Hey, Aren’t You the Antichrist?

There have been many times when I’ve been reading prophetic passages in the Bible, and I wondered how people do not realize that prophecy is being fulfilled right before their eyes. The rapture alone should be a dead giveaway that the last days are here.

It just seems that the Antichrist (AC) would have no ability to operate with the Bible describing his true nature. The removal of everyone with clear knowledge of the end times will be a huge help to him. People should still be able to gain fast insight by dusting off their Bibles and reading up on what is about to take place.

If someone comes on the world stage as the most powerful political leader of all time, you would think hordes of people would say, “Hey, Aren’t You the Antichrist?” Few people will make the connection because the Beast of Revelation is generally viewed as someone who is totally evil. The AC, at first, will be a man who solves the world’s problems. He will have incredible skills at deception.

“Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule” (Daniel 8:25 NKJV).

Another way that the AC will win over the world is that he will have supernatural powers. This ability to perform miracles is probably the key reason why Israel will believe that he is their long-awaited Messiah. By the time Israel realizes that the AC is a fraud, he will be too powerful to resist.

“For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

Few Germans questioned if Adolf Hitler was the AC because he was on a massive political and military winning streak. After gambling and winning so many times, his people could only conclude that he was a genius. When he went to war with France, many Germans feared a repeat of the quagmire of World War I. It was a huge shock to the world when Hitler’s troops blitzkrieged their way to Paris in only a few weeks. It wasn’t until the onset of a cold winter at the gates of Moscow that Hitler’s luck ran out.

The stage is perfectly set for the AC because prophetic awareness is at a very low point. I can go back 120 years and find a series of books that drew the public’s attention to Bible prophecy. John Walvoord, Hal Lindsey, and Tim LaHaye are three key figures in my lifetime. For decades, we had a book on prophecy at the top of the best-seller list. Today, it has been over a decade since a prophecy book has been a major seller.

With most experts in the field of prophecy having died and few people rising to take their place, fresh end-time commentary is becoming hard to find. There will be plenty of supernatural events during the tribulation, but the AC will be free to provide his own interpretation. He may say that the rapture was God removing evil people from Earth.

One of the most repeated events in the tribulation is God pouring out His wrath on mankind and their refusal to repent. As the punishment gets stronger and stronger, the people of Earth will cling more stubbornly to their evil ways.

“Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk” (Revelation 9:20).

There will be a vast number of people who will repent and turn to God. Most of these people will suffer martyrdom for their faith.

People will not fail to turn to God because of a lack of knowledge. As the tribulation progresses, the world will know what is happening. They will be so committed to the AC that they cannot change their allegiance. They will first see him as their savior. When they take the mark, their fate will be sealed. Once people reject salvation, God will send them a strong delusion that will make them believe a deeper lie. When the tribulation draws to a close, people will be so desperate they will cry for rocks to fall on them.

The wonderful thing about this time before the rapture is that we can use it to avoid the tribulation by turning to Christ for salvation. After the rapture, salvation can only be achieved by a willingness to endure suffering. If any of you are unsure about your standing with God, you need to resolve your doubts. It is so clear to me that this world is run by the devil, and the only way someone could miss out on God’s offer of grace is through profound negligence.

“For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2 NKJV).

Preterism

What follows is excerpted from a paper entitled

A Case for the Futurist Interpretation of the Book of Revelation
by Dr. Andrew Woods

“Revelation’s ‘Time Texts’

“The argument most relied upon by preterists to contend for a first century fulfillment is Revelation’s so called ‘time texts.’

“Because Revelation makes use of the words ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ or tavcos (Rev 1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:6, 7, 12, 20), ‘near’ or ‘at hand’ or ejgguvs (Rev 1:3; 22:10), and ‘about to’ or mevllw (1:19; 3:10), preterists believe that they have the literary license to locate the fulfillment of most of John’s prophecies in A.D. 70.

“However, the preterist errs in assuming that these words are technical expressions that always have the same definition every time they are used.

In fact, each of these terms has a broad semantic range and therefore its meaning must be determined by its context rather than through the imposition of an artificial ‘one size fits all’ grid.

“For example, besides always understanding these words chronologically indicating when Christ will return, it is also possible to understand them adverbially or qualitatively indicating the manner of Christ’s return.

“In other words, when the action comes it will come suddenly or with great rapidity. The New Testament allows for such a usage. For example, while it is true that Scripture often uses ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ (tacos) in a chronological sense to indicate ‘when’ (1 Timothy 3:14), Scripture also uses the same word in a qualitative sense to indicate ‘how.’

“For instance, Acts 22:18 uses tacos to indicate manner when it says, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

“The LXX also displays an adverbial use of these expressions by using them in prophetic contexts that would not be fulfilled for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years or more into the future (Isa 13:22; 51:5; Zeph 1:7, 14; Obad 15; cf. Isa 5:26; 13:6; 58:8; Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14).

“Given the broad semantic range of these terms, ‘context is king’ in determining whether the chronological or adverbial meaning is applicable.

“Because the context of Revelation involves global events that have not yet come to pass, an adverbial rather than a chronological meaning should be assigned to these words.

“While Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ pose no obstacle to the futurist interpretation, these texts pose considerable problems for the preterist interpreter.

“Partial preterist interpretive problems are created by the fact that Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ are found at the end of the Book of Revelation as well as the beginning (Rev 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20).

“The partial preterist system still wants to hold to a future bodily appearing and final judgment (Rev 20:7-15).

However,the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in Revelation 22 is injurious to the partial preterist system, because the existence of these words at the end of the book logically leads to the conclusion that the entire Book of Revelation was fulfilled in A.D. 70 rather than just most of it.

“If the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in the early chapters of Revelation lead partial preterists to conclude that most of the book’s prophecies were fulfilled in A.D. 70, then surely these identical words found at the end of the book should also lead to the conclusion that the entire book was fulfilled in A.D. 70...”

https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-case-for-the-futurist-interpretation-of-the-book-of-revelation/read
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Here are additional resources debunking the false teachings of Preterism and partial Preterism:

Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/has-bible-prophecy-already-been-fulfilled/read

Preterism
by Dr. Randall Price
https://www.raptureready.com/2015/08/07/preterism-by-randall-price-pdf/

Gary Demar’s End Times Fiction
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/dr-thomas-ice/message/gary-demar-s-end-times-fiction/read

A Review of Hank Hanegraaff’s The Apocalypse Code
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-review-of-hank-hanegraaff-s-the-apocalypse-code/read

An Assessment of Kenneth L. Gentry’s Internal Evidence for Dating Revelation
by Dr. Robert Thomas
https://pre-trib.org/dr-robert-thomas/message/an-assessment-of-kenneth-l-gentry-s-internal-evidence-for-dating-revelation/read

“Catholics and other preterists truly think the thousand year reign is now.
Tell that to the mom that was gunned down last night in front of her kids who will now be orphans.”

As you know, they misinterpret Luke 17:21, which has often been poorly translated as saying that the kingdom is “within you.” But the NASB translation gets it right:

Luke 17 (NASB)
20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
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Quote from
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament
by John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come.

This was a logical question to ask, for He had been preaching for quite some time that the kingdom was at hand.

Jesus responded to the question in two ways.

First, He said that the Pharisees would not be able to tell of the coming of the kingdom through their observations.

Second, He told them that the kingdom was in their midst.

The term “within you” is often misunderstood.

The Pharisees were rejecting Him as the Messiah and were not believers.

(They were distinct from the disciples Jesus addressed beginning in v. 22.)

Thus it would not make sense for Jesus to have told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them as if it were some sort of spiritual kingdom.

It is better to translate the phrase “within you” (entos hymon) as “in your midst.”

Some feel that the force of the expression is “within your possession or within your reach.”

Jesus’ point was that He was standing right in their midst.

All they needed to do was acknowledge that He is indeed the Messiah who could bring in the kingdom - and then the kingdom would come.

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