Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come, 1 John 2,18 (New Living Translation).
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God, 2 Thessalonians 2,4.
These two verses raise two important questions.
1) Which temple are we talking about here?
2) What means antichrist or ‘he who exalteth himself above all that is called God, that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God?’
Let us begin by looking at who or what Antichrist is, and where the Antichrist is and / or has been. In order to do that, we must know what Antichrist means. Antichrist is a word composed of anti and Christ. It is obvious that Christ is Christ. Anti means instead of, contrary to or against. Antichrist means then a person, several persons, or a power or several who are against Christ, are in conflict with Christ, or are instead of Christ in the sense of taking the place that Christ has rightfully won.
What does the Bible say about the Antichrist? Only John uses the term Antichrist, and we find the term used five times in four verses in his 1st and 2nd letters.
It is King James Version 1769 (1611) that is used. As other translations have been used, this is stated specifically.
1 John 2,18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come, (New Living Translation).
1 John 2,22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 4,3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here, (New Living Translation).
2 John 1,7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, which confess not that Iesus Christ is como in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist, (Tyndale New Testament).
John 2:18 says that the Antichrist is coming, and that many antichrists have already appeared. What does he mean by this? The Antichrist, in the definite singular and with the capital A, refers to a power that has a strong leader and that will take the place that rightfully belongs to Christ, while the antichrist, in the indefinite plural and with the small a, refers to all powers or organizations and individuals who are against or against Christ in some way. Nevertheless, this does not help us much, we still do not know anything about who, what, where.
In John 2:22, John tells us that the Antichrist, with a capital A, is one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who is called an antichrist, with a small a, can both deny and will deny both the Father and the Son, and it is therefore important to distinguish between the Antichrist in a definite singular and with a capital A, and antichrists in an indefinite form and with a small a, when we will finally settle the accounts. He, the particular Antichrist John has in mind who denies the Father and the Son, is the great liar. This Antichrist tells lies about the Father and the Son, something all the others antichrists can do, but the lies this Antichrist brings are more dangerous because they come from a special power that has great influence all over the world.
If we go to 1 John 4,3 a new concept is introduced, the spirit of the Antichrist. John says that anyone who does not confess that Jesus came physically to earth in the form of a man is not of God, and explains to us that this denial is due to the spirit of the Antichrist, and he adds that the spirit of the Antichrist was already out in the world when he wrote this letter.
In 2 John 1,7 John says that there are many deceivers who have gone out into the world who do not confess Christ, and says that he is the deceiver. This is a verse that can be questioned when it comes to translation. The root word in the Greek text pla’nos is both adjective and noun. Used as an adjective, it translates to lead astray and wandering, in the sense of moving away from something. If used as a noun, it is translated with (a) deceiver.
If we look at the main message in John 2, it is to walk in the commandments of Christ, verses 4-6, and to be on guard against the deceivers of the Antichrist. It is not primarily the Antichrist in the definite singular and with a capital A, which is the important thing in 2 John, it is to avoid being seduced by these false teachers – antichrists – in the indefinite plural and with a small a, and John writes the following about this;. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed: 2 John 1,9-10
When John writes as he does in 2 John 1,7: For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, then it makes little or no sense that the verse ends with this is a deceiver and an antichrist. These ‘many deceivers‘ who have gone out into the world cannot be ‘he – the deceiver – the Antichrist’ in the singular. In order for the end of the verse to have any meaning, it could, in my opinion, have been translated as follows: This leads astray or the like. As usual, there are many different translations, and the English are well coordinated and use translations like the one in Tyndale New Testament; This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. On the other hand, Contemporary English Version uses but they are liars and enemies of Christ, which is in harmony whit the whole chapter.
What we have looked at does not immediately help us to discover who, what, where in connection with the Antichrist. We have been given a number of clues to follow, but we are missing the most important piece in the puzzle. We find this passage in 1 John 2,19: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Here John tells that all antichrists, in singular and plural with small a, and big A, went out from us! But, whom are us? What does John mean by that? It can only be the church that John co-founded in Jerusalem in the year 31. This means that those whom John here calls antichrists, were once part of the church, but they left the church at some point, and from those who left the church, the power that John calls the Antichrist will stand out. What most Christians seem to overlook, at least in our day, is that the Antichrist was once part of the Church of God on earth. It turned out that those who formed this power did not have the same spirit as John, Paul, Peter and the other apostles, but began to go their own ways.
The starting point is the verse mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2,4: Who* opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. But, who is this power that Paul calls * who, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God? In verse 3 we read: 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 Thessalonians 2,4 clearly points to Daniel 7,25. And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time … // … and to Daniel 8,11. Yea, he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. These two verses are just two of many verses that tell the same thing about the same power, and have in our days been suppressing believers who will not submit to all the traditions and pagan rituals of this power, and have also exalted themselves for almost 1500 years.
Before I go any further, I must say that I do not in any way want to attack some Christians no matter what denomination they belong. My concern is the organization behind. When I write the Catholic Church, it is because it was the leaders of this church who started, and who have continued the rebellion against God until this day, and will continue to do so until Jesus returns to deliver his faithful people. Later, and especially after 1999 when the document The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was signed by an almost complete Lutheran / Protestant denomination, the meaning is all fallen denominations. This means that almost all denominations and congregations participate in this decay – a universal decay. However, God calls us to separate ourselves from the others so that He can prepare us for the task ahead of us. We are not to unite in such ecumenical enterprises that find a minimum-common-multiple-platform to gather around instead of the whole Word of God. We should not even be observers. It is God who will shape and equip us not a sinful human being not even the pope has the authority to do so.
In the second letter to Timothy, Paul writes the following to his dear friend and shares this: All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, 2 Timothy 3,16-4,5.
When the day comes, and, it comes soon, and Jesus comes back to redeem all his faithful, my denomination will probably be in a small minority, while the majority will be from other denominations. I have good friends in most other denominations, and luckily, we can talk about this in a relaxed way.
The power to speak great words against the Most High, to oppress the saints of the Most Holy, and even to exalt itself as high as God, has been identified with the papacy since the 8th century. Not the individual Catholic, but with the papacy itself, and all reformers since the eighth century have argued, and rightly so.
1) What temple are we talking about here?
In our day, we actually have three alternatives with regard to the temple of God, but only one alternative is right.
Alternative A). We know that God has a temple in heaven where Jesus now performs his work as our High Priest. This temple is out of reach of the Antichrist, who is represented by a human being. Nor does Satan have access to heaven anymore after he was cast out, (see Revelation 12,7-9). Therefore, it cannot be this temple.
Alternative B) In Israel, everything that is to enter the temple has been prepared, from the smallest items to the largest, and the clothes of the priests, according to the descriptions given in Exodus chapters 35 to 40. However, God has not initiated this temple. Jesus said when he left the temple in Jerusalem the last time before he was crucified. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate, Matthew 23,38 (New Living Translation).
It is also interesting to see what is written in 1 Kings 9,6-9. [But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them. Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. And at this house, [which] is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
Here a prophecy has been given concerning the temple in Jerusalem and God’s Israel / Judah, but it does not seem that many are familiar with these verses, neither in Matthew nor in 1 Kings. Jesus says in Matthew that their house, that is, the temple, will be abandoned and desolated. When the temple is abandoned, it means that God is no longer present in the temple. It will also be destroyed, Jesus says here, something he repeats in Matthew 24,2 where he says that there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. This is essentially what the prophecy in 1 Kings tells us. And despite this, that God will not rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, there are many orthodox Jews and especially Pentecostal charismatics around the world who for decades have done everything possible to rebuild the temple God himself said should be abandoned and desolated.
Since it is not the temple of God we are talking about here that one wants to rebuild it cannot be this temple either.
Alternative C). Since we are in the end times and God’s people do not have a temple here on earth, there must be something else in question. What does the New Testament say about the temple of God? Let’s start by looking at what Paul says 1 Corinthians 1,2. Unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called [to be] saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
As we see in the letter to the Corinthians, Paul begins by telling the church in Corinth that they are the church of God. A little further, in the same letter, Paul says that the church in Corinth, which he calls the church of God, is also the temple of God. In chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17 we read: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul follows up this idea by calling the congregation of Ephesus the household of God, and goes on to say that they are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and in Jesus Christ, they are united and build togetherinto a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2,19-22 says. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
If we go to 2 Corinthians 6,16, Paul writes that the Corinthians are the temple of the living God. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
If we go to the last book of the Bible, we find this in Revelation 3,12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And, I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.
As we see, it is the church of God or the household (people) of God that is the temple of God. There can be no question of the heavenly temple nor any rebuilt temple in Jerusalem as many claim. Then surely, some will object that the antichrist cannot sit in every human being who constitutes the temple of the living God. Yes, I say then. The antichrist can do well, not in the literal sense but in the figurative sense.
If we go to Daniel 11,45 we find this verse. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. Now many will probably ask what this has to do with the Antichrist settling down as God in God’s temple. There is nothing that basically indicates that these two verses, 2 Thessalonians 2,4 and Daniel 11,45, have anything to do with each other. However, that is just apparently.
The Norwegian and Spanish translations I have, all use tents where most English and German translations use tabernacle, and, as always there are different interpretations of the text. However, there is a small obstacle in this word. Soldiers during a campaign use tents to live and sleep in. Tabernacle and tent are really the same, as the original tabernacle that Israel built in the desert was a large tent. Tabernacles have a completely different use than tents, and this is where the obstacle lies.
One interpretation that many seem to choose is that plant the tabernacles is a military siege of Jerusalem. However, is it really that? If we look at Daniel 11,15 which tells of a military siege, the text is as follows: Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand, (New International Version 1984).
The Hebrew word used here in Daniel 11,15 is ve·yish·poch which means to cast, cast up a siege or raise (something – for example to build a siege ramp) and describes a real siege as it took place in Daniel’s time. A siege ramp was thrown up against the city walls so that one could get over and into the city one was besieging. In verse 45 we find the Hebrew word ve·yit·ta which means to establish, pitch or plant. This means that there are two very different events described here. It could not possibly be a military siege mentioned in verse 45 because then Daniel would have used the same word, because God’s word, which includes the book of Daniel, is harmonious and unambiguous, and God himself is a God of order. We can therefore rule out that there will be disorder and confusion in the word of God. Since the verse we are looking at here has to do with prophecy, we cannot understand the expression to establish, pitch or plant literally. We must interpret it in a figurative sense.
Daniel 11,45 tells us what means the king of the north uses in the end times to, if possible, make God’s faithful remnant fall. I think the English translation based on King James 1769 (based on 1611) and the Spanish Reina Valera 1909 (based on 1569/1602) gives a very good picture of what is happening. The Norwegian editions are more imprecise, and it seems that the translators believe that the king of the north will pitch the tents for his castle between the Mediterranean and Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
KJV 1769: And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
RV 1569/1602: Y plantará las tiendas de su palacio entre los mares, en el monte deseable del santuario; y vendrá hasta su fin, y no tendrá quien le ayude.
The German Luther Bible from 1912 has this text, which lies between English and Spanish text on the one hand, and Norwegian on the other. Und er wird den Palast seines Gezeltes aufschlagen zwischen zwei Meeren um den werten heiligen Berg, bis es mit ihm ein Ende werde; und niemand wird ihm helfen.
Exodus 29,45 states that God will dwell among the children of Israel and be their God. This was said in connection with the construction of the tabernacle. If look at the Hebrew word that is translated to dwell among, it means literally to tabernacle, a word which is not common to use in English, therefore it is translated will dwell among. I do not mean that the papacy should establish a tabernacle in the literal sense, because we have already seen that it does not mean that. We must also remember what is written in Ephesians 6,12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This means that the papacy will try to plant its unbiblical teachings even among God’s faithful remnant, especially when we have entered the end times. These are doctrines that are not based on the teachings of the Bible, and some of these dogmas will be so close to the truth that it will be difficult to disclose if we do not live close to Christ. This is exactly what Jesus and the Bible warn us against several times. When the king of the north wants to plant his tabernacles, this shows that the king of the north also wants to occupy the place God wants to have in our lives – through his false teachings. The king of the north will dwell, literally tabernacle, among the people as God lived, and tabernacled, among His people in Old Testament times, and receive the worship like God the Creator received from Israel in ancient times. At that time, God literally lived in the midst of His people, Israel, in that God had taken up residence in the most holy place in the tabernacle that Israel was commissioned to build at Sinai. In the same way, God wants to live in his temple today, not a physical temple located in a specific place in the world, for example in Jerusalem – on Zion, but in the hearts of all people. In Old Testament times, God’s people lived in Israel and Judah, and most had only a relatively short journey to reach their temple where God tabernacled. In our day, God’s people live all over the world, and we do not have a physical temple we can visit regularly as the children of Israel did in the old days.
Another objection raised against this is that there is talk of the beautiful holy mountain in Daniel 11,45. If we go to Malachi 3,12, we find a parallel verse, and here it says: And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. Malachi makes it very clear that the expression the delightsome land is a picture of God’s people. Verse 45 tells precisely about the glorious holy mountain, which also refers to the delightsome land. The Hebrew word mesô, which in verse 45 is translated as between, means both between and among. In KJV 1769, RV 1909 and TL 1905, lakes or seas are in the plural in all three editions, while the sea in the definite form is singular in BGO 1988. It is probably also here, unfortunately, read something into the text to make it to be in harmony with a biased view, such as, for example, that there will be a great physical war to be fought somewhere between the Mediterranean and Jerusalem, as Fredrik Wisløff says in his commentary on the Old Testament.
When something, like a mountain, is declared sacred, it means that God’s presence rests on it, because only God can do something sacred by his presence. There can therefore be no other mountain than Moriah, or Zion, we are talking about. This is where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac (see Genesis 22,2), and this is where Solomon built the temple (see 2 Chronicles 3,1). However, this was before the cross, and then God’s special nearness lay over the temple, even though God was not physically present all those years as He was in the beginning. After the cross, God has taken up residence in the hearts of those who accept Jesus as their Saviour and abide by God’s commandments. Therefore, the expression between the seas in the glorious holy mountain will be the correct translation because this refers to the people who are holy because they have God in their heart. When the prophecy says, and he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, it means that the king of the north is trying to take God’s place and thereby wants to have our worship so that we will fall. The event described in verse 45 is that even the glorious holy mountain, which is a picture of God’s faithful people, will be surrounded by false doctrines when we come to the end time.