antichrist is "revealed" before the rapture
Dear people,
According to Scripture that man of sin will be revealed before the day of Christ.
It should be obvious to everyone that the "rapture" happens *after* the first resurrection (see my post about that) and that the first resurrection happens at the last trumpet when the Lord returns, which is the day of Christ.
Therefore, the rapture can not happen before the antichrist is revealed.
2 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.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2 Thess 2:2-3 (KJV)
I have heard people refer to the revealing of the antichrist in different ways. "When antichrist appears . . . ." "When the antichrist comes on the scene. . ."
Folks, the antichrist will not just "poof" into being as a grown man. In order to be a man and the leader of a country he had to be born, live a life, and become someone of note in the news. He will not be some easily recognized monster that does the things which monsters do in movies or fictional books, (even if those fictional books are written by Christian authors).
When will the antichrist be revealed?
We are given the answer in 2 Thess 2:3-8. But does that mean that everyone will recognize the antichrist? No.
Well, if a man were to sit in the temple of God and declare himself to be God, wouldn't everyone know who he was? Yes.
But I don't think it is that simple.
There have been 2 earthly temples of God in the past.
There is 1 earthly temple of God at present.
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Cor 3:16-17 (KJV)
That means that *we* are the 3rd temple of God on earth.
There is also a temple of God in heaven.
Well, doesn't 2 Thess 2:3-8 mean that another temple will have to be built on earth? No.
There are no Scriptures which tell of another temple being built. Zech 6:12 tells of the temple which the Lord is building. (us)
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zech 6:12 (KJV)
If we are the temple of God on earth, (and we are) then if we were to accept the mark of the beast couldn't that be a fulfillment of 2 Thess 2:3-8? I think so.
But, what Rev 11:1-2 which talk about the temple of God? Doesn't that mean that another earthly temple will be built?
No. There are a lot of other references to the temple of God in Revelation. On examination you should see that they all refer to the temple of God in heaven. Since there are no Scriptures which specifically say that another earthly temple will be built, my guess is that Rev 11:1-2 refer to the temple of God in heaven like all the other references in Rev do.
So, how will we know who the antichrist is? By reading the prophetical books of the OT. I believe that the antichrist is "the beast", "that man of sin", "the lawless one", "the king of Babylon", "the Assyrian", "Gog", and "the vile person" of Daniel 11. By looking at all those references there should be no doubt as to who he is. One should also read 1John and 2John to understand who are antichrists. (Logically "the" antichrist is "an" antichrist.)
But, if one ignores all the OT references to the antichrist and tries to guess who he is based only on Revelation and the guesses and embellishments of authors of fiction, then one will probably *never* know who he is.
Yours in Christ,
John Reno