In order to understand the entities involved in the return of Christ, we should first look at a couple of verses which will give context to who the characters are and how they interact during this time. Let’s start with Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Next, let’s consider Hebrews 5:13-14, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Think about these verses and remember what happened in the Garden of Eden. Up until Satan lied to Eve, she and Adam had only known good. Once she innocently fell for the con (because she had no concept of a lie whatsoever), the couple was plunged into knowing evil. Satan wanted to keep them and their descendants away from God, so he began manipulating them into confusion by disguising himself as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14). He and his forces have filled our world with deception so strong that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to discern good and evil without help. Christ opened the door to that help when, on the cross, he obliterated the wall between God and the human race. He gave us the access to God that we need in order to discern good and evil. 

     At that point, we might think the job was done, but it wasn’t. God did His part by sending Christ, Christ did his part by dying, and God again did His part by raising Christ from the dead. But, there was still action needed and that action had to be taken by the human race. We had and have to choose life and blessings and reject death and cursings (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). Satan had a back-up plan to keep us from doing so–even though the separating wall was demolished, he still had the power of deception. If he could keep humans from discerning good and evil, then he could keep them in throes of woes. So, he has been building camouflages all over our world to hide himself, his forces, and his intent from the human race. He also has been raining deceptions on us to convince us that God is a double-minded control freak who uses destruction to teach lessons that we won’t understand until we die and go to heaven.

     Now, let’s use this context to start understanding some of the “cast” involved in the return of Christ. Beginning in Revelation 4, the Apostle John describes the scene where Christ takes a book from God and opens it. The first event that happened was the release of a white horse and its rider. Listen to the description in Revelation 6:2, “I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” Our first reaction might be “Uh-oh” at the words conquering and to conquer, but let’s take a closer look. Did you know that white is the color associated with righteousness, the freedom from sin or guilt? Isaiah 1:18 is a verse many of us know, ” ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow…’.” Think about this–if white is truly representative of righteousness, then the first “force” that is released is that of freedom from sin. And, that freedom from sin is what makes us conquerors. Even better, let’s look again at Hebrews 5:13-14 which infers that the word of righteousness is for those who have trained themselves to discern good and evil. This white horse with its rider that is first to be sent forth is the force that will enable the human race to distinguish between good and evil.

     Next, let’s look at the anti-Christ. I know many people have been taught that the anti-Christ will be a man who will rule the world with an iron fist. Let me share a different way of looking at this being that is against everything that Christ is and represents. II Thessalonians 2:3-4 says:

   Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (or, falling away from the faith) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

In Isaiah 14:12-17, the prophet talks about the star of the morning (NKJV uses the name Lucifer) and calls him the son of the dawn. Isaiah then describes how Lucifer decided he wanted to be like the Most High and made his move. (We can infer that Lucifer became the son of destruction because he let go of God.) Isaiah then passed along God’s promise that Lucifer would end up in the lowest of all positions and that those who would see him at that time would ask the question, “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?” (verse 17). The use of the term “man” in this passage makes me think that the anti-Christ is Satan himself–he wants to be like God and I’m sure he’s not going to share that position with any measly human being.

     Now, let’s go back to II Thessalonians 2 and look at verses 6-8:

   And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 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. Then the lawless one will be revealed who the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.

These verses are not exactly clear-cut with all the talk of restraining and revealing. So, let’s think about an analogy. Take any dictator from history and think about how that one person acquired enough power to rule over people single-handedly. The first and most important “thing” any dictator has to have is a protective force around him–usually an army who is loyal to him and him alone. That army would also keep him hidden from the ill-wishes of any of his “subjects.” Well, that’s exactly what Satan has, a protective army. His forces are so good at keeping him hidden that human beings, in their own strength, cannot begin to penetrate his protection. However, since the time that Christ died on the cross and was resurrected and since the time that the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell the sons of God, the potential to break through Satan’s defenses has been in the world. As Christ prepares to return to earth and as the power of righteousness is sent forth, that potential will turn into kinetic energy and believers will start removing Satan’s protective forces by binding them up and taking them prisoners of war. As we stand strong in our prayer closets and follow our Commander’s orders, we will take the “restrainers” out of the way and Satan will be revealed. Then the words prophesied in Isaiah 14 will be the ones we speak, “Is this the man…” 

     As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.