Revelation: The Antichrist; the Rapture and Other Bizarre Stories

2 John 7, Daniel 7:25-27, Mathew 24:23-26, Psalm 96

This fall we have been looking at the book of Revelation and today we wrap up that sermon series as we address some of the issues, questions and misconceptions people have of this last book of the Bible. Over the course of the last several months we have learned the book of Revelation was actually a letter written by the Apostle John primarily to the churches of modern day Turkey and most biblical scholars believe the letter ended up with the churches in Rome. While all the churches were suffering persecution, the Roman churches were being especially abused by the Roman government and by the Jews. The main purpose of the letter was to give these persecuted churches encouragement and the hope that ultimately the suffering would result in a life everlasting with God.
We cannot fathom what it was like to be a Christian in this first century. The Apostle John is being held on the island of Patmos as a prisoner which was a very difficult life - but gave him the opportunity to write. Jesus gives him a vision of what heaven is like and much of this letter is John trying to describe for us what this place is going to be like - this the streets of gold and the buildings like gems. That is not really what they are but the only human words John could think of that were even close to the splendor that awaits us in eternity.
We learned about what this letter teaches us about Jesus’ vision for his church; we learned about how this letter teaches us about worship; we looked at the good things and the bad things going on in the 7 churches, but when you look at Revelation as a whole, there is a lot more to this book - much of which is really strange and not something we understand and so we get curious and confused and often times jump to conclusions which we are not meant to reach! So today we are going to talk about some of the misinterpreted parts of this letter John has written to the churches in the 1st century.
Let’s talk about some of the bizarre images we encounter when we read through the book. First of all, these images are not meant to be taken literally. There will not be a time when a dragon or a 4 headed beast or a red lizard or a scorpion with a head on its tail will appear on the earth. Using images like this is a technique found in many parts of the Bible to talk mainly about world powers that existed during the time of the writing. Sometimes they are used just to remind us of the evil that is pervasive in our world. John is using examples of strange images that most of the people during his time period would have understood from popular folklore.
I think sometimes we forget the people the scriptures were written to lived in a specific time period and a specific place and there was a culture around them that we have no knowledge of. Think about even in our lifetime when we remember old radio shows or old TV shows and the children around us have no idea what we are talking about. One of my grandchildren came into the room and asked me what I was watching on TV and I said “Barnaby Jones” and they had no clue that was even a TV show. We have no clue of the many folk stories that were circulating during the time of John, but the people John wrote to did and the images from these stories were the basis of what John is trying to explain to them. - which boiled down to the evil governmental powers that were making life almost impossible for anyone who was part of the church of Jesus Christ.
But what we can read in Revelation, is that every one of these evil powers; every one of these horrific beasts is defeated in the end. None of them survive. Do they cause destruction and terror in the lives of the people. Yes they do. But think about the destruction and terror that swirled around the people of God in the churches during this time period. John is saying to them, regardless of this evil; regardless of the destruction; regardless of what you are going through, God will prevail and in the end. Here these words from Revelation 21:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” 
You see, the point of the story is not to dwell on these crazy pictures, but to dwell on the fact that in the end, Jesus is going to prevail and God will make all things right. That is the message for us as well. How many times have you been in situations in your life where if felt like dragons and beasts were tormenting you? And it is then you lean on the promises of God who says to us in Revelation 21:6 - He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
So what happens in our zeal to try and explain all this strange stuff in John’s letter, we miss what the letter is trying to show us - that God will be with us and no matter what is going on, we will be able to spend eternity with a God where there is no more sadness or tears or suffering.
We also read in the book of Revelation about “The Antichrist”. We associate the Antichrist with Revelation, but actually the antichrist is mentioned throughout scripture beginning in the Old Testament - especially ini the book of Daniel. The word ‘antichrist’ just means - against Christ. Over the centuries this ‘antichrist’ has been interpreted a variety of ways - from Babylon in the books of Daniel and Ezekiel, to Rome, to Nero, to the Pope, to Hitler, to just the idea of someone or a group of someones who oppose the church. Some people think it is a political person - I remember in the 80s when folks were certain Ronald Reagan was the antichrist! Many people think antichrist refers to false teachers who invade the church and certainly that has been going on since the church first existed after the ascension of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul in the first century AD talks about the antichrist being ‘here right now’ talking about the Judiazers who were trying to distort Paul’s teachings about grace.
So what does the antichrist do? He deceives and he persecutes. He’s here right now. His spirit sounds bizarre, but his influence extends right now and is all around us. The idea of an antichrist began in the first century and extends right now through a group of false teachers who are infiltrating the church trying to water down or change or make the gospel something it is not.
Basically what it boils down to - specifically when John wrote the letter of Revelation, much of the antichrist language did refer to Rome and to the Jewish priests who had a massive campaign to destroy the church but over time the term has simply come to mean anyone - political or church who is opposed to Christianity whether it be false teachers within the church or outside forces who just want to wipe the churches out as we see in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia.
One more of the often promoted claims of what Revelation is about - is the idea of ‘end times’ and ‘rapture’ and ‘tribulation’ and that concept of what the end of the world will be like. Actually, this teaching of end times which included the rapture did not come to be part of the church until 1830 when J.N. Darby, an Irish lawyer, began to teach this idea of Christians being called up into heaven before the tribulation where those Christians who were not truly committed will be left on earth and persecuted until this great battle between the Antichrist and Christ where the devil will eventually be defeated and sent to the lake of fire. It was not a popular idea until Cyrus Scofield published his bible in the late 1800s. Scofield’s bible was a Reference Bible which means it contains explanations of many of the passages in scripture and this idea of Armageddon and rapture and such were promoted in this bible and from here slowly became a popular teaching among some denominations.
The whole concept of rapture comes from one verse which is not even in the book of Revelation but in Thessalonians verse 17 in the New King James Version: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” But if you look at the context of this verse, it comes from a discussion Paul is having about the church in Thessalonica where the highly persecuted church was concerned about the people who had died. There had been a false teaching circulating around that when Jesus came back at the second coming, he would take those who were alive and those who were already dead would come later and have an inferior standing in heaven. In this verse in Thessalonians Paul is simply assuring the people in the congregation of the power of God and how we will all, the living and the dead, be reunited in Christ.
Here we have another of these instances where an entire theology has been based on one verse snipped out of context and turned into something it isn’t - which just reminds us how critical it is to always ready and study the Bible in context rather than a verse here and a verse there. While the rapture theology is wildly popular, it is not something that is supported through our reading of Revelation or any other book of the Bible.
I hope our study of Revelation throughout this fall has helped you in your understanding of what this letter the Apostle John is all about. It is simply a reminder we are the people of God, and throughout all the adversity we will encounter as individuals and as the church, God will prevail and we will live forever in paradise!

Amen.