INTRODUCTION

      Three important areas of eschatology are those
concerning the Antichrist, Satan, and the nation of
Israel and the Jewish people.  Indeed, the three are
invariably linked in the end-times panorama.

      Henri Spaak, secretary of N.A.T.O. and planner of
the E.E.C. has said,

    We do not want another committee.  We have too many
    already.  What we want is a man of sufficient stature
    to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us
    out of the economic morass into which we are sinking.
    Send us such a man and whether he be God or devil, we
    will receive him (Cartledge, n.d., p. 132).

      Such a leader, the Bible teaches, will appear, and
unfortunately for mankind, he shall indeed be Satanicly
inspired.

      Morris writes,

    Satan is a malignant reality, always hostile to God
    and to God's people.  But he has already been
    defeated in Christ's life and death and resurrection,
    and this defeat will become obvious and complete in
    the end of the age (Morris, 1980b, p. 1397).


THE ANTICHRIST

      The expression "antichristos" is found only in the
epistles of John (I John 2:18, 22; 4:3; II John 7).
Nevertheless, the idea behind it is widespread.  Morris
makes the important point that one should understand "the
force of anti as indicating opposition, rather than a
false claim" (Morris, 1980a, p. 69, also Horton, 1994, p.
628) - that is, the Antichrist is one who opposes Christ
rather that one who claims to be the Christ.  Given this,
passages bearing on the Antichrist also include such as
Daniel 7:7f, 21f, and those in II Thessalonians 2 and
Revelation which deal with the strong opposition that the
forces of evil are to offer Christ in the last days.

      John introduces the notion of the Antichrist as
something already well known ("you have heard that
Antichrist is coming", I John 2:18) and although he does
not dispute the fact that at the end of this age there
will appear an evil being, called "Antichrist" (indeed,
Paul treats the non-appearance of the Antichrist as an
indication that the end is not yet in II Thessalonians
2:3-12), John insists that there is "a temper, an
attitude, characteristic of Antichrist, and that already
exists" (Morris, 1980a, p. 69).  John in fact, spoke of
"many Antichrists" as already in the world (I John 2:18).

      John goes some way towards giving a definition when
he states, "This is the Antichrist, he who denies the
Father and Son" (I John 2:22) and they who refuse to
acknowledge "the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh" (II
John 7).  To John, it is basic that in Jesus Christ, God
has acted for humanity's salvation (I John 4:9f).  Morris
contends that when one denies this, they are not simply
guilty of doctrinal error.  Rather, they are undercutting
the very foundation of the Christian faith.  Indeed, they
are doing the work of Satan in opposing the things of God
(Morris, 1980a, p. 70).

      At the end of this age, this will characterise the
work of the supreme embodiment of evil, the Antichrist
himself.  Those who do the same thing now, demonstrate by
this very fact, that they are his henchmen.

      The Antichrist represents the principle of Satanic
opposition to God's rule and the ongoing activities of
His Church, active throughout history (Bauckham, 1980, p.
473).  Nevertheless, the final Antichrist himself can
only be revealed when the Church is raptured from the
earth (II Thessalonians 2:7).  During this time he
martyrs many who become Christians (Revelation 6:9).

      In summary, Morris (1980a, p. 70) writes,

    Paul thinks of the supreme effort of Satan as not in
    the past, but in the future.  He does not think of
    the world as gradually evolving into a perfect state,
    but of evil as continuing right up till the last
    time.  Then evil will make its greatest challenge to
    good, and this challenge will be led by the
    mysterious figure who owes his power to Satan, and
    who is the instrument of Satan's culminating
    challenge to the things of God [the Antichrist].
    Paul is sure of the outcome.  Christ will consume the
    man of lawlessness 'with the breath of his mouth' [II
    Thessalonians 2:8].  The last, supreme challenge of
    Satan will be defeated.


SATAN

      The Antichrist is not Satan, but his coming is "by
the activity of Satan" (II Thessalonians 2:9).

      Satan literally means "adversary" (Morris, 1980b,
p. 1396), and this is precisely how he acts in Job.
Furthermore, he is consistently engaged in activities
against the best interests of mankind.  He moves David to
number the people (I Chronicles 21:1).  He stands by
Joshua the High Priest "to accuse him" (Zechariah 3:1f).
Indeed, Psalm 109:6 informs that it is a calamity to have
Satan at one's right hand.  John writes that "the devil
sinned from the beginning" (I John 3:8) and the Biblical
evidence bears witness to this.

      Satan is consistently hostile to God and is ever
present in working to overthrow the purposes of God and
His Church.  Matthew and Luke record Satan's attempts to
tempt Christ (Matthew 4; Luke 4).  Satan was unable to
succeed, but he left Christ "until an opportune time,"
implying he would be watchful for when he could next
strike.

      Satan's opposition to the activities of the Church
and the propagation of the gospel is most evident.  Peter
stresses the fierce opposition by saying that the devil
"prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour" (I Peter 5:8).  Paul thinks of his cunning when
he states, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light"
(II Corinthians 11:14), so it is most conceivable that
his minions can appear in a favourable guise.  Satan
worked through Jesus' followers, as when Peter rejected
the thought of the cross and was met with the rebuke,
"Get behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23) - in fact, Satan
had further intentions with Peter but the Lord prayed for
him (Luke 22:31f).  Certainly Satan worked through the
enemies of Christ for He could say of them that they were
of their "father the devil" (John 8:44).  The activity of
Judas is ascribed to Satan (Luke 22:3; John 13:2, 27).

      Indeed, Satan continues to work against the Church.
He continues to tempt men (I Corinthians 7:5).  He is at
work both among professed believers ("Why has Satan
filled your heart?", Acts 5:3) and those actively opposed
to Christianity ("You son of the devil", Acts 13:10).
Indeed, John states the general principle, "He who
commits sin is of the devil" (I John 3:8).

      Moreso, humans can actually give themselves over to
Satan so that in effect, they belong to him, becoming his
"children" (I John 3:10).  Thus there may exist "a
synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9; 3:9) and men who
dwell "where Satan's throne is" (Revelation 2:13).

      Satan hinders the work of missionaries (I
Thessalonians 2:18).  He takes away the good seed sown in
people's hearts (Mark 4:15).

      Always Satan is pictured as being resourceful and
active.  The Ephesians are exhorted to put on "the whole
armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11), and there are
references to "the snare of the devil" (I Timothy 3:7; II
Timothy 2:26).  The Church (and even Michael the
archangel, Jude 9) are engaged in a conflict that is both
"relentlessly and cunningly waged.  They are not in a
position to retire from the conflict" (Morris, 1980b, p.
1396).

      Nevertheless, the New Testament is sure of Satan's
limitations and defeat.  His power is derivative and may
only be exercised within the limits that God has set (Job
1:12; 2:6; Luke 4:6; I Corinthians 10:13; Revelation
20:2, 7).  The Church is to resist the devil "firm in
your faith" (I Peter 5:9).  James exhorts to "Resist the
devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).  Paul
indicates to "give no opportunity to the devil"
(Ephesians 4:27) and the implication of wearing the full
armour of God is that the believer will be able to resist
anything the evil one does (Ephesians 6:11).  Satan is
always seeking to "gain the advantage over us", but "we
are not ignorant of his designs" (II Corinthians 2:11).


ISRAEL

      Paul's statement that "not all who are descended
from Israel belong to Israel" (Romans 9:6) is in line
with the prophetic insistence that the true people of
God, those who are worthy of the name of Israel, may be
but a relatively small "remnant" of faithful souls within
the nation of Israel (Bruce, 1980, p. 719).

      This is evidenced in John the Baptist's preaching
that descent from Abraham is valueless in itself (Matthew
3:9; Luke 3:8).  Jesus called His disciples to form the
"little flock" who were to receive the Kingdom (Luke
12:32), to be augmented by the accession of "other sheep"
who had never belonged to the Jewish fold (John 10:16).

      Paul makes reference elsewhere to "the Israel of
God" (Galatians 6:16).  This phrase occurs but once in
the New Testament, and has caused considerable
controversy, and a proper understanding of it is
essential for a proper understanding of Israel's role in
Eschatology, and indeed Christian theology in general.
Dr. Stern (1992, p. 571-576) examines the verse in great
detail.

      Stern firstly denies "Replacement theology" which
holds that the Church is the New Israel, which has
replaced the Jews, the so-called "Old Israel," who are
therefore no longer God's people.  However, "neither this
verse nor any other part of the New Testament teaches
this false and anti-Semitic doctrine" (Stern, 1992, p.
571-572).  Neither does it teach the opposite, that it
excludes all non-Jews (Stern, 1992, p. 572).

      Rather, the verse reads, "Peace and mercy to all
who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God"
(Galatians 6:16).  According to Stern, Paul was make an
allusion to the main synagogue prayer, the 'Amidah
(Standing Prayer) or Shmoneh-Esreh (Eighteen
Benedictions) - "it is the key to this verse" (Stern,
1992, p. 572).

      Apparently the 'Amidah was then and is now the
central element of synagogue worship, literally saying
"Put peace, goodness and blessing, grace and kindness and
mercy upon us and upon all Israel, your people".  Stern
believes that without doubt Paul's Messianic Jewish
readers and the Judaizers would have noticed this
allusion immediately.  The majority of Gentile readers
would have realised this also, having likely spent time
in synagogues - if not, the Judaizers would undoubtedly
have brought it to their attention (Stern, 1992, p. 572).

      In the synagogue service, the "us" of the 'Amidah
refers to the congregation reciting the prayer; they are
part of "all Israel," but by saying, "and upon all
Israel," they ask God to extend the requested blessing of
peace beyond themselves to the entire people of God - the
congregation is not "all Israel," but it is a subset of
it.  By referring to "the Israel of God," Saul extends
his prayer to refer to believers outside Galatia as well
as his readers.  Moreso, however, Paul has particularly
used the word Israel.  In his time, "Israel" was Jewish
jargon and only used by those acquainted with Jewish
writings (Stern, 1992, p. 573).  All Greek speaking Jews
and Gentiles said "Ioudaioi" (Judean) when referring to
the Jews, but Jews reserved the word "Israel" to refer to
themselves as God's people - the people of promise -
whereas Gentiles did not use this word at all.

      Stern continues, suggesting that the Judaizers
exploited the meaning of "Israel" to appeal to the
Gentile's pride - so that by getting themselves
circumcised, they would be joining God's "fashionable
elite" (Stern, 1992, p. 573).  Stern thus concludes that
the word "Israel" is here used as a synonym for God's
people.  Indeed, the "Israel of God" is best defined as
"those who are genuinely God's people" (Stern, 1992, p.
573).  This is in contrast to the Judaizers who may in
some sense be "Israel" but are not "of God."  The Living
Bible renders this verse simply, "mercy. . . . upon those
everywhere who are really God's own."

      A second problematic passage which contributes to
an Eschatological understanding of "Israel" is Revelation
7:3-9 :

       "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees
       until we put a seal on the foreheads of the
       servants of our God."  Then I heard the number of
       those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes
       of Israel.
         From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
         . . . . From the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

      John then proceeds to describe the great multitude
that he also saw, from every nation, tribe, people and
language.

      The identity of this 144,000 has been the subject
of much debate.  The Jehovah's Witnesses have constructed
a class system, whereby the 144,000 represents only those
Christians who shall reign with Jesus; the remainder
staying on earth.  Such a notion however, is based on the
organisation's doctrine, rather than Scripture.

      Caird (1984, p. 95) states "The hundred and forty-
four thousand. . . . are identical with the great throng
from every nation."  Beasley-Murray (1981, p. 141)
suggests John has modified an old Jewish apocalyptic
prophecy and concludes that "John deliberately composed
the passage verses 1-8 to represent the Church as the new
Israel and the followed it in verses 9-17 by a picture of
the Church of all nations victorious in the kingdom."
Neither of these views are satisfactory, as John
explicitly distinguishes the two groups from each other,
going so far as to name the individual twelve tribes.

      Willmington (n.d., p. 841) suggests that the
144,000 are "Hebrew Billy Sundays" whose purpose is to
evangelise the world.  Curtis (1994, p. 109) explains
this notion,

    . . . . they are a select group of Jewish converts to
    the Messiah who, in the wake of 'Tribulation'
    judgments. . . . turn to Jesus as Lord.  They are
    then 'sealed' to preach the gospel to the world
    during this period after the church has been
    raptured.

      Curtis (1994, p. 110) poses another view,

    . . . . they represent the full measure of God's
    fulfilling His commitment to His chosen people, the
    Jews.  the Word of God clearly states that He has not
    left Israel derelict from His purposes (Rom. 9-11).
    Though they were 'broken off' (Rom. 11:17), there
    shall come a 'resurrection' of His purposed will for
    national Israel (Rom. 11:18) and a full complement of
    Jews shall be among the redeemed of all nations (Rom.
    11:26).

      It is unlikely that the 144,000 represent the full
complement of the Jewish people who will turn to Jesus
for Scripture seems to indicate that all Israel will be
saved at the conclusion of the Tribulation (Zechariah
9:14-17; Romans 10:26) whereas the 144,000 are literal
people in the midst of the Tribulation.  Nevertheless,
they do represent Jewish people, quite likely those who
become Christians during the Tribulation period.

      Many distortions have been applied to the passages
discussed to support the erroneous notion that God has
abandoned His ancient people.  Nevertheless, Daniel's
seventy heptads were expressly decreed for "his" people -
the Jews.  Paul asks, "Did God reject his people?  By no
means!" (Romans 11:1)  When the Bible refers to Israel,
one may be well assured that Israel is literally meant.

      With this understanding, Israel has an
eschatological role to play and is important in the
panorama of end-time events.  Matarasso, a Messianic Jew,
explains that at the beginning of the Tribulation the
Antichrist "will need a new centre.  He will choose
Jerusalem, and the Jews will be forced back into focus,
to remain there for the rest of time" (Matarasso, n.d.,
11.2).  The Antichrist will make a seven-year pact with
Israel (Daniel 9:27) - "an agreement with hell" (Isaiah
28:15, 18).  Matarasso continues,

    The Jews will sign it because it will seem to give
    them all that they have fought for so long - absolute
    security, the right to rebuild their Temple, and both
    protection against Russia to the north and the Arab
    states round about.  Many Jews will hail the Beast
    [Antichrist] as Messiah.  He will be the last false
    messiah they will ever enthrone (Matarasso, n.d.,
    11.2).

      The Antichrist's friendliness to Israel is not
real, however.  Matarasso sees in Ezekiel 38 and 39 an
attack by Russia against Israel.  The Russian armies will
penetrate deep into Israel, rolling up the country like a
carpet before them.  However, rebellion breaks out in the
Soviet forces (Ezekiel 38:18-22) and a series of
disasters overtakes the Russians on the mountains of
Israel, the Russian armed forces being decimated
(Matarasso, n.d., 11.3).  The Antichrist continues to use
Israel in order to gain further nations.  After this,
Israel and the Jews will have served their purpose and
the Antichrist breaks his agreement with the Jews (Daniel
9:27), seizes the rebuilt Temple and begins a massive
persecution against all God-fearers left on earth,
primarily the Jews (Matarasso, n.d., 11.3).

      Calamities occur as the Tribulation draws to a
close.  The final battle at Megiddo begins as a
confrontation between East and West, but then the heavens
split asunder and Jesus descends from the sky, backed by
the armed might of heaven (Matthew 24:30; Revelation
19:11-16).  The battle will hardly be a battle and the
Antichrist and False Prophet are cast away.

      Israel will be saved (Romans 10:26).  The eyes of
the Jews will be opened at last - they will "look on him
whom they pierced" (Zechariah 12:10-11), and they will
mourn.  Jesus will be owned at last as the Messiah,
Saviour and Lord.  Truly Israel will be a nation "born in
a day" (Isaiah 66:7-9).


CONCLUSION

      Bauckham (1980, p. 472) writes,

    It is important to notice that N[ew] T[estament]
    eschatology is never mere information about the
    future.  The future hope is always relevant to
    Christian life in the present.  It is therefore
    repeatedly made the basis of exhortations to
    Christian living appropriate to the Christian hope
    (Mt. 5:3-10, 24f.; Rom. 13:11-14; 1 Cor. 7:26-31;
    15:58; 1 Thes. 5:1-11; Heb. 10:32-39; 1 Pet. 1:13;
    4:7; 2 Pet. 3:14; Rev. 2f.).  Christian life is
    characterised by its orientation towards the time
    when God's rule will finally prevail universally (Mt.
    6:10), and Christians will therefore stand for that
    reality against all the apparent dominance of evil in
    this age.

      As the Church's future, the coming of Christ must
inspire the Church's present, however near or distant in
time it may be.  The forces of evil will, although
increasing and receiving eventual personification, be
defeated.  Furthermore, God will again turn His hand to
His ancient peoples, and all Israel will be saved (Romans
10:26) along with the Church.


WORKS CITED

Bauckham, R. J. 1980. 'Eschatology', in The Illustrated
     Bible Dictionary, ed. F. F. Bruce, Inter-Varsity
     Press, Leicester.

Beasley-Murray, G. R. 1981. Revelation. Wm. B. Eerdmans
     Publishing Co., Grand Rapids.

Bruce, F. F. 1980. 'Israel of God', in The Illustrated
     Bible Dictionary, ed. F. F. Bruce, Inter-Varsity
     Press, Leicester.

Caird, G. B. 1984. The Revelation of St. John the Divine.
     2d. ed., A & C Black, London.

Cartledge, D. n.d. Eschatology. Rhema Bible College,
     Townsville.

Curtis, G. 1994. Until the end of time, Thomas Nelson
     Publishers, Nashville.

Horton, S. M. 1994. 'The Last Things', in Systematic
     Theology: A Pentecostal Perspective, ed. S. M.
     Horton, Logion Press, Springfield.

Matarasso, A. n.d. Israel, Rhema Bible College,
     Townsville.

Morris, L. L. 1980a. 'Antichrist', in The Illustrated
     Bible Dictionary, ed. F. F. Bruce, Inter-Varsity
     Press.

Morris, L. L. 1980b. 'Satan', in The Illustrated Bible
     Dictionary, ed. F. F. Bruce, Inter-Varsity Press.

Stern, D. 1992. Jewish New Testament Commentary, Jewish
     New Testament Publications, Inc., Maryland.

Willmington. n.d. Willmington's Guide to the Bible,
     Pacific College Study Series, Melbourne.

davidmwilliams@oocities.com