THE ANTICHRIST
The term “antichrist” appears only four times in Scripture, and all four times are in John’s epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7). Not once is there mention of anyone called “The Antichrist.” In John’s time, he said there were many antichrists (1 John 2:18); he said that those who deny the Father and the Son are antichrists (2:22); he said that every spirit that does not confess Jesus is antichrist (4:3); and he said that those who do not confess the coming of Jesus in the flesh are antichrist (2 John 1:7). No other New Testament author uses this term. Not even the apostle Paul. Biblically, there is no man called “The Antichrist.” Could the “man of lawlessness” be antichrist? You can bet your life on it! Anything that is against God or against Jesus Christ is antichrist. Anything that denies His eternality, His deity, His humanity, His redemption, His lordship, or anything else summed up by John’s applications, is antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is within each of us and all around us. If we do not have the Spirit of God, we have the spirit of antichrist. If we are not living and walking by the Spirit of God, we are living and walking by the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is in the occult and in the cults, but it also visits the Christian churches every Sunday.
THE RESTRAINING FORCE
Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-6, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.” Paul’s readers knew precisely what he was talking about. However, we are left without a clue because the Spirit did not inspire Paul to write it down for us. In order for us to figure it out, we need to look to early Christian history and work forward—not backward from our time as Dispensationalists do. What did the early Christians teach in regard to this? They knew what was restraining. They knew what to look for. So we need to follow them. What did the early Christians of the second, third, and fourth centuries write in regard to this? Let us observe with the following brief excerpts.
Irenaeus (130-202 A.D.): Irenaeus was born about 30 years after the apostle John died. In his extensive work, Against Heresies, Irenaeus devoted several chapters to Daniel 7, Revelation 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2. Typical of believers in all ages, he understood that the three prophecies are related. He wrote, “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 littler horn shall arise in the midst of them.”1 He continues, “In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules shall be partitioned.” 2 That empire was the Roman Empire.
Before it ever happened permanently in 395 A.D., Irenaeus knew that the then Empire, Rome, must be divided according to Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He also knew that the Roman Empire was the restrainer.
Tertullian (145-220 A.D.): A few years later, blending the “man of sin” prophecy with the prophecies of the ten-horned beast, Tertullian wrote the following concerning 2 Thessalonians 2: “Again, in the second epistle [Paul] addresses them with even greater earnestness: ‘For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away,’ he means indeed of this present empire, ‘and that man of sin be revealed,’ that is to say, Antichrist, ‘the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God…And now ye know what detaineth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; and he who now hinders must hinder until he be taken out of the way.’ What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)?”3
Hippolytus (170-236 A.D.): Hippolytus, discussing Daniel 2 and 7, wrote, “The golden head of the image and the lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander’s time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst.”4
Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386 A.D.): Cyril, quoting 2 Thessalonians 2, said, “Thus wrote Paul, and now is the ‘falling away’…now the Church is filled with heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and ‘have itching ears’… This therefore is ‘the falling away,’ and the enemy is soon to be looked for…”5 He continues, “but this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power…”6 He continues yet further, “‘So that he seateth himself in the temple of God.’ What temple then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we are!”7
Although Cyril preferred to think that the “temple of God” meant the temple of the Jews, nevertheless the way he expresses himself demonstrates that he understood precisely what the “temple of God” referred to—the church. He recoiled from this idea—the “man of sin” sitting in the church—but nevertheless understood it. Regrettably, many today miss this important point and turn to futuristic fictionalized fables.
Jerome (340-420 A.D.): The following two letters were written by Jerome at a time when the Roman Empire was already in deep trouble from the barbarians. In 396 A.D., Jerome wrote: “I shudder when I think of the catastrophes of our time… The Roman world is falling: yet we hold up our heads instead of bowing them…”8 He continues, “Rome’s army, once victor and Lord of the world, now trembles with terror at the sight of the foe.”9
In 409 A.D., he wrote: “But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the cargo, the vessel itself founders. He that [restrains] is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ ‘shall consume with the spirit of his mouth’…”10 He continues, “For thirty years the barbarians burst the barrier of the Danube and fought in the heart of the Roman Empire… Rome has to fight within her own borders not for glory but for bare life.”11
Augustine (345-430 A.D.): In Augustine’s famous City of God, he wrote, “I can on no account omit what the Apostle Paul says, in writing to the Thessalonians, ‘We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ etc. … No one can doubt that he wrote this of Antichrist and of the day of judgment, which he here calls the day of the Lord, nor that he declared that this day should not come unless he first came who is called the apostate… Then as for the words, ‘And now ye know what withholdeth,’ i.e., ye know what hindrance or cause of delay there is, ‘that he might be revealed in his own time;’ they show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew… I frankly confess I do not know what he means. I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read. … Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal… But others think that the words, ‘Ye know what withholdeth,’ and ‘The mystery of iniquity worketh,’ refer only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity.”12
Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.): Chrysostom had written multitudes of homilies based on Scripture texts in the latter of the fourth centrury. In the only homily he had on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9, he writes, “What then is it that withholdeth, that is, hindereth him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but other the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken so obscurely, but plainly… But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers…”13 He continues, “’Only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way,’ that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exit himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God.”14
1Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5.25.3, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
2Ibid, 5.26.1.
3Tertullian, Of the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter 24, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
4Hippolytus, A Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, paragraph 28, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
5Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 15, paragraph 9, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
6Ibid, paragraph 12.
7Ibid, paragraph 15.
8Jerome, Letter #60 to Heliodorus, paragraph 16, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
9Ibid, paragraph. 17.
10Jerome, Letter #123 to Ageruchia, paragraph 16, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
11Ibid, paragraph 17.
12Augustine, City of God, 20.19.1-3, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
13Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9, paragraph 1, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
14Ibid, paragraph 2.
The term “antichrist” appears only four times in Scripture, and all four times are in John’s epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7). Not once is there mention of anyone called “The Antichrist.” In John’s time, he said there were many antichrists (1 John 2:18); he said that those who deny the Father and the Son are antichrists (2:22); he said that every spirit that does not confess Jesus is antichrist (4:3); and he said that those who do not confess the coming of Jesus in the flesh are antichrist (2 John 1:7). No other New Testament author uses this term. Not even the apostle Paul. Biblically, there is no man called “The Antichrist.” Could the “man of lawlessness” be antichrist? You can bet your life on it! Anything that is against God or against Jesus Christ is antichrist. Anything that denies His eternality, His deity, His humanity, His redemption, His lordship, or anything else summed up by John’s applications, is antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is within each of us and all around us. If we do not have the Spirit of God, we have the spirit of antichrist. If we are not living and walking by the Spirit of God, we are living and walking by the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is in the occult and in the cults, but it also visits the Christian churches every Sunday.
THE RESTRAINING FORCE
Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-6, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.” Paul’s readers knew precisely what he was talking about. However, we are left without a clue because the Spirit did not inspire Paul to write it down for us. In order for us to figure it out, we need to look to early Christian history and work forward—not backward from our time as Dispensationalists do. What did the early Christians teach in regard to this? They knew what was restraining. They knew what to look for. So we need to follow them. What did the early Christians of the second, third, and fourth centuries write in regard to this? Let us observe with the following brief excerpts.
Irenaeus (130-202 A.D.): Irenaeus was born about 30 years after the apostle John died. In his extensive work, Against Heresies, Irenaeus devoted several chapters to Daniel 7, Revelation 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2. Typical of believers in all ages, he understood that the three prophecies are related. He wrote, “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 littler horn shall arise in the midst of them.”1 He continues, “In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules shall be partitioned.” 2 That empire was the Roman Empire.
Before it ever happened permanently in 395 A.D., Irenaeus knew that the then Empire, Rome, must be divided according to Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He also knew that the Roman Empire was the restrainer.
Tertullian (145-220 A.D.): A few years later, blending the “man of sin” prophecy with the prophecies of the ten-horned beast, Tertullian wrote the following concerning 2 Thessalonians 2: “Again, in the second epistle [Paul] addresses them with even greater earnestness: ‘For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away,’ he means indeed of this present empire, ‘and that man of sin be revealed,’ that is to say, Antichrist, ‘the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God…And now ye know what detaineth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; and he who now hinders must hinder until he be taken out of the way.’ What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)?”3
Hippolytus (170-236 A.D.): Hippolytus, discussing Daniel 2 and 7, wrote, “The golden head of the image and the lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander’s time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst.”4
Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386 A.D.): Cyril, quoting 2 Thessalonians 2, said, “Thus wrote Paul, and now is the ‘falling away’…now the Church is filled with heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and ‘have itching ears’… This therefore is ‘the falling away,’ and the enemy is soon to be looked for…”5 He continues, “but this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power…”6 He continues yet further, “‘So that he seateth himself in the temple of God.’ What temple then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we are!”7
Although Cyril preferred to think that the “temple of God” meant the temple of the Jews, nevertheless the way he expresses himself demonstrates that he understood precisely what the “temple of God” referred to—the church. He recoiled from this idea—the “man of sin” sitting in the church—but nevertheless understood it. Regrettably, many today miss this important point and turn to futuristic fictionalized fables.
Jerome (340-420 A.D.): The following two letters were written by Jerome at a time when the Roman Empire was already in deep trouble from the barbarians. In 396 A.D., Jerome wrote: “I shudder when I think of the catastrophes of our time… The Roman world is falling: yet we hold up our heads instead of bowing them…”8 He continues, “Rome’s army, once victor and Lord of the world, now trembles with terror at the sight of the foe.”9
In 409 A.D., he wrote: “But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the cargo, the vessel itself founders. He that [restrains] is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ ‘shall consume with the spirit of his mouth’…”10 He continues, “For thirty years the barbarians burst the barrier of the Danube and fought in the heart of the Roman Empire… Rome has to fight within her own borders not for glory but for bare life.”11
Augustine (345-430 A.D.): In Augustine’s famous City of God, he wrote, “I can on no account omit what the Apostle Paul says, in writing to the Thessalonians, ‘We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ etc. … No one can doubt that he wrote this of Antichrist and of the day of judgment, which he here calls the day of the Lord, nor that he declared that this day should not come unless he first came who is called the apostate… Then as for the words, ‘And now ye know what withholdeth,’ i.e., ye know what hindrance or cause of delay there is, ‘that he might be revealed in his own time;’ they show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew… I frankly confess I do not know what he means. I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read. … Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal… But others think that the words, ‘Ye know what withholdeth,’ and ‘The mystery of iniquity worketh,’ refer only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity.”12
Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.): Chrysostom had written multitudes of homilies based on Scripture texts in the latter of the fourth centrury. In the only homily he had on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9, he writes, “What then is it that withholdeth, that is, hindereth him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but other the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken so obscurely, but plainly… But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers…”13 He continues, “’Only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way,’ that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exit himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God.”14
To be continued...
1Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5.25.3, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
2Ibid, 5.26.1.
3Tertullian, Of the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter 24, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
4Hippolytus, A Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, paragraph 28, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
5Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 15, paragraph 9, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
6Ibid, paragraph 12.
7Ibid, paragraph 15.
8Jerome, Letter #60 to Heliodorus, paragraph 16, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
9Ibid, paragraph. 17.
10Jerome, Letter #123 to Ageruchia, paragraph 16, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
11Ibid, paragraph 17.
12Augustine, City of God, 20.19.1-3, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
13Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9, paragraph 1, posted on <http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html>.
14Ibid, paragraph 2.