3. What to do when the Antichrist comes

When the Antichrist comes part 3.pdf

(Hebrews 5: 9-10) 9….to all who obey Him (Jesus), 10 called by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek,

Do not doubt and never let go of the faith in our King and High Priest Jesus.
An explanation using the book of Hebrews (all quotations from the NKJV translation)
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In the previous article, we briefly talked about the fear for the Corona virus plaguing the world. According to 12 global medical experts in infectious diseases, practically all infected people have mild to bearable symptoms, only the elderly and the sick do not.

Christians have been warned in Scripture against a takeover of society by an overarching worldwide government with the Antichrist as king (Dan 8:23).
The Antichrist is the initiator of a new global money system, which also requires the worship of Satan and which we conveniently call the New World Order – NWO (Rev. 13: 15-17).

Ultimately, this government wants the current UN to cease to exist and to be replaced by a Jewish UN:

.                           Coin: American Nikki Haily for the UN in Jerusalem

‘Call for Global Government’: Former British (Socialist) Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for a ‘temporary’ world government to tackle Covid-19: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/ 26 / gordon-brown-calls-for-global-government-to-tackle-coronavirus
A world government or New World Order, which will probably never again disappear due to persistent problems.

In the previous article, we have seen how we can arm ourselves spiritually against the liar, the coming Antichrist, and have further talked about Jesus’ task as the by God-appointed High Priest according to the composition of tasks of Melchizedek.

Trust on your Creator in all your worries:

(Psalm 46: 1-2) 1….God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Theme of this article; The mark, the eternal sacrifice for our sins, the access to God by Jesus’ sacrifice and the faith of our ancestors in a new homeland. 

The mark that the Antichrist wants to impose on us

As for the time of the coming of the false prophet, there are 4 clear characteristics:

  • The persecution of Christians is fierce. (Luke 21:12)
  • The great apostasy among Christians has already come and is still ongoing. (2 Thess. 2: 3)
  • People will have become greedy on a large scale. (2 Tim. 3: 1-2)
  • The 8th kingdom, the central banks reign. (Rev.17: 11,12)

When the apostasy is great, then the son of perdition will appear:

(Dan. 8:23) 23….When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes.
(2 Thess. 2: 3) 3… for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition….

In the ‘last  hour’, Satan will use the false prophet:

(Dan. 8:24) 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;….
(Revelation 13:11) 11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

The false prophet is going to force all people to accept the mark of him. That mark consists of the name of the financial system or the number of the false prophet. He will ensure that only people with the mark can buy or sell. (Rev. 13 : 16-17)
In Rev.13: 15 it says that absolute devotion to this new money system will be required, otherwise you will lose your life. (See: World Powers 7. An “image” for the first wild beast)

People with the mark will undergo the wrath of God:

(Revelation 14: 9-10) 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God,….

Our High Priest Jesus loves us so much that He gave up His life for us Christians.
We can be happy that the Christ will conquer this Antichrist (Rev. 19:20).

The eternal sacrifice, our High Priest made for our sins

Hebrews chapter 9
The Most holy was the holiest part of the temple where the Ark of the Covenant stood, a gold lined portable chest with two cherubim on the lid:

(Hebrews 9: 3-4) 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
(Exodus 26:33) 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.

In the Holy part of the tabernacle, the priests were allowed to perform their services. (Heb. 9: 6)
Only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the High Priest in white linen undergarments (Lev. 16: 4,32) entered the Most Holy and a cloud of incense should cover the mercy seat (with the two cherubim on it)  and he should sprinkle some blood on the Ark of the Covenant. The young bull’s blood served as a sin offering for himself and his housemates, and the goat’s blood served as a sin offering for the people:

(Hebrews 9: 7-8) 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
(Leviticus 16: 15,29-30) 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat…. 29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

However, the perfect sacrifice of Jesus gives eternal redemption for our sins:

(Hebrews 9: 11-12) 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

With the blood of Jesus’ immaculate sacrifice, all sacrifices for redemption ended:

(Hebrews 9: 15-18) 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.
(Galatians 3:19) 19 What purpose then does the law (of Moses) serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed (Jesus – Gal. 3:16) should come to whom the promise was made;

It is just as with a worldly testament. The one who leaves an inheritance must first have died.

In this case, Jesus died and the inheritance became available to the heirs:

(Hebrews 9:22) 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
(Colossians 1:14) 14 in Whom (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

As High Priest, Jesus has direct access to the Heavenly Father and is Mediator for God’s people:

(Hebrews 9:24-25) 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest (under the Law of Moses) enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another….
(1 Timothy 2: 5) 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

The curtain in the temple was a persistent reminder that mankind was separated by sin for an approach to God. After Jesus’ death, we as sinful people may approach the throne of God (YHWH) via Jesus as Mediator. Until the second time that Jesus will come, to reward faithful Christians. (Heb. 9: 27-28)

Access to God has been opened by Jesus’ sacrifice

Hebrews chapter 10
The law with all its offerings couldn’t bring anyone to perfection:

(Hebrews 10: 1) 1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

Burnt offerings and grain offerings have not pleased God to take away sins:

(Hebrews 10: 4-6) 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
(Jeremiah 6:20) 20 For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.

After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus spoke to two disciples who were on their way to the town of Emmaus:

(Luke 24: 26-27) 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Jesus had a close relationship with His Father in heaven (John 17: 5) and obeyed the Father in everything. His life’s blood was the perfect sin offering for God’s people, of which the atoning sacrifices with blood (brought by the High Priests) were a shadow:

(Hebrews 10: 7) 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come– In the volume of the book it is written of Me– To do Your will, O God.’
(Genesis 3:15) 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He (that seed – Jesus) shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
(Philippians 2: 7) 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Jesus came to the earth as a human, in obedience to do God’s will:

(Hebrews 10:10) 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
(Isaiah 50: 6) 6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

When the Lamb opens the first seal of the scroll (Rev. 6: 2), the person on the white horse is given a crown, after which he goes out to complete his victory. This person on the white horse is logically an image of Jesus, who as King had to wait a long time, until Him was given the crown as a sign of received Kingdom power:

(Hebrews 10: 12-13) 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
(Psalm 110: 1-2) 1….The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (see also Matthew 22:44)

Satan and his demons are great enemies of God:

(Ephesians 6:12) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

But not only Satan and his demons are the enemies of God and of His Anointed, but also Satan’s seed like the wicked nations with their kings and princes:

(Psalm 2: 1-2) 1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
(James 4: 4) 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

However, a Christian’s struggle is never against people, even if they are his housemates:

(Matthew 10:36) 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
(Luke 6:27) 27 But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Through Jesus the last enemy of man, death, will be destroyed:

(1 Corinthians 15: 24-26) 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

The Hebrew Christians no longer had to make the annual Passover sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem:

(Hebrews 10:18) 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
(Daniel 9:27) 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering….

Christians are allowed to enter God’s sanctuary through the sacrificed blood of Jesus.
A new way has been opened through His sacrificed body, a living way through the torn veil:

(Hebrews 10: 19-22) 19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
(1 Timothy 1: 5) 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,

As Christians among each other, let love and forgiveness overcome:

(Hebrews 10: 24-25) 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
(John 13:35) 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
(1 John 3:10) 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

If we have knowledge of God’s word, we should use that, changing our way of life:

(Hebrews 10: 26-27) 26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
(Colossians 3: 5-6) 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

Through the influence for many years of the world, some Christians have started to doubt and have become rebellious. They are struggling to keep opening up themselves to the truth of God’s words and to the great sacrifice of Jesus and have started to doubt their inheritance:

(Hebrews 10: 28-31) 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(Psalm 2:12) 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
(John 3:36) 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Paul encouraged the Hebrew Christians (and us too) to continue speaking boldly about the gospel:

(Hebrews 10: 35-36) 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

The belief and persistence of our ancestors in a new homeland

Hebrews chapter 11
After Stephen’s death (Acts 7: 58-59) a great persecution of Christians followed in Jerusalem.
Many Christians from Judea had already fled to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch in those days:

(Acts 11:19, 22) 19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only….22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.

However, the number of Christians among the Jews of Judea continued to increase.
Faith in God’s words gives a firm confidence or certainty of what we hope for.
Faith convinces us of the things that we cannot see but which surely exist:

(Hebrews 11: 1) 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
HCSB (Habakkuk 2: 3) 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.

Throughout Hebrew history, there have been examples of individuals who have resisted the greatest temptations and endured the most severe persecutions through a strong faith in God and in his promises. Who looked forward to the rapture in heaven and afterwards to eternal residence on ‘the new earth’.
Proof of things we cannot see; the existence of God, of the heavenly tabernacle, of the High Priest on the right side of God, of the army of angels.
Things we can experience; by the power from prayer, by protection through the angels. (See also: 15. Angels come protecting us)
By faith, our ancestors gave a testimony:

Heb. 11: 4; Abel made a better sacrifice by faith than Cain
Heb. 11: 5; Enoch was taken up by faith so that he would not see death
Heb. 11: 7; Noah built the ark by faith
Heb. 11: 8; Abraham made his way from Ur to a foreign land by faith. (Acts 7: 2-3)
Heb. 11: 9; Isaac and Jacob were by faith joint heirs of God’s promise
Heb. 11:10; Abraham by faith expected the heavenly city of Jerusalem (New Jerusalem)
Heb. 11:11; By faith Sara gave birth to a child at old age
Heb. 11:13; As strangers and foreigners, they believed and hailed the promises

(Hebrews 11:13) 13….and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
(Exodus 6: 1-4) 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.
(1 Chronicles 29: 15) 15 For we (David and his people) are aliens and pilgrims before You, As were all our fathers….

Christians as posterity have also received the promise and are also as strangers in the world:

HCSB (1 Peter 1:17) 17 And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during this time of temporary residence….
HCSB (1 Peter 2: 11) 11 Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you.

When our patriarchs felt like strangers and foreigners, they were looking for the real and better homeland, the heavenly homeland:

(Hebrews 11: 14-16) 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
(Revelation 3:12) 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem….

Figuratively speaking, Abraham received his son Isaac back from the dead:

(Hebrews 11: 17-19) 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
(Genesis 22: 16-17) 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son– 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore;….

Heb. 11:20; By faith Isaac blessed his sons Jacob and Esau for future matters
Heb. 11:21; By faith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph
Heb. 11:22; By faith, dying Joseph made arrangements about his bones
Heb. 11:23; By faith Moses became hidden when he was born
Heb. 11:24; By faith Moses refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter
Heb. 11:26; Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than Egypt’s treasures
Heb. 11:27; By faith Moses left Egypt as if he saw the Invisible
Heb. 11:28; By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling with blood
Heb. 11:29; By faith the Hebrews passed through the Red Sea
Heb. 11:30; By faith the walls of Jericho fell after 7 days
Heb. 11:31; By faith Rahab the harlot was spared
Heb. 11:32; The great faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets

Gideon’s Struggle Against Midian, see: 1. Worship of the ‘image’
Deboras and Barak’s Struggle against Sisera, see: 4. Community

(Hebrews 11: 36-38) 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented– 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

Still, many more have received a good testimony from God, but who depend on the posterity (the Christians) for the fulfillment of all promises (Heb. 11: 39-40).

Finally:

The Antichrist will try to exalt himself above our High Priest Jesus, posing as God and sitting as God in the temple (2 Thess. 2: 4).
Christians will have to make a choice, a choice for God and His Anointed one, or a choice for the Antichrist (with Satan).
That choice for God and His Anointed one – with the rejecting of the mark (Rev. 13:17) – will be made very radically and difficult:

(Isaiah 41: 10) 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

In the fourth article we continue with the living image of Satan, the ‘race’  of the Christian faith and to assure ourselves, that we always be guided by Christian principles.

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