PROPHECY FEATURE Editor Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D. Dean of Talbot Theological Seminary
The Exceeding
Power of
ANTICHRIST
by Gordon Chilvers
G od has left us in no doubt about the future his tory of the nations of the world. As far back as the time of Daniel, He revealed facts which tells us events which will soon take place here. In his vision Daniel looked to the River Ulai and saw a ram with two horns (Dan. 8 :3 ). This ram repre sented the Medo-Persian empire, that was then about to arise and rule the world. God gave Cyrus strength “ so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand.” While Daniel was gazing at the ram, he saw a he- goat come from the west. “ The great horn that is be tween his eyes is the first king,” the angel interpreter said. Horns indicate strength and eyes point to intelli gence. This was Alexander, known as the greatest gen eral in the ancient world and well called “ Alexander the Great.” Its speed was so phenomenal that it “ touched not the ground” as it seemed to fly over it. Alexander’s at tacks were so swift and vigorous that they carried everything before them. He “ came to the ram . . . and ran unto him in the fury of his power.” “ There was no power in the ram to stand before him,” for the fury of Alexander’s army was so great. Inevitably, “ the he-goat waxed very great.” But it was only for a time. Strong as Alexander was, he was only in the prime of life, 32, when he was suddenly cut off. He was not overcome by the king of another nation, but by the king of terrors — death. His kingdom was at once divided. “Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” Alexander had no direct successor and his generals ruled his kingdom in four parts. But they did not have Alexander’s power. He was a genius; they were not. They quarrelled among themselves and soon the empire collapsed. Following these generals was the wicked man Antio- chus Epiphanes. “Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great.” A number of in cidents in Antiochus’s life, as well as details in his
character, agree with the prophecy. Yet he is but a foreshadowing of the even more wicked one who is to come. For we are expressly told that the vision relates to “ the latter time of their kingdom, when the trans gressors are come to the full.” “At the time of the end shall be the vision,” the time when the earth will be dominated by the outrageously wicked man, the Anti christ. Antichrist will be victorious in his battles. He “waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land” or “ the land of the glory,” we read. After his conquests in the south and east he will go for the prize, Palestine, the country that Ezekiel (20:6) calls “ the glory of all lands.” The land will then be extraordinarily prosperous. Up to the beginning of this present century, crops in Palestine were tiny. But since so many Jews have re turned to their country, considerable strides have been made in cultivating it, and the land has become very fruitful again. Jewish skill, together with the natural fertility of the soil, will bring a striking increase in the community’s wealth. The vast resources contained in the Dead Sea are largely untouched and these will be gathered in by millions of dollars. Increased wealth will give Palestine great attraction and Antichrist will make it the center of his territorial aims. Antichrist will be a cruel tyrant. He is described as “ a king of fierce countenance.” Nebuchadnezzar showed the sort of thing a man of this description can do. Three Hebrew youth, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego re fused to bow down to the image that he had set Up. Full of fury against them, he commanded the men to “ heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated” (Dan. 3:19) before the three God fearing men were thrust into it. Antichrist will know neither mercy nor love; instead he will rule all nations with a rod of iron. This man will be intellectually brilliant, “ under standing dark sentences.” The word for “ dark sen tences” is used of the unanswered riddle that Samson put to the Philistines (Jud. 14:12); and also of the
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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