End-Time Insights

Throughout the present age, the Church has been plagued with deceivers bent on deceiving the saints and causing their apostasy .  The term “ antichrist ” occurs in John’s first two epistles. In his first, he warns “ it is the last hour, and just as you heard that  antichrist  is coming, even now  many antichrists  have come .” The letter does not deny that an individual “ antichrist ” is coming, but its point is that many “ antichrists ” are active in the church already - [ Wolf Pack - Photo by  Thomas Bonometti  on Unsplash ] .

Only Daniel was enabled to reveal the troubling dream of the King, which unveiled the fate of kings and kingdoms  –  Daniel 2:1-49 .  The second and third chapters  present a single story told in two parts. In the first, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of an enormous image composed of several materials. In the second, he attempted to implement that image according to his concept of political power. Daniel’s interpretation of the dream demonstrated the sovereignty of God over all the kingdoms of this age - [ Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash ].

The arrogant acts of Nebuchadnezzar against the kingdom of Judah paralleled the incident at the Tower of Babel .  In its opening passage,  Daniel  calls Babylon the “ land of Shinar ,” an intentional link to the story of the Tower of Babel and the founding of the city of Babylon. That incident is echoed again in the third chapter of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar gathered all the nations to pay homage to the image that he had “ set up ” - [ Photo by Madhu Madhavan on Unsplash ].

The salutations from the throne to the churches highlight key themes of the book, especially the present reign of Jesus  –  Revelation 1:4-8 .  Next, the book presents greetings to the “ churches ” from the “ throne ,” from God, Jesus, and the “ Seven Spirits .” It stresses Christ’s present over the political powers of the earth, and his sovereignty is based on his Death and Resurrection. The recipients of the book   are identified, the “ seven churches ” in Asia - [ Photo by Andrew Dunstan on Unsplash ] .