We’ve covered a long road in this series. We’ve surveyed what we can know about the coming One World Religion of the Antichrist. It’s time to cobble it all together as best we can. Observing the times and the seasons, many believe that we are on the threshold of this most historic time of prophetic fulfillment. For those who know Christ it will be a time that demands committed prayer and incredible faith, – but God has given us the tools to survive. Those who have not committed themselves to Jesus, God’s Son, will face a time of deception and chaos and unimaginable terror.
THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
Ever since the original deception in the Garden, mankind has willingly and willfully acted in cooperation with Satan. That alliance was formed on the basis of a lie; – an empty promise. Though “God created man in his own image” and had given him “dominion over…all the earth” (Genesis 1:26-27), it was not enough. Knowing our weakness, Satan offered what he knew Adam, Eve and the rest of humankind could not resist; – eternal life and the power to be like God. “You will not surely die”, the serpent promised, “…and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”. (Genesis 3:4-5) It is a quest that man has been on ever since. It is the essence of our rebellion against God. Who will sit on the throne of our lives; – God or ourselves? That was the motivation behind the first full-fledged rebellion; – the building of the Tower at Babel. It was an attempt to glorify puny man. Ever since that Nimrod led revolt, the world has been in a state of Satanic driven civil war against its Creator.
We’ve seen it was Nimrod, – with his wife Semiramis, who founded the false pagan religious system. It spread across the world. Now as the End of the Age approaches, we see how the New Age types, the Masons, the Theosophists and the like are awaiting for the restoration of those same mysteries. Scripture tells us that for a time, it will come to pass. Satan has long sought to be worshiped like God Himself. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:14) Revelation 13:4 tells us there is coming a time when Satan will be thus honored by men, – during the Tribulation, when the Antichrist reigns. “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast”. The “mysteries” of ancient paganism will indeed be restored.
Those mysteries are an open secret. At seminars, in books such as the Armageddon Script, and in other writings, the Illuminati / New Age / One-Worlders have unveiled their blueprint. The discerning can see that they are well along in their plan. Some of it is strange indeed. We have catalogued the interaction between the fallen angels who followed Satan in rebellion, with the “daughters of men”. (Genesis 6) We’ve seen their dual connection to both the ancient pagan gods of old and those beings conceived of as outer-space aliens, in our own time. New Age writings reveal that these ‘gods’ from another dimension will again be part of the plan to bring about the New World Order. Revelation 9 confirms there will be a time when the “bottomless pit” will be opened and the demon hordes released upon the earth.[i]
In all of this we need understand one thing: Satan has been at war with God since before the creation of the universe. It began as a heavenly rebellion fought in the spiritual realm and so it is fought to this day. It also has its manifestation on the physical plane. Through our analysis of Genesis 6, we saw how Satan tried to destroy the purity of man’s line by interbreeding with men, destroying the purity of the genetic pool. That would prevent the Savior from coming from ‘the seed of the woman’. (Genesis 3:15) In Esther we see a plot foiled that would have decimated the entire Jewish nation. There were more such attempts; – all prevented by God’s timely intervention. When Christ was born, Herod slaughtered the young males around Bethlehem. And once Jesus was grown and began to teach, the Pharisees plotted against Him and made attempts to seize Him, – but it was not allowed before God’s allotted time. (see Luke 20:20, John 10:39, 11:57) In one telling incident recorded in John 8:58, Jesus faced a crowd of unbelieving Jews. “I tell you the truth”, Jesus told them, “before Abraham was born I am”. The crowd knew what he was saying. “I AM” was the name God used to identify Himself when He appeared to Moses in the desert. (Genesis 3:14) He was claiming equality with the Living God. The use of that term “I am” angered them so much that they wanted to kill Him. His message of love and forgiveness was too much for them. They did not want to surrender their throne. The fact is however, that there may be even more to the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. And we’ll explore that beginning next time.
[i] This is a general interpretation of the language of Revelation 9, concurred in for instance by John MacArthur,
The MacArthur Study Bible, notes for Revelation 9
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