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| Chapter XXV.—The fraud, pride, and tyrannical kingdom of Antichrist, as described by Daniel and Paul.
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Chapter XXV.—The fraud, pride, and
tyrannical kingdom of Antichrist, as described by Daniel and Paul.
1. kingdom of" title="553" id="ix.vii.xxvi-p1.1"/>And not only
by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events
which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an
apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that, although
a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king. For he
(Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come,
not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in
subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an
apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself
[all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he
himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol, having in himself
the multifarious errors of the other idols. This he does, in order that
they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, may
serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the
second Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Unless there shall come a
failing away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself as if he were God.” The apostle therefore clearly
points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped—that is, above every idol
—for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] gods;
and that he will endeavour in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as
God.
2. Moreover, he (the apostle) has also pointed out this
which I have shown in many ways, that the temple in Jerusalem was made by
the direction of the true God. For the apostle himself, speaking in his
own person, distinctly called it the temple of God. Now I have shown in
the third book, that no one is termed God by the apostles when speaking
for themselves, except Him who truly is God, the Father of our Lord, by
whose directions the temple which is at Jerusalem was constructed for
those purposes which I have already mentioned; in which [temple] the
enemy shall sit, endeavouring to show himself as Christ, as the Lord also
declares: “But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation,
which has been spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy
place (let him that readeth understand), then let those who are in Judea
flee into the mountains; and he who is upon the house-top, let him not
come down to take anything out of his house: for there shall then be
great hardship, such as has not been from the beginning of the world
until now, nor ever shall be.”4664
3. Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last
kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men
shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come,
declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another
little horn shall arise in the midst of them, and that three of the
former shall be rooted up before his face. He says: “And, behold,
eyes were in this horn as the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great
things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. I was looking, and
this horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them, until
the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most high
God, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.”4665
Then, further on, in the interpretation of
the vision, there was said to him: “The fourth beast shall be the
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and
devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and cut it in pieces. And its
ten horns are ten kings which shall arise; and after them shall arise
another, who shall surpass in evil deeds all that were before
him, and shall overthrow three kings; and he shall speak words
against the most high God, and wear out the saints of the most high God,
and shall purpose to change times and laws; and [everything] shall be
given into his hand until a time of times and a half time,”4666
that is, for three years and six months,
during which time, when he comes, he shall reign over the earth. Of whom
also the Apostle Paul again, speaking in the second [Epistle] to the
Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause of his advent,
thus says: “And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the
Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the
presence of His coming; whose coming [i.e., the wicked one’s] is
after the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and portents of
lies, and with all deceivableness of wickedness for those who perish;
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. And therefore God will send them the working of error, that they
may believe a lie; that they all may be judged who did not believe the
truth, but gave consent to iniquity,”4667
4. The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not
believe in Him: “I have come in my Father’s name, and ye have
not received Me: when another shall come in his own name, him ye will
receive,”4668
calling Antichrist
“the other,” because he is alienated from the Lord. This is
also the unjust judge, whom the Lord mentioned as one “who feared
not God, neither regarded man,”4669
to
whom the widow fled in her forgetfulness of God,—that is, the
earthly Jerusalem,—to be avenged of her adversary. Which also he
shall do in the time of his kingdom: he shall remove his kingdom into
that [city], and shall sit in the temple of God, leading astray those who
worship him, as if he were Christ. To this purpose Daniel says again:
“And he shall desolate the holy place; and sin has been given for a
sacrifice,4670
| 4670 This may
refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, Antichrist’s prototype, who offered
swine upon the altar in the temple at Jerusalem. The LXX. version has,
ἐδόθη ἐπὶ τὴν θυσίαν ἁμαρτία, i.e.,
sin has been given against (or, upon) the sacrifice. |
and righteousness been cast away in the earth, and he has been active
(fecit), and gone on prosperously.”4671
And the angel Gabriel, when explaining his vision, states with
regard to this person: “And towards the end of their kingdom a king
of a most fierce countenance shall arise, one understanding [dark]
questions, and exceedingly powerful, full of wonders; and he shall
corrupt, direct, influence (faciet), and put strong men down, the
holy people likewise; and his yoke shall be directed as a wreath [round
their neck]; deceit shall be in his hand, and he shall be lifted up in
his heart: he shall also ruin many by deceit, and lead many to perdition,
bruising them in his hand like eggs.”4672
And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall
last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a
pure sacrifice unto God: “And in the midst of the week,” he
says, “the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the
abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto
the consummation of the time shall the desolation be
complete.”4673
Now three years and six
months constitute the half-week.
5. From all these passages are revealed to us, not
merely the particulars of the apostasy, and [the doings] of him who
concentrates in himself every satanic error, but also, that there is one
and the same God the Father, who was declared by the prophets, but made
manifest by Christ. For if what Daniel prophesied concerning the end has
been confirmed by the Lord, when He said, “When ye shall see the
abomination of desolation, which has been spoken of by Daniel the
prophet”4674
(and the angel Gabriel
gave the interpretation of the visions to Daniel, and he is the archangel
of the Creator (Demiurgi), who also proclaimed to Mary the visible
coming and the incarnation of Christ), then one and the same God is most
manifestly pointed out, who sent the prophets, and made promise4675
| 4675 The mss. have
“præmisit,” but Harvey suggests “promisit,”
which we have adopted. | of the Son, and called us into His
knowledge.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
