20260715

OWG5 HV - The Historical View Reasoning

Historicists Think differently? i.e. Rev stated 2000 yrs ago! Times NOT literal! Antichrist NOT Single Individual! Who is he currently?
Part 5
One World Government – The Historical View
OWG5 HV - The Historical View Reasoning
Original Commenced 20201122 -:- Published 20210829 -:- Revised 20250923
This Paper Published 20260715 -:- Revised 20260715
Caution! Possible spelling mistakes - Scriptures from Modern King James (MKJV) unless noted otherwise.

Overview
I published ‘The One World Government’ in Nov 2020 some 90 plus pages. Not conducive for a quick 10-minute read on the Internet. So I’ve divide it into a few manageable ‘Short Papers’, also revising some of my earlier work. Below I’ve given you the links to ALL the related ‘Short Papers’ on the “OWG”.. The One World Government Study. This basically gives you an index. The first four from the Futurist View (FV). The rest are from the Historical View (HV)!

 
List of ‘Short Papers on the OWG’: -
 
Revision
In the talks entitled; OWG1 FV - The Origin Of The One World Government, I used the Futurist View to look at where the idea of a future One World Government came from, along with other important building blocks needed to formulate this study. In OWG2 FV - The Ten Toes, Horns Or Kings I explained the meanings of the Ten Toes, Horns Or Kings. In OWG3 FV - The Little Horn Dan 7 I examined the prophecies regarding the Little Horn. In OWG4 FV - The Time of the End I examined the prophecies regarding the Little Horn ie, the future antichrist and the final end of ‘The One World Government’. 
 
A little gem of wisdom for you before we start: [Ref CN by Joseph Benson on Daniel 7:25] “But, as Irenæus says in a like case, it is surer and safer to wait for the completion of the prophecy than to conjecture and divine about it. When the end shall come, then we shall know better whence to date the beginning.” — Bishop Newton”
 
Please Stay With Me!!
AIM
In this talk OWG5 HV - The Historical View Reasoning First and foremost we will be trying to find out WHY the Historical believes think the way they do! Then we will look for anything in the Historical interpretation, which indicates any possible formation of a ‘One World Government’.

I think you will agree that my first four ‘Short Papers’ argued the Futurist point of view quite well. So lets now do a complete ‘back-flip’ and try to fudge out what the Historical believers think. Trust me it is an interesting alternative view, and I promise to show you some amazing coincidental facts they site to interpret historical events from a biblical point of view.
 
Both the Historical and Futurist believers accept that Daniel describes the rise of nations through to the peak of the Roman Empire. It’s after that point in history they differ.  The Futurist believes that the ‘Ten Toes’ of Daniel 2 and most of Revelation is still future and is fulfilled during the SEVEN year Tribulation. But the Historical believer sees the ‘Ten Toes, Horns and Kings’ etc. of Daniel 2, Daniel 7 and Revelation 12, 13 and 17 all fit together like hand in glove. So in this latter half of the ‘Short Papers’ we can brief through the same passages and look at the Historical points of view.
 
 
In this talk we will examine, Why Do Historicists Thinks That Way? We will find that it is mainly because of the differences in how they interpret some key scriptures.
 
These have all been listed at the start of the Futurist View Section.
 
Let’s recap what Philip Schaff said about the Historical System. “The Apocalypse is a prophetic compend of church history and covers all Christian centuries to the final consummation. It speaks of things past, present, and future”. But the Futurist Systems accepts; “The events of the Apocalypse from Rev 4:1-11 to the close lie beyond the Second Advent, with a literal 3½ years etc”. So the Historicist thinks the Revelation has been unfolding over the past 2000 years and is still continuing to reveal God's plan. Therefore let’s try to explain each passage using commentaries mostly from those listed above. As I said you can obtain them via “e-Sword’’. Plus another I particularly like is A. J. Ferris who wrote from 1933 to 56, you could readily download his books and commentaries via ‘Trove’.
 
In a ‘nutshell’ what do most Historicists believe? Let’s put it down in a bullet point format, so that you can come back to this page every so often to get your bearings again so to speak. The Historicists believe the following: -
1.     There is No pre tribulation Rapture, when Christ returns next, it will be at the Second Advent.
2.     The Book Of Revelation Started 2000 Years Ago and is still revealing its prophetic events.
3.     Prophetic time periods aren’t literal. 1260 days equals 1260 literal years, Ref. The Day For A Year Conundrum.
4.     Daniel’s seventy weeks, all 490 years are now finished. Ref. When Did Jesus Become The Messiah.
5.     The Seven Times Punishment of Lev. 26, is also based on, ‘A Day -Year’, as above, so it is a literal 2520 years.
6.     The antichrist is not a single individual; he is an ongoing principality.
7.     The phrase ‘whole earth’ does not necessarily mean the whole planet.
8.     ‘He sits as God in the temple of God’, does not refer to a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.
 
Why Do Historicists Thinks That Way?
Well let’s work through these points above and see how the Historical believers come to their conclusions.
 
Christ’s next return will be at His Second Advent. There is no gathering up of the church prior to some presumed seven-year great tribulation. To prove this for yourself, download e-Sword to your PC, or download MySword to your mobile phone. For your PC you need to download the “KJV+”, (King James Version with Strong’s Numbers). For your phone, the same thing is simply called “KJV”. Then you can do a search for the words, ‘come or coming’, in relation to the Lords return, and check the Strong’s or Thayer’s definitions. You will most often find that each word has one of these respective meanings, from Thayer Definition: -
 
ComeG2064, ἔρχομαι, erchomai,
1) to come.. 1a) of persons.. 1a1) to come from one place to another, and used both of persons arriving
1a2) to appear, make one’s appearance, come before the public
2) metaphorically.. 2a) to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence.. 2b) be established, become known, to come (fall) into or unto
3) to go, to follow one
 
ComingG3952, παρουσία, parousia.
1) presence.. 2) the coming, arrival, advent
2a) the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God
 
Now you can do a search yourself for all the well-known passages. Like, 1Co 4:5 “..until the Lord comes G2064”. Or 1Co 11:26 “the Lord's death until He shall come G2064”. Or 1Thes 4:15 “..we who are alive and remain until the coming G3952 of the Lord..” and 2Th 2:1 “..with regard to the coming G3952 of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him”. And you will find they all refer to the second advent of Christ! Try this mix of KJV and MKJV of Rev 22:20 “He who testifies these things says, Surely I comeG2064 quickly.  Amen. Even so, come,G2064 Lord Jesus”. If there is a Rapture, why would the Lord use the word, comeG2064, as in a ‘physical appearance’? So the words that the writers used have a clear meaning, and that is that Christ will next return physically and appear for all to see. So there is NO pre-tribulation rapture! (But if you can find any passages that clearly tell you that there is a pre-tribulation rapture, then by all means send me an email, or send me a comment please.)
 
If you are still not convinced, try to think this through. Let us assume for a moment that there IS a pre-tribulation rapture? Then what is a good scripture we have about the Rapture? 1Thes 4:16 “ ..And the dead in Christ shall rise first. :17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord..” So that MUST BE the FIRST Resurrection of the dead and us all caught up with them to meet the Lord, correct? Then have a look at these two verses and try to work out why the Rapture doesn’t fit in. Rev 20:4 “ ..And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Now these people must have missed out on the First Resurrection and where ‘left behind’ and they went through the Great Tribulation. Some were beheaded and some had to resist the Mark of the beast, correct? Now read the very next verse. Rev 20:5 “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” How can they possibly be called the First Resurrection? The only answer to this is that there is No pre-tribulation Rapture! Therefore 1Thess 4: 16-17 can only be speaking of the Second Advent! So THERE IS NO PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE!
 
REALY? Let’s go to Rev. chapters 1 and 22. Rev 1:1 “A Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to declare to His servants things which must shortlyG1722 G5034 come to passG1096. And He signified it by sending His angel to His servant John…:3  Blessed is the one who reads and hears the Words of this prophecy, and the ones keeping the things written in it, for the time is near, (KJV at hand.G1451 )” Then Rev 22:6 “And he said to me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show to His servants the things which must shortly G1722 G5034 be done G1096.” Rev 22:10 “And he said to me, Do not seal the Words of the prophecy of this Book; for the time is at hand G1451”.
 
The key to understanding the Historicist view of Revelation, is the interpretation of the meaning of these words shown above.
Strong Definition:  G5034 ..a brief space (of time), …(with G1722 prefixed) in haste: - quickly, shortly, speedily.
Thayer Definition: G1096, 1) to become, to come into existence, begin to be, receive being, 2) to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen, 2a) of events, 3) to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage, 3a) of men appearing in public, …
Thayer Definition: at hand ‘G1451, 2) of time, 2a) of times imminent and soon to come pass’
 
So putting them together we have the phrase; “the things which must, (quickly, shortly, speedily), (come into existence, to arise, appear in history).” And what about the timing as to when this is to happen? It is ‘imminent and soon to come pass’. [Ref CN by John Wesley Rev 22:6] “Here begins the conclusion of the book, exactly agreeing with the introduction, (particularly Rev 22:6-7, Rev 22:10, with Rev 1:1, Rev 1:3,) The things which must be done shortly - Which will begin to be performed immediately”. Go to the commentaries listed above and do a search regarding those verses, or using this phrase, ‘shortly come to pass’, and you will get much the same as what John Wesley said. That’s how the Historicists interpret those passages. But the Futurists commentaries seem to say VERY LITTLE on any of these verses. Most Futurists interpret it this way; ‘when it happens it will happen in a short space of time!’ That’s not the same as saying; in a short space of time it’s going to start to happen. The Futurist thinks John is telling the reader of Revelation the following: - ‘It will happen in some 2000 years from John’s time, after the Rapture, in the last 7 years before Christ returns!’ It is almost like this analogy. ‘You go to a five-star restaurant, the waiter escorts you to your table, then presents you with the menu and says, “I will be back SHORTLY to take you order”. Does that mean the waiter will come back some 20 hours later, and you have 7 seconds to place you order!’ Of cause not, that would be a ridiculous interpretation of what the waiter said. So why interpret Revelation that way? I have also covered this subject in more detail in one of my talks entitled The-Book-Of-Revelation-Started-2000-Years-Ago.
 
Can I leave you with these two commentaries?
[Ref CN from Popular New Testament on Rev 1] “is at hand (comp. Rev 1:1). And it was at hand, though 1800 years have passed since the words were spoken. We shall see, as we proceed, that the book deals with principles which have been exhibiting themselves throughout the whole period of the Church’s history. Thus the things written in it were ‘at hand’ in the days of the Apostle; they have always been ‘at hand’ to cheer the saints of God in the midst of their pilgrimage and warfare; they are ‘at hand’ now; for the words have never ceased to be fulfilled, ‘Lo, I am with you alway;’ ‘In the world ye have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’”
 
[Ref CN by Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Rev] “The Futurist school is open to this great objection: it would leave the Church of Christ unprovided with prophetical guidance or support under her fiery trials for 1700 or 1800 years. Now God has said, “Surely He will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants the prophets” (Amo 3:7). The Jews had a succession of prophets who guided them with the light of prophecy: what their prophets were to them, that the apocalyptic Scriptures have been, and are, to us.”
 
The next thing the Historicists see differently is the prophetic periods of time. For example the old favourite time period that everyone knows, ‘Time, Times Half A Time’ is equal to 1260 prophetic days. But what is a prophetic day you might ask? Well consider these two passages. Num 14:34 “According to the number of the days in which you searched the land, forty days, each day for a year you shall bear your iniquities, forty years;…”. Then the other one is in Eze 4:4 “Also lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. :5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days. ..:6 “And when you have fulfilled them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; a day for a year; a day for a year, I have set for you”.
 
So God has quite clearly explained His ‘system of accounting’ to Moses and again to Ezekiel. Does He need to explain it to use every single time? Of cause not, His ‘system’ is ‘a-day-for-a-year’, and I have covered this topic in one of my previous talks entitled, ‘The Day For A Year Conundrum’. So the 1260 prophetic days is equal to 1260 literal years. There are numerous prophecies where God uses periods of time in which we need to apply His ‘system’. And if we don’t we can get some very weird short prophecies, some we’ll talk about later. He uses terms like, hours, days, weeks, months and seasons. The gist of it is, you reduce the prophecies to the total number of prophetic days, and then apply ‘a-day-for-a-year’. So the total number of days becomes the literal number of years of time to be fulfilled.  
 
That means you could replace the word ‘days’ with the word “years”, so the prophecies automatically then tells use the literal number of years to be fulfilled. Therefore some of the old favourites would read as follows: -
Dan 12:11 “..from ..the daily sacrifice ..taken away ..1290 days H3117 shall occur                                           Equals 1290 years
Dan 12:12 Blessed is he who waits and comes to 1335 days H3117                                                                    Equals 1335 years
Rev 11:3 ..My two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1260 days G2250                                                              Equals 1260 years
Rev 11:9  many ..will see (two witnesses) dead bodies three daysG2250 and a half                         Equals  3 ½ years
Rev 12:6 ..the woman fled into wilderness, where ..God ..nourish her 1260 days G2250                                   Equals 1260 years
Dan 8:14 Is a funny one? Of the 36 translations I have vie e-Sword, half of them use the phrase ‘evenings and mornings’, but others use ‘days'. But in the, ‘Apostolic Bible Polyglot with Strong’, and I got this interpretation, and I got the word number.
Dan 8:14 “ ..he said ..Unto evening and morning [3daysG2250 1two thousand 2three hundred]..”                  Equals 2300 years
 
Also if we check the meaning of the words, ‘days’ H3117. and ‘days’ G2250, we get the following meanings: -
·                     Strong H3117, יוֹם, yôm,  yome, [there’s a lengthy list but right at the end, one of them is], “(full) year”!
·                     Or go to, Brown-Driver-Briggs H3117, יום, yôm, 1) “day, time, year, …1d) time, period (general), …year”!
·                     Strong G2250, ἡμέρα, hēmera, hay-mer'-ah, [again a lengthy list of meanings but the last one is], “years”!
So in all those passages above in which the word, ‘days’ is used, you could legitimately substitute the word ‘years’?
 
If you do a search in the KJV Old Testament for the word, “weeks”, you will find 13 references. All with the same word number, “weeks H7620”, meaning a literal 7 days”? So with 52 weeks in one year, 70 weeks comes to 16 months and 10 days. Yet in the ‘Seventy Weeks H7620’ prophecy of Daniel 9, as everyone knows we must use the alternative meaning, which we can get from Brown-Driver-Briggs, “seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week”. Which is still using God’s system of, ‘a-day-for-a-year’ as explained by Matthew Henry below. So what’s the trick to understanding it all? It is simply this; you interpret the words according to the context. If you read the whole of Daniel chapter 9, in particular the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, which would take ‘years’, you would know it Can Not be taken as literal weeks! But again according to the context, if a prophecy is spoken regarding an individual person, then the period of time is generally literal, because it has to fit into their life span! As in 2 Samuel, where David had sinned by numbering Israel, and God gave him a choice of three punishments. 2Sa 24:13 “And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven yearsH8141 of famine come upon you and on your land? Or will you flee three months H2320 before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' H3117 plague in your land? And advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” 
 
The other difference with the Historicist view of ‘the seventy weeks’ is they see it as the whole prophecy is now completed. There is NO ‘Seventieth Week’ still awaiting fulfilment in the future! [Ref CN by John Wesley on Daniel 9:27] “He shall confirm - Christ confirmed the new covenant, By the testimony of angels, of John Baptist, of the wise men, of the saints then living, of Moses and Elias. By his preaching. By signs and wonders. By his holy life. By his resurrection and ascension. By his death and blood shedding. Shall cause the sacrifice to cease - All the Jewish rites, and Levitical worship. By his death he abrogated, and put an end to this laborious service, for ever”. The Futurist interprets that verse as; the antichrist will confirm the covenant for one week! Which is some, ‘week of years’, in a future 7-year period. So the Futurist thinks there has to be one week of the prophecy remaining, still off in the future. My I suggest you go to my talk entitled, ‘When Did Jesus Become The Messiah’! Trust me it will really put a ‘search light’ on the Seventy Weeks prophecy for you!
 
[Ref CN by Matthew Henry on Daniel 9:20-27] “We have, in Dan 9:24-27, one of the most remarkable prophecies of Christ, of his coming and his salvation. It shows that the Jews are guilty of most obstinate unbelief, in expecting another Messiah, so long after the time expressly fixed for his coming. The seventy weeks mean a day for a year, or 490 years. About the end of this period a sacrifice would be offered, making full atonement for sin, and bringing in everlasting righteousness for the complete justification of every believer. ..He must confirm the covenant with many. He shall introduce a new covenant between God and man, a covenant of grace, since it had become impossible for us to be saved by a covenant of innocence. This covenant he shall confirm by his doctrine and miracles, by his death and resurrection, by the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, which are the seals of the New Testament, assuring us that God is willing to accept us upon gospel-terms. …He confirmed it to the many, to the common people; the poor were evangelized, when the rulers and Pharisees believed not on him. Or, he confirmed it with many, with the Gentile world. The New Testament was not (like the Old) confined to the Jewish church, but was committed to all nations”.
 
Also in Dan 4:16 “Let his heart be changed from man's, and let the heart of an animal be given to him. And let sevenH7655 timesH5732 pass over him”. And we all know what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, he went ‘mad’ for 7 literal years and ate grass. But if the prophecy is in regards to a nation, then generally a longer period is meant, as in the “Seven timesH7651” punishment in Lev 26:18-28. It’s a different word. From Strong’s, H7651, ‘by implication a week; by extension an indefinite number’. So the seven times punishment means that Israel would be cast out of her land for a period seven times. So a “Time” = 360 prophetic days. Therefore 360 x 7 =2520 prophetic days = 2520 literal years. [Ref CN by Pulpit on Leviticus 26:1-46] “(2) The longer term of "seven times" thrice repeated (verses 21, 24, 28) is also notable. These are the "times of the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem is to be trodden down of them (Luk 21:24).” Let’s go to that passage to see what Jesus said. Luke 21:24 “And they shall fall by the sword's edge. And shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations until the times of the nations is fulfilled.”
 
So the seven times punishment is a set period of time! God made a promise to, “Abraham and his seed” to give his descendants the land forever! God cannot break His promise! Nor simply cast Israel out of the land forever! But He has punished the nation for a protracted period, and then He will restore them. And we have seen that over many years bible scholars have calculated from prophecies that the Jews should be starting to return to their ‘promised land’. How do they ‘fudge-up’ those calculations? By using this prophecy and ‘a-day-for-a-year’. Therefore in most long prophetic periods of time, the Historicist usually applies ‘a-day-for-a-year’. Please refer to my talk The Day For A Year Conundrum, it will also explain a lot regarding literal time used in prophecies.
 
This passage in Daniel 7 will give you something to think about! If you apply the Futurist view, one part of the prophecy makes no senses. But if you apply the Historicist view it does fit well in both verses. Daniel sees in verse 3, ‘..four great beasts came up from the sea,’ a Lion, bear, and a leopard, then a frightening beast ..and it has ten horns. Then the little horn rises up and we hear of him in verse 25. Dan 7:25 “And he shall ..wear out the saints ..And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time”. The famous 3½ years! The Futurist would say that this prophetic 3½ years is a literal 3½ years. But in the same chapter, if you go back to Dan 7:12 you will find this obscure often-neglected passage. Dan 7:12 “And the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away. Yet their lives were made longer for a season and time”. Like I said often-neglected, because few people know how to interpret it. Because for the Futurist, a season and time, is 90 days plus 360 days which equals 450 literal days, which works out to be only 15 literal months? Why on earth would God bother to tell Daniel that these three other empires would only continue to exist for a mere 15 months? That does not compute! But if you apply ‘a day for a year’ to this verse you get the following interpretation. 90 days plus 360 days, totalling 450 prophetic days, at ‘a day for a year’ this comes to 450 literal years!
 
[Ref CN by John Gill on Daniel 7:12] “these monarchies did not at once become extinct, as the fourth beast or monarchy will, but by degrees; and the kingdoms of which they consisted are still in being, though in another form of government, and in different hands”. [Ref CN by Cambridge Bible on Daniel 7:12] “the Gentile powers, represented by the beasts, were to survive for a while as nations, though deprived of empire”. Also refer to a booklet by A. J. Ferris: - From My Copy “FROM The Second Advent - How: When: Where? Daniel Chapter 11 -  By A.J.Ferris”, from page 59, second paragraph, “The fall of the Imperial Roman Empire also allowed the nations of the Near East to rise into power once again. As foretold in Dan 7-12, ‘their lives were prolonged for a season and a time’. Thus Dan 11-40 to 45, describe during the period of Papal dominion, the rise again of the two Gentile Empires corresponding to the Kings of the North and south of pre-Roman days”.
 
So what happened in these three regions of the old Babylon, Media-Persian and Grecian empires? They didn’t just cease to exist or become completely devoid of people after 15 months! The Greek region rose again under Constantine and it became the Eastern Roman Empire also called the Byzantine Empire. Then the Media-Persian region rose again and became the Saracen Empire. Later the Babylon region rose again and became the Turkish Empire. Neither of them gained world ‘dominion’ as the prophecy said. But they squabbled amongst each other for the next 450 plus years, as the prophecy said. Now logically you cannot apply ‘a day for a year’ to one part of the prophecy, then try to apply a literal interpretation to the other part in Dan 7:25 “And he shall ..wear out the saints ..until a time and times and one-half time”? What does this mean then? Verse 25 should then also be interpreted on the bases of, ‘a day for a year’. So the ‘Little Horn’ will have authority to ‘wear out the saints’ for 1260 literal years! That means the antichrist will not rise up for a mere 7-year ‘flash-in-the-pan’. Therefore he couldn’t possible be a single individual. And there are other scriptures I will show you later that prove the antichrist is not a single individual.
 
The other issue we need to clear up is that the Historicist believes the antichrist is already here! And if they think the antichrist exists for some 1260 plus years, then who or what is he? To answer this we need to go to some of the verses from Jesus, John and Paul. Jesus said in Mat 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect”. A false Christ is a pretender of Christ, an antichrist. Remember what I said earlier about the meaning of, ‘Anti-christ’. And Jesus said, ‘Christs’, (plural), so there’s going to be many of them, and if it were possible, they, (plural), would deceive even the elect. John’s letters says the same thing that there will be many antichrists. Read below.
 
Now lets look at John’s letters, which some say were written after 70 AD. Which puts a slight influence on the meaning of the phrase ‘The last time’. 1Jn 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time. And just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, from which we know that it is the last hour. :19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us”. The last time or hour is a reference to Isaiah 2:2 “And it shall be, in the last days…” But John goes on to say ‘many antichrists have risen’, and ‘They went out from us’. So there were in John’s day many antichrists, and from this we can see that the antichrist is NOT a NON Christian, because he has come from within the church. Therefore the antichrist will be like a Christian, ‘gone rouge’ so to speak. That puts a stop to the idea that the antichrist will be an infidel.
 
Then in 1Jn 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. :2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; :3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is theG3588 antichrist you heard is coming, and even now is already in the world”. From Thayer Definition: “G3588, ho/ hē/ to, the definite article, “the”. This passage is telling us that “the antichrist”, the same character Paul talks about in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, WAS ALREADY in the world at the time John is writing this letter. So why didn’t the antichrist prominently appear in history at the time of John? Well Paul tells us why in this following passage. But remember the antichrist is not a single individual, but a regime that was starting to set itself up in opposition to the preaching of the apostles. Paul speaks about that in some of his letters. Philippians 1: 16, Galatians 1: 6-9 and below in 2Thess 2: 7.
 
2Th 2:1 “Now we beseech.. :2  ..you should not be ..troubled ..as if the Day of Christ is at hand. :3  ..that Day shall not come unless ..first ..a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed.. 2Th 2:4  who ..exalts himself …in the temple of God, .. :5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?” So there was something Paul told them, (in privet), in a previous visit. 2Th 2:6 “And now you know what holds back, for him to be revealed in his own time”. But this is the key verse, 2Th 2:7 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only he is now holding back until it comes out of the midst. :8  And then the lawless one will be revealed…” So Paul is also telling us that the antichrist is there and active at the time of his writing! But for some reason the antichrist is held back from becoming a predominant character in world history.
 
From Paul’s letter we pick up so much more about the fact that the antichrist is already in existence in many characters. But there is some ‘entity’ holding back the antichrist. It is referred to in 2Th 2:7 as he and it! So it must be a person and a power! B.W. Johnson gives us a simple explanation on this. [Ref CN by B.W. Johnson on 2 Thes2: 6-10] “Only he who now letteth. He that hindereth must first be taken out of the way. There was no room for an arrogant spiritual power in Rome as long as imperial Rome continued to persecute the church. A persecuted church cannot be a haughty church. Two things were needful before the papal power could be developed; viz., the overthrow of paganism, and the removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome. When these things were done, it, (the antichrist power), was free to seize the old Roman sceptre”. In short, the removal of the Emperor, (the transfer of the seat of power from Rome to Constantinople), which was, the ‘he’; and the removal of the Empire or the pagan religion and it’s capital, Rome, which was the ‘it’. And this was accomplished in 476 AD. at the fall of the Western Roman Empire. So that by 538 AD the Pope came to power as the Head of ALL Christendom!
 
Let’s Do The Maths About The Antichrist!
·    So the antichrist is in existence at the time of John and Paul’s letters! Let’s say roughly around 70 to 90 AD.
·    Then from 2 Thes 2, the antichrist is withheld until the Empire and Emperor are removed! That was in 476 AD.
·    That’s about 400 years! That means the antichrist CAN NOT BE a single individual, existing from 70 to 476 AD
·    So the antichrist must come to power after 476 AD and continue 1260 years until some time after 1736?
·    Finally, ‘Who Is The Antichrist?’ Refer to the commentaries; he is the papal power, not the individual pope.
 
Ask Matthew Henry 1662 – 1714 and John Wesley 1703 –1791; two well-respected scholars.
[Ref CN by Matthew Henry on 2 Thes 2:3-12] “(2.) As God, he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. As God was in the temple of old, and worshipped there, and is in and with his church now, so the antichrist here mentioned is some usurper of God's authority in the Christian church, who claims divine honours; and to whom can this better apply than to the bishops of Rome, to whom the most blasphemous titles have been given, as Dominus Deus noster papa - Our Lord God the pope; Deus alter in terrâ - Another God on earth; Idem est dominium Dei et papae - The dominion of God and the pope is the same? 3. His rise is mentioned, 2Th 2:6, 2Th 2:7. Concerning this we are to observe two things: - (1.) There was something that hindered or withheld, or let, until it was taken away. This is supposed to be the power of the Roman empire, which the apostle did not think fit to mention more plainly at that time; and it is notorious that, while this power continued, it prevented the advances of the bishops of Rome to that height of tyranny to which soon afterwards they arrived”.
 
[Ref CN by John Wesley on 2 Thes 2:7] “He will surely be revealed; for the mystery - The deep, secret power of iniquity, just opposite to the power of godliness, already worketh. It began with the love of honour, and the desire of power; and is completed in the entire subversion of the gospel of Christ. This mystery of iniquity is not wholly confined to the Romish church, but extends itself to others also. It seems to consist of, Human inventions added to the written word. Mere outside performances put in the room of faith and love. Other mediators besides the man Christ Jesus. The two last branches, together with idolatry and bloodshed, are the direct consequences of the former; namely, the adding to the word of God. Already worketh - In the church. Only he that restraineth - That is, the potentate who successively has Rome in his power. The emperors, heathen or Christian; the kings, Goths or Lombards; the Carolingian or German emperors”.
 
Dan 7:23 ‘and shall devour the whole earth’! Can we just clear up this ‘whole earth’ issue. You could go to numerous commentaries and get an endless list of different arguments, and you would still be bamboozled. But the scriptures give us enough information to clear this up. Sometimes it is a prophecy about what God will do in “the whole earth”. In that case, yes it must be the whole planet, as in the flood etc. But in other passages, the context clearly tells you it means, “the then known world”! For example these passages are clearly not talking about the whole planet! Jer 50:23 ‘How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder’. Jer 51:41 ‘..how is the praise of the whole earth surprised!’ and Luk 2:1 ‘..a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed’. I very much doubt that Caesar Augustus was getting taxes from the American Indians, the Chines, the Japanese or the Zulu's? So the Roman beast will, “devour the whole earth”, means the ‘then known world’, the region of the world under Roman domination. Or as in earlier passages, the 'then know world’ at the time of the then reigning Empire.
 
Here is a list of some other verses that speak of, ‘the world’. And from the context you can see that they couldn’t be referring to the whole planet, also some could not be the case at the time it was written. Look them up at your own leisure.
·    Act 11:28 “the ..great famine over the world (which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar)”.
·    Act 19:27 “the great goddess Artemis will be counted for nothing, whom all Asia and the world worships”.
·    Rom 10:18 “Yes indeed, their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world”.
·    1Co 7:33 “But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how to please his wife”.
·    1Co 7:34 “But she who is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband”.
·    1Ti 3:16 “God was manifested in the flesh, justified ..seen ..preached .. believed on in the world.”.
·    1Jn 4:1 “because many false prophets have gone out into the world”.
·    1Jn 4:3 “And this is the antichrist you heard is coming, and even now is already in the world”.
 
2Th 2:4 “he sits as God in the temple of God,” This is a curly one for a futurist believer. They automatically think the temple in Jerusalem has to first be rebuilt, so that this scripture can eventually be fulfilled. Here is an example from Chuck Smith, and bear in mind he is a futurist believer! [Ref CN by Chuck Smith on 2 Thess 2:1-17] “But here is the anti-christ doing the same thing, exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God will sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. In other words, after three and a half years, after the temple has been rebuilt, he will return to Jerusalem, he will sit in the Holy of Holies of the rebuilt temple and declare, "I am God," and will demand to be worshiped as God.”
 
Now I have covered this in another talk entitled, “Rebuilding The Temple Of Jerusalem”. And I look at the question, ‘would God really want the temple rebuilt?’ And let’s think logically here. It is God speaking, through the Holy Spirit, to Paul in 2Th 2:4! The Holy Spirit is dictating to Paul, and God refers to it as, “the templeG3485 of God”! And the futurists all say either the antichrist or the Jews will rebuild the temple. But for what purpose? To restart blood sacrifice? REALLY! Would God want that, and He surly wouldn’t want anything to do with a temple built for that purpose! It would be like spitting in the face of Christ and His once-and-for-all sacrifice on the Cross! So why on earth would God refer to that building as His temple? The Futurist is basically saying that the antichrist will build the temple and then God happily calls it, His temple! That is obviously the wrong interpretation! I’ll give you a hint, who wrote Thessalonians? It was Paul, and how many times did he refer to the body of believers as “the TempleG3485”? There are five other passages where he speaks that way. So isn’t it reasonable that Paul is speaking the same way in 2 Thessalonians. He is saying, ‘the antichrist will stand up in the body of believers’, and declaring himself to be God! That is exactly what Matthew Henry said above. And the pope has well and truly fulfilled that, ‘job description’ of the antichrist!
 
You can also refer to commentaries by John Gill, Albert Barnes, Joseph Benson and Adam Clarke, they all support Matthew Henry and John Wesley’s appraisal.
 
Let’s recap, what are the key points that the Historicists believe that are different to the Futurist?
1.     The Revelation has been an ongoing continuous prophecy of world and church events for the past 2000 years.
2.     Prophetic times are not literal, but are estimated on the basis of, ‘A Day For A Year’ , as in Num 14:34 and Eze 4:6.
3.     The Seventy Weeks prophecy is all finished, all 490 years. There is NO ‘Seventieth Week’ still to come!
4.     The Seven Times Punishment is a literal 2520 years.
5.     The Antichrist has already been in the world as of the time of John and Paul’s writings.
6.     The Antichrist was restrained from coming into public view until after the Empire was removed! Post 476 AD.
7.     The Antichrist is NOT the individual pope, but the papal power, the blasphemous seat of Peter!
8.     The phrase ‘the whole earth’ can also mean the ‘then known world’, i.e. ‘The Roman world’.
9.     In the passage, ‘He sits in the temple if God’, the temple is interpreted as the body of believers, the body of Christ.
 
Wow! We’re in new territory and a new way of thinking! Now we have ‘a handle’ on how the Historicist thinks! So let’s go back through those key prophecies of Daniel and Revelation to see how the Historicist interprets those passages.
 
Hope you found that interesting and that I have explained everything well enough. If you have any comments by all means let me know your thoughts in the comments!

 
GBY (God Bless Ya) Yours Adrian DEACON
 
 
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