Here again is the
First Seal, or the first judgment of the
Tribulation: "And I saw when
the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as
it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and
behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had
a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he
went forth conquering, and to conquer."
(Revelation 6:1-2)
When Jesus, the
Lamb opens the First Seal of the scroll in Heaven
it releases the 'Antichrist' upon the
earth. The Antichrist will be a man that quickly
rises up through society, becomes very powerful
and ultimately declares himself God and Savior of
the world. Notice in the above verse that he has
a bow but no arrows. This tells us that he will
give the impression of rising to power by
peaceful means but his actual motive is war and
world domination. The Bible even describes him as
being a vile, or despicable person who is a 'smooth
talker':
"And
in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to
whom they shall not give the honour of the
kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and
obtain the kingdom by flatteries." (Daniel
11:21)
"And
through his policy also he shall cause craft to
prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself
in his heart, and by peace shall destroy
many..." (Daniel 8:25a,b)
The Bible doesn't
say how long it will be after the Rapture occurs
until the Tribulation begins, but it does tell us
what will mark the beginning of the Tribulation
and how long it will last:
"And
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)
The above verse
tells us that the Antichrist will "confirm", or strengthen a peace
treaty either with Israel and others or between
Israel and others. This may not be the
Antichrist's own treaty but one that may already
be in existence that hasn't worked or one that is
begun by another party and only strengthened by
him. This act of confirmation will mark the
beginning of the Tribulation.
The Hebrew word
for "week" in the above verse is "shebuah",
which means a "week of years",
or in other words seven years. This tells us the
length of the Tribulation. This verse also
informs us that in the middle of the week, or
after three and one half years the Antichrist
will "make it desolate", or defile the Jewish
Temple which Israel is currently making
preparations to rebuild in Jerusalem on the
Temple Mount. This defilement will occur when he
causes "the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease" in the
Temple.
The construction
of the Third Temple is so near that the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish-legal
tribunal who convenes in one of the Holy Temple
chambers was reestablished in 2005 after a
sixteen-hundred year absence. You can keep track
of the progress to build the Temple by visiting
the website of The
Temple Institute.
The Antichrist is
not to be trusted because he is a deceiver and a
liar. The Bible tells us the Antichrist will deny
both God the Father and Jesus, God the Son:
"Who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father
and the Son." (1 John 2:22)
The Antichrist
will even say that Jesus is not coming in the
flesh:
"For
many deceivers are entered into the world, who
confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist." (2 John 1:7)
The Antichrist
will be under the direct control of Satan
himself. He will attempt to get everyone in the
world to worship him by performing false
miracles. It will even appear as though he is
killed and then raised from the dead imitating
Jesus' resurrection:
"And
I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all
the world wondered after the beast."
(Revelation 13:3)
It will be through
the evil powers of Satan that these false
miracles are performed:
"Even
him, whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders,"
(2 Thessalonians 2:9)
There will be an
image made of the Antichrist and everyone will be
told to worship it or die. Learn more about the Image Of The Beast...
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