TWO BEASTS RISING
Foretold Final 2 Beasts of World History: IN PLAIN VIEW
Copyright September 2007 / US Library of Congress
Rob Conrad / All Rights Reserved
CHAPTER 2 Antichrist
the coming global awakening
100% confidence of Christ's nearness...
God's written Word lays out clearly the exact day of Christ's 'physical' return and also the timing [not day or hour] of the End Time rapture itself in relation to the chronology of the final 7 Year period of Tribulation. God's interest has always been in letting His children know in advance and preparing them in advance for what He has shown us thoroughly in terms of 'timing'. A 'surprise rapture' at any possible moment as preached today is not scriptural as is laid out exhaustively in Chapter 13 of 'Here is Wisdom'.
However, an absolute key to truly 'knowing' the nearness of Christ is found in one of many statements by Jesus Himself in His prophetical discourses. He said that 'When you see all these things [End Time prophecies lined up together] then know that He is near, even right at the door.' [Math.24:33]. So, we can definitely 'know' the very 'nearness' of Christ by recognizing when 'all' of the predicted End Time prophecies are lined up together. Without question, today they are.
Never before have 'all' of the End Time prophecies lined up together simultaneously and globally in scope as they are right now. Israel's re-birth in 1948 itself having marked this generation as the virtual final generation. It is a personal and loving heavenly Father who has mercifully laid out huge amounts of clear information in His written Word regarding 'all' of the End Time aspects so that His children would 'know' and so that 'no one will mislead you' . [Math.24:4.].
The Lord Himself forewarned His followers repeatedly in His discourses on End Time prophecies of the critical need to see the truth. In today's End Time generation, there is no greater time in history THAN NOW for people to discern accurately [according to scriptures and by the Spirit] about 'all' of these crucial final things forthcoming in this generation.
A PRIME CRUCIAL TOPIC to grasp: Antichrist
Of all the prophetical 'things' which we 'see' lined up today, then one End Time topic is more crucial than all others for believers to grasp in recognizing the narrowest possible 7 year gap just before Christ's physical return. That specific topic is having knowledge of antichrist's profile. Recognizing exactly 'who' he is.
Why is this so critical in discerning the 'nearness' of Christ? Because End Time believers who recognize antichrist's true profile and his 'starting' of the 7 Year Tribulation period can be 100% sure [can 'know'] of the narrow 7 year gap left before Christ's physical return. This is because these two major events [antichrist's 'starting' of the 7 Year Ageement and the physical return of Christ] are linked to each other, showing them as exactly 7 years apart. Also, the Lord being 'even right at the door' in the rapturing of His people before His 'physical' return is also able to be discerned 'timing-wise' by recognizing antichrist at the beginning of the 7 Year Tribulation.
On the other hand, what if God's people were to remain blind scripturally to the true profile of antichrist ? Then God's children could NOT be sure at all [even remain blind as today's generation] as to how close today's generation actually is to the nearness of Christ. Without question, a believer's 100% confidence and recognition of forthcoming and final End Time events [including the rapture timing and Christ's return] clearly hinge on that believer knowing the exact scriptural profile of the man of sin.
Otherwise, a person [believers included] sets himself up to the highly dangerous scenario which Jesus foretold AND which, so far, exists today when He said, 'Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap.....' . [Luke 21: 34]. His other forewarning is also true so far in this generation, saying, 'For false Christs and false prophets will arise..... so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.' [Math.24:24].
Handling Accurately the Written Word OPENS EYES
Knowing antichrist's profile is also vital for a number of other reasons. First, it is God's Word and it is His 'will' for His children to know His Word. Contrary to today's unanimous teaching from prophecy authors and TV pulpit preachers who say the 'topic of antichrist is a mystery', the Bible has provided us with vast amounts of information about antichrist, even pinpointing his profile to the 'T'. This is exactly for the purpose of our knowing and embracing the truth. As believers we are instructed to handle accurately God's Word. [2 Timothy 2:15]. Even on the topic of antichrist's profile.
As detailed in this book most all of the first 18 centuries [from 95AD through about the mid 1800's] were keenly aware to the profile of antichrist according to John's written vision of Revelation. It's only been the last 170 years or so when the world's populace has grown blind and naive to the scriptures and to antichrist's presence in the world. [Rev. 13:11].
Secondly, the False Prophet is the sole evil figure of Revelation. This is a critical fact in Revelation to know as pointed out later in this chapter. John himself easily recognized this one man as being the False Prophet during the vision itself. To John, the vision put a clarifying 'religious' face on what the Spirit of God showed him only 5 years before [in 90AD] when John wrote to the first century believers that 'antichrist is coming'. [1 John 2:18]. To the Apostle, the False Prophet he saw in the vision and 'antichrist' were clearly one and the exact same person. This is an absolute KEY for today's generation to embrace as I've identified emphatically in this book and 'Here is Wisdom'.
In fact, the Bible considers the accurate identification of the man of sin to be so critical that the only 2 verses in the New Testament which begin by identifying themselves as containing 'wisdom' [the wisdom of God] deal specifically with 'antichrist'. Both are in Revelation and both passages deal specifically with the False Prophet, 'antichrist' as John also had first referred to him. [Rev. 13:18; 17:9].
Thirdly, for persons who are not clear about the man of sin's profile, then they would likely fall into the final 'trap' of deceptiveness which scriptures forewarn will come upon this earth during the final 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation. Then, scriptures show the man of sin's phony facade being at its peak and '......in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.' [2 Thess.2:9,10].
This is the purpose of this book: to present the solid accurate handling of God's Word on these critical topics so as to 'open eyes' to the virtual 'nearness' of the Lord Jesus Christ to this very generation right now, so that many will be saved to God's glory in these final days ahead. This is exactly what the Lord intended when He exhorted End Time believers that: 'When you see all these things [End Time prophecies lined up together including antichrist's appearance] beginning to take place, then Look up! Because your Redeemer is drawing near!' [Luke 21:28].
Today's Blind Prophecy Guides have blinded God's people
As the man of sin now snakes his way into the world's forefront to fulfill the 'making' of the foretold 7 Year covenant of Mideast Peace with Israel, then the body of Christ sits blinded to it. Why? Because today's popular Prophecy preachers, Bible scholars and TV ministers across the USA unanimously have not grasped numerous crucial End Time insights whatsoever. This is an obvious fact based on the non-existent public teachings or warnings not being heard from 99.99% of today's Christian leaders and so-called prophets worldwide concerning End Time prophecies.
The small fraction of ministers we hear mostly on TV who actually are sounding the alarm about today's End Time scenario and the nearness of Christ are to be commended. However, their own eyes are also about to 'open' on this highly crucial topic of antichrist's profile amongst other key End Time topics which are presented here and handled accurately.
For example, most people today [unbelievers included] are well aware of the Biblical concept of a '7 year Tribulation' period. However, without knowing the exact profile of antichrist then the world remains blinded to his world presence, the actual closeness to the Tribulation period and even the nearness of Christ Himself as I previously mentioned. [Daniel 9:27]. This is because a whole generation has been indoctrinated for almost 40 years [since about 1970] with numerous wrong teachings from TV preachers and prophecy authors regarding antichrist's profile. This includes the huge continuing error which can still be heard resoundingly today that "no one can know who the antichrist is!" .
Importantly, although each believer bears the responsibility to 'diligently handle accurately' the Word of God for himself [2 Tim.2:15] even on the vital End Time topics like 'antichrist's profile', today's Christian Leaders and public TV ministers carry the greater responsiblility for the general blinding and misleading of God's children on this topic. This is because any so-called leader or 'Shepherd' is responsible before God to lead, oversee and feed the general body of sheep, not visa versa. However, today's ministers and so-called prophets have neglected God's children in many ways including not sounding the trumpet of alarm and readiness.
3 CRUCIAL and BLINDING errors regarding antichrist
For almost 40 years now [since 1970], Bible teachers and prophecy authors have unanimously indoctrinated believers in America and worldwide with 3 major mistakes which sharply oppose the scriptures on antichrist.
As a result [as of this book's public release / July 2008] the body of Christ and the world's 6 billion populace remain oblivious to the foretold man of sin's presence as he steps into history's limelight to fulfill his foreordained role.
These 3 dangerous and blinding errors in their teachings are:
1] 'there are 2 men coming: the antichrist PLUS the false prophet'
2] 'no one can know yet who the antichrist is now ......'
3] 'antichrist cannot be 'revealed' to believers today....'
Without question, the '2 men coming' error in itself is probably the #1 largest debacle which has blinded and misdirected people from coming even close to recognizing antichrist today. This error exploded in popularity in 1970 by Hal Lindsey in the publishing of the best-selling book 'The Late Great Planet Earth'. The book wrongly portrays a '1st man' as the ever-mysterious antichrist who is stated to eventually appear from the woodwork of society PLUS the unknown '2nd man', the false prophet. His book downplays the false prophet altogether as being only the secondary 'sidekick' of Lindsey's 'unknown' first man, antichrist.
Since 1970, this huge mistake of '2 men coming' has single-handedly and unanimously blinded a virtual downline of multiple millions of Biblically uninformed persons to this day. A virtual worldwide guessing-game as to 'who?' these '2 men' might be has existed ever since. Also from 1970 and over the years, this mistake unfolded quickly into another more pointed error being heard to this day saying that 'no one can know who antichrist is' . Both of these major errors together have brainwashed today's generation for almost 4 decades resulting in complete blindness.
Some of the more recognizable & popular personalities [of many] who are on public record in their books, TV ministries and/or public teachings with these above errors including the crucially wrong notion that 'there are 2 men coming' are: Hal Lindsey [author/TV prophecy orator], Tim LaHaye [Bible scholar/author], Jerry Jenkins [author], John Hagee [Pastor / author], Dr. Hilton Sutton [Prophecy author/TV minister], Ed Hindson [TV prophecy teacher/author], Jack Van Impe [TV prophecy 'expert'], Joel Rosenberg [prophecy author], Paul Crouch Sr. [TBN Broacasting founder/author], Bennie Hinn [evangelist/author], Pat Robertson [Christian broadcaster/author], Grant Jeffrey [Bible scholar/prophecy 'expert'/author], Perry Stone [author], David R. Reagan [TV prophecy personality/author], Greg Laurie [Pastor/author], Rod Parsely [Pastor/author], Chuck Smith [Pastor/author], Les Feldick [TV prophecy preacher] and Steve Muncie [TV preacher/author & so-called prophet].
In no way do I mention these names with mal intent or to raise any question about their beliefs in Christ. My discernment is that in their zeal for End Time understandings most of these have been sincere in their efforts athough they failed to decipher God's Word accurately by the anointing of the Spirit. [1John 2:27]. Instead, they have attempted to extract the deeper things of God's Word with their natural mind by which they have erred. [1 Cor. 2:14].
However, they are mentioned here with regard to their accountability and with hope that their own eyes will open on this crucial topic at this crucial time prophetically. As a watchman, my prime reason in mentioning their names is so that God's children and other future unsuspecting readers and listeners of their books and teachings on 'antichrist' will not also fall into the same blindness in the days ahead like untold millions already have over the last 4 decades. [*These 3 crucial errors just mentioned are sharply corrected later in this chapter.]
The 'ORIGIN' and development of these mistakes
As previously mentioned, the origin of these mistakes in this generation exploded in America in 1970 with the instant popularity of best-selling books on Bible prophecy. Prophetically, this sudden burst of global interest in Bible prophecy in the 70's was actually divinely orchestrated for today's generation. This is because scriptures foretell of an increasing global awareness of the nearness of Christ and forthcoming judgements in these End Times.
Soon, the whole world will be discussing and pondering publicly today's shaped-up Apocalyptic scenario. For the body of Christ, the days coming will be a tremendous time of unity, readiness, maturity and demonstrations of power to God's glory in their own recognition of antichrist's presence and the nearness of the Lord.
Then, after the 1970's, interest in Bible prophecies increased with another unprecedented wave occurring in the 1990's. Again, this recent explosion is prophetically on time and is ongoing today globally with Bible prophecy and the 'End Times' being a constant best-selling and record-breaking topic [1] in books, TV, movies, etc. .
But, ironically, the same prophecy authors and Bible TV ministers from the 1970's and up through today who have been used to spark a global interest in End Time prophecy are also the same ones who are responsible for having totally erred in their profiling of antichrist. Their errors [just mentioned] brought total blindness to America's believers and millions of others worldwide. These days, most believers don't give a second thought as to 'who?' the coming man of sin might be since leaders have convinced believers that 'no one can know who he is' .
Hundreds of prophecy websites which ramble and ponder over these '2 men coming' also add to today's confusion and global guessing-game. Even numerous secular TV networks, like CNN, have jumped on the 'antichrist' bandwagon adding their worldly views and then reaping the financial gains from this generation's confusion.
In effect, today's prophecy expositors have painted their own innacurrate and nebulus picture about antichrist and then have continued pondering publicly for almost 40 years as to what their picture could possibly mean. All the while, preaching and writing best-selling books which spread their own confusion. Literally, today's scenario is the 'blind leading the blind'.
So far, today's prophecy Shepherds and ear-tickling TV preachers are singly responsible for leading God's people up close and personal to the very 'trap' of blindness which Jesus Himself forewarned all of His followers to beware of in today's End Times. The Lord said, 'Be on guard....lest that day [the day of the Lord in the End Times] come upon you suddenly like a trap.....'. [Luke 21:34].
However, in the days coming just ahead as antichrist's true profile comes forth globally, then some of today's prophecy authors and preachers who erred will acknowledge their mistakes in true humility before God and the body of Christ. This will actually contribute to even greater humility and unity within the global body of believers who witness their humility as God's children prepare for the fast-approaching return of our Lord and the King of all kings.
In contrast, in the near future, other popular prophecy teachers and authors will be equally as obvious in continuing to embrace their own deceptive teachings which mislead God's people. These leaders will remain in their arrogance, pride and rebellion while demonstrating their highest desire which is to hold onto their worldly rewards and to exalt their name and reputation in the world rather than to embrace the truth of God's Word.
Today's Prophecy preachers: 'no one can know yet'...
2 of the previously mentioned huge errors of today's prophecy preachers play into each other yet both are easily dismissed scripturally. Namely, that 'no one can know who antichrist is' and 'antichrist cannnot be revealed to believers today'. These two errors could not be more fundamentally wrong scripturally.
First, the idea that 'no one can know who antichrist is' completely contradicts God's written Word. As 'TWO BEASTS RISING' and 'Here is Wisdom' both show, the Bible provides an enormous amount of precise information about the coming man of sin. Also, as stressed previously, recognizing [or not recognizing] antichrist at the virtual 'making' of the 7 Year Agreement [Dan.9:27] is a crucial key for believers in the End Times to have 100% assuredness in 'knowing that Jesus is near, even right at the door'.
Prophetically, no other generation in world history faces such an urgent and eternally decisive need to discern accurately antichrist's profile as today's final generation. Particularly, in the coming days of the greatest deceptions ever. Yet, today's Christian leaders' error that 'no one can know who antichrist is' has been, so far, received by believers worldwide hook, line and sinker.
Secondly, God's Word is also clear about the 'revealing' of the man of sin and its timing in the End Time scenario. Here again, since 1970, natural-minded prophecy teachers have unanimously not understood that his 'revealing' deals with him finally taking off his own friendly mask to show ['reveal'] his true evil nature. Scriptures clearly pinpoint this to occur at the exact mid-point of the 7 Year period. Besides the Apostles John and Paul, Daniel also identifies the man of sin himself as the very one who 'breaks the covenant' at the 7 Year mid-point and reveals himself to the world for who he really is. [Dan.9:27]. Then, he is unleashed through the final 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation, also named the 'wrath of God'. [Rev.16:1].
Athough he does not reveal or 'unmask himself' until the coming mid-7 Year point, believers in Christ and many others globally will still soon identify him on the world's stage BEFORE this. This will stir great controversy worldwide to erupt about the Papacy of Rome. It will also cause great challenges, severe persecutions and even hate to believers who stand firm in their faith, wisdom and endurance during the coming perilous times predicted by the Apostle Paul. However, the man of sin himself will continue to stay true to his religious masquerade right up until the foretold coming mid-7 year point. [This is elaborated on in depth in Chapters 3, 4 & 5]
Not '2 men coming'
Like the other 2 major errors just described, the '2 men coming' theory also has absolutely no Biblical merit whatsoever. This is the single biggest error which believers have been programmed to believe for almost 40 years about 'antichrist'. Collectively today, untold hundreds of millions of believers, prophecy enthusiasts and common persons alike worldwide are still looking for '2 men' coming in these End Times. Hundreds of Bible prophecy websites add to this fallacy.
Again, the root of this error began in the 70's and has unanimously continued in the downline of prophecy authors and teachers ever since. The prime verses themselves which have been completely misinterpreted to this day are the first 10 verses of Revelation 13 regarding the 1st BEAST with 7 heads and 10 horns. [Rev.13:1-10].
Although the Apostle John only saw and also understood this 1st BEAST to strictly represent the succession of world kingdoms as John defined later [Rev.17], today's prophecy teachers have twisted the 7 headed-10 horned BEAST into also representing 'a man', the 'antichrist' himself. 'The Late Great Planet Earth' was the originator of this major blunder in our generation.
In addition, this huge '2 men coming' error also has simultaneously completely played down the False Prophet who is actually the sole evil icon of Revelation. In effect for 4 decades now, prophecy authors have made the False Prophet a secondary and almost irrelevant figure altogether. So far, this has created a total 'shell-game' of blindness and confusion about antichrist's true profile.
In fact, the topic of the False Prophet in this generation goes mostly unmentioned at all by today's popular prophecy personalities and scholars. Only rarely, a prophecy author or TV preacher might be heard making, at best, a passing and pondering remark about 'who?' he could possibly be. Here again, this is because of a total transfixation amongst prophecy-minded authors and teachers worldwide of looking for their fabricated and non-existent 'first man' of their '2 men coming' error from the 1970's. The body of Christ has followed innocently for 4 decades.
ONLY 1 MAN COMING: the False Prophet
Without any question the Apostle John clearly saw only 1 evil man in the entire vision which he identified as the False Prophet. NOT 1 PASSAGE in the entire Bible even remotely suggests that there are '2 men' coming. In fact, all prime Biblical writers about antichrist [Daniel, the Apostle John and Paul] make it perfectly clear that there is ONLY 1 MAN COMING in these End Times with never so much as a hint of a '2nd' man as is widely promoted and believed today.
In referring to this coming 1 man, the Apostle Paul calls him: 'that wicked one' [not ones], 'the man of lawlessness' [not men], the 'son of destruction' [not sons] & 'the one [not ones] whose coming is in accord with the activity of satan, with all power & signs & false wonders & with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish….”. [2 Thess. 2: 3-10].
The prophet Daniel also names him as 'a despicable person' [not persons] [Dan.11:21], a 'king…...insolent & skilled in intrigue' [not kings] [Dan.8:23], a 'little horn with eyes' [not horns] [Dan.7:8] and 'the prince [not princes] who is to come' [Dan.9:26) to mention a few of Daniel’s references to this 1 man.
Significantly, the Apostle John first coined the term 'antichrist' in about 90AD in his letters to the first century believers. Then 5 years later, John was given the up-close clarifying look at this eventual 1 man in the Patmos Isle vision and specifically identifed him as the False Prophet. [Rev.13:11; 16:13; 19:20; 20:10].
From John's perspective, 'antichrist' and the False Prophet he saw in the 95AD vison were easily recognizable as exactly one-and-the-same person. To John, the terms 'antichrist' and 'false prophet' were synonomous in referring to this coming 1 man. This is the precise understanding which John himself recognized clearly even during the vision itself as the angel continually gave the Apostle understanding of the things he was seeing.
For today's End Time generation, this insight of 'antichrist' being one-and-the-same as the False Prophet is an absolute critical KEY to grasp as emphatically pinpointed in this book and 'Here is Wisdom.'. In fact, this prime revelation from the written Word is now in process of coming to God's people although still in its infant stages compared to the global awareness and stirring which is coming.
As elaborated later in Chapters 3 & 4 of this book, the first century believers and each of the subsequent 18 generations of believers also recognized 'antichrist' exactly as John himself understood it and intended for all to understand it. It wasn't until about the mid-1800's [at the end of the outrageous Papal Inquisitions] when the world's daily awareness and public acknowledging of the evil and world-dominant False Prophet waned. Although this waning occurred, Revelation's foretold religious 'beast' had clearly been recognized by history's believers as rising from the 200's to 300's AD and then precisely confirming itself through the centuries as being the Papacy of Rome.
From the 1800's, waning interest dissipated into desensitization to the Papacy's horrific and unparalleled track record which John had seen in advance 'coming up from the earth.' [Rev.13:11]. Today, desensitization has grown into complete blindness from lack of knowledge of the Biblical profile of antichrist. This is compounded today by this generation's inattentiveness and naivity to history's proven atrocities and persecutions of multi-millions by the Popes of Rome. [*Chapter 4 exhaustively details this.]
In fact in a complete reversal, today's generation including world leaders themselves have become 100% friendly and accepting of Rome's Pontiff and the concept of the Papacy of ROME as being a natural part of the world's scenery and global politics. Literally, a red carpet is rolled out for the sitting Pope as he is welcomed in every country he visits including the United States in April 2008. In addition, virtually all of today's world leaders are aggressively seeking his participation with his world voice and unmatched global popularity in today's world affairs, even the Mideast solution as elaborated upon in Chapters 3, 4 and 5.
Soon in this generation, the Roman Pontiff, as the foretold False Prophet of Revelation, will take the lead in the forefront by his ultimate mediating of Mideast Peace for 7 years. This is clearly on the verge of occurring in this generation as shown in the following chapters. When it occurs, it will be a major 'signing' event, recognized and heralded globally. Its execution will 'start' the Biblically predicted Tribulation period which is imminent.
This entire foretold End Time scenario [Dan.9:27; Rev.6:2] is right now in its place prophetically and spring-loaded to happen today. Conceivably, it could take months or several years ahead but will most certainly take place quickly and in this generation. Without question, it will be orchestrated by ONLY 1 MAN shown in scriptures as the False Prophet and the man of sin. 'Antichrist' as the Apostle John also termed him.
Great Insight coming to God's people, a global awakening
The eye-opening understanding about the man of sin's exact profile is coming to God's people first and then to this generation globally. This popular topic, yet made mysterious by today's Prophecy speakers, is about to become crystal clear and of prime importance in this final generation.
The prophet Daniel foretold of this in referring to the End Time body of Christ by saying, 'And those who have insight will provide understanding to the many'. [Dan.11:33]. This exact scenario is about to be fulfilled in this generation as the accurate identifying of major End Time topics [like antichrist's profile and the nearness of Christ] will soon ignite true believers worldwide with fresh and life-changing readiness to meet our Lord in the air. Millions will be saved.
However, with this approaching awareness about antichrist is also coming the greatest spiritual stirring and global turmoil in world history. Christians will be a hated group. This is why Jesus encouraged believers saying, 'But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.' [Math.24:13].
Although 'many' of this generation's 6 billion people will soon 'see' these critical truths presented here, some still will choose not to embrace them. Instead, scriptures show they will choose to hold onto the spirit of antichrist and the coming deceptions which will carry the rebellious and worldly-minded into the Great Tribulation.
But, believers who do gain these key End Time insights will be used mightily by the Lord from now until we are 'taken' to spread these truths along with the preaching of the Gospel up until 'the end', the last 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation. [Math.24:14,15]. This is God's exact plan for today's End Time generation which has been written by the prophets.
As God's Word is exalted in this earth in the days ahead, then God Himself will be inherently exalted on earth at the same time. After His Word is exalted, then He will exalt Himself again in His great and final outpouring of His Spirit with great signs and wonders being demonstrated by Spirit-filled believers as a final witness to the world. After that, God's children will be 'taken' since we are not destined for wrath, which is the final 3 /12 year period. [1Thess.5:9; Rev.16:1].
But, concerning these historically critical times coming, the prophet Daniel foretold of the magnificent and eternal blessings which are in store for all believers who will have gained these final 'insights' and also will have 'provided understanding to the many' while even 'leading the many to righteousness' .
Daniel said: 'And those who have insight will shine brightly, like the brightness of the expanse of heaven; and those who lead the many to righteousness, will shine like the stars forever & ever.' [Daniel 12:3].
>>>>>> end Chapter 2 / Antichrist / Copyright September 2007 / All Rights Reserved.
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