Bible Prophecy and End Times by John Jones - HTML preview

SUMMARY

So, there we have it, the big three. The three biggest contenders for bringing forth the beast and

Antichrist. Who will it be? Will one of these vanquish the others and rise to the fullness of its

ambition for power over this world? Probably not. While they may well be pitched together in battle at some point one would have to question whether Satan has invested so heavily over many

centuries in creating these three forces of Antichrist only to annihilate two of them. Surely Satan's ultimate plan is to bring all of these forces together, to join them and unite them as one against the true God. The purists of Islam may fight the purists of Christianity / Catholicism, and the world and the New Ager may be caught up in that. But once all the fighting is over and all people long for is peace and tolerance, it seems almost certain that the current cries for togetherness and the

increasingly expressed sentiments that "we all worship the same God" will come to the fore and all P a g e 92

forms of fundamentalism will be seen as the enemy of this new enlightened way. After all, these

three forces of Antichrist that we've focused on all share spiritual connections back to Rome and

paganism, they all desire world empire, they all bear the stamp of their maker and are despite

outward differences ultimately of the same spirit. A good look at how things are shaping up in the

world suggests that it is highly likely that a moderate form of Islam, an apostate Christendom and

the New Age spirituality of the ‘secular’ world will join together in hailing a new oneness of spirit that accepts within it a great diversity of expression and terminology but shares common goals and

accepts a common Christ, Mahdi, Buddha or Messiah to lead them to the fulfillment of all their

ambitions. This is akin to the polytheism of the Roman Empire, acceptance of diversity yet

acknowledging a common unifying spirituality. So surely the answer is not to see just Islam, just the New Age or just Catholicism as “beast and Antichrist”, but to recognize that they are all anti-Christ systems that will ultimately play a part in fulfilling prophecy. The relative strengths and degree of influence of each force is hard to predict, but this great coming together is happening right now and is no doubt laying the foundation for things to come.

What could be seen as a little worrying about the current Christian obsession with Islam being THE

source of anti-Christ, rather than just a source of anti-Christ, is that it plays right into the hands of those who would like to portray religion (including Christianity) as the source of violence and hatred in the world and thus in its fundamental forms something to be eradicated. Mistaking the spiritual

war for a temporal war it's likely that many Christians will ultimately be drawn into wars against

Islam, believing somehow that they are in a holy war against the forces of evil. While they may well be fighting against the forces of evil, there is significant doubt as to whether they will be fighting for the forces of good, or whether they will simply be playing into the hands of Satan as he sets up the final great cataclysms out of which his kingdom is to be formed. If there was ever a time for

Christians to grasp again the new covenant situation regarding Christians and war3, it is now.

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NOTES & REFERENCES

FOUNDATIONS

(1) Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, vol. 4, Eerdmans, 1956, p. 401

(2) As well perhaps as Muslim prophecies and New Age expectations

(3) New King James Version

(4) New International Version

EMPIRES IN PROPHECY

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire

(2) The wording of some bible versions conveys an alternative meaning; being that Nebuchadnezzar did remember the dream but deliberately withheld it in order to test the authenticity of the interpretation. In other words, that he believed only the person who was empowered by the gods to know his dream could be trusted to accurately interpret it.

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great

(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_Augustus

(6) From Daniel 4:16 we understand that the Aramaic word “iddan”, translated in both places it occurs as

“times”, seems to refer to years.

SHADOWS OF ANTICHRIST

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes

GOD’S TIMETABLE

(1) The word translated weeks literally just means “sevens”

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaxerxes_I_of_Persia

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Jews

(4) It’s well worth reading Josephus’s account of the wars of the Jews to understand the history of this time.

(5) That gentiles come out of the tribulation we know from Revelation 7, verses 9, 13,14 collectively.

THE END OF THE AGE

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abomination_of_Desolation

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(2) This is important to keep firmly in mind because in many Christian circles people are now being taught to wait for a man who will come and live among us (in the naturalistic sense).

(3) We tend to think of stars as being suns and planets, however from a prophetic perspective stars may refer to any similar looking lights in the sky. Just as we talk about 'shooting stars' or 'falling stars', stars in this context may be speaking of meteors plummeting to the earth.

TRIBULATION OVERVIEW

(1) In Revelation 5:6 the lamb is described as having seven eyes, which are ‘the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth' . Revelation 3:1 and 4:5 also refer to the seven spirits of God.

(2) See Isaiah 63:1-6 & Revelation 19:11-21.

RISE OF THE BEAST

(1) In Rev 17:12 it says they receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

(2) Either a man completely indwelt by Satan or even Satan himself in a bodily form.

(3) The false prophet may be someone with great, perceived, spiritual authority on the earth such as the Pope?

(4) Speculatively, the Antichrist may also use high technology “miracles” as part of his deception.

(5) It seems likely from other passages that this idol will be placed in the Jewish temple.

JUDGEMENT OF THE GREAT HARLOT

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_roman_empire

(2) http://www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/00index.htm

THE RAPTURE

(1) Dave MacPherson, The Great Rapture Hoax (New Puritan Library; 1st edition - September 1, 1983)

THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB

(1) E.g. Revelation chapter 6 appears to be an overview right up to immediately before the return of the Lord, Rev 11 goes right through to about the same point and Rev 12 starts before the birth of Christ.

THE NEW EARTH

(1) They are seen as resurrected at that time from an early perspective in that those who had died appear and are alive again on the earth.

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SUPPLEMENTAL – CHRISTENDOM IN THE LAST DAYS

(1) Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p. 285

(2) Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, op. cit., p. 268

SUPPLEMENTAL – WILL ISLAM PRODUCE ANTICHRIST?

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_view_of_the_Last_Judgment

(2) As just one example see Fox’s Book Of Martyrs, Ch 11, 4th paragraph

(http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/fox111.htm)

(3) 123 What Are Christians Fighting For (http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/123-What-Are-Christians-

Fighting-For-)

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