Rise of the Anti-Christ
We know of the Anti-Christ primarily through the books of Daniel,
Revelation, and 2 Thessalonians. I recommend reading the key passages of Daniel chapters, 7, 8, 9:27, 11, 12, 2
Thessalonians 2:1-12, Revelation 13 and 19:11-21. The following is a
summary of the information we can glean from these important Scriptures.
In Daniel 8, the prophet is given a vision
and an interpretation of Greece defeating the empire of Media-Persia. The
vision concludes with four new kingdoms coming out of the new Greek Empire
(Daniel 8:20-22).
This prophecy was fulfilled by Alexander the
Great when he conquered the majority of the Middle East. When he died, his
kingdom was divided by four of his generals: the Seleucid Empire in Asia
Minor and the Middle East, the Antigonid Empire in Macedon (an area partly
encompassing Greece), the Attalid Empire in Pergamum (Asia Minor), and the
Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt.
The largest of these four was the Ptolemaic
Empire, which was based in Egypt and reached up to Israel.
The fact that Greece split into these four
empires, and that the largest was based in Egypt are important for the rest of
Daniel’s prophecies and for the prophecies we find in Revelation. As Daniel
8:23 tells us, and as we will see, the Anti-Christ will interact heavily with
the Egyptian Empire.
Toward the end of Daniel 9, we find this statement by the angel Gabriel:
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to
finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy place.
25 “Know and
understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven
‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench,
but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’
the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler
who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a
flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been
decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one
‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and
offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes
desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
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This blog post is included in my book, Last Days: A Biblical Guide to the End Times.
Kindle $4.99, Print $7.99 |
Read the answers to more interesting questions on my Theology 101 - Simple and Surprising Answers to Your Questions! page.
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