Beasts in the Church
Throughout the present age, the Church has been plagued with deceivers bent on deceiving the saints and causing their apostasy.
The term “antichrist” occurs in John’s first
two epistles. In his first, he warns “it is the last hour, and just
as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists
have come.” The letter does not deny that an individual “antichrist”
is coming, but its point is that many “antichrists” are active in the
church already - [Wolf Pack - Photo by Thomas Bonometti on Unsplash].
The
Greek term rendered “antichrist” is antichristos, a
compound of the Greek preposition anti and the noun for
“anointed” or christos. The preposition signifies “instead of,”
not “against,” and thus an “anti-christ” is someone or something
that replaces the true Christ, that is, a false
christ.
And in the passage, “antichrists” is plural.
John is referring to multiple false teachers that “went out from us, but
they were not of us; …but they went out that it might be plain that they all
are not of us.” They are active within the Christian community.
Most
likely, John derived the term from the repeated warnings by Jesus about coming deceivers - “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many… For there will
arise false Christs and false prophets and will show
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, to
deceive the very elect” - (Matthew
24:24).
Likewise,
Paul warns of the coming “man of lawlessness.” Whether he views
this figure as a global political leader or not, his focus is on the man’s
ability to deceive believers, and he links him to the coming “apostasy”
- (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10).
This
“man of
lawlessness” will seat himself in the “sanctuary of God…proclaiming
himself to be God.” Elsewhere, Paul applies the term “sanctuary of
God” and similar language metaphorically to the church of Jesus Christ and
shows little interest in any temple building in old Jerusalem - (1
Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:19-22).
The image of the “man of lawlessness" is
derived from Daniel’s image of the “little horn” that he saw on the head of the “fourth beast,” a malevolent figure that persecuted the
saints. Most certainly, this man was a political figure, but he is remembered far
more within Judaism as the deceiver who led many Jews astray with his promotion
of Hellenism and pagan religious practices (Antiochus IV) - (Daniel
7:7-8, 8:10-14, 11:30-36).
But Paul links the “man of lawlessness”
with the future “apostasy.” He will act “In accord with Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are perishing, because
they did not receive the love of the truth to be saved. And for this reason,
God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is
false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but
took pleasure in wickedness” - (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
In
Thessalonians, the emphasis is NOT on this figure’s
political authority or military prowess but on his ability to mislead people
from the faith. His purpose will be to destroy the church. For
that very reason, Jesus
will destroy him at his “arrival.”
The “lawless one” will offer a false version of Jesus, something “instead of Christ.” He will proclaim “another gospel” and a “different Jesus," one fundamentally different than the Messiah revealed on the Cross of Calvary.
Likewise,
though the “Beast
from the sea” in Revelation has political aspects, he “wages
war against the saints” and NOT against other nation-states. Whether
this is the same figure that Paul and John had in view, Revelation never
applies the term “Antichrist” or “Man of Lawlessness” to him.
Consistently, the “Dragon” and his minions unleash “war” against
the followers of the “Lamb” - the “saints” – Those “who have
the testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:7-10).
Thus,
already in the first century, false prophets and deceivers were active within
the church to hoodwink Christians, NOT to deceive the world at
large. Their goal was to deceive the followers of Christ. In fact, warnings
about coming deceivers are common in the New Testament:
- (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) - “False apostles and deceitful workers” of his day who “disguised themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”
- (1 Timothy 4:1) – “The Spirit explicitly warns that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
- (2 Peter 2:1-22) - “False teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality and because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned.”
Their
purpose is to mislead the elect and destroy the church. In the end, the “Antichrist” may turn out to be a world political
leader. However, considering the many warnings from Scripture, perhaps we
should not be surprised if he first appears within the Church of
God.
Finally, serious consideration must be given to the
challenge of Jesus - “Nevertheless, when
the Son of Man comes, will he find the faith on the earth?” While his statement is enigmatic, it does
suggest a final time when deception and apostasy will be significant problems
among his followers, and perhaps the faithful will become a small remnant in
the dark days prior to his advent – (Luke 18:8).
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