The world is preparing for the arrival of the antichrist
04 June 2021
On this website we often address the issue of deception. Two of the main writers of New Testament letters, Paul and Peter, mention the deception that will take place in the days just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ to receive His bride, the church, and rapture them to heaven. We read how Jesus warned his disciples about the coming deception in Matthew 24. However, He started mentioning how a deceiver would come in His place, a long time before he mentioned the events of Matthew 24. At the beginning of His ministry, He mentions this:
43I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. – John 5:43
When you read the fifth chapter of John’s gospel, you will find the account of the big Jewish feast in Jerusalem, which Jesus Himself attended. He found a man who had been lying close to the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, waiting to go into the water and be healed. Nobody helped him. Jesus healed him, but of course this took place on the sabbath, and it totally irked the Jewish leaders who grabbed the opportunity to attack Him. They were oblivious to the miracle that had taken place. In addition, because He said that God was his Father and that He was equal to God, it set the scene for a big confrontation. In a long argument with the Jewish leaders, He spells out that He came in the name of the Father, and they did not accept Him. When another one comes in the future, not even in the name of the Father but in his own name, the Jews will receive him. This is a prophetic statement that could easily be lost in the context, unless we take the time to read it carefully and allow the Holy Spirit to open the Word for us. Let us look at this in more detail:
- I am come in my Father’s name – Jesus came to the Earth representing the Father. He was the representative, carrying all the authority that anyone would give to the person who represents them.
- and ye receive me not: – It was perfectly clear at this stage that the Jewish leaders simply would not accept that their Messiah had arrived. They had their own ideas of what the Messiah would be like, and Jesus just did not fit the bill.
- if another shall come in his own name – This is not nearly as farfetched as it may seem, and it has already happened, shown below. At the time the Jewish leaders would not have known who this person is.
- him will ye – The Jewish leaders, by implication Israel, are going to accept the other one, even if he is blatant enough to come in his own name. This person is so arrogant that he does not even seem to come onto the scene on the authority of a higher power. He wants to be the higher power himself.
In my own name? Indeed. Here is a recent event that shows how correctly Jesus predicted it:
Following a tradition by which I feel honoured, the Secretary General of the United Nations has invited the Pope to address this distinguished assembly of nations. In my own name, and that of the entire Catholic community, I wish to express to you, Mr Ban Ki-moon, my heartfelt gratitude. – Pope Francis (Anon., 2017)
You can read the entire article by following the link in the bibliography. The point is this: the pope may not necessarily be the “another” Jesus spoke about. More likely he fits the description of the false prophets (Matthew 24:11) Jesus warns us about, but the scene has been set. Now that an influential person has deceived the United Nations, and the rest of the lost world has become brainwashed to accept the phrase “in my own name”, when the real antichrist arrives, they will embrace him.
Jesus does not say to the Jewish leaders that the coming antichrist will maybe rise in another country. He comes to the Jews! Israel is the centre of the action, and they will accept whoever this person is who comes in his own name. Today, many think that the antichrist may rise in Europe, and take control over the European Union. It may not be the actual European Union, but rather the revived Roman Empire. According to Daniel 9:26, the Roman Empire would destroy Jerusalem in 70AD. In the meantime it has been rebuilt. If the coming prince (antichrist) is of “the people”, then he has to come from the ranks of this same empire. The Roman Empire fell in 1453 but will be revived again to play its part in the history of the end times.
What does this teach us today?
We are constantly looking for the signs of the coming of the King, but since He will first come in the air to remove the church before the tribulation, this is not the same event as His coming to the Earth as Israel’s Messiah at the end of the tribulation. The deception first has to run its course to allow the antichrist to be revealed, be received by Israel, and who will be reign during a period of tribulation such as has never been experienced, and never will again (Matthew 24:21). Once Israel realises that they have been deceived, they will wake up when the real Messiah comes down from heaven to obliterate the armies of the antichrist.
It is easy to be deceived. The devil never appears to be evil. He makes evil things appear right, and condemns that which is good (Isaiah 5:20). He is the darkness of evil, but appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). We make the mistake of looking around us too much. There is probably nothing wrong to look at the events unfolding in the world and see the evil that is already in our midst. However, we are warned to look up:
28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. – Luke 21:28
Look up towards heaven. It is from here we as the church are expecting our Saviour to return. He is not coming to the Earth to set up His millennial kingdom yet, but to remove the church out of the situation in order to allow the events of the seven year tribulation run their course. Only then will he appear out of heaven, riding on a white horse, followed by His heavenly armies. The antichrist may try to fake this event by appearing on a white horse in Revelation 6, but he is the impostor, and unfortunately the world will run after him. When the true Messiah returns to the Earth, He puts an end to the deceiver for good.
Bibliography
Anon., 2017. Veritas Vincit: The Truth Shall Prevail. [Online]
Available at: https://veritas-vincit-international.org/2017/06/11/pope-to-u-n-assembly-i-come-in-my-own-name/
[Accessed 1 June 2021].