From The Trenches---"Something We May Have Missed!!!"

[Radio Waves]

We can read the Bible for years and then suddenly we realize there's something we have missed in some of the verses and stories we've read many times! Nearly every pastor/preacher has done a sermon or two or three on the "Fiery Furnace". There was even a popular song by Brook Benton in 1961 called "Shadrack". I remember it very well and its on You Tube if you want to listen! Anyway, you'll find the story of the Furnace in Daniel 3. Its a well known story so for this writing, I won't repeat the whole narrative here! The "bad guy" is Nebudchanezzer, the king of Babylon. He set up an statue of himself and commanded the populace to bow down and worship him when they heard music. Verse 1 gives us the dimensions "whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits." Do you see that? In the Bible a "score" means 20. The height was to be 60 cubits. What was the "breadth"? Six cubits. See the numbers? 666! Check out Rev. 13:18. 666 is defined as the number of the "Beast". Who is the "Beast"? Satan! Now look at Daniel 3:5. How many instruments are mentioned? Six! Bottom line? Ole' Nebby is a picture of an "Antichrist"! I can just hear it now: "Wait a minute, you made a small mistake!" "You said 'A picture of "AN" Antichrist". "You must have simply made a "typo" Mr. Radiowaves. You really meant "A picture of THE "ANTICHRIST""! No I didn't. It was deliberate! In main stream Christianity, we have been spoon fed a number of things which are not Biblical. For example, where does it say Christian music cannot be uptempo? Where does it say playing a card game is wrong? What verse or verses say borrowing money or using credit is sinful? Guess what? You won't find any of those three items in the Bible...AND...you will most certainly NOT find there is only ONE "Antichrist"! Check out 1 John 2:18 where you will see with your own eyes "even now, are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time." Sorry people, there's no need to waste a second more trying to predict what political figure is the "one and only "Antichrist" because there are MANY. That means you can't pin that label on Trump, Biden, the Pope, some "faith healer" or your spouse. There ARE and will continue to be MANY who are against Christ" and that's why THEY are called "Antichrists".

 

[Davy]

We can read the Bible for years and then suddenly we realize there's something we have missed in some of the verses and stories we've read many times! Nearly every pastor/preacher has done a sermon or two or three on the "Fiery Furnace". There was even a popular song by Brook Benton in 1961 called "Shadrack". I remember it very well and its on You Tube if you want to listen! Anyway, you'll find the story of the Furnace in Daniel 3. Its a well known story so for this writing, I won't repeat the whole narrative here! The "bad guy" is Nebudchanezzer, the king of Babylon. He set up an statue of himself and commanded the populace to bow down and worship him when they heard music. Verse 1 gives us the dimensions "whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits." Do you see that? In the Bible a "score" means 20. The height was to be 60 cubits. What was the "breadth"? Six cubits. See the numbers? 666! Check out Rev. 13:18. 666 is defined as the number of the "Beast". Who is the "Beast"? Satan! Now look at Daniel 3:5. How many instruments are mentioned? Six! Bottom line? Ole' Nebby is a picture of an "Antichrist"! I can just hear it now: "Wait a minute, you made a small mistake!" "You said 'A picture of "AN" Antichrist". "You must have simply made a "typo" Mr. Radiowaves. You really meant "A picture of THE "ANTICHRIST""! No I didn't. It was deliberate! In main stream Christianity, we have been spoon fed a number of things which are not Biblical. For example, where does it say Christian music cannot be uptempo? Where does it say playing a card game is wrong? What verse or verses say borrowing money or using credit is sinful? Guess what? You won't find any of those three items in the Bible...AND...you will most certainly NOT find there is only ONE "Antichrist"! Check out 1 John 2:18 where you will see with your own eyes "even now, are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time." Sorry people, there's no need to waste a second more trying to predict what political figure is the "one and only "Antichrist" because there are MANY. That means you can't pin that label on Trump, Biden, the Pope, some "faith healer" or your spouse. There ARE and will continue to be MANY who are against Christ" and that's why THEY are called "Antichrists".

That's not completely accurate. The 1 John 2:18 verse describes both a 'singular' "antichrist", and also the plural "many antichrists".

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, does historically represent AN antichrist, of the "many antichrists". That's true. But Neb also symbolically represents the final 'singular' Antichrist that is prophesied to come at the end of this world as a pseudo-Christ.

The idea of a singular "antichrist", and the "many antichrists" subject can be found in Christ's Olivet discourse, and in Apostle Paul's 2 Thessalonians 2 chapter. Not many catch it within Matthew 24, but it is there.

In Matthew 24:5 Jesus is pointing to the "many antichrists" idea, those who only claim... to be Christ. The world has had many of those, and still do to this day. The "many antichrists" are simply the devil's workers here on earth.

But in the Matthew 24:23-26 verses, Jesus was pointing to a 'singular' pseudo-Christ that is to work great signs and wonders, that IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, would deceive even His very elect. The KJV translators made the Matt.24:24 "false Christs" in the plural sense, when the Greek word is actually pseudochristos which is singular in the Greek. Even the context of the 23rd and 26th verses are in the singular tense. So why did the KJV translators make such an error and why didn't they instead make the whole 23-26 verse passage singular like it really is? It shows they did not full understand about the coming pseudo-Christ or false-Messiah.

But Dr. James Strong in his Strong's Exhaustive Concordance understood Jesus meant that in the singular tense about a specific pseudo-Christ. Dr. Strong defined Greek pseudochristos as 'a spurious Messiah' (NT:5580).

Greek pseudochristos is made up of two Greek words, pseudo which means false, and christos which is singular for Christ. In the Greek, just because it may have an 's' on the end of it, like we have in English, does not always mean it is plural. Greek christoi would be the Greek plural version. Since the context of the Matt.24:23 and 26 verses are singular, so should the 24th verse be kept in the singular tense, with 'false Christ' instead of "false Christs" (KJV). This is why Dr. Strong defined "false Christs" instead as 'a spurious Messiah'.

So there's your two 1 John 2:18 examples, the coming singular "antichrist", and the "many antichrists" that are already at work. (Matt.24:5 and Matt.24:23-26).

In the 2 Thess.2 example, the "man of sin", "that Wicked", which Paul also revealed like Jesus did, about that coming singular false one working with all power and signs and lying wonders to deceive, is John's singular "antichrist". But the "mystery of iniquity" that Paul said was already at work, that is John's "many antichrists" idea. Same thing in Revelation 13:11 forward about the "another beast". He is coming with two horns LIKE a Lamb (Jesus), but will speak as a "dragon" (Satan). He is to work those same signs and wonders, miracles, raining fire down from heaven in the sight of men, deceiving the whole world.
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Now here's the problem many have with this, and is likely why they have a propensity to want to dismiss the whole Antichrist idea:

It is just too... confusing... for them to want to take the time needed to understand (even what I showed above).

Add on top of that all the false doctrines of men that are designed to deceive away from understanding about the coming Antichrist, and that's even more confusion most don't care to get into.

Nevertheless, the subject of the coming pseudo-Christ/Antichrist/false-Messiah, "dragon", "another beast", "little horn", "vile person", etc., is well written of in warning given in many various Bible Scriptures, so that Christ's servants actually have no excuse in not understanding it. Those warnings about the coming Antichrist sums up to being a supernatural entity that is coming to play the Biblical Role of Messiah in Jerusalem at the very end of this world. That is why the majority do not yet know who that Antichrist will be yet, because he is not here yet, not revealed yet in Jerusalem where God's Word shows he is coming.

However, there are some of Christ's elect that do already know who it will be, as Christ has revealed it to them in His Word which is closed off to those who instead heed men's doctrines instead.