The World Is Paving the Way for the Antichrist 2

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¹²Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” 

¹³And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 

¹⁴But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 

¹⁵The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 

¹⁶But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 

¹⁷Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:12–17 ESV)

The world is full of angry people. Some individuals get angry easily with their family members. Many subordinates are scared of their angry bosses’ sudden outburst of rage. Certain politicians are simply well known for their angry demeanour and rants. Instead of making productive policies and creating a safer environment for their constituents, some ill-tempered political leaders spend most of their time lashing out their anger at their opponents, thus provoking their supporters into angry remarks and behaviour. 

Satan or the Devil, is full of anger. Since he is the arch-enemy of God and God’s people, he is doing his best to interrupt God’s plan and destroy God’s people.  In the past Satan has already poured out his anger on God’s chosen people and he will continue to do so in the future. In the last book of the New Testament, the woman with twelve stars (Revelation 12:1–2), which represents the nation Israel (Genesis 37:9–10), and the child is Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:4–5). According to the Bible, Jesus was a son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), a member of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Micah5:2; Revelation 5:5), and a descendant of David (Matthew 1:1; cf. 2 Samuel 7:12–16). In terms of ethnicity, Jesus was born Jewish.  In the past, Satan relentlessly tried to prevent the woman, that is, Israel, to give birth to Jesus. When the Devil is thrown down to the earth, because he knows his time is short, he becomes very angry (Revelation 12:12). This will happen in the times of the Great Tribulation, the Devil will mercilessly pursue and persecute the Jewish race again (Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 12:6).

Antisemitism has persisted in many forms for over two thousand years, and it is on the rise worldwide now. Right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Satan will use his accomplices to destroy Jewish people, God’s chosen people. There are two obvious reasons why the Devil hates the Jews so much. First, the Jews are the custodians of God’s written Word. Second, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, is of Jewish lineage.

Anger can be a very toxic emotion, for it can bring devastating consequences. The world needs peace badly. Humanity needs to love and to be loved; what we don’t need are more angry words and works. Anger is on the rise around the world, and it exists in all sort of forms. If we don’t deal with anger properly, it will lead to severe consequences. Disgraceful politicians use anger as a tool to turn people with opposing views into enemies, which can lead their staunch supporters to social isolation and a refusal to engage with different perspectives. In the spiritual realm, Satan instigates people to become angry with God, so that  they will turn away from God and miss out His salvation entirely. Definitely, the emotional state of the world is paving the way for the coming of the Antichrist. 

According to the Bible, there are two types of anger: righteous and unrighteous. It is not hard to comprehend that most of us, including me, often lash out unrighteous anger as a habit. On the contrary, take the example of Psalm 7:11, because God is a just judge, He has the right to be angry with the wicked individuals. It is very true God has anger as well. Yes, He is angry with human wickedness; however, He has provided sinners the way to repent (Romans 1:18; Romans 3:21–26).

The Creator and Ruler of the universe is love. God would rather let us experience His love than to face His anger. How do we know this for sure? In a nutshell, the clearest evidence of God’s love is on the cross of Jesus Christ. Drawing from his personal experience of radical transformation, the apostle Paul speaks of God’s love in an insightful way. He says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:6–9 ESV)

In this angry world, let’s do something positive. The first thing is to control our temper. Like the apostle Paul said, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV) The second thing is to respond to God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ.