Who Is Hindering The Antichrist? : Part One

WHO IS HINDERING THE ANTICHRIST? : PART ONE

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

Defining The Antichrist, The Apostasy, The Temple Of God,
Diana Of The Ephesians, John Paul II And The Vatican, Truth
And Deception, Evilness Of Man, Fate Of The False Messiah,
The Son Of Perdition, Abaddon And Apollyon, The Destroyer,
Judas Iscariot, Michael The Archangel Or The Church?

There is an old saying which says that if you want to start
an argument, just mention the topics of politics, economics
or religion. Friends have been lost, and families have been
divided over differences of opinions stemming from the
discussion of these three nasty beasts. No one wants to be
told how to vote, how to spend their money, or what to
believe in; and if you don't believe me, just offer some
unsolicited advice and see if you aren't met with hostility.
While I personally try to avoid the first two topics, there
is no way I can avoid discussing religion; after all, over
half of my life has been dedicated to the study of the
Scriptures.

If there is one thing which I know with a great deal of
certainty, it is that there is a lot of disagreement within
religious circles concerning the proper interpretation of
the Scriptures. This is particularly true in the field of
eschatological study, that is, the study and interpretation
of Endtime prophetic events. It seems that the only thing
which we Christians can agree upon, is that there is still
so much that we don't comprehend; and believe me, there are
many of us who are continually trying to understand the
mysteries of God's Word. Personally, I have been devoted to
trying to understand the prophetic mysteries of the Bible
for close to thirty years. I feel that I have made
considerable progress over the years, but even I must humbly
admit that I still remain stumped by certain passages and
prophetic events.

One topic of eschatology which has always been in the
forefront of discussion is that of the revelation of the
Antichrist. Many hours have been spent trying to properly
decipher the Scriptures which describe this ominous Biblical
character; and many papers have been written regarding the
possible identity of, and the correct timing and place of
appearance of this man on the stage of the Endtime. I myself
have written extensively concerning him. A major part of
'The Kings Of The North And The South: Part Two' is
dedicated to discussing him. For the sake of clarification,
I define the Antichrist in the following manner in my
article 'Who Is Who?: Defining Important Endtime Terms':

----- Begin Quite -----

ANTICHRIST - I believe that the term Antichrist most
appropriately applies to the Jewish False Messiah, that is,
to 'Moshiach ben David'. I do NOT believe that the Beast and
the Antichrist are the same person. In my view, the Beast
will be a political/military foreign invader to Israel,
while the Antichrist will be a Jewish-born political and
spiritual leader. Not only will the Antichrist be against
Jesus Christ, but he will seek to convince many that he is
in fact Christ returned to the Earth, or possibly Jesus
Christ come to the Earth for the first time in total
contradiction to traditional Christian interpretation of the
Scriptures. The term 'antichrist' is introduced to us in the
epistles of John:

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard
that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."
(1 John 2:18)

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."
(1 John 2:22)

"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world." (1 John 4:3)

"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a
deceiver and an antichrist." (2 John 1:7)

As can be seen, the overall meaning of the term antichrist,
or antichrist, is anyone, or any spirit who denies the
existence of God; and more specifically, anyone or any
spirit who denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who
has come in the flesh to redeem the world of sin. Notice
that John gets even more specific by stating that even in
his time the spirit of antichrist, and many deceivers, or
antichrists, were already in the world. Exactly who were
the primary culprits who denied the Divinity of Christ? Who
were those who repeatedly fought against Christ and then
tried to pervert the doctrines of the early Church? Again,
the Scriptures provide a very clear answer. Notice what
Jesus said to the Jews of His day:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)

On two occasions in his writings, the Apostle Paul used the
phrase 'false brethren'. On another occasion he used the
term 'false apostles':

"In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of
robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;"
(2 Corinthians 11:26)

"And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who
came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in
Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:"
(Galatians 2:4)

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also
be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works."
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

It is a scriptural fact that the first Apostles, and the
First Disciples which joined the Early Church were of Jewish
origin. It wasn't until after Peter's revelation in the Book
of Acts, and until the beginning of Paul's ministry that the
First Disciples fully understood that Salvation was meant
for both Jew and Gentile alike. A further reading of the
Scriptures will reveal that these false brethren and
antichrists mentioned by Paul and John were Christ-hating
Jews who were still under the Law; and who entered the
flocks of God feigning to be disciples in order to cause
division, and to force circumcision and other aspects of the
Mosaic Law upon the new Disciples. Paul issued a stern
warning against them in his Epistle to the Philippians when
he said:

"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision." (Philippians 3:2)

Because they didn't truly accept the Sacrifice of Jesus
Christ as being all that was necessary to inherit Eternal
Life, these antichrist Jews were trying to mix grace with
works. While they claimed to be true Jews, Jesus Christ
Himself via His angel sent to John in the Book of
Revelation, tells us the exact opposite:

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou
art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they
are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."
(Revelation 2:9)

"Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will
make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know
that I have loved thee." (Revelation 3:9)

Thus, through these Scriptures, and many others which I have
not even listed, we see that, while the term antichrist can
be used in a general sense to describe anyone who rejects
Christ, in those early days of the Church, it was used
primarily to describe Christ-rejecting Jews who attacked
Jesus, and then plagued his Apostles and Disciples wherever
they went to preach the Word. Thus, in my view, it is very
appropriate that the term 'Antichrist' should be applied in
these Last Days to the coming Jewish False Messiah whom
Orthodox Jews refer to as 'Moshiach ben David'. He will be
the final revelation of the spirit of Antichrist.

----- End Of Quote -----

Due to many descriptions in the prophecies of Daniel and the
Book of Revelation, we have a fairly clear idea of how the
political Beast and the religious False Prophet will operate
once they are revealed. However, there are certain aspects
concerning the revelation of the Jewish Antichrist which
have eluded us. One point in particular is that of the
identity of the one who is currently holding back the
revelation of the Antichrist, or the Son of Perdition as he
is also referred to by the Apostle Paul. I believe that a
key chapter to understanding the revelation of this evil man
is found in Paul's second Epistle written to the
Thessalonians. Thessalonika was counted among the churches
established by the Apostles during the First Century. It was
located in what is still known today as Thessalonika,
Macedonia, Greece. The second chapter of Paul's second
Epistle begins with the following relevant information:

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition;" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)

As I explained in previous articles, Paul's concern in
writing this chapter was that even back then, almost two
thousand years ago, some of the Brethren were under the
mistaken impression that the day of the Lord's Second Coming
was at hand. Thus, Paul was attempting to restore their
composure, while at the same time issuing a warning to them
to not believe anyone who might voice such false teachings.
As a sure sign that the arrival time of this evil spiritual
leader is drawing near in our current day, Paul told the
Thessalonian Disciples that there would come a 'falling
away' first. This phrase is derived from the Greek word
'apostasia' which means a falling away, a defection, an
apostasy. In this particular case, since we are dealing with
a religious matter, it is believed that Paul was referring
to a falling away from the Christian faith which we have
inherited due to the faithfulness of Christ, the Apostles
and their early followers.

The beginning of this Apostasy is clearly evident in our
modern day; and can be observed in our governments, in our
religious institutions, in our public school systems, in the
various forms of mass media and entertainment industries,
(including the Internet and the World Wide Web), and in the
absence of moral values being taught in our homes. In many
quarters we are seeing a steady decline in faith in God and
in His Holy Word, which has had a direct effect on the world
around us. As explained in other articles such as 'Science
And Technology: The Forbidden Knowledge?', we are changing
from spiritually motivated creatures, to creatures of
invention, modern science, and technological wonders. We
have replaced our faith in the One True God with faith in
ourselves and our abilities to manipulate the world around
us. Many have lost respect for the sacredness of life which
has resulted in a massive increase in crime and violence, in
the destruction and loss of both flora and fauna, in the
pollution of our water, land and air, and even in evil man
defining what constitutes human life and what doesn't. In
short, man is playing 'God', deciding who should live, and
who should die; even for those who don't have a say in the
matter.

For us Christians, perhaps the most evident sign of the
Apostasy can be found in the attitudes of those we deal with
in our daily lives as we try to remain faithful to the Lord
by sharing His Word with others. A few verses which come to
mind which clearly reflect the mentality of our current
times are the following:

"And even 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, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, Without understanding,
covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable,
unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which
commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same, but have pleasure in them that do them."
(Romans 1:28-32)

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where
is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation." (2 Peter 3:3-4)

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady,
highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart:"
(Ephesians 4:17-18)

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them." (2 Corinthians 4:4)

"There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with
their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is
under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction
and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they
not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes."
(Romans 3:11-18)

It is in front of this spiritually dark backdrop that Paul
tells us that the Son of Perdition will appear on the world
stage. Once he does, what will be his agenda? Again, Paul
makes it quite clear as we continue reading his sobering
letter to the Thessalonians:

"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye
not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these
things?" (2 Thessalonians 2:4-5)

As the above verses reveal, this man, 'Moshiach ben David',
the false Jewish 'messiah', is going to be so powerful, and
so deceptive, that he will either be permitted by the Jews
to sit in the Temple, or else he will forcibly place himself
there, and will declare himself 'God'. As I pointed out in
such articles as 'The Kings Of The North And The South: Part
One', some Bible students are convinced that this verse, and
other like it, are describing the pope of Roman Catholicism.
They believe that Rome, and Vatican City in particular,
represents the center for the Endtime false religious system
known as Babylon the Great Whore. However, as I have pointed
out in a number of my articles, while this interpretation
has a lot of merit, I am not fully convinced that it is the
correct one.

In the above verse, the word 'temple' is derived from the
Greek word 'naos', which is pronounced nah-os'. It is used
forty-five times in the New Testament. My Greek lexicon
states that this word is used to refer to the Temple at
Jerusalem, but only to the sanctuary itself consisting of
the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Upon reading this, I
performed an examination of all of the verses in the New
Testament where this word is used. I discovered that it is
indeed true that 'naos' is used to refer to the actual
structure of the Jewish Temple. This is also the word that
Jesus used when He challenged the Scribes and the Pharisees
to destroy His Body"

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty
and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou
rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his
body." (John 2:19-21)

The second Greek word translated as 'temple' in the New
Testament is the word 'hieron', pronounced hee-er-on', which
the lexicon defines as 'a sacred place, temple, used of the
temple of Artemis at Ephesus, used of the temple at
Jerusalem'. 'Hieron' is used seventy-one times in the New
Testament. A more expanded definition found in the lexicon
states as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The temple of Jerusalem consisted of the whole of the
sacred enclosure, embracing the entire aggregate of
buildings, balconies, porticos, courts (that is that of the
men of Israel, that of the women, and that of the priests),
belonging to the temple; the latter designates the sacred
edifice properly so called, consisting of two parts, the
"sanctuary" or "Holy Place" (which no one except the priests
was allowed to enter), and the "Holy of Holies" or "the most
holy place" (which was entered only on the great day of
atonement by the high priest alone). Also there were the
courts where Jesus or the apostles taught or encountered
adversaries, and the like, "in the temple"; also the courts
of the temple, of the Gentiles, out of which Jesus drove the
buyers and sellers and the money changers, court of the
women."

----- End Of Quote -----

This definition is quite accurate. My examination of the
Scriptures where this word is used revealed that 'hieron'
indeed refers to the interior of the Temple enclosure. In
many of the verses I looked at, the phrase 'in the temple'
was used, or a similar phrase which clearly showed that the
writer was referring to the interior of the Temple. This is
also the word used when Satan tempted Jesus on the pinnacle
of the Temple. As stated in the above definition, the only
time 'hieron' is used to mean anything else, is when it is
used one time in reference to the temple of the Ephesian
goddess Diana in Acts chapter nineteen. The Greek lexicon
provides the following information regarding Diana, who was
also known as Artemis:

----- Begin Quote -----

Artemis {ar'-tem-is}

Diana = "complete light: flow restrained"

Artemis, that is to say the so called Tauric or Persian or
Ephesian Artemis, the goddess of many Asiatic people, to be
distinguished from the Artemis of the Greeks, the sister of
Apollo. A very splendid temple was built to her at Ephesus,
which was set on fire by Herostratus and reduced to ashes;
but afterwards in the times of Alexander the Great, it was
rebuilt in a style of greater magnificence.

----- End Of Quote -----

Thus we see that collectively, 'naos' and 'hieron' are used
one hundred and sixteen times to refer to the Second Temple
at Jerusalem. Only one time is 'hieron' used to refer to
something else. From this evidence, it seems to me that when
Paul used the term 'temple of God', this is the Temple he
was referring to. Consider the audience he was addressing in
his Epistle. It was primarily Jews who had been converted to
Christianity, as well as some Gentiles who had begun to
receive the Word of the Lord. In those days, when someone
said 'the temple of God', everyone knew that there was only
one 'temple of God' in the world; and that was the Temple at
Jerusalem. As is evident in the Book of Acts, Jews from all
over northern Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East
would make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship at that one
Temple, even though they had local synagogues in their
places of residence. Consider this example of Paul's final
persecution in Jerusalem by Asian Jews:

"And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which
were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up
all the people, and laid hands on him," (Acts 21:27)

One final interesting point worthy of note is the following.
Considering that the Second Temple would be destroyed about
three years after Paul's execution, what would motivate him
to write about 'the temple of God'? I suspect that either
through direct revelation from the Lord; or possibly from
learning from those who had actually been with Jesus; or
most likely from studying the Scriptures of the Old
Testament, he knew that the Second Temple was going to be
destroyed in accordance with Jesus' own words:

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his
disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the
temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
(Matthew 24:1-2)

Despite this fact, Paul knew that some day in the distant
future, the Temple would be rebuilt in order to fulfill all
of the ancient prophecies; even if it was the false temple
of a false religion with a false messiah. After all, we know
that the True Temple of the Lord is a spiritual building
made up of living stones who are built upon the solid Rock
foundation of Jesus Christ Himself. I have elaborated on
this topic quite amply in other articles, so I will only
mention a few key verses here:

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what:
we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
(John 4:21-24)

"But he spake of the temple of his body." (John 2:21)

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19)

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)

"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom
coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I
lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he
that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you
therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner," (1 Peter 2:3-7)

So again, when Paul used the phrase 'the temple of God', I
am relatively certain that he was referring to a rebuilt
Jewish Temple, and NOT to St. Peter's Cathedral where the
Roman Catholic pope sits upon his papal throne. Saint
Peter's Cathedral didn't even exist back then, so it doesn't
make sense that Paul would be referring to that since the
Thessalonian Disciples wouldn't have the slightest idea of
what he was talking about. He spoke and wrote in terms which
he knew they would understand. The only way that I could
possibly accept that John Paul II is the False Messiah, the
Jewish 'Moshiach ben David', would be under the following
conditions:

1. If it is soon revealed that he is actually Jewish in
origin and a direct descendant of David. Considering that
he is Polish, this is a possibility. Remember, he is the
first foreign pope to rise to the papal throne in
literally hundreds of years.

2. If through some brilliant diplomatic negotiations, he
resolves the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Considering the
way he has assisted in bringing about the seemingly
miraculous fall of oppressive regimes in certain
countries, this could happen.

3. If he is one of the primary architects of a peace accord
which will among other things, include the construction
of the Third Temple and the resumption of the 'daily
sacrifice'.

Short of fulfilling these requirements, I don't see how he
could possibly be the one to sit in the Temple of God. One
thing I do know for certain is that while there is a great
deal of animosity between Rome and Jerusalem, it is an
established fact that Vatican City has a keen interest in
controlling Jerusalem, and already maintains light
diplomatic relations with the city fathers due to the
Christian churches and monasteries which are in Jerusalem.

In the following verses, Paul explains that this Son of
Perdition, the Jewish Antichrist, is going to be extremely
powerful; and that he will deceive many with the demonic
inspiration of Satan himself by performing great lying
wonders which many will be quick to believe:

"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with
all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

This is another reason why I reject John Paul II as the
long-awaited Antichrist. Unless I have been asleep and have
missed something somewhere, the pope has not performed any
kinds of signs or lying wonders to prove that he is the
'Messiah'. Some might pose the weak argument that he is
responsible for all of the supposed Marian apparitions
occurring all over the world; however, I view such a thought
as a desperate attempt to try to prove the unprovable. John
Paul II is sick, and he is old. My current thoughts are that
he will soon go the way of all flesh, and that the same
speculations will then be attributed to his successor. As
can be seen, whoever the Antichrist turns out to be, he
will be received and heralded as a 'saviour' because people,
and the Jews in particular, will have rejected the Truth of
God's Word. They will welcome this demonic counterfeit with
open arms because they despised and rejected the true Son of
God almost two thousand years ago:

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from
him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
(Isaiah 53:3)

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
(John 1:11)

The revelation of this fiend from Hell will be a time for
evil Christ-hating men to fill their cups of iniquity, so
that God can righteously judge them for their sinful
rebellious hearts. The Prophet Jeremiah exposed the true
nature of the human heart when he wrote:

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

Notice that Paul also said 'God shall send them STRONG
delusion'. The Lord is not only going to purposely allow
this delusion to occur, but He is personally going to choose
this delusion for them, and make it so strong, that only
those who know, understand and accept His Word will fully
comprehend what is really going on, and thus hopefully be
able to reject the subtle deceptions of the Antichrist:

"I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their
fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer;
when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before
mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not."
(Isaiah 66:4)

In His sermon in Matthew chapter twenty-four, Jesus also
emphasized how strong the deception of the Endtime would be
when He said:

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
(Matthew 24:24)

Truly then, 'Moshiach ben David' will be the king of these
deceivers of the Last Days. As to the fate of this False
Messiah of the Jews, Paul tells us that he will be destroyed
by the Lord's spoken word, and by the Brightness of His
Coming:

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming:" (2 Thessalonians 2:8)

The Lord will just speak His Word, and this Satan-incarnate
will be destroyed. Notice that Paul begins this sentence
with the phrase 'And then shall that Wicked be revealed...'.
Exactly when is the 'then' in this verse? It is after the
Apostasy is in full swing as was explained by previous
verses. The Antichrist will not be revealed until the Jews
have dug themselves deep in the pit of their own spiritual
darkness. As we are told in the Book of Ecclesiastes:

"He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso
breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him."
(Ecclesiastes 10:8)

This is the basic scenario concerning the coming of the
Antichrist, the Jewish False Messiah. However, there is one
more event in this chapter which I have purposely left out
until now which constitutes one of the primary topics of
this current article; and that is found in the following
verses:

"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of
the way." (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)

In the above Scriptures, Paul is telling those to whom he is
writing that they already know what and who is holding back
the revelation of this satanic Son of Perdition. In fact,
Paul is saying that whoever or whatever this force is, its
specific purpose is to make sure that the Son of Perdition
is not permitted to manifest himself to the world until it
is his time to do so. A verse prior to these statements,
Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he spoke to them of
these very things when he was present with him:

"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you
these things?" (2 Thessalonians 2:5)

Unfortunately, we were not there; so we have to really pray
and rely upon the Lord's Spirit to help us understand what
Paul is referring to. Despite this limited information, by
comparing Scripture with Scripture, there are a number of
important things we can learn from these two verses. The
first point I would like to make is concerning the phrase
'Son of Perdition'. For most people, it is a very mysterious
phrase. They have no idea whatsoever as to what it means. In
the original Greek text, the word used here for 'perdition'
is the word 'apoleia', which itself is believed to be a
derivative of the word 'apollumi'. Thus, both of these words
have similar meanings. The Greek lexicon shows the following
as some of the definitions and usages of these words:

----- Begin Quote -----

apoleia {ap-o'-li-a}

1) destroying, utter destruction
1a) of vessels
2) a perishing, ruin, destruction
2a) of money
2b) the destruction which consists of eternal misery in
hell

apollumi {ap-ol'-loo-mee}

1) to destroy
1a) to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end
to ruin
1b) render useless
1c) to kill
1d) to declare that one must be put to death
1e) metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in
hell
1f) to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed
2) to destroy
2a) to lose

For reasons which I will now explain, I believe 'Son of
Destruction' may have been a better translation, although
'perdition' also fits nicely in some ways as well. For
example, in the Book of Revelation, we find the following
verse describing the angel which ascends out of the
Bottomless Pit:

"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the
bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon,
but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
(Revelation 9:11)

Notice the two words 'Abaddon' and 'Apollyon'. The latter is
the active participle of the same Greek root 'apollumi', and
means 'destroyer'. The first word, 'Abaddon', is from the
Hebrew word 'abaddown', and likewise means 'destruction or
ruin'. If you read this ninth chapter of Revelation, you
will see how appropriate these names are, as they describe
what some believe to be a great war in the Middle East in
which missile-equipped helicopters are used. I discuss this
same topic in 'The Seven Heads' series. As you will see
there, Abadan also happens to be the name of a large island
in the Shatt al-Arab waterway which flows into the Persian
Gulf. To further show that 'destruction' would have been a
better translation, consider the following verses as well
which all use the Greek root 'apoleia':

"But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a
snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition." (1 Timothy 6:9)

"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of
them that believe to the saving of the soul."
(Hebrews 10:39)

"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:7)

"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and
yet is." (Revelation 17:8)

"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth,
and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
(Revelation 17:11)

In every one of the above verses, the word 'perdition' can
easily be understood to mean 'lost and destroyed'. This will
be accomplished when they are cast into the lake of fire
burning with brimstone! As the Scriptures inform us, every
man will be rewarded according to his own works, and we will
reap what we have sown:

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)

"And I will kill her children with death; and all the
churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins
and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according
to your works." (Revelation 2:23)

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged every man according to their works."
(Revelation 20:12-13)

Thus, it is easy to see that the reason these people and
beasts are going to be destroyed, is because they are
destroyers themselves, having yielded themselves to THE
Destroyer, to Satan himself! Satan is the Angel of
Destruction and Death! Previously we read how Paul described
this 'Son of Perdition' as one 'whose coming is after the
working of Satan'. In short, the 'Son of Perdition' is the
'Son of Destruction'. He is the 'Son of The Destroyer', the
'Son of Satan'; just as Jesus Christ is the Son of God who
has brought life and hope to a desperate, dying and lost
world. If you find these thoughts interesting, consider the
fact that there is only one other place in the New Testament
where we find the phrase 'Son of Perdition'; and he too met
with destruction:

"Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when
I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it
to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan
entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest,
do quickly." (John 13:26-27)

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy
name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of
them is lost, but the Son of Perdition; that the scripture
might be fulfilled." (John 17:12)

Judas' whole purpose was to destroy Jesus Christ, because
that is Satan's whole purpose; to destroy the Work of God,
just as I have explained in a number of my articles such as
'Satan: King Of Tyrus, King Of Empires!'. Judas was also a
Son of Perdition, a Son of Satan, a Son of the Destroyer!
Once he had 'destroyed' Jesus, he then felt remorse and went
out and destroyed himself as well by committing suicide:

"And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:5)

"Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been
fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake
before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took
Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of
this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the
reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder
in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was
known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that
field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to
say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of
Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell
therein: and his bishoprick let another take."
(Acts 1:16-20)

In the Old Testament, we find some additional examples
of how Satan, the Angel of Death and Destruction, has worked
throughout the course of history to fulfill God's purposes.
The night of the Passover in Egypt, he was there:

"For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and
when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side
posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer
THE DESTROYER to come in unto your houses to smite you."
(Exodus 12:23)

When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon swept down and chastised
Israel in the sixth century B.C., he was acting as a vehicle
of The Destroyer, who in turn was acting as the Prosecutor
and Executioner of the Lord:

"The lion is come up from his thicket, and THE DESTROYER of
the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place
to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid
waste, without an inhabitant." (Jeremiah 4:7)

In the above two examples, the word 'destroyer' is derived
from the Hebrew word 'shachath' which means destroyer,
corrupter, waster, and spoiler. These words 'destroyer' and
'spoiler' are found throughout the Old Testament; and in
most cases they are referring to Satan the Destroyer who
worked through the invading pagan kings as I have shown
above. I discuss this topic in more detail in 'Satan: King
Of Tyrus, King Of Empires!', as well as in 'The Seven Heads'
series. Another Hebrew word which is used in some of the Old
Testament verses is 'shadad', which means spoiler, destroyer
and robber. This word is used as 'spoiler' quite heavily in
the Book of Jeremiah. Following are two more examples which
show how Satan the Destroyer has continued to perform his
destructive deeds right up to our current day:

"And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:
and he shall DESTROY wonderfully, and shall prosper, and
practise, and shall DESTROY the mighty and the holy people.
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper
in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and
by peace shall DESTROY many: he shall also stand up against
the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."
(Daniel 8:24-25)

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut
off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that
shall come shall DESTROY the city and the sanctuary; and the
end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the
war desolations are determined." (Daniel 9:26)

From the destruction of Jesus Christ in about 30 A.D., to
the destruction of Jerusalem in about 70 A.D. to the havoc
soon to be performed by the political/military Beast of the
Endtime, Satan has been extremely busy. His whole game plan
is to destroy, to destroy, to destroy! It is for these
reasons that I believe that 'Son of Destruction', or 'Son of
The Destroyer', or 'Son of Satan' would have been a slightly
better translation in the second chapter of Thessalonians.
In one Bible I have seen, 'Son of Perdition' is translated
as 'Son of Hell'; but that doesn't quite emphasize the
physical and spiritual destruction which will be met by
those who follow after the Jewish False Messiah. Returning
to Paul's warning to the Thessalonians, let's take another
look at some verses we discussed earlier:

"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of
the way." (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)

In the above verses, we find the words 'withholdeth',
'letteth' and 'let'. All three of these words are derived
from the same Greek word 'katecho', which means to hold
back, detain, retain, restrain or hinder. Please note that
Paul is saying that this process of hindering has been going
on since his time almost two thousand years ago. In other
words, whoever or whatever was holding back the Son of
Perdition back then, is still doing it today as well. This
also means that the Son of Perdition, or else the force
behind the Son of Perdition, was also in existence back
then. It should be obvious that we are talking about two
spiritual entities here and NOT just a physical person or
group of people. I have already shown that it is Satan who
is working behind the Son of Perdition. This leaves us with
one question: Who is hindering or preventing Satan from
revealing himself through this False Messiah? While I have
heard a variety of opinions over the years, there is only
one which I have personally found to be Scripturally
verifible.

From comparing Scripture with Scripture, I currently believe
that either Michael the Archangel, or perhaps some other
unidentified spiritual warrior is the strongest possible
candidate for performing this task; and I feel that I have
some rather convincing Scriptural evidence to support this
view. To begin with, when the unidentified Angelic Agent
came to give Daniel the prophecies of Daniel chapters eleven
and twelve, he was hindered from coming for twenty-one days
by the spiritual demon prince of Persia. Let's drop in on
their conversation:

"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first
day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to
chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I
am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of
Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael,
one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained
there with the kings of Persia." (Daniel 10:12-13)

Here we plainly see that it wasn't until Michael lent a hand
by restraining, or holding back the evil Persian demon, that
the Angelic Messenger was able to fulfill his mission of
speaking with Daniel. It is easy to picture these two mighty
spiritual warriors. Until Michael arrived, this demonic
prince was successfully preventing the Angel from delivering
his prophetic message to Daniel. However, then Michael
stands in the way of, or withstands, the foul Demon of
Darkness so that he can no longer hinder the angel who is
attempting to reach Daniel. The word 'withstood' is from the
Hebrew word 'amad' which has a variety of meaning including
to take one's stand, to endure, persist, be steadfast, or to
hold one's ground. Thus, first the demon prince of Persia
withstands the Angelic Messenger trying to get to Daniel,
and then Michael comes and withstands the demon while the
message is delivered by the other Angel.

In my view, the above spiritual battle sounds very similar
to the situation in Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians,
where an Angelic Being is holding back Satan so that he
can't empower the Son of Perdition until it is the proper
time for his revelation. If my interpretation is correct,
then were it not for the faithfulness of this Angelic
Warrior, the Son of Perdition, the Jewish Antichrist, may
have already come to power! The meanings of the Greek word
'katecho' and the Hebrew word 'amad' are just too similar to
dismiss as merely being a coindidence. At the end of Daniel
chapter ten, after a bit of Angelic Conversation with
Daniel, it is again confirmed that Michael is helping to
strengthen his fellow Angel by resisting the evil demon
prince:

"But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture
of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these
things, but Michael your prince." (Daniel 10:21)

In this case, the word 'holdeth' is derived from the Hebrew
word 'chazaq', which means to hold, strengthen, prevail
upon, be resolute, hold strongly with, and to be firm. Thus,
Michael is again lending his support to this other Angel by
firmly and resolutely holding back or hindering this demon
prince. Leaving this Old Testament example behind, let's
move up to the New Testament where we find the Archangel
Michael performing a task quite similar to what we find in
Thessalonians, and in the book of Daniel. When Satan tried
to steal the body of Moses, Jude tells us that it was again
Michael the Archangel who prevented him from performing his
devilish deed:

"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil
he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against
him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."
(Jude 1:9)

So far we have seen three clear cut examples where an
Angelic Being is resisting, hindering, or preventing a
demonic being from accomplishing something. In two of those
cases, it is definitely Michael the Archangel. In the third
case, we have someone who Paul simply refers to as a 'he'.
Some Bible scholars have suggested that this 'he' may be a
reference to the Holy Spirit which resides in the worldwide
Body of Believers. According to them, the Holy Spirit will
be removed from the Earth at the time of the Rapture before
the Great Tribulation begins, thus opening the way for the
revelation of the Antichrist. Personally, I do not accept
this view; the primary reason being that I have found too
many Scriptures which point to a Post-Tribulation Rapture
for the Saints. This is clearly dealt with in other articles
I have written such as 'The Great Tribulation And The
Rapture!'. If the Post-Tribulation Rapture position is
correct, then this means that the Antichrist would not be
revealed until at the end of the Last Seven Years. In my
view, this doesn't appear to make very much sense.

Another idea I have heard, which is almost identical to the
first, suggests that this 'he' doesn't necessarily represent
the Holy Ghost, but rather just the Endtime physical Church;
that is, we the Believers. Those who accept this view are
convinced that the Church is represented by the masculine
form in the Bible. I totally disagree with this view and
have dealt with it in such articles as 'The Allegory Of The
Bride Of Christ'. To those who support this second view, I
would like to ask you: In what way is the Church currently
preventing the Antichrist from appearing? By our spiritual
influence? I seriously doubt it. The current Endtime Church
of worldwide Believers is very weak, very scattered, and
very divided by many different doctrines and beliefs. I am
not referring to powerful organized religion like the Roman
Catholic Empire, but rather to those like myself who study
the Word on our own led by the Lord's Holy Spirit; and who
do what we can to witness to a lost world. In my eyes, this
is the True Church of God. I simply don't believe that we
are any match for the Antichrist.

Thus, given the Biblical precedents I have presented thus
far, I still believe that Michael the Archangel remains the
best candidate for being the mysterious 'hinderer'. In part
two of this article, I will be presenting some additional
arguments for your consideration. I will also be covering
such interesting topics as the scope of Satan's power, God's
work and Satan's plan, omnipresence of spiritual beings, the
Mystery and Fulfillment of God's Plan, Jesus' current
position and His future inheritance, the Kingdoms of Light
and Darkness, the War of the Spirit, Satan's exile from
Heaven, and the Heavenly Host on planet Earth. I think you
will find it quite interesting. I trust that this article
has been a blessing in your life. I'll see you in part two!

Go To Part Two . . .