End-Time Events According to the Bible – Program 5

By: Dave Hunt, Hal Lindsey and Dr. David Breese; ©1992

After the rapture of the church, the Bible mentions a world ruler who will come upon the scene. How is the world preparing for the Antichrist?

Contents

How Do Current Events Set the Stage for the Antichrist?

Introduction

The eyes of all Americans as well as the world are focused on President-Elect Bill Clinton’s plans for change. Time magazine states: “With all that is at stake and with all the hope that America has invested in him, Clinton can scarcely afford to prove unequal to his task.” If Clinton fails and has a one-term presidency, it would suggest to many that government cannot cope with our problems and that the American economy is sliding toward certain decline. Meanwhile, one Congressman has said, “The world will not stop just because we have a new president.” Boris Yeltsin heads toward a possible overthrow by hardliners frustrated with his rule. North Korea is suspected of developing a nuclear weapons capability. And China’s arms buildup is causing concern in the rest of Asia. The German defense minister has warned America not to forget the turmoil in the former Soviet republics, three of which still have nuclear weapons on their soil. And now that Baker and Bush are gone, what will happen to the Middle East peace talks?

Where are all of these world events leading? Do they parallel the prophetic picture of history outlined in the Bible? My three guests today are all best-selling authors and internationally known Bible scholars. They are Hal Lindsey, Dr. David Breese and Dave Hunt. We invite you to join us.

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Ankerberg: Welcome! We’re here in Kansas City with three biblical scholars looking at world events and biblical prophecy. And our guests are Dr. David Breese, Hal Lindsey and Dave Hunt.

Fellows, this week we want to talk about that world leader that the Bible says is coming that will have great charisma and will actually lead the world toward a false peace but he’ll be able to pull it off.

And to get us on the table here in terms of Scripture, let me read to you what the Bible actually says. “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day [the coming of our Lord] will not come) until the rebellion occurs [the apostasy] and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” [2 Thess. 2:3-4]

Dr. David Breese, you have written in your book about this man. All three of you have actually given us synopses that you think it’s possible for this world leader, at some stage in his career, to be on the scene right now. What would it take to bring him forth and when he comes, what does the Bible say? Describe his character. Dr. Breese?

Breese: You’ve quoted, John, from 2 Thessalonians 2 and it is interesting in the last week, when we talked about the rapture, that these Thessalonians were concerned that perhaps the day of the Lord was here. So Paul wrote and said, “We beseech you brethren, by reason of the coming of our Lord Jesus and of our gathering together unto Him that you be not soon shaken in mind neither by spirit, nor letter as from us as that the day of the Lord is present.” [2 Thess. 2:1-2] So Paul argues in that verse, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, that because the rapture has not taken place, therefore your circumstances are not the day of the Lord – they are not the tribulation.

But then the apostle Paul says, “Now, let’s talk about the rise of Antichrist,” and he gives three characteristics. Anarchy – the word is apostasia, which comes from two words, estemi, which means “to stand,” and apo, “away from.” So the indication that Paul gives us is that the religious establishment will forsake the Lord – apostasy. Secondly, he says, “He who hinders will hinder until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked one be revealed.” [2 Thess. 2:7-8] So, anarchy will also characterize the rise of Antichrist. When the “lawless one” begins to come, law breaks down in our major cities and towns and villages. That is not just a social phenomena, it could be a harbinger of the Antichrist.

But then Paul says, “For this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie,” [2 Thess. 2:11] so that all of the world will be so prone to believe a lie rather than the truth, they will be vulnerable to the rise of Antichrist. These characteristics we should watch for.

Then the Bible says that the Antichrist has two burning ambitions: 1) world government; 2) world religion. It’s his ambition to put together the entire world in a political structure and also the entire world in a religious complex and the object of the worship of that world religion will be the Antichrist himself.

In fact, we have a book called The Religion of the Last Days, and I do hope that everyone will be reminded that the ecumenical movements and the great call for everybody working together no matter what doctrine they believe is really against the will of God. And a global unified church and a global unified government will not bring peace, it will bring the rise of Antichrist, and devastating war. At least that should put the subject on the table for us.

Ankerberg: Dave Hunt, the Bible says that the coming of this lawless one will be “in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, wonders in every sort of evil that deceives those that are perishing.” [2 Thess. 2:9-10] What does that mean?

Hunt: Well, John, miracles, deceiving miracles, lying signs and wonders, indicates, as Dave already said, this is religious movement. You can’t have political peace without religious peace. I mean, we know that. The Muslims, the Jews, the Catholics, the Protestants in Ireland, the Hindus, and the Muslims in India. Somehow there has to be religious peace. And he is going to do signs and wonders to support his religion and to support his claim that he is God. And these will be done by the power of Satan, Revelation 13 tells us, and also Daniel 7 tells us.

Now, I’m not a Greek and Hebrew scholar like these gentlemen here, but the rest of you can do what I do, you can look it up in the dictionary, you know? And Antichrist is very interesting. In the Greek, anti has two meanings: the one that we normally associate with it, “opposed to” or “against.” But the other one is fascinating: “In the place of” or “a substitute for.” I believe the Antichrist will embody both of these meanings, as the Scripture indicates. He will indeed oppose Christ, but in the most diabolically clever way it could be done and anything less wouldn’t be worthy of Satan’s genius. He will oppose Christ by pretending to be Christ. And Revelation 13 says that claim will be accepted; he will be worshipped by the whole world.

Well, now this is where the “thick plottens” then. If he claims to be Christ and he’s embraced as Christ, then who are his followers? Christians. Now you know why the Bible says there must be an apostasy. Now you know why the Bible says there must be an ecumenical movement. There must be a pseudo-Christianity created on this world that is so broad that it embraces all religions and that all religions will embrace. In fact, a false Christianity.

Now, let me just take it a step farther. In the Latin, the Latin equivalent of “anti” is “vicarious” from which we get “Vicar.” And I’m not going to say that the Pope, the Vicar of Christ today, is the Antichrist. I don’t believe that he is. The first person to bear the title “Vicar of Christ” was Constantine. He was the head of the pagan priesthood. He was worshipped as God. Images were made to the Roman emperors. If you didn’t bow down to worship, you were killed.

Revelation 13 says the same thing’s going to happen again. It’s telling us the religion of Rome will be revived. Paganism mixed with pseudo-Christianity. And when he supposedly became a Christian, he was the head of the pagan priesthood, Pontifex Maximus, and when he supposedly became a Christian, he became the de facto head of the Christian church. He took the title “Vicar of Christ.” I believe that the Antichrist will be the new Constantine, the political leader of this revived Roman Empire, but he will also be “Vicar of Christ.” He will “stand in the place of Christ,” be worshipped.

But, see, it’s very interesting the verse that you quoted in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. On the one hand it says he exalts himself, opposes all that is called God. He sounds like an atheist. He is an atheist. And yet he says he’s God. He doesn’t claim to be the God of the Bible. He doesn’t claim to be the Creator of the universe, he claims to be a self-realized master who has realized the godhood within all of us. And he does not claim to be the resurrected Jesus Christ. He doesn’t have the marks of Calvary. He claims to be the latest reincarnation of the Christ consciousness which is in all of us, he would say, and it’s the pledge that all mankind can realize this deity which was the very lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Ankerberg: Hal Lindsey, a lot of the movies paint this guy in terms other than what the Bible is talking about. This is a world leader, a political figure, that also has these other characteristics, and he is going to be able to take these powers that we’ve talked about, plus his political skill, and he’s going to have some dealings with the nation of Israel. Get that on the table and explain that scenario, the Antichrist’s dealing with Israel. Where does the Bible even talk about that?

Lindsey: Well, it talks about it in Daniel 9:27, where it talks about the coming prince who is this man [who] will make or confirm a covenant – the word means basically a defense pact guaranteeing their security. But there are two figures. There are two major personalities human-wise in the tribulation period: the Antichrist that we commonly think of is the one from Rome. There’s another called “the False Prophet” who has equal powers. He is a Jew who comes from Israel and these are the two that make an alliance together and are able to lead their peoples into an alliance.

Ankerberg: This lawless one is going to strike up a deal with Israel. How could that take place? In other words, what interest would Israel have with such a man? I mean, when you talk about what the Bible has just described now, it doesn’t seem like anybody would want to have any dealings with such a person. Why are they going to have those dealings?

Breese: The deal that the Antichrist will strike up with the nation of Israel is in effect Stage 2 in his movement toward world power. Stage 1 – he comes to the leadership of a 10-nation complex which is a revived Roman Empire. The closest approximation to that is Europe. The Scripture says that the group that destroyed the city and the sanctuary is the group that will produce “the prince that shall come.” That’s Rome.

Well, having established his hegemony at this level, then he begins to look at the world, and Israel has a very definite interest in him because this is the emergent power. If you’re going to lead a nation that is dependent on another nation, you’ve got to bet on the future, the past doesn’t mean much. Israel sees the Antichrist as that power that can be its protector for the future; the Antichrist, Europe, sees Israel as the key to retaining its necessary energy supplies out of the Middle East and the guarantee of its borders. About 100% of the energy that keeps Europe going today comes from the Middle East. Now, we have seen how there can be distress in a nation when that pipeline is interdicted by someone else.

So the Antichrist makes a deal with Israel in order that Europe may continue to be energized with the power of oil; Israel makes a deal with Europe so that it will be protected from the Arabs, its borders guaranteed, and so it’s a quid pro quo – they both get something out of it. Now, that will then mature to the place where the Antichrist becomes such a friend to Israel that he does many things for them and then finally, however, when the temple is built and the worship of the nation of Israel is reestablished, the Antichrist has the ultimate case of egomania and he establishes himself so that “he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” [2 Thess. 2:4]

So, the deal was good so long as he was on the make for world power. Now that he thinks he can make it and doesn’t have to be friends to anyone, he can betray his loyalty to the nation of Israel, attempt to move to the conquest of the world, which he does. That initiates a tremendous persecution against Israel out of which the faithful of Israel are in fact converted and come to Christ as their Messiah. So the Antichrist is the key player in that scenario of the end-times and the developments of our time surely seem to point to that inevitability coming upon us.

Ankerberg: Alright, the Bible also says some interesting things about why he doesn’t show up on the world scene and when he will. It says, “You know what is holding him back so that he may be revealed at the proper time. When the one who now holds him back is taken out of the way, then the lawless one will be revealed.” [2 Thess. 2:7-8] Hal, what does that mean? Who is holding back the appearance of the Antichrist on the world scene?

Lindsey: Well, 2 Thessalonians 2 sets forth a very important outline and order of events and how they’re going to unfold. I believe that whoever this one is that’s holding back evil has to be a supernatural person, because he was holding back evil in the day of Paul; he’s done all through these centuries and still is now. So it has to be a supernatural person.

Also, he has to have the power to hold back Satan and evil. And the only one that I can see in the whole Word of God would be the Holy Spirit. There are other theories but I don’t believe any hold water.

So the Holy Spirit is holding back rampant evil, restraining evil right now, until He is taken out of the way. And I believe that this is unmistakably the rapture. Here’s why. Because we know that the Holy Spirit is now resident personally in the world in a way that He has not in other ages ever been. The reason is He is dwelling in every individual Christian. From the moment you accept Jesus and receive the pardon He died to give you, you receive the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, you cannot remove the presence of the Holy Spirit without removing the containers in whom He dwells, i.e., you. And so I believe this is unmistakably talking about the rapture.

So you put this together with what is said in the first part of chapter 2. It says that the Antichrist, or this lawless one, cannot be revealed until first the apostasy comes, that means it’s unique, and utter rejection of what is known about God. Secondly, then the lawless one is revealed. And after that, the Day of the Lord starts. So the Antichrist cannot be revealed until the Restrainer is taken out of the way, which is tantamount to removing Christians because He dwells in us. So the order is this: first, the rapture; then the apostasy takes place. Why? Because all true believers are gone and true knowledge of God is immediately snuffed out. And the lawless one, the Antichrist appears.

So then, next, there has to be something that starts the Day of the Lord, which begins with that seven-year tribulation. Well, there’s certain things that the Antichrist has to do before he can do that. First, he has to take over the 10 nations out of the Roman culture and people in order to have a political power base from which he can make such an agreement with Israel. All of this takes time. So what you see is a gap of time between the rapture and the actual beginning of the seven-year tribulation. It does not begin immediately with the rapture. Couldn’t, because you have those two events that must take place in between. And so you have the rapture, the apostasy, the revelation of the Antichrist; he takes over the 10 nations of Europe, whips together a power base, begins to put together a world union, and in the process he guarantees peace with Israel and for the first time, someone seems to have solved the Arab-Israeli crisis. And for that, he is recognized as a unique world leader. People begin to follow him in a very unique way.

Ankerberg: Two things that we’ve been reading in the Scripture besides what you guys have been saying is that he sets himself up in God’s temple. Is there going to be a temple in Jerusalem? And secondly it says, “All the inhabitants of the earth will worship him.” [Rev. 13P8] Hunt, what is he talking about here? What’s the Scripture saying?

Hunt: Well, he’s talking about exactly what he says. They will worship him. And I suppose 50 years ago you could have laughed at that prophecy. We hadn’t had the gurus come to our shores. But now we’ve seen intelligent, educated, professional people bow down, kiss the ground where Maharaja’s Mercedes has rolled along the streets of Switzerland, even though when the “lord of the universe, as he called himself, was in Switzerland he OD’d on Swiss chocolate and ended up in a hospital, you know. This was the “lord of the universe.” But still, they bowed down and kissed the ground. We saw it with Baghwan Rajneesh in Oregon. We’ve seen it with Sai Baba, Muktananda. Muktananda was in Southern California; he had a special night for the Hollywood stars, 2,600 came. There was Marsha Mason, John Denver, bowing down, you know.

So we have seen human beings worship a human being as God because, as Hal said, there’s an utter rejection of God, the true God, the God of the Bible, the God of creation. The idea that somehow there’s an evolutionary force that’s innate within the universe, that it’s a power of the mind, that you get in tune through an altered state of consciousness, and we can all develop these, you know.

I moved from Southern California recently, but not far from where I lived was a New Age synagogue, Makom Ohr Shalom was the name of it. Ted Falcon. They had a rabbi. Rabbi Falcon says the day is coming when the cry will go out, “Will the real messiah please stand?” And he says when the time has come, we will all arise and the world will be transformed because we will all have realized this Christ consciousness that resides within us.

So there will be a man who will literally be worshipped, not as the God of the universe, but as a self-realized master who has, in fact, realized the promise of Satan to Eve: You can be like God. And his power will be the pledge that everybody can develop these powers.

Now, the temple will be rebuilt. He will sit in that temple but I think there’s an obvious secondary application. Our bodies are supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is what the Bible says, what Hal just said. The Holy Spirit indwells us. “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Spirit of God, which you have of God?” [1 Cor. 6:19] So, for the first time in the history of the world not just a handful of yogis and gurus in the East, but millions, hundreds of millions of people in the Western World are looking within themselves, looking within what ought to be the temple of the true God in an altered state of consciousness to realize – the goal of all yoga is self-realization – to realize that they themselves are God. So the religion of Antichrist is already being practiced in the world today, preparing us for this day when the world will worship him.

Ankerberg: Dr. David Breese, you’ve just written a new book on the religion of the last days. Pick it up from where Dave Hunt’s left us off.

Breese: This is, I’m sure we will agree, a very good scenario. Dave has reminded us of the very weird emergence of strange religions going in the world today. But the Scripture teaches that the power base of the Antichrist will be first of all political power and then religious power. And we’ve been given quite a bit of data in the Scripture as to the form of that religion.

Paul says, “The Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith [they would be apostate] giving heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of demons.” [1 Tim. 4:1] And a great study could be made on that. There is a great book called Satan’s Ten Most Believable Lies folks may want to read in that regard.

The apostle Paul says, “This know also that in the latter days perilous times shall come” [2 Tim. 3:1] and then he gives a list of about 14 characteristics of that peril, two of which have to do with God. “Men will be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;” they will have “a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” [2 Tim. 3:4-5]

But the real gist of the religion of the Antichrist is found in Revelation 13. Revelation 12:12 says that “the devil comes down, having great wrath, because he knows his time is short.” And I’d be glad to suggest several reasons why he may know that.

But he sets up a religion and that religion will have several characteristics. It will be Satanic – “they worship the dragon;” it will be humanistic – “they worship the beast to whom the dragon gave power;” it will be ecumenical – “the whole world worships;” it will be global – it will be “all the world;” it will be idolatrous – “they will worship the image of the beast;” it will be terribly cruel – that lovely-sounding religion that people will buy by the millions will end up killing everyone that doesn’t believe in it. It’s like the early days of some other religions where people were converted on the edge of the sword. “You worship the Antichrist or you die!” is what will happen during the days of the tribulation.

This is a marvelous recommendation as to why people should accept Christ now and be saved, unto heaven for eternity but also saved from the dreadful predations of the Antichrist when he causes these things to come to pass in the world.

Ankerberg: For the person that says, “That’s what I want to know. How can I be saved? How can I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who is God and know that He has forgiven my sins?” How does it happen?

Breese: Well, the simplest answer to that question is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” [Acts 16:31] “He who believes on Him is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” [John 3:18] Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

How can I be saved? I am saved when I believe two main things: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He died for my sins on Calvary’s cross. When I accept the finished work of the cross, as the sole and only basis of my salvation, receiving Christ the Savior, I have everlasting life. I will never perish. I have eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. And I recommend to every listening friend that even this very day they say that wonderful “Yes” to Jesus Christ, believing the Gospel. When they do that, they’ll be saved to the uttermost. It’s the decision that should be made today.

Ankerberg: I would urge that you would do it. Next week, we’re going to continue talking with these men. Many of you have submitted questions to us to ask them. We’re going to have some in our audience ask those questions. I hope that you’ll join us.

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