The Antichrist.

 
THE Antichrist (1 John2:18), the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:33Let 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; (2 Thessalonians 2:3)), the king that shall do according to his own will (Dan. 6:36) — all different titles of the same individual — and his confederacy with the last head of the Roman Empire, is a subject of prophecy even as the true Messiah. Not merely does Scripture present him in his moral characteristics, but as an absolute individuality.
It was necessary in the fulfillment of Scripture for the true Christ to be presented and rejected by His people the Jews, before the false could be presented and accepted (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)). There must be a true before a counterfeit. Prophetic chronology concerning this dual confederacy of evil under Satanic control (compare Rev. 13:2, 112And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)) makes no mistake; its language is clear and conclusive. There is a prophetic time given for their career, however much the Lord may be pleased to cut it short in righteous judgment for the deliverance of His persecuted remnant (Matt. 24:2222And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)).
With these few prefatory remarks, let us turn to Scripture. First, when does this career commence? Daniel 9:2727And 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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27) furnishes the answer. We must not confound “the people of the prince that shall come” of verse 26, with the “he” of verse 27. The people of the prince that shall come were to destroy the city and the sanctuary. This they did subsequent to the Messiah being cut off. It was God’s government upon those who rejected Him, as shown by the Lord in Matthew 22:77But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (Matthew 22:7). The Romans under Titus were the instruments of this, and from thence wars and desolations continue. But the coming of the prince of Daniel 9:2626And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26), the “he” of verse 27, is still future.
Doubtless, most who study the subject are clear as to this. Why then should there be difficulty about the one week distinguished from the rest in the seventy weeks determined upon Daniel’s people, &c.? Has anything happened in the history to show that this singular prophetic period has commenced? A careful study of this remarkable prophecy necessarily leads us to a conclusion in the negative. The sixty-nine have been fulfilled in the cutting off of Messiah, the Prince1 (see vers. 25, 26), but the one week has particularly to do with the “he” of verse 27. We read, “And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and on account of the overspreading (wing) of abominations, there shall be a desolator, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (we quote from a more literal rendering of the passage). It is therefore evident from the way the prophet brings before us this isolated week, that its fulfillment is immediately connected with this evil man whom we identify as the first beast of Revelation 13., the last imperial head of Rome, with whom Antichrist, the false King of the Jews, the false prophet, the worker of miracles under Satanic power, will be in confederacy.
In the midst of the week he breaks covenant with the Jews. This covenant, we observe, he makes for one week. This is the only mention we get of the one week in so definite a way. This breach of covenant is doubtless referred to in Psalm 55:20, 2120He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. 21The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. (Psalm 55:20‑21), although Judas may be fore-shown in previous verses of the Psalm (see vers. 12, 13, 14), for the treatment of Christ in His day answers very much to what the persecuted remnant will have to endure in that day; and verses 20, 21 is the waking up of that remnant to his deceptions.
Now it is clear that the book of Revelation notices specially the, fulfillment of the last half of the week, but the apostasy of Christendom is to be consummated too, and this, after the removal of the Church (2 Thess. 2:33Let 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; (2 Thessalonians 2:3)). With the removal of the Church a resumption of prophetic events takes place, perhaps not necessarily immediately, but certainly events will go on which culminate in the coming “of the man of sin, the Antichrist.” It is clear from the Psalms that two characteristics show themselves in this man, viz., deceit and violence. May we not say that he gains his position by the former, after which he develops the latter? Time will be occupied in his gaining the summit of his power, time in which to mature his plans; when these are matured he will throw off the mask. Joining affinity with the first beast of Revelation 13., his sway for the aggrandizement of that beast (whom we have referred to as the prince of Daniel 9:2626And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26), the “he” of verse 27) will be fully recognized, both by the infidel section of the Jews, and the ten kings who give their power and Honor to the first beast.
This will be the signal for the judgment of the Mother of Harlots (see Rev. 17. and 18.), that the name of Christianity may be stamped out of the earth. For God will put it into their hearts to fulfill His will, it is His governmental act upon the corrupt religious system, false to the name of Christ, and which has been spued out of His mouth. She receives her doom at their hands, although it is the judgment of God. It is then that this Satan incarnate, in conjunction with the Roman imperial head (for it is the culminating point of the first man’s sinful history under Satanic control), assumes the position and character foretold in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 9, 103Let 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; 4Who 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. (2 Thessalonians 2:3‑4)
9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9‑10). A remarkable type of this confederacy is found in the fact of Pilate and Herod shaking hands on the day when the true Messiah was cut off. It is then that the zenith of his career is reached, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. He sets up the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place, and becomes for the time being, with his confederate, a wing of protection to all who bow to it. This, we presume, takes place in the midst of the week; and under the evil rule of this confederacy, the covenant made by the. Roman prince with the Jews being “broken,” the faithful remnant whose eyes will be open to the “delusion,” refusing to bow, like the three Hebrew captives in the beginning of the Gentile supremacy (see Dan. 3.), are subjected to unprecedented tribulation, described by Jeremiah in chapter 30: 5-7. The period is marked in Revelation 11.; the court of the temple and the holy city, given to the Gentiles, is trodden under foot forty and two months (ver. 2). The Lord points His disciples to this period of the great tribulation in Matthew 24:15-2215When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:15‑22), and gives instructions which will be useful to the remnant of those days. Some will be slain; others,... protected by divine providence and intervention, will be delivered from the power of Antichrist and the Roman beast (“wild beast”) by the coming of the true Messiah from heaven (see Rev. 19:1111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11) to end). Satan is then taken, shut up in the abyss, and the universal sway of the Son of man commences. We would remark that this generation of apostate Jews, headed by the false prophet, the Antichrist, is clearly set forth in the gospels, both by the Lord’s own teaching, and the personal treatment He received from those who rejected Him. The Psalms, too, clearly point to them.2
Let it be repeated that the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy has to do with the career of these two men. As to the three and a half years of Christ’s personal ministry being a fulfillment of the first half of the week, to accord with the last half specially noted in Revelation, Scripture is silent upon it; it may form a kind of moral link in the chain, but prophetic chronology is clear. H. L.
 
1. It is scarcely correct to say that “sixty-nine weeks have been fulfilled in the cutting off,” &c. The verse says, “After the three score and two weeks,” &c., but how long after is not stated. — ED.
2. A solemn sequel to their acceptation of Caesar as their king before Pilate, at the mock trial of Jesus (John 19:55Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! (John 19:5)).