Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Matthew 24:15-21 | Date: December 15, 2019 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

But hopefully we will get to that this morning. We are continuing our series, a two-part series, on the Tribulation and Antichrist. That is a follow-up to the study of Daniel that we did for a number of weeks. And Daniel has so much to say about this matter of the Tribulation, the coming Tribulation, and the Antichrist that I thought it would be good to pick up and see how the New Testament writers take up that subject and expound it and apply it. So that was last Sunday and then again today.

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, as we come one more time to this subject of the coming Tribulation and Antichrist to see what your Word has to tell us about it, to caution us, to warn us of it, to prepare us for it, we ask that you would have and accomplish your will in our hearts and in our lives through it. Lord, we want, we want above all else to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ who has given himself for us. Use this to equip us for that. In His name we ask. Amen.

Well, we’ve seen in Daniel that, as I mentioned, there is a sustained emphasis, or at least a repeated emphasis, on this time of opposition and trouble to come. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1 refers to it as a time of tribulation that is the worst that history has ever seen since there was a nation. And we saw it in particular in places like Daniel chapter 7, where the little horn rises up out of that fourth beast and overthrows other of the horns that had grown up and carries out his time of wrath against the people of God and against the saints of the Most High, in particular, even for a time, conquering them and wearing them out, as Daniel says in verse 25 of chapter 7.

We saw it in chapter 9 of Daniel’s prophecy as well during the 70th week where that coming prince will come and he will break the covenant and then he will be destroyed and brought to destruction quickly at the end of that 70th week. We saw in chapter 11 this sustained and remarkable prophecy about the King of the North who would come, and we saw how that was fulfilled in Antiochus in the second century BC. Just remarkable and detailed prophecy coming to pass centuries later and fulfilled in exact detail as we saw in the career of Antiochus IV.

We also saw that in Daniel chapter 5 and then in chapter 12 as well, this King of the North, Antiochus, who’s in view, becomes a type—someone who is prospective of another great opponent of the people of God who will come. That takes us clear to the end of the age, the time of the resurrection and the time of the final victory of the Son of Man over all of the kingdoms of the world.

So we have this time of tribulation coming, this arch-opponent coming, and one of the things we saw that was curious about it in Daniel itself, in that prophecy, is that these prophecies of this coming time of opposition and trouble and this great opponent of the people of God had its focus on the second century BC. That’s 265 years before Jesus. We have this rule of Antiochus Epiphanes, and he fulfills those prophecies in remarkable detail, even to the timeframe that was stipulated: the time, times, and half of time—three and a half years. We saw that that was specified, and that, to the time, was fulfilled in the career of Antiochus Epiphanes in this awful reign of terror that he had against the Jews at that time.

But we saw what was curious about that is that although he had that focus on the second century BC, Daniel’s prophecies also state that this prophecy looks ahead to the end of the age where a coming opponent will come and he will be destroyed as well. So Antiochus becomes a picture or a type of a coming opponent of the people of God in a coming time of tribulation that will come.

And then we saw last time that it gets more complicated—or I should say more complex still—when we get to Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus picks up the prophecy of Daniel and the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet and refers it not to the end of the age, but refers it specifically to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

So now we have a prophecy of a tribulation and Antichrist fulfilled in Antiochus in the second century BC, fulfilled in AD 70 in the Roman armies under the general Titus destroying Jerusalem and wreaking awful havoc on the people of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and it refers to the end of the age. So now we’ve got a three-part fulfillment. This is typical of biblical prophecy. It happens quite often where one incident or person or institution becomes prospective of another and a greater fulfillment, and you have this unfolding fulfillment until finally, climactically, it arrives at the end of the age.

That happens with much of biblical prophecy, and we see it now happening with this prophecy of the Tribulation and Antichrist. But then it becomes more complex still as we get to the New Testament writers, as we saw as they pick up this language of tribulation and refer it consistently to this age. We are in the tribulation that was spoken of. This is a time of opposition. This is a time of Antichrist.

So, for example, we saw in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 where Paul picks up this prophecy and he as much as quotes Daniel, a loose quotation from Daniel chapter 11 of Antiochus, refers it to the man of lawlessness at the end of the age who will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus by the breath of His mouth at the appearance of His coming. And we find it explicitly now brought to the end of the age. And yet we saw in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul says the mystery of iniquity is already at work. And he gives a heavy stress to this matter of the deceptiveness of it, as well as the opposition that it brings.

And so now we have Daniel’s prophecy fulfilled in Antiochus, fulfilled in AD 70, fulfilled in this age, throughout this age, and then climactically fulfilled at the end of the age. I think we are right to expect at the end of the age there’ll be this final personification of evil, this final outbreak of evil that will come. That’s what is specified for us. But what we do see also is that not only do we have an inaugurated kingdom, as we’ve seen many times over the last year or so in our studies together, but there’s an inaugurated tribulation, if you will, an inaugurated manifestation of Antichrist coming. That’s what Paul says when he says the mystery of iniquity is already at work.

So we’ve seen how that prophecy then spreads out in an unfolding fulfillment and then climactically at the end of the age. That’s how the New Testament writers pick it up. And what I want to do this morning then is look at the same, but now moving on from the words of Jesus and the Olivet Discourse and from Paul to the Apostle John. And we’ll see it both in his letters and in the Revelation as well.

The Apostle John: 1 John 2

1 John 2, beginning with verse 15:

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”

Now notice again, John does have an end-time figure, an end-time person in view, who is the very incarnation of evil. One of the contributions John makes for us is he calls him the Antichrist. That’s our customary title for him. John is the only one who uses that title. It’s clearly the same as the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2. It’s clearly the little horn in Daniel chapter 7. It’s clearly the King of the North in Daniel chapter 11 and so on. But he gives him the title Antichrist. And it’s clear that he has that in view. “You’ve heard that Antichrist is coming”—this one who’s inspired of Satan to deceive by false teaching and oppose the people of God.

And in fact, John seems here to ground that expectation of a coming Antichrist explicitly in the Old Testament. Look at verse 18: “You have heard that Antichrist is coming.” That is, it seems he’s saying here, you’ve heard that from the Bible, from the Old Testament scriptures. And then he says “the last hour.” Notice that expression he repeats a couple of times: “The last hour.” Now that’s an expression that is lifted right out of Daniel in the Old Greek translation of Daniel—not the Septuagint, but the Old Greek translation of Daniel. Now it’s not in the Hebrew. In the Hebrew you have it reading “the time of the end,” but in the Old Greek translation of it you have it rendered “the hour of the end” or “the last hour.”

Three times, three or four times that appears in the Old Greek of Daniel: chapter 8, chapter 11, chapter 12. John seems to be picking that up exactly. It’s the only time in the Old Testament where that phrase occurs, and John seems to be picking that up. And he’s referring to that time of the end, the hour of the end, or the last hour.

And what’s significant is that in the Daniel passages where that expression occurs, it’s associated with this time of tribulation, persecution, and this opponent of the people of God. It’s called the hour of the consummation, the last hour. It’s a time of tribulation. Daniel chapter 1, a time of tribulation or the hour of tribulation in the Old Greek. The hour of tribulation such as has never been since there was a nation. And associated with all of those passages are themes that connect to other passages in the book of Daniel about this coming opponent of the people of God—the three and a half years, the abomination of desolation, the blasphemy, the deception—the tribulation passages in Daniel all interconnect with that expression, “the hour.”

And so John is saying, you’ve heard that he is coming. The hour is coming, the Antichrist is coming, and he implicitly gives his assent or affirmation to that, that Antichrist is coming. And so John as well expects this climactic arrival of this great opponent to come. And yet, verse 18, you’ll notice that’s not his focus. Verse 18: “It is the last hour. Many antichrists have come.” That last hour is now. That tribulation is now. Antichrists have already come. In fact, many of them have already come. And in fact, he says, that’s how we know it is the last hour, because all this has come.

And he cites evidence for us, verse 19. These apostates, these people who leave the Christian fold, verse 19: “They went out from us. They were never of us, really.” These are false believers who have left the church. This is part of the evidence of the tribulation has come. But in particular, look at verse 22. He speaks of the presence of false teachers. “Who is a liar? But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist. He who denies the Father and the Son.”

So we have these teachers that are denying important tenets of the doctrine of Christ: His person, His work, His eternality, His two natures in one person. John deals with some of that in his letter. And he says in verse 18, this is how we know it’s the last hour. Antichrist is here. The false teachers are here. There’s deception. There’s apostasy. This must be the last hour. This must be the time of tribulation prophesied.

In other words, then, the time of tribulation has already come. I think we have to see that in this passage. Now, I think we have to see also that the time of tribulation is yet to come. Antichrist is coming. But his focus here is to emphasize this time period has already come. It has arrived because Antichrist is here. Now, many Antichrists are here, and we see them in the false teachers. The primary expressions of the Antichrist are his persecution and his false teaching. And we see that, John says, in the deceptiveness of these false teachers coming into the church and deceiving, infiltrating, and wherever possible, forcing people to go along with their false teaching.

Now there then is, as we saw last time, there’s a “now” and a “not yet” aspect to these prophecies. The “now” aspect of this prophecy of the Antichrist and tribulation is that it is selective, it’s localized, it comes in varying degrees in various places, but it’s here. In the “not yet” aspect of this tribulation period and Antichrist, there will be a wider expression of it on a broad scale where this coming opponent of the people of God has more universal authority and influence. But John says, here it is, and we see it in the false teachers that have come.

Why don’t you look across the page or over to the next, depending on how it is in your Bible, to chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, verses 1 to 3:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming, and now is in the world already.”

This is very much like what we saw in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2: the mystery of iniquity is already at work. Only here John speaks not in terms of the tribulation period, but in terms of the Antichrist. Whereas Paul says that mystery of the tribulation period is already at work, the influence of the Antichrist already at work, John here says it more specifically with regard to the Antichrist himself.

And then turn the page again to 2 John. So short, it’s hard to call it an epistle. We call it a postcard. 2 John, but look at verse 7:

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist.”

There it is. So Paul and John both agree and tell us that Antichrist is already here and He is still to come. In the “not yet” aspect of it—the coming aspect that we’ll see in the book of Revelation in just a moment—there’s a more universal purview that he has, universal influence. But John and Paul are telling us in every localized expression of false teaching and opposition against Christians, you see the coming of Antichrist. And all of this, he says, demonstrates for us that this is the last hour. It has come.

The Big Perspective Of Revelation

All right, that then sets us up for the book of Revelation. Two weeks from today—next week we’ll be looking at some Christmas themes, of course—but two weeks from today we’ll return to this, Lord willing, and I hope to give a broad survey of the Book of Revelation, particularly the last half of the Book of Revelation, but we’ll get a taste of that here this morning as well.

In reading the book of Revelation, it is vitally important to understand, first of all, Revelation chapters 4 and 5, because all the rest of the book of Revelation is an unfolding of those chapters. You remember in Revelation chapter 4, we have this vision of God seated on His throne, majestic and sovereign and ruling over all. Surrounding the throne are many other thrones, and all of those that are around the throne bow and worship the one who is on the throne. And they all sing and praise His greatness because He is the one who created all that is, and everything that is here is here because He made it. He is the one who rules over all. That’s Revelation chapter 4.

Revelation chapter 5, then, we see a scroll in the sovereign’s hand. Seven-sealed scroll, evidently as Last Will and Testament imagery. God’s purpose in salvation and judgment for world history. And there’s concern: who in the world is worthy to take that scroll from the sovereign’s hand? Who could do that? And there’s wailing and there’s weeping. No one can carry out God’s purpose of salvation and judgment until they say, “There is the Lamb who has been slain,” and He steps to the throne and He takes the scroll. And then He begins to unpeel the seals from the scroll, and then chapters—that’s chapter 5—chapter 6 and following is an unfolding of that as the purpose of God in salvation and judgment for world history is carried out by the Lamb who was slain, who alone is worthy to carry out that purpose for Him.

That’s the big perspective of Revelation. God working out His purpose of salvation and judgment. And then we come to chapter 6 and following. We have the peeling of the seals. And with each of the seals, there’s a judgment and more judgments. And then there’s the seven trumpet judgments. And then there’s the seven bowl judgments—these bowls dumped out on the earth. And as they’re poured out on the earth, more judgments come. All this picture of God reigning and carrying out His rule, particularly against His enemies. Chapter 11, there’s actually another series of seven—seven thunders as well—but John is told not to write that down. So we don’t know what that was about, but we do know those three: the seal judgments, the trumpets, and the bowls, and God carrying out His purpose.

Revelation Chapters 11 To 13

Now, I said we’d look at chapters 11 to 13. That is because that is where we tie in to this theme of tribulation and Antichrist that Daniel spoke of and that we found both in Paul and in John’s letters as well. Revelation chapters 11 to 13 really belong together because they treat the same theme.

Before we get there, remember that we saw in Daniel the time designations for this time of tribulation, this time of the opposition of the people of God. In Daniel 7 verse 25, that little horn will have his time of rule for a “time, times and a half of time”—three years, one year, two years and a half a year—three and a half years that he will be given. And that becomes something that we find repeated in Daniel and also in Revelation now as well.

We find that three and a half years in chapter 8 of Daniel with Antiochus and his reign of terror against Jerusalem. We find it in Daniel chapter 9, verse 27, where the 70th week—seven years—but at half the week the covenant is broken. And we have that three and a half years then remaining for this time of persecution at which time culminates in this coming prince and his destruction. And then in Daniel chapter 12, we saw again this expression of the “time, times and a half a time,” the three and a half years, sometimes—or one time—spoken of also as 1,290 days.

Well, keep that in mind now. We come to Revelation chapter 11, and you’ll notice, those of you who read ahead, that we have the same period being spoken of. We have in verses 1 to 6, the church protected and a time of gospel advance:

“Then I was given a measuring rod, like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. But do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.'”

There it is again: three and a half years.

“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses…”

I think that’s representative of the church.

“…and they will prophesy 1,260 days.”

There it is again: three and a half years. And I think what we have here in Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 to 6 is describing this period of gospel advance under the church’s witness when the church itself is being protected by God. But you’ll notice how that shifts when we get to verse 7. And there we have the protection of God lifted, the church coming under attack, and actually being killed or defeated for, and here’s the expression, “three and a half days.” But notice verse 7:

“When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the streets of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified for three and a half days. Some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in the tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them. They stand on their feet…”

And so on. So here we have in verses 7 and following what I think would be the final three and a half years—or at least symbolically called three and a half years—where the protection against the people of God is lifted, and there is this reign of Antichrist where he has success over the people of God. For a period they are protected, and now for a period that protection is lifted, and this reign of Antichrist comes against them. And a horrible time, and they lie dead in the streets. This is apocalyptic language, symbolic. The people of the earth cheering because these menacing Christians are out of the way. The time when the evil seems to have triumphed on a wide scale.

Well, that culminates, of course, in the climactic arrival of the kingdom of God, verse 15:

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.'”

And of course, you can’t read that without hearing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus ringing in your ears. My daughter-in-law told me this week—horrifying, horrifying thing—that my three-year-old grandson said he doesn’t like the Hallelujah Chorus. She had it playing and somehow or other he mentioned that he didn’t like it, and it just was a horrifying thing. It made me realize again the truth of original sin.

But here we have this time of success of the gospel, verses 1 to 6. Verses 7 and following, a time of opposition where the opposition seems to have success. The church lies dead in the street and the people of the culture are glad for it. And then verse 15 and following, the kingdom of God is announced. The King arrives and takes matters into His own hands. That’s Revelation chapter 11.

Now, Revelation chapters 12 and 13 pick up the same and recap it, but they do it with more detail. In Revelation 12, we have presented for us that first three and a half years, that first half of that week. And here we have that graphic imagery—I’ll assume that you’re familiar with it here. Rather than take time reading through it, we have the Lord’s Table coming soon. The clock is running. But we have in chapter 12 this awful scene, graphic, of this woman about to give birth. And it’s as though she’s sitting there with her feet in the stirrups, about to give birth, she’s in labor pains, and in front of her is this dragon, salivating and waiting for this child to be born so that he can devour him.

And finally this child is born and is described as the one who will rule the nations. And just before the dragon can devour the child that is born, the child ascends and escapes. The woman and her people run to the wilderness for protection, hiding from the wrath of this dragon, who now is very angry because he knows his time is short. And they’re hiding in the wilderness. And we find that the dragon is venting his rage against the people of God again because he knows his time is short. But we also find that in verse 6:

“The woman fled into the wilderness where a place has been prepared by God in which she is to be nourished…”

And there’s our expression: 1,260 days is three and a half years. So here we have this first part of the 70th week where the church is protected by God. There is opposition, continual opposition, but there’s a great measure of protection and she is nourished by God in the wilderness, as it were, and the gospel advances.

Now let’s move on to chapter 13. In chapter 13, we have the second half, I think, the second half of that 70th week being described. Again, we have the three and a half years that are mentioned here in verse 5. It’s called 42 months again, our three and a half year time period, designating this time of opposition. So here we have this time of success for evil, this final outbreak of evil. In verses—well, in this whole chapter, we have Satan on the attack, as we saw in chapter 12.

But here in chapter 13, Satan calls up two helpers. In verses 1 to 10, he calls up this beast that arises out of the sea. Again, there are allusions back to Daniel and so on. But he is this beast coming out of the sea. He is vicious. He seeks to destroy the faithful. He has his 42 months or three and a half years. And by his influence, there’s great suffering among the people of God.

And then verses 11 and following, we find this beast, a second beast comes, and this is that beast that rises out of the earth. This is the false prophet. His mission is to destroy the faithful by deceiving them. He forces them to worship the beast. He forces them to take the mark of the beast, follow the beast, and forget their faithfulness to Christ.

Now notice in verse 1 of chapter 13:

“I saw a beast rising out of the sea with 10 horns and 7 heads, with 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its head.”

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words. This sounds like Daniel chapter 11. That’s verse 5—I’m sorry. Verse 5:

“The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months.”

And then verse 7:

“So it was allowed to make war on the saints and conquer them.”

That’s right out of Daniel chapter 7. He’s allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation. So we had Daniel prophesying that this great opponent will arise. He’ll be marked by blasphemy and deception. He’ll impose conformity. He’ll be at war with the saints. He’ll have a time of domination for a time.

And now John tells us the same in his apocalypse with multiple allusions to Daniel chapter 7 and so on. And so we have this climactic outbreak of evil, this climactic arrival of this opponent against the people of God. And then all of this comes to climax in chapter 19 of the book of Revelation where the Lord Jesus comes riding on a white horse, a sword coming out of His mouth, and He puts to death all of His enemies. And there’s such a great slaughter that He calls the birds of the air to come and have a feast.

So clearly all of this is pointing us to the end of the age. How will this age conclude? In all of this what we see is that there will be a time of a final outbreak of evil—some personage at the top, it seems, exercising influence on a wide scale. But then finally, and climactically, the King comes. And the Antichrist is destroyed, this beast from the sea. And in fact, Revelation chapter 19, we find this evil triumvirate—the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet—are all three captured. When the Lord Jesus returns, the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire and Satan, the dragon, is confined in the bottomless pit. So all of this points us to the end of the age and the climactic arrival of the King to put down all opposing authority.

And yet—and yet, and I want you to see this—look at chapter 13 and verse 3. One of the seven heads on this beast rising out of the sea, one of the seven heads receives a fatal wound, but its mortal wound was healed. How do you have a mortal wound healed? Is it a mortal wound or isn’t it? Well, this one seems to have had a mortal wound and at the very least you have to say, “I don’t worry about him anymore.” But then again you do, because the mortal wound in his head was healed. What it seems to be saying is, this beast keeps coming back. He seems to be defeated, but nope, there he is again. He seems to be defeated. Nope, there he is again. He seems to be defeated, but nope, there he is again. And finally you do him in, he gets his mortal wound, and nope, there he comes again. He keeps coming back, keeps coming back.

Chapter 17, you see another reflection of this. Look at Revelation chapter 17 and verse 8:

“The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction, and the dwellers on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was, and is not, and is to come.”

There was a time when the beast was active. Right now it’s not, and yet it is coming. “It was, it is not, and it is to come.” That is, he keeps coming back. He keeps coming back. And you have this Antichrist popping up his head over here, and we finally deal with it, think, “Boy, that’s over.” Nope, here comes another one. He pops up his head again, and the beast keeps coming back, keeps coming back. Here, there, over there, with a different deception, a different kind of opposition, he keeps coming back.

And that is to say, you I’m sure have heard that the number 666 and all of that in the book of Revelation is probably some allusion to Nero Caesar and his opposition against Christians. And I think when we see all of this, we say, yeah, Nero really was the Antichrist. So was Antiochus before him. And so was Domitian after him. So was Titus and his general of the Roman armies coming against Jerusalem. He’s Antichrist too. And if we want to keep looking, so was Caligula and Claudius, proclaiming themselves gods, demanding allegiance. There’s Domitian, notoriously infamous for his opposition against the Christian faith. He came and he died. He’s gone. No, he’s not.

Later it was Hitler, then it was Stalin, Mao, communist regimes—all of which demand a godlike worship of the one at the top, and a cult-like loyalty in their regimes. And besides these great opponents of the Christian faith in terms of physical opposition, we have all kinds of heretics also. The Gnostics—they were Antichrists too. Marcionites—they were Antichrists too. The Reformers, the 16th century Reformation—they were convinced the Pope is the Antichrist. They’re right. But then, so was Albrecht Ritschl, Harry Emerson Fosdick, today Bart Ehrman. All these Antichrists come. They rise and they just keep coming back. And they may die, but they just keep being replaced. They recover from their mortal wound.

False teachers, deceivers, opponents, persecutors. Today in our context, it’s not only false teachers, but it’s the cultural elites demanding that we conform—conform to their ideals regarding human life, its origins, human identity, sexual identity, all kinds of ideas regarding marriage and what is marriage, sexuality. And if you don’t think they demand it and that you conform, just watch in the news and see how difficult it has become for Christians to enter the public square. A Christian is nominated as a judge; that disqualifies him. We must accept, for example, that Islam is a peaceful, respectable religion, but you also must acknowledge that Christianity is oppressive. That’s the world we live in. And that is the beast raising up his head once again.

The beast is called by many names. He comes in many forms. He comes in many different places. It might be the state. It might be religious false teaching. It might be philosophical secularism. It might be political correctness. But in all of these things, we see the beast recovering from his mortal wound, and he keeps coming back, and he keeps coming back, and always demanding wide allegiance, and always demanding that the people of God conform or else. And one day, John and Paul both affirm for us that’ll come on a wide scale. And they both tell us that we must be prepared for this final outbreak of evil at the end of our age.

But until then, until that final outbreak of evil and that final culminating personage, the beast will keep coming back and keep coming back and keep coming back until finally he will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus at the appearance of His coming. That’s Revelation chapter 19. It’s Revelation chapter 15. Second Thessalonians chapter 2. It’s Daniel chapter 7. Over and again, this period of suffering, this awful leader at the top who will be destroyed at the coming of the Son of Man.

Well, there in broad sweep, I think, is what we find on this theme in both the Old Testament then and now in the New Testament as well. So let’s make some observations from this, some lessons.

First Of All, By Way Of Interpretation

And I’m sure some of you are wondering about some of these questions: How do we finalize this in terms of our eschatology? What does it look like?

Well, the first thing I think we have to notice is that both the Tribulation and the Antichrist are here already and yet to come. I think that lies on the surface of the text in all of this. There’s an unfolding fulfillment of it: Antiochus, AD 70, this present age, and finally at the end. Antichrist and Tribulation have come. This is the last hour. And that is to say that this age, the nature of it, for a time will be marked by gospel advance amid persecution. And then for a time, prevailing persecution of the people of God. We must never think that the beast somehow is not a threat to us now. He will be later. He’s here. And all of the persecution of Christians, the deception of Christians, the false teaching—we must not be surprised that the beast is raising his head again.

Another question that some will ask is the answer—in fact one of the men asked me this last Sunday: Is the Antichrist then to come? Is that an individual person? Or are we to think of it in terms of a corporate kind of structure that reigns? I think this leads us to see an individual personage coming at the end who will have great influence worldwide. It’s spoken of so often in these passages as a man whom Christ will destroy at His coming.

Another question that comes up then, by way of interpretation in all of this: Are the three and a half years to be understood literally? Will this be a literal timeframe at the end of seven years cut in half with three and a half years of protection and then three and a half years of persecution? Well, it was exactly a three and a half year span originally in the second century BC. That was exactly the timeframe with Antiochus and his reign of terror. It was not a three and a half year period in AD 70, and certainly this age is not three and a half years. So will the final three and a half years be a literal three and a half years? I rather think that the three and a half years has become, as the Bible progresses in its interpretation, the three and a half years has become a symbolic term to describe this time of persecution and opposition that will come.

Of course, then also in all of this comes the rapture question, given that the great tribulation has already come. And given that it is the nature of this age that the people of God will selectively and in isolated ways and in varying degrees experience persecution, and given that the people of God have already experienced the greatest kind of suffering and persecution imaginable in certain localities at various times, I don’t see any rationale at all for saying that the final generation of Christians will be raptured out before the tribulation comes. The whole drift of it is to say the church must be ready for it. Now it is in a selective way, then in a wider scale. No promise of escape from it, but deliverance from it at the end.

All right, so much by way of interpretation, doctrine. Now by way of an exhortation, let’s call it that: personal lessons and application from learning all of this.

1. We Must Not Be Naive, But Develop A Discerning Eye To Recognize The Beast

We must develop a discerning eye to recognize the beast and the various religious defections that we see, and all of the new ideas that come. It is an incredible thing that at this late date in church history, evangelicals even are having to fight again over justification by faith, the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scripture, the eternality of punishment in hell, and things like that that have been so long settled in the history of the church and they come up again. We need to see it.

Does God know the future? Fundamental things like that, that we take for granted reading the Bible—now even evangelicals have to be fighting over. I think we have to see in that the resurrection of the beast coming up again. The opposition is not always going to be overt and in terms of persecution. Often it is in terms of deception and false teaching. So we must develop a discerning eye to recognize the beast.

2. We Must Be Resolved To Remain Faithful, Prepared Always To Suffer For Christ’s Sake

That just lies on the surface of all this, doesn’t it? We must be resolved to remain faithful and prepared always to suffer for Christ’s sake. That was a sustained emphasis in Daniel. Chapter 3: fiery furnace. Chapter 6: the lion’s den. All the warnings about this coming time of opposition. Driving it all is this exhortation: be faithful, be faithful. It’s not—the application of this is not—thank God we’ll be taken out of the way before that begins. But rather, it is be faithful no matter what.

And that, by the way—I think I’ve said this before—that, by the way, I think is one of the harmful things about the pre-tribulation doctrine. If it is wrong—and I think it is—if it is wrong, it can leave the people of God ill-prepared, unprepared for a time of suffering and persecution that still is to come, thinking that they will be exempt from it. The Lord Jesus exhorts the church at Smyrna in the book of Revelation chapter 2: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” And that’s the exhortation running through the book of Revelation. With all of this to come, be faithful unto death, be faithful even unto death, and the Lord Jesus will give us the crown of life.

3. We Must Be Encouraged By The Long-Range View

And then—well, I must hurry on. Number three, we must be encouraged by the long-range view. Actually, that was the point in Daniel as well, wasn’t it? You’re living in Babylon. Things are tough. Cheer up; things are going to get a lot worse. But cheer up. And then the Son of Man will come and the kingdom will be given to Him and the saints will share in the kingdom of the Son of Man.

And that is the hope running through the book of Revelation and in all of these passages that we talked about: that this period of tribulation will end with the destruction of that great opponent and the vindication of the people of God. Isaiah tells us, Daniel tells us, Paul tells us he will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus by the breath of His mouth at the appearance of His coming. And then Daniel tells us we who are faithful will shine like the stars in glory and in resurrection.

Let me read for you the description of this climactic arrival of the kingdom of God and the enjoyment that the saints will have then in Revelation chapter 7:

“Then one of the elders addressed me saying, ‘Who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve in His presence. They shall hunger no more. Neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'”

Similarly, Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4:

“I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark in their foreheads and in their hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

And so the hope of Revelation expressed for us at the very beginning: “Behold, He comes, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and every tribe will wail on account of Him, even so come. Amen.”

Let’s pray. Our Father, we understand that this fallen, rebellious humanity must climax in judgment. We understand, because You have told us, that the evil of this awful world will finally vent itself—as it has tried and tried and tried throughout the centuries—will exert itself in an awful way at the end. Lord, from now and until then, keep us faithful and keep us with our eyes steady on that great day when the Lord Jesus will come in glory and make the kingdom of this world His own. We ask in His name. Amen.