In this week’s message Gary teaches on the attributes of the Antichrist, and how he will accepted as God during the tribulation.
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00:00Welcome to Studies with Stearman.
00:06Join us as we look deeper into the Bible.
00:10Strengthen your faith with us even as we see the day approaching.
00:15And now, here's Gary.
00:18We're going to talk about the credibility of the Antichrist this morning.
00:22The Bible says that at a certain point
00:26he has great credibility.
00:29That is, what he says is generally believed
00:33by everyone who hears him.
00:37Now, we've been speaking of the time period prior to the seven-year
00:41tribulation, which is kicked off by the Antichrist's signing of the
00:45covenant. And we've looked at Joel, the prophet, and
00:49Joel talked about how the sun and the moon would be darkened before the day of the Lord.
00:53And we're going to investigate that prophecy further this morning.
00:57We've looked at Micah, who sees the good man disappear from the earth.
01:01Zephaniah, who talks about the days before
01:05the tribulation, and Zephaniah's word concerning
01:09that time. We've looked at Zechariah, looked at a lot of the minor
01:13prophets. Malachi says that Elijah is coming
01:17before the day of the Lord. So, we're trying to develop a picture of what it
01:21looks like, according to the Bible, in the years prior to the
01:25tribulation. And during this
01:29however many year period it is, I believe the rapture
01:33has to be a minimum of three and a half years before the tribulation.
01:37And could be a maximum of ten or more years.
01:41The longer I study this, the more I believe that a long
01:45period of time elapses between the rapture of the church and the coming
01:49of the Antichrist. How does he make a name for himself?
01:53Let's look at John chapter 5 and look at the whole idea
01:57of a name. John chapter 5
02:01starts when Jesus is in Jerusalem
02:05at the pool of Bethesda. We've all read this story a dozen
02:09times. A man who had for 38 years
02:13laying at the pool of Bethesda waiting to be healed.
02:17He believed, as did many of the Jews, that those were healing
02:21waters and that there was an angelic presence there that could
02:25heal him. And Jesus walked up and said, do you want to be healed?
02:29And the man said, I don't have anybody to carry me down to the water.
02:33Jesus said, get up. Take up your bed and walk.
02:37The man immediately got up, took up his bed and walked.
02:41And Jesus was immediately
02:45accosted by Jewish temple authorities who said it was illegal
02:49for this man to take up his bed and walk on the Sabbath. And thus
02:53came a whole argument, a line of argumentation
02:57concerning the law and the Sabbath. And then
03:01starting in the 17th verse of John chapter 5
03:05Jesus says this. Jesus answers their accusation
03:09concerning his work. And he says,
03:13and I work. And the Greek language there makes it clear
03:17that Jesus is saying, my father and I work together.
03:21We work as a team. This work that Jesus is describing is the
03:25work of natural law.
03:29Natural law is the orbiting of the planets,
03:33the formation of galaxies, the law of gravity,
03:37all of the things that you think of. The fact that water
03:41behaves in a certain way, gets hard below 32 degrees Fahrenheit
03:45and it gets vaporous above 212 degrees Fahrenheit,
03:49all of that is the work of Jesus. He designed the whole thing.
03:53So he says here, my father and I are responsible for natural law.
03:57And the Jews reacted by saying they wanted to kill him.
04:01Therefore the Jews sought more to kill him because
04:05he'd not only broken the Sabbath but said also that God was his
04:09father, making himself equal with God. This is Jesus' real crime, by the way.
04:13This is the reason that he was crucified. Now,
04:17the Jews had always expected when Messiah came
04:21that he would announce himself as Hashem, the
04:25name. It's what they call him. Even to this very day, he is
04:29the name, the unpronounceable name. In the Old Testament, Yahweh,
04:33in the New Testament, Yeshua, but he is the name.
04:37When we think of the name of Jesus, we think of all of the authority of God.
04:41The Jews also worship
04:45God as the name, and when Jesus
04:49made his name equal to the name of God, the Jews sought to kill
04:53him. This is an important idea, by the way.
04:57And then Jesus says, verse 19,
05:01"...and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself,
05:05but what he seeth the Father do. For what things soever he
05:09doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the
05:13Son, showeth him all things that himself doeth, and
05:17he will show him greater works than these, that ye may
05:21marvel." In other words, you're going to be surprised
05:25at some of the things that happen. "...for as the Father
05:29raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he
05:33will." Jesus started out by saying, my name
05:37is equal to the Father. Then he says, my name is equal to
05:41God in power. I can do whatever God the Father does.
05:45And then starting in verse 22, he raises
05:49the argument even to a higher level. "...for the Father judgeth no
05:53man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son,
05:57even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth
06:01not the Father which sent him." And then here's one of those verily, verily.
06:05"...I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
06:09me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
06:13but is passed from death unto life."
06:17So now he's raised the level of the argument still further by
06:21saying that he also has the authority of God the Father.
06:25So he says, I work with God the Father in natural law,
06:29I work with God in power, and I work with God in authority.
06:33Basically he's laying down a
06:37case step-by-step here that there's no difference
06:41between himself and God, and he's doing this
06:45work before people who are supposed to
06:49be the authorities of Israel. Verse 25, "...verily, verily, I say unto you,
06:53the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the
06:57voice of the Son of God, and they that hear
07:01shall live." Now the reason I'm going through this is
07:05I'm going to be talking about what do you have to do to make a name for
07:09yourself? Maybe when you're
07:13young, and I can almost remember what that was like, maybe
07:17when you're really young you think, I'm going to make a name for myself.
07:21And you lie in bed at night and you think, I can do this, this, this, and this, and
07:25if I do all those things I'll make a name for myself.
07:29I never had to make a name for himself. He was Hashem,
07:33he was the name. And he's laying that out.
07:37He says here in verse 26, "...the Father hath life in himself,
07:41so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,
07:45and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
07:49Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming
07:53in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall
07:57be heard by the people of the earth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of
08:01life, they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
08:05I can of mine own self do nothing.
08:09As I hear, I judge. And my
08:13judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the
08:17will of the Father which hath sent me." Now finally Jesus said
08:21after all these other things, I'm equal to the Father in nature,
08:25I have authority, and also I am the
08:29judge. And as we learn in other Scripture,
08:33God the Father has given to God the Son the authority to
08:37judge. God the Father does not Himself act as judge,
08:41but God the Son does. And here
08:45Jesus is announcing Himself as judge. And then He
08:49says this, verse 31, "...if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not
08:53true." Wow. Now you think about that. He has just
08:57told them, He's just told them, I'm equal to God
09:01in power, I'm equal to God in nature, I'm equal to God in
09:05authority, my judgment is perfect. However,
09:09He says, "...if I bear witness of myself,
09:13my witness is not true."
09:17And you know in the Mosaic Law everything has to be established in the mouth
09:21of the Lord. And so He's telling them, I have
09:25two witnesses. And they all knew that. Jesus is talking
09:29to the authorities, the legalists of national Israel.
09:33And He's telling them what they already know. If I bear witness of
09:37myself, my witness is not true. There is another
09:41that beareth witness of me, and I know the witness which He
09:45witnesseth of me is true. He said unto John, and He
09:49said unto John, and Jesus is saying, I have a witness
09:53who can validate. His name's John. John the
09:57baptizer. He can tell you. Now,
10:01you talk about hurling an insult into the face of the leaders of national
10:05Israel. They didn't like John. John had stood up
10:09and preached against them vigorously for years. He was
10:13an oddball renegade who lived out on the desert and came in and
10:17he just laid down the law and they all hated him. And Jesus now says,
10:21go ask John, he's my witness. Well, talk about hurling an insult into the
10:25face of Israel. Verse 34,
10:29but I receive not testimony from man. These things I say
10:33that you might be saved. He was a burning and shining
10:37light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in His sight. But I have
10:41greater witness than that of John. For the works
10:45of the Father have given me to finish the same works that I do. Bear witness
10:49of me, that the Father has sent me. Now John was a
10:53medium, if you will, through which the message of the Spirit flowed.
10:57Matthew 3.17, at the baptism of Jesus,
11:01those present heard a voice from Heaven saying, this is my beloved
11:05Son, in whom I am well pleased. John heard that.
11:09Others heard it. John, who heard those
11:13words, then went and told other people that he had heard
11:17the words. In other words, there were two witnesses
11:21to Jesus' divine authority. There was the witness of the Father, the witness
11:25of the Son, John acting as an intermediary,
11:29and what Jesus is doing here in the fifth chapter is establishing
11:33Himself as equal to God in the eyes of the leaders
11:37of national Israel. Verse 37, and the Father
11:41Himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of
11:45me. By the way, that happened more than once. It also happened at the
11:49transfiguration. Luke 9.35, there came a voice out of
11:53the clouds saying, this is my beloved Son, hear Him.
11:57You know, you really have to be dull of mind
12:01not to understand that Jesus is equal to God.
12:05That Jesus is God. You really have to
12:09have almost all your lights turned off, because the Bible is just full of it
12:13from one end to the other. And Jesus stands up and says
12:17so. And you have to either believe these words or reject them.
12:21Father Himself which sent me
12:25hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His
12:29shape, and you have not His word
12:33abiding in you. For whom He hath sent
12:37Him, you believe not.
12:41And then He comes to the end of His argument. And this is what brings us to
12:45the Antichrist. Jesus says, search the Scriptures,
12:49for in them you think you have eternal life,
12:53and they are they which testify of Me. Man, you'll not come to
12:57Me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
13:01but I know you that you have not the love of God in you.
13:05I am come in My Father's name, and you
13:09receive Me not. If another shall come in his own
13:13name, him will ye receive.
13:17How can you believe which receive honor of
13:21another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?
13:25Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is
13:29one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom you trust.
13:33If I had you believe Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.
13:37But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe
13:41My words? And by the way, that's true to this day. There are
13:45people who believe that Moses didn't write the books of Moses.
13:49Modern Scriptural authorities generally reject the idea that Moses wrote
13:53the books of Moses, saying that in fact in 1450
13:57BC when Moses came out of Egypt, there was no such thing as written
14:01Hebrew. They actually say that. There was, of course, written
14:05Hebrew. And Moses could write all of the languages of the
14:09ancient world, a well-educated man. And to top
14:13it all off, Jesus said, Moses wrote of
14:17Me. Just says it with his own mouth. So if you don't believe
14:21Moses wrote the books of Moses, you don't believe Jesus.
14:25The whole fifth chapter of John is there for one reason, and that is
14:29to receive Him in Christ Jesus' name.
14:33And right at the critical point, the critical juncture in this
14:37discourse, he says in verse 43,
14:41"...I am come in My Father's name, and you receive Me not.
14:45If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."
14:49So, this is a prophecy of the
14:53Antichrist who is coming to Israel, and he will be
14:57the King of Israel. And as we have said several
15:01times over the past weeks, when he does
15:05come in his name, you have to ask yourself the question,
15:09what has he done to establish that name?
15:13The beginning of the tribulation, the Antichrist sits down with the elders
15:17of Israel and confirms a covenant allowing them to worship on the Temple Mount.
15:21Later he reneges, three and a half years later, and says,
15:25I can't do it anymore. But think about this,
15:29there's not a man on earth today, there's not a man alive on
15:33earth today who can do this. Think in your own mind,
15:37think of the most powerful man you can think of, and then ask yourself,
15:41could this man go over and sit down with the elders of Israel and
15:45forge a covenant allowing them to go up on the Temple Mount and build their temple?
15:49I don't think so. I don't think there's any man alive who could do that.
15:53If our president did it, or if some consortium of
15:57allied leaders from Europe did it, there would
16:01be war in the Middle East in about 30 minutes.
16:05Because the forces of Islam simply would not abide
16:09that. And yet we're told over and over again that the
16:13Antichrist does sign a covenant with the leaders of Israel
16:17and he gives them permission to go up and build their temple and do their worship.
16:21What in the world has he done to make this name for
16:25himself? You have to ask that question.
16:29In Daniel 9, 26 and 27, to review a little bit,
16:33in Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks
16:37you have the first 62 weeks
16:41developing the first coming of Jesus in the 70-week prophecy.
16:45After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for
16:49the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary
16:53and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations
16:57are determined. So this coming prince, virtually every
17:01expositor says this is a
17:05euphemism for the Antichrist in his developmental
17:09phase. He is the prince who shall come. He's not a king,
17:13he's a prince. And at the time he comes, according to Daniel,
17:17it will be with a flood
17:21and then he says unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
17:25So there will be a flood, there will be wars,
17:29and there will be desolations and he shall confirm
17:33the covenant with many for one week.
17:37When does that flood happen and when does that war happen?
17:41Unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Is that the war that's in the
17:45tribulation? I don't think so. It's the war prior
17:49to the tribulation. If you read it carefully it just has
17:53to be and we can cement this into place a little bit later.
17:57The Antichrist comes and he is
18:01of the people who destroyed the temple in 70 A.D.
18:05that means that he is a Flavian. The house of
18:09the Flavians, Titus, Vespasian, Domitian, these are
18:13people who laid waste to the temple. The bloodline of the Flavians
18:17also included the line of Seleucus. And the line
18:21of Seleucus we have called the bloodline of the Antichrist.
18:25That is to say he is a Seleucid and his
18:29Seleucid roots go back to the tribe of Dan, according to
18:33the historian Josephus. And so the Antichrist
18:37is descended from the two great enemies of Israel.
18:41Out of Dan came a
18:45fire-breathing everlasting enemy and
18:49out of the Flavians came the royal
18:53houses of Rome which are descended down to today's leaders.
18:57And so the Antichrist is going to come out of this group of people
19:01he's going to confirm or strengthen the covenant, ratify this covenant
19:05with many. Haravim, the leaders
19:09of Israel for one week, for one shavuah, seven-year period
19:13and in the midst of that shavuah he shall cause the sacrifice and
19:17oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he
19:21shall make it desolate even until the consummation of that
19:25determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Well,
19:29Jesus mentions this same thing, same event.
19:33Jesus talks about the same event giving it the
19:37abomination of desolation.
19:41Jesus says,
19:53What has this man done?
19:57First of all, to put him in a position to sign a covenant
20:01and secondly, in the midst of the seven-year covenant
20:05that he has just signed, to stand up
20:09and declare an end to it. To preempt the covenant
20:13and say, alright, all deals are off, I'm standing
20:17up, I'm taking over. What kind of a man, what has he done to
20:21rise to such power? Let's go back to Daniel
20:25and see if we can get another view of this. Daniel chapter 11,
20:29the prophecy of the willful king. The 11th chapter of Daniel is
20:33in the Bible for one reason. It has 45 verses.
20:37And the 45 verses of Daniel chapter 11
20:41begin with the rule of Persia.
20:45They move to the rule of Xerxes.
20:49In the third verse of Daniel 11 you move
20:53to the rule of Alexander the Great
20:57called a mighty king who shall stand up. And as you know, Alexander died
21:01very young, and when he died his rulership
21:05was split four ways. When it was split
21:09four ways, two of the four ways sort of
21:13dwindled into nothing, leaving two major recipients of
21:17power from Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.
21:21Ultimately the Ptolemies were absorbed into the Roman Empire,
21:25the Seleucids controlled the Middle East, and finally
21:29became absorbed again into the Roman Empire after the destruction
21:33of the temple in AD 70. And Daniel chapter 11 goes through this
21:37whole line or lineage of power.
21:41So it comes down through the Seleucid dynasty until you get
21:45to verse 35 in Daniel
21:4911, and some of them of understanding shall fall to try them,
21:53to purge, to make them white, even to the time of the end, because
21:57it is yet for a time appointed. And then
22:01you can sort of draw a line right there. And from verse 35
22:05to verse 36 you skip from the days of the
22:09Hasmonean dynasty into the future and the coming of the
22:13Antichrist. And verse 36 talks about
22:17how the Antichrist gets himself a name.
22:21That's what we've been talking about. How do you make a name for yourself?
22:25Here the Antichrist is called the
22:29king. When he signs that covenant
22:33or in Daniel's prophecy of the signing of the covenant he's called
22:37the prince. A prince is a man who hadn't yet taken the throne.
22:41A king is a man who has taken the throne. So now
22:45we shift the scene from prince to king. The prince
22:49who shall come signs this covenant. At that point in time
22:53he had a lot of power. But now in verse 36 he
22:57has much, much more power. The king shall do according to his will.
23:01He shall exalt himself, magnify himself above every god, shall speak
23:05marvelous things. In fact the word for marvelous there in
23:09the Hebrew is miraculous things. Against
23:13the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished.
23:17The indignation is the time of judgment which we call the day of the
23:21judgment, the great tribulation. We call it the time of trouble, the
23:25day of wasteness, darkness, and gloom. All those names
23:29here it's called the indignation. And so he's going to
23:33speak marvelous things against God. He's going to prosper
23:37until the tribulation be accomplished. And by the way that involves
23:41the judgment of both Israel and the Gentile nations.
23:45For that that is determined shall be done.
23:49Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of
23:53women, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above
23:57all. And without getting into detail verse 37
24:01essentially says he's going to set himself up with a new
24:05form of divinity. Paul in the New Testament
24:09says that he stands up in the holy place and declares himself to be God.
24:13How do you do that? I couldn't
24:17do it. I don't know of anybody alive today who could stand up and
24:21call himself God and not be laughed off stage. Right now there's just
24:25nobody who can do that. Think of the most powerful human you can
24:29think of and imagine that guy standing up on world TV and saying,
24:33I'm God! The laughter would not stop for a
24:37week. And yet he does it. He pulls it
24:41off. He does not regard the God of his fathers,
24:45that's Jehovah, that's Elohim, nor the
24:49desire of women. And in my opinion that goes back
24:53to the worship of the goddess, the fertility goddess
24:57Ashtoreth, Diana of the Ephesians, Jupiter,
25:01Juno, whatever you want to call her. Isis, all
25:05of the pagan nations in the history of the world have worshipped the goddess.
25:09She has that reputation, the desire
25:13of women. And she's elevated all over the world. Even in this country
25:17we have the goddess Minerva or Columbia on top of our
25:21capitol dome. But that's another story. Nor regard any
25:25God for he shall magnify himself above all. So he is
25:29going to in some way
25:33convince the world that he's God. How would you do that?
25:37Somebody sat you down and said, okay, this is your job if you
25:41choose to accept it, you're going to have to make a name for yourself. So much so that
25:45at a certain point in time, say three years from now, you're going to stand up
25:49and call yourself God and people will believe you. What would you have to do to do
25:53that? You'd have to have some power.
25:57Maybe you could fly. You know, if you just go out in a parking lot somewhere and
26:01fly, that'd do it. Well, maybe not. There'd be some people
26:05that say, oh, he can fly but he's not God. Let's go on.
26:09In his estate shall he honor the God of
26:13forces. In Hebrew it reads God of
26:17fortresses. And the God of fortresses has a
26:21long history in pagan worship. For example,
26:25Diana was called the goddess of fortresses.
26:29Artemisa of the Ephesians. You remember Paul did battle
26:33with the people who worshipped Artemisa or Diana.
26:37Zeus was called the goddess of fortresses, but there are
26:41gods of fortresses. Zeus is the god of fortresses. Apollo.
26:45He's going to honor the God of fortresses.
26:49And a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver and precious
26:53stones and pleasant things. What this is saying
26:57in clear, unmistakable terms
27:01is that the Antichrist is going to rise on the reputation
27:05of the Antichrist. And God's
27:09walked among man.
27:13That's what's going to have to happen.
27:17Is it happening today? Are gods walking
27:21among man? No.
27:25Well, maybe. But we don't see them.
27:29They are not visible. But the Bible is very clear that in the latter days
27:33Moses, Deuteronomy 32, Moses prophesied in the end of days
27:37there will be new gods arising that are stronger than the
27:41old gods. This is what I believe
27:45is being spoken of here.
27:49A god of
27:53fortresses is a god who can ward off all enemies.
27:57And a god whom his fathers knew not shall he
28:01honor with gold. Who are his fathers?
28:05I believe the Antichrist comes from the tribe of Dan,
28:09and he also comes from the Flavian dynasty of Rome.
28:13He is half Roman, half Danite.
28:17He's descended from Alexander the Great who was a full-blooded Danite
28:21through the Seleucid dynasty in order to bring this
28:25prophecy to pass. He's going to honor this
28:29god with money, with treasure,
28:33gold, silver, precious stones,
28:37desirable things, maybe build a palace, I don't know.
28:41Thus shall he do in the most strongholds,
28:45that is in the inner vaults of power.
28:49What are the inner vaults of power or the most strongholds?
28:53Imagine if you will a place,
28:57a very old place built of
29:01stones. And it has a beautiful long
29:05curving drive that goes up to it from the bottom of a mountain. You have to drive three miles
29:09to get up there. And there's this place on the hill that has
29:13300 windows that are all ablaze with light.
29:17And you know there are a lot of people up there. And you drive up there
29:21and your Mercedes-Benz, or actually your chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz
29:25takes you up to that place. And on your way up there
29:29you know that the movers and shakers of the world meet in that place
29:33up there. And they've got this mahogany-paneled room with this big
29:37table, and they've got their cigars and their brandy, and they've got their plans.
29:41Right? And they meet to discuss things like the
29:45world economy or whatever. That cabal of people
29:49that you read about in conspiracy drama,
29:53that's what verse 39 is talking about.
29:57"...thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange
30:01God, whom he shall acknowledge
30:05and increase with glory." Who does this remind you of, really?
30:09Reminds me of Hitler.
30:13Remember Hitler was taken by a cabal of very wealthy
30:17men who said, Hitler, we believe you've got charisma and we're going to put you up as a
30:21leader. And in fact, you may be the man who founds the
30:25Aryan Reich, which will last for a thousand years.
30:29And this Reich is going to be empowered by
30:33the new man. We call him the Aryan man.
30:37And Hitler actually testifies in his own autobiography
30:41that he met the new man who came to him in
30:45spirit form. And by that Hitler understood that he was to
30:49come into control or come into control of the
30:53world. In other words, the societies that elevated him to
30:57power and the money that elevated him to power was augmented by
31:01a powerful God-like being whom Hitler called the spirit of the
31:05new man. This is nothing new. This has been
31:09happening for dynasty after dynasty after dynasty going all the way
31:13back to the Phoenicians who worshiped Baal. There's always
31:17going to be a God behind the power structure
31:21of the Gentile world. And there will be a strange God behind
31:25the power of the Antichrist. I don't know his name.
31:29I don't know the name of this strange God. But
31:33he's going to be the power behind the Antichrist's throne.
31:37He's going to acknowledge this strange God. And he's going to
31:41increase the persona of this strange God.
31:45Let me read verse 39 again now.
32:05I have a question. Who is the
32:09them in that sentence? Did you ever think about that?
32:13Who's he going to cause to rule over many?
32:17Who is this mysterious them? He shall cause them to rule
32:21over many. Mind you, we're talking about the prince,
32:25now the king, who's going to come in the latter days and
32:29he's going to present himself as the most powerful man on Earth. And
32:33furthermore, he's going to be able to sign a covenant with the leaders of Israel, promising them
32:37temple worship. And we're asking the question, how is he able
32:41to do this? This them, this is a
32:45mysterious them. I'm going to let you think about that a while.
32:49I've got my idea as to who this them is. It could be a delegation
32:53of powers, his representatives around the world. Let's just say that for the
32:57moment, although I don't believe that's the case.
33:01He shall cause them to rule over many and shall divide the land for gain.
33:05Now, look at verses 40-45. I read all that
33:09to get to these verses. Because we need to
33:13understand when these verses apply.
33:17And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him.
33:21Hmm. Wow. That's interesting.
33:25So the Antichrist, this willful king,
33:29he's powerful, he has credibility, and yet he's not
33:33all powerful because king of the south says, wait a minute,
33:37I'm not for one minute going to let this guy rule over me. So at the time of the end
33:41the king of the south pushes at him, king of the north shall come against him
33:45like a whirlwind with chariots, horsemen, many ships.
33:49She'll enter into the countries and she'll overflow and pass over. Hmm.
33:53So the king of the south, relative to Israel,
33:57would have to be Egypt. King of the north,
34:01well, that could be the Syrians, could be the
34:05Turks, could be the Chechnyans, could be the Russians.
34:09Coming against him like a whirlwind. Now we read elsewhere in Ezekiel
34:13that there is a northern invader who comes down and invades the land.
34:17Is this that, or is this another northern invasion?
34:21Verse 41, he shall enter also
34:25into the glorious land, the goodly land,
34:29that's the land of Israel, that is the land grant
34:33given by God to Abraham. Called here the glorious land or the goodly
34:37land, the blessed land. He shall enter also into the glorious land and many
34:41countries shall be overthrown. But these shall escape out of his hand,
34:45even Edom, Moab, chief of the children of Ammon. Those are all on the east
34:49side of the Jordan River. So there is a clash of powers
34:53from the north and south, but the eastern powers
34:57are sort of out of the picture. And verse 42,
35:01and the land of Egypt shall not escape. So there you go.
35:05Egypt catches it. We believe that Ezekiel
35:09speaks of this event, the destruction of Egypt in which Egypt will be so
35:13thoroughly destroyed that not the foot of a man or beast
35:17shall walk through the land for a forty-year period. Which
35:21sounds to me like radioactive fallout. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon
35:25the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
35:29But he shall have power over the treasuries of gold and silver over all the precious
35:33things of Egypt. And the Libyans, the Ethiopians shall be at his
35:37steps. But
35:41verse 44, now the east comes back into play again.
35:45Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go
35:49forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make
35:53away the land of Egypt.
35:57He shall go forth to make away
36:01many, to sweep them out of the picture.
36:05He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace
36:09between the seas, that would be between the
36:13Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, because the Bible
36:17speaks of the seas, the former and the latter,
36:21former and the hinder sea, and here the seas are the Mediterranean
36:25Sea. He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the
36:29seas in the glorious holy mountain. That has to be
36:33Mount Zion. It has to be. Mount Moriah, Zion,
36:37Jerusalem. So when the Antichrist finally establishes
36:41his seat of power it will be in Jerusalem, and we know that from other
36:45Scriptures. Yet shall he come to his end
36:49and none shall help him. Now I have just one simple
36:53question for you. How do those take place
36:57relative to the tribulation period?
37:01Are those verses happening before the
37:05tribulation, or are they happening during the tribulation? What do you think?
37:09Because we're talking about the Antichrist's rise to power.
37:13Now, turn to Revelation chapter
37:176.
37:21The Lamb takes the scroll, He opens the seals,
37:25the scroll which we have pictured in the past as an indictment against planet Earth
37:29has seven seals, it's a legal document. The Lamb
37:33takes the legal document, He opens it up and He begins to execute judgment
37:37because remember, He's the judge.
37:41He acts as judge. And you can't
37:45just act as judge unless you're installed as judge.
37:49No one else is installed as the judge.
37:53It's the only one with the authority. And in
37:57chapter 6 of Revelation
38:01we have an interesting
38:05series of events here. And I'm going to look at this maybe in a new
38:09way. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals and I heard
38:13as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying
38:17and I saw behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow,
38:21crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer
38:25everybody. I don't care who, I've never seen a
38:29biblical scholar who identifies the man on the white horse as other than the
38:33Antichrist. There may be a few people who have some
38:37different interpretation, but virtually everybody sees this as the Antichrist
38:41riding forth at the beginning of the tribulation. These four horses
38:45white, red, black, and pale green.
38:49These horses ride out and they are
38:53riding, I think, together. Not one horse
38:57then another horse, then another horse, then another horse. It appears to me they all
39:01four come out together. And we see a white
39:05horse and a man with a bow sitting on the horse. The bow is the Greek word
39:09taxon which is just a bow like a bow and arrow type bow, archery.
39:13Crown was given to him. If he's given a crown
39:17that means now he has rule.
39:21And he went forth conquering and to conquer. This is not
39:25his power. This is not him in power mode,
39:29this is him in prince mode. I believe that this picture of the
39:33Antichrist right now that we're looking at is a picture of the prince
39:37riding forth to consolidate his power.
39:41This would be before the tribulation period.
39:45He has not developed his power as of yet.
39:49So we're looking, I think, at a pre-tribulational event.
39:53He goes forth conquering and to conquer.
39:57Apparently he is a political and military
40:01conqueror of some kind who sees his
40:05opportunity and takes it in the midst of chaos. And the chaos is war.
40:09The second seal is open at this point. Verse 3,
40:13and when he had opened the second seal I heard the second beast, that is a
40:17cherub, say, come and see. And there went out another horse that was red,
40:21power was given to him that sat there on, take peace from the earth,
40:25and that they should kill one another. It was given unto him a great sword.
40:29Now this is the horse of war. I believe pre-tribulational
40:33horse of war. I think that this horse rides forth with the
40:37third seal, who is ultimately a politician,
40:41and he's going to take political advantage of a time of great
40:45chaos. Third seal, verse 5, when he had opened the third seal
40:49I heard the third beast say, come and see. And I beheld, lo,
40:53a black horse. This is the horse of famine and
40:57financial chaos. He that sat on him had a pair of balances
41:01or scales in his hand, and I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
41:05say, come and see, and I beheld the four measures of barley for a penny,
41:09see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. What we have here is inflation,
41:13scarcity of goods and services, and the devaluation of
41:17currency picture. Which always happens when
41:21there's a major war. Look at Germany after World War I, for example.
41:25And for the perfect picture, look at Europe. All of Europe after
41:29World War I. It was black marketeering, it was financial chaos,
41:33it was all over the place. It was all over the place.
41:37And I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see,
41:41and I beheld a pale horse. That
41:45pale is the Greek word chlori, from which we get chlorine.
41:49What it means is pale green, which is always featured as the
41:53color of death. If you've ever watched a mystery movie
41:57or the X-Files or whatever, if you want to have a really
42:01real look to a place, send somebody into a dark basement
42:05with green lights shining on the walls and water dripping. That's the
42:09picture. You know what I mean? You have this
42:13deathly pale green look. Now what would that be?
42:17Well, I think that would be what everybody's afraid of. That would be
42:21something like chemical, nuclear, biological
42:25warfare and the aftermath thereof. The prophecies
42:29of Revelation say that three and a half billion people are going to die.
42:33That's a lot of people.
42:37"...when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast say, come and see.
42:41And I looked, and behold, a pale green horse, and his name that sat on him
42:45was death, and hell followed with him, and power was given unto them
42:49over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword the hunger with death
42:53of the beasts of the earth." The fourth part of the earth
42:57of say six and a half billion people. A lot of people.
43:01Is this before the tribulation or
43:05in the tribulation? I think it's before because the fifth seal
43:09gives us a view. When he had opened the fifth seal
43:13the first four seals definitely have to do with war
43:17and chaos, the taking away of peace.
43:21The fifth seal has to do with something entirely different.
43:25"...when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
43:29slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they
43:33held." Slain for the word of God.
43:37Who would that be? Are there
43:41people under the altar of God today who have been slain for the word
43:45of God? You betcha. Millions have been slain for
43:49the word of God and they have not yet been avenged. They've been
43:53slain for a long time and they're waiting just like we're waiting for
43:57everything to shake down and for the judge to step forth.
44:01But here at the time of the riding forth of the four
44:05horsemen we get a peek under the altar, we see these
44:09souls slain for the word of God, these are the righteous saints,
44:13and for the testimony which they held.
44:17So the fifth seal, you could call it a seal of testimony.
44:21The testimony of those, call it an
44:25exhibit. I guess in law they have what's called an exhibit.
44:29If you're trying to make a case you can have something on a table marked
44:33Exhibit A over here and say, Your Honor and all assembled, I
44:37invite you to look at Exhibit A over here. And it figures into the
44:41case. Well Exhibit A in this case is the souls of them
44:45slain for the word of God and the testimony which they held.
44:49But listen to what they're saying. They're saying with a loud voice,
44:53How long, O Lord, holy and true dost thou not
44:57judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
45:01So He still at this point in time has not come forth in
45:05vengeance. The Lord has not come out as the judge and avenger.
45:09Meaning, isn't the day of the Lord yet?
45:13This is pre-tribulational in my opinion. You may differ
45:17and I'd love to have a discussion with you if you have a different view of this,
45:21because I'm not sure anybody really knows for sure. This is my opinion.
45:25Verse 11, white robes were given to every one of them,
45:29it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season.
45:33Ah, so it would still be a little
45:37while until the judge comes forth to do
45:41his judgment, it says here. Until their fellow
45:45brethren also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were
45:49should be fulfilled. So there are those who have died for the
45:53testimony of God in the past, there are those who
45:57died for the testimony of God in the present, and there will be
46:01those dying for the testimony of God in the future, that is in the tribulation period.
46:05And He tells them, just wait
46:09for a little while. It's going to happen. Sixth seal is
46:13opened, and I ask the question as we read this, is this before
46:17the tribulation or after the tribulation?
46:21And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, it was a great earthquake.
46:25And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
46:29and the moon became as blood. Stars of heaven fell
46:33unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is
46:37shaken of a mighty wind. Is that before or after the tribulation?
46:41Remember what Joel said? He said the sun
46:45shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood
46:49before the great and terrible day of the Lord
46:53come. Before. Pre-tribulational. Darkening of the sun and the
46:57moon. So the sixth seal could very well be, and
47:01I believe is prior to the tribulation. Is the church
47:05there when this is happening? No. Long gone.
47:09The church is long gone. We've been in Heaven for a long time
47:13when all this unfolds. Stars of
47:17heaven are falling. Verse 14, and the heaven departed
47:21as a scroll when it's rolled together, every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
47:25Oh, now it's beginning. We've got a
47:29foreview of what's happening.
47:33And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, the mighty men,
47:37every freeman hid themselves in the dens and the rocks and the mountains.
47:41And we've talked many times about how the nations have prepared themselves for
47:45catastrophe by building underground fortresses and shelters of all kind.
47:49They're everywhere. They're all over Russia. They're around Moscow,
47:53St. Petersburg. We have Cheyenne Mountain. We have them in Washington
47:57State. We have them in New Mexico. They're all over Virginia,
48:01around Washington, D.C. Underground refuges of various
48:05kinds all over the world where the rich and the powerful plan to ride out a storm
48:09should one come. And the Bible mentions them here
48:13in passing, hiding in the mountains.
48:17And get this, they say to the mountains
48:21and the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of
48:25Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
48:29Now these people hiding out in the caves and underground are
48:33not believers. They are fugitives. They are not people
48:37who have worshiped the Lord. They are the rich, the mighty,
48:41the kings of the earth, the great men, rich men, chief captains. These guys don't have
48:45faith in God. They have faith in the world system.
48:49They're hiding underground. And yet what do they
48:53say? Even they recognize
48:57that the judgment of God has come. And they say to the
49:01mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of
49:05Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
49:09And now finally, in verse 17,
49:13for the great day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?
49:17So it is not until the latter
49:21unveiling, the process of the sixth seal, it's not until
49:25the sixth seal that the day of the Lord breaks
49:29open. So seals 1, 2, 3, 4,
49:33and 5 are pre-tribulational. Seal 6,
49:37when it's open, finally everybody says,
49:41ah, the great day of His wrath has come. It is finally the day of the Lord.
49:45Now this is very important to me.
49:49It sort of shapes my thinking,
49:53it sort of helps me to know how to pray.
49:57If I believe I'm going home long before the prophesied
50:01catastrophes, that's one thing. But if I believe I'm going
50:05home a long, long time before the prophesied catastrophes,
50:09that's another thing. And I'm really now
50:13beginning to see a long process
50:17during which time the Antichrist
50:21builds a name for himself. How does he do it?
50:25We know how he does it. He's the one who has
50:29miracle power, he stands up, he has the ability
50:33to call down fire from Heaven, and he has an answer
50:37for the chaos. He says, I can bring peace, I can bring economic
50:41stability, I can bring blessing, all you have to do
50:45is take my mark and become one of my subjects
50:49and everything's going to be just fine. He could not
50:53do this had he not established himself
50:57a long time earlier as a fixer,
51:01as a man capable of coming onto
51:05the scene and establishing peace out of chaos.
51:09Well, we're out of time. I could go on for
51:13another two or three hours. I'm just beginning, but we'll continue this next week because
51:17as we go on, I think I'm going to be able to convince
51:21you that there is a time period prior to the
51:25tribulation when a number of remarkable things happen, and we're
51:29not there. We're already in Heaven. And one of the remarkable
51:33things that will be happening is that the Antichrist will build a name for
51:37himself prior to the tribulation. Jesus, remember, said
51:41I'm come in my Father's name and you didn't receive me, and another's coming in
51:45His own name and Him you shall receive.
51:51...
51:55...
51:59...