The Antichrist and the Final Tribulation
2 Thessalonians 2 tells us the return of Christ will not occur until after the son of perdition is revealed. This son of perdition is the figure now commonly referred to as the Antichrist, although the Bible never labels him using those words. There are many different teachings of who this Antichrist will be and what he will do, but in this study I will explain how I arrived at my views by first looking at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered unto him; that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us; as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God.
The words “falling away” were translated from one Greek word, Apostasia [G646], which is where the English word “apostasy” was derived from. The words “son of perdition” were translated from the Greek nouns Huios [G5207] (meaning descendant, or son), and Apoleia [G684] (which means destruction). The Greek noun Apoleia is tied the Greek verb Apollumi [G622], (which means to destroy or kill) and is also tied to Satan’s name, Apollyon [G623], (also spelled “Apolluon” and means "the Destroyer"). Satan's name Apollyon (which is the active participle of the Greek verb Apollumi) is found in Revelation 9.
Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
We can know that the angel of the bottomless pit is Satan because of what we read in the Revelation 20.
Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him.
As discussed earlier, the expression "the son of perdition" was translated from 2 Greek words Huios and Apoleia, and can be literally translated as "the descendant, (or son), of destruction". Because of the tie between the Greek noun Apoleia and Satan's name Apollyon, one can see how the "son of perdition" can also be understood as the "descendant of Apollyon", which is Satan, the king and angel of the bottomless pit. It is perfectly Biblical to say that a human being can be a descendant (or child) of Satan because even Jesus described the unsaved in this manner, as in the following passages.
Matthew 13:37-39 He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
John 8:43-44 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Next, I will show how we can also tie the son of perdition with the abomination of desolation that Jesus and Daniel spoke about. First let’s look at what Jesus stated in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:15-22 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand); then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
According to what Jesus teaches in Matthew 24, the abomination of desolation will “stand in the holy place” near the end of time, which is similar language to what the son of perdition is described doing in 2 Thessalonians 2: "And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God." Now let’s read what Daniel the prophet wrote about the abomination of desolation.
Daniel 11:30-32 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries.
The abomination of desolation of Daniel 11 is related to the forsaking of the holy covenant, the polluting of the sanctuary, the taking away of the daily sacrifice, and acts of wickedness against the covenant of God. Some people teach that this abomination of desolation was an idol that was placed in the sanctuary, and some teach that it was a pig being sacrificed in the temple instead of a lamb. In the Old Testament, sacrificing a lamb was a shadow of the sacrifice Jesus would make as the Lamb of God. This is the same principle set forth with the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet as being a shadow of something sinister that is to occur in the temple of God, and this is why Jesus made a direct connection with the abomination of desolation of the book of Daniel to the abomination of desolation that will be seen standing in the holy place of Matthew 24. This event is probably the most outstanding sign Jesus made that will point to His imminent return and the end of the world. Most Bible teachers have completely missed this mark because they are teaching that we will see another World War, they are looking at specific conflicts in the Middle East, and are trying to predict who the Antichrist is going to be, and so on, and so on. The Bible is pretty clear that this final tribulation will be more in the lines of what will be happening in the Christian churches of the world, and this is supported by 2 Thessalonians 2.
2 Thessalonians 2:5-12 Do you not remember that when I was with you I told you these things? And now you know what is withholding him, so that he might be revealed in his time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way; and then the lawless one will be revealed; whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The lawless one will come in accordance with all the workings of Satan; with all power and signs, and false miracles, with every possible seduction and injustice to them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this reason, God shall send them a powerful delusion, so that they will believe a lie; that they may all be judged, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in wickedness.
Satan is not concerned with creating another World War! Satan's main agenda is to steal souls away from Jesus! Let's look again at what Jesus teaches in Matthew 24; that wars and rumors of wars should not trouble us and are not to be perceived as signs of the end.
Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, throughout places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Jesus warned us that when we see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, we are to flee to the mountains. He also said, "whoso readeth, let him understand." Why did Jesus say that? I believe it is there to warn us and that we should pay extra attention to it because it is important; because the abomination of desolation is one and the same as the son of perdition, a child of Satan, the Antichrist, who will be seen sitting in the temple of God, showing himself to be God, and will be revealed at a specifically designated time. He will come performing great, but false miracles, seducing and deceiving the unsaved, and God will allow this to happen in preparation for Judgment Day; because the unsaved will prefer to be taking pleasure in wickedness instead of loving the truth.
Now let’s look at what Revelation 11 tells us about the two witnesses because this event also ties in with the son of perdition and the end of the world.
Revelation 11:7-12 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And people of all tribes, and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
I teach that these 2 witnesses represent the New Testament church and that just prior to the return of Christ, their death represents the end of the New Testament church and the end of Salvation for mankind. Mr. Camping was teaching some of these things, except that he missed some important marks. Mr. Camping taught that the son of perdition would be Satan because he disregarded the Greek word Huios which clearly means "descendant" or "son". According to Revelation 11, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will be able to successfully kill the 2 witnesses. In this study, I am trying to show that the son of perdition, who we commonly refer to as the Antichrist, will be working hand in hand with Satan and his demons to steal as many souls away from Christ as they can before the return of Christ. The Antichrist will perform many false miracles and be incredibly powerful. He will join forces with his father, Satan, and will amass a huge following of unsaved souls, many of which will believe he is the real Messiah. Working together as one unified and incredibly power force, this beast will be able to kill the 2 witnesses and thus bring about an end to the New Testament period and the end of Salvation. This is why when they see the dead bodies of the 2 witnesses lying in the street, they will celebrate with great joy thinking they have been completely victorious over the kingdom of Christ, but this will be, in actuality, all part of God's plan to prepare the world for Judgment Day. This is the same period of time Jesus described about in Matthew 24; “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” When God shortens these days of tribulation, it will be because the 2 witnesses are lying dead and it will now be time for the Rapture and the end of the world. Could it be that the three and a half days correlate to three and a half years? “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Revelation 11:11-13
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered unto him; that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us; as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God.
The words “falling away” were translated from one Greek word, Apostasia [G646], which is where the English word “apostasy” was derived from. The words “son of perdition” were translated from the Greek nouns Huios [G5207] (meaning descendant, or son), and Apoleia [G684] (which means destruction). The Greek noun Apoleia is tied the Greek verb Apollumi [G622], (which means to destroy or kill) and is also tied to Satan’s name, Apollyon [G623], (also spelled “Apolluon” and means "the Destroyer"). Satan's name Apollyon (which is the active participle of the Greek verb Apollumi) is found in Revelation 9.
Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
We can know that the angel of the bottomless pit is Satan because of what we read in the Revelation 20.
Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him.
As discussed earlier, the expression "the son of perdition" was translated from 2 Greek words Huios and Apoleia, and can be literally translated as "the descendant, (or son), of destruction". Because of the tie between the Greek noun Apoleia and Satan's name Apollyon, one can see how the "son of perdition" can also be understood as the "descendant of Apollyon", which is Satan, the king and angel of the bottomless pit. It is perfectly Biblical to say that a human being can be a descendant (or child) of Satan because even Jesus described the unsaved in this manner, as in the following passages.
Matthew 13:37-39 He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
John 8:43-44 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Next, I will show how we can also tie the son of perdition with the abomination of desolation that Jesus and Daniel spoke about. First let’s look at what Jesus stated in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:15-22 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand); then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
According to what Jesus teaches in Matthew 24, the abomination of desolation will “stand in the holy place” near the end of time, which is similar language to what the son of perdition is described doing in 2 Thessalonians 2: "And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God." Now let’s read what Daniel the prophet wrote about the abomination of desolation.
Daniel 11:30-32 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries.
The abomination of desolation of Daniel 11 is related to the forsaking of the holy covenant, the polluting of the sanctuary, the taking away of the daily sacrifice, and acts of wickedness against the covenant of God. Some people teach that this abomination of desolation was an idol that was placed in the sanctuary, and some teach that it was a pig being sacrificed in the temple instead of a lamb. In the Old Testament, sacrificing a lamb was a shadow of the sacrifice Jesus would make as the Lamb of God. This is the same principle set forth with the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet as being a shadow of something sinister that is to occur in the temple of God, and this is why Jesus made a direct connection with the abomination of desolation of the book of Daniel to the abomination of desolation that will be seen standing in the holy place of Matthew 24. This event is probably the most outstanding sign Jesus made that will point to His imminent return and the end of the world. Most Bible teachers have completely missed this mark because they are teaching that we will see another World War, they are looking at specific conflicts in the Middle East, and are trying to predict who the Antichrist is going to be, and so on, and so on. The Bible is pretty clear that this final tribulation will be more in the lines of what will be happening in the Christian churches of the world, and this is supported by 2 Thessalonians 2.
2 Thessalonians 2:5-12 Do you not remember that when I was with you I told you these things? And now you know what is withholding him, so that he might be revealed in his time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way; and then the lawless one will be revealed; whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The lawless one will come in accordance with all the workings of Satan; with all power and signs, and false miracles, with every possible seduction and injustice to them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this reason, God shall send them a powerful delusion, so that they will believe a lie; that they may all be judged, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in wickedness.
Satan is not concerned with creating another World War! Satan's main agenda is to steal souls away from Jesus! Let's look again at what Jesus teaches in Matthew 24; that wars and rumors of wars should not trouble us and are not to be perceived as signs of the end.
Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, throughout places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Jesus warned us that when we see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, we are to flee to the mountains. He also said, "whoso readeth, let him understand." Why did Jesus say that? I believe it is there to warn us and that we should pay extra attention to it because it is important; because the abomination of desolation is one and the same as the son of perdition, a child of Satan, the Antichrist, who will be seen sitting in the temple of God, showing himself to be God, and will be revealed at a specifically designated time. He will come performing great, but false miracles, seducing and deceiving the unsaved, and God will allow this to happen in preparation for Judgment Day; because the unsaved will prefer to be taking pleasure in wickedness instead of loving the truth.
Now let’s look at what Revelation 11 tells us about the two witnesses because this event also ties in with the son of perdition and the end of the world.
Revelation 11:7-12 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And people of all tribes, and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
I teach that these 2 witnesses represent the New Testament church and that just prior to the return of Christ, their death represents the end of the New Testament church and the end of Salvation for mankind. Mr. Camping was teaching some of these things, except that he missed some important marks. Mr. Camping taught that the son of perdition would be Satan because he disregarded the Greek word Huios which clearly means "descendant" or "son". According to Revelation 11, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will be able to successfully kill the 2 witnesses. In this study, I am trying to show that the son of perdition, who we commonly refer to as the Antichrist, will be working hand in hand with Satan and his demons to steal as many souls away from Christ as they can before the return of Christ. The Antichrist will perform many false miracles and be incredibly powerful. He will join forces with his father, Satan, and will amass a huge following of unsaved souls, many of which will believe he is the real Messiah. Working together as one unified and incredibly power force, this beast will be able to kill the 2 witnesses and thus bring about an end to the New Testament period and the end of Salvation. This is why when they see the dead bodies of the 2 witnesses lying in the street, they will celebrate with great joy thinking they have been completely victorious over the kingdom of Christ, but this will be, in actuality, all part of God's plan to prepare the world for Judgment Day. This is the same period of time Jesus described about in Matthew 24; “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” When God shortens these days of tribulation, it will be because the 2 witnesses are lying dead and it will now be time for the Rapture and the end of the world. Could it be that the three and a half days correlate to three and a half years? “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Revelation 11:11-13
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