Final Events

The New Testament predicts several key events that will occur before the arrival of the Son of Man in glory.

The New Testament predicts several events that will occur before Jesus returns. They will be the culmination of the period between Christ’s Ascension and his arrival, a period characterized by many deceptions, occasional persecution, and apostasy. Before this age ends, an especially destructive deceiver will appear in the Church, the final apostasy will take place, and Satan will launch his final attempt to destroy the Body of Christ.

The writers of the New Testament are consistent in their warnings about deceivers in the last days, false prophets, apostasy, and the final dark figure, who is called the Antichrist, the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction, and the Beast from the Sea/Abyss.

[Dusk - Photo by Marek Piwnicki (Gdynia, Poland) on Unsplash]

In his Olivet Discourse, Jesus warns that “many deceivers” will come and “deceive many.” This group will include “false prophets and false anointed ones” who use deception and “signs and wonders” to deceive members of Christ’s elect. They will disseminate false information about the coming of the Son of Man.

False prophets will cause the love of many saints to “grow cold” and increase “lawlessness.” Not only so, but many disciples will turn on each other when persecution comes - (Matthew 24:4-8).

The Apostle Paul warns that in later years, many believers will abandon the Apostolic Faith. “Wicked men and howling impostors will increase, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). The Greek word translated as “howling impostors” or ‘goés’ (γοης), originally referred to sorcerers and the practitioners of divination. The time is coming when many will no longer hold sound doctrine, and some may even turn to occult practices:

• “But the Spirit says expressly, that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron” - (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

• “Having itching ears, they will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts, and they will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to fables” - (1 Timothy 4:3-4).

Likewise, the Apostle Peter warns that there will be deceivers and false teachers in the last days who will seduce many to betray the faith and defame the Gospel:

• “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there will be false teachers, who will privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, by reason of whom the way of the truth will be defamed. And in covetousness, they will with feigned words make merchandise of you” - (2 Peter 2:1-3).

In his first epistle, John laments the rise of “antichrists” who originated within his congregations, false teachers who deny the genuine humanity of Jesus. His term, ‘antichrist’, is probably derived from Christ’s description of “false prophets and false anointed ones.” Only John uses this label, and only in his first two letters.

‘Antichrist’ is a compound of the Greek preposition ‘anti’ and the noun for “anointed” or ‘christos’. The preposition signifies “instead of,” not “against.” An antichrist is someone or something that replaces the true Christ, a counterfeit.

While John uses the plural form of the word for multiple antichrists, he also acknowledges there is an “antichrist who is coming.” Presumably, this final deceiver will of the same nature as the many antichrists of John’s letter, a master deceiver intent on misleading Christians - (1 John 2:18-22, 4:1-6).

THE LAWLESS ONE

The Apostle Paul warns of a coming figure he calls “the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction.” In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul focuses on this man’s ability to deceive. Not only so, but Paul links him directly to the coming apostasy - (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10).

The Apostle provides this information in response to deceivers who spread false information about “the Day of the Lord.” That great day will not come until the apostasy takes place, and this Lawless Man is revealed. He will sit “in the sanctuary of God,” where he will exalt himself in opposition to God - (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10).

Elsewhere, Paul applies the term “sanctuary of God” or ‘naos theou’ (ναος θεου) to the church. He shows no interest in the Temple building in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:19-22). This destructive man will be motivated by Satan to destroy the saints:

• “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his arrival, even he, whose coming is according to the energizing of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they welcomed not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” - (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10).

Likewise, the “Beast from the Sea” of Revelation will wage war against the “saints,” namely, the “brethren,” those “who have the testimony of Jesus” and the “faith of Jesus.” They “follow the Lamb wherever he goes,” even when doing so means death - (Revelation 11:4-7, 12:11, 12:17, 13:7-10, 14:1-4).

• “Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” – (Revelation 14:12-13).

• “And they overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony; and because they loved not their life even unto death” – (Revelation 12-11).

THE FINAL ASSAULT

At the end of the age, Satan will be loosed to gather the nations from “the four corners of the earth” for his final attempt to annihilate the Church, an assault that can only be stopped by divine intervention. This is the same “war” waged against the saints in chapters 11, 12, and 13 of the Book of Revelation– (Revelation 20:4-10).

• “And the little horn waged war on the saints and prevailed against them” – (Daniel 7:21).

• “And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them” – (Revelation 11:7).

• “And the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:7).

• “And it was given to the beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” – (Revelation 13:7).

This battle was raging against the churches of Asia already at the time John wrote the Book of Revelation, from within and without. The seven Asian congregations struggled with deceivers, including “false apostles,” the “Nicolaitans,” the followers of “Balaam,” and “that prophetess, Jezebel.”

The description of ‘Jezebel’ shows she is an incarnation of the “Great Whore, Babylon. Already, ‘Babylon’ is at work among the saints of Thyatira, and persecution is occurring in Smyrna and Pergamos, where “Antipas my faithful witness was killed among you” – (Revelation 2:8-11, 2:12-17, 2:18-24).

• “And Jezebel teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols” – (Revelation 2:20).

• “I will show you the judgment of the great whore, who sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” – (Revelation 17:1-2).

The struggles, failures, and triumphs of the churches of Asia present a microcosm of the cosmic battle that has been waged between the forces of the “Lamb” and the “Dragon” since Christ’s departure, a war that will culminate in the Devil’s final assault against the saints, a war that will be waged with deception and persecution.

What we do not find in the New Testament are predictions of a final super revival, or the takeover of society or the governments of the world by the church.

Instead, God intervenes at the final moment to prevent the destruction of the saints by Satan. Paul’s Man of Lawlessness uses signs and wonders to cause believers to apostatize. He will only be stopped by the ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” of Jesus. Before the return of the Son of Man to gather his elect and judge the nations, many false prophets and false messiahs will arise, and they will successfully “deceive many.”

The mission of the church is to proclaim the Gospel to all nations until the moment of Christ’s appearance, even while struggling with deception, apostasy, and persecution. The end will not come until this mission is finished, and Satan’s opposition to the Gospel also will not cease until the final moment – (Matthew 24:14, Acts 1:7-11).

The predictions of the New Testament about final events must be weighed against the contradictory claims of a great many false prophets and other deceivers over the centuries, and even more so in our time, with so many voices proclaiming competing visions and promises of political victory in the present age.

Finally, we must give serious consideration to the challenging words of Jesus: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find the faith on the earth?” In the Greek text, “faith” has the definite article. He refers to “the faith.” Is his question rhetorical? Is it an enigmatic and dark prediction or warning? – (Luke 18:8).

Christ’s statement suggests a time of deception and apostasy in the final days before his return. Perhaps the faithful will become a small remnant in the challenging days just before his arrival “on the clouds.”

“The public service of God will be extinguished, psalmody will cease, the reading of the Scriptures will not be heard” – (Contra Noetum, 9. Hippolytus of Rome).

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SEE ALSO:

• Rumors and Disinformation - (Rumors about the Day of the Lord caused alarm and confusion in the Thessalonian congregation – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

• The Apostasy - (Paul warned the Thessalonians of a future apostasy and linked it to the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction)

• The Spirit of Antichrist - (The Antichrist Spirit is working to destroy the church from within, especially through deception propagated by false teachers – 1 John 2:18-22)

• Les Derniers Événements - (Le Nouveau Testament prédit plusieurs événements clés qui se produiront avant l'arrivée du Fils de l'Homme dans la gloire)