by Edward Chamberlain
Philologos Religious Online Books
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by Edward Chamberlain Philologos Religious Online Books |
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How Shall We Tell The Children?
ANTICHRIST: HIS EMPIRE We have not exhausted the topic of the Apostasy, and there are factors to The Apostasy which are so much a part of our every day life that to discuss them now without their background and historical progression would make them sound silly. By any logical evaluation of the meaning of holiness it is apparent that every action and aspect of life must be absorbed in it or it becomes contaminated, and we begin a journey toward apostasy. I believe this to be the object lesson of history, that even the people who desire to be holy are continually becoming contaminated by contact with the philosophies and passions common to man. This situation of course demands continual vigilance and evaluation on the part of those who would strive to enter the strait gate, and none of us are very good at that sort of self criticism. This fact previews the direction that our discussion will take concerning the political and commercial realm of Antichrist and of the Apostasy that Satan is using to develop that realm on earth. Matthew 24:14 The word translated "world" above holds some interest for us because of the way it was understood by those who lived under the authority of Rome. The word, oikoumene, literally referred to the land or inhabited earth, but as can be seen from Luke 2:1 where it is also translated "world" it had to have sometimes been used in reference to the Roman Empire, for that would have been the extent of Caesar's authority to exact a tax. I believe, in light of what we are about to develop concerning the Roman Empire, that this is the prophetic use that Jesus made of the word in this verse: that it pertains to "The Empire". If that is the case, and there is good reason to believe that it is (See also Acts 11:28, 17:6, 19:27, and 24:5, all of which translate "oikoumene" as "world", when it is the Roman Empire and its inhabitants that are actually in view.), then Jesus was saying that the good news of the kingdom would be preached (kerusso = heralded) in all of the "empire" that is in existence just before his return, for a witness (marturion, the evidence given by a martyr) unto all cultures and races. Now it is an almost mute point concerning the differentiation between the whole world and The Empire in the case of the last empire because for it to include all ethnos or races, it will have to have incorporated most of the world's races. But I make the distinction for two reasons: First because Jesus speaks of the heralding of the Gospel as being used as a witness in that empire as if a trial was going on within it (which I believe to be the case). And secondly because, I think Jesus was indicating to us that there would be another world dominating empire in existence at the time just prior to his return. As such I believe that our American multiracial Empire of the present is a "type" of Antichrist's kingdom, and is of the type of kingdom from which the empire of Antichrist will develop. Now hang on here and don't get your flag waving arms too excited for the moment. I spent twenty years in the service of this nation, and I would gladly do so again if it were asked or required of me. Every year, when I pay my taxes, I still confess that it is the best bargain in the world. That does not mean that I am blind to her faults, which are many, and are increasing daily as she ever loses her virtue. I know her for what she is, but I love her for what she could be and should be, and for what I pray that she will be. And so I make the point here that Jesus spoke of an empire that incorporated all races only to draw attention to the fact that I believe Jesus herein implied that there would be a world dominating imperial empire similar to the Roman Empire in existence at the time of his return, and that this Empire would be a fragmented conglomeration of ethnicity instead of a culturally distinct union. We have previously discussed where Jesus said that cultures were going to awaken against each other in the days before his return, and I believe it is within the emerging empire of Antichrist that racism is temporarily set aside in order to begin forging that empire, and then it begins to awaken again at the beginning of the end as the shattering events of the 6th seal fall upon all of the earth. In verses 15 through 28 of the 24th chapter of Matthew, Jesus spoke of a time of great tribulation. In these verses we come to the heart of Jesus' prophecy of the end times in verse 15 where he validates the prophecies of Daniel and tells us that the last generation of Christians will see the Abomination of Desolation of which Daniel spoke. We are instructed in that verse to read the Book of Daniel to understand about that "Abomination that makes Desolate" and the empire that he will forge from out of history. The very first thing which must be understood and accepted concerning the Book of Daniel is that it is a closed book. God told Daniel to "shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end." (Dan. 12:4). There is only one generation of believers which will completely understand the book of Daniel and that is the last generation. In no generation will unbelievers understand it, and it is for this reason plus the fact that Daniel so accurately predicted events so far into the future from his time, that it is one of the most vigorously attacked books of the Old Testament. Matthew 24:15 When Jesus told us to watch for the abomination of desolation, and to read the Book of Daniel to understand what that meant, and to learn about the times in which he would return, he knew about the problems we would have with "types," and how we would have difficulty in understanding it if it was not the time of the end. But he had previously given us the key for understanding when he told us that the scripture could not be broken, but that all must be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). With this caveat in mind we can look at what Daniel and other prophets have had to say about both the end of this age and the beginning of the next age. The sign of the abomination of desolation of which Jesus speaks above is a sign which has appeared as a type in many generations but which will appear in its completeness in only the last generation of the age of the gentiles. Jesus did not say, "When the scholars shall tell you who the abomination of desolation is, or was ..." He said, "When you, the reader (let him that reads understand), shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel..." Matthew 24:21 says, "For then [at that time, i.e. the time that the "for real" abomination of desolation is physically seen] there will be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." The Bible then says that we should read the book of Daniel to understand these things. Most of the book of Daniel has been interpreted by liberal scholarship to have been written at the same time in which they say it was fulfilled (around 168-164 B.C., or later), instead of being written during Daniel's time of around 600 B.C. The thrust of most of the criticism leveled against the book is that it portrays actual historical events with such accuracy that it had to have been written after those events instead of prior to them. Such criticism can safely be ignored by those of us who trust more in the power of God than in the reason of man. As we are about to see, the Book of Daniel would have had to have been written day after tomorrow in order not to have involved the most amazing prophecy that the world has ever seen. Many scholars hold that the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel was fulfilled when that Hellenistic Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, whom we have mentioned before, entered Jerusalem by deceitfully speaking of peace to its citizens in 168 B.C. When he had then gained entry, he proceeded to rob and ransack the city. At that time he desecrated the Temple when he slaughtered pigs to his god, Zeus, upon the altar. If those scholars are right, and Antiochus is the abomination of desolation, then Jesus was wrong when he told us around two hundred years later that the last generation would see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place. And Jesus was wrong when he said that we could read the book of Daniel to understand about this abomination, for Antiochus Epiphanes died over 2100 years before today's generation, and as far as we know right now, even we are not the last generation. If Antiochus Epiphanes was the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, the last generation won't even be able to find his grave, much less be able to see him stand in the holy place. It is much better to trust in Jesus than in scholars in general, and in liberal scholars in particular, especially since, as we have previously stated, God told Daniel the book was going to be shut up until the time of the end and that it would not be completely understood until then. Until the time that the end is near, there is always the danger that some striking similarity between the events of Daniel and some current event may lead us to believe that the time is now. This is all right as long as we continue to watch and stay ready, for if it is not the time of the end, the similarity will pass, and it will then be seen that all was not fulfilled, and we will see that what we have been observing is just another type of the things spoken of by Daniel. But at least we will have been watching, and reading, and staying ready as Jesus commanded. In watching we should continually be reminded of that admonition that we covered earlier from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 where we are cautioned that we should not "be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed." For instance, we can look at Antiochus Epiphanes for a moment to see why some think that he was the abomination of desolation, and then look at some additional things that Daniel wrote about the abomination of desolation to see why Antiochus does not meet all the criteria. Antiochus gained entry to the streets of Jerusalem in 168 B.C. by deceitfully promising peace and safety to the city. Daniel 11:23-24 says of the person who will be the abomination of desolation: "And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time." Antiochus sent an emissary with a powerful army to Judea to exact a tax from the Jews. His emissary did many of these things in Antiochus' name once he, using deceit, got his army inside the gates of Jerusalem . He turned his army loose to ransack the city and he attempted to destroy the Holy Scriptures kept by the Jewish scribes and scholars by searching all houses, public and private, and burning any scrolls that were found. He forbade the worship of Jehovah and refused the Jews the right and rite of circumcision. The mothers of all boys found to be circumcised were crucified, and their sons were strangled and hung around their necks. Faithful Jews were tortured, whipped, murdered and brutalized. Unfaithful Jews secretly reported the faithful ones to the Syrians and even fought on the side of the Syrians (1 Maccabees 3:15). Daniel 11:28 says in part, "... his heart shall be against the Holy Covenant; and he shall do exploits." It is important to note here that all of these things were accomplished to realize the Hellenistic belief that it was their destiny that the earth, under their dominion, was to become one community, under one political system, financed by one unified system of commerce, and guided by one religion. As we noted earlier and now expand upon, Alexander the Great had carried this belief to the limits of the known world in his conquests, and he would have carried them farther had his troops not grown weary of war. (Is it not amazing that Alexander's troops had followed him to the ends of western civilization and then, just as they were on the very brink of the eastern world, they decided they had enough of fighting? The Apostle Paul says in Acts 17:26 that God has determined the times and boundaries of all of man's habitations.) The belief in the destiny of the Grecian Civilization to unify and civilize the heathen of the world was instilled within the Greek humanists through their education and religion. Even after the Grecian Civilization fell to the militarily and politically more powerful Roman Empire, this Grecian Religion and Philosophy and Mind Set took hold and dominated in Roman culture. Thus what we know as Western Civilization was born in Greece and perpetuated in western civilization through this union. When Rome rotted away, this belief was left instilled within the philosophical and religious institutions of each European Monarchy that survived her. When these Roman Remnants began to "evangelize" the New World, it was not pure Christianity that was being spread, but western culture, of which Christianity was the political ally and the official religion. Most of what is being preached to the heathen today is from that same western culture, only today Christianity has become the ally of western democracy. Pure Christianity is never allied to any political or commercial realm. True Christianity is commissioned to permeate these worldly realms, and to spiritually tear down their strongholds, and to free men from the spiritual bondage of those strongholds. We must also be very careful to notice from Dan. 11:24 that the abomination of desolation is himself going to "forecast his devices" against those same strongholds for a time. In doing this he will look like a "Lamb" but speak like a devil. He will actually begin to physically dismantle these strongholds using his supernatural powers in order to replace them with his own strongholds. We must understand that we as Christians have not been commissioned to destroy Babylon, but only to recognize it for what it is and to sojourn through it on our pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God. But it was Antiochus's commitment to the Grecian belief that his culture was destined to sweep over the world and civilize it that drove his campaigns into Egypt and Persia during the times that he fought with the Jews. These events are recorded in 1 Maccabees and they match up favorably with the exploits of the king of the north against the kings of the south and east in the 11th chapter of Daniel. In fact 1 Maccabees 1:54 says that the abomination of desolation was set up on the 15th day of the month of Kislev in the year 145 which equates to our date of December 7, 167 B.C. Which is one of the reasons why I believe that the books of the Maccabees are not canonical but are simply good history. There is no doubt that Antiochus was an abomination and that he wreaked ruin in Israel, and until Jesus Christ said that the scripture could not be broken, and that the final generation of men would see the abomination of desolation, Antiochus Epiphanes was possibly the best candidate for that position in history. Certainly the temptation and the evidence are very strong to identify Antiochus as the abomination of desolation, but there are also many disqualifiers, for it also says: Daniel 9:24-27 Verse 26 above says that Messiah will come BEFORE the abomination that makes desolate appears, and that Messiah will then be killed. Then after Messiah is killed, the people of the prince that will come will destroy both the city and the sanctuary, and from that time until the time of the end desolations are determined upon Israel. In the above text Antiochus is disqualified because: Messiah neither appeared nor was he killed before Antiochus entered Jerusalem; Antiochus' people destroyed neither the city nor the temple, they did, however, lay to ruin much of the city, and they desecrated and ruined much of temple. However, when the Maccabees reentered Jerusalem after defeating the Syrian army, which was at that time under the command of Antiochus's emissary, Lysias, they found the Temple in ruins, but the courts were still standing and the walls were still standing. In 164 B.C. Judas Maccabeus had managed to win back enough of Jerusalem to establish a siege of the citadel where the renegade Jews and Syrians had withdrawn to defend themselves against the Maccabees. With the renegade Jews and the Syrians bottled up in the citadel, the Temple was cleansed, the priesthood sanctified, and covenant worship was restored to Israel. Desolations were not determined from the time of Antiochus "unto the end of the war, even until the consummation." Verse 26 also indicates that it is the people of the abomination who is to come, who will destroy both the city and the temple. The Hebrew word that is translated as "people" in that verse is, " 'am," and it literally applied to such notions as tribes, nations, etc. This would then indicate that the abomination of desolation will not have appeared at the time that the people from the culture, out of which he is going to appear, will destroy both the city and the temple. In other words, the people of his culture destroy them at a time when the Antichrist is described as one who is yet to come. Daniel 8:19-25 also disqualifies Antiochus as the abomination of desolation: "And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it." This passage says that the abomination that makes desolate will definitely come from out of the remnant of the Grecian Empire, and Antiochus Epiphanes was a direct descendant of the Greek General Seleucid who received the Asian portion of the Greek Empire when Alexander the Great died. But in verse 19 the angel told Daniel that the vision concerned those things which will happen in the "last end of the indignation." If Antiochus had fulfilled this scripture, then there was no indignation, for example, in the German Holocaust. Strike one! This passage also says that the abomination that makes desolate will stand up in the latter time of the kingdoms that follow the Grecian Empire "when the transgressors are come to the full." If Antiochus had been the fulfillment of this passage, then there have been no more additional transgressors since him. Strike 2!! It is not reported that Antiochus had an "understanding of dark sentences, i.e. That he was supernaturally empowered to work feats of magic. Also Antiochus never fought against the prince of princes i.e. the Messiah. Strike three !!! Actually there about 6 strikes against Antiochus in this passage but the deciding one that can not be denied by any one is in verse 25 where it says that the abomination of desolation shall be "broken without hand." It took many Jewish hands of the Maccabean revolt to finally break the yoke of the Syrians in Israel. In Daniel chapter 2:34-35, the stone that is cut without hands represents the supernatural forces of Jesus, The Christ of Almighty God, at work, and in this instance it portrays the establishment of His Eternal Kingdom. This stone that is "cut without hands," i.e. a supernatural stone, destroys all of the kingdoms of this abomination and is in no way in need of human agency. 1 Maccabees says that the first time the Jews faced the Syrians on a sabbath they were slaughtered when they refused to fight. There was no supernatural intervention in the victory of the Maccabean revolt beyond that which may be discerned in all historical events. To suggest that Jesus was not aware of Antiochus, or the passage from 1 Maccabees 15:54 is absurd, for in the Gospel of John chapter 10, verses 22 and 23 it says: "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." The feast of dedication mentioned here is the celebration of that cleansing of the temple by the Maccabees when they had driven the Syrians from Jerusalem. To believe that Jesus did not know why the feast was celebrated is ridiculous. This festival was called the festival of lights by Josephus and is called Hanukkah by Jews today. And so while Antiochus looked good at first, he just did not measure up completely. Jesus told us that the scripture could not be broken. This means that all the scriptures must be fulfilled. Not a jot or tittle is to be missed. Now look at the events of Jesus' crucifixion: Jesus was crucified on Roman authority1, by Roman soldiers, outside the gates of Jerusalem around 30-33 A.D. As mentioned when we covered verses 2 and 3, a Roman general named Titus laid siege to Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and destroyed both the city and the Temple with an invasion force that overwhelmed the Jewish opposition like a flood, and killed a million or more Jews. To this day desolations have been determined upon Israel. Jesus has been right thus far. The people who came after his crucifixion and destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple were definitely Romans and, therefore, their prince, who is to come, the abomination of desolation, who is also called the Antichrist, will have to be of Roman Empire ilk, and he must also come from the remnant of the Grecian Empire, i.e. he must be hereditarily, politically, and philosophically aligned with the Greco-Roman culture. Which means that he will come out of western humanistic civilization, and he will have to be a Hellenized Jew in order to be the false Messiah of the Jews.
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