You don’t know the players without the program. The program is the handbook for life, the Bible, particularly Zechariah, Malachi, Daniel, and Revelation. In the 13th chapter of Revelation John gives the account of the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns, coming out of the sea. “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4). Here the beast is referred to as “him”. So the king (instead of the kingdom) is being referred to here as the beast. Notice they are worshipping the dragon. The dragon is Satan (Revelation 12:9). So they are, in essence, worshipping Satan.

“…there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty-two months” (Revelation 13:5). The beast mentioned here, fits the profile of the vile person, the willful king, written about by Daniel and the antichrist described by John. Forty-two months is three and a half years. As prophecy scholars can attest to, this time frame appears in end-time prophecy over and over.

The trademark of the beast, the antichrist, will be blasphemy. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). He is pouring out his blasphemy against God. This fits the profile for the antichrist. The Antichrist is against God. His personality is that of unbounded arrogance. He is able to exhibit this obnoxious behavior for three and a half years.

“And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of the time” (Daniel 7:25). This matches the profile of the beast (the person of the beast) of Revelation 13. He is against the most High. He will slaughter the saints. He will continue for three and a half years. He will think to change times and laws. He will be against the law of God and the statutes of God because he is against God. His personality will be totally contrary to God. He will be antagonistic toward anyone who does not submit to his rule. He will wear out the saints.

The Beast will speak against God. He will be noted for blasphemy. He will be the ultimate undisciplined adult having the ultimate tantrum behavior. Children who receive no discipline in their life are noted for their verbal aggression (cursing, name calling, threatening). They have nothing to lose because they fear no punishment. Lots of parents in today’s world produce many such children because they are permissive and unwilling to correct their children. Therefore there will be many young people who will be candidates to become lieutenants for the Antichrist. They will have no respect for their elders. The spirit of these young rebels will be in automatic opposition to anyone coming in the spirit of Elijah, as in times past (2 Kings 2:22-24).

The one who will actually become the Antichrist, the beast, will be well noted for his extreme blasphemy. He will be, in essence, cursing at God in the worst way possible. He will do insults and name-calling that will be abrasive to anyone with a sense of decency. The news media will continue deceiving people just at they do today. However they will, as we approach the last days, be extremely bold in promoting every type of perversion. The Antichrist will be directing and controlling television, radio, and the newspapers. Entertainment will be perverted, not for profit, as it is now, but for the promotion of iniquity (lawlessness). Con games, trickery, thievery, child molesting, body dismemberment, baby sacrifices and the latest in perverted pornography will be promoted to change the community standards for the world. Anyone who is righteous will be looked upon as a right wing extremist by the media and by the majority of people who will be influenced by the media. The Antichrist will be happy to preside over this degradation of human character.

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and languages, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear” (Revelation 13:7-9).

This beast will also receive help from another beast that appears.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). This beast is determined to help the previous beast. He tries to look like Christ (a lamb) but he speaks like the Devil (a dragon).

He causes people to worship the first beast. (Revelation 13:12) Why would he do that? Does he have a vested interest in perpetuating the power of the first beast? Apparently, he does. The last beast contributes to the power base of the previous beast in an apparent bid to install himself as a power.

The last beast will do great wonders (fire from heaven) (Revelation 13:13). Why does he bring fire down from heaven? Satan will use this person, the beast, to counterfeit miracles of God’s people.

“And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty” (1 Kings 1:10). The last beast will impersonate the end time Elijah. He knows there are many who will see the appearance of fire from heaven and will think of it as proof that he is the Elijah of modern times. Many will be deceived into thinking the last beast is the Elijah of the end time simply because they see the appearance of fire from heaven.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Eternal: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and hit the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).

What will the end-time Elijah be like? There has never been a time in history when it has been more necessary to link fathers to their children especially in the western world. Children are murdering people for fun. Children are committing crimes and getting by with it because they are part of a permissive family (in many cases a family run by a mother who refuses to discipline her children or a cowardly father who doesn’t know how to take charge of his own family). The father may be missing from the family. Or the father may be unwilling to govern his family and equally unwilling to discipline his children. Many men will be wimps. The end time Elijah will be viewed by society as a controversial person. He will have the revolutionary idea of parents loving and controlling their children and the revolutionary idea of putting men back in charge of their families! This will anger the liberal politicians, priests, lawyers, psychologists, psychiatrists, bureaucrats, pharmacists, and opinion shapers (media controllers) who have benefited and profited from the breakup of families in the modern world.

Generally prophets do not find the majority of people welcoming them with open arms. Elijah will be no exception! Judging from the conduct and personality of the first three Elijahs, he will gladly be opposing the evil establishment. This Elijah will be restoring all things (Matthew 17:11).

Find out more at The 4 Elijahs.

In restoring all things, the end-time Elijah will have the divine protection of the Father. Thanks, in part, to this Elijah, there will be a way provided for people to learn the truth about what is happening and why. Just as Jezebel tried to have the first Elijah murdered, the false churches and religions will seek to have the end-time Elijah murdered. His telling of the truth will make them look bad and cause people to realize how they are aligned with the Antichrist. However, God will protect him.

The overview of this time ahead of us suggests a period of unrelenting conflict between the forces of good and evil. The Antichrist is described as having unbounded arrogance. He will be killing the saints right up to the end. (Daniel 7:21-22) During this time the two witnesses would certainly be put to death were it not for divine protection from God during the three and a half years (Revelation 11:3-5). That protection is lifted at the end of the three and a half years and they are put to death (Revelation 11:7).

You can expect the Antichrist to be, in most ways, the opposite of Elijah. The Antichrist, the Beast, will be in favor of the breakup of the family. Remember he will be the ultimate undisciplined adult having the ultimate temper tantrum. His trademark will be blasphemy. The undisciplined children, particularly teenagers, will identify themselves with the Antichrist. He will be more popular than the most profane singers. Extremely undisciplined children are noted for their verbal aggression (cursing, name calling, threatening, profanity). They will identify with the Antichrist whose blasphemy will be keyed into their willingness to be as profane as their imagination will allow them to be. These children will not want to retain God in their knowledge except as the object of blasphemy. When cursing and profanity no longer produce an emotional kick the next logical step is blasphemy.

“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy toward God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). The antichrist will start a new trend of gross disrespect to God. Many will imitate him, especially the young (except those children whose hearts are turned to their fathers by the end time Elijah).

“There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Proverbs 30:12).

“…there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?…” (2 Peter 3:3-4). There will be a level of people who are God haters. As in times past, God will give them a reprobate mind.

“…as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness,…haters of God, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,…without natural affection…” (Romans 1:28-31). They will be without natural affection. They will do those things that are not “convenient” or in the Greek “kathekonta” meaning “fitting”. They will do things that are not fitting. They will do those things that are not appropriate.

“…since they considered themselves too high and mighty to acknowledge God…” (Romans 1:28, Phillips Translation). “…God abandoned them to depraved thoughts…” (Romans 1:28, Twentieth Century New Testament). “…to perform unmentionable deeds” (Romans 1:28, Phillips Translation).

“Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care – worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!” (Romans 1:30-32, The Message).

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12, New King James Version). Christ was speaking about these last days. Why will the love of many grow cold? It will be because of lawlessness.

In the end time “…men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). Blasphemy will be the wave of the future, especially during the last days. A lot of the men will be having “…a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).

“Don’t be naïve. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people” (II Timothy 3:1-5, The Message).

Satan will be active at this time because “…he knows that he has but a short time” (Revelation 12:12).

“…and there shall come a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1).

The imperatives of the Beast are parts of what causes the tribulation to be worse than any other time in human history. There are many who would like to “avoid” the tribulation. What Christ speaks of is “escape”.

“Watch you, therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).

Wily Elder

Ask The Bible

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