The Anti-Christ’s Reign of Terror
Chapter 13:1-18
There’s only 31/2 years left before Messiah come with His saints – that’s you and I!
In this chapter there seems to be an interlude taking place - all is quite on the Jerusalem front with false peace and false security.
Satan has already tried to attack God’s position in heaven and failed, so now he is about to try attacking God’s plan on earth.
Chapter 13 describes in great detail the reign of anti-Christ up to his eventual doom at Armageddon.
Anti-Christ is called by at least 20 different descriptions in the Bible. Here are just a few:
· Daniel 7:8 “A mouth speaking pompous words”
· Daniel 7:23 “Shall devour the whole earth”
· Daniel 8:23 “A master of intrigue” NIV
· Daniel 11:37 “Nor desire woman”
Will he be celibate or a homosexual?
But one thing we do know – just as Jesus is the offspring of the seed of woman in Genesis 3:15, the anti-Christ will be the offspring of Satan! As Christ is the “Good Shepherd”, the anti-Christ will be the “Evil Shepherd” of Zechariah 11:16. Just as Christ is the “Son of God, the anti-Christ will be the “Son of Perdition” of 2 Thessalonians 2:3. And just as Christ is the one who “fulfills the law”, the anti-Christ will be the “Lawless One” of 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
What a contrast!
1. The Anti-Christ’s Introduction. Vs. 1,2
Most Greek manuscripts say, “He (Satan) stood”
“Sands of the sea” = this already tells you that he is on shaky ground and sifting sands!
Matthew 7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand.”
Today we can choose to build our lives on Satan’s Rubble or God’s Rock!
“A beast rising out of the sea”= sea represents people or nations of the world, as in 17:15.
Some scholars think that this represents the Mediterranean area and that the anti–Christ will come from the region of the world.
“Seven heads” = 7 successive world empires with kings: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the final kingdom of the Anti-Christ’s.
7 is the number for completion.
In chapter 17:10, there were only 2 kingdoms left to finish out this prophecy – Rome and the anti-Christ’s!!!
Daniel 2:37-45 - The image
“10 horns with 10 toes” = 10 kings or rulers that are sub-rulers under the anti-Christ. These are the 10 toes of Daniel 2!
Possibly a united Europe
Each had a blasphemous name on its head. As the Anti-Christ will be the ringleader, he will lead the world into complete rebellion against God.
Daniel 11:37 “He shall not regard the God of his father.”
What does this mean? Possible he has gone complete pagan and lost any religious teaching given him. Some think that this means that the anti-Christ will be Jewish! I don’t.
Verse 2:
- Leopard, bear and lion = describes how majestic, swift and powerful his rule will be.
All of this power wrapped up in satanic possession! Only 2 people are ever mentioned in the Bible as possessed by Satan himself – Judas and the anti-Christ.
2. The Anti-Christ’s Imitation. Vs. 3,4
Wound = plaque
“One of his heads wounded” = it could refer to one of his kingdoms destroyed and revived or the anti-Christ will be wounded and will fake his resurrection.
Vs. 12,14
2 Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming lawless one is according to the workings of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception…”
3. The Anti-Christ’s Intimidation. Vs. 5-8
At this point in the tribulation and his reign, the anti-Christ will successfully rule the unbelievers, but will only be able to intimidate the believers! His great threat will be against Christians. At this stage of the tribulation it will be a horrible place for Christians.
Daniel 7:25 “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High; shall persecute the saints of the Most High; and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and a half a time.”
As long as we Christians stand up for truth in a truthless society, the culture will try to intimidate us…
Go ahead 10th Circuit Court of Appeals - try to intimidate us when you said, “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.”
Go ahead ACLU attorney and atheist Larry Darby - try to intimidate us when you said about work place Bible studies, “It is a form of Christian terrorism.”
Go ahead Planning Commission of Castle Hills Texas - try to intimidate us when you said of Castle Hills Baptist Church, “It seems to grow like cancer, feeding on homes in such a way as a cancerous tumor feeding on healthy cells.”
Go ahead Senator Hillary Clinton - try to intimidate us when you said about a Christian pro life doctor appointed to the Food and Drug Administration, “We’re going to be in trouble in this country if we start moving toward theology- based science.”
Go ahead District Judge Myron Thompson - try to intimidate us when you said the 10 Commandments hanging in a courtroom, “Is excessive government entanglement with religion.”
Go ahead Senator Sharon Grosfield - try to intimidate us when you said, “The prayers that are said…should be as neutral in terms of their reference to a particular god as they can be.”
Go ahead Columnist Maureen Dowd of the New York Times - try to intimidate us when you said of President Bush being “a born again Christian”; “Why not use the Son of God to help the son of Bush appeal to voters. W. is checking Jesus numbers and Jesus is polling well in Iowa…”
Go head Ted Turner and try to intimidate us when you said, “Christianity is for losers”.
Thank God these people only last for a season and then find out who the real losers are!
I love what Dan Naviaser, a WWII veteran recently said at his city’s school board meeting, “We need our “Star-Spangled Banner”, we need our Pledge of Allegiance”. You know what we don’t need? Our school board!”
4. The Anti-Christ’s Indoctrination. Vs. 11-14
“Another beast” = the false prophet masquerading as a type of Christ.
“Two horns like a lamb” = a lamb only has small bumps for horns. John is showing us that the false prophet will be very weak compared to the anti-Christ.
Unlike the anti-Christ, the false prophet will appear to be gentle as a lamb and try to win everyone to his form of demonic religion.
The antichrist will use a system that will indoctrinate the whole world by:
· Devilish words. Vs. 11 “spoke like a dragon”
· Deadly wound. Vs. 12
· Deceptive works. Vs. 13,15
This is an indoctrination that will far overshadow anything that Hitler, Mussolini, Matse Tung or Stalin ever did to their people.
We are now for the first time introduced to what I call the “Twisted Trinity” - with Satan at the top and then the anti-Christ and the false prophet.
By this time everything will be in place! And the anti-Christ will just about achieve everything he ever dreamed of.
Brock Chisolm, Director of the United Nations World Health Organization said, “To achieve a world government with a world religion, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, loyalty to family, national patriotism and religion.”
Folks, we are well on our way to fulfilling this kind of indoctrination in America!
5. The Anti-Christ’s Invention. Vs. 15-18
You can speculate all you want but we really don’t know what this image is…other than an idol!
Psalm 135:16 “They have mouths but they do not speak, eyes they have, but do not see, they have ears, but they do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths.”
Habakkuk 2:18,19 “What profit is the image, that it’s maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of it’s mold should trust in it...Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!” to silent stones, “Arise!”
The technology needed for the mark is really already here! We have it to track cars with GPS systems, we have it in our debit cards that track our buying, we have it under the skin of pets to track them if lost, and we have them being used in the military to track soldiers.
There is a company traded on the NYSE called Digital Angel. They own the patent for all implant technology. In a press release they say this about themselves…“By using advanced sensor capabilities, Digital Angel is able to monitor key functions – such as temperature and physical movement – and transmit that data…The company also invented, manufactures and markets implantable identification microchips the size of a grain of rice for use in humans, companion pets, fish and livestock. Digital Angels Corp. owns the patent for its inventions in all applications of the implantable microchip technology for humans and animals.”
Warning! If any one of you is left behind in the tribulation, don’t believe this image of virtual reality! The technology is already here for this kind of virtual reality as well as the mark of the beast!
14:9-11 says there is no hope after anyone who will receive the mark of the beast!
This mark will be the only means to survive in the anti-Christ’s economy!
Why 666? A volume of superstition to this is number! The most logical explanation of this satanic invention is in ultimate human ingenuity and cleverness. 6 is the number for man in the Bible.
Notice the triple 6, triple trinity of numbers, but falling short of God - #7! This number is really intended to underscore man’s identity as fallen short of God’s perfection! Get this…only Jesus can make up the deficit!!!
Dr. David Jeremiah writes in his book “Storm Warnings”, “The Children of the great composer Back, found that the easiest way to waken their father was to play a few lines of music and leave off the last note. They new that Dad would get up and immediately go to the piano and strike the final cord.
Human nature demands the completion of the last note. The number 666 reminds us that something is missing. That missing something is Someone. He is a seven, and that is a complete number. Satan has his six…but God is seven. The old counterfeiter will never be able to fool all the people all of the time, only some…”
