THE COEXIST CATASTROPHE

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters….”  (Revelation 17:1)

You have seen it—the coexist bumper stickers—that feature symbols of a number of major world religions spelling out the message: “coexist.”  I sympathize somewhat with the intent—if we mean that we should not hate others and grant them freedom of religion—that is not bad.  God gives us freedom to choose—to even choose to be wrong.  True faith cannot be coerced.  I would warn my readers, however, that although you are free to choose your faith, you are not free to choose the consequences.  Belief in Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to heaven—all other roads lead to hell.

The message of the coexist movement is actually more sinister.  Most who brandish it on their bumper sticker mean that all religions are equally valid—that all roads lead to deity—however you perceive that deity to be.  Come together in one world religion and global governance will be the increasing demand.  Revelation 17 tells us that day is coming—and far from being the utopia many imagine—it will be a coexist catastrophe.

The reason is that in the depraved heart of man, in a world under the curse, everything becomes twisted and bent toward evil.  The one world government becomes tyranny and not freedom.  The one world religion promotes intolerance in the name of tolerance.  As observed in this text, when an unholy marriage of church and state takes place, government will give religion a ride as long as it serves its purpose, and then will turn on the religious system and devour it.  That is the catastrophe of the coexist movement—it is a fantasy that ends in the worst fanaticism.

Following the rapture of the church—which I am looking for any day now—the Bride of Christ will be caught up to be with her Bridegroom.  The remarkable thing is that the next Sunday there will still be churches open for business.  Those left behind follow the doctrine of the apostates and not the Apostles.  Quickly, as the Beast—the Antichrist—consolidates his power, the world religious system of the Harlot—Mystery Babylon—converts the world to the worship of the Beast (v.1-5).

There will be those who resist, however—and their lot will be that of those dissenters through the ages—who have sought to worship the true God and gave allegiance to Christ exclusively—and that is persecution and martyrdom (v.6).  

Babylon is the wicked womb that has birthed all false religion—and she has spawned many perverse children.  You recall the tower built in Babel—a great idol temple that sought to elevate man to the heavens in order to supplant God.  In the last days, a final attempt is made to restore it.  Rome—the city of seven hills (v.7-9)—will be the headquarters.  Did you know that pagan Rome with her persecution of Christians was nothing compared to the torment and death unleashed by the church of Rome that supplanted the heathen empire?  A marriage of an apostate church and pagan religion promoted by a decaying empire looking to preserve its power was the result—a counterfeit church.  Its final manifestation will be the counterfeit church of the coexist religion.  Once religion serves its purpose, the world’s leaders will chew her up and spit her out (v.10-18).  I don’t want to belong to that church!

PORTRAIT OF THE ANTICHRIST

And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features….  (Daniel 8:23)

There is coming a day—maybe soon—when Satan’s handpicked ruler will dominate the world.  For seven years his reign of terror will extend, until the King of Glory—the Lord Jesus Christ—thunders from the skies with heaven’s armies, crushing His opposition, and establishing His kingdom on earth.  The eighth chapter of Daniel .gives us a preview of the Antichrist in the person of a ruler in history known as Antiochus Epiphanes.

In the first eight verses Daniel takes his readers into the near future.  Babylon would fall soon, following this vision.  Cyrus would lead the Medo-Persians into world prominence.  That kingdom is symbolized by the ram.  Soon, another power would arise to challenge the Persian Empire—the Greeks under Alexander—typified by the he-goat.  The Greeks would overthrow the Medo-Persians, but at the height of his power, Alexander the Great died as a young man.  His kingdom was divided among four of his generals. One of those kingdoms is dealt with in detail here because of its location—including the Holy Land and Jerusalem—as well as its domination of the Holy People, the Jews.

The prominent figure of that Syrian kingdom—“the little horn” presented in verses nine through fourteen—is Antiochus Epiphanes.  He was a bloodthirsty man who brutalized the Jews.  Antiochus set himself up as a god—in fact the title “Epiphanes” that he took to himself, means God manifest!  He desecrated the rebuilt sanctuary by sacrificing a pig there.  As an enemy of truth, He destroyed the copies of Scripture he could find.

Clearly, he is a forerunner of the coming Antichrist.  The final verses of this chapter feature another “little horn,” the Antichrist, which Antiochus foreshadowed.  When the Antichrist comes on the world scene, he will possess the charisma of a John Kennedy, the oratory of a Winston Churchill, and the military skills of a George Patton.  During a time of global crisis, he will arise—even as the world clamors for a savior.  Since he is in league with Satan, supernatural power will belong to him.  This will lead the world to bow to him.

Like Antiochus did, the Antichrist will profane the temple (rebuilt in the last days).  This is at the midpoint of the tribulation and marks the beginning of a holocaust unleashed upon the Jews that will excel Hitler’s horrors. The Antichrist will set himself up as god, as did Antiochus before him (see 2 Thess.2 and Rev.13).

His dominance will quickly end.  Jesus will return in power and glory.  He is coming again, don’t you know?  The Antichrist will be slain and cast into hell—along with all who follow him. 

As a child of God, I am not watching for the Antichrist—I’m looking for Jesus!  He could come at any time.  Are you prepared to meet Him?  My heart pounds, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”… Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.  (Revelation 13:4, 11)

The Bible teaches us there is a Holy Trinity—One God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Evil has its counterfeit in the end times—a trio of terror: Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.  This is the unholy trinity.  They are symbolically presented as the dragon (spotlighted in Rev.12), the beast from the sea (Rev.13:1-10), and the beast from the earth (Rev.13:11-18).  Satan corresponds to God the Father; the Antichrist is a false Christ; the False Prophet testifies to the Antichrist as the Holy Spirit witnesses to Jesus.

John writes of the dragon—that old serpent, the Devil—in chapter 12.  He leads one third of the angels in rebellion against God; there is war in heaven.  Of course, the dragon has no hope of victory and he and his demons are cast out.  Coming to earth, he unleashes his fury against the Jews.  He cannot defeat God, so the dragon attempts to destroy God’s people.  Satan knows his time is short; the three and one half years of Great Tribulation reveal his rage.

The dragon has a hand-picked man—one who is Satan incarnate, if you will—whom he brings to world dominion in those demonic days (Rev.13:1-10).  He rises from the sea—the roiling waves of the Gentile kingdoms.  In this time when millions are suddenly missing, nature is convulsed, the global economy collapses, and wars are fought with horrible weapons—all giving rise to a call for someone to bring order from the chaos.  This “superman” will step forward and offer order.  The world will grovel before him in response to his beguiling promises.  This beast has seven heads—successive world powers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.  The seventh will be an amalgamation of all—ten horns—ten rulers who comprise a United States of Europe, under the dominion of the Antichrist.  The kingdoms of the world were offered by Satan to Jesus, who refused the temptation. This man will eagerly sell his soul to gain the whole world.  Fallen humanity will respond to him with wonder and worship.

The worship of the Antichrist will be furthered by another beast (Rev.13:11-18).  This is the beast from the earth—a possible allusion to the Holy Land, which connects him to the three great religions of the world founded there: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  He will assume the reigns of a unified, world religious system.  The False Prophet will work hand in hand with the Antichrist to support his global governance.  On the surface, he presents himself as a gentle lamb, but in his heart he has the hate of the dragon.  He is a miracle-worker.  The world will swoon at his sermons supported by these supernatural signs.  This global power will control commerce and demand absolute allegiance as people take the mark of the Beast in a cashless society.  As we look around, we see the world rapidly moving in this direction.  As the people of God, this should cause us to look up for Jesus is coming soon for His bride!  Come, Lord Jesus!  Come quickly!

 

THE DYNAMIC DUO

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”  (Revelation 11:3)

There are things that go together: peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, peas and carrots.  There are names that go together: Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Batman and Robin.  Speaking of Batman and Robin—those two are known in comic book lore as the dynamic duo.  The caped crusaders are from a writer’s imagination, but there is a real dynamic duo that arises in the end time—not fighting crime in Gotham, but standing for truth in Jerusalem.  Revelation chapter eleven tells their story.

During the tribulation period, a temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem (Rev.11:1-2). Preparations are being made by Jews to bring this to pass.  It is the great yearning of their hearts.  It may be part of the peace settlement that Antichrist will promise to Israel to entice them to sign a treaty.  This temple, however, shows Israel still failing to receive their Messiah.  Jesus came and sacrificed His blood to establish the New Covenant.  Many times in the epistles it is stressed that returning to temple worship is rejection of His atonement.  Eventually, the Antichrist will enter this temple and defile it, setting himself up as God and demanding the worship of the world.  The measuring rod here is a symbol of judgment.  This temple doesn’t measure up.  Its worship is repudiated.

God will raise up his dynamic duo to proclaim the truth—to call Jews and Gentiles to Christ (v.3-10).  During earth’s darkest era, God will have His two lampstands shining brightly.  Their ministry is supernaturally confirmed by great miracles.  They stand in the spirit of Moses and Elijah.  Some think they are literally Moses and Elijah returned.  Some scholars suggest Enoch and Elijah.  While I respect their views, I believe more likely they are two who have the attributes of those mighty men of God, but not actually those servants.  Other things are clear.  They are invincible—divinely protected.  The Antichrist will want to silence them because they expose him for the liar he is.  Sinners will despise them because they confront their evil deeds.  George Whitefield said, “We are immortal until our work on earth is done.”  There comes a time when their ministry is finished—God’s appointed hour for His anointed heralds—and they are slain.

The world has a holiday.  What a celebration when they are killed—their bloated bodies are paraded before the gawking masses and beamed around the world by television!  Just when evil thinks it has triumphed, God shuts the party down (v.11-14).  Isn’t it reminiscent of what happened when Satan thought Jesus beaten and silenced in the grave?  Death was defeated—up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes!  In that resurrection power He will summon the dead in Christ back to life and with living saints rapture them.  The world tried to explain that away.  God will show them that reality by raising and rapturing the dynamic duo.  The scene shifts from earth’s temple to heaven’s (v.15-19) with the Hallelujah Chorus sung victoriously.  Lightning flashes and thunder rolls; more judgments fall on a world that despises God.  I want to be with that throng above don’t you?  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life—trust Him today and be on the winning side, not left behind to face these horrors of the tribulation!

LEFT BEHIND

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”  (Revelation 6:1)

“Left Behind,” was a series of popular books that later became the source of several movies.  The characters and conversations are fictional, but the basic story line is Biblical.  Scripture portrays the end time commencing with the rapture of the church.   When Christ raises the sainted dead and raptures the living believers, those who are “left behind,” will face a world gone mad.  The primary restrainer of evil—the church—is gone.

Imagine a powerful magnet suspended over the earth—a magnet that would only attract gold.  As it moves over the planet, the iron, copper, silver, and aluminum are unaffected.  Only the gold is drawn to the sky.  That is akin to what happens when the rapture of the church occurs (1 Thess.4:16-17).  The light of the world and salt of the earth is removed.  The darkness of evil then completely engulfs the globe.  The rot of sin has no restraint.  With the eclipse of hope comes the outpouring of God’s wrath.

It is called the time of tribulation—seven years of judgment on a Christ-rejecting world.  The last half of that is known as “the Great Tribulation,” so intense will the suffering be.  Jesus described it in Matthew 24 as a period of unparalleled horror which if not brief would bring extinction of all life!

This wrath is outpoured as the seven seals of the heavenly scroll begin to be peeled open in Revelation 6.  The scroll has been delivered into the hands of the Lamb.  Jesus holds the title deed to the universe.  When each seal is opened, a judgment is unleashed.

The first seal is the judgment of a false messiah (v.1-2).  This rider on a white horse has the appearance of being Christ, but he is instead a counterfeit—the Devil’s hand-picked man who will rule the world.  Satan will have his man waiting to takeover.

The second seal opens to reveal the judgment of war (v.3-4).  The pseudo-peace promised by the Antichrist is quickly broken, as covetous men jockey for power.  War sweeps in a crimson wave across the planet—a time of “wars and rumors of wars” (Matt.24:6).

The third seal discloses a time of famine (v.5-6).  Famine will follow the fighting.  Our economy has become global in scope, so that when it is disrupted by world war, the entire financial system collapses and people will be starving.

The fourth seal pictures the rider on a pale horse and that is death (v.7-8).  A quarter of the world’s population dies as a result of war, famine, and disease that comes in its wake.

The fifth seal is the martyr’s seal (v.9-11).  There are many in our world that have never heard the name of Christ.  God is so gracious that even in such days, those people groups will be evangelized, and many converted.  They will seal their testimony in their blood.

The opening of the sixth seal unleashes an earthquake as the foundations of the earth are shaken.  Rather than fleeing to the Rock of Ages for salvation, they cry out to the rocks to hide them.  Such is the steadfast heart of sinful man, set against the True God and His Son, Jesus Christ.  You do not want to be in that number—the multitudes of those judged. 

Trust in Jesus!  Don’t be left behind!

THE COMING WORLD DICTATOR

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition….  (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

I almost never carry cash.  I whip out a plastic card.  Gradually, the world is becoming a cashless society.  The technology is in place.  Because of identity fraud, as well as people stealing cards and PIN numbers, the card may soon be replaced with a computer chip implanted in the forehead or hand where a scanner will carry out the transaction.  Is this what the Book of Revelation calls the mark of the Beast?

Paul is discussing that very person here—a coming world dictator.  The world is poised on the threshold of welcoming such a leader.  One of the driving forces behind the European Union is the “fiscal cliff” that not only the United States, but nations around the world are about to drive off.  Combine this with the global implications of World War III breaking out in the Middle East—and we are on the brink of that—the world will enthusiastically accept the solution of a charismatic leader with his promises to solve these staggering problems. 

To help us understand, it would be helpful for us to consider first THE REASON FOR THE EPISTLE.  Paul sets the context for this teaching in the first two verses of 2 Thessalonians 2.  He is writing for their correction and comfort.  The saints at Thessalonica had come under persecution. This led them to believe they had entered the Great Tribulation.  So, Paul speaks of “our gathering together to Him”—that is, the rapture of the church (see 1 Thess.4:13-18).  Although we may face the wrath of man, we will not face the wrath of God.  Paul comforts them in telling them that such a judgment is for the wicked and not His children.  Christ would not treat His Bride as He would His enemies. 

So, Paul moves on to reveal THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE END (v.3). The Apostle provides an explanation as to why they could not be in the Tribulation Period as they feared. That would require apostasy and Antichrist to arise.  There will be a final apostasy. The falling away is the great departure from the faith, which produces a final, world religious system—the apostate church described in Revelation as Mystery Babylon, the Great Harlot.  The day of the Lord not only commences with the ultimate apostasy, but the ultimate Antichrist.  The spirit of Antichrist was already at work in apostolic times—a spirit that at some point will become incarnate in the Antichrist (I Jn.4:3).  We, however, aren’t waiting for the Antichrist, but Christ!   

There in now THE RESTRAINT UPON THE EVIL (v.6-7).  The special ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church is to restrain evil as Christians function as salt and light.  The Restrainer must be taken out of the way before the Antichrist can be revealed. When the Rapture takes place and the church is removed, then earth will be fully demonized.

Then follows THE REVELATION OF THE ANTICHRIST (v.8-12). The apostle paints for us a portrait of the coming world dictator.  The populace will acclaim him to be the evolutionary pinnacle of man.  The Bible pictures him as the bottom of human depravity.  He is the vice-regent of Hell.  Antichrist will demand worship.  What he receives is wrath—and all who follow him, will also.  Things are moving this way.  Are you looking to the skies?  Jesus is coming!