The Arrival of the Antichrist

Old Testament Reading – Daniel 9:21-27
New Testament Reading – Revelation 13:1-17

The Arrival of the Antichrist
“The Ruler from Rome Rises”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

   Even though the Apostle Paul had taught these first-century Christians the truth about the end-times, they were still were vulnerable to deception.

• That fact should awaken us from our spiritual arrogance, lest we too become deceived in these last days.
• In our first two sermons, we attempted to show how the spirit of the antichrist is working in our day and how hundreds of thousands of people have been, and are being deceived, even within their own churches, because they are not hearing the truth about biblical prophecy.
• The church is well into the Laodicean age, the apostasy Paul said would come is here. Therefore, the arrival of the antichrist is very near.

   In this second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul assures them they are not living in the “Day of the Lord” for three reasons:

• The Day of the Lord was God’s judgment on unbelievers, not believers – it did not involve them.
• The Day of the Lord could not begin until after the Rapture of the Church – that had not happened.
• The Day of the Lord could not come until the “falling away” first, which is the apostasy, and the man of sin is revealed, the antichrist.

Seeing the Apostasy is now here, the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the Rapture. Then the antichrist will be revealed and the Day of the Lord’s judgment will begin.

• While Christians will not know the complete identity of the antichrist, according to Daniel 9:26, he will rise from the revived Roman Empire to become the leader of the New World Order.

1. God’s Plan for Israel – Daniel 9:24 – “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

   Near the end of Israel’s 70-years of captivity in Babylon, Daniel prayed for God to forgive his people of their sins and allow them to return to Jerusalem. As he was reading the prophecy of Jeremiah, the Angel Gabriel came and revealed unto him the future of the Jewish people from that day to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

• God had decreed 70 weeks of history to “finish” His plans for His people and the City of Jerusalem.
• The 70 weeks stood for 70 weeks of years, or 490 years, in which six things would be accomplished:
  • “Finish the transgression” – God’s people would never rebel against Him again.
  • “Put an end to sin” – God’s people would not desire to sin.”
  • “To atone for iniquity” – every sin would be paid for in full.
  • “To bring everlasting righteousness” – the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
  • “To seal the vision and prophecy” – all prophecies will be fulfilled.
  • “To anoint the Most Holy” – Jesus will return and inhabit the “Most Holy Place” in Jerusalem.
• For these things to be fulfilled, the Jews must be back in Israel, in control of the city of Jerusalem, and the third temple must be built.
• Over six million Jews now live in Israel, but they do not control Jerusalem, nor can they build their temple. This is the source of conflict today.

 2. God’s Plan for Christ – Daniel 9:25-26A – “From the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks…after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

   The decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was issued in the month of Nisan, in the 20^th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes, which on our calendar would be 444 B.C.

• Seven weeks – 49 years – was to rebuild the city, bringing the timeline down to 396 B.C.
• Sixty-two weeks – 434 years – was to wait for “Messiah the Prince” to come – for a total of 483 lunar years.
• Converting the 483 lunar years into 173,880 days brings the timeline to April 6, A.D. 33, the very day Jesus made His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
• Rather than being received as the Messiah, Jesus was “cut off” – He was crucified, buried and abandoned, and Gabriel’s prophetic clock “stopped” – temporarily!

 3. God’s Plan for the Antichrist – Daniel 9:26 –27 “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…and he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.”

   Daniel said “the people of the prince shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…and confirm a covenant with many.”

• The people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and burned the temple were the Roman Legion in 70 A.D.
• The person who makes a covenant with Israel for seven years and then breaks it after 3.5 years is the antichrist.
• Therefore the “antichrist” rises from Rome.

   In Daniel 2:31-35, Daniel interpreted a vision for King Nebuchadnezzar, who had seen an image of a man with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and clay. God revealed unto Daniel, that human history would be divided into seven world empires, descending in their power, until they were destroyed by a “stone” – meaning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

In Daniel 7, 8, and 11, he refers to the “Great Beast” as the antichrist that will rise from the revived Roman Empire, which is the European Union.

• He “wages war” – a military genius with great power
• He “wears out the saints” – persecutes those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior during the tribulation
• He is “profane and blasphemous” – exalts himself above all gods and claims to be god.
• Whether he is a political, military or religious leader, we don’t know and we won’t know. But he will rise from the revived Roman Empire and rule the world for seven years, until he is crushed by the return of Jesus Christ.

   In Daniel 9:27, Daniel said, “he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.”

• This is Daniel’s 70^th week; the final seven years of this age. The antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for seven years, allowing them to rebuild the temple and restore their sacrificial system of worship. Then he will break that covenant after 3.5 years, turn against the Jews, enter the temple and desecrate it, and fight against the Jews until he is finally destroyed by the return of Jesus Christ to earth.
• In Matthew 24:15, Jesus referred to this blasphemous event as the “abomination of desolation”, and in verse 21, He referred to these last 3.5 years as “great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”