AC#03 The Origin of antichrist (part I)
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
In the book of Revelation, Satan, antichrist and the false prophet are different persons. They may be imitating God’s Trinity but they are not an actual trinity. Antichrist is the first beast and the false prophet is the second beast.
From Gen, Satan has been a free being. We saw him at the Garden of Eden and in the presence of God accusing righteous Job of a false piety.
You may be thinking that antichrist is man born on earth as a result of movies or books. But let’s look at has to say where antichrist comes from. It is so easy to miss this verse.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
This is the first time that antichrist the beast is mentioned. Note here that "the” beast is intended to be identified with the antichrist and he ascended out of the bottomless pit or abyss.
He killed the Two Witnesses who have the power to throw out fire from their mouth (v5), stop rain (v6), change water to blood and to strike the earth with every plague. This shows antichrist is a powerful supernatural being.
The next time we see this beast is in .
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Here this beast is more easily identified with the antichrist because he is characterized by blasphemy.
Note that this beast comes out of the sea and has 7 heads and 10 horns. How can be we for sure that it is the same beast as ? We’ll see in .
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Here in v8 we see the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns that ascends from the bottomless pit. Hence this shows that beast in and refers to the same beast.
If that being the case, the beast or antichrist apparent didn’t come from humans. He came out from the bottomless pit. Being supernatural, he can transform himself to look like a human.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
If we compare with , it would seem that the bottomless pit is under the sea. But I don’t it mean that because the first time the bottomless pit is opened is in .
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
The star that fall from heaven has been interpreted to refer to Satan or just another angel. We’ll look at this again later. What we want to see now is that in v2, there is smoke coming out of the bottomless pit and the smoke is so dense that it is said to even darkened the air. So the bottomless pit is unlikely to be under the sea.
@@ If we remember that Apostle John is on the island of Patmos, and Patmos is a small island surrounded by many tiny islands, then the bottomless pit could come from one of the tiny islands but appears to John as coming from the sea. This would harmonize all the passages that we just saw.
I. Identity of the Bottomless Pit
II. The Nature of Angels
III. Another Rebellion against God Gen 6:1-4