TMK,

The antichrist is a man, yet future, who will rule over the world and speak blasphemies and show great signs and wonders, and deceive most into worshiping him as God. He will decimate the Jewish people, completely annihilating them if not for God sovereignly saving for Himself 144,000. When God shows His power on behalf of the Jews, his vitriol will be redirected to anyone with a testimony of Jesus Christ, but they will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the power of their testimony.

The antichrist will rule for 42 months (3.5 years), control buying and selling with a mark, decimate the world population of Jew and Christian, and all who don't take his mark. And so on...

The cyclical nature of the Revelations writing style takes a bit to get used to, but it's all there, I am still piecing it together myself (Babylon for instance, is it the USA? Shanghai? Still figuring that part out).

But my guess is the antichrist will be Islamic.

But to discount the entire study of eschatology because you don't currently know, and to bring accusation and reproach to those who seek it out, is to ultimately bring the promised judgments upon yourself that are promised in the revelation.

"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."

Could "taking away" mean much more than just taking words away from it? Could it also mean taking away its value? It's portent to the church and the cosmic struggle we are in? I believe to take away from it the deep importance of this yet future prophecy is to bring yourself grievously close to the anger and wrath of God.

But honestly, I work in a factory, so take all of that with a grain of salt.

And TMK, I am always baffled at your comments in these threads, because you are like someone who claims that the square root of 23476 is definitely not 16, but has no idea what the answer actually is.



Docs,
I hear you brother. Send me an email if you wanna chat about this stuff, I value your words a great deal.

Hi Todd,

How about this one, I'm sure you heard of this too lol:
https://youtu.be/SQN7y5I9poc?si=NOsPitC0GZvJw3UC

But it is quite convincing in a certain degree. 🤔

Cheers,

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Yulboum Robert

//but has no idea what the answer actually is.//

Glad you have it all figured out! That’s quite an accomplishment.


The fact of the matter is that no one has it figured out.

The reason I sound like I do is that I am amazed that people are so confident in their pet views that they give absolutely no consideration to differing viewpoints many which have been held for the vast majority of church history.

I certainly am not afraid to admit that I am not beholden to any particular eschatological view because I am not so arrogant to believe that I can understand completely matters that have been fairly debated by godly men for centuries.

I used to believe pretty much along the lines of what you laid out below before I ever realized there were actually alternative explanations than the typical dispensational paradigm which actually make much more sense. Unfortunately the great majority of evangelical churches only teach from a dispensational viewpoint so that is all people know. They are quite frankly ignorant of other interpretations, like those held by someone as respected as RC Sproul, for example (he was a partial preterist). No one can say he didn't know his Bible.

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Todd

The point in that comment was that you say we are wrong, but have no alternative answers. We are just wrong, but you don't know what's right. We are wrong, not because you have offered an alternative right answer, but only because you said we are wrong.

Docs gave some good exhortations to you, and all of us. It would beneficial to heed his words.

Quote: The cyclical nature of the Revelations writing style takes a bit to get used to, but it's all there; I am still piecing it together myself (Babylon, for instance, is it the USA? Shanghai? Still figuring that part out).

Then he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness. The word there can be translated as (desert)

That is what the HCS bible does.

So he carried me away in the Spirit to a desert. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

Now, if you say that she rode the beast, the beast with ten horns is located in the desert as well.

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Colin Murray

//The point in that comment was that you say we are wrong, but have no alternative answers. We are just wrong, but you don't know what's right. We are wrong, not because you have offered an alternative right answer, but only because you said we are wrong.//

You haven’t been here long enough perhaps to realize the extent that these things haven’t been discussed over the years. Do you really want me to lay out in depth my systematic eschatology on this forum? I don’t really think you do, nor do I have the time for such an undertaking. It won’t change anyone’s mind. I was a diehard “left-behinder” ala Jenkins and Lahaye perhaps 17 years ago. But after hours and hours and hours and hours of listening to teachings on partial preterism and extensive reading on the subject I came to realize it is the far better way to interpret the scriptures.

It’s something that has to be done on one’s own and it takes time to try to break out of preconceived notions that have been drilled into us for, in my case, about 40 years.

By the way, I am not saying your understanding is not correct. There is Biblical support for it, obviously. It may be correct. But it also may very well may not be. So I guess that’s my main point. Instead of spending time trying to figure out every last detail of how things will shake out maybe we should just focus on the Lord, long for His coming, and be ready for whatever may come our way.

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Todd

I couldn't access my original account from 2006.

I sometimes feel quite weary to read all these questions about who the antichrist might be will. Are we waiting for Christ or for the antichrist?
What use would it be if I knew who the antichrist is and I am not able to overcome by the blood of the lamb and the testimony of the word?

Better to know the great Victor than the great Loser.

Good points np
I was thinking the same.
May we meditate on the true Christ and come to a deeper understanding who He is!

Paul said to Timothy:
15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.
16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior.
17 This kind of talk spreads like cancer,a as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2v15-17 NLT)

Markus

Amen NP!

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Todd