded it, and as the questionable addition to the text—“and see”—would seem to require. John was already on the spot, beholding all that was transpiring, and did not need to be called any nearer, or to remove any further off. And if his nearer approach or further departure had been needed in the case of the first horseman, it could not have been needed for the succeeding ones. But we find the same command repeated in each successive instance. Neither can we explain why it should be such a voice of thundering power, if it was simply to call to the seer.9 3.6.2 - Revelation 6:2 white horse This white horse is the first of four horses of different colors, similar to the horses seen by Zechariah (Zec. 1:8; 6:2-6).10 See Zechariah’s Horses[4.19] for a discussion of the relationship between Zechariah’s visions and the horsemen shown John. Within the context of the book of Revelation, white represents righteousness. “The white horse . . . emerges as an emblem of righteousness, though there is no guarantee that the righteousness is more than apparent.”11 he who sat on it The similarities between this rider and Christ are striking: 1. Riding a White Horse - Both ride upon a white horse indicating victory (Rev. 6:2; 19:11). 2. Wearing a Crown - Both wear a crown (Rev. 6:2; 19:12). (But Christ wears multiple crowns.) 3. Overcome - Both are “overcomers”—victorious in their pursuits (Rev. 6:2; John 16:33; 1Jn. 4:4; Rev. 3:21; 17:14). Even so, this is not the white horse which carries He who is Faithful and True in Revelation 19:11. For it is the Lamb who has just loosed the first seal sending this horseman out. It violates all logic for the same person to be opening the seal and sending himself forth.12 “Moreover, it would be inappropriate to have an angelic being call forth Christ or his servants.”13 If Christ rides forth here, who is it that remains in heaven to open the remaining seals? 14 This rider carries a bow whereas Christ’s weapon is a sword (Rev. 2:12; 19:15). This rider is alone whereas Christ is followed by the armies in heaven also riding on white horses (Rev. 19:14). Finally, this rider sets forth at the beginning of the Tribulation whereas Christ rides forth at its end. In light of related passages, it seems best to understand this rider as representing a movement which ultimately culminates in the one whom Jesus described:15 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” (John 5:43). To an unsuspecting world he looks like Messiah, the political savior of mankind, yet he is a deceiver, the anti- or pseudo-Christ. Here is documented the initial appearance of the figure of the Antichrist[5.2.3] upon the stage of world history. Although there will be numerous false messiahs down through history, none as convincing and successful as this final figure.16 The Restrainer has been taken out of the way so that the Antichrist, the son of perdition, might be revealed in his own time (2Th. 2:6-7). He is the one who will be destroyed with the breath of the mouth of the Lamb (2Th. 2:8; Rev. 19:20). The 326 A Testimony of Jesus Christ - Volume 1 church has already been taken up for she watches for Christ, not Antichrist. See Rapture[4.14] , Imminency [4.8] . The beginning of birth pangs of Matthew 24 and the first four seals of Revelation 6 are the same thing and will occur during the first half of the seven years of the 70th week. In light of the fact that the beginning of birth pangs will involve false messiahs, it would appear that the rider of the first seal will be a false messiah. . . . Since, . . . God’s Holy Spirit has the function of restraining humanity’s lawlessness, and since the Antichrist will be the ultimate expression of human lawlessness, it would appear that Paul was indicating in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 that the restraining work of the Holy Spirit is the restraint that prevents the Antichrist from being revealed until the right time. The Holy Spirit will continue that restraining work until He, as the restrainer, is removed, at which time the Antichrist will be revealed. Since, as noted earlier, only God has the authority to remove the Holy Spirit’s restraint, and since the Antichrist will be revealed once that restraint is removed, we can conclude that it will be through divine activity that the Antichrist will be turned loose to conquer the world. . . . It is important to note that God declared He will raise up the foolish, idol shepherd (Zec. 11:16). 17 The rider on the white horse is more probably to be identified as the Antichrist. If this is not Antichrist, then Revelation does not place Antichrist on the scene of events before the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (in Rev. 13), and the rider is virtually unidentifiable.18 Pre-wrath rapture[5.2.62] advocate Marvin Rosenthal finds the idea of God’s release of the Antichrist to be “preposterous:” If the seals are God’s wrath, then God alone must take direct responsibility for a counterfeit religious system and the emergence of the Antichrist, for that is precisely what the first seal depicts. To attribute the emergence of the Antichrist to God is obviously preposterous. . . . To suggest that the first four seals are God’s wrath is totally unfounded. It strains reason to think that once God begins His Day of the Lord[5.2.14] wrath, the Antichrist is able to assume control of the world.19 But to take any other view—that the manifestation of Antichrist is under the control of Satan or man— is opposed to biblical teaching. Even if the restrainer is taken to be something or someone other than God Himself (a view we do not hold), who is it that takes the Restrainer “out of the way” so that the “lawless one” is revealed (2Th. 2:6-7)? If the revealing of Antichrist is not subject to the precise timing and permission of God, then what are we to make of a tremendous number of biblical passages which assert the absolute sovereignty of God over all things? Rosenthal lacks an adequate view of the sovereignty of God and how He redirects sin and the depravity of man toward His own ends. There are many examples where sin accomplishes God’s purpose, yet those who sin remain fully responsible for their actions. God is not the author of sin, but all things serve His purpose in the end (Mtt. 24:26; Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22; Acts 2:22-23). See Who is the Restrainer?[4.14.4.2] . The first six seals. . . are thus set here, in order to show us that these judgments do not arise from chance, but are all under Divine control. The great False Messiah of the first Seal cannot be revealed until the appointed moment shall have come and the voice from the throne gives the permissive command “Go!” The judgments cannot fall until the same command is given.20 a bow The bow is a symbol representing strength (Job 29:20; 30:11; Eze. 39:3). Some understand the mention of a bow, but no arrows as an indication of his initial deception by peace and agreement (Dan. 9:27). “The Antichrist is seen riding a white war-horse, and with bow in hand, but with no arrow fitted to it. The symbol suggests bloodless victories.”21 Like Antiochus Epiphanes before him, he would “come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue . . . and after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully” (Dan. 11:21-23). And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future. (Dan. 8:23- 3.6.2 - Revelation 6:2 327 26) There is no question among expositors that Antiochus is in view in this prophecy. What was prophesied was fulfilled literally through him. However, the prophecy looks beyond Antiochus to a future person (the Antichrist) of whom Antiochus is only a foreshadowing. This coming one is said to “stand against the Prince of princes” (Dan. 8:25). This can be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the prophecy must go beyond Antiochus and look forward to the coming of one whose ministry will parallel that of Antiochus. From Antiochus certain facts can be learned about the forthcoming desecrator: (1) He will achieve great power by subduing others (Dan. 8:24). (2) He will rise to power by promising false security (Dan. 8:25). (3) He will be intelligent and persuasive (Dan. 8:23). (4) He will be controlled by another (Dan. 8:24), that is, Satan. (5) He will be an adversary of Israel and subjugate Israel to his authority (Dan. 8:24-25). (6) He will rise up in opposition to the Prince of princes, the Lord Jesus Christ (Dan. 8:25). (7) His rule will be terminated by divine judgment (Dan. 8:25). So it may be concluded that there is a dual reference in this striking prophecy. It reveals Israel’s history under the Seleucids and particularly under Antiochus during the time of Greek domination, but it also looks forward to Israel’s experiences under Antichrist, whom Antiochus foreshadows.22 So before the terrors of the Tribulation break loose and lead to the battle of Armageddon there will come a period of world peace. But it will be a deceptive peace, as the world is lulled into a false sense of security followed by war, famine, and death. The world’s desperate desire for international peace will serve as the bait for the satanic trap. That longing for security and safety will play into the hands of Antichrist, Satan’s ruler, who will convince the world that he can provide them. He will particularly deceive Israel, whose people have for so long desired peace, and he “will make a firm covenant with the many [Israel] for one week” (Dan. 9:27). Antichrist’s peace pact and protection of Israel will not last, however: “in the middle of the week [the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy; the Tribulation] he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” (Dan. 9:27). The false peace that Antichrist brings will come to an abrupt halt at the midpoint of the Tribulation when he desecrates the temple in Jerusalem, betrays the Jewish people, and launches deadly attacks on them (cf. Mtt. 24:4-10). There can and will be no peace until the Prince of Peace sets up His earthly kingdom (Rev. 20:1-6).23 Like Antiochus before him, the Antichrist plays a special role in relation to Israel during the events to come: God will have specific purposes for bringing Antichrist on the world scene. One purpose will be the punishment of Israel. . . . [the] desolation of Israel by the Antichrist will be part of God’s judgment of the nation because it rejected its Messiah in His first coming [John 5:43]. . . . A second purpose will be the repentance of Israel. . . . God will bring the Antichrist on the world scene to play a major role in shattering [Israel’s] rebellion [Dan. 12:7]. . . . A third purpose will be the judgment of the world. . . . God will judge the world by giving it the kind of ruler it deserves. . . . A fourth purpose will be the exposure of the world’s unbelief. God will bring the Antichrist on the world scene and permit him to make his claim to be God to demonstrate mankind’s unbelief, . . . A fifth purpose will be the instigation of the final showdown between Christ and Satan’s forces and the defeat of those forces.24 a crown στέφανος [stephanos], generally used of a victor’s crown or wreath, but not always. A widespread, but erroneous teaching is that this crown, being a stephanos and not a diadema, indicates that the rider cannot be Christ.25 Not so, for Christ is also found wearing such a crown (Mtt. 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2, 5; Heb. 2:9). Evidence that this rider is other than Christ must be derived from other factors (see above). See Crowns[4.6] . was given to him ἐδόθη [edothē] , passive voice. Although the rider likely believes he has gained his own crown for himself (cf. Isa. 45:1-4; Pr. 21:1; Dan 2:21; 2:37; 4:25, 31-32; 5:21), it is only his by permission. Everything which proceeds from the opening of the seals is subject to the permission of the one seated on the throne and the Lamb. The sovereignty of God is heavily emphasized throughout the book of Revelation—there is nothing which transpires that God Himself does not grant authority for it. This is seen in the frequently-found phrase was given which denotes the granting of permission to an agent from another, namely God (Rev. 6:2, 4, 8, 11; 7:2; 8:3; 9:1, 3, 5; 11:1; 13:5, 7, 14-15; 16:8; 19:8; 20:4). The first horseman is granted his crown (Rev. 6:2), the second horseman is given to take peace with a great sword (Rev. 6:4); Death and Hades, who ride with the third horsemen are given authority 328 A Testimony of Jesus Christ - Volume 1 to kill a fourth part of the earth (Rev. 6:8), the four angels are given the power to hurt the earth and sea (Rev. 8:3), the star from heaven is given the key to loosen the demonic locusts from the abyss (Rev. 9:1) who were themselves given power to torment men (Rev. 9:5), the beast is given authority to continue for forty two months (Rev. 13:5) and to make war against the saints and overcome them (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 13:7), the fourth bowl is given the ability to scorch men (Rev. 16:8). All of these horrific and terrible realities—the very manifestation and flowering of sin of which God is no author— are harnessed for His purposes. The troubling and yet comforting reality is that there is no creature which ultimately does not serve God’s purpose , either willingly or unwillingly. Troubling, because in the inscrutable purpose of God such evil is allowed to continue. Comforting, because everything we suffer is subject to God’s approval and purpose (Job 2:6; Rom. 8:28). “How irresistible the grasp of Omnipotence on the powers and forces of evil. They are effectually bridled till the plans of God are ripe and ready for action.”26 Once the reality of God’s sovereignty is understood, the bondage of Satan is seen for what it is. For Satan has less freedom in rebellion against God than he once had in obedient service of the Master. he went out conquering and to conquer νικων και ἵνα νικήση [nikōn kai hina nikēsē], both conquering and conquer are from νικάω [nikaō], the same root as overcomer. Thus, he is another overcomer (Rev. 11:7) to be contrasted with the True Overcomer Who is Christ (Rev. 5:5; 17:14). He will be endowed with the most extraordinary powers, so that “he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people” (Dan. 8:24). Before his exploits the fame of Alexander and Napoleon will be forgotten. None will be able to stand before him. He will go “forth conquering and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2). He will sweep everything before him so that the world will exclaim, “Who is like unto the Beast[5.2.9] ? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4). His military exploits will not be confined to a corner, but carried out on a vast scale. He is spoken of as the man who will “shake kingdoms” and “make the earth to tremble” (Isa. 14:16).27 Ezekiel 34:23-30 says that when God establishes His covenant of peace with Israel, the covenant will result in safety, peace with nations, and the elimination of harmful beasts by famine. By contrast, when the Antichrist establishes his covenant of peace with Israel [Dan. 9:27], God will inflict the world with conditions opposite of those His covenant of peace will bring. He will unleash war (the sword) [the second seal, Rev. 6:3-4], famine (the third seal, Rev. 6:5-6), and harmful beasts (the fourth seal, Rev. 6:7-8) upon the earth to demonstrate that the Antichrist’s covenant of peace is not the covenant of peace that will bring true safety, as foretold in the Old Testament.28

1. The first seal 6:1-2 6:1 "I saw" marks the continuation of what John had seen that chapters 4 and 5 recorded, but also the commencement of revelation concerning future events on earth. Chapters 1—5 have introduced this revelation. John was an eyewitness of this revelation that came to him like action scenes in a film, rather than as words from the pages of a book. When the Lamb broke ("one") the first of the "seven seals" on the scroll that He had taken from God, "one of the four living creatures" loudly invited someone to "Come." This was probably an invitation to the first horseman, rather than to John or to Christ. An angel gave this command (Gr. imperative) four times (vv. 1, 3, 5, 7), and each time a horseman on a horse came forth. This is the first of several indications in Revelation that there is a hierarchical structure among the angels, in which some angels give instructions to other angels (cf. 7:2-3; 14:15, 18; Zech. 2:3-5). 6:2 John saw a "horse," which was a war machine in his day (cf. Job 39:19- 25; Ps. 76:5-6; Prov. 21:31), and its rider (cf. Zech. 1:7-11; 6:2-3; Jer. 14:12; 24:10; 42:17). The horse was "white," symbolizing victory, righteousness, and holiness. White has these connotations in other places in Scripture. A Roman conqueror typically rode a white horse in a triumphant procession.345 The horse gave an appearance of purity, but that does not necessarily mean the rider was righteous. "When men wage war they always pretend to be fighting for righteousness."346 The first four seal judgments involve riders riding horses of various colors. This imagery recalls Zechariah 1:8 and 6:1-8. However, the horses and horsemen in Revelation evidently represent something different from those in Zechariah, as comparison of these texts suggests. The rider carried "a bow" (cf. Ps. 46:9; Jer. 51:56; Hos. 1:5; Zech. 9:13- 14), symbolizing the threat of war. The rider threatens war (cf. Num. 24:8; Ps. 45:5; Zech. 9:14), but it does not occur, probably because he accomplishes victory through, at least outwardly, "peaceful" means. Someone, evidently God, gave him an imperial "crown" (Gr. stephanos), anticipating an authoritative career (cf. 9:1, 3, 5; 13:5, 7, 14, 15). Conquerors also wore this type of crown.347 The sovereign God is the only One who can give human rulers authority to rule (cf. Rom. 13:1). 345Robertson, 6:340. 346D. T. Niles, As Seeing the Invisible, p. 58. 347Swete, p. 86. 84 Dr. Constable's Notes on Revelation 2016 Edition "All events in the apocalyptic section of the book are initiated from the throne described in chapter 4 . . ., and must be understood in that light. Though indirect, all that transpires under the seals is in implementation of the 'book of doom' through the agency of the Lamb introduced in chapter 5."348 "A Roman army had had actually to surrender to Vologeses, the king of the Parthians. It was seldom in history that such shame and ignominy had come to the arms of Rome. Now the Parthians rode on white horses and they were the most famous bowmen in the world. The bowmen of the Parthians were the terror of the world, and even the conquerors of unconquerable Rome."349 This rider rode out "conquering" his enemies, and "to conquer," that is, bent on future conquests. There have been many suggestions concerning who or what this rider represents. These include a Roman emperor, the Parthian invasion of the Roman Empire,350 Messiah, and the Antichrist. Others have taken him to represent the Word of God, a personification of judgment, the victorious course of the gospel, warfare in general, triumphant militarism, or the personification of ungodly movements. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus predicted that a number of individuals will mislead many people (cf. Matt. 24:5, 24; Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8). This has led some interpreters to conclude that a personification of ungodly activity is what the rider represents in this verse.351 The most probable view is that this is a prophecy of Antichrist, who will make a covenant with Israel, but only as a pretense for destroying the Jews (cf. Dan. 9:27; 1 Thess. 5:3).352 Daniel Wong concluded that the horseman is either Antichrist, or a trend or movement of which he is the chief example.353 Several writers have argued that he is Christ.354 However, the crown that this rider wears is a victor's crown (Gr. stephanos), whereas the crowns that Christ will wear when He comes back to earth (19:12) are royal crowns (Gr. diadema). Newell believed that the "rider" (singular) on all four horses, in the first through the fourth seal judgments, is Jesus Christ.355 He viewed these 348Thomas, Revelation 1—7, p. 423. 349Barclay, 2:5. 350See Moffatt, 5:388-89. 351Thomas, Revelation 1—7, p. 422. 352See J. Dwight Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come, p. 250. 353Daniel K. K. Wong, "The First Horseman of Revelation 6," Bibliotheca Sacra 153:610 (April-June 1996):212-26. 354E.g., Zane C. Hodges, "The First Horseman of the Apocalypse," Bibliotheca Sacra 119:476 (October 1962):324-34; and Jack MacArthur, Expositional Comentary on Revelation, p. 137. 355Newell, pp. 102-6. 2016 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Revelation 85 judgments as an overview of the Lord Jesus' judgment on the world, that he believed the following chapters reveal in more detail. Aune believed that this first rider represents warfare, and that the following three riders represent the stereotypical evils of warfare: sword, famine, and plague.356

a. The opening of the first four seals of the scroll brings forth what is

known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ian Boxall remarks (p. 103): "Few scenes

in John's book have been as influential in art, literature, and wider culture as this. Perhaps its

most famous representation is Albrecht Dürer's woodcut in which the four ride out together,

trampling bishops, princes and merchants in their wake, an indication that power and

prestige cannot render human beings immune from what John sees."

b. Rider on white horse – conquest and militarism

(1) The Lamb of chapter 5, the Lord Jesus, is the one who

opens the seals because he is the only one worthy to open them. When he opens the first

seal, one of the four living creatures thunders "Come!" and then John sees a white horse

with a rider who has a bow and a victor's crown (not a royal crown) that was given to him,

meaning he was permitted by God to have his victories. This rider came out conquering, and

to conquer, which indicates his lust for conquest. He was intent on conquering more than he

had already conquered.

(2) Though some have argued that this rider on the white

horse is the Lord Jesus, since Jesus is described in 19:11-16 as coming on a white horse to

destroy his enemies, but as Beasley-Murray notes (p. 131), "this is to play havoc with the

whole scheme of John's vision." The only similarity between this rider on the white horse

and Jesus in 19:11-16 is the color of the horse! Everything in this chapter indicates that the

rider represents some form of distress or hardship, and not only is Christ already represented

in the vision as the one opening the seals, but he certainly would not appear as merely one of

the Four Horsemen.

(3) Leon Morris states (p. 101) that white was the color of

victory, and R. H. Charles cites in his commentary (1:162) a number of triumphant warriors

who rode white horses. The bow in the O.T. was a symbol of military power (e.g., Hos. 1:5;

13

Jer. 51:56), and at this time may have been particularly associated with the Parthians, a

warlike federation of tribes east of the Euphrates River that had defeated an invading Roman

army in A.D. 62. "They were known as mounted warriors, and their cavalry were especially

known for their formidable archery" (Keener, 202202).

(4) With the majority of commentators (Smalley, 150), this

rider is a symbol of conquest and militarism. As Jesus said in Matthew 24, this present age,

the age of birth pains, will see "nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom."

That has been the case.

The rider on the “white horse” is a picture of the Antichrist, the final world ruler, as a counterfeit of Christ at his return. Read Rev.19:11 2) He carries a “a bow” with no arrows. The Antichrist appears to come in peace, but is “bent on conquest.”

“Now I saw” or “Then I saw” (KJV) is a common phrase in Revelation that introduces a shift in what is seen, not necessarily a change in time period. Now that the stage has been set on Earth (Chapters 2 and 3) and in Heaven (Chapters 4 and 5), what will happen in the future (“which will take place after this” - 1:19; 4:1) begins to be revealed to John with the breaking of the first seal.

“Thunder” indicates something radically different and ominous about to happen.

“White horse” is the symbol of a conqueror. When the Messiah returns as King of Kings to defeat His foes and establish His kingdom on Earth, He is depicted as riding on a white horse (19:11). This, however, is not the Messiah, because (1) the Lamb is the one opening the seal, not the one revealed in the opening of the seal; (2) it occurs at the beginning rather than at the end of the Final Seven Years; (3) his weapon is a bow - a worldly weapon; the Lord will destroy His enemies with a “sword” that comes from His mouth (His Word - cf. Ephesians 6:17); and (4) after the Messiah returns at the end of the seven years and defeats His enemies, He will establish peace on Earth, rather than His victory being followed by all the terrible events portrayed in the breaking of the succeeding six seals, especially the martyrdom of His People (6:9-10).

The rider of this white horse represents the spirit of the anti-messiah, who will control the rulers of the earth during the first half of the Final Seven Years (cf. 1 John 2:18). At the midpoint of the Final Seven Years, the literal anti-messiah - the evil “prince who is to come”(Daniel 9:26), the “man of sin,” the “son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), the “lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2:9), “Antimessiah” (1 John 2:18), and the “beast” who rises out of the sea (13:1)—will establish his global kingdom on earth (cf. the commentary on 17:17). Antimessiah’s role as world conqueror during the Final Seven Years, until the plagues of the judgments of Yahuah destroy his global kingdom (cf. Daniel 11:36), will become clear as we proceed through the Revelation.

The bow is the most common biblical symbol of war. But notice that there is no mention of this conqueror having arrows. Both Daniel and Revelation indicate that the evil prince who is to come will conquer not by brute force but primarily by sinister intrigue - by deceiving the world into following him (cf Daniel 8:23, 25; Revelation 13:3, 4).

His authority to rule is given to him by Satan (13:4). This is another indication that this conqueror is not Yahushua. The true Messiah has no need to be given the authority to rule the world, which He, as Yahuah the Son, created (John 1:1-3). The “crown” he wears is actually a wreath (Greek: stephanos), as worn by Greek or Roman conquerors - not the same as the “crowns” (Greek: diadema) that will be worn by the King of Kings when He returns with the armies of Heaven to restore His kingdom on Earth (19:12, 14, 16).

Antimessiah’s obsession is to conquer the world and fully establish it as his kingdom in the place of the rightful King of Kings, as Satan wanted to supplant Yahuah in Heaven (cf. Isaiah 14:13-14). “Antimessiah”(1 John 4:3) in the Greek does not just mean “against the Messiah,” it also means “in the place of the Messiah.” He is the false messiah. The white horse and "crown" also seem to indicate that this is not some dark, sinister-appearing figure, but is the counterfeit messiah whom the whole world will follow and worship (13:3, 4).

The First Seal (6:1-2): “Then I saw8 when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come.’ I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” John was an eyewitness of this revelation that came to him as action scenes in a film rather than as words from the pages of a book. When the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll that He had taken from God, one of the four creatures (cf. Rev 4:6-7) called out with a voice of thunder. The “voice of thunder” is symbolic of judgment, as a coming storm. It is a voice of terror, majesty, and judgment! The command given is, “Come.” This was probably an invitation to the first horseman rather than to John or to Christ. The angel gave this command four times (6:1, 3, 5, 7), and each time a horseman on a horse came forth. In 6:2, a rider came riding on a white horse with a bow and a crown for the purpose of conquering.

This verse does not say who rides this “white horse.”9 However, it is most likely the coming Antichrist (Dan 9:26-27; 1 Thess 5:3).10 This rider represents a conquering power that no one can resist (cf. Matt 24:3-6). This person has the semblance of Christ but he is not Christ (cf. Rev 19:11-19). He comes as a deceiver.11

The horse was considered a war machine in biblical times.12 “White” symbolizes righteousness and holiness.13 The bow, mentioned without reference to arrows, does not intimate, as many suggest, that the rider is engaged in “peaceful conquest” by diplomacy and without bloodshed. For it is common in the Scriptures for the bow, as a symbol of hunting or of warfare, to be mentioned alone and still to symbolize violent conquest (e.g., Isa 41:2). This is analogous to frequent references in Western America to riders going forth with rifles, without mention of bullets. The bullets—and likewise the arrows—are assumed.14 He also has a “crown.”15 Evidently, God gave him this crown.16 The sovereign God is the only One who can give rulers authority to rule (cf. Rom 13:1). This crown represents his world dictatorship.

At this point, I should mention that although the Antichrist’s reign includes war, it also includes peace. Peace is a buzzword today. Many of the world’s greatest thinkers speak of the need of a one-world government—a new world order. The Antichrist will camp on this and make “peace” his campaign message. Of course the world will buy in, which will allow him to be enthroned on earth as a “god” and political leader.

A number of years ago, the newspapers carried a story of a woman in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who named the United Nations as the beneficiary of her $700,000 estate, “in the fervent hope that this relatively small contribution may be of some effect in bringing about universal peace on earth and good will among men.” Upon reading this account, J. Vernon McGee, the well-known radio preacher, commented, “[That woman] poured [her] money down a rat hole,” because you cannot buy peace with $700,000 or even $700 trillion.17 Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is the only way to find peace.

Intro: As you come into chapter 6, as you know if you've been with us, the music of praise that occupied chapters 4 and 5 has ended and the stirrings of judgment that began at the throne as far back as chapter 4 verse 5 where you see some flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. Well that anticipated judgment breaks into action in chapter 6. Every dimension of our culture, even dimension of our society is escalating on the down slide, being devastated by depravity, more and more given over to lust and pride and self-indulgence, immorality and rejection of God and Christ and the truth of Scripture. And thus man is sentenced, his whole world is sentenced to divine wrath. Man will drink the cup of wrath to the fullest. Jeremiah the prophet, you'll remember, looked at the coming period of God's judgment in reference to Israel and what they would have to face when he wrote, "Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is the time of Jacob's trouble," Isaiah, on the other hand, looked also at the final wrath and saw it not so much from the perspective of the Jews, but in chapter 34 of Isaiah he looked at it with reference to the Gentiles. In verse 1, "Draw near, O nations, to hear and listen, O peoples, let the earth and all it contains hear and the world and all that springs from it," he's engulfing all of humanity, "For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations and His wrath against all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter so their slain will be thrown out, their corpses will give off their stench, the mountains will be drenched with their blood and all the host of heaven will wear away and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll. All their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from a fig tree, for my sword is satiated in heaven. Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction, the sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is sated with fat with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom." there will come a final day of judgment. For the Jews it will be the time of Jacob's trouble, and for the Gentiles it will be the slaughter of the world.

The first four seals out of the seven take up the first half of the period known as the Tribulation.  The fifth seal is kind of the bridge in the middle, the event in the middle, stretching into the second half, the sixth and seventh seal are the final judgments are the second half of this seven-year period. So the midpoint, the fifth seal here is really the persecution. It also has a very unique event within that persecution called the abomination of desolations. That is that which was spoken of in Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 to 27. That is when the Antichrist desecrates the temple in Jerusalem, starts the persecution of Christians, the persecution of Jews and sets himself up as God. And then there is worldwide persecution. After that, in the second half, what Jesus called in Matthew 24 "the Great Tribulation," that was the name of the second half, the first half, the beginning of the birth pains, the second half the Great Tribulation, and in that second half the persecution continues, then comes the sixth seal and then the final, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the slaughter of the ungodly.

The abomination then effected by the Antichrist in Jerusalem, according to Daniel 9:27, is at the midpoint of the seventy-year period. Daniel says it happens in the very middle of the week. Sometime around the middle. That triggers the Great Tribulation. That's the switch that throws humanity into the Great Tribulation, the final three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days before the coming of Christ, the final two seals, the final trumpets and the final bowl judgments.

The scene then is God and God is about to unleash judgment.  Around His throne is lightning and thunder.  In the midst of this there is glorious worship of God by the redeemed and raptured church and by the angels. The Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah comes forth and takes the scroll. God takes back His universe.

The first seal is opened and when that seal is opened a drama plays out.

 "Come, and I looked and behold a white horse and He who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given Him and He went out conquering and to conquer."  Here is the first seal.  This then is the description of the first event, the first feature of the end when the Lord takes back His world.

For many years many Christians have been taught that things in the world are heading inexorably toward final war.  We have all been told that we are headed for Armageddon, that we perhaps are headed for a nuclear holocaust, maybe that's what Peter had in mind when he says the elements will melt with fervent heat.  That everything in our society and our world is going to deteriorate and deteriorate and deteriorate until the holocaust breaks loose.  The world, we've been told, is going to fall into deeper and deeper chaos, confusion, disaster and death.  We have all heard the gloom and doom message, the message of escalating war, crime, financial collapse, etc.  We know and even the scriptures says it, there will be wars and earthquakes and famines and plagues.  We look at the world around us and we see people concerned about the character of society, concerned about finance, concerned about food and the food supply, concerned about fuel and the fuel supply, concerned about pollution and environment.

We all have been told that we face in these areas, the areas of our social order and our money and our food and our fuel and our environment, we face doom's day.  We face insurmountable dilemmas that will drive the globe into an ultimately living hell.  We're on the slide to destruction.

But is that really the scene?  Yes, ultimately, but no, temporarily.  Actually before the worst comes and it will come, there are going to be good times.  I believe we are headed for worldwide peace, worldwide prosperity, safety, security.  Before things get bad, they're going to get better.  In fact, many world leaders are convinced of this.  

But for the most part the great powers of the world are moving away from separation to unification.  (Ten horned Kingdom) We're seeing the unification of Europe, something we perhaps thought we would never see.  We all assumed the Soviet Union would stay in tack until the very end and be the king of the north that came down and destroyed and overpowered Israel.  We have watched western and eastern Europe come together in unification.  We are watching even now the pulling down of trade barriers.  They're talking about common currency.  They're talking about eliminating all of the trade barriers to facilitate a common economy so that the rich can help the poor become richer.

The western hemisphere where we live we're very close to having a trade bargain, or whatever you want to call it, pact with Mexico and Canada 

Tremendous, tremendous effort going on in the various think tanks of our world to come up with means by which the unification of the world can occur.  Robert Mueller has been called the philosopher of the United Nations and its prophet of hope.  Mueller has served the United Nations for thirty-three years and has performed diplomatic missions all over the world.  Today he is the assistant secretary general to the United Nations, he's in charge of coordinating the work of thirty-two specialized agencies and world programs for the U.N.  He's got to be one of the best informed men in the world.  And Mueller is convinced, and I quote, "That there will be no third world war between the big powers," end quote.  But instead, he says, "We're headed for a new age and a new world, a new Genesis, a true global, God-abiding, political, moral and spiritual renaissance to make this planet at long last what it was always meant to be, the planet of God," end quote.

He claims to be a good Catholic.  His God, however, is not the personal God of the Bible, but the cosmic force who is pulling together unification all over the globe. 

Herman Kahn, head of the Hudson Institute, a New York research organization dedicated to predicting the future, says, quote: "Even with all the problems we now face, mankind in the U.S. have a great future."  He says, "Many of the fears plaguing Americans today will be all but forgotten in coming years."  He says, he predicts, "The population explosion will soon fizzle.  The birthrate will drop and the world population will stabilize about ten billion.  The world is not running out of natural resources, since vast supplies lie untapped in space and in the earth's oceans.  We have plenty of energy and will never run out of fossil fuel since there's enough coal alone to last hundreds of years.  In addition to nuclear power there is also solar energy and thermal heat beneath the earth's surface in an almost unlimited potential that we have scarcely begun to develop.  All of the pollution problems that now seem so serious will eventually be solved.  The inflation rate will drop below five percent and there will be a worldwide economic boom.  Computers will be the key to much of the above and a genetic engineering will make food plentiful and cheap by developing new edible plants that can be grown in salt water," end quote.

He's not alone.  There are many like him, leaders and analysts who believe that all the energy and all the attention and all the creative juices flowing to problem solving in our world are going to bring us to an age that man may think is an age of utopia, an age of peace and an age of prosperity.  We've gotten a little taste of that, haven't we, with the ending of the cold war.  When that age comes, when that time of world peace comes, earth's war weary inhabitants are going to greet the peace with ecstasy.  They're going to be convinced that utopia has arrived.  It's going to look as if all the problems are solved.  Finally, international peace and a certain degree of prosperity for everyone.  We've watched as the iron bars of communism have crumbled to dust.  We've watched as the invincible communist power has fallen, willingly.  We've even heard communist leaders apologizing for their past conduct.

No less than Pope John Paul II looked at all this dramatic change and announced that the world was, quote: "At a very special moment as if awakened from a nightmare and opened up to a better hope," so says U.S.A. Today in December of 1989.  The Pope says we're coming to a better day.  People are talking as if the candle or the flame of hope has never burned brighter.  Is there peace on the horizon?  Will there really be worldwide peace?  Will we really miss a third world war and enter into an age of prosperity with falling trade barriers and facility to move in and out of the places in this world and be accepted?  Will there be such an economic flattening out that the rich will share with the poor and the wise with the foolish?  And the answer is yes.

The Bible predicts such a time.  The Bible predicts that there's coming a world peace, it will come.  But listen, it will be a deceptive peace.  It will be a false sense of security.  It will be the most subtle and the most deceptive trap that's ever been set because it will catch the world in it.  And they'll be caught and they'll be destroyed.  The trap is being set right now, psychologically, socially, politically, economically and religiously.  And it is luring the world right in.  International peace is the bait.  It's the bait for the trap in which the human race will be caught to feel the full and final unleashing of God's wrath.  We're headed for peace.

In a speech to the American people, President Bush said this, "We're beginning a new era.  This new era can be full of promise, an age of freedom, a time of peace for all peoples.  But if history teaches us anything, it is that we must resist aggression or it will destroy our freedoms, appeasement does not work."  He is saying we have to maintain some kind of strength in this but we're headed for peace.

Months before that, Mikhail Gorbachev had already optimistically said, quote: "We see a budding world order in which peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation based on goodwill will be universal norms."  Everybody is talking about world peace.

We would do well to remind ourselves that an optimistic confidence that peace was assured characterized Europe precisely before World War II.  Sir Winston Churchill never did buy in to Hitler's offer to sell peace.  William Manchester's biography of Sir Winston Churchill confronts us with the unpleasant and haunting reminders of Hitler, a man who came extremely close to being the Antichrist, yet deceived the world with his promises of peace.  Listen to what Manchester wrote, "Thomas Jones who had been in and out of Whitehall for a quarter century wrote in his diary, `All sorts of people who have met Hitler are convinced that he's a factor for peace.  He doesn't seek war but friendship.  Meeting the press after he had been closeted with Hitler for an hour, Lloyd George said he regarded him as the greatest living German.  A year later he wrote, "I only wish we had a man of his supreme quality at the head of affairs in our country today."'"  He's talking about Hitler.

Nazi goals were even applauded by Anglican clergymen, a group of whom expressed, quote: "Boundless admiration for the moral and ethical side of the Nazi program, its clear stand for religion and Christianity and its ethical principles," end quote.

Sir John Simon, his majesty's foreign secretary from 1931 to 1935, saw in Hitler not arrogance but a man rather retiring and bashful and unconcerned with affairs in Western Europe.  Later he described Hitler to King George, quote: "As an Austrian John of Arc with a moustache."

Arnold J. Toynbee equally spellbound by the reich chancellor declared, "That he was convinced of Hitler's sincerity in desiring peace in Europe and close friendship with England."  Talk about getting sucked in.

Churchill was never deceived by Hitler.  But he stood almost alone.  The deception was practically universal.  Almost everybody misread Hitler and they walked right into his false peace and were slaughtered.

It's going to happen again only it won't be Hitler, it will be Antichrist.  And everybody will think he wants peace and he'll be the next Joan of Arc, with or without moustache.

I really think that the political openness of eastern Europe, the political openness of the world is more surely a move toward the false peace of Antichrist than the true peace of Jesus Christ.  Religion will also be a factor, religious ecumenism will also be a factor in this global unity, everybody coming together for the purposes of science and medicine and economics and food and all of those things we talked about.  But I think also religion has got to get involved in this because religion can keep people apart, so there's got to be somehow a barrier coming down between religions.  Religious ecumenism is a very key player in this global unity.  Religion has divided people.  There has been deep running animosity between Catholics and Protestants and Hindus and Moslems and on and on.  And if this is going to happen, a global tolerance in a worldwide peace, religions are going to have to openly accept each other.  They're going to have to ignore doctrine and they're going to have to ignore traditional differences.  And they're going to have to form sort of one religious force...particularly if it's all going to be sort of controlled by Antichrist.

Well it's happening.  There are so many illustrations that we could be here for hours just giving you practical illustrations of the move toward a one-world religion, toward tolerance for everything.  And by the way, at the same time I have to say parenthetically, intolerance for true Christianity.  Intolerance for true Christianity will escalate in this process.  Hostility toward us will escalate.  But I believe, as I've noted for you, that the church is raptured before the false peace comes so we'll be out of the way and they'll think that the biggest barrier has been removed. 

Let me give you some illustrations.  Mother Theresa whom you know I have met and spoken with, and those who work with her never attempt to convert dying Hindus to Christ.  I've been in her home for the dying over in Calcutta and gone through it. She showed us through it, spent some time with her in the sisters quarters there as well as in that very place.  She never tries to convert dying Hindus to Christ.  She says, quote, "If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are.  What God is in your mind you must accept," end quote.  She really doesn't care whether you're a Hindu, a Muslim, a Catholic or what you are, as long as you come face to face with God...whatever that is.

One of the most widely read Catholic writers of our time is a man by the name of Thomas Merton.  If you have hung around any Catholics who are sort of in to the mystical end of Catholicism, they've talked about him.  He's a very, very influential writer.  And he has a warmth and a passion about him that makes him very believable.  A month before his death, Merton told an ecumenical gathering of representatives from numerous religions in Calcutta, quote: "My dear brothers, we are already one, but we imagine that we are not.  And what we have to discover is our original unity."  What he is saying is we have artificial barriers, we're all really just one, all of us whatever religion.  He was echoing the sentiment of Mother Theresa and what many other Catholics, including Popes, have long been saying.

There are many Catholics who today are involved in intolerant of Transcendental Meditation, Zen and Yoga and Eastern Mysticism.  A man by the name of Cardinal Ratzinger, a Vatican guardian of Catholic orthodoxy, issued a twenty-three page letter in mid December 1989 to three thousand Roman Catholic bishops.  And in that letter the statement that he gave, which was approved by John Paul II, did not condemn eastern mysticism or New Age medication or Yoga technique but in fact suggested, quote: "Taking from them what is useful."  John Paul II has publicly encouraged such a syncretistic attitude.  At the Universities of Calcutta and New Delhi in his 1986 visit to India, the Pope told the Hindu audiences, and I quote, "India's mission is crucial because of her intuition of the spiritual nature of man.  Indeed, India's greatest contribution to the world can be to offer it a spiritual vision of man.  And the world does well to attend willingly to this ancient wisdom and in it to find enrichment for human living."  That's an incredible statement, isn't it?, from one who is supposed to be the head of the true church, regarding a idolatrous demon-worshiping religion in India.

Another very important world leader is a man by the name of, or by the title of Dalai Lama.  His holiness, the Dalai Lama, who is God to most Tibetan Buddhists has been well received, of course, by Roman Catholics around the world.  He has twice met with Pope Paul VI, has met five or more times with his good friend John Paul II.  Says the Dalai Lama, quote: "Both of us have the same aim."  At the start of his first U.S. tour they call him the God-king.  He was fated in 1979 at St. Patrick's Cathedral and the relationship between the Buddhists and the Catholics, the Pope and the Dalai Lama has continued to go on. And I could give you all kinds of insight into that.

You have somebody like Sun Myung Moon and the Moonies, founder of the International Religious Federation for World Peace, by the way, he says, "All men and women of religion should now tear down the walls of sectarianism for the greater goal of world peace."

Gorbechev, by the way, personally hosted Moon in the bowels of the Kremlin and Moon responded that the Soviet Union which he formerly acquainted with Satan was now going to play a major role in the plan of God to construct a world of peace.

You've got probably nearly a hundred inter-faith councils in American that are trying to pull everybody together in some kind of a global peace.  In the state of Washington, we think of Washington as a fairly American place...Washington state.  Let me read you a quote from the Washington State Interfaith Council.  "Swami Bhaskarananda, a Hindu, chanted a prayer to God in their Interfaith Council.  Ismail Ahmad, a Muslim recited a short prayer to God.  Trust, the members agreed, was their most important short-term goal.  Meeting at the Vendanta Society on Capitol Hill, those who signed the council's charter expressed their hopes for the group as they stood in front of an altar adorned with pictures of Sri Ramakrishna, Jesus Christ and Buddha.  My support and heart is in this group, says Pasha Moha JerJasbee, a member of the Baha’i faith.  Bhaskarananda told the group that Hindus believe in the harmony of all faiths."

And the Pope has declared, and I quote, "Christians must work with all other religions to secure peace."

These are just samples of what's happening in religion, as it moves toward a global ecumenicity.  The New Age Movement fits into this, mysticism.  President Bush, you remember, after the Helsinki meeting in September of 1990 expressed the hope that the plan worked out in Helsinki was to bring the new world order.  And President Bush said, this is Time Magazine, September of 1990, "If the nations of the world acting together continue as they have been, we will set in place the cornerstone of an international order more peaceful than any that we have known."

When is it going to happen.  When is the end?  When is the final judgment?  Well Jesus says it starts with a deception.  It starts with someone who comes to mislead, who says I am the Christ, and I bring peace.  I am your deliverer.  I am your savior.  I am your messiah.  A very deceptive, very misleading proclamation.  And it won't just be one, please notice verse 5, "Many will come." They are the architects of the false peace that begins the end time judgment.

Doesn't last very long, look at verse 6.  "And you'll be hearing of wars and rumors of wars."  And verse 7, "Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom."  And the result, famines, earthquakes will follow.  And then in verse 9, "There will be tribulation and persecution and you will be hated by all nations on account of Me."

Just like the prophets of old, they will come along and they will say...peace, peace...when there is no peace.  This will always be their message.  Peace is just around the corner.  Even far into the final judgment, you come down to verse 21, and you're now in the second half of the seven-year period in what's called the Great Tribulation...the first half is called in verse 8 the beginning of birth pangs.  The second half is called the Great Tribulation.  And even in that time, verse 23, people are going to say, "Here is Christ, there He is."  And verse 24, "False Christs, false prophets are going to arise and show signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." 

the false peace will crumble into war rapidly as God reeks havoc in judgment, but even in the midst of that, the false prophets will still be crying peace...peace. 

And I'll tell you this, once they get a taste of it at the beginning and then it crumbles, they're going to be desperate to get it back.  First Thessalonians chapter 5 takes us right up to the brink of the day of the Lord at the end of the Tribulation.  And it says in chapter 5 verse 3, "While they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come.  And it will come suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child and they won't escape."  They'll be all saying peace and safety, and the destruction will come, the day of the Lord.

Matthew chapter 24 takes you from the beginning of the time we call the Tribulation right on through to the return of Christ.  

Jeremiah said about the overthrow of Judah and the overthrow of Jerusalem, despite all the precursors, despite the imminent judgment, despite the power right there visible to them, they could see it right on the brink, they kept believing everything would be fine, everything will be fine.  Why?  Over in chapter 6 verse 14, because false teachers came and false prophets and they said...peace, peace...they kept telling them peace was coming, peace was coming.  Chapter 8 verse 11, they kept saying, "Peace,  peace, but there is no peace."  Chapter 14 and verse 13 and 14, the prophets, and what do the prophets say, "Peace, you won't see the sword, you won't see famine, I'll give you lasting peace."

They're prophesying falsely, he says.  There isn't going to be any peace.  There's going to be the day of the Lord...fury of God's judgment.  False prophets always say peace.  They'll always talk about the new order, the new world of peace.  So when you come to the end time, you can go back now to Matthew 24 for just a moment, when you come to the end time, it's going to begin with a false peace.  False prophets, false Christs and one great Antichrist, one great ruler and leader 

Jeremiah said about the overthrow of Judah and the overthrow of Jerusalem, despite all the precursors, despite the imminent judgment, despite the power right there visible to them, they could see it right on the brink, they kept believing everything would be fine, everything will be fine.  Why?  Over in chapter 6 verse 14, because false teachers came and false prophets and they said...peace, peace...they kept telling them peace was coming, peace was coming.  Chapter 8 verse 11, they kept saying, "Peace, peace, but there is no peace."  Chapter 14 and verse 13 and 14, the prophets, and what do the prophets say, "Peace, you won't see the sword, you won't see famine, I'll give you lasting peace."

They're prophesying falsely, he says.  There isn't going to be any peace.  There's going to be the day of the Lord...fury of God's judgment.  False prophets always say peace.  They'll always talk about the new order, the new world of peace.  So when you come to the end time, you can go back now to Matthew 24 for just a moment, when you come to the end time, it's going to begin with a false peace.  False prophets, false Christs and one great Antichrist, one great ruler and leader and we'll say a lot more about him in our study of Revelation, this one great Antichrist will be over all these other false Christs and false prophets and false teachers.  They're going to try to orchestrate this peace.  It's going to work for a while and then it's going to crumble.

So, you see, the world's movement toward a global peace really does fit this scenario.  A deceptive peace is coming.  It's coming led by false Christs and the Antichrist.  And it is the first signal that the scroll has been unrolled and the first seal has been opened..false peace.

Now go back to Matthew 24 and let's follow a little bit the sequence.  Verse 6 and 7 then describes war, wars, rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom.  The second thing that's going to come is war.  The third thing that's going to come, famine...famine.  The fourth thing that's going to come in verse 7, earthquakes, which are representative of massive natural disasters.  First peace, then war, then famine, then  death through natural disaster.

Now hold your finger there in Matthew 24 and go over to Revelation 6 and you see the same sequence.  Here the first horse is a white horse, he represents, as we will see in a moment, peace.  The second horse is a red horse, and he represents...what?  War, he took peace from the earth and men slaughtered each other.  The next horse is a black horse and he represents famine...the scales and the balance and the wheat and all of that, the barley, talking about famine conditions.  And then the fourth seal and a pale green, or ashen horse, and he represents death, natural disasters, plagues that are also mentioned even earlier.

So you see, the parallels are exact.  Peace, war, famine, death.  Those are the horses and Jesus said, "Peace, war, famine and natural disaster," of course implies massive death.  And Jesus said, "These things...in verse 8...are merely the beginning of birth pangs," just the beginning.

Then you notice verse 9, "They will deliver you to tribulation, kill you, you'll be hated by all nations on account of My name."  You say, "Who's He talking about?"  I believe He's talking about redeemed people.  "Well," you say, "I thought the church was raptured."  Yes I believe they are, but I also believe that as soon as that time period begins there is going to be conversion taking place.  People are going to be redeemed during that time.  And I believe they're going to be persecuted and they're going to be maligned.  In fact, throughout the whole period of the Tribulation, you see it down in verse 15, from the abomination of desolations on, woe to those who are with child, those who nurse babies because of what's going to happen. And this certainly relates to Israel because the Jews are going to be persecuted as well.  But it does mention the elect down in verse 24, those who would be redeemed who also will be under the persecution.  So there will be an onslaught against true believers and against Israel.

Now I want you to note here that there's a very important sequence.  You have the parallel of the first four in Matthew as the same as the first four seals in Revelation 6.  The fifth seal in Revelation 6 is the martyrs under the altar.  And the fifth component here in Matthew 24 is delivering you to Tribulation and killing you.  It's the same.  It's the killing in chapter 24 of Matthew that yields the martyrs in Revelation 6, so the sequence is the same...peace, war, famine, death, martyrdom.  It's that way in Matthew 24, it's that way in Revelation 6.  What triggers the persecution, what really spins it full-blown is verse 15, "The abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel, the prophet."  That is when the Antichrist shows himself for who he really is and desecrates the temple and starts to try to destroy the Jews along with any others who are identified with God.

So the five seals take you all the way down to the sixth seal which introduces the Second Coming of Christ and the seventh seal is His coming and His final judgment.  So the parallels are identical.  If you read Revelation 6, the first four are the same.  The fifth there, martyrs under the altar, the fifth component here is martyrdom.  The sixth seal in Revelation 6, as we shall see, the sky goes black, the sign of the Son of Man, that is exactly what you see here in verse 29.  So the sequence is the same, absolutely consistent.

Now first there will be peace. That's what we want to focus on.  Let's go back to Daniel 9 for a moment, we'll try to wrap this up.  Daniel 9, in verse 24 to 27 you have a very important text and it says in Daniel 9:26, "After the sixty-two weeks," and these are weeks of year.  You remember our study of Daniel, you remember we related back to Daniel in our study of 1 Thessalonians also, sixty-two weeks are gone, the Messiah will be cut off.  Sixty-two weeks of seven years.  God had prophesied, back in verse 24, seventy weeks decreed on Israel.  Seventy weeks to bring in everlasting righteousness.  It started, you remember, with the king named Artaxerxes, and it went seventy times seven, or 490 years.  Four hundred and eighty-three years from that decree to the very day Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem,  the first sixty-nine weeks were accomplished.

Now, that leaves one week left...one period of seven years.  There were the seven weeks and then the sixty-two weeks, as he notes in verse 25.  And after the seven and the sixty-two are complete, the Messiah is cut off, He is killed.  The city is destroyed.  The sanctuary is destroyed.  You remember that happened a little later in 70 A.D.  And there's still a week that hasn't happened.  Verse 27 picks it up.  "He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week."  Who's he?  He is the prince who is to come of verse 26, the prince who is to come.  He's the Antichrist.  He's also called in Daniel "the little horn," chapter 7 verse 8.  He's called "the king of fierce countenance," chapter 8 verse 23.  He's called "the willful king," or the king who does whatever he wants, chapter 11 verse 36.  The Antichrist comes.  Now watch this.  And he makes a firm covenant with the many for one week.  But in the middle of the week he puts a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering and commits the abomination of desolations, as it's called.

What is this?  The Antichrist, remember now, he's the leading orchestrator of peace.  He is a false Christ.  We went over him in detail, remember, in 2 Thessalonians, we followed his career all through there in chapter 2.  The Antichrist comes, he leads all the other false Christs and false Messiahs to bring this world peace.  He makes a covenant with Israel.  Yes, certainly Israel is a key player and the many certainly focuses on Israel since they are the nation in view here.  But it extends beyond Israel.  It is a covenant that involves the protection of Israel from all of those who might harm them.  So it is a kind of major peace pact.  Who knows how many nations may be involved in it?  He makes a peace pact.

That's how the period of Tribulation is going to begin.  Peace, global peace.  And the Antichrist specifically makes a peace treaty with Israel...a covenant to be their protector, their peacemaker, their deliverer, their Messiah, their Savior.  But, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the seven years, that's why we know it's a seven-year period, it's called a week of years, in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrificing and grain offering.  You know what's going to happen?  That peace treaty with Israel is going to be so comprehensive and so complete that they're going to be back in their sacrificial system.  They're going to be back making sacrifices.  They're going to be back offering grain offerings.  They're going to have their temple.  And in the middle of it, he's going to come in and desolate the place, he's going to make it desolate and he's going to try to destroy Israel and conquer the world.

I think by the middle of the week war will already have broken out.  I don't know that the peace is going to last the whole three and a half years.  The wars and the rumors of wars may have already begun.  But for sure it will all break loose then as Antichrist desecrates the Holy of Holies, sets himself up as God, and we'll see more about that in the future of Revelation, to be worshipped by the whole world and that leads the world into massive warfare that ultimately ends up in Armageddon.  

Well horses were associated with war.  I wish we had the time to do a little horse theology, we don't.  Horses are representative of power, magnificence, majesty, conquest.  And here comes this horse and the one who sat on it...a rider.  It's not necessarily a person because the red horse and rider and the black horse and rider and the pale or ashen or green horse and rider, as some have designated it, are not a person either, these are representatives of something and we'll see that.

Just a note, the Lamb broke one of the seven seals to remind you that seven is a number of completion.  That's why there are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls because that completes the judgment. When all of them are complete, the universe is Christ's the Kingdom has come, and the Millennium is here.  All of these events also occur in a period called the Tribulation which is a week, the seventieth seek of Daniel, a period of seven years.  Jesus, as I said, divided it into two parts, the birth pangs, the first half, and the Great Tribulation, the second half, separated the abomination of desolations which is when the Antichrist desecrates the temple in Jerusalem and heats up the persecution and tries to destroy Israel and set himself up as God to be worshipped by the whole world.

Who is this?  Some say it's Christ.  No, it can't be Christ.  Why?  Because Christ is opening the seal.  It can't be Christ, this rider has a stephanos, that's a crown that you win as a prize, Christ wears a diadema for a crown, that's a kingly crown over in chapter 19 when we see Him.  It can't be Christ cause Christ doesn't come at the beginning, He comes at the end.  It can't be Christ, He doesn't carry a bow, He carries a sword.  Some say it's Antichrist.  Well, he's certainly there, I mean, it's certainly encompasses Antichrist. But the horses don't represent individuals, they represent a force...war as a force, famine as a force, and so is death.

Certainly Antichrist is the main man in the peace, but the horse and rider represents the peace.  He's not alone, there are many antichrists, many false Christs, many impostors.  And this horse and rider represent the false peace headed up by Antichrist.

You say, "How do you know it represents the false peace?"  Well the fact is he has a bow, that's a symbol of a warrior.  But if you have a bow you also need something else, what?  An arrow, he doesn't have any. The absence of arrows speaks of a bloodless victory. Worldwide peace brought by this covenant maker and his cohorts in a bloodless way.  And then an interesting phrase, "A crown was given to him."  He is sort of democratically crowned here, it doesn't seem that he took it, it was just given to him, like he's been honored by the world and elevated and given prominence.  This peace has been made king by the world, everything is subservient to peace, and since the architect of peace is primarily the Antichrist, everything is subservient to him.  He is rewarded with the crown which is a reward, stephanos, rather than a diadema which is a king's crown that belongs only ton one who is in the rightful line of the king.  Peace is king.  And peace is crowned king by the world.  He went out conquering and to conquer.  He's rung up a long series of triumphs in bringing world peace.  This is the deception that Jesus talked about when He said many would be misled, this is the golden age, this is the utopia that Antichrist helps to establish with his covenant with Israel that Daniel spoke about, peace...misleading, deceptive, false peace...orchestrated worldwide by many false messiahs and led by the Antichrist.

And, of course, once the peace is established, the Antichrist rises to the top.  In fact, in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 it says he will come with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish and God will send a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false.  Why?  In order that they may be judged.  God's going to delude the world.  He's going to let the delusion run.  They're all going to fall into the false peace, bow down to this great world ruler who epitomizes it.  And it's a trap in which they will be caught and killed.  The world is headed for war, but first it's headed for peace.

In verse 2 a white horse comes and there is a man sitting upon it and he has a bow and a crown is given to him and he comes to conquer, conquering and to conquer. This, as we noted last time in great detail, symbolizes the deceptive short-lived world peace. the Antichrist is certainly a key player, prosperity sets in around the world, the white horse depicts that. The fact that he is white indicates majestic conquering, it indicates even purity and righteousness, a false purity and a false righteousness. You'll notice he has a bow but no arrows which means he has a certain amount of authority but he conquers without ever shooting anything. It is a conquering without bloodshed. A crown was given to him, he didn't take it, it was given to him, which means the world crowns peace as king. All over the world peace becomes the issue. And we told you that that is certainly the mood of the day, isn't it? World peace, global peace, and peace will be crowned king. And peace will be conquering and come to conquer even more, a series of triumphs leading to a golden age of prosperity with the promise that more prosperity and more peace is to come.

All of this, of course, is deceptive and it's a false security. As we saw even in Matthew 4...24:4 and 5, Jesus said, "Don't let people deceive you with this, it is a deceptive peace that doesn't last long." Why? The prophets have always said there is no peace for the wicked. False teachers say peace, peace, but there is no peace.

Some of the most intriguing passages in the Bible can be found in Revelation chapter 6, a chapter dealing with events that occur during the Tribulation period of human history. Both Old and New Testament prophets mention this period frequently, including Jesus Christ, when He said, "unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive" (Matthew 24:22). This series of articles will focus on the proper interpretation of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" (found in verses 2 through 8 of chapter 6), while exploring one very plausible scenario for their fulfillment.

The first horseman appears in verse 2:

"I looked up and saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory" (Revelation 6:2). 

Throughout history, this has been properly interpreted as a passage referring to the Antichrist. But what does the symbolic language of this verse tell us about the man of perdition? Several things are immediately noticeable:

1) He rides a white horse. This description is commonly used in Scripture to identify a conqueror. So, it is appropriate to view the Antichrist as a conqueror.

2) A crown is placed on his head. The Antichrist is either the king of a nation or nations, or an elected or appointed head of state(s).

3) He rides out to win many battles and gain victory. The Antichrist goes out into the world with every intention to conquer it.

4) He carries a bow. The Antichrist wields the traditional weapons of war, but in this passage, he is not viewed as using deadly force to conquer (no arrow accompanies his bow).

This last characteristic of the Antichrist and his nefarious career is intentionally placed last on the list because it is the most revealing and enigmatic statement in the aforementioned verse. How can a person conquer without using deadly force, when this has been the exclusive method of choice for conquerors throughout history? This apparent contradiction has often been rectified by viewing the Antichrist as a great diplomat who will use diplomacy to peacefully bring a willing world into an era of global government. But is this a realistic view? Revelation 13:7 tells us that "he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation." Given the global history of nationalism, tribalism, racism, and other animosities among men, it seems beyond comprehension that any man, no matter how charismatic, could conquer the world with mere words.

This gives us the perfect opportunity to apply the golden rule of biblical interpretation: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense." The Bible is clearly telling us that one of the ways believers will be able to identify the Antichrist is by recognizing his ability to conquer the world without using deadly force. But, again, given what we know about history, is it possible to conquer the world without using deadly force?

Right now, it's not. But very soon, it will not only be possible, but absolutely necessary. Just as much of the world remains asleep to the "signs of the times," it also remains ignorant of the exponential growth of its technological capability. The world is on the verge of a monumental breakthrough that will literally change the world geopolitical landscape overnight. This imminent technological discovery is known as molecular manufacturing (MM), the ability to precisely position reactive molecules via mechanochemical synthesis. The length of this article doesn't allow room to elaborate on the details of MM, but those interested can learn more by visiting The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology at . That said, molecular manufacturing will be a technology so powerful, it will swiftly transform every facet of the human condition--partly to great benefit, partly to great peril.

In his 1986 book, Engines of Creation, in which K. Eric Drexler first posited the ideas of nanotechnology and molecular manufacturing, he made the following observation (found in chapter 11: "Engines of Destruction") concerning the dangers of this technology's development:

"States could use assemblers or advanced AI systems to achieve sudden, destabilizing breakthroughs. I earlier discussed reasons for expecting that the advent of replicating assemblers will bring relatively sudden changes: Able to replicate swiftly, they could become abundant in a matter of days. Able to make almost anything, they could be programmed to duplicate existing weapons, but made from superior materials. Able to work with standard, well-understood components (atoms) they could suddenly build things designed in anticipation of the assembler breakthrough. These results of design-ahead could include programmable germs and other nasty novelties. For all these reasons, a state that makes the assembler breakthrough could rapidly create a decisive military force--if not literally overnight, then at least with unprecedented speed."

For those who think the United States remains, and will remain, the world's greatest military power well into the future, I recommend rereading that last sentence.

Molecular manufacturing will turn the world upside down. Its development will amplify the current march toward smaller, more precise, and efficient weapons. Instead of killing its enemies, a nation could simply disarm them. Even a nation-state as small as Singapore or Monaco could very quickly build a military force far more powerful than all the current world militaries combined.

This will have a significant impact on the world political structure. Just as the development of atomic weapons made the United States and the Soviet Union world superpowers during the Cold War, the development of molecular manufacturing will make the nation that develops it the world's dominant superpower. In addition, it can cement that power permanently if it uses its initial advantage to disable competing nation-states from developing molecular manufacturing capabilities of their own.

It is my assertion that this elimination of potential rivals will not simply be one of many foreign policy options, but rather, the only one. This is because of the inherent instability of an MM-based arms race. The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology has identified an unstable arms race as one of the top dangers of molecular manufacturing:

"The nuclear arms race was stable for several reasons. In virtually every way, the nano-arms race will be the opposite. Nuclear weapons are hard to design, hard to build, require easily monitored testing, do indiscriminate and lasting damage, do not rapidly become obsolete, have almost no peaceful use, and are universally abhorred. Nano capability will be easy to build (given a nanofactory), will allow easily concealable testing, will be relatively easy to control and deactivate, would become obsolete very rapidly, almost every design is dual-use, and peaceful and non-lethal (police) use will be common. Nukes are easier to stockpile than to use; nano weapons are the opposite."

The Center also agrees that an MM monopoly will be an attractive policy option for the developing nation:

"Each nation will see only a few possibilities: 1) an arms race that will probably be unwinnable since it will develop into a disastrous war; 2) developing ahead of everyone else and establishing dominance; 3) some other nation developing earlier and establishing dominance; 4) international cooperation and trust sufficient to ensure safety; 5) a multinational organization willing and able to keep the peace.

"Option 1 is undesirable; Option 3 is probably unthinkable for any of the current large powers; Option 5 is probably unacceptable to the U.S., as the world's sole superpower; Option 4 may be seen as unfeasible. Only one nation can succeed at Option 2. This implies that a preemptive strike option (whether military attack, or sabotage or derailment of nanotech development efforts) will appear very attractive to a number of powerful nations."

Regardless of whether it is linked to Bible prophecy, molecular manufacturing is near and inevitable. It's also a foregone conclusion that a nanotechnology arms race must be avoided at all costs. As such, it is very likely the leading power will assert itself over potential rivals in order to prevent the unprecedented destruction of a nanotech arms race.

Oddly, this leads to the agreement of two often diametrically opposed worldviews:

The Secular Worldview: Molecular manufacturing is coming. In order to ensure geopolitical stability and survival of the human race, competition among molecular manufacturing-enabled competitors must be eliminated and a global government must be established.

The Biblical Worldview: The Antichrist will worship a god of fortresses unknown to his fathers (Daniel 11:37-39), and he will rule over a global government (Revelation 13:7). When he initially appears, he will ride out to conquer many (Revelation 6:2).

This convergence between the secular worldview and the biblical worldview is cause for examination of the times in which we live. When molecular manufacturing is developed in the near future, its invention will almost certainly be followed by a military campaign to prevent a future showdown between competing MM-enabled nation states. However, this military campaign will in no way resemble the military conquests to which we've become accustomed. It will be waged with horrifically effective weapons that will be hundreds of times stronger, lighter, faster, and more accurate than the best military technologies of today. Encrypted networks will be easily compromised, the concept of MAD easily circumvented. World domination will come with relative ease to an MM-enabled power competing against today's defense technologies. And victory can be absolute without a single human casualty.

Is this the scenario foreseen in Revelation 6:2? Perhaps. Perhaps not. However, it should be noted that the timeline for its development coincides with an era in which all the "signs" addressed by Jesus and the prophets are present.

The most important sign is that Israel is once again a nation. Jesus told His followers:

"Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever" (Matthew 24:32-35).

The fig tree Jesus is referring to is Israel. It's been six decades since Israel was once again declared a nation against all worldly odds. Jesus promised that the generation that witnessed fulfillment of this prophecy would not pass until the things of which He spoke happened. The hourglass is running out on that generation, so be alert. Christ tells us that those who are watching for this hour will be blessed:

"Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would stay alert and not permit the house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected" (Matthew 24:43-44).

"Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20).

MacArthur (Description of the Antichrist)

We continue this morning in our study of 2 Thessalonians and I would invite you to open your Bible, if you will, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.  We're embarking upon a fascinating text of Scripture in this chapter, one that presents to us a man who is known by the title Antichrist.  The most fiendish, the most wicked, the most powerfully destructive human ever to walk the earth is a man that the Bible calls Antichrist.  He will be the culmination of all those who hate God and all those who hate Jesus Christ.  He will be the combination, really, and the culmination of all Satanic false prophets, false teachers, false Christs.  He will be all wrapped up into one all the hypocritical liars who claim to be spokesmen for God but spoke under the energy of seducing spirits the doctrines of demons.  This Antichrist is the theme of Paul's writing.

 

In verse 3 he introduces him under the title "the man of lawlessness," and then calls him, "the son of destruction."  And then down in verse 8 he calls him "that lawless one."  And then in verse 9 he calls him, "the coming one in accord with the activity of Satan."  The man of lawlessness or the man of sin, the son of destruction or the son of perdition, the lawless one, the coming one who functions in accord with Satan, all these are titles, if you will, of the one we know as Antichrist.

 

This is a person, a singular person.  But the spirit of Antichrist, or the attitude, is in the world even now.  Every individual in this world who under the power and influence of Satan attempts to thwart the work of God, attempts to thwart the work of Christ, attempts to attack the work of Christ or God, attempts to oppose it or to counterfeit it, has the spirit of Antichrist.

 

Turn, if you will, to 1 John. Here we find the term Antichrist is used.  John in his first epistle second chapter and verse 18 says, "Children, it is the last hour." By that he means it is the Messianic era since the coming of Christ.  "It is the last hour and just as you have heard that Antichrist is coming..."  Now there is the individual Antichrist who is coming.  "Even now many antichrists have arisen."  So there is a culminating individual but until that individual there will be many who have the spirit of Antichrist.

 

Go down to verse 22, "Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."  There he is saying that anyone who would deny the deity of Christ, anyone who would deny the connection between the Father and the Son is Antichrist.  Chapter 4 verse 3, "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist."  The Antichrist is an individual, a God-denying, Christ-denying, counterfeit, religious leader who while hating Christ, while denying Christ, himself purports to be the Christ. But until he comes there are many like him who have his spirit.

 

In John's second epistle, 2 John verse 7, he says, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; this is the deceiver and the Antichrist."  So you can see here that while there is one ultimate culminating man of sin, man of lawlessness, son of perdition, son of destruction, lawless one, one final, culminating coming one in the power of Satan, the final Antichrist, there are many antichrists, many with the spirit of Antichrist throughout the history of the world.  The one who comes in final form will be far worse than any other, worse than the worst of men, worse than the abominators; worse than Antiochus Epiphanes, who slaughtered a pig in the Holy of Holies in the temple, his way of blaspheming God; worse than Adolph Hitler who mocked God, blasphemed God, operated with mediums and demons, spoke in a voice not even his own and attempted to rub out the Jews; worse than any combination of Antiochus and Hitler will be this final Antichrist.  He makes Saddam Hussein pale in comparison.

 

The term "antichrist" in the Greek, antichristos, is obviously a combination word.  The word anti is familiar to us in English. We use it as “anti,” and that's what it means. He is anti-Christ.  He is against Christ.  But it also has the idea of "in the place of,” in the place of.  He is against Christ and puts himself in the place of Christ.  He is a usurper.  He is a Satanic liar who, coming against Christ, replaces Christ.  In Matthew 13 three times Jesus calls him pseudo Christos, false Christ.

 

Now as I just read you, John said you have heard that Antichrist is coming.  That's interesting to me.  John is writing to believers and he is saying you have heard this, they already knew Antichrist is coming.  This apparently was common knowledge among Christians.  Now go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and hear what Paul says in verse 5. "Do you not remember that while I was still with you I was telling you these things."  What things?  These things about the lawless one, the son of perdition, the man of lawlessness.  So he is saying to them what John said. You already know about this, you have already heard about this, this is already in your memory bank.  They knew Antichrist was coming.  And in the meantime, they had been confronted by his agents and his forerunners who proliferated all over the world with their blasphemous attacks against God and Christ and their attempt to substitute themselves for Him.  They knew the Antichrist's spirit had been at work and they knew about the future Antichrist because Paul had taught them.  So John says you know about it.  Paul says you know about it.

 

This spirit had been working for a long time.  The effort to thwart the work of Christ didn't even start when Christ was born; it started long before He was born.  For example, Satan's first rather massive effort to corrupt all of mankind and use his demons to create a demon-human race, recorded in Genesis 6, was in order that there might be people produced who were unredeemable. Because they were demon-men the God-man would not be able to redeem them, demons being unredeemable.   And God had to drown that whole civilization.

 

This was followed later by an effort to destroy all of the male children in Israel way back in Exodus.  And Satan was endeavoring to destroy all the male children so that he could destroy the Messianic line.  Later on Satan in an Antichrist effort tried to break the royal line which would ultimately bring the Messiah and He had to be born in the royal line. He tried to break the royal line of Christ by using Jehoram to kill all his brothers, 2 Chronicles 21.  The royal line got reduced to one person and the whole Messianic redemptive saving hope of the world hung with one fragile life.  But fortunately that one individual had sons and then 2 Chronicles 22 says the Arabians came to the camp and massacred all the sons except one and again the line hung on one life, the youngest son, Ahaziah, and he took the throne.  He ruled only one year, being wickedly counseled by his vile mother whose name was Athaliah.  He was wounded severely and his life hung in the balance and with his life all Messianic and saving hope, but he lived.  He was later killed in a war with Jehu but not until 2 Chronicles 22 says he had had sons.  All the sons were killed but one and that one life...that one life had to be hidden in the temple of God for six years so that his own mother wouldn't kill him.  And God spared the Messianic line against the Antichrist's spirit operating through the venom and the hatred of these people.

 

And then there was the Antichrist action taken against the people of God in a foreign culture during the time of Ezra.  Ezra tells how the people of Israel were saved by the fact that a pagan king couldn't sleep and because he couldn't sleep a plot to wipe out all the Jews was uncovered.  And instead of destroying the line of Christ, the line was preserved.  And then there was Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria, who in the intertestimental period tried to wipe out the Jews and failed because of the Maccabean revolution.  And then came Herod and Herod in an Antichrist activity tried to destroy all the baby boys in an attempt to kill the Messiah.  And then came Satan who tried to thwart the whole effort of Christ by tempting Him.  And then came the people of Nazareth who tried to shove Him off a cliff.  And then, believe it or not, came Peter who tried to divert Him from the cross, and Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan."  And then came the Romans who tried to kill Him and then did kill Him and then tried to seal His tomb so He couldn't rise again.  You see, the Antichrist's spirit has been operating for a long, long time and you can just take all of that, sum it all up, put it into one individual and that's Antichrist.

 

In the last days Antichrist will come, a man who is Satan's final Anti-Christ.  John said you know about him.  Paul said you know about him.  But I have some more to tell you.  Why here?  Why in a letter to this church?  Why does he tell them this?  This little epistle has three chapters.  It deals with three issues.  The first issue confronting the church at Thessalonica was persecution.  When Paul wrote the first epistle, 1 Thessalonians, they were undergoing persecution then and he referred to it.  Apparently in the intervening weeks, just a few months between the two letters, the persecution had escalated.  And so they were under severe persecution.  Chapter 1 is written to comfort them.  It is a chapter of consolation.  It tells them Jesus is coming, verse 7, to give relief.  So chapter 1 is comfort for those in severe persecution.

They had another problem.  They had a problem not only with persecution but insubordination. There were some people in the church who weren't being obedient Christians.  Chapter 3 tells about them.  Verse 6 says they were leading an unruly life.  They weren't obeying the tradition received from the apostles which means the Word of God.  They were undisciplined.  He says down in verse 11 they were not only undisciplined, they weren't doing any work, they were acting like busybodies. Verse 14 they did not obey our instruction, they needed to be disciplined.  And he notes that they were even Christian brothers.  So you had some insubordination among Christians, disobedience, undisciplined, unruly living.  Chapter 3 was written to correct that.  Chapter 1: Severe persecution.  Chapter 3: Severe insubordination.  Chapter 1: Comfort for the persecuted.  Chapter 3: Correction for the insubordinate.  Then there's chapter 2. what was going on here?  Severe confusion, severe confusion.  What were they confused about?  Eschatology, they were confused about the end times.  What particularly was their confusion?  They had been told by somebody that they were in the Day of the Lord.

 

Now they knew enough about the Day of the Lord to know the Day of the Lord was a time of God's final judgment.  But as they looked at all the persecution going on and all of the hostility against them, some of them concluded that they were actually in the Day of the Lord and had missed the rapture and got caught up in the Day of the Lord.  This seems almost unthinkable because in the first letter, just a few weeks before, Paul had explained to them about the rapture, chapter 4 verses 13 to 18. Some of them worried they miss the rapture. They were worried that some had died and missed the rapture so he says, "No, when the rapture comes the dead in Christ rise first, you'll be caught up, so whether you're alive or whether you're dead you're going to go, you can't miss the rapture."  If you're a believer you're either going to go out of the grave or you're going to go from the earth up.  So you won't miss the rapture.

 

Furthermore, some of them were thinking they were in the Day of the Lord so in chapter 5 he says you're not in the Day of the Lord, you are not of the darkness, you are not of the night, you are children of the day, the Day of the Lord isn't something you're involved in.  That is darkness, that is night, that is judgment, not for you.  So he already told them, you didn't miss the rapture, and the rapture is before the Day of the Lord, you're not in the Day of the Lord because it never was for you.

 

You say, "Well now wait a minute, how could they be confused about it a few weeks later if he was that clear?"  I'll tell you how. Look at verse 2, "That you may not be quickly shaken from your composure, or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come.  Let no one in any way deceive you."

 

You know what had happened?  The Antichrist's spirit had infected somebody who had come into that church and told those people they were in the Day of the Lord.  And in order to substantiate that false teaching, they pulled out a letter purported to have been written by Paul, a counterfeit.  And in verse 2 he says, "Don't you be quickly shaken, thinking you're in the Day of the Lord because some spirit has infected a messenger who has tried to support this message with a letter as if from us saying the Day of the Lord has come."  Somebody had come and lied to them and deceived them, somebody who had something to gain from it.  And his point is this, you can't be in the Day of the Lord. I told you in the first letter you'd be raptured. I told you in the first letter that you're of the day and that's for the people of the night, you don't even belong in the Day of the Lord.  And now he says, "Let me give you another reason why you can't be in the Day of the Lord, the Antichrist hasn't come."  The Antichrist hasn't come.  The Day of the Lord, verse 3, will not come until the apostasy and the man of lawlessness and the son of destruction.  You can't be in the Day of the Lord.  First, you're going to be raptured, you're not going to be there.  Secondly, it isn't for you.  Thirdly, if you're still stumbling on this issue, the Antichrist hasn't come and he is a precursor to the Day of the Lord.  So that's why, you see, he deals with the Antichrist here, he wants them to understand the career and the identity of the Antichrist so that they'll understand that that man has to come and do his thing before the Day of the Lord starts.  In fact, you're going to find out in this passage the Antichrist is really a very important person in actually triggering the Day of the Lord.

 

So, this chapter is written then because there is severe confusion about the Day of the Lord and he wants to give them proper instruction.  So he teaches them about the Antichrist.

 

But I remind you of verse 5 again.  "You remember while I was still with you I was telling you these things."  He had already taught them about Antichrist.  He's going to teach them more here.  By the way, this chapter gives us more specifics about the Antichrist than any other chapter in the New Testament.  The ones that come close are in Revelation and we'll look at those in our study of Revelation and we'll refer to them in this study in weeks to come.  But he does say a lot here but he's building on what they already know.

 

Now the question is posed, then what did they already know?  What is the background to this personality?  Where did they get their information?  And for that we have to go to the Old Testament.  So as a lead-in to this chapter I want you to turn to Daniel chapter 9, Daniel chapter 9. And here is the foundational text for teaching on the Antichrist.  And we have to understand this great chapter, particularly looking at verses 24 to 27.  Here is the foundation on which Paul taught about Antichrist.  Here is surely the foundation on which John taught about Antichrist and any of the Christians would have had exposure to this great text of Daniel 9.  You can't understand Antichrist unless you see it in the context of Daniel 9:24 to 27.  This will lay the groundwork for our study of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.  We can assume that both Paul and John began their discussions or their teaching on Antichrist from this section.

 

Let's look at verse 24, Daniel 9.  Now before I get into this verse, just a brief setting.  Children of Israel in Babylonian captivity, getting toward the end, Daniel is praying, starts praying in the first part of the chapter, and he's asking God to fulfill his plan for Israel, bring them back from captivity, cleanse them and all of that.  It's a long prayer running all the way down to verse 19 or so.  And he's praying for God to do His work with Israel.  He's pleading for God, "Do Your plan, bring them back, restore them," and all of this.  And then he waits for an answer.  The answer comes and it comes because God sends Gabriel with the answer and God gives to Daniel the answer in the form of this prophecy and He says, "I'll tell you not only what I'm going to do now for Israel but I'm going to give you the whole history."  And God gives through Gabriel to Daniel the whole history of His future plan for Israel in these four brief verses.  It is monumental.

 

Verse 24, "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city."  That word "decreed" in the Hebrew can be translated "to cut off."  God is saying if you looked at history in a continuum, I'm going to cut out seventy weeks and this is the period that I'm going to use to deal with your people, Israel, and your holy city, Jerusalem. And He just takes a cut and pulls out, as it were, a chunk of history and says this is what I'm going to expand into a vision so you can see what I have planned for Israel and Jerusalem.  Seventy weeks is the time.  These are not weeks of days, these are weeks of years.  Seventy units of seven.  If you multiply that, seventy times seven, you get 490 years.  God says I have planned a 490-year piece of history and in that 490 years I'm going to deal with Israel and I'm going to deal with Jerusalem.  I'm just cutting it right out of history.

 

Now there is a fascinating footnote to this that I need to share with you.  Israel was in Babylonian captivity.  They were captive in Babylon because they had violated Sabbath for the land.  Do you remember that every seven years they were required to let the land rest?  Do you remember that?  They would work it six years and let it rest the seventh, work it six and let it rest the seventh.  In 2 Chronicles 36:21 the Bible says that the Jews were removed from the land that the land might rest for the Sabbath years it was violated.  Do you know why their captivity was seventy years long?  Because they had violated how many Sabbaths?  Seventy.  God says for every Sabbath year you violated, I'm going to put you in to captivity and I'm going to let that land rest those seventy years that you didn't allow it to rest.

 

Now think about this.  If they violated 70 Sabbath years, how many years span did it take them to do that?  Four-hundred and ninety. Seventy times seven.  The point is this, you have violated Me for 490 years and now I'm going to take an equal period of time, 490 years, slice it out of human history and use it to deal with you.  This is a precise prophecy, perhaps the most precise prophecy in Scripture. God says I'm going to work with you and I'm going to do six things. They're in verse 24. Six things. Finish the transgression, that's number one.  That is, bring sin to its end, bring it under control and restrain it finally.  And then He says, "Make an end of sin."  The idea there is probably judgment.  The first point is saying I'm going to bring sin under control and then I'm going to judge it, that's a part of it.  The end here is saying bringing sin to its logical end and we know what it is, the wages of sin is death.  He's going to bring the final judgment.  Then He says, "And to make atonement for iniquity."

 

All right, He says, I've got a 490-year period of time. You stole 490 years from Me. You violated it. You're now paying a penalty for that.  I'm going to take another 490 years and out of mercy and grace I'm going to provide atonement for you.  Isn't that gracious?  You violated Me for 490 years. I'm going to take a 490-year period and offer you gracious salvation.  During that time I'm going to bring sin to its final culmination and take control over it. I'm going to judge and I'm going to provide reconciliation to God for iniquity. That's atonement.  Now those three, in a sense, refer to getting rid of sin.  I'm going to get rid of sin by controlling it, I'm going to get rid of sin by judging all the sinners, and I'm going to get rid of sin by providing atonement and forgiveness.  All three of those things were accomplished in the first coming of Jesus Christ.  He came to the cross and dealt sin its death blow.  He came to the cross and in effect provided the work on the cross, the rejection of which causes sin to be judged eternally.  He provided the work on the cross which gives atonement and reconciliation to God.  And although sin still is present, it has been dealt its death blow on the cross, is that not true?  He finished it.  Didn't He say, "It is finished"? He made an end of it.  He brought transgression to its culmination and took charge over it and He did that act on the cross by which ultimately He gained the right to be the judge of all the sinners and He provided atonement.

 

Now there are three more things that He does.  These three are associated with His Second Coming. First, to bring in everlasting righteousness.  And when does everlasting righteousness begin to come in?  At the millennial kingdom.  It is a kingdom of righteousness. It is ruled in righteousness.  Righteousness fills the earth, as does wisdom.  And so here in the kingdom when Jesus comes back after the judgment of the Day of the Lord in which He effects the sentencing, as it were, that was done on the cross, you see the culmination of that in which He judges sin, wraps it up, takes charge.  He did the initial work. You might say the verdict was made at the cross, the sentence is executed at the Day of the Lord.  Then He begins that bringing in of everlasting righteousness which begins in the millennial kingdom and goes on forever and ever in the eternal state.  Literally the righteousness of the ages takes over permanently.

 

Fifthly, or second in the second three, He says to seal up vision and prophecy.  To "seal up" in the Hebrew simply means to enclose something so that it is no longer used. It is hidden from view. Its function is completed.  It would be like taking something you've been using, put it in a box and shove it away somewhere.  It is done.  He is saying, "I'm going to bring visions, prophecies to an end."  Why?  Because there is coming a time when you don't need to learn anything.  Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 13 with these words, "Then shall you know as you are known." There will be no reason to learn anything more, it will be the end of visions, it will be the end of prophecy. That speaks of the eternal state, I believe, which is the perfect thing where everyone knows as they are known.  So at His Second Coming He brings in eternal righteousness.  He brings an end to revelation and learning because you will know everything you need to know.  And then finally He says, "To anoint the most holy place," or to anoint the Holy of Holies.  What is this?  I believe it is the holy city of Jerusalem, the jewel of eternity, the capital city of heaven, that city made out of jewels which refract the glorious light of God which dwells in it and scatters sparkling lights out of those jewels throughout all of the infinite universe; that holy, holy place, the new Jerusalem.

 

So here is an unbelievable sweep of prophecy.  Daniel is having a prayer time and the angel Gabriel delivers him something which is way beyond anything he might have even hoped for.  God says I've got a 490-year period and in that 490-year period I'm going to do a work on your people Israel and a work on the city of Jerusalem that is going to involve the finishing of transgression, the judgment of sin, the redemption and atonement for reconciliation to God that is going to involve bringing in eternal righteousness, sealing up vision and prophecy, anointing the final heaven and the holy jewel of the new Jerusalem that occupies it as the very centerpiece.  The first three at the first coming, and the second three at the Second Coming.  And all of this is going to happen in 490 years.

 

You say, "Wait a minute, it's been 490 years.  I haven't seen those last three.  I haven't even seen the effectiveness of the accomplishment of the first three on the cross take place yet."  That's right, but that becomes abundantly clear as you look back at the text. Let's follow it.  If we want to know when this deal is going to end we've got to know when it what?  Starts, good.  Verse 25, "So you are to know and discern," now you're supposed to get this, "you're to know and discern from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." That's when it starts.  From the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

 

The book of Ezra indicates three decrees; one by Cyrus, one by Darius, one by Artaxerxes; Ezra 1, Ezra 6, Ezra 7.  But all of those focused on the building of the temple, not the city.  No authorization in those three is given for rebuilding the city.  Only one decree fits rebuilding the city and that's the decree recorded in Nehemiah chapter 2.  It came in the month Nisan, on the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes.  Nisan month, Artaxerxes' twentieth year.  And he gives a decree that Nehemiah could go back and rebuild the city.  The year, 444 B.C.  Artaxerxes rose to power in the year 465.  You say, "Isn't that 21 years?"  No, because in ancient times the accession year or the year that the king took his throne was not counted as a full year of his reign and so though he took the throne in 465, that's his accession year, they don't start counting till 464. Twenty years from 464 is 444, it's in the month of Nisan, that's when it starts.

Now follow the text.  So from the decree in 444 to rebuild Jerusalem, “until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks."  You say, "Wait a minute, why split that up, we can add, that's sicty-nine?  Why does he say there will be seven and sixty two?"  Seven weeks would be how many years?  Forty-nine.  Forty- nine from 444 takes us to 396; we're going backwards in B.C.  What happened in those forty-nine?  What happened was the city was rebuilt. The city was rebuilt.  He says within the first forty-nine-year period the city will be rebuilt. He says it in verse 25. It will be built again, plaza, moat, even in times of distress. And you can read the book of Nehemiah and read the whole story of all the trouble they had in rebuilding it.

 

So the first seven is the rebuilding.  Takes us down to 396, which really marks the end of Malachi, which is the last book in the Old Testament, and it's the sealing up of Old Testament Scripture.  So the first seven of these seventy weeks were used for the rebuilding of the city.  Now He says, "In addition there will be sixty-two more weeks for a total of sixty-nine weeks."  Seven times sixty-nine makes 483.  So He pulls out sixty-nine weeks and says from the decree of Artaxerxes go 483 years. In the first forty-nine of those years the city will be rebuilt.  Then go on to 483 years.  And what do you have?  He says to restore and rebuild until Messiah the Prince will be sixty-nine weeks.  It will be 483 years from the decree, 444 B.C., to the Messiah the Prince.  Now in ancient times they calculated their years as 360 days, 360 days.  So in order to find out how long this time period is we've got to multiply 483 times 360. That gives us 173,880 days.  So from the decree to rebuild, given by Artaxerxes, to the arrival of Messiah the Prince has to be 173,880 days.  Once we know the days then we could calculate it properly.  And it's amazing. It's amazing.

 

The best evidence indicates, by converting over the month of Nisan to our calendar back in Artaxerxes' times that the decree was on March 5, 444 B.C.  That's converting it over to our calendar.  The decree was made March 5, 444.  If you go 173,880 days you will end up March 30, A.D.33, the day Jesus marched into the city of Jerusalem.  The Messiah, the Prince, came and He came exactly 173,880 days just as the prophecy had said.  It was Nisan 10th, A.D. 33, the day of the triumphal entry of Jesus.  In our calendar, March 30.  It goes from March 5, 444 B.C. to March 30, and then He was crucified April 3.  What startles me — a lot of things do about that — of course, the accuracy of it doesn't startle me because after all, this is God's Word, right, so we expect God to say it and then God to make history make it happen.  What startles me is how the Jews could be waiting for all these 483 years, these Jews would wait 173,880 days for the Messiah to come and when He came they killed Him.  Absolutely inconceivable.

 

What did it mean when Jesus rode into Jerusalem?  It meant that Daniel's prophecy had come to pass, the Messiah had arrived, Messiah the Prince had come.  They threw palm branches in His feet, they hailed Him as the King.  And so the sixty-ninth week ended in a triumphal entry.

 

Now there's something loose dangling here, what is it?  One more week and this is why... This is why the 490 hasn't been fulfilled yet. There's one loose week here.  And so from the decree to the Messiah is sixty-nine weeks.  Look at verse 26 now.  Then after the sixty-two weeks, added to the seven, so after the sixty-ninth week is over, “the Messiah will be (what?) cut off."  What does that mean?  Killed.  It doesn't say at the end of the sixty-ninth weeks but after, after. He's killed.  The term "cut off" expresses the idea of an execution, putting someone's head on a block and cutting it off.  After all that expectation He's executed like a common criminal.  That's how deep the apostasy of their hearts was.  It says He will be cut off and have nothing.  Literally it says, "And there's nothing in it for Him."  No honor, no respect; His portion, nothing.  Even what He wore, what did they do with it?  Took it and gambled for it.  He got nothing out of it.

 

There's another spiritual twist on that, there was nothing in it for Him but there was sure a lot in it for everybody else, namely redemption.  He was executed, had nothing.  He was executed for nothing He did.  He was executed and lost even fellowship with God but His loss was our gain.

 

That event is followed by this amazing and accurate statement, "And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary."  What's this?  Well, He'll come as Messiah the Prince at the end of the sixty-ninth week. He did it March 30, 33 A.D., marched in to the city.  After that they'll kill Him.  “And then the people...” What people?  The people of some prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.  Who did that?  What people did that?  Romans, 70 A.D., just decades after Jesus died on the cross the Romans came and destroyed the city and destroyed the temple, massacred over a million Jews.  But now wait a minute. The people who came and destroyed the city are associated with somebody called the prince who is to come. That sounds like 2 Thessalonians 2, the coming one, the one who will come.  Who is this prince who is to come?  This is the Antichrist.  And from what group of people, or what part of the world does he come?  Who is he associated with?  The Romans.  If you go back in Daniel's prophecy you will see that the final form of world government will be a revived Roman Empire.  And the great beast, the great ruler will rise out of that revived Roman Empire, out of the feet of mixed clay and iron.  Daniel has spoken about him before in chapter 7.  Daniel has spoken about him in chapter 8.  Daniel will speak about him in chapter 11.  I wish we had the time to go into all of that.  He is, if you look at chapter 7, he is described in detail from verse 21 and following.  He wages war, he's overpowering, he devours the earth, he treads it down.  He's a military genius, he has military power, military might.  Verse 25: "He wears out the saints of the Most High with his persecution."  He brings in a new religion with new morals and new viewpoints.  He's a counterfeit of Christ.  He deals with injustice and seizure and punishment.  In chapter 8 he describes him, in verse 23, as insolent, skilled in his intrigue, he's a master of deception, he has mighty power.  He even says he has a fierce face.  He can destroy in an extraordinary degree, he is shrewd, he is deceitful, he is destructive, and he opposes the Prince of princes.

 

So he describes him in 7, he describes him in 8, then he describes him also in chapter 11.  He sees him there.  We won't go into that but just look at verse 36, he does whatever he wants, he exalts himself, he magnifies himself, he is proud, he is sovereign, he puts himself above God, he speaks monstrous things, verse 36, against the God of gods, he is blasphemous and profane.  He may well be a homosexual.  He will show no regard for the Gods of his fathers, or for the desire of women.  Some say that means he's a homosexual.  Some say the desire of women reflects the Jewish desire for the mother of the Messiah to come and therefore every Jewish mother wanted to be the mother of the Messiah and the desire of women was for the Messiah, and it means he had no regard for Messiah.  That's possible.  Maybe both are possible.  He is brilliant in war and he finances war in verse 38 with his gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.  And it goes on and on to describe him.  So he's called in Daniel the little horn and the willful king and all of that.

 

This character is here called the prince, the prince who is to come.  And he belongs to a people who massacre Jerusalem, a people who desecrate and destroy the holy of holies and the holy place and the temple.  He is... He is one of them and I believe he will rise out of the revived Roman Empire, whether he is a political entity rising out of it, or whether he is a religious entity like the Pope, we can't be certain.  But he's going to come out of that revived European center.  We now see that happening and Europe is more and more becoming the power of the world.  People used to ask me where America fits in in the prophecy, and that was when we were a creditor nation, and now that we're a debtor nation and seem to be on the slide morally with a dying culture that may cease to produce genius of much report, it may be that by the time this all happens Europe has become the focal point and power of the whole world. And out of that does he rise because he belongs in that Roman environment.  And in the ancient times Rome occupied that part of the world.

 

And so, we see then that he will belong to a destructive people whose goal will be like the Romans of 70 A.D. to wipe out God and His city and His people.  Now verse 27, "And he...” Who? The prince, the Antichrist, the willful king, the little horn. “He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week."  Ah, we finally found the loose week.  Here it is.  Now the problem is, we don't know when this week starts.  That's... We've got this undetermined time gap here between sixty-nine and seventy. Isn't that the genius of God?  He gives you a prophecy that is so exact you get it to the very day.  And then gives you a prophecy that is so inexact no man knows the day or the hour. And He ties them together in the same place.  It's not for you to know the times and the seasons the Father has put in His own power, even the Son of Man while on earth didn't know those.  There's going to be a week and the Antichrist is going to come and he's going to make a firm covenant with Israel?  Why?  Let me tell you why, because Israel is going to be embattled all the way down to the end.  You know, you watch, every time I hear about another summit where the Arabs and the Israelis are going to get together, I chuckle.  It will never happen.  It never happens.  It can't happen.  They are at each other's throat incessantly.  They leave a summit meeting and go back and shoot each other.  It is absolutely pointless.  And Israel is going to reach the point where there're going to be a whole proliferation of Saddam Husseins trying to wipe them out and here comes this great European power and this great European leader and he's going to come over and he is going to make a pact with Israel to become their protector.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  U.S. is going to be out of the picture, in a sense.  Once you have a unified Europe, the power of a unified Europe is strategic.  You ask yourself why all of a sudden Eastern Europe is free from Communism.  Don't you think that if Antichrist is going to rule that part of the world it would have to be unified?  You couldn't have a free market culture and a communist culture coexisting and have somebody rise to rule that.  The death of communism spells the unification of Europe.  The unification of Europe looks right down the prophetic tunnel to the coming of Antichrist, and they become the massive world power who can set themselves in unity to protect Israel.  The Antichrist does it.

 

It isn't for economic reasons he does it, he does it for religious reasons.  He's got his motives.  Some of them may be economic but the heart motive is ultimately he wants to destroy the temple, destroy the worship of God and set himself up as God in Jerusalem.  That's how...that's how defiant Satan is.  He doesn't ... Listen, Satan's ultimate goal is not to set up a false religion in L.A.  Satan's ultimate goal is to set up a false religion in Jerusalem.  That's God's city and that's the one he wants.  And that's where the Antichrist is going to go to do it and he's got to have a good relationship with Israel to get in there and do his blasphemy.

 

So the Antichrist makes a covenant with them for a week. In the middle of the week, three and a half years in, he puts a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.  You know what that tells me?  There's going to be a temple cranking up in Jerusalem and the Jews are going to be doing their thing, they're going to be doing their offerings and right in the middle of it they're going to have peace, their religion is restored, that means that the Arabs are going to have to give them a place to do their temple.  It's going to be there, they're going to be back doing their offerings.  And in the middle of the week when everything looks wonderful, the Antichrist comes in, he blasphemes, he commits what's called the abomination of desolation, he comes in on the wing of abominations, he comes and makes desolate.  He comes and makes a complete destruction.  And then a complete destruction is made on him until a complete destruction that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate.  He's going to come in, he's going to desecrate that place.

 

You say, "Well why that place?  That... Judaism is not the religion of God today." That place because that is still God's city, that is still where Jesus will return, is it not?  That is still the place from which He will rule in His kingdom.  And that is the symbol to Antichrist of the rule of God and he wants to desecrate that place for that reason.  And so he goes in there, I don't know what he's going to do but he's going to do similarly to what the Romans did, similarly to what Antiochus Epiphanes did, desecrate, abominate, blaspheme and mock God, right in the middle of it.  And then he's going to get it because when he does that he pulls the trigger, as it were, on the Day of the Lord.  And all hell breaks loose and reigns down on him and everybody who is involved with him.  And then the Lord brings the execution of the judgment won at the cross, and the beginning of the eternal righteousness that He promised.

 

So this is a formidable guy.  And this is the Antichrist of which Paul spoke and John. And they knew already about him because they knew Daniel.  There's something else they knew, one more text, Matthew 24.  Matthew 24 verse 15, Jesus preaching a sermon on His own Second Coming, the end of verse 14 He talks about the end coming, the final end.  He wants to tell His people how to kind of recognize it, how to know when the end is coming so in verse 15 He says, "When you see the abomination of desolations which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place."  When the Antichrist, He says, when the prince of the people that shall come, when he goes into the temple and does his abomination and makes it desolate and blasphemes God, my friends, let me tell you something, when that happens you better run.  That will trigger what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation which culminates in the holocaust known as the Day of the Lord.  And He says you better hope if you're alive at that time you haven't got a baby to nurse and you better hope it isn't winter and hard to travel and you better hope it isn't the Sabbath or some Jew is going to be screaming at you for moving because they believe you shouldn't move on the Sabbath because you're going to get a Great Tribulation.

 

The Antichrist is going to create this.  He's going to trigger it.  What's Paul saying?  Look, you people, the Day of the Lord hasn't come because Antichrist isn't here yet.  Don't be confused.  Back in the first letter he said you're going to get raptured first.  He said you don't even belong in the Day of the Lord, you're not people of the night.  And now he says it can't be the Day of the Lord, the Antichrist hasn't come.  So you use that strong theological indication to thwart that error.

 

Now this is why Paul is introducing this issue of Antichrist.  But having introduced it he goes in to expanding it in such richness that it's going to take us a few weeks to get through 2 Thessalonians 2 and you just keep your hat on, we're going to have a great time doing just that.  We're going to move fast and it will be a thrilling ride, believe me.  Let's bow in prayer.

This coming man of lawlessness, son of destruction, Antichrist is really the theme of this chapter.  He is an amazing person.  Satan's final, earthly blasphemer who attempts finally and ultimately to oppose Jesus Christ and blaspheme God, who attempts to destroy all who worship God and all worship of God and to obliterate the very name of God and Christ from the earth.  He plays a crucial role in the last days around the time of the coming of Jesus Christ.

 

As we noted last time this man of lawlessness, this Antichrist, will be the culmination of all who hate God, the culmination of all who hate Christ.  He will be the culmination of all blasphemers, all false prophets, all false teachers, all pseudochristos, all false Christs, all hypocrites.  He will be the ultimate hypocrite, the ultimate liar, and the ultimate deceiver, and in a sense the embodiment of all the rest.  The Antichrist's spirit has been around through all of redemptive history.  But it will culminate in this one final individual, he will be the most horrible and composite figure, pulling together all false teachers, prophets, blasphemers, hypocrites, liars, and deceivers into one.  He again is the theme of this chapter.

 

But this is not the first time the Thessalonians have heard about him.  In verse 5 Paul says, "Do you not remember that while I was still with you I was telling you these things?"  He had told them about the coming of the man of lawlessness, he had told them about the ultimate, final blasphemer that would come around the time of Christ's return.  I noted for you last time that perhaps in the telling originally when he told them and when he taught them, he must have referred to Daniel's prophecy, for Daniel more than any other Old Testament prophet, gives us details about this Antichrist.  We looked last time at something about him in chapter 9, but I would like you this morning to turn back to Daniel chapter 7 and I want to show you some of the other things that Daniel has to say about the coming Antichrist, the coming blasphemer, the final great superman of Satan, we could call him.

 

In Daniel chapter 7 we are introduced to him.  He is called there in Daniel 7 verse 8 "a little horn."  Among other horns this little horn came up.” The idea being that he has some associates, he associates with other world rulers and all of a sudden from a position of being somewhat small, he begins to rise to prominence and becomes larger than all his associates.  Toward the end of verse 8 it says he has eyes like the eyes of a man, this speaks of his intelligence.  He is no doubt an intellectual genius, clever, shrewd, and knowledgeable.  It says he has a mouth uttering great things, or great boasts.  He is an orator.  He is proud.  He speaks against God open blasphemy and he is good at what he does in terms of being a skilled speaker.

 

Over in verse 21 of chapter 7 we read further about this little horn who grows to become the power of the world, the Antichrist.  And it says he was waging war with the saints and overpowering them.  He obviously is engaged and involved in aggressive hostility against the people of God and seeks to destroy them entirely.  He would wipe them from the face of the earth if he could.

 

In verse 23, to show you the level of his success, his movement devours the whole earth and treads it down and crushes it.  He has military power and military genius that is surpassing any before him.  Down in verse 25 it says he will speak out against the Most High, and, of course, he is primarily a blasphemer, he is an abominator of God's holiness.  And so he speaks against the Most High.  He literally wears out the saints of the Highest One by injustice, by seizure, by punishment, imprisonment, and by execution.  He slaughters the people of God.  He will intend, it says, to make alterations in times and in law.  What that probably means is he brings in new celebrations.  He throws out all the old times. The world celebrates certain times each year, different countries have different celebrations but usually they are associated with religious celebration and he comes in and brings in new ceremonies, new religious observances, new celebrations in the worship of himself.  And he also makes alterations in law.  He changes the moral and ethical code of the world which for all of the world's life has been founded on God's will and God's purposes and now becomes satanically inspired.  And there will be given into his hand this tremendous power for a time, that's one;, times, that would be two;, half a time, that's a half; one, two, and a half are three and a half.  For three and a half years he will have this power over the world.

 

And then in verse 26 it reminds us, "But the court will sit for judgment and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.  And the sovereignty and the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve and obey Him."  God will become eternal king, this man only three and a half years.

 

In chapter 8 we learn a little more about him, down in verse 23.  At the end of verse 23 it says he is a king who will arise insolent and skilled in intrigue.  The word "insolent" has to do with his being an intimidator.  Literally he has a fierce face.  He is a fierce individual who intimidates everyone in to submission.  He is skilled in intrigue.  He is a master of deception.  Verse 24, "His power will be mighty, but not by his own power."  Revelation 13:2 says Satan will empower him.  He will be inspired by and no doubt even indwelt by Satan.  And therein lies his great power.  Verse 24 says he will destroy to an extraordinary degree.  Verse 25 speaks of his shrewdness, his deceit.  He will magnify himself in his heart, his pride.  He will destroy many while they are at ease.  He will kill innocent victims at peace.  And he will oppose the Prince of princes, no doubt the Messiah.  And then he will be broken without human agency.  In other words, no man can destroy him. A stone cut out without hands, Daniel 7, will crush him to death, that no doubt referring to the virgin-born Messiah.

 

Chapter 11 tells us a few more things about him.  Here he is further described as the king who will do as he pleases, or the Authorized calls him the willful king.  Verse 36 of Daniel 11, "He will do exactly what he pleases.” He is a total dictator of the world.  He is a Satan-indwelt dictator of the world who does exactly what he wants.  And what he wants most of all is to blaspheme God, blaspheme Christ and destroy all who worship them.  It says he will exalt and magnify himself above every god. He has absolute power, sovereign power and takes that power and that authority to limits that are unknown up to that point.  He speaks monstrous things against the God of gods, the true God.  He is, as I said, a blasphemer primarily.  And he will prosper.  He will be very effective in his profanity until the indignation is finished for that which is decreed will be done.  He lasts three and a half years until God's fury is done with him, and then it's over.

 

Verse 37, a very interesting note, he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers.  No doubt he's a Gentile and he is utterly irreligious, he has no concern for traditional religion in his family.  Then it adds this, and he has no regard for the desire of women.  Two possibilities.  One, he could be a homosexual.  That's a possibility.  He does not have normal desire for women. That does not seem too remote in the world in which we live today.  It also could mean he has no regard for the Messiah, Christ, because the Messiah was known by the Jews as the desire of women because every Jewish mother hoped that she would bear the Messiah.  Then in verse 37, "He will not show regard for any other god," that is he has no concern for any religion or any other deity, he alone is god.  He will magnify himself above them all.  He is God, he is Christ, he is all there is.  The only god he honors is the god of fortresses, or the god of war, a god whom his fathers didn't know.  He will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.  Apparently he comes out of a people that are not known as militarily powerful, but he comes and he is powerful and he is wealthy so he can finance his wars which he carries on all over the world.  He will take action, verse 39, against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god, or ally, he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him.  In other words, he'll elevate and lift up those who agree with him, cause them to rule over the many and parcel out land for a price.  He takes control of land and he uses it to make money.  He takes control of all authority and puts his people into power.  He controls everything.

 

Verse 45, he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas, that's the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, that's right in Jerusalem.  And the beautiful holy mountain, he sets himself up right there in the very place where God has set His temple.  And he'll come to an end and no one will help him.  He will meet his match.

 

So Daniel had said some very specific things about this blasphemer, this Satan-inspired intellectual military genius, this great orator, this man who will take power over the world, this man who will destroy everything he can that names the name of God.  Daniel had said enough, surely, to fill a few Pauline sermons.  And so when Paul said, "I've told you about these things," no doubt much of what he had said came from Daniel.  And now in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 he has some more things to say and things to remind them about regarding the man of sin.

But before we look at that, a question comes to mind.  And the question is this: When you read about such an individual, you read about him in the book of Daniel and it is indeed a unbelievable description, a man with power like nothing we've ever conceived of, and were you to compare Revelation chapter 13 and read about him there, you would read there that it says he has a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and he has authority to act for forty-two months. That's the same time period, three and a half years.  He opens his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle. That is those who dwell in heaven.  He makes war with the saints to overcome them, authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him, and all who dwell on the earth will worship him and everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain, when you read about the tremendous power of this man and you read here that he will do signs and wonders that are deceptive and false and that he comes in the power of Satan, you ask the question: Could there be such an individual?  Isn't this almost a fictional human being?  I mean, we're talking about a man, we're talking about someone in the vernacular who puts his pants on the same way we do. Could such a creature actually exist?

 

We look back in history. We have a little preview of that kind of individual, all the way back around 168 B.C. in the king of Syria by the name of Antiochus.  His name was Antiochus.  He called himself Antiochus Epiphanes which means the great one.  The people called him Antiochus Epimanes, which means the maniac.  He was king of Syria.  And his goal was to blaspheme God and to eliminate Judaism from the world.  He invaded Jerusalem, killed thousands of Jews, sold them into slavery.  He made it a crime punishable by death to circumcise a child or own a copy of the law.  He erected an altar to Zeus in the temple.  And he offered a pig on it, to blaspheme God.  He took the temple chambers which were occupied by worshipers and priests and Levites and made them brothels for prostitutes.  He was a deliberate desecrator, a cold-blooded enemy of God attempting to wipe out the Jewish religion, wipe out the worship of God, and wipe out the Jews together.  He was anti-God.  He was a picture of the one to come.  He didn't succeed. God used the Maccabee family to lead a revolt that divested him of his power and spared the people of Israel.

 

But there's another even more graphic illustration of the kind of man Antichrist will be.  And that man's name is Adolf Hitler.  Any close look at the life of Hitler will reveal the possibility and the potentiality of such a man as Antichrist.  He is perhaps in human history the single greatest model of this man.  The effort of Hitler was to rule the world.  Hitler hated God and Hitler hated Jesus Christ.  Hitler hated the Jews and attempted to wipe them off the face of the earth in a satanic plot to therefore eliminate the people of God and therefore disallow the promise of God to redeem Israel and give them a kingdom.  Hitler was demonic.  If ever a man was possessed not by just any demon or demons but Satan himself, it would have had to have been Adolf Hitler.  He is the classic historical example of Antichrist.

 

In a fascinating book called The Morning of the Magicians by Lewis Pauwels and Jacque Bergier, published by Avon Books in 1969, we learn some background about this unbelievable man.  The authors, who by the way are non-Christians, had nothing to do with Christianity, present their case from the records of the Nuremberg trials, thousands of books and reviews and testimony personally from eyewitnesses.  Here's what they say, "It is impossible to understand Hitler's political plans unless one is familiar with his basic beliefs and his conviction that there is a magical relationship between man and the universe."

 

In fact, in their book they tell how Hitler was fascinated with mysticism and that he was deeply immersed into the ideas of mysticism.  He saw rather mystically the miracle of his own destiny as the action of unseen, powerful, spirit forces.  The Aeneids of Plutonius were read in little mystical societies of pro-German intellectuals, along with ancient Hindu texts, Nietzsche, and the writings of Tibetan magicians.  The probable explanation” they write “for Hitler's deeds is the existence of a magical puzzle, a powerful and satanic mystical covenant.  "We shall never be safe from Nazism or rather from certain manifestations of the satanic, which through the Nazis cast its dark shadow over the world, until we have roused ourselves to a full understanding of the most fantastic aspects of the Hitlerian adventure."

 

Another book entitled The Hollow Earth, written by Eric Norman in 1972 gives more information.  He says that Hitler and his Nazi oriented society was a secret occult society.  And the whole story is a macabre tale from the Hollow Earth Cult.  The Hollow Earth Cult for centuries has believed that the earth is hollow.  And in some place in the hollow earth dwells some advanced beings and they have powers beyond human power.  If men on the earth are to be able to exercise that power they have to enter into league with those beings in the hollow earth.  When they enter into that kind of alliance they become the slaves of the hollow earth powers.  Eric Norman writes, "Nazi records seized after the fall of the Third Reich indicate that Hitler and his henchmen launched several expeditions to try to find the hollow earth."  Hitler's concept, for example, of using children came from occult writings on the hollow earth.  From those writings he formed his corps of adolescent werewolves, as he called them, with black uniforms and sinister death's heads on their sleeves.

 

Hitler's whole Third Reich was wedded to the black occult.  One of his greatest generals, one of his most well-known, was a man named Karl Haushofer.  Haushofer for many years had been a member of the Society Of The Golden Dawn.  Now that is a very ancient society of occult involvement.  I am somewhat familiar with it because of writings in other fields than just Adolf Hitler.  I met a young man in Hollywood on one occasion who had written two rock musicals. Both of those rock musicals, he said, he wrote under total influence by a demon so that he didn't even know what he was writing until he came out of the trance.  In the process of writing those rock operas he got involved with mediums and demons and was getting and giving messages coming from demonic sources.  In that process he came across some fascinating literature.  Through sheer fear and terror he came to Christ out of all of that and brought me some of the books and much of what I read in the books that he had for me was about the Society Of The Golden Dawn.  It is an age-old, black magic, occult society.

 

Karl Haushofer was a part of that society and it was he who inspired Hitler to write Mein Kampf.  He had visited Tibet and China, India. He had adopted Buddhist beliefs and was initiated into secret Buddhist societies from which only suicide was an escape.  It was said that Haushofer had amazing psychic powers.  And most of the people who write about Hitler who know this say that Haushofer was the black magician that controlled Hitler.  Even Rudolph Hess said, quote: "Haushofer was the power, the magician behind Hitler and his demonic legions."  It was as if Hitler was a medium and Haushofer was the magician.  The swastika was no German sign. Swastika was a magical symbol in China and Europe, a symbol in the black occult.

 

By 1925 a group of Tibetan monks had moved to Berlin.  All of these Tibetan monks were members of a black order, swearing allegiance to the power of darkness.  Supposedly they had contact with the hollow earth spirits.  From that time on funds were made available by the Nazis to finance expeditions to Mongolia and expeditions to Tibet to dig deeper into the black occult.  When Germany fell, several hundred in secret service, S.S. death’s head uniforms were found to be Himalayan Orientals who had no ID.  The whole Third Reich was infested with these monks from the black occult.  Rosenberg wrote, "They were the last of the black monks who helped Hitler's dark menacing movement."

 

In March of 1946 Haushofer killed his wife and then before a Buddhist altar killed himself, and his son said he knew his father was the magician behind Adolf Hitler.  The seven founders of Nazism were all deep in the occult.  Pauwels and Bergier wrote, "One cannot help but think of him as a medium.” That is Hitler. Most of the time mediums were ordinary, insignificant people.  Suddenly they're endowed with what seems to be supernatural powers.  It was in this way beyond any doubt Hitler was possessed by forces beyond himself, demoniacal forces which the individual named Hitler was only the temporary vehicle for."  They said when he got up front of the crowds to speak, the voice that they heard was not his voice.  It was an unearthly voice, not at all like the voice they heard him use in conversation.

 

So here was a man possessed by Satan.  One eyewitness said this, "A person close to Hitler told me that he wakes up in the night screaming and in convulsions.  He calls for help and appears to be half paralyzed.  He is seized with a panic that makes him tremble until the bed shakes.  He utters confused and unintelligible sounds, gasping as if on the point of suffocation.  Hitler was standing in his room swaying and looking all around as if he were lost. `It's he, it's he, it's he, he's come for me,' he groaned.  His lips were white, he was sweating profusely.  Suddenly he uttered a string a meaningless figures, then words and scraps of sentences.  It was terrifying.  Then suddenly he screamed, `There, there, over in the corner, he's there.'  All the time stamping his feet and screaming."

 

This is Hitler.  This is a man totally possessed by Satan, attempting to take over the whole world, blaspheme Christ, blaspheme God and wipe out the Jews.  This is a preview of Antichrist.  Hitler said, quote: "There is another species of humanity which doesn't deserve the name, left as a relic of some baser form of life, created along with hideous crawling creatures, namely gypsies, Negroes and Jews.  They are," he said, "as far removed from us as animals are from humans.  I do not mean I look on Jews as animals. They are much further removed from animals than we are.  They are creatures outside nature," end quote.

 

He butchered six million and wanted to kill every Jew on the face of the earth.  The man Hitler, a vehicle for a Satanic plot to wipe out the people of God and destroy God's plan and God's kingdom.  Could such a man exist?  Yes.  We've seen some previews.  Antichrist will be 100 Hitlers rolled into one, a man to be Satan's tool to destroy Israel, to kill the saints, to blaspheme God, to blaspheme Christ, to destroy all religion except the worship of himself, and lead the world to hell.  It is this man of whom Paul speaks.

Now the question immediately comes, why does Paul bring the subject up?  This is a little letter, isn't it?  Three chapters, to a relatively young church.  Why does he bring it up?  Why does he spend a whole chapter dealing with this?  Well the answer is very simple. They had three problems in that little church, one was persecution and so he wrote chapter 1 to comfort them in the midst of it.  Two was insubordination, or disobedience, so he wrote chapter 3 to call them to obedience.  And the third problem was confusion and so he wrote chapter 2 to straighten them out.  They were confused over what?  Over matters regarding the return of the Lord; they were confused over matters regarding the return of the Lord. And Paul, in order to help make his point, brings the Antichrist into the discussion. And we'll see how that unfolds.

 

It's a very simple thing to understand.  Look at verses 1 and 2.  "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come."

 

Now here's a very simple issue.  They have become convinced that the Day of the Lord what? Has come.  That's pretty clear.  They have become convinced that the Day of the Lord has come; they're in it.  Well, why would they ever believe such a thing?  Well they're undergoing tremendous persecution, severe persecution, including perhaps martyrdom.  And somebody has told them this is the indication you are in the Day of the Lord.

 

What is the Day of the Lord?  And why would they be so shocked to be in it?  The Day of the Lord is a very technical term.  It refers to the time of God's ultimate judgment.  The term "Day of the Lord" appears four times in the New Testament.  Many other times it is described or even given different names.  The term "Day of the Lord" appears nineteen times in the Old Testament.  It always refers to a specific, final period of divine wrath.  It's easily described by just a few Old Testament passages.

 

Isaiah 13:9, "Behold the Day of the Lord comes cruel with both wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate."  Jeremiah 46:10, "For this is the Day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries."  Joel 1:15, "For the Day of the Lord is at hand, it shall come as destruction from the almighty."  Joel 2:11, "For the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible."  Joel 2:31, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, the moon into blood before the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord."  Amos 5:20, "Is not the Day of the Lord darkness?"  Malachi 4:5: "The coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord."  Zephaniah 1:14, "The noise of the Day of the Lord is bitter."  And then Zephaniah 1:15, "The day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness."

 

When you see the Day of the Lord you see wrath and fierce anger and desolation and vengeance and destruction and terror and darkness and dread and gloom and distress and trouble.  It's judgment.  Six times it is referred to as the day of doom.  Four times it is called the day of vengeance.  Revelation 6:17 calls it the great day of His wrath.  It always refers to the ultimate, severest, cataclysmic judgments of God on the wicked.  It is the culmination of God's fury, God's wrath.  It is climactic.  The New Testament calls it His day, the day of wrath, the day of wrath and revelation, the great day of God Almighty.  So this is a...this is a terrorizing period of judgment, the final judgment.

 

We are warned in the Bible the Day of the Lord is near, the Day of the Lord is at hand.  It's always sort of coming out there in the final time when God pours out His fury.  Jesus in the parables of Matthew 13 described it as a time of fire, burning.  In Matthew 24 and 25 as He preached on His Second Coming He described it as a time when the angels come with flaming fire.  Peter describes it as a time when the elements melt with fervent heat and men are consumed in eschatological fire.

 

Now think of it.  Here's a little church.  Here's a little group of Christians who have been convinced that they're in this and they're saying to themselves, "How did this happen?  How did we get in this deal?  We're not supposed to be here."

 

You say, "Well, what made them think that?"  Go back to 1 Thessalonians.  First Thessalonians chapter 5, in the first letter he wrote to them he told them this, verse 2, "You yourselves know full well that the Day of the Lord will come."  You know about it.  You read the Old Testament.  You know what Jesus taught.  You know what I've told you.  "The Day of the Lord will come and it will come like a thief in the night." What does that mean?  Unexpectedly, quickly, unannounced, and harmfully.  Just like a thief; they come unexpectedly, unannounced when you don't expect...when you're not ready and they do harm.  While they, not we, but while they in the world are saying peace and safety, everything is fine, then destruction comes on them suddenly like birth pangs on a woman with child. They'll not escape.  Notice they, they, they, not us, not us, not you.  Verse 4, "But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day should overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We're not of night nor of darkness."

 

In other words, his point is this, this isn't for you; but you, brethren, the day is not going to catch you.  You say, "Well what's going to happen to us?"  Well he already told you.  Go back to chapter 4 verse 16, "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, with a trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words."  This is the “we and the us” part.  The Lord's going to come and take us to heaven.  We're not going to be here for the Day of the Lord.  We're not in the darkness.  The day won't overtake us.  We're sons of light and sons of day, not sons of night and sons of darkness. That's for the ungodly.  That's clear in the Old Testament.  That's clear in the New Testament.  That's not for the godly.  That's the ultimate, culminating, judgment of God as He fires His wrath on those who don't know Him.  That was further described, wasn't it, in the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians as God's righteous judgment, retribution on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

 

So, you see, what they had been told was the Day of the Lord is an event you're not going to be at because the Lord is going to take you to be with Him. The dead in Christ are going to rise first.  The living are going to get caught up, we're going to meet the Lord in the air, we're going to go and be with the Lord.  We're going to be rescued out before the fury falls.

 

They had the same kind of anxiety that the dear people in the time of Malachi had.  Malachi is the last prophet of the Old Testament in the order the books are given.  And in that little prophecy Malachi says, "God's going to judge, God's going to judge, God's going to judge."  And a little group of believers get together at the end of chapter 3 and they start talking to each other and saying, "I wonder if God remembers us.  We could get caught in this deal.  When the fury falls we might get it."  And Malachi says, the Lord heard them talking to each other and the Lord said, don't you worry, don't you worry, you'll be Mine in the day that I make up My jewels and I know how to distinguish between the wicked and the righteous.  Don't you worry, you're not going to get caught in that.

 

It has always been the hope of the people of God that the Lord would deliver them out of judgment, that those who are in Christ Jesus will not know that condemnation fury.  But here are these believers and somebody has convinced them they're in the Day of the Lord and the obvious reaction is, what happened to the rapture?  We're supposed to be out of here before this deal starts.  And now they're really confused.  Panic sets in because they think they're in the day of the Lord.

 

Let's look then closely at these first two verses and see how Paul faces this issue.  "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him."  Stop right there.

 

Paul says, "I want to...I want to request of you that you begin to properly understand this matter of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.  I've got to straighten you out."  The word "now," de in the Greek, marks the move to a new subject.  It's a transition from the beautiful prayer in verses 11 and 12, now to the real heart of the letter, the real doctrinal heart, this matter of the Second Coming.  He calls them brethren. It's a gentle humble approach to the situation that emphasizes their equality as brothers in Christ.  And he comes with a tenderness.  He doesn't come and say to them, "You blockheads, I've already written you one letter and explained all this stuff."  He's a very gentle apostle at this point and because they are so perturbed and upset, he wants to deal with them kindly.  And you should remember that throughout this notoriously difficult passage, Paul is motivated by a pastoral purpose.  He's not out to gratify some unlawful curiosity about the end times. He limits his instruction to what is necessary to correct their error and get back the comfort they should be enjoying in the hope of the rapture.  So he speaks gently to them in pastoral terms.  "And we request you," is a verb that basically means what it says, we plead with you.  There's a gentleness.  There's a kind dignity to this.  He avoids being pontifical or authoritarian or intolerant or overbearing, but wants to be very gentle and very tender with them. It's the very same phrase he used back in the first letter, chapter 5 and verse 12.

 

Now what is it that he wants to persuade them about?  With regard, or in behalf of, “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.”  The Greek construction here in the Greek language forces us to conclude that he has one event in mind, one event.  It is not the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's one, and our gathering together to Him, that's two.  It is one event.  There is a single definite article and it ties them together.  It could read, "With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, specifically our gathering together to Him."  When you say parousia, the word for coming, you're talking about a lot of things.  There are epochs and times within the coming of Christ.  He comes for His Church.  He comes with His church.  He comes to judge.  He comes to set up His kingdom.  He comes to rule in His kingdom. And then to establish the new heaven and the new earth.  There are many events in the coming of Christ.  So he narrows it down. I want to talk to you with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering to Him. That's a perfect description of the rapture, isn't it?  Doesn't the Lord come and then aren't we gathered to meet Him where? In the air.  He says I want to talk to you about the rapture.

 

Now why would he be discussing the Rapture?  Because that was the problem.  They can't figure out how they got in the Day of the Lord.  They're not supposed to be there by what they've understood.  Furthermore the little personal pronoun "our" lends at least to me, anyway, a friendly tone to this aspect of the Lord's coming.  I think if he was talking about the Lord's coming in the judgment sense, I think he would have used “the Lord” rather than “our Lord” which seems to be a friendly way of making it a hopeful aspect of that event.  So with regard to the coming of our Lord and our gathering to meet Him, which is a perfect description of both sides of the rapture, he says, "I've got to straighten you out."  Coming is parousia, the general term, but obviously he's relating it to our gathering together to Him, which is a description of the rapture, episunagōgē.  Sunagōgē is the word from which you get synagogue, a gathering place.  Epi is intensifying it, the place of our collecting together.  So here we have a concern on their part about the event in which we are gathered together with the Lord.

 

Some of the old commentators called it the muster of the saints.  This word, episunagōgē, is only used one other place in the New Testament, Hebrews 10:25 where it says, "Forsake not the assembling together."  And that's the idea of the word.  So they were worried about our coming to be with the Lord, our gathering to Him.  Paul had described it for them in the first letter.  Jesus had said it this way, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid," right?  You don't need to worry about whether you're going to lose Me permanently.  In John 14 He said, "I'm going to go away and if I go I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again to receive you unto Myself that where I am there you may be also."  That's the gathering together.  In fact, there are some who believe that the term, episunagōgē, the gathering together, was a technical term used in the early church to speak of that event.  And we might be just as well to call that event “the gathering together” as to call it the “rapture.”

 

So they weren't worried about the coming of the Lord with regard to the fate of the wicked.  They were concerned about the gathering of the saved because if they were in the Day of the Lord they must have concluded that something went wrong.  Go back to 1 Thessalonians 1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10. He says to them, "I know you have turned to God," verse 9, "from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." They weren't expecting any of God's fury.  And that's a very general statement there but I don't believe they were expecting eternal wrath or any other kind of wrath. They were waiting for the Son who would deliver them out of that.  The Son would come and they would be gathered together in a great congregation to Him and they would go to the place He prepared for them and then would come the Day of the Lord.  They expected to be taken to glory before the Day of the Lord ever began.  And they had been promised, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, rest or relief.  They had been promised, 2 Thessalonians 1:10, glory.  So they weren't expecting wrath and fury, but rest and glory.  In fact, chapter 5 verse 9 of 1 Thessalonians, Paul even reminded them God has not destined us for wrath.

 

So the only way you can understand this passage, from my viewpoint, is to understand that they thought they were in the day of the Lord and therefore they missed the rapture.  If this was the day of the Lord, maybe God forgot them.  They were supposed to be resting in the Lord's presence, but they were in the Day of the Lord?

 

The effect is in verse 2.  "That you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come."  Listen, they were a wreck.  They were shaken.  They had lost their composure.  They were severely disturbed because through a spirit, a message, and a letter purported to have come from Paul and Silas and Timothy, they had been told the Day of the Lord had come.  "How did we get here?" they're saying.  "What are we doing here?  What happened to the rapture?  Was Paul wrong?  Did God forget us?”  This is serious stuff.

 

Let's go backward through verse 2.  The last part says, "To the effect the Day of the Lord has come."  There is no way that you can translate that verb "has come" any other way than the way it's translated.  Enistēcon, it means has come.  Some commentators do cartwheels around trying to make it mean something else.  It cannot.  It simply means they believe that it had come, had arrived, therefore was there present actually.  They were in the Day of the Lord.  It had arrived and they were in it.

 

You say, "Well why would they even think that?"  Because of the persecution which perhaps included martyrdom.  And more than that, because they had been told they were in it.  You say, "How were they told?"  By a spirit, a message, and a letter; three avenues, it's a triple use of dia, the word “by” or “through,” indicates three distinct means.  What does it mean by a spirit?  Well prophetic utterance, divine revelation from the Holy Spirit.  They had been told that the Holy Spirit revealed it, that it came by the Spirit, direct revelation from God. And then they got it not only by a spirit but by a message, that's logos, a speech, a sermon; and thirdly, a letter, a written letter.  And listen to this, then this little phrase, "As if from us."  And that little phrase relates to all three.

 

Here's the scenario.  Somebody comes to town. They say, "We have a word from Paul for you."  Oh?  Paul?  "Yes."  Now only months have passed since he had written the first letter, just a few.  And they were, no doubt, eager to hear because their hearts were fresh and their love for Paul was great.  "A word from Paul.  Here's the word, you're in the Day of the Lord."  What?  "He got it by revelation, it came through the Spirit, and he is preaching it by word, by message.  And not only that, he has written it, here is a letter."  And they had a forgery.

 

You see, in order to convince them that they were going to have to live through the Day of the Lord they had to get apostolic authority.  They had to get some apostolic credentials.  And so they said this came as a revelation to Paul, that Paul preached it, and they said that he had even written it and here's a letter.  It hints, doesn't it, at the existence of counterfeit apostolic documents very, very, very early in the life of the church. From the very outset Satan was counterfeiting stuff.  All kinds of counterfeit documents were running all over the place within a matter of a few years.  And the church had to distinguish between the authentic and the spurious.

 

They said this was all from Paul.  By the way, Paul didn't like letters being attributed to him that he didn't write.  He has a little word that may relate to that. Look at the end of chapter 3 verse 17, it's an interesting note.  As he closes the letter he says, "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter. This is the way I write."  What do you think he's saying there?  If you've got something else and it doesn't look like this, I didn't write it.  He had a way to do his signature that nobody could duplicate, I think.  But see, this young group of believers got this and it supposedly came from Paul, that they were in the day of the Lord, that believers are going to go through the Day of the Lord and maybe get delivered afterwards.

 

And what did it do to them?  Verse 2 at the very beginning, they had been quickly shaken from their composure and disturbed.  Very strong terminology here, it is very graphic terminology.  The first verb... First you see the word “quickly,” hastily, rashly, shaken.  "From your composure," the word composure in the Greek is mind.   “Shaken” means to be broken loose.  It can be used of a rocking motion that shakes a ship, tossing it on the stormy waves.  It can be used of a building that disintegrates under an earthquake.  It can be used of a ship that is tied to a mooring and it breaks loose and begins to be tossed by the surf.  To put it in the vernacular, you've lost your mind, you've gotten cut loose from your moorings.  You're flipping and flopping all over everywhere.  You're falling apart, tossed wildly.  You've lost your mental balance over this.  You're running amok, you're operating on emotion, anxiety and fear, pretty severe condition.

 

And then he adds the verb "be disturbed," means to be alarmed out of fear, frightened.  Hey, if they were in the Day of the Lord, fear.  Now think this one through.  If they had thought that the rapture came at the end of the Day of the Lord, they wouldn't be in fear, would they?  They'd be happy.  They'd be saying, "Hey, we're near the end, we're near the end, we're near the end."  The very fact that they think they shouldn't be there tells us that they had been taught they weren't going to be there.  So, the word "disturb" means...has the idea of clamor, tumult, fear, crying aloud.  I don't know what was going on when they met for church but it might have been interesting, moaning, groaning, anxiety-filled people thinking they were in the Day of the Lord and trying to figure out how they missed the rapture or how the rapture didn't happen, or God forgot them or Paul was wrong, and then where are we?  If he's wrong about that, what else is he wrong about?  State of nervous excitement that ends up in panic; they were having a continuous panic attack as a whole church.  They were then defying a basic principle of Christian living and that is not to be controlled by emotion but by truth.  They lost their sense, they lost their composure.

 

So obviously they... They had been told that they would be escaping the Day of the Lord.  If they had been taught a view that they were going to go through the Day of the Lord and then be taken to glory, they would have been saying, "Well it's difficult but we're excited cause this means Jesus will be here soon."  No.  They had expected rapture and gathering together and then Day of the Lord for the ungodly.  So what were they doing in it?

 

So they needed an authentic word and that's why Paul writes this chapter.  And he uses Antichrist as the focal point.  You know why?  Because it is Antichrist who really triggers the events that bring the Day of the Lord.  So what his point here is this, you can't be in the Day of the Lord because the one who comes to start the events of the Day of the Lord hasn't even come yet.  And he uses Antichrist because Antichrist is an already revealed individual, so he can build his case on Daniel and he can build his case on the teaching of Jesus.  And that's why he deals with the Antichrist.  And in verse 3 he says, "Don't let anybody deceive you. It won't come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed."  You can't be in the Day of the Lord. There are some things that have to happen first that trigger that event and they haven't happened.

 

Some things are going to happen before the Day of the Lord kicks in.  We've been promised we'll have no part in those things.

EVIDENCE:

Modern Signs of Jewish People Back in the Land

Modern Signs of Jewish People Wanting Peace – Making Peace Deals

Characteristics of Antichrist

Modern Signs of People Worshipping a World Political Figure

Characteristics of False Peace - One World Government, Gary Kah/Joan Veon....Economy, Religion Carl Techrib/Berit Kjos

When people cry out Peace & Safety sudden destruction comes - Video People saying Peace & Safety

Leads to next Seal - Global War

People, one of the first and foremost important prophetic events on God’s end time calendar is concerning the Jewish people. In short, if you want to know how close we are to the end, pay attention to the Jewish people. Why?

Because from God’s viewpoint, Jerusalem is the center of the earth! Think about it! This is where the line of the Messiah started! King David ruled from there. This is where Jesus (the actual Messiah) died on a cross.

This is where the End Times culminate with the Battle of Armageddon outside of Jerusalem. This is where Jesus returns at His 2nd Coming. And this is where Jesus reigns after His 2nd Coming. It’s all in Jerusalem!

Therefore, if you want to know how close we are to the end, you’ve got to pay attention to Jerusalem and the Jewish people, right?

And that’s why the Lord prophesied specific events, in minute detail, that would happen to the Jewish people alone, giving us a clear indication as to when we really are living in the last days.

So just what are these specific prophesies being fulfilled today concerning The Jewish People showing us just how close we really are to the last days?

Well, I’m glad you asked. The 1st End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Return To The Land.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Isaiah 43:1-6.

Now folks, ever since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD, the Jewish people have been scattered all over the earth. But during the past century alone, millions of Jews have returned to Israel fulfilling this very prophecy.

In fact, just like the Bible said, they not only came specifically from the east, the west, the north and the south, but they came in that exact order!

First from the East, in the early 1900’s when many of the Jews living in the Middle East moved to Israel.

Then from the West, during mid-1900’s, hundreds of thousands of Jews living in the West (Europe and the United States) began moving to Israel.

Then from the North, during the 1980’s, Russia finally began to allow hundreds of thousands of Jews to return to Israel.

And next from the South, Israel struck a deal with Ethiopia’s communist government. And on the weekend of May 25, 1991, 14,500 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel.

And now, more Jews are returning to Israel every single year from all over the world. First from the East, West, North, and South. Just like the Bible said they would! When? In the last days!

The 2nd End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Become A Nation Again.

Isaiah 11:11-12 “In that day the Lord will bring back a remnant of his people for the second time, returning them to the land of Israel from Assyria, Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands. He will raise a flag among the nations for Israel to rally around. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.” (NLT)

People, ever since 721 BC approximately 14 different peoples have possessed the land of Israel. Yet as we saw, the Bible specifically said that the nation of Israel would one day be reborn.

One day they would regain their independence.

And can anyone guess what happened on May 14, 1948? That’s right! After waiting centuries and centuries, the people who were scattered all over the world, not only returned to the land, but they also became a nation again!

From out of nowhere and against all odds, Israel was reborn. And in 1967 the Jewish people even recaptured the city of Jerusalem. Just like the Bible said they would! When? In the last days!

The 3rd End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Be Brought Forth In One Day.

Isaiah 66:8 “Who has ever seen or heard of anything as strange as this? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem’s birth pains begin, the baby will be born; the nation will come forth.” (NLT)

People, for those of you who may not know, on the morning of May 14, 1948, at precisely 4pm, the members of the People’s Council signed the proclamation and the declaration was made that, “The State of Israel is established. This meeting is ended.”

Israel not only became a nation again, but it was brought forth as a nation, literally in one day.

In fact, it was such an obvious fulfillment of Bible prophecy that even the Jewish people themselves knew they were fulfilling a prophecy made over 2,500 years earlier, like this video shows.

VIDEO ISRAEL BECOMING A NATION 1948

Now isn’t it interesting how even the non-religious secular Jewish people recognized the prophetic importance of their becoming a nation again, to the point where they sensed it, they felt it, they even wept over it…

But most of us have no clue of the importance of that date and how it proves just how close we really are to the end.

Israel not only became a nation again, but it was brought forth as a nation, literally in one day. Just like the Bible said! When? In the last days!

The 4th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Be A United Nation Again.

Ezekiel 37:21-22 “And give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will unify them into one nation in the land. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations.” (NLT)

Now for those of you who may not know, in about 926 BC, the Jewish people became a divided nation. The Northern 10 tribes were called Israel, and the Southern 2 tribes were called Judah.

But when the Jewish people regained independence in 1948, for the first time in 2,900 years, Israel was again united as a single nation, not two. Just like the Bible said! When? In the last days!

The 5th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel’s Currency Would Be The Shekel.

Ezekiel 45:12,13,16 “The standard unit for weight will be the silver shekel. This is the tax you must give to the prince. All the people of Israel must join the prince in bringing their offerings.” (NLT)

Now folks, here we see how the Bible clearly predicted that in the future temple sacrifices, the people of Israel would not just be paying their taxes, but specifically paying them in what? In shekels, right?

But the problem is that Israel’s currency wasn’t the shekel but the pound. That is, until 1980, when it just so happened it was changed to the shekel, and they use it even to this very day.

Just like the Bible said! When? In the last days!

The 6th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Blossom As A Rose In The Desert.

Isaiah 35:1-2 “Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel’s pastures and the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God.” (NLT)

Now folks, to understand the significance of this prophecy, you have to first understand the history and characteristics of the land of Israel.

From the very beginning, that land that promised to the Israelites was totally different from the land they came from. Think about it. They came out of Egypt and the desert to the what? “The Promised Land.”

And this “Promised Land” was a good land. In fact, it was called “a good land” 16 times in the Old Testament, and “a land flowing with milk and honey” 23 times in the Old Testament.

There was something special about that land. And even up to the time of Josephus, a 1st century Jewish historian, he mentioned how the land was still very prosperous and fertile. Here’s what he said.

“For the whole area is excellent for crops and pasturage and rich in trees of every kind, so that by its fertility it invites even those least inclined to work on the land. 

In fact, every inch of it has been cultivated by the inhabitants and not a parcel goes to waste.  It is thickly covered with towns, and thanks to the natural abundance of the soil, the many villages are so densely populated.”

Now here’s the point. All that changed after nearly 2,000 years of foreign conquerors totally abusing the land. They left it a total complete wasteland. In fact, listen to some of the people who visited Israel prior to 1948.

OVERHEAD ISRAEL A BARREN WASTLAND

And that’s exactly what He did. No foreign conqueror was able to make Israel bloom again, no matter how hard they tried…

But when Jewish People began to return to the land, everything changed! They began to immediately work at getting the land back into shape! And for them, and them alone, the land began to respond!

One author in the 1800’s counted the trees there and reported that there were less than 1,000. And right now today, due to a massive tree replanting program, there are over 1.2 billion trees in Israel…

And half their trees are forest trees, and the other half are fruit trees, and this has not only helped to increase the rainfall by over 450%…

But Israel, the former desert, is now the breadbasket of the Middle East and is exporting fruit all over the world. And speaking of their fruit, it is out of this world! It’s not only huge it’s incredibly sweet and delicious!

And that’s because, it just so happens, when the Jewish people got there, they not only replanted trees, but they began to build a massive network of irrigation systems, high-tech irrigation systems, much further along than the rest of the world.

And it just so happens the water in the soil, remember that quote from earlier, that they are irrigating there, is custom tailored to produce amazing produce! It just needed the Jewish people to pump it out.

VIDEO IRRIGATING FRUIT IN THE DESERT

And so I’m sure it’s just purely by chance that the water under Israel is custom tailored for amazing produce, produce that is much larger and three times as sweet as other areas…

Who would’ve thought that the desert could bloom again and produce such amazing quantities?

It’s almost like when God said this land was “a good land” and a land “flowing with milk and honey” that it just needed the “right people” to get back there and make it come alive again.

Gee, I wonder who that is? The Jewish people maybe?

But that’s still not all. Israel also diverted the water from the Sea of Galilee and channeled it through sections of the deserts, which have allowed the deserts to literally begin to blossom with an abundance of flowers.

Even to the point where Israel is now a major exporter of flowers and ornamental plants. Just like the Bible said! When? In the last days!

The 7th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Have A Powerful Military.

Zechariah 12:6 “On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.” (NLT)

Now folks, here’s what’s amazing about this prophecy. Outnumbered and against all odds, the Israeli forces have astounded the world by their victories over and over again during multiple wars.

For instance, within hours of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon all invaded Israel. The combined population of those countries was at least 20 million at that time.

Yet, Israel had fewer than 1 million. But when all was said and done, the Jewish people not only won the war, but they expanded the size of Israel by 50 percent.

And today Israel has one of the most powerful military forces in the world with full nuclear capabilities. Hands down, they are the most powerful force in the region. Just like the Bible said! When? In the last days!

The 8th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that Israel Would Be A Center Of Conflict To The Whole World.

Zechariah 12:2-3 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” (NIV)

In other words, don’t mess with Israel!

Now folks, in 1948, when the Jewish people became a nation again, the very next day, the nations around them declared war with Israel. And the fighting for control has never stopped.

Also, it just so happens that Israel’s location in the heart of the world’s oil reserves makes it a great strategic significance to all the countries in the world.

Then to make matters worse, the world’s 3 largest religions have headquarters in guess where? Jerusalem!

And people, this is why you can daily turn on the news and read in all the newspapers of how Israel has indeed become what? An international global problem. It has become a center of world conflict…

Exactly like the Bible said would happen. When? In the last days!

But before we continue, you have to understand the amazing prophetic significance of eight prophecies being fulfilled in just one entity, i.e. the Jewish people.

So far we’ve seen, and we’re not done, but so far we’ve seen…

That Israel Would Return To The Land.

That Israel Would Become A Nation Again.

That Israel Would Be Brought Forth In One Day.

That Israel Would Be A United Nation Again.

That Israel’s Currency Would Be The Shekel.

That Israel Would Blossom As A Rose In The Desert.

That Israel Would Have A Powerful Military.

That Israel Would Be A Center Of Conflict To The Whole World.

Now listen to the odds of all these 8 prophecies coming to pass in just one people.

QUOTE ODDS OF PROPHECY

Now folks, I’m not a rocket scientist, but I’d say it’s pretty obvious that there’s no way the Jewish people fulfilled those 8 prophecies by accident, are you kidding me?

I mean, it’s almost like God’s trying to get our attention or something? Hello In fact, let’s put the nail in the coffin. Let’s turn the tables around. Let’s see how the so-called psychics do out there in comparison to the Bible.

QUOTE PSYCHIC PREDICTIONS

And yet, people will listen to them instead of the Bible! Excuse me? What more does God have to do?

And what we saw there was that God clearly foretold that when we see, the Jewish People Return To The Land, Become A Nation Again, Be Brought Forth in One Day as a Nation, Become A United Nation Again, Their Currency Would Be The Shekel, They’d Blossom As A Rose In The Desert, They’d Have A Powerful Military and They’d Become A Center Of World Conflict…and last time Rebuild That Temple Again

Uh…you better wake up! This is a clear indicator from God, you’re living in the last days.

But that’s still not all. The 10th End Time Prophecy concerning The Jewish People is that They’d Have a Relationship with the Antichrist.

And the 1st thing we know about this Relationship with the Antichrist is that They’re Going to Make a Peace Treaty with Him.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Daniel 9:20-27.

But folks, as you can see here in our text, if you were here last week, we saw that this was the classic text that specifically tells us the exact event that starts the 7-year Tribulation in the Last Days. And what was it?

It’s when the antichrist makes a covenant or “peace treaty” or with the people of Israel, right? But not only that, what was specific time frame about this covenant? It’s going to specifically be for what? Seven years, right?

Okay, now here’s the point as we saw last week. Can anybody guess just where in the world right now everybody is wanting to be making a peace treaty with? Uh, Israel…shocker! Little bitty tiny Israel!

Not Russia. Not China. But little bitty tiny Israel, because they are fulfilling the prophecy we already saw of them becoming a source of worldwide conflict and it’s leading to the fulfillment of this prophecy here from Daniel.

One day, because of all this conflict going on that we see every single day on TV, the people of Israel are going to strike a relationship with the antichrist, of all people, and seek a peace treaty with him! It’s right there!

And so that’s question, “Are there any signs that the Jewish people really are trying to make a peace treaty or covenant with other people? Uh, slightly!

In fact, let me show you just a few of the failed attempts that other people and governments have tried to make with Israel in our lifetime…exactly like the Bible said would happen in the last days!

OVERHEAD FAILED PEACE TREATIES

UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967

Camp David Accords, 1978

The Madrid Conference, 1991

Israeli-Syrian Talks 1991

Oslo Agreement, 1993

Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, 1994

Camp David, 2000

Taba Talks, 2001

Saudi Peace Plan, 2002

Road Map Peace Plans, 2003

Geneva Accord, 2003

Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, 2005

Franco-Italian-Spanish Middle East Peace Plan, 2006

Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, 2008

Direct Talks Peace Plan, 2010

Israeli Peace Initiative, 2011

Okay, but here’s the point. Maybe it’s just me, but it sure looks like somebody’s trying to get a peace treaty going on with, of all people, Israel, how about you? Uh yeah.

And again, you have to understand the significance of this. One of these treaties, maybe it’s one that’s even being hashed out now behind the scenes, we don’t know, but one of them is going to be with the antichrist himself.

And unlike all the other failed ones we just saw, he alone is going to pull it off. And it’s not going to lead to peace in the Middle East. It’s going to lead to your absolute worst nightmare!

It’s the very event that starts the 7-year Tribulation! That’s how close we are! And when you see these things happen, you better wake up! It’s a sign you’re living in the Last Days!

But that’s not all. The 2nd thing we know about the Jewish People and their Relationship with the Antichrist is They Will Place Their Hope in Him.

Romans 11:25-26 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion. And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (NKJV)

And so folks, here we see in this passage, just one of many examples in the Bible that clearly tells us that God is not done with the Jewish people. They are currently under a temporary blindness until what? What’d it say there?

Until the time or the fullness of the Gentiles, i.e. non-Jewish people, come in, or in other words, get saved. God knows who’s going to get saved people

And so once that number comes in, He’s going to once again focus on the Jewish people. He’s going to rescue them and fulfill His promises He made way back to David and even the Patriarchs. He’s not done yet!

Therefore, here’s the point. Until that time occurs, the Jewish People are unfortunately going to be blinded to the true identity of the antichrist and thus not just strike a treaty him…

But apparently they’re even going to look upon him as some sort of savior and place their hopes in him, thinking that he’s going to do what everybody else has failed to do, as we just saw, and that is, give them peace.

And so that’s the question. Are there any signs that the Jewish people are expecting some sort of messiah/savior figure to place their hopes in, that the antichrist will fool them into thinking he is? Uh yeah! Check it out yourself!

OVERHEAD JEWISH QUOTES EXPECTING A MESSIAH

“The most important event in the Messianic era will be the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. It is the act of building the Temple that will establish the identity of the Messiah beyond all shadow of a doubt. The Messiah will be a king over Israel, and a king can only be crowned by the Sanhedrin. The reason he will come to Jerusalem first is to be recognized by the Sanhedrin.”

“Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar believes the Earth will soon see the coming a Messiah to judge all mankind. ‘We know that he is very near at hand. The Messiah may well have been born already. The world today is in a state described by our sages as ‘hevley mashiah,’ that is, labor that precedes the coming of a Messiah. We are living on the verge of history. It can be felt everywhere.’”

“Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri called upon worldwide Jewry to return to Israel due to natural disasters, which threaten to strike the world. ‘In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring about great disasters in the countries of the world to sweeten the judgments of the Land of Israel. I am ordering the publication of this declaration as a warning, so that Jews in the countries of the world will be aware of the impending danger and will come to the Land of Israel for the building of the Temple and revelation of our righteous Mashiach (Messiah). The Mashiach is already in Israel.”32

Now folks, maybe it’s just me, but it sure looks like the Jewish people are ready to receive some sort of messiah/savior figure to place their hopes in, how about you?

And if that figure is indeed to be the antichrist, then maybe he too is already alive on planet earth. And the Bible says, when you see these things happen, you better wake up! It’s a sign you’re living in the Last Days!

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANTICHRIST

But that’s not all. The 3rd thing we know about the Jewish People’s Relationship with the Antichrist is He’ll Demand Worship as a Man.

Revelation 13:11-12,14-15 “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”

Now folks again, here we see the classic passage where the Apostle John tells us how the False Prophet is actually going to dupe the whole world into worshipping the antichrist. He’s says it twice there in the text.

They will worship him. Now here’s the point. Do we see any signs of people’s hearts being prepared to worship a man, specifically a political figure of a man, because that’s what the antichrist is, a political figure.

Uh, yeah is the answer! And we’ve seen this in recent history. How many of you’ve ever seen the giant parades and posters of Stalin or Mao Tse-tung being paraded through the streets as if it were some sort of worship service?

And then we even just saw recent examples with the death of North Korea’s President Kim Jong-il where if you saw the videos, people were weeping hysterically bowing before his image. Did you see that?

Okay, now here’s the point. He’s just a man!

And yet, we’re tempted here in America to laugh at this behavior and say, “Why, there’s no way we’ll ever do that here! This is America. Who in their right mind would worship a political figure like that! He’s just a man!”

Well folks, what I’m about to share is not only shocking, but I need to state the obvious. It has nothing to do with politics, with what I’m about to share with you, it has everything to do with Bible prophecy.

Throughout this study, you’re going to see examples of Democrats and Republicans along with various leaders from around the world. So don’t let anyone leave this sanctuary saying I’m picking on one party over another.

Truth be told, I personally think they’re both in it together. Not every single one of them, but a lot of them. But what I’m about to share with you is proof, that yes, even here in America…

We too are guilty of worshipping a man, specifically a political figure, and therefore our hearts too are being prepared to worship another political figure in the future called the antichrist.

OVERHEAD OBAMA BEING WORSHIPPED AS A MAN

A massive bust of Barack Obama that was made of steel and concrete that topped 20 feet and weighed roughly 12 tons was shipped in two pieces on the back of a truck to make it’s way along a 10-state, 40-city tour that was scheduled to conclude it’s journey just outside Mount Rushmore.

An artist in Iowa created an inaugural parade of Barack Obama, riding on a donkey, making his own triumphal entry complete as adorers wave palm fronds along with a “Secret Service” escort.

Another artist planned to unveil a portrait of Barack Obama in a Christ-like pose with a crown of thorns upon his brow at New York City’s Union Square Park, marking the president’s 100th day in office.

Many Hollywood celebrities are praying to Barak Obama and pledging allegiance to him to help make “a change” as this article shares.

“In a new YouTube video produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, dozens of celebrities – television and movie actors, sports heroes, musicians and more – describe how they will pledge to “be the change” and “be a servant to our president.”

The video opens with a quote from President Truman, “They say that the job of the president is the loneliest job in the world,” something the celebrities plan to alleviate for Obama by pledging to pitch in through several causes.

Throughout the video, the celebrities pledge to support local food banks, to smile more, to be better parents, to work with the charity UNICEF, to “never give anyone the finger when I’m driving again,” to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s, to meet neighbors, to use less plastic, to plant 500 trees, to “be more green,” to turn the lights off and to “free 1 million people from slavery in the next five years,” among dozens of other pledges.

The purpose of all this pledging is summed up in the video’s grand finale.

Actors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher begin the closing scene by saying, “I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.”

Then, as the scene pans out, the other celebrities joint the chant: “Because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek.”

By the end of the mass pledge, the camera has panned back to a mosaic of faces that morphs into a picture of Barack Obama’s face with the words, “Be the change.”

And while several of the celebrities attempt to portray heartfelt emotion and others attempt to be funny in their pledges, tattooed celebrity Anthony Kiedis of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers may have been going for the shock effect. While kissing his own biceps, he declares, “I pledge to be of service [kiss] to Barack Obama [kiss].”

Near the end of the video, the celebrities took turns looking into the camera and challenging, “What’s your pledge?”

Not surprisingly, viewer reaction and comments on the video have been widely mixed.

One poster who obviously disagreed posted the correct pledge, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands: one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Then there are actually other videos of people on the Internet who are praying to Barak Obama as this next article shares.

“A newly publicized video shows leaders of a Chicago-based community organizing group called the Gamaliel Foundation held a rally shortly after President Obama’s election and “prayed” to him, seeking his intervention in their difficulties.

“Hear our Cry Obama. Deliver us Obama,” the organizers chanted as a single leader recited the organization’s perceived problems, based on the philosophies of Saul Alinsky, the radical father of community organizing.

The video explains the event took place at a leadership conference just a few weeks after Obama’s election in November.

The “leaders” enter a room chanting, “Everybody in, nobody out,” apparently referring to health care.

Then the chanter leads: “We are here for the healing of the nation,” to which the crowd responds, “Yes.”

“With the prophet Jeremiah we cry out, ‘Is there no balm in Gilead?’” continues the chanter. “Is there no physician here. Why then has the health of thy poor people not been restored?”

The crowd responds: “Hear our cry Obama.”

The chanter references the “prophet Martin Luther King Jr.,” to which the crowd responds, “Hear our cry Obama.”

The chanter then intones: “From health care systems and industries that place profit over people,” and the people respond, “Deliver us Obama.”

The chanter then references “lobbying efforts” and “greed and fear,” to which the crowd responds, “Deliver us Obama.”33

Now, who would’ve thought, that even here in America, that there would actually come a time when we too like the other nations around the world, would show signs of worshipping a man.

Specifically, a political figure of a man, of whom the antichrist is going to be, and demand! And the Bible says, when you see these things taking place, you better wake up! It’s a sign you’re living in the Last Days!

But that’s still not all. The 4th thing we know about the Jewish People’s Relationship with the Antichrist is that He’ll Demand Worship as a God.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (NIV)

Now again, if you were here last week, this is the text where we saw that in the Last Days, the antichrist is going up into the rebuilt Jewish Temple, halfway into the 7-year Tribulation, and declare himself to be what?

To be god, right? Apparently man worship is not enough. He wants to be worshipped as a god! And so here’s the point. Do we see any signs of people worshipping a man as god, not just a political figure, a man, but a god?

Uh, yeah! In fact folks, there’s a whole bunch of false teachings out there encouraging people to do just that…worship a man as a god…preparing the way for this very prophecy. Let’s take a look.

OVERHEAD PEOPLE WORSHIP A MAN AS GOD

Now folks, it sure looks to me that there’s a whole ton of false teachings out there encouraging people to worship a man as a god, how about you? It’s all over the place. And remember, this is what the antichrist is going to do!

He’s going to say, “Worship me as god!” and there’s already a ton of people ready to go! But praise God, that’s not going to happen to the Church! No way we’re going to give into that lie! Or are we?

Folks, you tell me if even in the Church people aren’t being encouraged to worship a man as a god, and therefore, our heart too are being prepared to worship the antichrist! Check it out!

OVERHEAD QUOTE CHURCH SAYS I AM GOD

Now folks again, who in their right mind would think, that there’d ever come a time when the Church, would encourage people to worship a man as god. Tell me our hearts, are not also being prepared for the antichrist!

And the Bible says, when you see these things taking place, you better wake up! It’s a sign you’re living in the Last Days!

But that’s not all. The 2nd fulfillment of this passage that’s on the verge of coming to pass is the Antichrist Figure. You not only need a Female Deity, but you have to have an Antichrist person for the Female Deity to work with, right? And as we saw before, the Antichrist Figure is going to be a Political Figure that people actually worship as a god, during the 7-year Tribulation. But it’s a good thing we don’t see any signs of that happening any time soon! People worshipping a political figure as god! Yeah right! It’s already happening! Let’s take a look.

MSNBC: Obama god?

Evan Thomas of Newsweek: “Obama’s really had a different task as we’re seen too often as the bad guys and he is a very different job from Reagan-was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is “We are above that now.” -- We’re not just parochial. We’re not just chauvinistic. We’re not just provincial. We stand for something. I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country. Above the world. He’s sort of god.”

Excuse me? Obama is like God? I don’t think so! But folks, if that surprises you it shouldn’t. As we saw before, this is just the tip of the iceberg of people even here in America worshipping a political figure of a man as god.

An artist in Iowa created an inaugural parade of Barack Obama, riding on a donkey, making his own triumphal entry complete as adorers wave palm fronds along with a “Secret Service” escort.

Another artist planned to unveil a portrait of Barack Obama in a Christ-like pose with a crown of thorns upon his brow at New York City’s Union Square Park, marking the president’s 100th day in office.

In fact, Newsweek not only carried a picture of Obama with the caption of “Second Coming” and another issue called him the “God of All Things.”

And lest you think this is all just one big coincidence, we even have people for the first time in our nation’s history saying that a political figure, a man, is our Lord and Savior. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

Jamie Foxx: “First of all give an honor to god and our lord and savior Barack Obama.”20

Giving honor to god, our lord and savior, Barak Obama…Who in the world would have ever thought that the day would come when we would see somebody here in America call a political figure of a man, “god our lord and savior?” But it’s happening now! And that’s exactly what the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days.

we even have the birth of the Revived Roman Empire that the prophet Daniel said would come in the Last Days! It happened with the signing of the Lisbon Treaty that hardly anybody has even heard of! Check this out! This recently happened folks!

Jimmy DeYoung on the Revived Roman Empire

Mrs. Clinton, when she met with Katherine Ashton said that this was unbelievable what had happened. It was historic. You know most people in America never even heard what was going on in the European Union, with the Lisbon Treaty being ratified on November the 3rd. And on the 19th of November. These two elected leaders taking charge of the European Union. In fact, Mrs. Clinton made this statement "That decades from now we'll look back on this historic event" the treaty being ratified, the election of the leaders.

She called it a major milestone in the world's history and I think it is. I remember back when the treaty was finally ratified. We made the statement-

Watch in January. Things are going to move quickly- And that's where the E.U. is going. It's going together as Europe as a single unified country instead of 27 nation states. It is, I believe, a major milestone and we're starting to see it open before our eyes. The nationalities of the individual countries are disappearing. The sovereignty-they're giving up sovereign rights over their citizens. So what you have is a move from 27 states of the world that is sort of like a Federation, although it's not a true Federation. Moving to a single country, which now encompasses land area almost all of the former Roman Empire. And if we add the neighborhood policy relationships if you will, between the E.U. and the Meditteranean states, we are starting to see a Roman Empire forming.

Daniel chapter 7:7 talks about 10 horns on the awesome beast known as the Roman Empire. Those 10 horns according to Daniel 7:24 will be the revived Roman Empire who will come to power soon after the rapture of the church. The revived Roman Empire will play a key role in the geo-political communities of this world. But the Bible says prophetically in Daniel 2:44, in the days of these kings and the dates of the revival of the old Roman Empire, look up, Jesus Christ is about to come and set up His Kingdom that will be for a thousand years and then into eternity future. I believe we are living in that time period. But before the revived Roman Empire can come back on the scene, the rapture of the church must take place. And I think that that could happen at any time-even today! Hope you're ready to see Jesus Christ face to face at the rapture of the church.”9

And I hope you’re not left behind! Folks, this is all happening, it’s not make believe, it’s all happening right before our very eyes, for the first time in 2,000 years! A Revived Roman Empire is being put into place right now, just like the Bible said would happen in the Last Days! In fact, speaking of a Revived Roman Empire, we are now also seeing how Europe is wanting to elect a President to oversee all this Revived Roman Empire! And it’s not just any President but listen a “New Super President that would be the overall powerful leader of Europe, with responsibility over Europe’s economic matters, all foreign policy, and any European military operation. You know, absolute total control of a newly Revived Roman Empire! That’s what they want right now! Isn’t that wild! But that’s still not all. You talk about being ripe for the Antichrist who’s going to take charge of this Revived Roman Empire, as we just saw, but we are also seeing the planet readily admitting that they are totally willing to follow an actual Antichrist even I he’s the devil in disguise!

“This chilling quote is from Paul-Henri Spaak, former Belgian Prime Minister and the President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. Here’s what he said:

‘We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass in which we are sinking. Send us such a man and, be he God or the devil, we will receive him.’”10

Isn’t that wild? Folks, you put all this together, it sure looks to me like the planet is being split up into ten different economic kingdoms, there’s a Revived Roman Empire coming, and people right now across the planet are ready to follow some man, any man, who will lead this empire just as long as he brings peace and prosperity, even if he’s the devil in disguise…Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, that’s what the Bible said would happen when you’re living in the last days.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FALSE PEACE

One World Government

But that’s not all. The #3 sign on The Final Countdown that God has given to us to lovingly wake us up is none other then A One World Government.

Ah, are you serious? Yeah folks, the Bible is clear. One day the whole planet really is going to be under the control or government of the Antichrist.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Revelation 13:1-7.

Now folks, according to our text there, the Bible is clear. There really is coming a day when all the inhabitants of the earth will be under the authority or government of who? The antichrist, right?

One day, the whole world will be unified into A One World Government that is actually satanically inspired. It says it right there in the text. But again, the question for you and I is, “Could that really happen?…

Could the whole world really be deceived into creating A One World Government that’s satanically inspired and is there any evidence that it’s really going to take place just like the Bible said any time soon?”

Uh, yeah! It’s happening now! And the 1st proof that we know really are headed for a One World Government real soon is the Chronological Proof.

Folks, what most people don’t realize is that this One World Government is not only going to be put into place, because the Bible said it would, but what people don’t realize is that it’s been in the planning stages for a long time.

Check out the progress for yourself:

OVERHEAD CHRONOLOGY OF ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT

Why is that important? Well, if you’re going to have an Antichrist, you need a “Global Spiritual Leader” called “The False Prophet” in the Bible to help promote the Antichrist and his agenda for a One World Government.

Not saying he is the False Prophet, but you can see all the pieces coming together, can’t you?

Folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but when you take a look at the timeline, I’d say somebody’s pretty serious about forming this One World Government, how about you?

I mean, it’s almost like they’re following some sort of a Chronological Plan and they’re just about ready to pull the whole thing off, how about you?

And that’s exactly what the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days!

But you might be out there thinking, “Hey man, come on Pastor Billy, there’s no way America’s going to go along with this! This is crazy! This is just some wacky conspiracy theory stuff!

We are a Christian Nation! There’s no way our leaders here in America would ever undermine our Country’s sovereignty and go along with a One World Government! That’s insane!

I mean, after all, our Declaration of Independence says, “We are endowed by our Creator (i.e. God) with these rights!” There’s no way a faithful American would ever give up our Sovereignty for a One World Government

Well folks, I hate to burst your bubble, but that brings us to the 2nd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Government is what I call the Administration Proof.

You see, we’ve already seen in our text that the Antichrist’s government is going to be satanically inspired. Therefore, if America, yes, even America, is going to go along with this One World Government….

Then at some point, logically, we’re going to have to “snub” if you will, out total Christian heritage and foundation, that our Founding Fathers set up on the principles of the Bible…

As well as, turning away from God Himself, right? You have to if you’re going to go along with a satanic inspired system. Don’t recommend it, but logically, that’s what you have to do.

Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but believe it or not, that’s what our current administration is doing! Now, they’re not alone, other administrations have done it too…

But this one has actually gone down on record as being the most Anti-Christian administration in American History.

But don’t take my word for it, let’s listen to the facts. Your first clue should have been when this speech was given in Washington D.C. 2006.

OVERHEAD OBAMA ANTI-AMERICA/ANTI-CHRISTIAN

We’re lumped right in there with them, as we saw in our last study!

But folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but it sure appears to me that our current administration is not only snubbing their nose at God and mocking our Christian heritage…

But it sure appears they’re heading down an Anti-Christian/Anti-God route that is precisely needed to prepare us for accepting an Antichrist government that is actually satanically inspired, like the Book of Revelation says is coming, right?

Gee, it’s almost like we’re living in the Last Days or something and we need to get motivated! But that’s still not all. Lest you think I’m playing party favorites and just picking on the Democrats…

Folks, you got to realize, it’s both of them! And that’s why the 3rd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Government is the Quotation Proof.

Folks, it doesn’t matter what party you belong to anymore. This is the illusion. This is the lie! They have both become infiltrated by globalists who want a One World Government and a New World Order!

Let me give you an analogy. It’s like asking this question, “Who would you rather vote for? The Gambinos or the Corleones?”

Okay, they’re both in it together. But don’t listen to my words, let’s listen to theirs. You tell me if they don’t want this One World Government and a New World Order…it’s all over the world!

OVERHEAD NEW WORLD ORDER QUOTES

Henry Kissinger “Today America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government.”

Walter Cronkite “It seems to many of us that if we are to avoid the eventual catastrophic world conflict we must strengthen the United Nations as a first step toward a World Government. To do that, of course, we Americans will have to yield up some of our sovereignty. That would be a bitter pill. It would take a lot of courage, a lot of faith in the new order. Pat Robertson has written in a book a few years ago that we should have a world government, but only when the Messiah arrives. He wrote, literally, any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the devil. Well, join me. I'm glad to sit here at the right hand of satan.”

Al Gore “The climate bill will help bring about global governance. It is the awareness itself that will drive the change and one of the ways it will drive the change is through global governance and global agreements.

French President Chirac said during a speech at The Hague that the UN’s Kyoto Protocol represented, “The first component of an authentic global governance. For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance.”

David Rockefeller “We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a World Government.”

Strobe Talbot (Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State) “In the next century, nations as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. National sovereignty wasn’t such a great idea after all.”

Richard Falk “The existing order is breaking down at a rapid rate and the main uncertainty is whether mankind can exert a positive role in shaping a new world order…We believe a new order will be born no later than early in the next century…”

Mikhail Gorbachev “Further global progress is now possible only through a quest for universal consensus in the movement towards a new world order.”

Nelson Mandela “The new world order that is in the making must focus on the creation of a world democracy, peace and prosperity for all.”

George McGovern “I would support a Presidential candidate who pledged to take the following steps…At the end of the war in the Persian Gulf, press for a comprehensive Middle East settlement and for a new world order based not on Pax Americana but on peace through law with a stronger U.N. and World Court.”

George Bush Sr. “If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging new world order we now see, this long dreamed-of vision we’ve all worked toward for so long.”

Madeleine Albright “Today I say that no nation in the world need be left out of the global system we are constructing.”

Mikhail Gorbachev “The victims of the September 11th attacks will not have died in vain if world leaders use the crisis to create a new world order.”

Robert Muller (Former Assistant Attorney General of the U.N.) “We must move as quickly as possible to a one-world government; one-world religion; under a one-world leader.”

Gee, what’s that sound like? Folks, I’m not making this up! Sounds to me like somebody’s taking this One World Government and New World Order thing pretty serious, how about you?

And lest there be any misunderstanding where this One World Government and satanically Antichrist system is leading to, let’s remind ourselves why the Bible calls it satanic.

Here’s what it’s leading to. It ain’t pretty. It’s called total slavery!

Revelation 13:16-17 “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, o that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

Now folks, the Bible clearly tells us that the Antichrist’s system is not only going to be over the whole world, but he’s also going to force the whole world to receive some sort of a Mark into their right hands or foreheads…

In order to buy or sell, right? Total slavery to the Antichrist, if you don’t go along with his system, you’re going to be shut out of the system! You won’t buy or sell.

And folks, believe it or not, that too is already here. One man, Aaron Russo, exposed the whole thing a few years ago before he mysteriously died. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Here’s the actual conversation he had with one of these Globalists, pushing for this One World Government, and you tell me if they’re not planning on this Mark of the Beast system, to control what you buy or sell.

VIDEO AARON RUSSO MICROCHIP

Wow! Revelation 13 right before our very eyes! So much for a wacky conspiracy theory! Folks, this is all happening right now, it’s not make believe, it’s real, and we better get motivated.

It’s exactly what the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days! It just happens to be happening now!

And here’s the point. What more does God have to do? This is not a game! God doesn’t want us going into the 7-year Tribulation and He certainly doesn’t want us to go into HELL!

And so that’s why, out of love, He’s given us these signs of a One World Government to show us that the Tribulation is near, Christ’s 2nd Coming is rapidly approaching. And that’s why Jesus Himself said…

And the 1st evil tactic they’re using to get us to go along with a One World Government is the deceit of Fear & Manipulation.

Once again, put yourself in the Antichrist’s shoes. If you’re going to deceive the whole world into creating A One World Government then you first have to get everybody on the planet into a total state of fear, right? Why?

Because then you can manipulate them. He’s not dumb! He knows what he’s doing! He knows historically people are more apt to surrender their freedoms in a time of fear than in a time of peace.

So, if you create a crisis, you can manage the outcome. If you create a fearful event, you can manipulate the people to do whatever you want to have done, whether they realize it or not!

And folks, if you’ve been paying attention, this is precisely what’s been happening to our country for the last several years!

For instance, in order to drum up fear, to manipulate us, we are being told that we have a “health-care crisis,” a “child care crisis,” an “economy crisis,” a “constitutional crisis,” a “terrorist crisis,” and of course, that dreaded “environmental crisis.”

We don’t have problems anymore. No! Everything is a horrible crisis just waiting to explode! AHHH!

And because of these “crisis” that are seemingly out of control, we have been manipulated, whether we realize it or not, into a constant state of fear and we’re starting to cry out for what they want us to cry out for…

Some global entity, some external savior, some universal global government to fix all these global crisis that are seemingly out of control. We’ve been duped!

And you might think, “Come on, does this lying deceitful fear tactic really work on people, to get them to surrender their freedoms and go along with a One World Government?” You bet it does!

And the 1st thing this fear manipulation tactic of the Antichrist is leading to is a Universal Congress.

Again, put yourself into the Antichrist’s shoes. If you’re going to get the whole world to go along with a One World Government, then you first have to have some sort of Global Congress or Governing Body to oversee the whole operation, right?

Well folks, guess what the United Nations and countries around the world have been working on for decades?

Right now folks, there is waiting for approval, or is already in place, the plans for absolute total global control of the whole world.

Right now, there’s a Universal Law of the land called the Earth Charter, which is being proposed as a new universal law to unite all peoples of the world in order to save the planet…you know…the CRISIS thing!

It’s going to blow up! AHHH! Save us! Save us!

And for those of you wondering what it’s all about, here’s the new universal law they’re wanting all of us to follow.

OVERHEAD EARTH CHARTER

For a brighter future? Or for the ultimate excuse to create a One World Government?

Folks, sounds to me like the Antichrist is using an evil lie, a deceitful tactic in the Last Days… AHHH! The planet is going to blow up!…to get us to go along with a One World Government, how about you?

But that’s not all. If you’re going to have a universal law of the land, then you need a Universal Governing Body to oversee this law, right?

Well hey, that’s why right now there’s a document called The Constitution for the Federation Earth, with plans for a World Government, World Supreme Court, World Capitols, and a World Police.

And the only thing holding it up is ratification, which they’re hoping is going to take place real soon.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal governing body then you need a Universal Judicial System to make sure people obey this new World Government, right?

Well hey, that’s why, right now, there’s a World Criminal Court that went into effect July of 2002, thanks in part to the signing of the treaty by Bill Clinton on his last day in office.

Thanks Bill! Thanks for your help in forming a One World Government.

VIDEO WORLD CRIMINAL COURT

Yeah! Awesome! Now we have a court system to make us obey this World Government!

But that’s not all. If you’re going to have a universal judicial system to enforce this universal law then you need a Universal Army to punish those who don’t obey this World Government and World law, right?

Well gee that’s why, right now, Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, has been calling for NATO to become the future “military arm of a new world order rather than strictly a defensive alliance.”

And if you think about it, we’ve already seen NATO exercise more and more military force over the sovereignty of nations, right? In our lifetime. I wonder who’s next?

But here’s the point. Sounds to me if you put all this together and I’d say somebody’s pretty serious about forming a One World Government, how about you? And the tactic they’re using is fear and manipulation!

And that’s exactly what the Bible said the Antichrist would do, when you are living in the Last Days!

But that’s not all. The 2nd thing this fear and manipulation tactic of the Antichrist is leading to is a Universal Behavior.

Yeah, they’re going to dictate everything folks. Once again, put yourself in to the Antichrist’s shoes.

If you’re going to deceive the whole world into creating A One World Government then you have to provide a Universal Standard of Behavior so that you can dictate universal compliance, right?

Well gee, guess what? Again, this is what the United Nations has been working towards for decades. And again, they’re using fear and manipulation to pull it off!

For instance, right now in order to preserve our supposed endangered earth, AHHH! thanks to the World Heritage Protection program, the UN has full authority over millions of acres of land right here in America.

Such areas include Yellowstone National Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and the Yosemite Valley, just to name a few.

Then, in order to preserve our supposed endangered food supply, AHHH! right now the World Food Summit continues to meet to govern what crops we can grow, what livestock we can raise and even what we get to eat.

But that’s not all. In order to preserve our supposed endangered air, land, and water supply, AHHH! right now a program called Agenda 21 has total plans to dictate our total behavior.

Things such as what job we can get, what housing we can have, what education and health care we get, what means of transport, and even how many children we can have…just like China!

Don’t believe me? Here’s what this program is promoting.

OVERHEAD AGENDA 21

Yeah, you’ve lived a good life. And don’t you know according to Agenda 21 it’s you’re patriotic duty to let them pull the plug on you, if you’re old or have a deformity, to make room for the rest of us!

People, this is sick! This is the kind of society the Antichrist is building using fear and manipulation. We’ve got to do this to save the planet!

But that’s still not all. In order to preserve our supposed endangered animals, AHHH! you know, because they’re more important than humans nowadays..

Right now they have something called the Biodiversity Treaty that’s getting ready to dictate where you and I get to live and where the animals get to live…at least those they decide who get to live in the first place.

In fact, here’s the actual map.

OVERHEAD BIODIVERSITY MAP

And what’s strange about this map is not only how wild it is in the first place, but it starts to shed light to this passage of Scripture in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 6:8 “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (NIV)

So, let me get this straight. According to the Bible, 1/4th of the earth is going to die during the first half of the 7-year Tribulation by means of sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts?

Hmmm. I can see the sword thing, and famine, and plague…but who’s concerned about wild beasts nowadays, right? I mean they’re all in zoos and protected areas, right?

Well not if these guys get their way. Put all this together. Thanks to the Earth Charter and thanks to Agenda 21 and the Biodiversity Treaty, we might very well see for the first time in mankind’s history…

A massive resurgence of wild animals all over the place, even in America! And man, once that famine hits in the text….they’re going to be hungry! I wonder what they’re going to do?

And the Bible says, one day, 1/4th of the planet is going to die by means of the sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. Even minute passages like this are coming to life for the first time in our history! Isn’t that wild?

Uh, yeah! It’s happening now! And the 1st proof that we know really are headed for a One World Government real soon is the Quotation Proof.

Folks, what most people don’t realize is that this One World Government is not only going to be put into place, because the Bible said it would, but what people don’t realize is that it’s been in the planning stages for a long time.

And you can see that by their verbiage! There’s a phrase out there to describe this One World government and it’s called a New World Order.

And so just like we saw with the One World Religion, whenever you hear of the words “Interfaith” or “Intefaithism” or “Multifaith” “Ecumenicalism” etc. you need to supplant it for what it is…it means One World Religion.

Those are “buzz” words. Code words. And so it is with this phrase, “New World Order.” It means One World Government.

So wherever you see that, in print, in media, out of people’s mouths, supplant it for what it is. It means One World Government.

And people right now are using it, all over the world, even our own Government. And they’ve been doing it for years, if you’ve been paying attention.

For instance, Richard Nixon called for a New World Order as far back as 1967. Then Nelson Rockefeller called for it the next year, Mikhail Gorbachev started calling for a New World Order, so did George Bush Sr.

Then Bill Clinton called for a New World Order, then Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite, George Bush Jr., Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Putin from Russia said we need a New World Order, China called for one recently, so did Iran, even the Pope said we have to have one…

Then Al Gore said we need a New World Order, the former French President Chirac called for a New World order, so did David Rockefeller, Strobe Talbot (Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State), Nelson Mandela, Madeleine Albright, Robert Muller from the U.N. called for a New World Order…and even said this:

“We must move as quickly as possible to a one-world government; one-world religion; under a one-world leader.”

That’s from the U.N. Exactly what the text says!

Then George Soros the Billionaire called for a New World Order, Henry Kissinger has been calling for a New World Order for many years and even recently said, “Obama is primed to create a New World Order.”

And after that, lo and behold, President Obama started saying just that, “All nations must come together to build a stronger, global regime.” AND he’s still out there promoting this idea that we need a new International Global System….

OBAMA NEW WORLD ORDER

International Order? How working for an American Order? Isn’t that what an American President needs to do?

But that’s not all. His cohort, Vice President Joe Biden is even more blunt about it. Listen to what he said recently to a graduation class of Military cadets. Here’s what he wants them to focus on!

VIDEO JOSEPH BIDEN NEW WORLD ORDER

Really? You are encouraging to our young military to be a part of a New World Order? How about encouraging them to help protect America’s freedom and interests…and thanking them for their service…

And lest you think this really isn’t going on, maybe that’s why Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently resigned. He admitted that a New World Order is being built right now.

VIDEO DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL NEW WORLD ORDER

So a New World Order is being built? Reports said he disagreed with Obama’s policies, maybe this is one of them.

And if you think this is far-fetched folks, even the secular media is admitting there’s a purging of American Military Leaders who won’t go along with this Administration’s policies.

VIDEO MILITARY PURGE

House cats who will go along with your agenda? International Order. New World Order. What do you do with those who don’t agree?

Oh that’s right, you get rid of any and all resisters, those Wise Old Generals and other Mature Military Personnel who are more Patriotic, and then train up a younger generation of house cats who are more compliant…

So much for a conspiracy theory. Even the secular news is admitting it!

But you look at that facts, and somebody’s pushing for this One World Government right now! And this is what the Bible said would happen, when you’re living in the Last Days!

Oh, but that’s not all. The 2nd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Government is the Coercive Proof.

And the 1st way the Antichrist is Coercing us to go along with a One world Government is through a Universal Court System.

You see, just in case you can’t be re-educated into a house cat, like this younger generation, unfortunately, we now have the legal means to make you do it anyway! And that’s through the Court System…

A Universal Courts System that is! And this is the kind of pressure the Bible says the Antichrist is going to use to push forth his agenda

Revelation 13:11-18 “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.” (NIV)

So here we see how the Bible clearly says that the False Prophet in the Last Days is not only going to dupe the whole world into worshipping the Antichrist, but he’s what?

He’s going to make them, he’s going to order them, he’s going to cause them, he going to force them to do whatever he says to do, otherwise they will what? They will die, right?

And again I want to focus on the key words there, “make” “order” “cause” and “force.” In the Greek they literally mean, “to carry out, to command, to direct or to execute.”

And so this implies there’s some serious enforcement going on here! In fact, it’s global enforcement because again, that’s the context. He forces the whole planet to do whatever in the world he wants them to do.

Well how? Well, believe it or not, it’s through this Universal Court System

As we saw before, right now, there’s already a World Criminal Court that went into effect July of 2002, thanks in part to the signing of the treaty by Bill Clinton on his last day in office.

Thanks Bill! Thanks for your help in forming a One World Government.

It’s called the International Criminal Court (SHOW LOGO) and it’s the first permanent international criminal court. With, “Jurisdiction over crimes threatening the peace, security and well-being of the world” and it was negotiated by 160 countries.

And even more recently, Chief Justices from 60 different countries participated in a summit in India called, “The International Conference of Chief Justices of the World”….

To, “Globally enact applicable world laws to protect the future of humanity, end wars, deal with the problem of terrorism, illiteracy, and climate change.”

Because we all know Global Warming is spiraling out of control…yeah right! It’s just another excuse to shove this through!

And that’s not the first summit. It’s the 14th. Annual one! And they said there, “The time is ripe for a peaceful revolutionary change which can bring the countries together and unite them as One World.”

They just said that at this conference! And that sounds exactly how the Antichrist is going to launch his Kingdom at the beginning of the 7-year Tribulation.

Revelation 6:1-2 “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” (NIV)

And again, many would say this passage is dealing with the Antichrist and his rise to power during the 7-year Tribulation riding on a white horse, no arrows just a bow, meaning a bloodless coup, possibly with the stroke of a pen.

Like these Judges and Universal Court System are calling for right now! We need a “peaceful revolutionary change…” A guy who will take this planet over, without war, with a stroke of our pens!

Exactly what the text says! That’s what they’re calling for right now!

BUT if you think about it, if this is going to succeed, at some point you have to somehow coerce the countries to give up their National Sovereignty.

And guess what? That’s also exactly what this International Summit of Judges are calling for right now as well.

“All the countries must shed off a part of their sovereignty to come under the umbrella of the World Parliament and World Government. It’s the only way to prevent the innocents from being slaughtered in brutal wars. Fanaticism and terrorism are global issues and need global laws.”

“We, judges, can make things happen. A World Judicial System is the only way to solve global problems and ensure equality of all nations.”

And lest you think our world’s not “ripe” for this lie, listen to this guy again. This is former Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak. He said this…

OVERHEAD QUOTE PAUL HENRI SPAAK

Sounds to me like somebody’s ripe for the Antichrist and a One World Government, how about you? Yeah, slightly! And the courts are there to sign off on it!

One World Economy

But that’s not all. The #2 sign on The Final Countdown that God has given to us to lovingly wake us up is none other then A One World Economy.

That’s right folks, the Bible is clear. One day the whole planet is not only going to be under the authority of the Antichrist with this One World Government, but it’s also going to be under his Economy as well.

He’s not only going to monitor you, but he’s going to control all the money! Now he’s really got you!

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Revelation 13:11-17.

Now folks, according to our text, the Bible says there really is coming a day when all the inhabitants of the earth will not only be under the authority of the Antichrist, but even his what? His economy or monetary system, right?

You can’t buy or sell, you can’t do anything with money, without his permission. And so here’s the point.

The Bible clearly says, one day, believe it or not, the whole world will be unified into A One World Economy that is actually satanically inspired. But again, as always, the question is, “Could that really happen?”

Could the whole world really be deceived into creating A One World Economy for the Antichrist to at one point hijack and take over for his purposes? And is there any evidence that this is really going to take place just like the Bible said?

Uh, yeah! In fact, it’s happening now! And the 1st proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is the Chronological Proof.

Folks, what most people don’t realize is that this One World Economy of the Antichrist is not only going to be put into place, because the Bible said it would…

But what people don’t realize is that it’s been in the planning stages for a long time. And they’re just about ready to pull it off! Check it out for yourself…

OVERHEAD CHRONOLOGY OF ONE WORLD ECONOMY

But folks, here’s the point. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you take a look at the timeline, I’d say somebody’s not only pretty serious about forming this One World Economy…

But by the looks of it, they’re just about ready to pull the whole thing off, how about you? And that’s exactly what the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days!

But you might be out there thinking, “Hey man, come on Pastor Billy, there’s no way America’s going to go along with this! This is crazy! This is just some wacky conspiracy theory stuff!

There’s no way our leaders here in America would ever undermine our Country’s monetary system and go along with a One World Economy! That’s insane! It not only goes against the sovereignty of our nation, but it’ll totally destroy us!

Well folks, once again, I hate to burst your bubble, but that brings us to the 2nd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is what I call the Fear & Manipulation Proof.

Believe it or not folks, they’re using the same tactic we saw in a One World Government to get the job done for a One World Economy! It’s called fear and manipulation.

Again, put yourself in the Antichrist’s shoes. If you’re going to deceive the whole world into creating not only A One World Government but now with a One World Economy…then you first have to get everybody on the planet into a total state of fear, right? Why?

Because as we saw before, once you get people into a state of fear you can manipulate them. The Antichrist is not dumb! He knows what he’s doing!

He knows historically people are more apt to surrender their freedoms in a time of fear than in a time of peace.

So, if you create a crisis, even an economic one, globally, you can manage the global outcome. You can manipulate people into doing whatever you want them to do, whether they realize it or not!

And folks, this is precisely what’s been happening to our country, if you’ve been paying attention, for the last several years…Economically!

We not only have a “health-care crisis,” a “child care crisis,” a “food crisis,” a “water crisis,” a “terrorist crisis,” an “environmental crisis” but we also have that dreaded never-ending ongoing “economic crisis,” right?

Everything is a horrible crisis including the Economy just waiting to explode! AHHHH! And because of these “economic crisis” that are seemingly out of control, all over the world…

We have been manipulated, whether we realize it or not, into a constant state of fear and we’re starting to cry out for what they want us to cry out for…

Some global entity, some global savior, some Global Universal Monetary System that’ll fix all these global economic problems so we can get our prosperity back! We’ve been duped!

And you might think, “Come on, does this lying deceitful fear tactic really work on people, to get them to surrender their freedoms and go along with a One World Economy?” Uh, you bet it does folks!

In fact, these guys admit we have been deliberately pushed over the edge, on purpose, to get us to this point of no return, to create a One World Economy.

VIDEO BRITISH GUYS ON WORLD ECONOMY BAILOUTS

Now folks, that video would be funny, if it weren’t so true! But here’s the point. Sure doesn’t sound like we’re going to come out of this one, does it?

And folks, I’m telling you, that’s precisely what they want! This thing has been created! Why? Because again, they know us. People are more apt to surrender their freedoms in times of fear than in time of peace.

Therefore, if you create a crisis, even an economic one, you can manage the economy of the whole planet.

And folks, what do you think the United Nations and countries around the world have been working on for decades and have put in place over this last Economic Crisis?

Right now, there is already in place the plans for absolute total economic control of the whole world.

Right now, there’s already a Universal Bank as we saw in the timeline called the World Bank which is the world’s leader of lending money to the nations around the planet.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal bank then you need Universal Lending Institution to oversee the dispersion of loans, right?

Well folks, what do you think is the function of the International Monetary Fund which oversees the whole world’s financial system and even fixes the exchange rates.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal lending institution then you need a Universal Money Exchanger to funnel all this money to all the different countries, right?

Well, guess what folks? Right now there’s a Universal Electronic Banking System called SWIFT, which automatically makes sure that all the different money transactions in the world match all the different currencies.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal money exchanger then you need to have a Universal Strong Arm to punish those who don’t obey this World Banking System, right?

Well gee folks, that’s why, right now, there’s the World Trade Organization which not only sets the trading rules for the world, but they punish all countries who do not obey with billion dollar fines.

And so correct me if I’m wrong, but it sure sounds to me like if you put all this together and I’d say somebody’s not only pretty serious about forming a One World Economy…

But it sure looks like they’re just about ready to pull it off, how about you? And they’re using fear and manipulation, to get us to go along with it!

But that’s not all. The 3rd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is the Quotation Proof.

Folks, lest you think I’m making this whole thing up and I downloaded this from “” you tell me if this is not their plans! If you don’t think the world leaders are really using this latest Economic Crisis to create a One World Economy, then don’t take my word for it, listen to theirs!

Ever since that crash, world leaders immediately began using that event as an excuse to say, “We’ve go to come together to form a Global Economy to prevent this from ever happening again!”

OVERHEAD LEADERS CALL 4 GLOBAL ECONOMY/CURRENCY

Prime Minister Gordon Brown: The international financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society. Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a New World Order. Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world. We can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society.”

President George W. Bush: “It is essential that we work together because we are in this crisis together. Together we will work to modernize and strengthen our nations’ financial systems so we can help ensure this crisis doesn't happen again.”

European Commission President Manuel Barroso: “We need a new global financial order.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “It was time to rethink the world's financial system and prevent any repetition of the current crisis.”

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John Mack: “We need a new global body to oversee the financial crisis, warning that it is like nothing he's ever seen before.”

Timothy Geithner president of the Federal Reserve: “We need a new global monetary authority, a de-facto global financial dictatorship, operating across borders and forcing nations and corporations to register and adhere to strict monitoring and regulations.”

China: “They are calling for a new global currency controlled by the International Monetary Fund, stepping up pressure to global leaders, for changes to the financial system.”

Russia: “Is calling for a new international currency system and wants to overhaul the entire global financial order and even introduce a new supra-national currency to avoid future global financial crisis.” (SEE VIDEO)

United Nations: “They are proposing the biggest overhaul of the world's monetary system since WWII by calling for a new global currency.”

Banks: “The Institute of International Finance, a group that represents 420 of the world’s largest banks and finance houses, has issued yet another call for a one-world global currency. They are encouraging a return to a commitment to utilize International Monetary Fund special drawing rights to create an international one-world currency.

Single Global Currency Association: “Are calling for the world to embrace a Single Global Currency to be managed by a Global Central Bank within a Global Monetary Union. If the European Monetary Union can successfully provide stable currency to countries, why not a Global Monetary Union for all countries? We shall achieve this goal through education and persuasion.”

Or as Revelation 13 puts it “We’re going to force, order, & make you do it!”

In fact, they’re not only calling for a One World Economy and a One World Currency, but they’re even calling for, right now, a Global Tax to be paid by all the countries to the U.N.

Just when you thought you paid enough, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

VIDEO GLOBAL TAX

And a One World Economy. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, that’s what the Bible said would happen when you are living in the Last Days!

Folks, this is all happening right now, it’s not make believe, it’s real, it’s what the Bible warned about, when you are living in the Last Days! It just happens to be happening now!

And so folks again, here’s the point. What more does God have to do? This is not a game! This is real! God doesn’t want us going into the 7-year Tribulation with the Global economy and the Mark of the Beast System…

And He certainly doesn’t want us to go into HELL!

And so this is why, out of love, He’s given us these signs of a One World Economy to show us that the Tribulation is near, Christ’s 2nd Coming is rapidly approaching. And that’s why Jesus Himself said…

But that’s still not all. The 4th proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is what I call, the Union Proof.

That’s right folks, I’m not talking about the teamsters…believe it or not it’s something way worse than that! I’m talking about Economic Unions that the Bible said would come in the Last Days!

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Revelation 17:9-13.

Now folks, according to the Bible, we see how the Antichrist’s kingdom is going to be split up into ten different parts ruled by ten different kings or leaders, right?

And then, at one point, they surrender their power and authority over to him, right? It says it right there, okay? Use your mind of wisdom!

But here’s the point. It’s a good thing we see no signs of that happening today! The planet being split up into…10 different…kingdoms…

Yeah, right! It’s happening right now! We already saw they’re already creating 10 World Regions to ensure proper Economic control or the whole world! And it’s not just 5, not 19, not even 122, but exactly 10!

Let’s take a look at that again…

OVERDHEAD CLUB OF ROME MAP/ EU WORLD MAP

Hello! Folks, it sure looks to me like we’re headed for a world that’s split up into 10 Economic Kingdoms headed up by 10 Different Kings! Where have I heard that before?

And folks, I’m telling you, we have been slowly and methodically prepared for this.

For instance, in our lifetime we saw the birth of the European Union one of the 10 chunks right? Hello! And what is that? Isn’t that a region of countries coming together economically with their own currency called the Euro?

And that seemed to be the kick-off event because we now have the formation of the African Union which is a region of countries coming together in Africa economically with their own currency…

And then, there’s even plans for a South American Union, an Asian Union, a Mediterranean Union, a Central Asian Union, a Pacific Union, and even a North American Union between Canada, United States, and Mexico, and we’ll get to that in a little bit.

But here’s the point. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the world’s being split up into different economic regions right now right before our very eyes, and I’m thinking they’re going to end up with…ten, how about you?

And then if that wasn’t scary enough, we not only see the world being split up into 10 different economic unions that the Bible said would happen in the Last Days…

But we even have the birth of the Revived Roman Empire that the prophet Daniel said would come in the Last Days! It happened with the signing of the Lisbon Treaty that hardly anybody has even heard of!

Check this out! This recently happened folks!

VIDEO REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE

And I hope you’re not left behind! Folks, this is all happening, it’s not make believe, it’s all happening right before our very eyes, for the first time in 2,000 years!

A Revived Roman Empire is being put into place right now, just like the Bible said would happen in the Last Days!

In fact, speaking of a Revived Roman Empire, we are now also seeing how Europe is wanting to elect a President to oversee all this Revived Roman Empire!

And it’s not just any President but listen a “New Super President that would be the overall powerful leader of Europe, with responsibility over Europe’s economic matters, all foreign policy, and any European military operation.

You know, absolute total control of a newly Revived Roman Empire! That’s what they want right now! Isn’t that wild!

But that’s still not all. You talk about being ripe for the Antichrist who’s going to take charge of this Revived Roman Empire, as we just saw….

But we are also seeing the planet readily admitting that they are totally willing to follow an actual Antichrist even I he’s the devil in disguise!

QUOTE FOLLOW A MAN EVEN IF HE’S A DEVIL

Isn’t that wild? Folks, you put all this together, it sure looks to me like the planet is being split up into ten different economic kingdoms, there’s a Revived Roman Empire coming…

And people right now across the planet are ready to follow some man, any man, who will lead this empire just as long as he brings peace and prosperity

Even if he’s the devil in disguise…Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, that’s what the Bible said would happen when you’re living in the last days.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Revelation 13:11-17.

So here we clearly see, the Bible says there really is coming a day when all the inhabitants of the earth will not only be under the authority of the Antichrist, but even his what? His economy or monetary system, right?

You can’t buy or sell, you can’t do anything with money, without his permission. And so here’s the point. “Could that really happen?”

Could the whole world really be deceived into creating A One World Economy for the Antichrist to at one point hijack and take over for his purposes? And is there any evidence that this is really going to take place any time soon, like the Bible said?

Uh, yeah! In fact, it’s happening now! And the 1st proof we know really are headed for a One World Economy is the Machinery is Already in Place.

What most folks don’t realize is that this One World Economy of the Antichrist is not only going to be put into place, because the Bible said it would…

But what people don’t realize is that it’s been in the planning stages for a long time. And they’re just about ready to pull it off! The machinery is already there!

Right now, there is already in place, the plans for absolute total economic control of the whole world.

Right now, there’s already a Universal Bank called the World Bank which is the world’s leader of lending money to the nations around the planet.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal bank then you need Universal Lending Institution to oversee the dispersion of loans, right?

Well folks, what do you think is the function of the International Monetary Fund which oversees the whole world’s financial system and even fixes the exchange rates?

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal lending institution then you need a Universal Money Exchanger to funnel all this money to all the different countries, right?

Well, guess what folks? Right now there’s a Universal Electronic Banking System called SWIFT, which automatically makes sure that all the different money transactions in the world match all the different currencies.

But wait a minute. If you’re going to have a universal money exchanger then you need to have a Universal Strong Arm to punish those who don’t obey this World Banking System, right?

Well gee folks, that’s why, right now, there’s the World Trade Organization which not only sets the trading rules for the world, but they punish all countries who do not obey with billion dollar fines.

And so as you can see, the machinery for a One World Economy is already here! It’s already in place! Not 50 years down the road…it’s already here!

And for further proof, just pay attention to all these treaties we keep hearing about. What are they all about? They’re all about tying together the world’s economies!

First, there was the GATT Treaty in 1944, the (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to help, “Liberalize world trade.”

Then 50 years later in 1994 we had (NAFTA) or North American Free Trade Agreement. And then 10 years after that (2004) was (CAFTA) or the Central American Free Trade Agreement, combining Central American countries….

And then the very next year, (2005) was the FTAA or Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, which proposes to encompass the whole Western Hemisphere and their economies….and it’s happening all over the world!

There’s the (AFTA) the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or (APTA) the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, (SICA) the Central American integration System,

Or other proposed ones like (CEFTA) the Central European Free Trade Agreement, (COMESA) the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa) or (GAFTA) the Greater Arab Free Trade Area…

Or (SAFTA) the South Asia Free Trade Agreement, and even (TAFTA) the Transatlantic Free Trade Area, on and on it goes!

And the latest one out there that the current administration is working on, while we’re all consumed with other things…is called (TPP) or the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

It encompasses 12 nations in the Pacific area, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States.

And all I got to say is, if this baby goes through, man, you think it’s hard to get a job now, you ain’t seen nothing yet! This is NAFTA on steroids! That didn’t help things! I didn’t say that, the news did!

VIDEO TPP TREATY

What’s next? You going to control what I “buy and sell” too across the planet? Yeah! That’s the goal! It’s all being interconnected!

In fact, there’s another treaty out there even worse than this one called (TISA) or the Trade In Services Agreement that covers 50 countries and 68.2% of World trade & Services, which means you only got 31.8% to reach your Ultimate Goal…interconnect 100% of the world’s economies!

They’re almost there! Folks, this is not a game, this is really happening. The Machinery to pull off a One World Economy is being put into place now, which means we’re living in the Last Days!

But that’s not all. The 2nd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is The Unions are Already in Place.

And this is what we saw before with the Ten-Horned Kingdom of the Antichrist. But I bring it up again because it’s not just about forming a One World Government, it’s also about forming a One World Economy.

Revelation 17:12-13 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.” (NIV)

So again, according to the Bible, we see how the Antichrist’s kingdom is going to be split up into ten different parts ruled by ten different kings or leaders, right?

And then, at one point, they surrender their power and authority over to him, right? And it’s exactly 10 what they’re working for! Not 5, not 19, not even 122, but exactly 10 regions or Unions to Govern the world!

BUT it’s not just about forming Governmental Unions, it’s about forming Economic Unions.

For instance, as we saw before, it’s not just that the European Union was formed by a group of countries to combine their Governments into one, it was also the fact that they combined their Economies into one!

They came together economically to form a new currency called the Euro.

And then we saw Africa did the same thing with their African Union which is a region of countries coming together economically with their new proposed currency called the Afro.

And then we saw, the North American Union, between Canada, United States, and Mexico, with the proposed currency called the Amero.

And even Russia got in on the action recently with some of its surrounding countries and formed the Eurasian Economic Union and their new proposed currency called the “Altyn.”

And then there’s plans for the South American Union, Asian Union, Mediterranean Union, Central Asian Union, Pacific Union, and on and on it goes, as we saw before.

And the point is this. These Unions bring together not just their Governments but their Economies! And it’s created a Global Currency War with a huge battle to see who’s left on top of the pile!

VIDEO GLOBAL CURRENCY WAR

Hmmm. I wonder if this is going to lead up to WWIII that the occult says we need for the Antichrist to arise out of the ashes to save the day and bring back the Economies of the World…

In fact, speaking of wars, many believe this battle over the world’s economies is also explaining other things we’re seeing in the news.

For instance, why is it were seeing dozens of Bankers mysteriously die all over the world? Big Banks too! We’re they resisting somebody’s plans! Don’t know!

But one thing we do know is that the real reason why Gaddafi, the leader of Libya was taken out recently, had nothing to do about terrorism or safety, it had to do with him messing with the Global System, the Global Economy!

VIDEO LIBYIA THREATENS GLOBAL CURRENCY

Say what? Folks, even the news admits it! It doesn’t matter who you are, Libya, Iraq, whoever, you mess with the Global Plans for a Global Economy and you’re toast!

In fact, they’re not the one’s being punished. Right now so is Russia. We all know the oil prices have been plummeting recently, which makes for great prices at the gas pumps. Turn to somebody and say, “Yahoo!”

BUT for those countries whose economies are more dependent on higher oil prices, like Russia, and others, there’s no yahoo about it…it’s killing their economy!

And many believe it’s being used as a tool to spank Russia for tampering with the World’s Economy. I didn’t say that, our President did!

Barack Obama: If you’ll recall, their economy (Russia) was already contracting even before oil collapsed. And part of our rationale in this process was that the only thing keeping that economy afloat was the price of oil. And if, in fact, we were steady in applying sanction pressure, which we have been, that over time it would make the economy of Russia sufficiently vulnerable and that they’d have enormous difficulty managing it.”

In other words, we’re going to take you down, by driving down the price of oil. WHY? Because, Russia was messing with the World Economy!

“Putin is creating institutions that rival the IMF and the World Bank, and he’s increasing membership in an integrated, single-market Eurasian Economic Union, and he’s attacking the structural foundation upon which the Global Economy rests.”

So guess what? Just like the other guys, Libya, Iraq, and who knows who else, you mess with the plan to create a Global Economy, you pay the price! We’ll take you down! Including China!

Here’s the real hot button! China is also trying to control the world’s currency, and I wonder what that’s going to lead to? Maybe another war? Let’s take a look.

VIDEO CHINA THREATENS GLOBAL CURRENCY

They’re trying to control the World Economy. They’re trying to usurp these guys! Gee, what’s that going to do? In fact, they’re making good headway.

“The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world.”

“For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet…China is!” We’re now #2!

So what’s that going to do? Some would say it’s going to lead to another war, even China. And maybe this is the impetus for this war mentioned in Revelation.

Revelation 9:15-16 “And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.” (NIV)

And as we saw before, it just so happens right now that China has the ability to raise an army of that exact number, and one third of the earth is going in this battle!

And could it be over Currency? The Global Economy? Don’t know could be

But the point is, as you can see, somebody’s pretty serious about forming a One World Economy with the Machinery in place, and now these Unions in place…we’re almost there!

But that’s not all. The 3rd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Economy is The Currency is Already in Place.

You see, you not only need the Machinery in place, and these 10 Economic Unions in place, to hand over to the Antichrist, but Revelation 13 says it needs to have a Universal Global Currency for the Antichrist.

And wonder of wonders, that’s exactly what they’re calling for! The U.N. right now is calling for a Global Currency. The IMF is calling for global currency. Leaders from England, Europe, United States, all over the world, are calling right now for a Global Currency!

In fact, so are the Banks! “The Institute of International Finance, a group that represents 420 of the world’s largest banks and finance houses, has issued another call for a one-world global currency.” Right now!

Get to 10 Unions come together, the 10 become 1, exactly like the text says!

And another outfit called, “The Single Global Currency Association” is “Calling for the world to embrace a Single Global Currency to be managed by a Global Central Bank within a Global Monetary Union.”

And listen to their rationale! “If the European Monetary Union can successfully provide stable currency to countries, why not a Global Monetary Union for all countries? We shall achieve this goal through education and persuasion.”

Or as Revelation 13 says, “We’re going to force, order, & make you do it!” You know, like what they’re doing with Russia…and other countries…

In fact, even the Vatican is getting in on this. The Pope is actually calling for a Global tax to be paid to the U.N. to “redistribute wealth” to the poor.

But I like what one guy said, “If you really want to help the poor, how about starting with your throne at the Vatican (SHOW PHOTO)

It’s always somebody else’s riches that the rich want to give away!

But it goes even deeper than that! You not only need a Global Currency, but you need a Global Electronic Currency to turn into a Mark. And there just happens to be a new one out there called BitCoin! Let’s see what it can do!

VIDEO WHAT IS BITCOIN?

And one of the great ideas that people have come up with, with this new Electronic Global Currency called BitCoin, is you can implant a microchip into your hand to buy and sell with Bitcoin!

But nobody would do that, would they? They already are!

VIDEO MAN IMPLANTS BITCOIN UNDER SKIN

So don’t you want to be a part of the new revolution? You can “buy and sell” with these implanted chips, and turn on lights, call a doctor! Whatever you need…just get the implant, will you!

Folks, put all this together, and what are we seeing? Right now, before our very eyes, we’re seeing the Machinery put in place for a One World Economy…

The Unions for a One World Economy being put into place to hand over to the Antichrist…

And even a Universal Currency that people can implant in their right hand and maybe even forehead, is also being put into place.

What more proof do you need? We’re living in the Last Days! And that’s why Jesus said…

Luke 21:28 “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (NIV)

One World Religion

But that’s not all. The #4 sign on The Final Countdown that God has given to us to lovingly wake us up is none other then A One World Religion.

What? Are you serious? Uh huh! And folks, I’m telling you, pay attention. The Bible is clear. All the religions of the planet, one day, are going to come under the head of one man, the Antichrist, and his buddy the False Prophet.

And these dead, fake, phony Christians we just saw, they’re going to go right along with it.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to God’s. Open your Bibles to Revelation 13:3-9.

In other words, you better pay attention to this! Folks, according to our text, the Bible clearly says that there’s really coming a day when all the inhabitants of the earth are going to be busy worshipping who?

The antichrist himself, right?

One day, the Bible says, the whole world will be unified into A One World Religion that is actually satanically inspired.

But that’s the question. “Could this really happen? Could the whole world really be deceived into creating A One World Religion that the Antichrist is going to hijack and take over?”

And is there any evidence that this is really going to take place just like the Bible said? Uh, yeah! You bet there is! And it’s happening right before our very eyes right now!

And the 1st way we know we’re really headed for A One World Religion is due to a Welcoming of All Faiths.

That’s right, I’m talking about the Interfaith Movement. You see, put yourself in the Antichrist’s shoes. If you’re going to deceive people into creating A One World Religion then you’ve also got to get rid of any sense of one religion being superior over another, right?

And this is precisely what the Interfaith Movement has done. This term, by the way, interfaith, is the new buzz word for A One World Religion.

When you see this anywhere in the news or print, Interfaith, or interfaithism, just supplant it for what it is. It’s talking about the formation of A One World Religion because that’s what it means.

And promoters of this movement would have you and I believe that all religions are valid pathways to God. In other words, all roads, no matter what the belief is, lead to heaven.

Therefore, they say, there’s no need to argue or fight with one another. We just need to respect, tolerate and find common ground with one another.

We need to work together for the common good of saving Mother Earth and the planet keep humanity from destroying itself, right? How many of you guys have heard that? Or this…

After all, in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, we all know that “religious differences” are the main cause of war, right? No, it’s not, that’s a lie and we’ll explode that myth in a little bit…

But this is what Interfaith or interfaithism teaches, which as you can tell is diametrically opposed to True Biblical Christianity.

But granted, on the surface, it sounds nice, it sounds politically correct, but as far as the Bible is concerned, there is no such thing. If a person says they’re an interfaith Christian, they’re an oxymoron.

Why? Because according to their own definition, Jesus was apparently the most intolerant bigoted person who ever lived because He said this…

John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV)

Now here’s the problem. According to our societies Interfaith Movement, you cannot make a more “intolerant” statement than that! But people, that came from the lips of Jesus! And I don’t recommend you call Him a “religious bigot”!

But this is what “interfaith” teaches. You have to deny what Jesus said, right there, and in essence call Him a liar, and instead say He’s NOT the only way to heaven and that all religions are valid pathways to heaven.

And can I tell you something? You can’t do that as a genuine born again Christian!

But you might be thinking, “Come on Pastor Billy. This is America. We’re a Christian nation. There’s no way people are going to be able to pull off this Interfaith Movement and create A One World Religion. Maybe in some other country, but not here! Nobody’s ever going to fall for this.”

Really? Folks, I’m here to tell you that not only have many well-known people here in America already done so, even to the highest levels of society, Hollywood, the Government, you name it, but they’re about to put the whole thing in place!

The 1st proof that we know really are headed for a One World Religion is the Chronological Proof.

Folks, what most people don’t realize is that this One World Religion is not only going to be put into place, because the Bible said it would, but what people don’t realize is that it’s been in the planning stages for a long time.

Check out the progress for yourself:

OVERHEAD CHRONOLOGY OF ONE WORLD RELIGION

Now folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but when you take a look at the timeline, I’d say somebody’s pretty serious about this One World Religion, how about you?

I mean, it’s almost like they’re following some sort of a Chronological Plan to get us to go along with it, how about you? Uh huh! And it’s coming to a planet near you!

But that’s not all. The 2nd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Religion is the Coercive Proof.

You see folks, just in case you don’t go along with being politically correct and popular like the rest of the world, with this Interfaithism, they also have a backup plan to make you go along with it.

And that plan is to coerce you into this lie by fear and manipulation!

I mean, haven’t you heard? If we don’t go along with this One World Religion, the planet is going to blow up! We’ve got to put aside our differences aside and come together as religions to save Mother Earth!

Haven’t you heard? The planet is in danger of Global Warming.

Really? Folks, it is my proud honor to expose this lie for what it is. In fact, it’s such a big lie that even the Founder of the Weather Channel is blowing the whistle on it. Check it out for yourself!

VIDEO GLOBAL WARMING LIE WEATHER CHANNEL

Hmmm. Now, let me get this straight. 19,000 scientists and the Founder of the Weather Channel say Global Warming is totally bunk…and yet the press continues to ignore it and still promote it…WHY? Because what’d he say?

They have an agenda. And yes, part of it is money and power, but part of it is to become the ultimate excuse to form A One World Religion. We need a global catastrophe to get the global religions to work together.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look again at the Environmental Worship video we saw and you tell me if it’s not being used to draw all the religions on the planet together.

VIDEO ENVIRONMENTAL GREEN RELIGION

Hmmm. Looks to me like this manufactured crisis is being used to get all the religions on the planet to come together as one. Gee, where have I heard the before? And that’s exactly what the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days.

And by the way, this is why they changed the term from “Global Warming” to “Climate Change.” Because they didn’t want to get caught in the lie, so they switched to a more generic term so as to avoid this to Climate Change.

But hello! Last time I checked, climate changes everyday! Where’s the crisis? It’s a lie! But that’s not the only lie. Another lie they’re trying to coerce us into going along with A One World Religion is this…

“Well, haven’t you heard Religion is the main cause of wars. And if we don’t come together as one, the planet is headed for destruction!”

Really? How many of you guys have heard that lie? Uh huh! And let me demonstrate why it’s a lie. Let’s take a look at what’s really the major cause of wars.

OVERHEAD OR VIDEO RELIGION NOT MAJOR CAUSE WARS

Congo Free State - 1886-1908 - 8,000,000 - Control of colonial profit and power base

Feudal Russia - 1900-1917 - 3,500,000 - Political control

Turkish Purges - 1900-1923 - 5,000,000 - Ottoman Empire collapse/Political control

First World War - 1914-1918 - 15,000,000 - Balance of power

NOTE: The First World War killed more people than all the religious wars in the past. 6,000 men a day died for 1,500 days in World War I.

Russian Civil War - 1917-1922 - 9,000,000 - Political control

Soviet Union, Stalin Regime - 1924-1953 – 20-45,000,000 - Political control

China Nationalist Era - 1928-1937 - 3,000,000 - Political control

Second World War - 1937/38-1945 - 55,000,000 - Balance of power/Expansionism

Sino-Japanese War - 1937-1945 - 21,000,000 – Expansionism

Post-WWII German Expulsions from Eastern Europe - 1945-1948 - 1.8-5,000,000 - Post-war policies. Retributions/Soviet and Eastern European control

Chinese Civil War - 1945-1949 - 2,500,000 - Political control

People’s Republic of China - 1949-1975 – 40-80,000,000 - Political control

North Korean Regime - 1948- 1.7-3,000,000 - Political control

Korean War - 1950-1953 - 2,800,000 - Political control

Second Indochina War - 1960-1975 - 3-4,000,000 - Political control

Ethiopia - 1962-1992 - 1,500,000 - Political control

Khmer Rouge - 1975-1978 - 2,500,000 - Political control

Afghanistan - 1979-2001 - 1,800,000 - Political control/Soviet expansion

Kinshasa Congo - 1998- 3,800,000 – Political control &Resources

I determined I needed to find out the answer to this question and others have as well. Now it's very interesting. I took a look at the last 100 years, because that's the bloodiest, so that's the standard. There's nothing that comes remotely close to that standard. Took a look to see which Wars of 1 point 5 million or more were caused by what? Now I chose 1.5 million because there's so many conflicts underneath that-that to list them all. We would be here probably til the end of April. But in terms of 1.5 million people dead or more, these are most of the major wars that have occurred in the 20th Century.

The Congo free state, the 1st World War, the 2nd World War, Chinese Civil War, the 2nd Inter-China War. I've listed down the dates, the numbers killed-approximately-because some of it is hard to find in actual very precise numbers. And the reasons for those conflicts. Was the 1st World War a religious war? Not by a longshot and yet the 1st World War killed more people than all the religious wars in the past. The numbers were staggering. Six thousand men a day died for 1500 days in World War I. A staggering number of men. All of these different major conflicts 1.5 million or more were caused by reasons outside of religion. Balance of power, political expansionism. There is some in the terms of the 2nd Sudanese War with Islam that's involved but even that is peripheral in some respects with some of the other actions that are involved. This is not religion

Situation               Dates       Killed/mill.      Reason

1st World War         1914-18    12-15              Bal.of power

Sino-Japanese War   1937-45     21                 Political expansion

2nd World War        1938-45      30                 Bal.of power

Chinese Civil           1945-1949   2-5               Political control

Korean War             1950-53     2-4                 Political control

2nd Indochina          1960-75     2-4                 Political control

So I looked at the major genocides. This puts war to shame. Completely. More people have died at the hands of their own government, in the name of a peaceful government than war. You would be safer to live through World War II than you would have Stalin's Russia. Here's the numbers. Feudal Russia 1900-1917 3-5 million. Political control. The Turkish purges. Lenin. Stalin 25-45 million. The numbers are inconclusive because it was such a catastrophic time. Hitler. 15-20 million including approximately 6 million Jews. Many more than just the Jews were slaughtered. Many, many people. Stalin. The list goes on and on. Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution. 45-80 million dead. This is wild! Utterly wild! None of it is "religiously" motivated to any real measure to almost no measure. It's political control, expansionism. The list goes on, but it's not religious. 

Major Genocides over 1.5 Million

                                     Date           Death/Millions        Reason

Feudal Russia                1900-1917          3-5                Political Control

Turkish purges               1900-23              5                    Ottoman collapse

Lenin/Russia Civil War   1917-22              9                     Political control

Stalin Regime                 1924-53            25-45                Political Control

Chiang Kaishek              1928-37             5-10                 Political Control

Hitler                             1933-45             15-20                Political/Eugenics

Chairman Mao                1949-75           45-80                 Political Control

So the last one hundred years. More blood has been spilled than in any other century. "War is caused by religion, isn't it? Strife and conflict has been caused by your classical faith. Right?"  The next time you hear somebody say that. You know better. I have been in shock I have made the statement to see how people would respond. "War is caused by religion or religion is the greatest cause of wars and conflict" and I've had Christians say, "You're right!"

Hogwash! Hogwash!

Remember Professor Johnson and his statement, “Organized religion has caused more suffering, wars and violence than any other cause”? Professor Johnson just baited his students, and as the good professor tells us, “Almost all the students raise their hands in agreement.”

“I then demand that they provide dead bodies as evidence. They usually mention the Crusades and one or two other religious wars they might have heard of but in none of their examples can they come up with a million deaths…I then point out that most of the people who have died as a result of war, have done so in the Twentieth Century and that most of the killing was done in the name of secular ideologies. I then ask them who is the ‘baddest’ of them all. Most guess Hitler. I then tell them that he is rated #3. Some then guess Stalin and I inform them that most scholars place him at #2 with 20 million killed. Almost no one gets #1 who, of course, is Mao who starts with an estimated 40 million. I then point out that the top two were Communists and Hitler was a radical proponent of Social Darwinism. All of these ideologies are based on atheistic systems.”

Now folks, maybe it’s just me, but once you look at the facts, I’d say we’re being lied to! Religion is not the biggest cause of wars, it’s the anti-God man made agendas that are! It’s politics not religion!

And they’re using this fear and manipulation to coerce us into going along with this One World Religion, exactly like the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days.

But that’s not all. The 3rd proof that we know really are headed for a One World Religion is the Promotional Proof.

Hey folks, as if what we’ve seen isn’t enough, this Interfaithism Movement is also being promoted by virtually every single mover and shaker from around the world.

Just in case you aren’t politically correct or scared into doing it, they’re using Hollywood, the Governments, and even the Vatican to help “educate you” and promote this lie to go along with a One World Religion.

But again, don’t take my word for it. Let’s listen to theirs.

OVERHEAD VARIOUS PROMOTERS ONE WORLD RELIGION

Prince Charles of England launched a new movement called Respect, in order to, “Promote tolerance among the world’s religions.”

Global Warming promoter Al Gore made this amazing statement: “The richness and diversity of our religious tradition throughout history is a spiritual resource long ignored by people of faith, who are often afraid to open their minds to teachings first offered outside their own system of belief. But the emergence of a civilization in which knowledge moves freely and almost instantaneously through the world has spurred a renewed investigation of the wisdom distilled by all faiths. This panreligious perspective may prove especially important where our global civilization’s responsibility for the earth is concerned.”

But he’s not the only one. Hollywood, the Governments, and even the Vatican are promoting this One World Religion….SHOW VIDEO

But that’s not all. This One World Religion also has a new symbol. Maybe you’ve seen it. It’s called COEXIST and it looks like this: SHOW PICTURE

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has been planning for years to, “find a way to unite the world's major religions in an effort to help foster peace, and believes a new international organization will help make that dream a reality.”

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, one of the two Chief Rabbis of Israel said, “We need a United Relations of Religions, which would contain representatives of the World’s Religions as opposed to nations. United the world’s faithful is key to world peace. We must promote a respect for the differences among various religions. A Church, a mosque, a synagogue or a holy temple must be embassies of God and we have to spread this idea to our believers.” He has suggested that the Dalai Lama could lead the assembly.

Muslim Leader Adnan Oktar recently met with three representatives from the re-established Jewish Sanhedrin, to discuss how religious Muslims, Jews and Christians can work together on rebuilding the Temple.” An official statement about the meeting has been published on the Sanhedrin’s website, “We are all the sons of one father, the descendants of Adam, and all humanity is but a single family. Peace among Nations will be achieved through building the House of G-d, where all peoples will serve.” Oktar added that the Temple, “Will be rebuilt and all believers will worship there in tranquility.” And, “The Temple could be rebuilt in one year.”

Now folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m kind of thinking somebody’s taking this One World Religion kind of seriously, you know what I’m saying? Everybody’s promoting it! Even to the highest levels of society!

Exactly like the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days!

People, what more does God have to do? He loves us. He doesn’t want us going into the 7-year Tribulation! And He certainly doesn’t want us to go to HELL! This is why Jesus told us THE TRUTH.

He is THE way, THE truth, THE life and NOBODY comes to the Father except through HIM. There IS ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN.

And all this lie of A One World Religion where they say all paths lead you to heaven is a lie! It’s actually ensuring that YOU DO GO TO HELL!

And yet, this is why, out of love, God’s given us these signs of a One World Religion today to show us that the Tribulation is near, and that Christ’s 2nd Coming is rapidly approaching.

It’s through JESUS. And that’s why Jesus Himself said…

But that’s still not all. The 2nd way we know we’re really headed for A One World Religion is due to a Worldwide Assimilation of Believers.

And what I mean by believers, is the world’s definition of believers, as the Ecumenical Movement would say, all religions lead to heaven, and we can merge into ONE…

And believe it or not, the Vatican is promoting that very same false message right now!

And what’s wild is that it just so happens to fit with what the Bible says the One World Religion Harlot will be doing with the Antichrist in the Last Days!

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s Listen to God’s. Open your Bible’s to Revelation 17:1-6;15-18.

So folks, we got a lot going on in this text here, but we see that the One World Religion Harlot with not only be “drunk with the blood of the saints,” as we saw last time, those who get saved after the rapture of the Church…

BUT she’s also working in conjunction initially with the Antichrist, controlling the religions of the world, and ruling over the kings of the earth, right?

But at some point, it says there, that the Antichrist turns on her, God allows it as a form of punishment or judgment, and the Antichrist will destroy her.

He uses apparently her until he gets what he wants. World domination. She’s just a tool. At first she rides him, seemingly in control, but later he grabs control and kills her. Now I said all that to get to this.

In order for this passage to be fulfilled, we need to see some sort of Global Religious identity working with the Governments around the world, trying to control them…

AS WELL AS…promoting all the world’s religions to come together as One under its control. And folks, can I tell you something? That’s exactly what the Vatican is doing right now!

And they’ve been doing it for quite some time. If you’ll recall, who does all the world’s leaders, including American Presidents, eventually go up to meet? The Pope, at the Vatican, right? WHY?

Because they’re working in conjunction with all the world’s governments right now, trying to control them, just like this text says!

And TWO they’re also working to bring about all the world’s religions under their control. Let’s take a look at that proof again. It’s been going on for quite some time.

VIDEO DAVE HUNT WOMAN RIDES A BEAST

Uh yeah, that’s exactly what it is! And that’s exactly what our text said a world religious identity would do in the Last Days with the Antichrist!

The Vatican is the Headquarters of it! This is not make believe folks, this is all happening right now!

In fact, as we saw before, they’re already calling for a United Nations of Religions where some Global Entity would control the world’s religions just like the United Nations controls all the World’s Government.

Let’s take a look at that again…

OVERHEAD UNITED NATIONS OF RELIGIONS

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: He has been planning for years to, “Find a way to unite the world’s major religions in an effort to help foster peace…

And he believes a new International Organization will help make that dream a reality.”

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, one of the two Chief Rabbis of Israel said: “We need a United Relations of Religions, which would contain representatives of the World’s Religions as opposed to nations…

A Church, a mosque, a synagogue or a holy temple must be embassies of God and we have to spread this idea to our believers.” He has suggested that the Dalai Lama could lead the assembly.

Muslim Figure Adnan Oktar: He met with three representatives from the reestablished Jewish Sanhedrin, to discuss how religious Muslims, Jews and Christians…

can work together on rebuilding the Temple.” An official statement about the meeting has been published on the Sanhedrin’s website where they stated…

“We are all the sons of one father, the descendants of Adam, and all humanity is but a single family. Peace among Nations will be achieved through building the House of G-d, where all peoples will serve.”

Oktar added that, “The Temple will be rebuilt and all believers will worship there in tranquility.” And, “The Temple could be rebuilt in one year.”

Shimon Peres: Former President of Israel even more recently just met with Pope Francis to discuss the  idea of creating a UN-like organization that he called “The United Religions”…

To, “Bring an end to the wars raging in the Middle East and around the world.”

So world religious leaders all over the planet, are crying out for some global entity to control all religions on the planet, to bring in a time of so-called peace, and can anybody guess who’s at the forefront of this?

The Vatican! They’re leading the way!

In fact, right now as we speak folks, the Pope and the Vatican are not only vying for control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, and many believe a secret deal is being negotiated as we sit here….

But that’s what the Pope’s been doing with his recent trips to Israel. He’s encouraging all major religions to come together as ONE!

VIDEO POPE PRAYING WITH JEWS & MUSLIMS

Ahhh, isn’t that sweet! They’re planting an Olive Tree together. I wonder if the Antichrist is going to come by later and water it!

Folks, all the world’s religions are coming together under the Vatican and what’s wild is that’s exactly what the occult is saying needs to happen for the antichrist to arise!

OVERHEAD VATICAN THREE FESTIVALS IN JERUSALEM

In other words, he’s going to lose! But that’s not all. The Vatican is not only promoting all religions come together as ONE and sign an agreement or covenant…

But the new Pope, Pope Francis is making it so easy for anyone and everyone to be a part of this Global Religion…even atheists! Check out what Pope Francis has been saying lately!

VIDEO POPE FRANCIS ALL PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN

And apparently, that divine calling is to form a One World Religion that anyone can join…even atheists and homosexuals! That’s not what the Bible says!

1 Corinthian 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (NAS)

But that’s not all folks. He then went on to say that it is actually dangerous for you to think you can even go to heaven apart from the Catholic Church and the One World Religion…

“On June 25, Pope Francis spoke to an audience of 33,000 people saying, ‘There is no such thing as 'do-it-yourself' Christians or 'free agents'…

“It is a “dangerous temptation” to believe that one can have a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the church.”

Excuse me? You not only say atheists and homosexuals go to heaven, but you go to the other extreme and now say you can’t be saved apart from the Catholic Church and this new One World Religion.

But man! It’s one thing for the Catholic Church and the Pope to do this, but good thing the Protestant Church isn’t falling for this lie!

Well, folks, I hate to burst your bubble, but not only are Protestant Churches caving in on these issues…but they’re even being seduced right now by the Pope himself to join him in his One World religion.

Believe it or not, Kenneth Copeland, who by the way is a false teacher and Word of Faith heretic, he recently piped in a private message from the Pope himself to his so-called Protestant Church….

And the Bishop who showed up to announce this private message from the Pope to this Church made some chilling remarks. Check it out!

VIDEO POPE SPEAKS AT KENNETH COPELAND’S CHURCH

“Luther’s protest is over...how about yours…” Can I translate that for you? Won’t you join us “Protestant Church” in forming a One World Religion…

Exactly like the Bible said would happen, when you are living in the Last Days! It’s happening now…even in the protestant Church!

But you might be thinking, “Well okay, that’s just Kenneth Copeland. He’s a false teacher, we all know that, what do you expect? I’m sure he’s the only one doing this, right?” WRONG!

Many of the people from the Charismatic Movement are doing the exact same thing. They’re meeting with the Pope, chumming up with him, giving him high-fives, trying to figure out how we can all get along as Protestants.

OVERHEAD CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT POPE

Here we see in order John & Carol Arnott, Brian Stiller, Kenneth Copeland, Pope Francis, Thomas Schirrmacher, Geoff Tunnicliffe, James & Betty Robison, and Bishop Tony Palmer...

And it’s one thing to meet with the Pope, but the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “Unity in Diversity”…

And then you have strange statements being made by James Robison, who is seen here giving the Pope a high five…

“The enemy has kept many Christians from loving one another as Christ loves us and have failed to recognize the importance of supernatural unity even with all of the unique diversity…

This week I was blessed to be part of perhaps an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope. I believe I am beginning to witness what Jesus prayed for…

Years ago God told me to reach out beyond the safe, comfortable walls of my Southern Baptist tradition, beyond denominational barriers and seek to bring the family together…

Oh, how I hope and I pray that is the case. Dear God, please let it happen and let me gladly be a part of it.”

Let me be gladly a part of forming a Global Religion with the Pope…from a Protestant Leader…

But you might be thinking, “Well okay, that’s just the Charismatic Movement. They have some aberrant teachings anyway, what do you expect? I’m sure they’re the only so-called Protestant Denomination doing this.”

Wrong answer! Now we have people like Beth Moore hanging out with these same Charismatics, including James Robison who’s high-fiving the Pope, and she’s making some odd comments about Catholics. Check it out.

VIDEO BETH MOORE CATHOLIC SISTERS

No, that’s not good! What are you doing calling Catholics our sisters or brothers or whatever? They don’t believe the same way to heaven!!!

But you might be thinking, “Well okay, that’s just one Protestant Lady in the Church. We all know that Protestant Pastors aren’t going to fall for this baloney!” Really?

You might want to pay attention to what Joel Osteen said about the Pope.

VIDEO JOEL OSTEEN LOVES THE POPE

But you might be thinking, “Well okay, that’s Joel Osteen. We all know that he refuses to stand on the truth period. And He only preaches fluffy stuff. But not the rest of our Protestant Pastors! They’ll never do this!”

Really? You might want to listen to what Rick Warren said about the Pope.

VIDEO RICK WARREN LOVES POPE

You love the Pope, and you actually have his picture on your wall as a source of inspiration? So when push comes to shove and the Pope says we all need to combine our religions together, do you think he’s going to resist?

But that’s still not all. But you might be thinking, “Well hey, the rest of us Southern Baptists are going to fall for it!” Well I certainly hope not!

BUT the last couple of weeks have shown some concern, at least those who are higher up.

Russell Moore, (SHOW PICTURE) is the president of the Southern Baptists Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and he said two weeks ago…

“Gay Therapy, the attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, has been ‘severely counterproductive.’” And he “Joins a chorus of psychologists and religious leaders who have departed from the once-popular therapy.”

So with all due respect, telling people “you are no longer slaves to sin” Romans 6 and you can have a “new identity” and become a “new creation” and become a “new person” in Christ is now counter-productive?

But that’s not all. Flying back from the conference I came across this article. “Russell Moore, Rick Warren Join ‘Pope Francis’ with Muslims, Buddhists for an Interfaith Conference on Marriage.”

What? What are you doing meeting with the Pope? Folks, this ain’t looking good!

And by the way the Conference is sponsored by, “The Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.”

You know, the Catholic Church saying let’s all come together as ONE with the Vatican!

And as crazy as that sounds, Protestant Pastors are doing just that! They’re “converting” to Catholicism! Check this out!

VIDEO MAN CONVERTS TO MARY

Go back to the Sacraments? That’s not the Gospel! That guy’s preaching a false gospel that works with the One World Religion that the Bible said would come in the Last Days!

And in order for this to come to pass, the Protestant Reformation would have to somehow, someway, someday, be overturned…and as you just saw with your own eyes….It is!...right now as we sit here!

And the point is, “If these events culminates during the 7-year Tribulation, the Rise of a One World Religion, and the Antichrist going up into a rebuilt temple, declaring himself to be god halfway into the 7-year Tribulation…

AND these events are lining up…then how much more closer is the rapture of the Church, which takes place prior to the 7-year Tribulation!”

We don’t know that exact day or hour, but folks, we need to get ready!

And this is why, out of love, God has given us all these signs of a One World Religion and the Vatican to show us that the Tribulation is near and the Rapture is right around the corner!

And that’s why Jesus Himself said…

But that’s still not all. That 8th Prophecy of Israel Becoming a Center of Conflict for the Whole World is actually leading to the fulfillment of yet another prophecy in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul talked about this one.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (NIV)

Now folks, according to this text, the Apostle Paul tells us one of the signs that we know we are getting close to the Lord’s Return is when all of a sudden, you see people all over the planet crying out a specific phrase.

And notice what that phrase was…It was “Peace and Safety” right? Not “Peace and Happiness” not “Joy and Prosperity” not even “Stop Eating Chicken…as cool as that would be…

But specifically the phrase “Peace and Safety.” Okay, now, pay attention because nothing’s by chance in the Scripture!

It just so happens that the Greek word there for “safety” is “asphaleia” and it literally means “security” as in “security from enemies or security from danger…”

So you literally could say in that text, “Peace and Security” and still be totally right on.

Now here’s the point. Put this Bible prophecy passage from Paul about “Peace and Security” being the exact phrase that people would be crying out for in Last Days, just prior to Jesus’ 2nd Coming…and combine it…

With Israel coming back on the scene and becoming a “center of conflict for the whole world” and can anybody guess just what in the world right now all the world’s leaders are crying out for in regards to Israel?

Peace and Security! The exact phrase Paul said people would cry out for in the Last Days! Listen to it for yourself!

VIDEO CRY FOR PEACE & SECURITY

Not “Joy and Prosperity” not “Deliverance and Happiness” but wonder of wonders it just happens to be the exact Biblical phrase right now that the Bible warned would come upon the scene in the Last Days…“Peace and Security.”

And when you see people all over the planet specifically crying out that phrase, what’d the Bible say would happen? BANG! Sudden destruction will come upon them and they WILL NOT escape!

People of God, what more does God have to do to get our attention?

The Lord is getting close and we better wake up! Yes, we don’t know the day or the hour, but what more does He have to do? We are clearly living in the last days!

This is why He’s given us the warning sign of The Jewish People to show us that the Tribulation is near and the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ is rapidly approaching. And that’s why Jesus Himself said…

Luke 21:28 “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (NIV)

People of God, like it or not, we are headed for The Final Countdown.

And so the point is this. If you’re a Christian here today and you’re not doing anything for the Lord…shame on you! Get busy doing something for Jesus now!

We need you! Don’t sit on the sidelines! Get on the front line and help us! Let’s get busy working together doing something splendid for Jesus with what time is left! Amen?

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download