The Antichrist’s Reign

Christ has promised to return and build his kingdom here on earth.  Since that is what we are looking for, it is natural that Christians would want to know when it will happen, and despite what Jesus told us in Acts 1:7, “…It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power…,”  people still try to figure it out.  Shortly before he was crucified, Jesus gave some detailed teaching about his return in response to his disciple’s questions, to encourage them when the world seemed to be out of control.  Matthew 24:3-14 describes conditions during the present Church age.  “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Like Paul in II Thessalonians 2:1-2, Jesus warned that there would be false teachers and prophets who would attempt to capitalize on the promise of his second coming, with some even claiming to Christ himself.  They will point to wars, natural disasters and widespread disease as signs that they have some special insight as to when the Lord will return.  Jesus was quite specific that while these things are signs of the wicked times we live in, they indicate nothing about the time of the Lord’s return. 

He goes on to warn that Christians will be hated and that many who claim to be Christians will turn aside to follow other teachings.  Even many of those who continue to believe will begin to go along with the world’s moral and ethical standards, not taking God’s word seriously.  This will not negate God’s promises or his commands, and those who really believe sill still follow him.  The Lord will not return until the gospel has been preached throughout the entire world. 

In II Thessalonians 2:3-4, Paul wrote, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”  Jesus said the same thing in different words, in Matthew 24;15-22.  “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”

When the Antichrist comes to power, he will attempt to destroy all who believe in God, both Jews and Christians.  He will start by attacking the Jews, making a mockery of their religion as described in Daniel 11:31.  When he is unable to exterminate them, he will turn on Jews in other lands and on the Christians who support them.  Fortunately, as we see in Daniel 12:7, 11, and 14, and Revelation 12:11, and Revelation 13:5, he will only be in power three and a half years or no one would survive. 

God gave man dominion over the world in Genesis 1:26-28.  “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.  God will limit his reign for the sake of those who believe.”  Satan has been trying to take over God’s creation from the very beginning, and is willing to kill all living things to seize the dominion God gave to man.   His attitude seems to be kind of like the person who says if I can’t have it I’ll destroy it so nobody can.  God will only allow him to exercise control during the last three and a half of what we call the Tribulation period using the man we know as the Antichrist.  The book of Revelation tells a bit about his reign during that period.