The prospect of the “end” (telos) is when time is terminated and the righteous whose faith endures shall be saved. Termination (telos) for mortals is at their own death. (Mat 10:22). For mortals the end is at their own worldly termination, thus to “die is gain,” according to Paul. The end for us as at out termination, but the end of the world is somewhat different — in the Greek; it is synteleia, when the “harvest” is harvested, and the “tares” burnt (Mat 13:40. The implication therein is that the good fruit that endures to the end of time shall not suffer burning.
So far, “the end” is for the individual and the world but the heavens shall never end. Matter will be destroyed but “anti-matter” the unseen existence shall carry on after the matter is removed from it (Luke 21:33).
The first heaven shall pass away but the third heaven (Paradise and Hades both) shall never pass away. Just as Paradise is eternal in the unseen realm, so is Hell. The “tares” will burn but never burn completely.
The apocalypse is not the end of time, but a revealing of its end. The “apocalypse (apokalypsis) is when Christ appears (1 Pet 1:7). The “Day of the Lord” is syntelia when God darkens existence. The apocalypse is the revealing of that Great and Terrible Day, and since the beginning of time God revealed to Apocalypse to many; most notably Daniel. With that said, the end is coming, and if anyone perceives that, that is an apocalyptic vision. That means that the Apocalypse is believing the end is coming based on the Word of God. Hence, the end is not the Apocalypse but a “Syntelia.”
The Syntelia is preceded by the rule of the Antichrist.
There are many viewpoiints whether Christians shall suffer great tribulation or
not. The “Great Tribulation” is foretold in scriptures:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Mat 24:21)
Great Tribulation shall be as in the days of Noah but worse! Speaking of the Great Tribulation, Jsus said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mat 24:13). Baptists lean toward the Christian escaping the Great Tribulation because it aligns with eternal security. However, it seems that Christians will experience Great Tribulation just as righteous Noah did. However, Noah for 120 years kept his eye on the prize and by faith through tribulation, he was delivered from the day of the Lord of that apocalypse. Who is right is of no consequence as even Christians are warned of Great Tribulation. Whether they experience it or not is almost irrelevant; they should live as if they will experience it!
Speaking to His disciples (Christians) Jesus said about the end
(the Great Tribulation):
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the Earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Mat 24:30)
Why would Jesus warn His followers of Great Tribulation if it did not pertain to them? His Word spoke of the Apocalypse, as a warning, to Christians. Why would He do that? So that they would be aware of what was coming and live as if it is today.
However, before the Great Tribulation, there is a warning provided to Christians: “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Mat 24:8). Those things are detailed in he previous verses and describe the situation at any time in the world. However, Jesus was speaking of a greater tribulation than ever before and the time of sorrows previous to it.
As we are now in the New Age (Aquarian) and out of the Age of Christ (Pisces) those warnings pertain to the present. The Aquarian Age, according to New Agers is the Age of the Antichrist. Before the Antichrist is discussed, it is to be noted that Christians will live during the time of sorrows, but will escape the Great Tribulation, to wit: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened” (Mat 24:22).
Those days are the seven-years of Great Tribulation. Christians will evidently live through the first 3-1/2 years of Great Tribulation, and much of the time of sorrows, which will precede the Greatest Tribulation ever to be seen.
There are three ideas regarding the coming of the Lord: (1) Pre-tribulation before the Great Tribulation, (2) Post-tribulation, coming after the Great Tribulation, or (3) Mid-tribulation coming after the peaceful 3-1/2 year reign of the Antichrist. Rather, the snatching up (rapture) of Christians appears to be after the time of sorrows in the Great Tribulation.
If the time of sorrows was now, then the Antichrist would be known.
There are two types of Antichrists: (1) Those who are demon possessed having a spirit (demon) of Satan in them (1 John 4:3) and those who have Satan in them. The Antichrist will be Lucifer in the flesh who appears as a “Light Bearer” to the world but inside, his supra-nature is Satanic. As such, Christians must stay sober and remain vigilant to see the “Shadow” inside the “Light Bearing” one (1 Pet 5:8). Why be sober and vigilant if not in jeopardy of deception?
Scripture identifies those with Satan in them:
(1) Cain (1 John 3:12) says that he was of the Wicked One.
(2) Genun (2 Adam and Eve 20:2) “as to this Genun, Satan came into him in his childhood.” That is in sacred writing. but they are at least early commentary on the days preceding Noah’s Ark.
(3) Not stated directly but implied, is Canaan who was cursed (Gen 9:25).
(4) Nebuchadnezzar because he made himself out to be Almighty God but reduced to a beast as Satan is in the end (Dan 6).
(5) Certainly Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3) who Satan had specifically entered.
(6) Last but with possibly many more in between, is the Antichrist who has Satan in Him at the last battle.
Those all were Antichrists because Satan was certainly in them all. However, there are “many Antichrists” (1 John 2:18). Antichrists are (antichristos), “adversaries of Christ” (Strong’s Dictionary), and there are literally many against Christ, and so many are Antichrists but not at the same time because Satan is not omnipresent!
It appears that Satan often imbues a significant person with his spiritual presence. The Book of Job appears to be an attempt by Satan to overcome him, because Job was a righteous man with great health and wealth. Satan enters some at their birth as he did with Genun, according to the sacred writings, but generally, the entrance is by one allowing him in either by negligence (insobriety or non-vigilance) or by defection.
Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” is said by some to be blindness, but that is not clear (pun intended), to wit: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Cor 12:7).
For Paul, it was a “messenger of Satan.” As Paul preached against Gnosticism so much in his journeys, apparently the “thorn” a messenger whose message was poisonous to the doctrine that he was preaching. Early history reveals that Simon the sorcerer (Simon Magus) journeyed himself and taught the “anti-gospel” that it was only a phantasm that died on the Holy Cross and not the Man Jesus.
Perhaps Simon had been at the crucifixion and saw what the centurion saw; that the Holy Ghost had gone out of Jesus. Usually, Antichrists are serious about their beliefs, and the only evidence they would need is that, as Luke wrote about his baptism, he saw the Holy Ghost of Jesus light upon Him (Luke 3:22). Those who stood by at the crucifixion would see the Holy Ghost and focus on that, especially since Jesus was soon risen from the dead!
Gnosticism is “Anti-Christianity” and it about won over Christianity; and Satan to this day buffets mankind with that false religion of secret knowledge.
Paul was buffeted, not by Satan himself, but the messenger of Satan. As it turned out, in those days, Simon was the Antichrist, as he professed to be the real “Christ.” Simon, as it is written, had the power of levitation in mockery of Christ arisen. Simon had served his purpose. Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius wrote about Gnosticism and its founder Simon Magus.
Simon is associated with the occultic as “Simon the Druid” and recognized as the founder of druidism by many. Simon was the thorn in the flesh of mankind and was an antitype of Jesus.
Jesus had His thorn in the flesh as well with a crown of thorns. The soldiers made a crown of thorns and put it on the head of Jesus to mock him (John 19:2). Surely the centurion that pierced Him, instigated by someone else, had mocked Jesus, and the crowd saw that mockery. It makes sense that Simon would mock Jesus given the same event.
First off, Simon was a “bewitcher” and presented himself as the “Great One” — the Savior (Acts 8;9. Simon was the Antichrist in his day, and upon his death, physicians cut Simon into pieces, much like the death of Judas and Jesus when their bowels were exposed, and their spirits released.
When scripture says that the Serpent “beguiled” Eve (Gen 3:13), it means that Satan bewitched her. Eve may have had, for a short time, Satan in her, either figuratively or literally. For Cain to be of the Wicked One, Eve would have had the “Serpent” in her womb until the Word provided for her a garment of chastity (Gen 3:21).
By grace, God had removed Satan from her when she soon saw her Creator as the Man, Jesus (John 1:1-3, 14). All grace requires is to see Jesus as God, as is learned from the Greeks (John 12:21). So, add Eve, “the adulteress,” and “mother of all living” to the list above, albeit God saved her from the Wicked One.
With that background. it seems probable that upon the death of Judas, Satan went into Simon, or else the story of Simon would not have importance. Simon had affection for Jesus but once he saw that he could profit from his faith, he defected from Jesus, thereafter, seeing the Holy Ghost as only a way to make money (Acts 8:19-20). Simon, once having affection for the Holy Ghost, defected from Him for money. That is called apostasy and the money aspect of it makes it the “Simony,” and defection is apostasy and a “falling away” (Heb 6:6).
Simon, the person, was the messenger of Satan, it seems, and had Satan in him. He buffeted Paul just as the mockers buffeted Jesus (Mat 26:27). Paul faced the same buffeting as did Jesus, and most assuredly by the same Wicked One.
The time of death of Judas is unknown, but perhaps Satan in Judas went to and fro as he pleased as in the time of Job (Job 1:7). Perhaps Satan got into one in the crowd to buffet Jesus. With that said, perhaps Satan was in someone at the crucifixion of Jesus, and the Antichrist was there buffeting the Savior. In like manner, Satan bewitched the aggressor leading his “wolves” to the slaughter of the “sheep.”
The point to this background is that Satan always uses prominent people to kill God. Not in the list above is Nimrod, “the mighty hunter,” who built a tower to kill God (Gen 10:9). Nimrod would have Satan in him, and as such, Nimrod would have been the “Antichrist” of that age. Therefore, add Nimrod to the list of those who had Satan in him thus enlarging the list of Antichrists.
Perhaps that is what is meant by “many Antichrists” in scripture! They are not types of Antichrists (negative antitypes of Jesus) but real Antichrists, not that there are many at the same time, but that Satan can go to and fro, not to dwell in human beings, but long enough to change who they are!
Judas was a familiar friend of Jesus (Psalm 41:9). With Satan in him, Judas, for just long enough to kill Jesus, became the Adversary (Satan) of Jesus. For one day, Judas was the Antichrist, then Satan moved on because Judas had defected from Christ. Someone at the crucifixion was the next Antichrist, and perhaps it was Caiaphas, the chief priest, who led the buffeting.
Jesus as much as said son to Pontius Pilate, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin” (John 19:11). Who had the power that hour? Caiaphas, and his power was ordained by God.
Caiphas even felt guilt before he would kill Jesus, not accepting the blood money (Mat 27:6). Caiaphas means “man of stone” (Abarim Publications) and is a version of “Peter.” The Church would be founded upon Peter, some say, but it was founded upon Christ. Was Jesus referring to the false Church on, not Peter, but Caiaphas? That will never be known! However, Caiaphas committed Simony when he used the Temple, allegedly built for God, to become a den of thieves for profiteering, thus committing the sin of usury (Simony) against those who were too poor to farm their own animals for the sacrifices.
Jesus provided the evidence that Caiaphas was His greatest adversary, and for the crucifixion, for a time, was the Antichrist.
And the list goes on! There were many Antichrists called “Caesar.”
The name has great significance:
From the verb caesa, to cut (hence C-section), or its adjective caesius, cutting or piercing (of eyes, or one's stare)… The title Caesar became the hereditary title of the Roman emperor, and in effect marks the instigator and perpetrators of the most heinous and persistent case of nationalistic crime in humanity's history, namely the murder of a republic headed by a popular senate and its replacement by a totalitarian empire headed by one man, and one deified to boot. (ibid)
Thus, Gaius Julius Caesar would be the Antichrist until Brutus and Longinus relieved him of Satan with his stabbing. Is it really coincidence that Longinus was one who removed Satan from within Caesar, as he claimed to be God in the flesh, and that Longinus was the name of the centurion who pierced the side of Jesus to release the Holy Ghost in the Savior? God does not use coincidences, but it is all part of His Plan. So, add, Julius Caesar to the list of Antichrists, and Satan moved on.
Augustus Caesar (Octavian), the great nephew of Julius Caesar, became emperor, but although he was regal, Octavian passed along the Holy Land to Herod, and made Herod “the Great.” Herod became King of the Jews and missed the opportunity of becoming King of the Arabs (Nabateans) because it was meant for him to be only the “king of the Jews.”
Him and Jesus had the same title! He was certainly the Antichrist. With that power, like Nimrod long before, Herod became the “great hunter” and not only hunted down his Arab brethren but Jesus, the Christ Himself.
Caesar had missed his chance to abort God in the womb, so to speak, and the task became Herod’s who would use infanticide with the “massacre of the innocents.” He missed killing the Christ because that was not in God’s Plan. However, Herod attempted to die a death much as both Jesus and Judas would! (Note that Longinus did not kill Jesus, but Jesus sacrificed Himself. So did Judas, but only God’s sacrifice was acceptable.)
About the death of Herod, Josephus wrote:
After this, the destemper seized upon his whole body, and greatly disordered all its parts with various symptoms; for there was a gentle fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continual pains in his colon, and dropsical tumours about his feet, and an inflammation of the abdomen, and a putrefaction of his privy member, that produced worms. Besides which, he had a difficulty of breathing upon him, and could not breathe but when he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all his members, insomuch that the diviners said, those diseases were a punishment upon him for what he had done to the rabbins. Yet did he struggle with his numerous disorders, and still had a desire to live, and hoped for recovery, and considered of several methods of cure. Accordingly he went over Jordan, and made use of those hot baths at Callirrhoe which ran into the lake Asphaltitis, but are themselves sweet enough to be drunk. And here the physicians thought proper to bathe his whole body in warm oil, by letting it down into a large vessel full of oil; whereupon his eyes failed him, and he came and went as if he were dying; and as a tumult was then made by his servants, at their voice he revived again. Yet did he after this despair of recovery, and gave orders that each soldier should have fifty drachmæ a-piece, and that his commanders and friends should have great sums of money given them. (Josephus; Antiquity of the Jews).
Herod did not die yet, but although he would consider suicide by the lance, he would not because the massacre of the innocents had not been accomplished. He had not killed God so it would be left to someone else to do the job just as with Moses and Zipporah with Gershom.
With his wicked son, Antipater, dead, it would not be his son who would have Satan in him but perhaps some appointed priest.
Note that Herod had a distemper — a viral disease usually associated with other species. Ironically, God had used a virus to drive out the viral Satan in Herod. God used a virus to kill the virus of sin in Herod. Was that what Jesus meant when he asked of those who mocked Him as the one who had Satan in Him, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” Satan cannot do that, but God cast out Satan from even Herod for another day and another Antichrist! They accused the Christ of being the Antichrist!
The Christ was in the “business” of casting out Satan and it was Jesus who cast Satan out of Herod by a virus, and the dead flesh became worm-infested just as Isaiah foresaw the many deaths of the hosts of Lucifer, as he wrote, “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee” (Isa 14:11). That applied to Herod, the pompous “Great” and would to Judas as well. In fact, death is accompanied by worms to all who sin, eventually, because they will be with the “Worm” Antichrist in Hell.
Now for more of the many Antichrists who are not in the Bible. Antichrists can be thought of as adversaries of Christ, but specifically many with “The Adversary” in them, not a different demonic angel but Lucifer himself. As can be seen from scripture, the Antichrists are all highly significant people of power who have the motivation and means of killing Christ or trivializing the Doctrine of God.
Cain had power over most of the world, other Antichrists also have power on either a global scale or in proximity to Christ.
The same factors will be considered when determining just who were the Antichrists outside of biblical canon. The easiest one to identify is “Caligua,” (Caius Caesar), or Gaius (Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus). He was the son of a prominent general, Germanicas and the elder Agrippina, granddaughter of Augustus Caesar. He was best friends with Herod Agrippa who may have even been named their maternal family name, not to forget that Herod the Great was close friends with the Caesars.
Theretofore, the Romans had been great friends of Herod and extremely tolerant of them and their exclusive laws, even ruling that, foremost, the Law of God superseded even the law of Caesar. Then came Caligua.
Germanicas’s adoptive father was Octavian Caesar, the son of Augustus. Hence by birth, Caligua was a negative antitype of Jesus as Joseph was with His adoptive father and Mary his royal bloodline. Just as Jesus was a rightful heir to the House of David, Caligua was rightful heir to the brutish Augustus who had to be put down by Longinus and Brutus. As it turns out, Caligua was as brutish as Augustus and the Senate again had to put him down.
Thus, Caligua had the temperament and birthright to be the Antichrist and earned that designation because of one main thing: He attempted to be God, soon after Jesus arose (41 AD). With that thought, another biblical Antichrist was Nebuchadnezzar who did the same thing with the Jews during the Diaspora in Babylon.
There, Jesus, God Himself, who Nebuchadnezzar saw saving Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, was put down to crawl on his belly like the Luciferin “worm” he was, in the form of a grass-eating beast. So, add Nebuchadnezzar and Caligua to the list of Antichrists.
God put down Nebuchadnezzar and in like manner God got into
the Jews who defied the soldiers of Caligua who backed them down. You see,
Satan can be backed down!
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Jas 4:6-7)
But that would apply to Christians alone would it not? Well,
God said that He would never leave nor forsake His people, and Paul reminded
the Hebrews of that when he wrote God’s promise, “I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee” (Heb 13:5), quoting 1 Kings 8:57. However, Paul wrote earlier what could happen
and it did:
It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Heb 6:4-6)
Paul was speaking to the Hebrews about Christians who had the Holy Ghost in them. He said that they could “fall away” and would put Jesus to shame by blaspheming the Holy Ghost. In the Greek, “fall away” is apostasia — to defect from the One to whom there was once affection. By the time Paul wrote these words, (written late in the first century AD), the Jews had defected from God, although they had been chosen by Him to be His people.
God had told of His coming to Earth and told the Hebrews, “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people” (Lev 26:12). Truly, Paul was insinuating that there had been others chosen — Gentiles who were chosen like the Hebrews to be His people (1 Pet 2:9).
Well, up to the time of Caligua, the Jews had not defected from God although their leadership had. Soon, the Hebrews would go the way of their leaders, and that is the danger facing Christians.
Socialism is essentially trusting the government and its leaders for nourishment and security. It is “social justice” that replaces Divine grace.
The rich young ruler in the Bible is a perfect example of socialism, where he acted goodwill toward others but left out goodwill toward God (Matthew 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30). Not only that, but as a rich man, he had greater inclination toward money than God and would not become a disciple of Jesus. He was not only socialist, but a crony capitalist socialist, like the elite in the World Economic Forum that now meets yearly in Davo, Switzerland. (More on that later).
Although the rich young man was not the Antichrist, his antitype is, and to that, it is meant Karl Marx who is the sponsor of the evilest ideology since Simon the Sorcerer; the one who would make money by impersonating Jesus! More on Karl Marx as the Antichrist later, bit for now we shall continue with Caligua.
Caligua was a “god” in his own eyes and would defile the Temple with his image. His pomp was as Lucifer’s who, of course, is the invisible being in visible beings. A times he reverses the charade and shows himself as the “Angel of Light.”
Paul wrote, about false prophets and compared them to Lucifer, “for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2Cor 11:14). Satan can only transform himself; on the inside he remains the “Serpent,” Satan, and on the outside the angel, Lucifer, who seems good but is evil inside.
How about demons? The crazy man of the Gadarenes in scripture had many demons but he was not one of the many Antichrists because Jesus drove them out of his “temple” but he lived on. God always drives out Antichrists by causing their death, beginning with Eve, then Cain, Genun, and so on until Judas had to die for Satan to be defeated in him. In the end, Jesus will drive out Satan from the Antichrist and he will die in the Lake of Fire.
To identify who is the Antichrist, it means only to look for a powerful man in government who has the authority and armament to diminish God, and who dies a violent or abhorrent death.
After Herod, Judas had Satan in him. From there, Caiaphus, for a few hours (the 3rd to 6th hour), surely had Satan in him, but it may be that Satan returned to Judas who was then near death, hanging from a tree, where he would reside until Jesus gave up the Ghost to finish off Judas by causing his bowels to gush out just as he had with Herod the Great; and in imitation of what had just occurred with Himself!
Then, Satan may have gone to and fro until Caligua and Simon came along. Josephus wrote that Simon was during the governorship of Antonius Felix in Judaea. That would place the act of Simon the Sorcerer in the rule of Felix (52-60 A.D.). Thus, Satan was in Caligua even before Simon Magus. Could it be that since Caligua’s statue was prevented from being put up by Law-abiding Jews, that Satan just changed plans and used Simon who even had more power with the people than Caligua, as revealed by historians.
Whereas Caligua claimed to be God, but could not demonstrate it, Simon convinced many. The biblical Apocrapha reveals in three of its books; the Acts of Peter, Pseudo-Clementines, and the Epistle of the Apostles, that Simon could levitate and because of that power most certainly could buffet Paul with thorns.
What type of man was Caligua? Effeminate, bisexual, incestuous with all his sisters, hedonistic, murderous, narcissistic, seemingly insane, and adversarial. As such, he was also psychotic and suffered delusions of grandeur as God.
Jesus had been accused of being a madman. Jesus was thought to have a devil (Satan) in Him. He was accused of being the Antichrist (Antimessiah) because He claimed to have Power from His Father, Yahweh, and the Jews were offended (John 10:20).
Jesus was asked before the governor: “and the governor asked him, saying, ‘Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.’” (Mat 27:11). Because He claimed to be King, Jesus was thought by the government to be intoxicated or have some wild insanity. But Caligua was the one much intoxicated with power and would be considered insane by classical psychologists who once believed homosexuality, effeminacy, and incest are abnormal. Even his fellow Romans saw those things as abnormal, and outside of hedonism (Epicureanism), they were normal people.
Jews were murdered under Herod the Great, and even his wives and three of his sons. However, Herod knew to retain power, that he must do good to remain in power. He was “Great” because he built lavish cities in Judea and Caesarea, not really for the Jews, and for Caesar, but for the use of the Jews. He also lavished unto Caesar great monetary gifts that was Caesar’s already because he granted Herod the power of taxing his own people.
Although Herod was evil, he did good with evil motives. So did Octavian Caesar. To be honest, the common Jew had a good life under Herod and Octavian Caesar, except for atrocities against those who sought their powers.
Then came Caligua. Christ had been crucified already, but Caligua would endeavor to crucify all memories of Him with his own likeness in the Temple. If not for faithful Jews, be they Messianic Jews or not, God put it in their hearts to repel Caligua’s soldiers.
And soon after, his own senate “crucified’ him, not on a cross but the blades of many. Like any devil, he was tough to kill, and many believed he was still alive. The same goes to this day for Judas Iscariot who some Muslims believe is the Christ.
Next, another Antichrist in time shall be revealed; and always remember since Satan is constrained to one place in time (Job 1) that there can be only one Antichrist at a time, and that many Antichrists must be a function of time.
(picture credit: istock,com; "blurred face")
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