Nimrod
In the Bible in the Book of Genesis we are told that Nimrod “grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth and that he was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” (Genesis 10:11) He was the original founder of the cities of Assyria and Babylon. In the Bible the Kings of Assyria and Babylon are shadows or types of the Antichrist to come. (Micah 5:5-6) (Isaiah 14:9-17) In the original Hebrew language of the Bible it says about Nimrod; “that he was a mighty hunter in the face of God.” In other words he was a rebel who defied God.
Josephus (37AD-100AD)
According to Jewish history he was also the instigator of the Tower of Babel also described in the Book of Genesis. (Genesis 11:1-9) The Jewish historian Josephus (37AD-100AD) writes about how Nimrod raised up the people to rebel against God because of what had happened in the time of the flood. Josephus writes; “Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grand-son of Ham, the son of Noah: a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means that they were happy; but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny; seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his own power. He also said, “He would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again: for that he would build a Tower too high for the waters to be able to reach; and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their fore-fathers.” (Flavius Josephus of the Antiquities of the Jews — Book I Chapter 4:2.)
The spirit of antichrist
This description in fact teaches us about the spirit of Antichrist. (1 John 4:3) Now the word Antichrist has two meanings in the Greek text of the Bible. Firstly it means “against Christ” (the Messiah) and then “in place of Christ” (The Messiah)” It is the same rebellious spirit that possessed Nimrod, a major type of the Antichrist in the Bible. This spirit not only hates Christ (the Messiah) but wants to replace Him with a false Messiah. Within Christendom the spirit of antichrist has to first turn people away from the true Christ and turn them to a false Christ, one who is not the Biblical one but one they have made to fit into their own way of thinking. Many within apostate Christendom have the right Christ historically but have the wrong one Biblically. This of course is a subject in itself. The Apostle John tells us that Antichrist will come but that also many antichrists have already come. (1 John 2:18) Whenever we see a man or a leader or someone at the seat of power wanting to be worshipped or deified in some way we see revealed the spirit of Antichrist. According to the Word of God the spirit of Antichrist is not only at work in the world but also within wider Christendom (Institutional denominational Christianity). The apostasy within wider Christendom will pave the way for the coming of the man of sin. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
Many Antichrists
History reveals many Antichrist’s before and during the time of the Apostle John. All of the Kings of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and the Emperors of Rome were antichrists in that they sought to be worshipped and deified. Emperor Constantine was the first Roman Emperor who supposedly became a Christian and of course he was not worshipped as a god like the previous Roman Empires. In fact it was at Pergamum in Turkey where Emperor Worship really started in earnest during the time of the Emperor Augustus. He had himself deified and introduced Emperor Worship within the whole domain of the Roman Empire.
Satan’s throne and city
In the Book of Revelation the Apostle John writes about the City of Pergamum and says it was the city “where Satan lives and has his throne.” (Revelation 2:13) Augustus came to power just before the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. The Antichrist will come to power just before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Augustus sought to number people’s heads when he took a census of the people within the Roman Empire. (Luke 2:1-4) The Beast Empire of system of the Antichrist will once again seek to number people’s heads within his kingdom to have financial and economical control over the people. This will become mandatory for everyone within the boundaries of his kingdom. (Revelation 13:16-18)
Man united against God
In Revelation Chapter thirteen verse eighteen we see the number 666 and many have applied this to a specific man because of the English translations of the Bible but in the original Greek text it says “it is the number of man” (plural) not singular. It signifies man corporately gathered together in defiance of God. When you consider the Tower of Babel the people under Nimrod were of one mind and heart and language and wanted to build a global empire that reached even up to heaven itself. Of course God could not let this happen and destroyed their efforts to do this. God won’t let this happen again either. When the Lord Jesus comes back He will destroy this Beast Empire and its Antichrist and false prophet and all of the empires of this world that have ganged up on God. (Daniel 2:31-32-45)
‘Sealed’ by God or by Satan
At that time there will be only two people groups on earth, namely those who have been sealed by the spirit of Antichrist and those who have been sealed by the Spirit of God. (2 Corinthians 1: 21-22) (Ephesians 1:13-14) (Revelation 7:3-4; 9:4; 14:1) The seal represents a mark of ownership that governs the mind (forehead) Right now Those who have not been spiritually reborn from above (John 3:3) will worship the Antichrist and his image and receive the mark of his empire on their forehead or right hand, a mark they have already received in their heart and mind. The microchip may well be the forerunner of this ultimate ‘mark’ without which no-one will be able to buy or sell. (Revelation 13:17)
Allegiance to the creed
We also need to keep in mind that Islam is not only a religious entity but an ideology and a militaristic empire and an economic system and form of government. Many in Islam wear a headband and an arm band around their right arm with the Islamic creeds of faith written on them showing by these symbols their allegiance to the beast System of Islam and ultimately to the Caliph when he is revealed to the world. Ultimately when the Mahdi of Islam also known as the supreme Caliph arrives on the scene he will be worshipped and venerated by Muslims everywhere. Within his vast empire everyone will have to swear allegiance to him and to Sharia Law and to the creed of Islam if they want to survive economically. This economic control is already a major mandate within Islamic countries today especially where Sharia Law is enforced. A tax is levied on all non-Muslims but the intent in enforcing this tax is to give them time to embrace Islam and if they don’t ultimately they will be killed.
Control through Technology
It may be that within the Antichrist’s vast empire he will use technology and possibly have a microchip with the Islamic creed on it and the only means of buying and selling within his domain. Some time ago President Erdogan of Turkey spoke to a huge crowd of Muslims through a three dimensional hologram of himself. It was his image and it spoke and commanded the attention of those watching it. Who knows how things will go with the rapid development of robotics and cloning through genetic engineering? What about virtual reality? With microchip technology economic control over whole nations is a very real possibility today. Of course time will tell if this kind of technology will be the case within Islam. Right now in India the government is seeking to build an identification system of unprecedented scope, India is scanning the fingerprints, eyes and faces of its 1.3 billion residents and connecting the data to everything from welfare benefits to mobile phones. If it can work in India then it will work anywhere.
Martyrdom
We do know from the Bible that those who refuse to take the mark and worship the image of the Beast Empire will be beheaded and historically this has always been the standard form of execution in Islam. Many of our dear brothers and sisters are already suffering terribly at the hands of the Beast Empire of Islam because they are refusing to worship Allah the Arabic moon-god of war and his image being the black stone in the Kaaba at Mecca. According to a latest survey/report from Open Doors Ministry they have calculated that 11 Christians are killed every day globally. Most of the martyrdom is within Islamic countries although you have North Korea and China where persecution is a fact of everyday life for believers in the Lord Jesus. Those who have been spiritually reborn from above by the blessed Holy Spirit will not worship the image of the Antichrist or take his mark of ownership whatever it will finally turn out to be. It will cost them dearly in this life but be the means of an ample reward in the life to come. Many faithful believers will lose their lives in this world but gain them in the world to come. We see this in the cry of the martyrs for the Lord Jesus and in their affliction He comforts them. (Revelation 20:4) (Revelation 6:10)
The Beast Empire destroyed
Nimrod and his global empire surface in Genesis and the Antichrist and his global empire surface in the Book of revelation. What happened in the time of Nimrod and what he did teaches us about what will happen in the time of the Antichrist and what he will do. For three and a half years at the end of this present age the Beast empire of the Antichrist will persecute both faithful Jews and Christians until the Ancient of Days sets the thrones of judgement in place and sends back the Lord Jesus to rescue Israel, destroy the Antichrist and his empire, rapture and resurrect the saints and establish the Messianic Kingdom of God on earth. (Daniel 7:8-11, 17-18; 20-27; 12:7) (Revelation 13:5-7)
A Tale of Two Cities
Right through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation you have a tail of two cities. One is the City of God and the other the City of Satan. You cannot be living in both cities at the same time. The most important thing is to know that you are dwelling in the city of God. This is why a person must be born again, made all over again deep down on the inside by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him to love God and to love what He loves and to hate what He hates, to love the Lord Jesus, to love His Word, to love the blessed Holy Spirit, to love his brethren both Jews and Christians and to hunger and thirst after His righteousness received through faith in the Lord Jesus. With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible to him who believes. (John 3:3) (Luke 1:37) (Matthew 19:26)
The New Nature
It may be that you are reading this and you have never been spiritually reborn. You have never personally repented of all of your sins and by faith cast yourself upon the atoning blood and merits of Jesus to save you. You may be a faithful attender at Church and partake of the sacraments but you have never experienced this new birth? You cannot patch up the old fallen sinful nature but need a new spiritual nature, one that is the very nature of God Himself. (2 Peter 1:4) New wine is for new wineskins, not old wineskins patched up. The old wineskin of the fallen sinful nature cannot hold the new wine of the indestructible divine and eternal life of the Lord Jesus available through His Holy Spirit. Only the new wineskin of God’s divine nature can hold the wine of the Holy Spirit. We must have that new nature imparted to us through the new birth.
Not by works
Good works, moral conduct, religious observances, Church attendance, availing yourself of the sacraments of the Church cannot bring about this new spiritual rebirth from above without which no one shall perceive or enter into the Kingdom of God. As it is written; “But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. “(Titus 3:4-6) and again it is written; “For by grace (God’s unmerited favour) you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
A New Creation
You may know that the Lord Jesus has died for the sins of the world and even know intellectually that He has died for you personally but have you availed yourself of that salvation through personal repentance and faith? Are you a citizen of the kingdom of God and under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus or a citizen of this world’s antichrist system and under Satan’s control? Salvation then is God’s gift not something you can earn or merit. The Bible says that if any person is in the Messiah Jesus then they are a new creation, both in the heart and in the life and the old manner of sinful living has gone and the new life of righteousness joy and peace in the Holy Spirit has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) (Romans 14:17)
Have you been born again?
Have you really been born again and received the Holy Spirit? (Acts 2:37-39) This is life’s ultimate question that needs to be answered because it concerns eternity which has no beginning and no end but is forever! Heaven and hell are real places of existence in a different dimension situated out of time as we know it here on earth. We are destined for one or the other. The reason the Son of God was revealed was that He might destroy the devil’s work being all sin and rebellion and to deliver us out of this present evil age according to the will of God. (1 John 3:8) (Galatians 1:4)
First you must repent
Repentance must always come first. (Acts 3:20) In the Old Testament to repent meant to sign, to moan and to lament over ones wrongdoing and to grieve about it to the point where one would willingly with all of their heart leave off doing it and looking to God for mercy and pardon. In the New Testament repentance means to change one’s mind, to change from a Christ hating, Christ rejecting way of life to a Christ loving, Christ accepting way of life.
Seek the LORD
What does the prophet Isaiah say; “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7) As Jeremiah writes from the LORD; “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a) As it is also written; “As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
A citizen of which city?
Throughout the entire Bible we see the tale of the two cities revealed and we either belong to one or to the other. We are either living under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus or under the lordship of Satan. We cannot have it both ways. Now is the time to make sure we are citizens of the City of God because tomorrow may be too late! If you are not sure then will you come? If you once followed the lord with all of your heart but are now far away from the LORD and have lost the sense of his presence in your life but you want to come back to Him then flee from the Babylon of this world and run to Him whose blood avails for your sins. There is still hope for you while there is breath in your body. God Himself says “I will heal their backslidings, I will love them freely!” (Hosea 14:4) Don’t delay any longer. Forsake your sin calling on the name of the Lord Jesus and the blessed Holy Spirit to deliver you! Run to the Lord Jesus right now and not from him any longer! You see when God pardons, He feely pardons, and that in abundance! Will you come?
