Who is the antichrist?  What will he be like?  Well, that all depends on how you read the Book.  It could be that it turns out to be one of the larger non-events of history.  Kind of like Santa, the tooth fairy, and the Asthoreth bunny.  When it really comes down to it, if most of the prophecies of Revelation and Daniel have been fulfilled, then there really isn’t much left said.  And, that leaves the rest of the debate outside of the realm of scripture, and merely in speculation, which isn’t for theologians, but for arguments only.  Of course, this doesn’t meant there wont be evil men who submit themselves to the adversary, just has there have been throughout history, but are we expecting, Biblically, a great one-world ruler who will be a super-evil?  Not that I can find.

The Kingdom of God.  Is it now, or is it yet to come?  Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.  This wasn’t a future statement, but rather it was fulfilled then.  Compare this to a popular scripture from the book of Daniel.

 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

Daniel 7:18, emphasis added

Clearly, the Law and the Prophets were until John (the baptist), and since that time the Kingdom of God is being preached (Luke 16:16).

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A look at the End Times from a largely fulfilled perspective begins, primarily, with the book of Daniel.  Daniel sets the scene from the foundation of the enemies empire, Babylon, with Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream.  Daniel 2 sets the case for Rome being Babylon, and is the best case for a mostly-fulfilled End Time paradigm.  Plainly put, we see a kingdom/statue beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar, with that king as the head.  It ruled over the entire Earth and, although it changed identities (metal) three times, four in all, it was a continuous one-world government from the time of that king until the Kingdom of God broke it, probably circa 313AD, when it’s emperor was converted.  As we saw war and conflict from each subsequent kingdom, but the entire statue remained, so we see that it’s actual destruction was not a war in on the Earth, but a spiritual overthrow of the power of that kingdom in the spiritual realm, in which it was spiritually defeated, crushed, and overthrown.  When the spiritual power (beast) of Rome was destroyed, its physical and nationalist elements could then no longer be maintained, and, quite literally, the wind scattered the pieces, being the “Decline of Rome”.

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Daniel 9:24

Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

Daniel had learned from the book of Jeremiah that Israel was to have gone into captivity for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:1-11; Jeremiah 29:10).  Having understood the time in which he was, he prayed to the Lord, petitioning for the servitude to be done.  As Daniel prayed and confessed (Daniel 9:4), he asked for mercy.

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The Dream

Daniel 7:1-3

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

This is understood as the parallel to Daniel 2.  Daniel 2 was Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, this is Daniel’s.  While Nebuchadnezzar saw the kingdoms, Daniel apparently sees the spirits of the kingdoms.  The four winds church the great sea, and four distinct beasts came up out of it.

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In particular, Daniel 2:31-45.

The Dream

Daniel 2:31-35

You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

This was the substance of the dream of the king.  Some of the major points of what the king saw are:

• A large statue.  Enormous, Dazzling, Awesome
• Head of pure gold
• Chest and arms of silver
• Belly and thighs of bronze
• Legs of iron, feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay

The entire statue exists at the time of Nebuchadnezzar seeing it.  It has four parts, and they all comprise the same statue.

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The Kingdom of Heaven is the eternal reign and realm of God.  It is not God, yet is inseparable from Him and His attributes.  It is the perfect picture of government, as we understand such, in that it is perfectly just and righteous, perfectly merciful, humble, and powerful.  Indeed all true human government derives itself from it.

We must not confuse the Kingdom with the church.  The church is related to the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is related to the church, but we must not look at the outward expression of what we know as “church” and equate it with the Kingdom.

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