Already But Not Yet

David Feddes!
Hard questions
•  Kingdom •  Holiness
•  Victory •  Prayer
•  Resurrection •  Healing
•  Church •  Guidance
•  Status •  Encounter
We know that the whole creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right
up to the present time. (Romans 8:22)
Firstfruits of
the Spirit

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have

the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as
we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons,
the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:23)
Spirit as down payment
God anointed us,
sealed us, and
gave the down
payment of the
Spirit in our hearts.
(2 Cor 1:21)
Jesus’ Jesus’
1st coming 2nd coming
“the last days”
Coming world-age: eternal life
Passing world-age

NT speaks of two world-ages (aions). These

overlap between Jesus’ first and second
coming. God’s kingdom is “already/not yet.”
Already But Not Yet
•  Kingdom •  Holiness
•  Victory •  Prayer
•  Resurrection •  Healing
•  Church •  Guidance
•  Status •  Encounter
Kingdom
If I drive out demons by the finger of God,
then the kingdom of God has come to
ALREADY
you. (Luke 11:20) The kingdom of God is
within you. (Luke 17:21)
Thy kingdom come. (Matthew 6:10) I will

NOT YET
not drink again of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God comes. (Luke 22:18)
Victory
I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. (Luke 10:18) Having disarmed
ALREADY
the powers and authorities, he made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)
Satan hindered us. (1 Thess. 2:18)
NOT YET
The God of peace will soon crush Satan
under your feet. (Romans 16:20)
Resurrection
Just as Christ was raised from the dead

ALREADY
through the glory of the Father, we too
may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)
We wait eagerly for our adoption as sons,

NOT YET
the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:23)
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
(1 Cor. 15:26)
Church
Marvel. His intent was that now, through
the church, the manifold wisdom of God
ALREADY
should be made known to the rulers and
authorities in the heavenly realms.
(Ephesians 3:10).
Muddle. I am astonished that you are
NOT YET
turning to a different gospel. (Gal 1:6)
Status
Therefore, since we have been justified

ALREADY
through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1)
But by faith we eagerly await through the
Spirit the righteousness for which we
NOT YET
hope. (Galatians 5:5)
Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness. (2 Timothy 4:8)
Holiness
We died to sin… You have been set free
ALREADY
from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness. (Rom 6:2,18)
I have the desire to do what is right, but
not the ability to carry it out. (Rom 7:18)

NOT YET
Flesh and Spirit are in conflict with each
other, so that you do not do what you
want. (Galatians 5:17)
Prayer
Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe

ALREADY
that you have received it, and it will be
yours. (Mark 11:24)
We do not know what we ought to pray

NOT YET
for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for
us with unspoken groans. (Rom 8:26)
Healing
Jesus healed all the sick. (Matthew 8:16)
Crowds gathered … and all of them were
ALREADY
healed. (Acts 5:16) God did extraordinary
miracles through Paul. (Acts 19:11)
Use a little wine because of your stomach

NOT YET
and your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim 5:23)
I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. (2 Tim 4:20)
Guidance
We have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:16)
Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia
ALREADY
standing and begging him, “Come over
to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9)
I planned to visit you on my way to
NOT YET
Macedonia… When I planned this, did I
do it lightly? (2 Cor 1:16-17)
Encounter
God made his light shine in our hearts to

ALREADY
give us the light of the knowledge of God’s
glory in the face of Christ.  (2 Cor 4:6-7)
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a
mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I
NOT YET
know in part; then I shall know fully, even as
I am fully known. (1 Cor 13:12)
Healthy realism
•  Treasure what has already been given.
•  Accept that these last days mix kingdom
glory with a fallen, fading world.
•  Don’t give up on others or yourself due to
faults and failures.
•  Expect and groan for Jesus to return and
bring heaven to earth fully.
•  Keep seeking more each day. Press on!
Press on toward the goal!
•  Kingdom •  Holiness
•  Victory •  Prayer
•  Resurrection •  Healing
•  Church •  Guidance
•  Status •  Encounter
Certain hope
In this hope we were saved. (Rom 8:24)
He will keep you strong to the end, so
that you will be blameless on the day of
our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:8)
He who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
Different
Millennial Views

David Feddes
Many evangelicals believe:
Secret rapture: Jesus comes near earth,
resurrects dead believers, and takes living
Christians, who vanish from earth.
Tribulation: 7 years ruled by Antichrist;
many Jews are saved and preach to others.
Glorious appearing: Jesus comes and
banishes Antichrist and unbelievers to hell.
Millennium: Jesus reigns on earth for
1,000 years. Temple worship and animal
sacrifices are reinstated.
Many evangelicals believe:
End of millennium: Satan leads nations
worldwide to rebel against Jesus. Jesus
crushes rebels and sends Satan to hell.
White throne judgment: Unbelievers are
resurrected, judged, and sent to hell.
Eternity: The Lord creates a new heaven
and a new earth, where all his people and
his angels will live with him forever.
Dispensational premillennialism
• God deals with Israel and the church in
sharply distinct ways (dispensations).
• OT prophecies were for Israel, not for the
church. Church age is a parenthesis.
• NT teachings about God’s kingdom are not
for the church but were about Jesus’ reign
as Israel’s king—postponed because of
Israel’s unbelief but to be fulfilled in the
millennium.
• Jesus must return in glory before (pre-)
reigning a thousand years (millennium).
Has dispensationalism been held by
most Christians throughout history?
No, its widespread acceptance among
evangelicals is largely the result of recent
mass-marketing.
• J. N. Darby and D. L. Moody (1800s)
• C. I. Scofield’s study Bible notes (1909)
• The Late Great Planet Earth (1970)
• Left Behind novels (1995 and beyond)
Other views have been more prominent
among Christians in other times & places.
Historic premillennialism
• Some early Christians (Irenaeus, Justin
Martyr) held a premillennial view.
• No early Christians taught a secret rapture.
Christ “will come down from heaven with a
loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God”
before Christians are “caught up to meet
the Lord in the air” (1 Thess 4:16-17).
• No church father was dispensationalist: all
taught the unity of Jewish and Gentile
Christians, and all believed that OT
promises are fulfilled in the church.
Satan
Amillennial loosed
(Augustine, Calvin, Luther)
Millennium: Eternity:
Old Kingdom growth Trib Heaven
Covenant Satan fierce but
limited on Earth
Jesus’ Jesus’
1st 2nd
coming coming

Old
Gospel Millennium: Eternity:
influence Christian Heaven
Covenant grows civilization on Earth
Postmillennial (Edwards, Hodge, Rushdoony)
Room for various views
• My congregation and denomination do
not require a particular millennial view.
• The Apostles Creed insists that Jesus
“will come again to judge the living and
the dead.” We believe in “the resurrection
of the body and the life everlasting.” All
Christians must affirm these basics, but
there is room to differ on how to interpret
and apply details of biblical prophecy.
• Keep seeking better understanding (not
Fascinated Fred or Practical Pam)
Amillennial: the millennium is now
• We are living in the millennium period when
Satan is bound, cast down, and restrained.
• We are living in the millennium period when
Christ’s reign on earth is already underway.
• “The first resurrection” has already happened
for millions of souls in heaven. Their spirits
are alive in Jesus’ presence, and they are
now reigning with Christ on heavenly thrones.
• At the end of the present millennium, Satan is
unleashed briefly, and Antichrist takes power.
The Second Coming: Judgment Day
• Jesus comes loudly and visibly with his angels.
• Dead believers are resurrected, living believers
transformed, and together they are caught up to
meet their King as He comes down to earth.
• Antichrist and unbelievers are slain.
• All unbelieving dead are resurrected.
• All are judged according to God’s records and
whether they are in the book of life.
• Satan and all God’s enemies go to hell.
• Christ presents his church to the Father, heaven
comes to earth, and believers enjoy God forever.
The Millennium
is Now

David Feddes
The dragon bound
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven, holding in his hand the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he
seized the dragon, that ancient serpent,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into
the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so
that he might not deceive the nations any
longer, until the thousand years were
ended. After that he must be released for a
little while.
Souls come alive and reign
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on
them were those to whom the authority to
judge was committed. Also I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded
for the testimony of Jesus and for the
word of God, and those who had not
worshiped the beast or its image and had
not received its mark on their foreheads
or their hands. They came to life and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The first resurrection
5 The rest of the dead did not come to
life until the thousand years were ended.
This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed
and holy is the one who shares in the
first resurrection! Over such the second
death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ, and they will
reign with him for a thousand years.
Satan released
7 And when the thousand years are
ended, Satan will be released from
his prison 8 and will come out to
deceive the nations that are at the
four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them for battle;
their number is like the sand of the
sea.
Fire for God’s enemies
9 And they marched up over the broad
plain of the earth and surrounded the
camp of the saints and the beloved city,
but fire came down from heaven and
consumed them, 10 and the devil who
had deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and sulfur where the beast
and the false prophet were, and they will
be tormented day and night forever and
ever.
The millennium is now
• We are living in the period when Satan is
bound, cast down, and restrained.
• We are living in the period when Christ’s
reign is already underway.
• “The first resurrection” has already
happened for millions of people.
• Millions have already refused the beast’s
mark, have come to life, and are now
reigning with Christ on heavenly thrones.
Basics of
biblical interpretation
1. Scripture interprets Scripture

2. Clear before difficult

3. Literal before figurative

4. Big picture before details

Jesus’ Jesus’
1st coming 2nd coming

“the last days”

Coming world-age: eternal life
Passing world-age

NT speaks of two world-ages (aions). These

overlap between Jesus’ first and second
coming. God’s kingdom is “already/not yet.”
Two-stage coming of the
kingdom in Christ’s parables

• First sowing, then harvesting

• First tolerating weeds, then burning them

• First catching fish, then sorting them

Messiah Messiah
comes as comes as parables
planter harvester Matthew 13

Mixed Kingdom Perfected Kingdom

*see Samuel Waldron, The End Times Made Simple

Two-stage coming of the
kingdom in Paul’s prose
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his
own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his
coming those who belong to Christ. 24
Then comes the end, when he delivers the
kingdom to God the Father after destroying
every rule and every authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his
enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy
to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor 15:22-26)
Messiah Messiah
comes as comes as parables
planter harvester Matthew 13

Mixed Kingdom Perfected Kingdom

Christ Believers prose

resurrected resurrected 1 Cor. 15

Reign of conquest God all in all

*see Samuel Waldron, The End Times Made Simple

Two-stage coming of the kingdom
in Revelation’s pictures
• First Satan bound, then Satan burned

• In first resurrection, souls come alive

and share Christ’s reign. In second
resurrection, bodies too come alive
and share Christ’s reign as heaven
comes to earth.
Messiah Messiah
comes as comes as parables
planter harvester Matthew 13

Mixed Kingdom Perfected Kingdom

Christ Believers prose

resurrected resurrected 1 Cor. 15

Reign of conquest God all in all

Satan Satan pictures

Revelation 20
bound burned
Millennial Reign Heaven on Earth
*see Samuel Waldron, The End Times Made Simple
Review the basics of
biblical interpretation
1. Scripture interprets Scripture
2. Clear before difficult
3. Literal before figurative
4. Big picture before details
Clear, literal passages reveal a big
picture where God’s kingdom in Jesus
comes in two main stages, and where
the final resurrection and second
coming bring eternal heaven on earth.
Understanding Revelation
1. Setting: suffering apostle gets
message for suffering churches
2. Style of message: apocalyptic
(symbolic pictures & numbers)
3. Overlapping visions: some of the
same events are pictured several
times in different visions
4. Multiple fulfillments: beast, false
prophet, Babylon already working in
various forms, leading to final and
ultimate Antichrist
The core message of
Revelation, and of the
millennium, is clear:

Jesus wins.
Satan loses.
The core message of
Revelation:
God directs history toward
its final goal in Christ.
Jesus wins; Satan loses.
Be on the right side.
• Jesus’ enemies may grow fiercer
for a time but will burn forever.
• Jesus’ friends may suffer for a
time but will rejoice forever.
The millennium is now
• We are living in the period when Satan is
bound, cast down, and restrained.
• We are living in the period when Christ’s
reign is already underway.
• “The first resurrection” has already
happened for millions of people.
• Millions have already refused the beast’s
mark, have come to life, and are now
reigning with Christ on heavenly thrones.
The Dragon Bound
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven, holding in his hand the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he
seized the dragon, that ancient serpent,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into
the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he might not deceive the nations
any longer, until the thousand years were
ended. After that he must be released for a
little while.
Binding Satan
“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out
demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong
man's house and plunder his goods, unless he
first binds the strong man?” (Matt 12:28-29)
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke
10:18-19)
Casting out Satan
• “Now is the judgment of this world; now will
the ruler of this world be cast out. And I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people to myself.” (John 12:31-32)
 cast out is the same Greek root as
“casting” Satan into the pit in Rev. 20:3
• The reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
• … that through death he might destroy the
one who has the power of death, that is, the
devil. (Hebrews 2:14)
Disarming Satan
• And you, who were dead in your trespasses
… God made alive together with him,
having forgiven us … nailing [our debt] to
the cross. He disarmed the rulers and
authorities and put them to open shame, by
triumphing over them in him. (Colossians
2:13-15)
• The Bible repeatedly says that Jesus has
already bound, disarmed and defeated
Satan. Satan is limited and confined now.
Defeating the dragon
The dragon stood before the woman who was
about to give birth, so that when she bore her
child he might devour it. She gave birth to a
male child, one who is to rule all the nations
with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up
to God and to his throne. Now war arose in
heaven, Michael and his angels fighting
against the dragon. And the dragon and his
angels fought back, but he was defeated, and
there was no longer any place for them in
heaven. (Rev 12:4-8)
Satan thrown down
And the great dragon was thrown down, that
ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown
down to the earth, and his angels were thrown
down with him. And I heard a loud voice in
heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God and the authority of
his Christ have come, for the accuser of our
brothers has been thrown down, who accuses
them day and night before our God. (Rev. 12:9-10)
 thrown down = same Greek root as “casting”
into the pit in Rev. 20:3
Revelation 12 Revelation 20
heavenly scene (v. 7) heavenly scene (v. 1)
Michael & angels defeat an angel captures and binds
Satan & demons (v. 7-8) Satan (v. 2)
Satan cast to earth (v. 9) Satan cast into pit (v. 3)
Satan “filled with fury Satan to be “set free for a
because he knows his time short time” after being
is short” (v. 12) imprisoned” (v. 3)
Satan’s fall & reign of Satan’s fall & reign of
Christ and saints (v. 10) Christ and saints (v. 4)
Saints triumph as martyrs Reigning saints died “for
by “the word of their the testimony of Jesus” (v.
testimony (v. 11) 4)
The millennium is now
• We are living in the period when Satan is
bound, cast down, and restrained.
• We are living in the period when Christ’s
reign is already underway.
• “The first resurrection” has already
happened for millions of people.
• Millions have already refused the beast’s
mark, have come to life, and are now
reigning with Christ on heavenly thrones.
Souls Live and Reign
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on
them were those to whom the authority
to judge was committed. Also I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded
for the testimony of Jesus and for the
word of God, and those who had not
worshiped the beast or its image and
had not received its mark on their
foreheads or their hands. They came to
life and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years.
The first resurrection
5 The rest of the dead did not come to
life until the thousand years were
ended. This is the first resurrection. 6
Blessed and holy is the one who shares
in the first resurrection! Over such the
second death has no power, but they
will be priests of God and of Christ, and
they will reign with him for a thousand
years.
Beast, False Prophet, Babylon
As you have heard that antichrist is coming,
so now many antichrists have come. (1 John
2:18).
• Beast: political persecution
• False prophet: religious deception
• Prostitute Babylon: cultural seduction
Such enemies are at work in the period
between Jesus’ two comings but are
restrained until the loosing of Satan and the
coming of the final Man of Sin. (2 Thess 2)
Satan released
7 And when the thousand years are
ended, Satan will be released from his
prison 8 and will come out to deceive the
nations that are at the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for
battle; their number is like the sand of the
sea.
Fire for God’s enemies
9 And they marched up over the broad
plain of the earth and surrounded the
camp of the saints and the beloved city,
but fire came down from heaven and
consumed them, 10 and the devil who had
deceived them was thrown into the lake of
fire and sulfur where the beast and the
false prophet were, and they will be
tormented day and night forever and ever.
The millennium is now
• We are living in the period when Satan is
bound, cast down, and restrained.
• We are living in the period when Christ’s reign
is already underway.
• “The first resurrection” has already happened
for millions of people.
• Millions have already refused the beast’s mark,
have come to life, and are now reigning with
Christ on heavenly thrones.
• Near the close of the present millennium, Satan
will be released and Antichrist unleashed.
The Second Coming: Judgment Day
• Loud, visible coming of Jesus with angels.
• Dead believers are resurrected, living believers
transformed, and together they are caught up
to meet Christ.
• Antichrist and unbelievers are slain.
• All unbelieving dead are resurrected.
• All are judged according to God’s records and
whether they are in the book of life.
• Satan and all God’s enemies go to hell.
• Christ presents his church to the Father,
heaven comes to earth, and believers reign.
Forces  of  the  Future  

Revelation 13

David Feddes
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with
ten horns and seven heads, with ten
diadems on its horns and blasphemous
names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I
saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a
bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's
mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power
and his throne and great authority.
3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal
wound, but its mortal wound was healed,
and the whole earth marveled as they
followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped
the dragon, for he had given his authority to
the beast, and they worshiped the beast,
saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can
fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering
haughty and blasphemous words, and it
was allowed to exercise authority for forty-
two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter
blasphemies against God, blaspheming his
name and his dwelling, that is, those who
dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to
make war on the saints and to conquer
them.
And authority was given it over every tribe
and people and language and nation,
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it,

everyone whose name has not been

written before the foundation of the world
in the book of life of the Lamb who was
slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10  If anyone is to be taken captive, to

captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain

with the sword, with the sword must he be
slain. Here is a call for the endurance and
faith of the saints.
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of
the earth. It had two horns like a lamb
and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises
all the authority of the first beast in its
presence, and makes the earth and its
inhabitants worship the first beast, whose
mortal wound was healed.
13 Itperforms great signs, even making fire
come down from heaven to earth in front of
people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed
to work in the presence of the beast it
deceives those who dwell on earth, telling
them to make an image for the beast that
was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the

image of the beast, so that the image of the

beast might even speak and might cause
those who would not worship the image of
the beast to be slain.
16  Alsoit causes all, both small and great,
both rich and poor, both free and slave, to
be marked on the right hand or the
forehead, 17  so that no one can buy or sell
unless he has the mark, that is, the name
of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who

has understanding calculate the number

of the beast, for it is the number of a man,
and his number is 666.
Oppressive  government  
Oppressive  government  
The dragon gave the beast his power and
his throne and great authority… And they
worshiped the dragon, for he had given his
authority to the beast, and they worshiped
the beast…  It opened its mouth to utter
blasphemies against God… Also it was
allowed to make war on the saints and to
conquer them. (13:2-7)
•  “the beast” (Daniel 7, Revelation 13)
•  “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess 2:3-4)
•  “the antichrist” (1 John 2:18)
Deceptive  religion  
Deceptive  religion  
•  “It performs great signs, even making fire
come down from heaven to earth in front of
people… it deceives those who dwell on
earth” (13:13-14). This second beast is called
"the false prophet" (16:13, 19:20, 20:10).
•  “The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in
all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives
those who are perishing” (2 Thess 2:9-10).
Seductive  
culture  
I saw a woman
sitting on a scarlet
beast that was full
of blasphemous
names, and it had
seven heads and
ten horns. (17:3)
Seductive  culture  
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet,
and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls,
holding in her hand a golden cup full of
abominations and the impurities of her sexual
immorality. And on her forehead was written a
name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of
prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” And I
saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the
saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus… And
the woman that you saw is the great city that has
dominion over the kings of the earth.” (17:3-6, 18)
How  near  is  the  end?  
•  Oppressive government
•  Deceptive religion
•  Seductive culture
Antichrists  are  already  here  
Dear children, this is the last hour. And as
you have heard that the antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists have
come… Who is the liar? It is the man who
denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man
is the antichrist… Every spirit that does not
acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist, which you have
heard is coming and even now is already in
the world (1 John 2:18,22; 4:3).
Future  forces  are    
active  right  now  
•  Oppressive government
•  Deceptive religion
•  Seductive culture
Ultimate  force  of  the  future  
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a
white horse! The one sitting on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
judges and makes war. His eyes are like a
flame of fire, and on his head are many
diadems, and he has a name written that no
one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe
dipped in blood, and the name by which he is
called is The Word of God…  On his robe and
on his thigh he has a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords. (19:11-16).
Doomed  forces  
“The armies of heaven were following him…
I saw the beast and the kings of the earth
and their armies gather together to make
war against the rider on the horse and his
army. But the beast was captured, and with
him the false prophet… The two of them
were thrown alive into the fiery lake of
burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:14,19-20).
The devil who had
deceived them was
thrown into the
lake of fire and
sulfur where the
beast and the false
prophet were, and
they will be
tormented day and
night forever and
ever. (20:10)
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book
of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (20:15)
Forces of the Future
By David Feddes

In the early years of a new century and a new millennium, many of us wonder: What does
the future hold? What will the next hundred years, or the next thousand years, be like?
Some futurists say we'll be establishing colonies on Mars, we'll have telephones that fit
into a piece of jewelry, and we'll be swallowing microrobots that do surgery on internal organs.
With predictions about various gizmos and gadgets, however, a more basic prediction of overall
trends sees machines becoming more like people and people becoming more like machines.
Already robots have replaced humans in many jobs, and computers have become so
skilled in strategy that they can defeat the human chess champion of the world. Some futurists
predict a day when robotic computers will use artificial intelligence to improve themselves and
perhaps think for themselves and even reproduce themselves. What will these machines be like?
Well, optimists foresee machines that serve as expert assistants or even personal friends.
Pessimists foresee machines that could turn against people and try to destroy us. But whether
these thinking machines turn out to be good or bad, machines behaving like people will no
longer be science fiction in books and movies. They will be reality, according to some futurists.
Ironically, as computers become more like people, the reverse will also be true: people
will become more like computers. People will more and more be what they are programmed to
be. Already giant research projects have mapped the genes that produce each inherited trait. As
the genes are mapped out, and with advances in gene splicing, "designer babies" may become
reality. Parents—or, if parenting became obsolete, the government—could program a child's
gender, size, strength, eye color, intelligence level, and so forth, and make sure there is no
genetic risk of cancer or alcoholism or mental defects.
Meanwhile, as research into the brain keeps advancing, it may be possible to read the
way people think and feel, and even to control how they think. Scientists would then be able to
program people the way they program computers. Would the result be a paradise of perfect
humanity, or a hell of inhumanity?
Thinking about the future can be fascinating, but before we get too enthusiastic or too
frightened about what lies ahead in this century and millennium, we need to realize that it's often
misleading to base predictions about the future on current trends.
A trend that seems headed in a certain direction may well reach a barrier that can't be
crossed. Attempts to give computers a personality may run into a wall. No matter how much
technology advances, the best a robotic computer can ever do is to simulate personality, not
actually become a person. Also, efforts to decode human behavior and reprogram it are bound to
fail. No matter how much we learn about genetics or brain chemistry, we'll never be able to
reduce people to machines. People will always be more than the sum of their DNA, brain waves,
and environment. Creatures in God's image will always be more than mere machines.
Another problem with using current trends to predict the future is that the future is
usually full of surprises that no one can predict in advance. Think back to the year 1900. Who
could have predicted at the start of the last century all that has happened since? Back then there
were no radios or TV's, no computers or internet or smart phones. Now we live in the
information age. Back then there were no expressways, no mass production of cars, no airplanes,
no birth control pill, no atomic bomb, no understanding of DNA or gene splicing. If someone
100 years ago had tried to predict the future based on what was happening at the time, he would
have failed miserably.

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And even if someone had managed to predict the inventions and innovations, who could
have predicted the individual people who would shape the world? At the start of the 1900s, no
one could anticipate the impact of Einstein or Lenin or Churchill or Hitler or Gandhi or Hugh
Hefner or Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela or Osama bin Laden. Individual people can
change the course of history in ways that none of us can predict in advance. And so as we look
into the century ahead and the next thousand years, current trends may not tell us much.
The present doesn't always tell us much about the future. But, strange as it may seem, the
future can sometimes tell us a lot about the present. How can that be? Well, with the help of the
Bible, it's possible to know the future. The Bible doesn't tell us everything about the future, but it
does show us the forces that will dominate at the end of history, and it shows us what the final
outcome of history will be. The Bible tells us how the story ends, and that helps us to understand
each chapter along the way, including the chapter we're living in right now.

Defeated Dragon
Revelation 12 records a vision of a great red dragon, which is none other than Satan
himself (12:9). In the vision, the dragon is waiting for a woman to give birth to her child, and he
intends to devour the child. But instead, the child is delivered from the dragon’s clutches and
caught up to heaven. Then there is a great war in heaven between the dragon's evil angels and the
angels of heaven. The dragon's forces are defeated, and he is cast out of heaven. Somehow, the
birth of the child and his ascension to heaven have empowered the forces of heaven to defeat and
expel the dragon.
At this point of the vision we're not yet looking into the future. Instead, the Bible is
giving us a behind-the-scenes picture of events that have already happened. The birth of Jesus
Christ, his victory over death, and his ascension to the throne of God have defeated Satan. The
forces of God have already won a great and decisive triumph.
But that's not yet the end of the story. The dragon is defeated but not yet destroyed; he is
wounded but not dead. And a wounded dragon is dangerous. Revelation says, "Woe to the earth
and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows
that his time is short."
Sometimes, when you see horrible things happening, you might think that Satan is
winning. But is he? Satan is ferocious, not because he's winning, but because he has already lost
and he's furious about it. Jesus has already won the decisive battle through his death and
resurrection, and all Satan can do is try to cause as much trouble as he can in the time he has left.
With that picture in mind, let's look at the forces of the future and see what they tell us
about the present. After Satan's defeat in Revelation 12, the dragon himself stays mostly in the
background, and he uses three other beings to do his dirty work.

Triple Trouble: Beast, False Prophet, Prostitute

The first part of Revelation 13 introduces us to a beast who rises up out of the sea. This
beastly figure is the one described in other parts of the Bible as "the man of lawlessness" (2
Thessalonians 2:3) or "the antichrist" (1 John 2:18).
The antichrist will be a political ruler. He will take control of the world and establish one
world government. His power will be an extension of the power of Satan himself, and most
people will be unable to resist. Revelation says, "Men worshipped the dragon because he had
given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, "Who is like the

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beast? Who can make war against him?" Anyone who doesn't submit to the antichrist and
worship him—and this includes all who belong to Jesus—will be hunted down and killed.
As if that weren't bad enough, the antichrist will have a henchman. Revelation says,
"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke
like a dragon" (13:11). In other words, this second beast tries to appear like the Lamb of God,
Jesus Christ, but he's a fake. He doesn't speak the word of God; his words are those of the
dragon, the devil. Elsewhere the book of Revelation refers to this second beast as "the false
prophet" (16:13, 19:20, 20:10). The false prophet has one aim: to deceive people and get them to
worship the antichrist. Revelation 13 says the false prophet
performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to
earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the
first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in
honor of the beast.... He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so
that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image of the first beast to be
killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive
a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had
the mark of the beast or the number of his name.
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the
beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
Now, some details of this vision are hard to understand, but one thing is clear: near the end of
time, false religion will unite with a brutal global government. The false prophet will spearhead
this effort. With his cunning words and flashy miracles, the false prophet will be the ultimate in
religious deception. He will hook up with the first beast's powers of persecution, killing those
who reject the beast and making it impossible to buy or sell without the code of the antichrist.
A bit later, Revelation introduces us to a third force of the future: a prostitute by the name
of Babylon. This prostitute Babylon, says Revelation, "is the great city that rules over the kings
of the earth" (17:18). At the time Revelation was written, the great ruling city was Rome. Going
back to the Babylonian empire, and even further back to the tower of Babel, Babylon in the Bible
represents human culture and civilization united in opposition to God. In Revelation the
prostitute Babylon does not symbolize any one person, but an entire civilization with enormous
powers of seduction. Revelation 17:4 says, "With her the kings of the earth committed adultery
and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
The images of sex and drunkenness have a literal dimension—all big cities wallow in
such things, the Roman Empire did, and the ultimate evil civilization will, too—but the Bible
says that the prostitute's main method of seduction is money. She is the center of world trade and
finance and commerce and culture, and people are willing to do almost anything with her if only
she will give them a piece of her wealth. The prostitute Babylon is the capital of a worldwide
civilization that is obsessed with money. Under the spell of Babylon, the people and leaders of
the world care about just one thing: the economy. Everything has a price. Everything is for sale,
even the bodies and souls of people (Revelation 18:13). This seductive, money-oriented
civilization will eventually come under the control of the antichrist and serve his purposes.
So then, Revelation shows us three evil forces of the future who are in league with the
devil. The beast, or antichrist, is the ultimate in political persecution. The false prophet is the
ultimate in religious deception. The prostitute is the ultimate in cultural seduction.

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Is the End Near?
When we think about these forces of evil that will dominate the last chapter of human
history, many of us can't help wondering whether the world we're living in is ripe for the end. It's
not hard to imagine a scenario where one person would rule the world in the near future. We
already see more and more globalization in world economics and politics. All it would take to
bring us to a single world government would be a military crisis involving nuclear weapons, or a
worldwide environmental crisis, or a collapse of currencies and a global depression, in which one
man seemed to have all the answers.
It's not hard to imagine the rise of the false prophet in our current setting, either. Imagine
a smooth talking religious leader with the power to make fire fall from heaven and do other
dazzling signs and wonders that had no scientific explanation—and imagine all of this broadcast
on live television to viewers around the world. Secularists would be so shocked at a genuine
miracle that they'd fall down and worship without bothering to ask whether the miracles and
teaching were from God or from Satan. Meanwhile, New Agers and spiritists would hail the false
prophet as a source of spiritual power and self-realization.
And what about the power to control buying and selling? Well, it's easy enough to see
how that could happen. Most of the technology is already in place. We already have electronic
scanning systems and computerized credit checks. There is already information about each of us
in all sorts of different computers owned by governments and business, and that information is
becoming more and more connected by means of the Internet. Now imagine a future where all
that data is merged into one computer network, where all payments are made electronically after
a credit check by one central computer, and where if a credit check identified you as a Christian,
you would be denied the right to buy or sell anything. Imagine a computer scanner which would
respond only to a certain code, and the only way to be marked with that code would be to serve
the antichrist. Not hard to imagine, is it? We already have the technology.
The rise of a global antichrist and false prophet seem all too possible, and as for the
prostitute Babylon, the final corrupt civilization, it's already most of the way here. How could the
final world civilization get any more sex-crazed, drug-and-alcohol infested, or money hungry
than the society we're in right now? The world seems ripe for the evil forces of the future
described in the Bible.

Future Forces Acting Now

It's interesting—and frightening—to speculate and to wonder how long it will be until
these visions come true. But the Bible doesn't tell us these things just to fuel our speculation.
Many times in the past there have been people who felt sure that the end was near or that a
particular person was the antichrist, but they were mistaken and the end of the world did not
come. In the same way, we may think that the times are ripe for the end, but we could very well
be mistaken. It may turn out to be many years, even many centuries, before history reaches its
final chapter. But even if the forces of the future don't reach their final and most frightening form
for a long time, we need to know about them because they are at work in our world right now.
A final antichrist will appear at some point, says the Bible, but Scripture also says that
there are many antichrists at work in the world already (1 John 2:18). So don't get so busy
wondering about the final antichrist, or the final false prophet, or the final seductive civilization,
that you don't see the antichrists, false prophets, and seductions all around you.
Satan's methods are much the same now as they will be in the future: persecution,
deception, seduction. The only difference is that those forces will be more intense at the end of

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history when all restraints are briefly taken away. The Bible isn't just fueling our speculation
about the end time when it shows us what Satan will do in the future. It shows us the future so
that we'll have a much clearer idea of the methods Satan is using right now.
Satan's first method, persecution, isn't just a future possibility. It's present reality.
Whether or not the final antichrist appears in our lifetime, it's a fact that in many different parts
of the world, there are already martyrs dying for Christ each year. And even where faith won't
cost you your life, Satan uses peer pressure, disadvantages in finance and business, and other
forms of persecution and intimidation to keep you from following Jesus.
Satan's second method of attack, religious deception, is also very much present. Even if
we haven't yet encountered the ultimate false prophet, there are plenty of false prophets with us,
people who deny the truth of the Bible, reject the claims of Jesus Christ, promote corrupt moral
teaching, and plunge people into ruin and destruction.
Satan's third method, cultural seduction, is also at work right now. Whether or not our
civilization qualifies as the ultimate Babylon, the forces of seduction are all around us. It's almost
impossible to pass through your teenage years without being offering drugs or liquor; casual sex
is the order of the day; magazines, movies, and music are saturated with sex. We're surrounded
by a consumer culture which sucks us into an obsession with making money and finding new
ways to spend it. Even if we're not living in the final Babylon, we need to be alert to the ways in
which we are being seduced right now by this corrupt society.

Ultimate Force of the Future

Evil forces of the future are at work in the present. So how can you resist? Only by being
in touch with the ultimate force of the future. The book of Revelation says that just when the
antichrist, the false prophet, and the prostitute society seem irresistible, just when it appears
Satan has won, the ultimate force of the future will ride onto the scene. Revelation 19 says,
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called
Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war... The armies of heaven were
following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean... On his
robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS.
This is a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, returning to destroy his enemies and establish
his eternal kingdom on earth.
Earlier we saw that Jesus decisively defeated Satan by dying for our sins and rising again
from the dead and ascending to heaven, and we saw that Satan is just a wounded dragon living
on borrowed time. Now, in Revelation 19, we see Jesus returning to earth to finish off the devil
and his cronies.
As Jesus and his armies ride forth, the beast and the false prophet and the people who
follow them gather to fight back, but their end is swift and terrible. The beast and the false
prophet are captured and thrown into the fires of hell. All the people who followed the antichrist
and the false prophet and gave in to the seductions of Babylon, are condemned. Finally, Satan
himself is crushed. He and all his demons are cast into the lake of fire. There, says the Bible,
"They will be tormented day and night forever and ever." So much for the power of evil.
That's why it's important to know the end of the story. You may look around you and
think that it makes more sense to give in to evil than to follow Jesus, but when the forces of the
future clash, evil is the loser, and Christ is the winner. The evil forces of the future will melt
away before the vast, unimaginable force of the rider on the white horse. Jesus Christ will reign

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supreme. Those who put their faith in Jesus and resist the powers of evil will be delivered by
God and will enjoy forever the splendor of the Lord's new creation.
I've said that the evil forces of the future are already at work in the present, even if the
final evil and tribulation isn't yet upon us. But let me emphasize something far more important:
the holy and divine force of the future, the saving power of Jesus, is also at work right now, even
if his Second Coming isn't yet upon us. The Holy Spirit of Jesus is at work today, drawing his
people toward their final destiny. The gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus continues to
spread throughout the world, rescuing millions from the clutches of Satan, guarding their souls
and giving them strength to resist the forces of intimidation and deception and seduction. The
gospel of Christ is riding forth constantly, and when it has reached all nations and the Lord has
brought all his chosen ones to faith, the end will come and Jesus will return and complete his
victory.
Meanwhile, the Lord calls us to live our present lives in light of what we know about the
future. He shows us Satan's strategies, not so that we'll be frightened or overwhelmed, but so that
we'll be alert to what the devil is doing, and so that we will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and take
sides with him. There's a lot we don't know about the future. We don't know which trends or
what people will have the greatest impact. But we do know this: a battle is brewing, the final
battle between the forces of evil and the power of the Lord. That future battle is simply the last
conflict in a war that is going on right now, a war in which the forces of the future are already
exercising their power. Which forces are controlling you? Which side are you on? Are you
giving in to the sidekicks of a fierce but doomed dragon? Or are you marching in the armies of
the victorious Christ? Don't let another day go by before you trust Jesus as your rescuer and obey
him as your commander.

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The  Antichrist  

David Feddes
Christ  vs.  Antichrist  
•  Human history is a conflict between
the city of God and the city of man.
•  This conflict is leading up to a final
battle between Christ and Antichrist.
•  This villain is called by various titles:
Ø  “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess
2:3-4)
Ø  “the beast” (Dan 7, Revelation 13)
Ø  “the antichrist” (1 John 2:18)
Various  views  about  Antichrist  
•  Some church fathers: Antichrist would be
apostate Jew taking over Roman Empire
•  Medieval church: Antichrist was the latest
attacker on Christian lands (Attila, caliphs)
•  Reformation: Antichrist was the papacy
•  Catholics: Protestants were paving the way
for the final rebellion of Antichrist
•  Preterists: Antichrist prophecies were
fulfilled in actions of Nero and Titus
Main  Fact  About  Antichrist:    
He  loses!!  
•  The beast was slain and its body destroyed
and thrown into the blazing fire (Dan 7:11).
•  His power will be taken away and completely
destroyed forever (Dan 7:26).
•  Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human
power (Dan 8:25)
•  The Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the
breath of his mouth and destroy him by the
splendor of his coming” (2 Thess 2:8).
Preview  of  Antichrist:  
Antiochus  IV  Epiphanes  
• Reigned 170-164 BC
• Propaganda & pressure for Greek humanism
• Replaced rightful high priest with a phony
• Declared himself to be Ephipanes (“deity
revealed”), Zeus made manifest.
• Abomination: built altar to Zeus in the
Jerusalem temple and sacrificed pigs there.
• Banned Sabbath, Scripture, & circumcision
• Ferocious persecution
• Defeated by Maccabees; died suddenly
• Jerusalem temple cleansed and restored
Facts  about  Antichrist  
1.  Claims to be God
2.  Backed by Satan
3.  Clever counterfeiter
4.  Vicious persecutor
5.  Commits hideous abomination
6.  Heads global attack against believers
Antichrist loses; Christ wins.
1.  Claims  to  be  God  
Speaking of “the man of lawlessness,” Paul
says, “He will oppose and will exalt himself
over everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up in
God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be
God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the
beast” (Rev 13:8).
Worshiping  big  government  
•  Antichrist is last and worst of a long line
•  Pharoahs, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander,
Antiochus, Roman emperors
•  Hitler, Stalin, Mao, North Korea’s Kim
•  “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and
magnify himself above every god and will say
unheard of things against the God of gods… He
will show no regard for the gods of his fathers …
nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself
above them all” (Daniel 11:36-37).
2.  Backed  by  Satan  
Daniel 8:24 says of Antiochus, “He will become
very strong, but not by his own power.” Pagan
humanism was not just human; it was backed
by demonic power.
The final Antichrist will also get his power from
the realm of devils, even as he claims to offer
enlightened humanism and new, improved
religion. Revelation 13:2 speaks of Satan as a
dragon and says, “The dragon gave the beast
his power and his throne and great authority.”
Humanism’s  Satanic  backing  
Humanist Manifesto: “We consider the
religious forms and ideas of our fathers no
longer adequate… Man is at last becoming
aware that he alone is responsible for the
realization of the world of his dreams, that he
has within himself the power for its
achievement.”
Are humanists affirming humanity—or causing
hellish trouble for humanity?
Prince  of  this  world  
Persian high culture backed by unseen
“prince of Persia” (Daniel 10:13)
Alexander portrayed conquests and cult of
emperor worship as a way to spread
enlightened Greek culture, but Greek
humanism wasn’t just human. Backed by a
“prince of Greece” (Dan 10:20).
Rejecting God’s rule doesn’t make man
supreme; it means yielding to demons.
Antichrist will be agent of Satan himself.
3.  Deadly  deceiver  
•  Jesus called Satan “a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8:44). Satan will help Antichrist to
tell cunning lies and to fool people.
•  Daniel said of Antiochus, “He will cause deceit
to prosper” (8:25).
•  “The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in
all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives
those who are perishing” (2 Thess 2:9-10).
Fake  resurrection  &  false  prophet  
•  In the vision of Revelation, the beast suffers
an apparently fatal wound but then is healed
and gains greater power than ever.
•  Like Antiochus, he will set up a religious
leader who is in his pocket.
•  Sidekick in miracles and speeches: the false
prophet “performed great and miraculous
signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven in full view of men… he deceived the
inhabitants of the earth” (Rev 13:13-14).
Resist  deceivers    
in  our  own  time  
•  Jesus: “False Christs and false prophets will
appear and perform great signs and
miracles to deceive even the elect—if that
were possible” (Matthew 24:24).
•  “As you have heard that the antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists have
come… Who is the liar? It is the man who
denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man
is the antichrist” (1 John 2:18,22).
The  spirit  of  antichrist  
•  Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
is not from God. This is the spirit of the
antichrist, which you have heard is coming and
even now is already in the world (1 John 4:3).
•  Every religion that denies Jesus as God and
Savior is a preview version of Antichrist: Arius,
Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarian
•  Every government that opposes Jesus’ rule
and encourages worship of big secular
government is a preview version of Antichrist.
4.  Vicious  persecutor  
The beast “was given power to make war
against the saints and to conquer them… all
who refused to worship the image [were]
killed… no one could buy or sell unless he
had the mark, which is the name of the
beast or the number of his name… It is
man’s number. His number is 666
(Revelation 13:7,15-17).
Great  Tribulation  
“There will be a time of distress such as has
not happened from the beginning of nations
until then.” (Daniel 12:1)
“There will be great distress, unequalled from
the beginning of the world until now—and
never to be equaled again. If those days had
not been cut short, no one would survive, but
for the sake of the elect those days will be
shortened.” (Matt 24:21-22)
5.  Abomination  of  desolation  
Hideous sacrilege to defile what is most holy:
“They will set up the abomination that causes
desolation… but the people who know their
God will firmly resist him” (Daniel 11:31-32).
This would happen on three main occasions:
•  168 BC Antiochus desecrated the temple
•  70 AD Titus destroyed the temple
•  Near history’s end Final abomination
Antiochus’  abomination  
in  168  BC  
Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the
temple in Jerusalem with pagan altars
and pigs’ blood. That abomination
matched Daniel’s vision, but more
would come.
Titus’  abomination  in  70  A.D.  
•  Jesus warned his generation that they would
“see standing in the holy place ‘the
abomination that causes desolation’ spoken of
through the prophet Daniel” (Matt 24:15).
Jesus warned that the temple would be
destroyed, and Jerusalem would suffer horribly.
•  This came came true in 70 A.D. when Roman
legions led by Titus marched into the holy city
and the holy temple with images of the
“divine” emperor. Titus massacred many and
destroyed the temple.
Final  abomination  
•  Antichrist “sets himself up in God’s temple,
proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess 2:4).
•  Whether this happens in a rebuilt temple in
Jerusalem or in the upper leadership of the
Christian church, Antichrist will twist what
ought to be holy and healthy into a filthy horror.
•  Many will see it as a proof that faith is folly.
•  But what it really means is that the Antichrist
has just pinned a target to his chest, and God
is taking aim.
Present-­‐day  abomination  
•  Educators & entertainers mock God
•  Churches bless things such as homosexual
marriage that Scripture calls abomination.
•  Persisting in sin and unbelief leads further:
“They perish because they refused to love the
truth and so be saved. For this reason God
sends them a powerful delusion so that they will
believe the lie and so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth but have
delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess 2:10-12).
6.  Global  military  attack  
Will claim rule over a united international
community with a multi-national military
that seeks to wipe out God’s faithful.
“He will invade many countries and will
sweep through them like a flood. He will
also invade the Beautiful Land [Israel]… he
will set out in a great rage to destroy and
annihilate many (Dan 11:40-44).
Armageddon  
Revelation foresees “spirits of demons
performing miraculous signs, and they go out
to the kings of the whole world, to gather
them for battle on the great day of God
Almighty… Then they gathered the kings
together to the place that in Hebrew is called
Armageddon… They will make war against
the Lamb [Jesus Christ], but the Lamb will
overcome them because he is Lord of lords
and King of kings—and with him will be his
called, chosen, and faithful followers
(Revelation 16:14-16,17:15).
Facts  about  Antichrist  
1.  Claims to be God
2.  Backed by Satan
3.  Clever counterfeiter
4.  Vicious persecutor
5.  Commits hideous abomination
6.  Heads global attack against believers
Antichrist loses; Christ wins.
Antichrist  loses;  Christ  wins.    
•  Whatever you forget or can’t understand
about Antichrist, remember this: he loses!
•  “He will come to his end, with no one to
help.” (Daniel 11:45)
•  Just when Antichrist thinks that the whole
world is his and that he can defeat even
the Lord, he will find out the hard way that
nobody defeats the Almighty.
Armies  of  heaven  
“The armies of heaven were following him…
I saw the beast and the kings of the earth
and their armies gather together to make
war against the rider on the horse and his
army. But the beast was captured, and with
him the false prophet… The two of them
were thrown alive into the fiery lake of
burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:11-20).
Easy  victory  for  Jesus  
•  The Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the
breath of his mouth and destroy him by the
splendor of his coming. (2 Thess 2:8).
•  If history’s worst tyrant will lose, we can be
sure lesser tyrants will also lose. If Satan’s
best shot will fail, then we can be sure his
lesser, limited attempts will fail.
Everlasting  kingdom  
I kept looking until the beast was slain and
its body destroyed and thrown into the
blazing fire… I looked, and there before me
was one like a son of man, coming with the
clouds of heaven. He approached the
Ancient of Days and was led into his
presence. He was given authority, glory and
sovereign power; all peoples, nations and
men of every language worshiped him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion that
will not pass away, and his kingdom will
never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:11-14).
The Antichrist
By David Feddes

Human history is a conflict between the city of God and the city of man. This conflict is
leading up to a final battle between Christ and Antichrist. The Bible says that before Jesus comes
in glory, a terrible tyrant, the Antichrist, must first appear. The Bible calls this future person “the
man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) and “the beast” (Revelation 13) as well as “the
antichrist” (1 John 2:18).
What will Antichrist be like? We can get a preview of this deadly dictator by looking at a
ruler named Antiochus IV, a politician who governed in the second century before Jesus.
Antiochus ruled a territory that had been part of the empire conquered by Alexander the Great.
Antiochus loved Greek paganism and humanism. He loved the emphasis on reason and
education, arts and entertainment, athletics and fitness. Paganism approved sexual perversion,
killing unwanted babies, and other evils. Antiochus hated all who rejected his “enlightened”
humanism, and he set out to change them by any means necessary.
Among those he wanted to change were the people of Judea. Antiochus tried to replace faith
in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel with faith in humanism and big government. Antiochus
rewarded people who went along with him and gave them many advantages over those who
clung to biblical faith. He replaced the rightful high priest with a phony priest, a false prophet
who would lead people away from the ancient faith. Some Jews rejected God’s covenant and
became humanists.
But others would not abandon God or Bible-based culture, despite propaganda and pressure
from Antiochus. So he decided to take harsher measures. Antiochus declared himself to be the
manifestation of Zeus, the chief pagan god, and gave himself the title Epiphanes, “deity
revealed.” Antiochus banned Sabbath observance. He plundered the temple in Jerusalem. In 168
BC he built a pagan altar over God’s holy altar, honoring himself as Zeus. He had pigs
slaughtered there as sacrifices to himself, an abomination which made the temple a desolation,
unusable for sincere worshipers of God. Anyone caught with a Bible scroll was killed and the
scroll was burned. If any baby was found to be circumcised as a mark of God’s covenant, that
baby was hung around the mother’s neck, and the whole family was killed.
Antiochus caused many horrors, but his reign of terror didn’t last. An old man named
Mattathias and his five sons stood up for the Lord and led resistance against Antiochus. The
leading son, Judah, was nicknamed the Maccabee (meaning “the Hammer”) and those who
stayed faithful to God and resisted the tyrant were called Maccabees. Antiochus tried to hunt
them down and destroy them, but he failed. Then came the decisive battle. The soldiers of
Antiochus had superior training and equipment, and they outnumbered the Maccabeees six to
one. Yet somehow the worshippers of God triumphed, and the dictator’s forces went down to
defeat. God’s people cleansed and restored the temple with great joy. After three years of horror,
the temple was again the house of God. As for Antiochus Epiphanes, he died suddenly of an
unseen, unknown cause. Many believed that God struck him down. That victory for freedom and
faith is still celebrated in the festival of Hanukkah.

Vision of Victory
The books of the Maccabees recorded these events after they happened. The Bible book of
Daniel told of these things before they happened. Daniel saw visions of Antiochus almost 400

1
years ahead of time, and these visions were mingled with visions of an even worse ruler to come
later: the Antichrist.
Many people have been fascinated, and often frightened, by speculation about Antichrist.
There have been many guesses about who Antichrist might be, what nation he might come from,
and the meaning of his code number 666. Millions have read novels featuring an imaginary
Antichrist, such as Nicolai Carpathia in the Left Behind series. Millions more have watched
bizarre movies about the Antichrist, such as The Omen series. There’s often a morbid interest in
this dreadful figure and his horrors.
However, God tells about Antichrist not just to scare us but to encourage us. It’s not just a
horror story but a victory story. The fact that God tells about the Antichrist in advance means
that God sees him coming and is able to deal with him. Whatever we may guess about Antichrist,
the most important fact is this: he loses! Jesus defeats him. So as we talk about Antichrist, let’s
do so not with sickly curiosity and horror but with confidence in Christ.
Daniel’s visions, together with New Testament prophecies of Jesus, Paul, and the book of
Revelation, show a number of things about the coming Antichrist. First, he will claim divine
powers and try to put himself in the place of God. Second, though he appears to make man
supreme and seems to replace God with big government, the real power behind his humanism
will not be merely human but Satanic. Third, he will be a clever, persuasive liar. Fourth, he will
be a vicious persecutor. Fifth, he will commit a hideous sacrilege, an “abomination of
desolution,” to defile what is most holy. Sixth, he will try to form one world government to rule
a united international community with a multi-national military that seeks to wipe out God’s
faithful. Those six things are important to know, but the seventh is the most important: Antichrist
loses; Christ wins. Let’s take a closer look at these facts.

Playing God
First, the Antichrist will play god and claim to be divine. He will be the last in a long line of
rulers who demanded to be worshiped. Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar made an image and
threatened to burn anyone who didn’t worship his image. Persia’s Darius threatened lions for
those who prayed to any god but himself. The Greco-Syrian dictator Antiochus IV claimed
divinity and murdered Jews who kept walking with God. Rome’s “divine” emperors killed
Christians who declared “Jesus is Lord” and refused to swear “Caesar is Lord.”
Daniel knew some of these emperors personally, and God revealed others to him in visions.
But worse than all of these, wrote Daniel, will be a final ruler: “The king will do as he pleases.
He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard of things against the
God of gods… He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers … nor will he regard any god,
but will exalt himself above them all” (Daniel 11:36-37).
New Testament descriptions of this god player are similar to Daniel’s description. Speaking
of “the man of lawlessness,” St. Paul says, “He will oppose and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple,
proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). In Revelation 13:8, St. John says, “All
inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast” except for those who belong to Christ.
Ancient rulers required emperor worship. Modern dictators try to destroy religion and make a
religion of themselves. In Russia, Joseph Stalin fought against faith and posted huge pictures of
himself. In China, Chairman Mao made his Little Red Book a kind of scripture and portrayed
himself as the all-wise, all-powerful savior of China. North Korea’s Kim Jong-il produces

2
propaganda of himself as “the Dear Leader,” worthy of all reverence, and images of him appear
everywhere in the nation.
The Antichrist will pick up where previous dictators left off and will take their arrogance to
unthinkable new heights, openly proclaiming himself to be god. Only those who know the true
God in Christ will have the courage and strength not to worship the Antichrist. People already
have a hard time not looking to government as their savior, helper, and source of wisdom.
Government schools, government aid, and government troops already lure many to count on
government more than on God and to love their country more than they love the church of Jesus
Christ. The Antichrist will exploit this to the fullest and make himself the object of worship. The
world’s worship of big government will reach its final phase.

Satanic Power
Here’s a second fact about Antichrist: his power will come from Satan. The Antichrist will be
human, but he will be backed by power that is more than human. Daniel 8:24 says of Antiochus,
“He will become very strong, but not by his own power.” Pagan humanism was not just human;
it was backed by demonic power. The final Antichrist will also get his power from the dark
realm of devils, even as he claims to offer enlightened humanism and new, improved religion.
Revelation 13:2 speaks of Satan as a dragon and says, “The dragon gave the beast his power and
his throne and great authority.”
Some humanists today are well intentioned and think they are liberating minds from
backward, outdated religion. The Humanist Manifesto states, “We consider the religious forms
and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate… Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is
responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power
for its achievement.” Doesn’t that sound like a grand affirmation of humanity? But any brand of
humanism which disregards God and makes man the measure of all things is really a tool of
Satan and will cause hellish trouble for humanity.
The ancient Persians had a highly developed culture with some emperor worship sprinkled
in, but Persian power wasn’t just human. The Lord told Daniel that Persia’s power was backed
by a mysterious “prince of Persia” (Daniel 10:13) from the realm of fallen angels. The ancient
Greeks were proud of their humanism, and Alexander the Great portrayed his conquests and his
cult of emperor worship as a way of spreading enlightened Greek culture, but Greek humanism
wasn’t just human. It was backed by a “prince of Greece” in the demon realm, as the Lord told
Daniel (10:20). It is impossible to be simply a humanist. If you will not honor the rule of God,
you don’t make humanity supreme; you place yourself under the rule of demonic powers headed
by Satan. The Antichrist will be the agent of Satan himself.

Deadly Deceiver
A third fact about Antichrist is that he will be a deadly deceiver. Jesus called Satan “a liar
and the father of lies” (John 8:44), and Satan will enable Antichrist to tell cunning lies and to
fool people. Daniel said of Antiochus, “He will cause deceit to prosper” (8:25), and the
Antichrist will be even more skilled at persuading people to believe lies. St. Paul says, “The
coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of
counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are
perishing” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). In the vision of Revelation, the beast suffers an apparently
fatal wound but then is healed and gains greater power than ever.

3
The Antichrist will have a sidekick in his supernatural powers and his convincing speeches.
Just as Antiochus used a phony priest in Jerusalem to lead people away from God’s covenant in
the time of the Maccabees, the Antichrist will have a religious leader in his pocket. This false
prophet will be a smooth talker with tremendous powers of persuasion. In the vision of
Revelation, “he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven in full view of men… he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:13-14).
The deeds will be so astounding and the words so gripping that everybody will be taken in.
Even the very chosen of God would be fooled if God himself did not protect their hearts. As
Jesus himself said, “False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and
miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). It’s not possible for
Satan to seize those whom God has chosen and saved, but that’s just about the only thing that
won’t be possible for the Antichrist and his powers of persuasion and deception.
Now, when the Lord tells us this, it’s not just to help those who turn out to be living in the
final generation. He wants every generation to beware of deceptions that deny Jesus and lead
people astray. The apostle John, who wrote about the beast in the book of Revelation, warned in
a letter that his readers should not think only about some future Antichrist of the last hour. They
should be aware that in a sense, they were already in the last hour and that they already had to
resist various antichrists. John wrote, “As you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now
many antichrists have come… Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Such a man is the antichrist” (1 John 2:18,22). So don’t just guess about the end times; beware of
deception right now.
It may seem like no big deal if a religion says Jesus isn’t one with God or if a government
ignores the Bible in favor of secular humanism. But every religion that denies Jesus as God and
Savior, and every government that rejects and opposes his rule, is a preliminary version of
Antichrist. John says, “Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the
spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (1
John 4:3).

Vicious Persecutor
A fourth fact about Antichrist is that he will be a vicious persecutor. When Daniel foresaw
the horrors that Antiochus would commit, he wrote, “He will cause astounding devastation and
succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people” (8:23-24).
I’ve already described how this prophecy was fulfilled when Antiochus ordered tortures and
massacres, killing entire families, including babies. Daniel’s visions of Antiochus made him sick,
but Antichrist would be even worse. Daniel 12:1 says, “There will be a time of distress such as
has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.”
Throughout the years, God’s faithful have been raped, starved, crucified, beheaded, burned,
electrocuted, fed to animals, sawn in two, and slaughtered in other ways. But the Antichrist will
cause a great tribulation which surpasses all others. In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus says, “There will
be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled
again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect
those days will be shortened.”
Modern technology makes it easier than ever for governments to spy on people and keep
computerized files about them. Technology also makes it easier to track financial activity and to
prevent people from buying and selling unless they have the proper code. Lately there has been
talk about embedding a tiny computer chip just beneath a person’s skin so that if they get hurt in

4
an accident, a hospital can instantly get the person’s entire medical history and list of allergies
from the chip. That may sound appealing, but it’s not hard to imagine someone using that type of
technology for evil purposes. If the information on your personal computer chip didn’t identify
you as loyal to Antichrist, you wouldn’t be able to buy or sell. You would have no rights except
the right to die in a horrible manner.
We don’t know how close we are to the final Antichrist, and we don’t know what technology
he will use in his reign of terror. But we do know that Antichrist will use all the technology and
power at his disposal to control buying and selling and to wipe out any who stay faithful to Jesus.
In Revelation’s vision of the future, the beast “was given power to make war against the saints
and to conquer them… all who refused to worship the image [were] killed… no one could buy or
sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name… It is
man’s number. His number is 666 (Revelation 13:7,15-17).
There has been lots of guessing about the meaning of 666 and what it might mean. I don’t
claim to have all the answers. The meaning of 666 may become clearer when Antichrist actually
comes to power. But here’s what I think is the best explanation at this point. Revelation says that
666 is “man’s number.” In biblical symbolism, seven is the number of divine perfection. A triple
seven would point to the triune perfection of the Holy Trinity. The Antichrist will try to replace
God, but the number six is merely man’s number, and the triple six will always falls short of the
triple seven.
Humanism will never replace the divine, but it will try very hard and will stop at no atrocity
to get its way. The campaigns of Antiochus, the horrors committed by Nero and other Roman
emperors, the anti-religious French Revolution, Hitler’s aggression and death camps, the
massacre of millions by atheistic communist rulers, the cruelty of anti-Christian religious
zealots—these are foretastes of persecutions that will by launched by Antichrist.

Abomination
A fifth fact about Antichrist is that he and his allies will commit a hideous sacrilege, an
“abomination of desolution,” to defile what is most holy. Daniel said, “They will set up the
abomination that causes desolation… but the people who know their God will firmly resist him”
(Daniel 11:31-32).
In 168 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in Jerusalem with pagan altars and
pigs’ blood. That abomination fit Daniel’s vision, but more would come. Jesus warned his
generation that they would “see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes
desolation’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel” (Matthew 24:15). The temple would be
destroyed and Jerusalem would suffer horribly. Jesus’ words came true in 70 A.D. when Roman
legions led by Titus marched into the holy city and the holy temple with images of the “divine”
emperor. Titus massacred many and destroyed the temple.
The final abomination is yet to come, when Antichrist “sets himself up in God’s temple,
proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Whether this happens in a rebuilt temple
in Jerusalem or in the upper leadership of the Christian church, Antichrist will twist what ought
to be holy and healthy into a filthy horror. When this happens, many may see it as a sign that
God is just a joke and that the old religion is dead. But what it really means is that the Antichrist
has just pinned a target to his chest, and God is taking aim at him.
Already, we see abominations in educational establishments and entertainment media, where
godliness is mocked. Even many churches are blessing immorality, which the Bible describes as
abomination. Does this mean the old faith is dead, that holiness is passé, and that we can

5
reimagine God to suit ourselves? No, it means we are in deep trouble, and we had better turn
back to God lest we become partners with the Antichrist.
People don’t reach this position overnight. It’s what happens when they persist in sin and
unbelief. “They perish,” says Paul, “because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For
this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all
will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2
Thessalonians 2:10-12). Whether or not we live to see the final Antichrist, the fact remains that
present-day wickedness is the seed of the final abomination of desolation.

Armageddon
A sixth fact about Antichrist is that he will claim rule over a united international community
with a multi-national military that seeks to wipe out God’s faithful. He will succeed in
conquering, and he will gather his forces for one final battle to wipe God’s people from the face
of the earth. According to Daniel’s vision, “He will invade many countries and will sweep
through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land [Israel]… he will set out in a
great rage to destroy and annihilate many (11:40-44).
In conquering a vast world empire and enlisting troops from all over the world for his final
campaign, the Antichrist will be helped by the recruiting efforts of Satan and his demons.
Revelation foresees “spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings
of the whole world, to gather them for battle on the great day of God Almighty… Then they
gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon… They will make
war against the Lamb [Jesus Christ], but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of
lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers
(Revelation 16:14,15).

Victory
You might forget some of the biblical facts about Antichrist, and you might not understand
everything or how it applies to current events, but whatever you can’t remember or understand,
know one thing for sure: he loses. As Daniel 11:45 puts it, “He will come to his end, with no one
to help.”
Just when Antichrist thinks that the whole world is his and that he can defeat even the Lord,
he will find out the hard way that nobody can defeat the Almighty. Revelation pictures Jesus as a
general on a white horse. “The armies of heaven were following him… I saw the beast and the
kings of the earth and their armies gather together to make war against the rider on the horse and
his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet… The two of them were
thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (19:11-20).
Jesus will defeat Antichrist easily. Just one puff of Jesus’ breath will send him flying. Just
one look at Jesus’ face will send him fleeing. “The Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the
breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
If even the most evil and deadly person, the Antichrist, will be defeated, we can be sure that
any of the lesser evil leaders who come before him will also lose. Even when Satan does his
worst at the end of history, even when evil humanity is most vicious and powerful, the Lord
Jesus wins. If the Lord is someday going to let Satan and Antichrist give it their best shot to
dethrone him, and then overwhelm them totally, that fact encourages God’s people to stand firm
and to triumph over the lesser evils that come before the final one.

6
Already 500 years before Jesus’ first coming as a humble man, the Lord gave Daniel a vision
of his second coming as the glorious Son of God and Son of Man, the conqueror of all his foes,
including Antichrist. Daniel said,
I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing
fire… I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of
heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given
authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language
worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his
kingdom will never be destroyed. (7:11-14).

Originally prepared by David Feddes for Back to God Ministries International. Used with permission.

7
The  Last  Battle:  
Armageddon  
David Feddes
God  against  Gog  
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog,

of the land of Magog, the chief prince of

Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy
against him 3 and say, Thus says the
Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O
Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
4 And I will turn you about and put hooks

into your jaws, and I will bring you out,

and all your army… (Ezekiel 38:1-4)
Gog’s  plot  is  in  God’s  plan  
38:15 You will come from your place out
of the uttermost parts of the north, you
and many peoples with you, all of them
riding on horses, a great host, a mighty
army. 16 You will come up against my
people Israel, like a cloud covering the
land. In the latter days I will bring you
against my land, that the nations may
know me, when through you, O Gog, I
vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
Wrath  and  earthquake  
18 But on that day, the day that Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, declares the Lord
GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger. 19 For
in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I
declare, On that day there shall be a great
earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 … all the
people who are on the face of the earth, shall
quake at my presence. And the mountains shall
be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and
every wall shall tumble to the ground.
Sword,  hail,  fire  
21  I
will summon a sword against Gog on all
my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every
man's sword will be against his brother.
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter

into judgment with him, and I will rain upon

him and his hordes and the many peoples
who are with him torrential rains and
hailstones, fire and sulfur. 23 So I will show
my greatness and my holiness and make
myself known in the eyes of many nations.
Then they will know that I am the LORD.
God  drives  Gog  into  a  trap  
1 ”“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog
and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am
against you, O Gog… 2 And I will turn you about
and drive you forward, and bring you up from
the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you
against the mountains of Israel… 4 You shall fall
on the mountains of Israel, you and all your
hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will
give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the
beasts of the field to be devoured. (39:1-4)
Gog’s  army  is  dead  meat  
17  “…Speak to the birds of every sort and to all
beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come,
gather from all around to the sacrificial feast
that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial
feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall
eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the
flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth… 20 And you shall be filled
at my table with horses and charioteers, with
mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares
the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 39:17-20)
Forces  of  the  future  
(Revelation  12-­‐13)  
•  Demonic power
•  Oppressive government
•  Deceptive religion
•  Seductive culture
Armageddon:    
The  Last  Battle  
Harvest of the Earth (14:19) =
Battle of Armageddon (16:14-21) =
Rider defeats Beast (19:11-21) =
Last Battle Against Satan (20:7-10)
Angels  announce  judgment  
“Fear God and give him glory, because the
hour of his judgment has come.” (14:7)
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” (14:8)
“The smoke of their torment goes up forever
… these worshipers of the beast.” (14:11)
The angel swung his sickle across the earth
and gathered the grape harvest of the earth
and threw it into the great winepress of the
wrath of God. (14:19)
Seven  angels  with  seven  bowls  
containing  seven  plagues  
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and
amazing, seven angels with seven plagues,
which are the last, for with them the wrath of
God is finished… one of the four living
creatures gave to the seven angels seven
golden bowls full of the wrath of God (15:1,7)
Painful sores, seas become blood, rivers
become blood, sun scorches, darkness,
Euphrates River dried, earthquake and hail
Evil  forces  gather  for  battle  
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the
great river Euphrates, and its water was dried
up, to prepare the way for the kings from the
east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of
the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast
and out of the mouth of the false prophet,
three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are
demonic spirits, performing signs, who go
abroad to the kings of the whole world, to
assemble them for battle on the great day of
God the Almighty. (16:12-14)
Assembled  at  Armageddon  
 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is
the one who stays awake, keeping his
garments on, that he may not go about
naked and be seen exposed!”) And they
assembled them at the place that in Hebrew
is called Armageddon.
 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into

the air, and a loud voice came out of the

temple, from the throne, saying, “It is
done!” (16:15-17)
Devastating  wrath  
And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,
peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such
as there had never been since man was on the
earth, so great was that earthquake. The great
city was split into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon
the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine
of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled
away, and no mountains were to be found. And
great hailstones, about one hundred pounds
each, fell from heaven on people. (16:18-21)
Revelation  19:11-­‐21  
Invitation  for  vultures  
I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a
loud voice he called to all the birds that fly
directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great
supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the
flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the
flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh
of all men, both free and slave, both small and
great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of
the earth with their armies gathered to make
war against him who was sitting on the horse
and against his army. (19:17-19)
Utter  defeat  
And the beast was captured, and with it the
false prophet who in its presence had done
the signs by which he deceived those who
had received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped its image. These two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire that
burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by
the sword that came from the mouth of him
who was sitting on the horse, and all the
birds were gorged with their flesh. (19:20-21)
Utter  defeat  
20:7 And when the thousand years are ended,
Satan will be released from his prison 8 and
will come out to deceive the nations that are
at the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them for battle; their
number is like the sand of the sea.
Echoes 16:14. Demonic spirits, performing
signs … go abroad to the kings of the whole
world, to assemble them for battle on the
great day of God the Almighty.
Devil’s  doom  
20:9 And they marched up over the broad plain
of the earth and surrounded the camp of the
saints and the beloved city, but fire came
down from heaven and consumed them,
10  and the devil who had deceived them was

thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where

the beast and the false prophet were, and
they will be tormented day and night forever
and ever.
The  last  battle  
•  The Lord’s overwhelming presence
•  An earthquake like no other
•  Hailstones and fire from heaven
•  Bloody banquet for birds and beasts
In Ezekiel 38-39, these things happen to the
evil armies of Magog and their leader, Gog.
In Revelation 14-19, these things happen to
Babylon and its leader, the beast.
In Revelation 20, Satan gathers Gog and
Magog for battle, but they end up in hell.
Armageddon  =  the  last  battle  
•  The judgments in Ezekiel 38-39 are pictured
in Revelation 14-19.
•  Gog and Magog’s defeat in Ezekiel 38-39 is
pictured in Revelation 20.
•  This means that the last battle of Revelation
20 (against Gog, Magog, and Satan) is the
very same as the battle of Armageddon in
Revelation 16. These are not different
events a thousand years apart.
Armageddon:    
The  Last  Battle  
Harvest of the Earth (14:19) =
Battle of Armageddon (16:14-21) =
Rider defeats Beast (19:11-21) =
Last Battle Against Satan (20:7-10)
Forces  of  the  future  
(Revelation  12-­‐16)  
•  Demonic power
•  Oppressive government
•  Deceptive religion
•  Seductive culture
Judgment  of  
Babylon  
(Revelation  17-­‐18)  

Babylon = Rome =
Magog = prostitute =
final seductive culture
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the great!” (18:1)
Judgment  of  
Beast  and  False  
Prophet  
(Revelation  19:11-­‐21)  

Beast = antichrist = Gog =

man of lawlessness =
final oppressive government

Second beast = false prophet =

final deceptive religion
The  lawless  one  
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at
work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until
he is out of the way. And then the lawless one
will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill
with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing
by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thess 2:7-8)
1.  Lawless power already at work
2.  Lawless power on a leash till end is near
3.  Lawless one unleashed and revealed
4.  Wiped out by Jesus’ appearing (Armageddon)
Final  Judgment  of  Satan  
(Revelation  20:7-­‐10)  
Devil’s  doom  
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will
be released from his prison and will come out
to deceive the nations that are at the four
corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them for battle… but fire came down from
heaven and consumed them, and the devil who
had deceived them was thrown into the lake of
fire and sulfur where the beast and the false
prophet were, and they will be tormented day
and night forever and ever. (20:7-10)
Armageddon:    
The  Last  Battle  
Harvest of the Earth (14:19) =
Battle of Armageddon (16:14-21) =
Rider defeats Beast (19:11-21) =
Last Battle Against Satan (20:7-10)
The  millennium  is  now  
•  We are living in the period when Satan is
bound, cast down, and restrained.
•  We are living in the period when Christ’s
reign is already underway.
•  “The first resurrection” has already
happened for millions of people.
•  Millions have already refused the beast’s
mark, have come to life, and are now
reigning with Christ on heavenly thrones.
Binding  Satan  
“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out
demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong
man's house and plunder his goods, unless he
first binds the strong man?” (Matt 12:28-29)
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt
you.” (Luke 10:18-19)
Casting  out  Satan  
•  “Now is the judgment of this world; now will
the ruler of this world be cast out. And I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people to myself.” (John 12:31-32)
Ø cast out is the same Greek root as
“casting” Satan into the pit in Rev. 20:3
•  The reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
•  … that through death he might destroy the
one who has the power of death, that is, the
devil. (Hebrews 2:14)
Messiah Messiah
comes as comes as parables
planter harvester Matthew 13

Mixed Kingdom Perfected Kingdom

Christ Believers prose

resurrected resurrected 1 Cor. 15

Reign of conquest God all in all

Satan Satan pictures

Revelation 20
bound burned
Millennial Reign Heaven on Earth
*see Samuel Waldron, The End Times Made Simple
The  Second  Coming:    Judgment  Day  
•  Near the close of the present millennium, Satan
will be released and Antichrist unleashed.
•  Loud, visible coming of Jesus with angels.
•  Dead believers are resurrected, living believers
transformed, and are caught up to meet Christ.
•  God’s enemies perish at Christ’s appearing..
•  All unbelieving dead are resurrected and judged
according to God’s books.
•  Satan and all God’s enemies go to hell.
•  Christ presents his church to the Father, heaven
comes to earth, and believers reign.