Angelic Conflict part 97: Human history – Gen 3:14-15; 1Jo 2:18-22; .

Title: Angelic Conflict part 97: Human history - GEN 3:14-15; 1JO 2:18-22; .

 

Provisions of the Adamic Covenant are in 4 categories: the serpent, satan, the woman, and the man.

 

Verse 15 is the Adamic Covenant in regard to satan. Its provisions are fourfold.

 

GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

 

First: I will put enmity between you and the woman.

 

First provision: There will be a special animosity between satan and womanhood and womankind, put by God. The reason - the woman’s redemptive role as Seed bearer.

 

When God says “I will put,” it means that animosity will be put there by God.

 

The second provision states that the animosity will persist: between her seed and satan’s seed.

 

Second provision: The animosity will persist in human history through her seed (independent mankind) and Seed (TLJC) and his seed (religion and the antichrist).

 

The religion of the antichrist is embodied in the false teachers who attempt to proselytize others, 1JO 2:18-22; 4:1-3; 2CO 11:15.

 

satan desires to lead the believer astray from “simplicity” - singleness of purpose and from “purity of devotion” - being set apart unto God in life.

 

Basically, Satan is an imitator he copies what God does and then tries to convince us that his offer is better than God's. How does he do this? By using counterfeit ministers who pretend to serve God, but who are really the servants of satan. Positive believers are not ignorant of his schemes.

 

The CA doctrines that are attacked in this manner are the person of Christ, second, the Spirit of Christ, and third, the gospel or good news concerning Christ.

 

“antichrist” = against Christ or instead of Christ (“one who, assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Christ” Westcott.)

 

In the historical books of the OT "Belial" (wickedness, destruction, worthless, wicked, and death) is used as of a personal opponent of the Lord.

 

When Belial is used it is usually in association with sins of the tongue; lying, deceiving, bearing false witness, rebellion, leading astray, etc. These are all forerunners of the beast of Rev.

 

These Belials, and antichrists of 1Jo, are forerunners to the beast of the Tribulation who will bring the greatest enmity to the seed of the woman.

 

I decided to do this thoroughly from where he is first seen to where we see him in Paul’s epistle to where we see him in Revelation.

 

DAN 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon [553 BC] Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.

 

DAN 7:2 Daniel said, "I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

 

DAN 7:3 "And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.

 

1^st beast - Babylonian Empire.

606 - 539 BC

DAN 7:4 "The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.

 

The first kingdom with characteristics of a lion and an eagle represent Babylon. This kingdom had regal splendor and the lion is king of the beasts and the eagle king of the birds. The plucked wings refer to its inability to keep conquering or even to hover over its kingdom, i.e. it will come to an end. That the beast became like a man is no doubt a reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s lycanthropy experience. The human mind refers to Nebuchadnezzar would became a believer in the authority of the Most High God after his recovery.

 

DAN 7:5 "And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, 'Arise, devour much meat!'

 

2^nd beast - Medo/Persian Empire.

539 - 331 BC

 

The second kingdom, Medo/Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC. Like a bear it had great power but not the regal characteristics of Babylon. Raised up on one side reveals that Persia was more powerful than Media. The three ribs in its teeth refer to the three kingdoms of Babylon, Media, and Persia.

 

DAN 7:6 "After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.

 

3^rd beast - Greek Empire.

331 - 168 BC

 

(Alexander dies in 323 BC)

 

The third kingdom is Greece under Alexander the Great who conquered practically everything by 323 BC when he died at the height of his power. No one ever conquered as swiftly as Alexander which is why this kingdom is represented as a leopard with wings. When Alexander died his kingdom was divided between four generals, hence the four heads and four wings.

 

Alexander’s divided kingdom

323 - 168 BC

 

Lysimachus - Thrace and Bithynia

Casssander - Macedonia and Greece

Seleucus - Syria, Babylonia, and land to the east

Ptolemy - Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia Petrea

 

4^th beast - Roman Empire (Tribulation).

 

Daniel would have been blind to any history between the first and second Advents of Christ, outside of one event, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But that was an event for the Jews, indicating the final discipline on the city.

 

DAN 7:7 "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

 

Though some refer this to the historical Roman Empire which is rightly represented as having iron teeth, there are several things mentioned that have never happened and therefore this refers to the last kingdom, the great Roman Empire under the one world ruler. This will be explained by the angel at the end of the chapter.

 

DAN 7:8 "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts.

 

“little horn” - the antichrist of the Tribulation.

 

DAN 7:9 "I kept looking Until thrones were set up [no one seated in them yet?], And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.

 

DAN 7:10 "A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat ,And the books were opened.

 

DAN 7:11 "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.

 

DAN 7:12 "As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time [the Babylonian, Medo/Persian, and Greek Empires were all absorbed into the kingdoms that conquered them so their  culture and history survived].

 

This is clearly suggesting that the last kingdom will not be extended but completely annihilated by Christ, vanishing from the earth.  

 

DAN 7:13 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.

 

DAN 7:14 "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him [PSA 110:1]. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

 

DAN 7:15 "As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

 

DAN 7:16 "I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:

 

DAN 7:17 'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.

 

DAN 7:18 'But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.'

 

DAN 7:19 "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet,

 

DAN 7:20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates.

 

The opposition of satan, Belial, antichrist, etc. is always seen with sins of the tongue; lying, boasting, false witness, rebellion…

 

DAN 7:21 "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them [Tribulational martyrs]

 

DAN 7:22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

 

DAN 7:23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.

 

DAN 7:24 'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

 

DAN 7:25 'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time [3 ½ years].

 

Time, times, and half a time = last 3 ½ years of Tribulation.

 

This end time immediately precedes the second coming of Christ.

 

DAN 7:26 'But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.

 

DAN 7:27 'Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'

 

DAN 7:28 "At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself."

 

Dan 8 contains visions of the 2^nd and 3^rd kingdoms only.

 

DAN 8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king [550 BC] a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.

 

DAN 8:2 And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa [Persian capital about 200 miles from Babylon; later this would be the location of the book of Esther], which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.

 

DAN 8:3 Then I lifted my gaze and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

 

Ram with two horns - Medo/Persian Empire. Longer horn is the greater Persia.

 

DAN 8:4 I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward [came from east conquering], and no other beasts could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power; but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

 

DAN 8:5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous [easy to see, obvious] horn between his eyes.

 

Male goat - Greece conquering from the west. Conspicuous horn - Alexander the Great.

 

DAN 8:6 And he came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath.

 

DAN 8:7 And I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.

 

DAN 8:8 Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

 

Horn broken - Alexander died at height of kingdom. Kingdom is divided into four generals.

 

Lysimachus - Thrace and Bithynia

Casssander - Macedonia and Greece

Seleucus - Syria, Babylonia, and land to the east

Ptolemy - Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia Petrea

 

DAN 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.

 

DAN 8:10 And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.

 

DAN 8:11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host [set himself up as god]; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him [stopped the temple sacrifices], and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down [turned the temple into a pagan temple].

 

DAN 8:12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.

 

Rather small horn - Antiochus Epiphanes (glorious one) - Ruler of Syria (175 - 164 BC); set himself up as God, stopped the daily sacrifices of the Jews, killed thousands of Jews, desecrated the Holy of Holies, and turned it into a pagan temple.

 

Antiochus desecrated the temple in Jerusalem by offering a sow on the altar and setting up an idol of a Greek god. The antichrist in the Tribulation is going to do the same thing.

 

DAN 8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking [elect angel], and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, "How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?"

 

DAN 8:14 And he said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored." [death of Antiochus in insanity]

 

DAN 8:15 And it came about when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.

 

DAN 8:16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, "Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision."

 

DAN 8:17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end."

 

DAN 8:18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright.

 

DAN 8:19 And he said, "Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

 

DAN 8:20 "The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

 

DAN 8:21 "And the shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

 

DAN 8:22 "And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation [not his sons], although not with his power [Alexander died].

 

Alexander’s only son, Alexander IV was born after the kings death. Initially, after his death, the kingdom was passed on to him and Alexander’s half brother Philip III, but in name only. The four generals took over and fought with each other for decades, in which both Alexander IV and Philip III were killed. [Daniel writes this at least 227 years before this remarkable situation occurred.]

 

DAN 8:23 "And in the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise Insolent and skilled in intrigue [Antiochus].

 

DAN 8:24 "And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.

 

DAN 8:25 "And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency [died in insanity].

 

In Daniel’s fourth vision he again sees Alexander, his four generals of the divided kingdom, and Antiochus.

 

DAN 11:2 "And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.

 

Xerxes I was the fourth ruler here mentioned who gathered an army of several hundred thousand at the time of the greatest power of Persia and began a war with Greece [480 BC] in which he was defeated.

 

DAN 11:3 "And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases [Alexander].

 

DAN 11:4 "But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded [he asked for his son and brother in law]; for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.

 

After this verse some very precise prophecy is given concerning the next few hundred years and more prophecy concerning Antiochus.

 

DAN 11:36 - end: Daniel’s vision (fourth) concerning the end times.

 

DAN 8:26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future."

 

DAN 8:27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king's business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it.

 

There are many that see this as Antiochus only, or as antichrist only, and I am confident that it is both. We have types of Christ and here in Antiochus, we have a type of the antichrist.

 

The true antichrist in person is the little horn of DAN 7:8.

 

Antiochus as a type of antichrist:

Great power but not his own

Destroy mighty men and Jews and he will prosper

Succeed by shrewdness and deceit

Great arrogance

Murder the unsuspecting

Oppose Jesus Christ

He will be destroyed, but not by a human

 

*Defiles the temple

*Sets himself up to be God

*Places an idol in the temple

*Murders thousands of Jews