Revelation 12-14 and Others: The Final Antichrist and his father, Satan

 Let’s learn a little more about the Last Days; after all, we may be in it!

Let’s start with II Thessalonians 2:1-3. For those genuine Christians at that future time:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled…. as though the Day of Christ had come.³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…

Paul is introducing this theme—"concerning the coming of…Christ” and “our gathering together.” So he means the rapture. Further proof is in the word “coming” --it’s the Greek word “parousia,” which is in many verses on the subject of the rapture. The term “Day of Christ” also confirms it (Phil. 2:16).

The brethren were troubled, thinking they had missed the rapture, which a fake letter said. He reassures them by saying that they had not missed the rapture--and what did he give as proof? “That Day will not come until the “man of sin, the “son of perdition”—which both mean the antichrist, is “revealed.”

But when is the antichrist “revealed”? Daniel 9:27:

Then he (the prince, v.26) shall confirm a covenant with many for one seven; But in the middle of the seven He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate…

This needs further explanation. It says that a “prince,” (believed to be the antichrist) makes a covenant with “many” (the Jews, we believe), of seven years, and in the middle, he reveals who he really is—a Jew-hater and Christian-hater. How does he reveal himself for who he really is? After joining the Jews in a covenant, he decides to cut off the “sacrifice and offering,” which is important to the Jews, which amounts to a betrayal of the covenant. And he will show his true feelings for the Jews by slaughtering them, beginning in Jerusalem. To pile insult upon insult, he erects an idol, maybe of himself, in the Holy of holies in the restored temple —that’s an “abomination.” That act will bring desolation in the Temple.

For further proof, note the first phrase of Ezekiel 7:27 below. The antichrist (called “the prince” as in Daniel 9:26) is clothed with desolation, having cast an idol in the Holy of holies in the temple. The Jewish people are trembling because they know that he means evil for them. I would like to add a comment on the rest of that verse, and the one that follows, from Zechariah 13:8. Both signal that God also accepts responsibility for this event, by allowing for this to happen. Not surprising, since Jews, currently and in the Last Days, do not believe either the New Testament, or even the Old Testament. They are almost all, in the land of Israel, atheistic or agnostics.  Their thinking is, God did not “do them any favors” in the Holocaust, so their hearts are hard.

The prince will be clothed with desolation, And the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, And according to what they deserve I will judge them; Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”

And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it

The next verses come from Zechariah 14:1-2. The Day of the Lord refers to the devastation happening to the Jews during the Last Days. It climaxes at the same time as the Day of Christ, when Jesus calls for His people to meet Him in the clouds. There is a Judgment at that time. It is a time of trouble for the Jews. God does not do any miracles for them, rescuing them  like He did during the 1948, 1967, and 1973 wars; He allows them to be overtaken. Most of them gave Him no credit for His earlier miracles.

Behold, the Day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity

To our original point, a summary: the antichrist pretends to a peace agreement “covenant” with the Jews for 7 years, but begins the second half of that period by attacking and slaughtering Jews in Jerusalem, thus “revealing” himself to be a Jew-killer and antichrist. Since this “reveal” has to come before the rapture, and since the “reveal” comes after 3-1/2 years of the tribulation, according to II Thessalonians above, we conclude that there is no rapture before the 7 years.  At best, it is after the middle, after the first 3-1/2 years of wars, famines, etc. has gone by. Those Christians living at that time will have to suffer through it as well.  

Why did Satan and his son, the antichrist, hate the Jews so much? Starting in Revelation 12:3, 4, and 13 we see the reason why:

…a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ⁴… Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child…

The dragon is also called the devil--Satan—which means Adversary. Satan used to be a favorite angel of God; he was called Lucifer, a bearer of light. But his pride to be like God eventually caused God to throw him out of heaven and separate him from other angels. But he had a following; one-third of the angels joined him. These are likely demons now. Satan and his demons are immortal, which means they have lived, and will live until they are thrown into hell—even the ones that Jesus threw out of people and went into pigs who then destroyed themselves. The demons still lived.  During this vast time in the thousands of years that mankind has been around, they have accumulated a lot of knowledge. Because of this, they can perform what seems to be supernatural feats. Being immortal, they are interdimensional. They are strong enough to fight Michael and other good angels. But since they are created, they are under the sovereign rule of God. So they ultimately lose.  Which means God’s plan will still carry out. And God has given us special powers to make demons flee from us if we have faith--when we call on the name of Jesus for rescue from one.

Satan made his goal to kill Jesus or His ascendants, so Jesus couldn’t die for our sin. If he succeeded, we all die ourselves because of our sin, and never make heaven (God is holy.). Since Satan knew that Old Testament Scripture prophesied that Jesus’ incarnation would come from the Jews (Genesis 49:10), he wanted to “get him" in advance, by obliterating the Jewish race. Satan would love nothing more than to make the Bible prophecy of His race to be untrue. That’s why Satan “persecuted the woman (Israel)” in Rev. 12:4 above, since she will produce the Child, Jesus the Son of God.  But that early effort to kill Jesus’ forebears failed, since God always protected a remnant of Jews; so Jesus was born through the Jews, as predicted, despite Satan’s efforts.  Though Satan even saw to it that Jesus was killed, Jesus’ death was turned to the good by paying for our sins, so that we who obey Him can have access to heaven, despite our sin. The resurrection three days after Jesus’ death was a total surprise to Satan.  Then Jesus spent 40 more days on earth, showing that indeed He had risen from the dead. He then ascended to be with His Father.

But Satan still is working; his goal is to make us not believe that supernatural happenings still exist, and Jesus is not God. And to distract us by getting us thinking how to survive and be happy on earth and not think about what happens when we die. If he is successful, we go to hell.

In end times, Satan will be removed totally from his access to God. His job as accuser is done.  This is prophesied in Revelation 12:7-9 below:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…..for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them… has been cast down.

Satan is possibly now on earth, running his show live; so he will torture mankind more intensively than ever before—Jews first.  His “best” act in end times will be to introduce to the world, the antichrist.  This man will be possessed of Satan so much, that he knows full well of Satan’s thoughts, his great desire to lie and kill. So all of Satan will be in him.  He makes friends with the Jews first, deceiving them. While his real focus is on killing as many of the Jews as he can, God has given the Jews in Scripture (see Revelation 12 below) a place to hide (many feel that it’s a nearby mountainous, yet protected wilderness region in Jordan known as Petra—which still has a water-supply available), so some—very few who believe--will be given a way of escape for the second-half 3-1/2 years while the antichrist begins torturing and killing other Jews and Christians and who did not believe Scripture and didn’t hide.  Here is Revelation 12:3-6, summarizing this. The 1260 days is 3-1/2 years.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. ⁵ She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. ⁶ Then the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The Jews should move fast to get out of Jerusalem when the Antichrist comes with his armies. This happens in the middle of the 7 years—when he is “revealed.” See Matthew 24:

 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”…  ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes…  ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

The second half is correctly called the Great tribulation for its terrible killings, more than in the first half due to war. Much suffering will still be in the first 3-1/2. Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 say that in the first 3-1/2 years there will be deception that is cunningly done to get people away from Jesus—and to hell at the Judgement. The same chapters say there also will be wars, followed by extreme famine, earthquakes, and epidemics—all in the first 3-1/2 years. After the antichrist’s true demonic character is exposed in the middle, the worst is still yet to come. He begins the second 3-1/2 years by persecuting and killing Jews and Christians.  After he makes martyrs of many, THEN there is the rapture and Judgment.  

I believe that true Christians endure much more suffering in the last 3-1/2 years than in the wars, etc in the first 3-1/2. Part of my reasoning is based on how he takes over the world economy, and true Christians will not be able to buy food or anything unless they take his “mark.” Revelation 13:16-17 says:

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name--666.

But true Christians will not take the mark—because he will make it an article of worship of him. So Christians will suffer genocide—experiencing famine, no place to live, because they refuse to deny Christ as their only God—our worship is only for Him.

More suffering in the second half than the first half is also proven by Revelation 6:9-11:

 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. ¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. It’s possible that relief for true Christians will not come until near the end of the 7 years.

Now a word from an opposing doctrine. There are those “pre-tribulationists” who assert that II Thessalonians 2, which I’ve proved (with Scripture) comes after the middle of the Tribulation, does not refer to the rapture at all, since they think the rapture will happen before the 7 years (ie, pre-tribulation). They think that those verses in Thessalonians refer to a separate event, Judgment. They ignore the rapture word “parousia,” and argue that the Day of Christ is the same as the Day of the Lord—which they accentuate as a Day of Judgment. But note that their doctrine says that that Day is the third appearance by the Lord.  (They say, 1 is Birth; 2 is Rapture and 3. Arrival for Judgement).  But--nowhere in Scripture does it imply that Jesus makes three appearances. Scripture only indicates two: Birth, and Rapture/Judgment. (Those latter two reach a crisis on the same day). The pre-tribulationism belief that Christians will entirely escape the tribulation by early rapture, is false doctrine, comforting but untrue. I have 3 blogs that lays all this out. But people only want to hear how they can escape all suffering; it’s convenient. But as I’ve shown above, rapture is near the end of tribulation. Those Christians alive waiting for rapture WILL suffer, and not escape until near the end of 7 years.

Why does Satan hate Christians? I thought his focus was on Jews only.

Since some Jews went into hiding, the antichrist fails to kill all the Jews. So he changes his strategy by renewing his attacks on Israel’s “offspring,” the Christians. Anybody who loves Jesus is his enemy.  In Revelation 12:13:

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now the focus of his intense persecution will also be on us—the Gentiles.  Can we take it and be faithful to our Lord?  Considering His sacrifice on the Cross for our sin, guaranteeing His believers heaven for eternity--giving our lives is the least that we can do in return.  May God help us, if those last days are in our lifetimes, that we will, in times of chaos and confusion, seek Thy Word as the only source of truth and knowledge.  And will You, Lord, give us courage if we have to give our lives? And let us seek the Holy Spirit as our Guide. We must endure to the end of our lives, depending only on our God, to make it to heaven.

I Timothy 4:1 tells us that at the end of days, people will be so far from the Lord that….

…in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons

The phrase “some will depart from the faith” says that people who believe they are saved and are Christian will abandon it under persecution pressure.  They are unwilling to give up their lives for Him; they would deny their Lord first. But didn’t Jesus give up His earthly life for us? How can they do this, since they lose heaven, as Scripture clearly points out? See Revelation 14:9-11:

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night

These poor souls will be deceived. Deception will be that bad. That also means, they haven’t truly accepted their Bibles when it says hell is their destination for denying Him and putting their trust in the antichrist and his mark. II Timothy 2:12b says flat out: If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Matthew 10:33 says the same:

But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Evil forces rule the world.  1 John 5:19 says: the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. But it also says, true Christians “know that we are of God.” (If you have any doubt about being a true Christian, ask a question here or pray when you read the Bible. Try to cover the Gospels first. Do it daily. Several blogs here will help, too.)

But God is sovereign, and His plan will carry out.  Do you feel that the “whole world lies in the path of the evil one?”  If not, then you are not sensitive to how God grieves over our sin.  Sins are now on display in society today. The real meaning of “love,” particularly love to God, is lost to most. Too many couples have no idea of faithfulness, and get divorces, which is mostly anti-Scriptural.  It’s almost impossible to watch new movies without hearing an abundance of language blaspheming God and Jesus. The media is no help:  Women danced nearly nude at a recent Grammies. Translating Bad Bunny’s Spanish in Super Bowl LX gives you explicit sexual references that are guttural.  People have an attraction for the unexplained powers—but not for the supernatural in the Bible, which they just dismiss as fantasy.  Well, demons will fill the interest of many, since the Bible says there will be miraculous powers by people sold out to Satan. As Matthew 24:24 says:

…false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Such people are controlled by demons; others are oppressed. Their purpose is, by showing off mysterious powers, people will follow these miracle workers rather than be led by the Holy Spirit.  As a result, many people will abandon their faith in Christ as Savior.  Remember, all the powers in this universe, apart from the true and living God, are from the devil.

Will we lose our faith when the 7 years of troubles come?

For my final verses, I leave with you Matthew 24:29-32:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

These verses are especially for the pre-tribulationists: note that “they will gather together His elect” is AFTER THE TRIBULATION. Do not be deceived.