The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1
IV. Emphasis on Antichrist Occasioned by Multiple Prophetic Treatment
There was widespread identification of Antichrist with multiple symbols, figures, and terms, used by Daniel, Paul, and John. Long anticipated and feared, it was gradually identified with the religio-political Little Horn of Daniel 7, the Man of Sin, Mystery of Iniquity, and son of perdition of 2 Thessalonians 2, and with the Beast, and the Scarlet Woman, Babylon, of the Apocalypse. PFF1 897.1
1. ANTICHRIST IDENTIFIED WITH THREEFOLD PORTRAYAL
The reasons for the acceptance of the descriptions of the Little Horn, the Beast, and the Man of Sin as a composite portrayal of the same power become clear when the parallels are tabulated as follows: PFF1 897.2
(1) Source.-The Little Horn grows out of the head of the ten-horned fourth Beast, which was overwhelmingly recognized as Rome; the Antichrist was identified as the last phase of the seven-headed Beast from the sea having also ten horns like the Roman Beast of Daniel; the Man of Sin owes its rise to the removal of the hindering power likewise identified with Rome. PFF1 897.3
(2) Time of Origin.-The Little Horn comes up among the divided successors of the Roman “fourth kingdom”; the Beast receives his “power, and his seat, and great authority” from the dragon, which was identified as Satan working through pagan Rome; the Man of Sin is revealed after the fall of the hindering Roman Empire. PFF1 898.1
(3) End.-All three are destroyed at the second coming of Christ in the final judgment. PFF1 898.2
(4) Religio-political Power. The little Horn, rising as a kingdom among other kingdoms,, is nevertheless; “diverse” from the rest, for it is also religious, blaspheming God, exercising authority over the saints, times, and laws of the Most High; the Beast is a composite of Daniel’s beasts, which are kingdoms, and it wears crowns, but it also demands and receives worship; the Man of Sin is not mentioned in a political setting; but he is certainly a religious figure, demanding worship. PFF1 898.3
(5) Blasphemous Presumption.-The Little Horn has “a mouth that spake very great things,” “great, words against the most High”; tie Beast has “a moth speaking great things and blasphemies”; the Man of Sin exalts himself against God. PFF1 898.4
(6) Time of Dominance.-The Little Horn is, given power over the saints of the Most High “until a time and times and the dividing ‘of time”; the Beast is given power “forty and, two months.” Both these time periods are equated in” Revelation 11 and 12 to 1260 prophetic days, or 1260 years on the year-day principle. ‘ PFF1 898.5
(7) Warring Against God’s People.-The Little` Horn “made war with the saints; ‘and prevailed against them”; to the Beast “it was given ... to make war with the faints, arid’ to overcome them: and power was given him.” ‘ PFF1 898.6
(8) Great Power: The Little Horn looks “more stout than his fellows,” and subdues three of them; the Beast is very powerful, for “who is able to make war with him” end the Man of Sin comes “with all power and signs and lying wonders.” PFF1 898.7
(9) Demands Divine Homage.—The Little Horn sets himself over the saints, times, and laws of the Most High; the Beast causes multitudes to worship him, and the Man of Sin sets himself up as God, above all that is worshiped. PFF1 899.1
2. NON-CHRISTIAN IDEAS OF ANTICHRIST INCORPORATED
The importance of these Antichrist prophecies to the church was occasioned not only by the threefold treatment but also by the fact that they were the next stage expected all through the period of this volume. The early church looked for the’ kingdom of Antichrist as the fifth of the great world-influenceing powers of prophecy following the breakup of Rome. Its identification was not too clear, and unfortunately the non Christian traditions 5 which crept into the Antichrist concept were perpetuated for centuries. PFF1 899.2
The traditional idea of a Jewish tyrant, a monster, or a semi-demon persisted, in spite of the application to Antichrist of the prophecy of 2 Thessalonians 2, in which Paul, significantly, did not speak of a future political despot, as the Jews expected, but of a spiritual power, the result of apostasy. For in the early church the hindering power was recognized as the succession of Roman emperors, after whose removal the Man of Sin was to be revealed in connection with a falling away, or apostasy, whose beginning Paul could see already, working—a mystery of iniquity which was to culminate in a man enthroned in the very temple of God, exalting himself as God and demanding homage due only to Deity. PFF1 899.3
But after all, it is not surprising that folklore should be stronger than Pauline theology during the Dark Ages, and Antichrist was a popular character in folklore. The fantastic tales of the pseudo-Methodius 6 type can be traced throughout the Middle Ages. And so it was that one type of extra-Biblical elements which crept into Christian eschatology caused a revulsion against early millennialism, and another type perpetuated a warped idea of a fantastic future Antichrist. PFF1 899.4
Picture 3: SECOND ADVENT PAINTING, HIDDEN FOR CENTURIES, RESTORED
This ancient painting of the second coming of Christ, formerly in the nave of the penn church at bucks. England, was plastered over and long forgotten. Hundreds of years passed before it was rediscovered and restored to full view. Similarly, the early church views on the hope and expectation of the advent and the kingdom of God were later obscured and well-nigh forgotten. Centuries passed. Then men again discovered the unfolding of prophecy in the course of human events, and restored it to its rightfull prominence in the church. Such is the impressive lesson of the old painting at Penn.
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