Dan Popp
Little beasts
By Dan Popp
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed.... (2 Peter 2:12, NAS95)
Beastly behavior seems to be on the rise. By this I mean not just animal actions like clawing at the door of the Supreme Court, but an intentional rejection of reason in favor of feelings – which our ancestors would have called "animal passions."
The model for this is the man the Bible calls "The Beast." I wondered whether we could find similarities between the capital-B Beast and the lowercase-b beasts. Here are some names and descriptions of the subhuman person we know as the Antichrist:
Man of lawlessness, son of destruction
"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction...." (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Daniel prophesied: "He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law...." (Daniel 7:25b) This ultimate narcissist has contempt for all laws, human and divine. He is a "Progressive." Institutions and traditions are archaic hindrances to his new, utopian order. His will is the only thing that matters.
His name, "son of perdition (destruction)" reminds us of Judas Iscariot, an irredeemable man. (See John 17:12) There is a dual meaning here, it seems. It points to the nature of the Beast as a destroyer, and also to his end, destruction.
The Antichrist
"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22) In our day the opponents of God reduce Him to the status of a moral philosopher. Sometimes simultaneously they try to co-opt Him for His value as a religious icon to validate their coercion and perversion. But this will not always be the case.
The unmasked enemies of Christ will unveil a "new religion," as they will call it. But it's as old as Caesar-worship, Pharaoh-worship; indeed, as old as the Serpent's hiss, "You will be like God...."
The Beast
"Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names." (Revelation 13:1b) He will be a man of great political power and persuasion, and blasphemy will be the constant theme of his speeches. He will be obsessed with hatred of God, of Christians and of Jews. "And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him." (Revelation 13:6, 7)
His subhuman nature will manifest itself in hatred for all that is good.
––––––––––––––––
The Bible describes this person as ferocious; power-hungry; sin-loving; God-hating; imagining himself to be beyond accountability; a man whose only tools are violence and deception; without conscience; a fraud; delusional; murderous. Like a wild animal, he cannot be reasoned-with or talked down from his madness.
The little beasts are like him.
This isn't conscious, of course. They are neither his followers nor his forerunners, intentionally. They simply share his nature. "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) Lawlessness, the spirit of the Beast, has been at work "underground" in many smaller beasts, temporarily prevented from coming out into the open. "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way." (2 Thessalonians 2:7)
Today "he who restrains" is usually taught to be the Holy Spirit. In earlier times this was thought to refer to government, specifically the Roman government. At the end of Anno Domini 2018, when both Christianity and righteous government are in decline in the West, it would seem that either explanation would work.
© Dan Popp
November 14, 2018
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed.... (2 Peter 2:12, NAS95)
Beastly behavior seems to be on the rise. By this I mean not just animal actions like clawing at the door of the Supreme Court, but an intentional rejection of reason in favor of feelings – which our ancestors would have called "animal passions."
The model for this is the man the Bible calls "The Beast." I wondered whether we could find similarities between the capital-B Beast and the lowercase-b beasts. Here are some names and descriptions of the subhuman person we know as the Antichrist:
Man of lawlessness, son of destruction
"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction...." (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Daniel prophesied: "He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law...." (Daniel 7:25b) This ultimate narcissist has contempt for all laws, human and divine. He is a "Progressive." Institutions and traditions are archaic hindrances to his new, utopian order. His will is the only thing that matters.
His name, "son of perdition (destruction)" reminds us of Judas Iscariot, an irredeemable man. (See John 17:12) There is a dual meaning here, it seems. It points to the nature of the Beast as a destroyer, and also to his end, destruction.
The Antichrist
"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22) In our day the opponents of God reduce Him to the status of a moral philosopher. Sometimes simultaneously they try to co-opt Him for His value as a religious icon to validate their coercion and perversion. But this will not always be the case.
The unmasked enemies of Christ will unveil a "new religion," as they will call it. But it's as old as Caesar-worship, Pharaoh-worship; indeed, as old as the Serpent's hiss, "You will be like God...."
The Beast
"Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names." (Revelation 13:1b) He will be a man of great political power and persuasion, and blasphemy will be the constant theme of his speeches. He will be obsessed with hatred of God, of Christians and of Jews. "And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him." (Revelation 13:6, 7)
His subhuman nature will manifest itself in hatred for all that is good.
––––––––––––––––
The Bible describes this person as ferocious; power-hungry; sin-loving; God-hating; imagining himself to be beyond accountability; a man whose only tools are violence and deception; without conscience; a fraud; delusional; murderous. Like a wild animal, he cannot be reasoned-with or talked down from his madness.
The little beasts are like him.
This isn't conscious, of course. They are neither his followers nor his forerunners, intentionally. They simply share his nature. "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) Lawlessness, the spirit of the Beast, has been at work "underground" in many smaller beasts, temporarily prevented from coming out into the open. "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way." (2 Thessalonians 2:7)
Today "he who restrains" is usually taught to be the Holy Spirit. In earlier times this was thought to refer to government, specifically the Roman government. At the end of Anno Domini 2018, when both Christianity and righteous government are in decline in the West, it would seem that either explanation would work.
© Dan Popp
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