Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Friday September 4
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1 John 2:18-Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 2:22-Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3-and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
2 John 7-For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
There is much speculation and rumor in the religious world regarding the subject of antichrist. What does the Bible teach us about this matter?
Let’s study.
The word “antichrist” is used only by the Apostle John. From these passages in 1 and 2 John, we learn several important facts about antichrist.
First, antichrist is a word that literally can be translated as one who is “opposed to” Christ, and/or one who attempts to be “in place of” Christ.
IN this verse, we meet the conception of antichrist. Antichrist is a word which occurs in the New Testament only in John’s letters (1 John 2: 22, 4: 3; 2 John 7); but it is the expression of an idea which is as old as religion itself. From its derivation, antichrist can have two meanings. Anti is a Greek preposition which can mean either against or in place of. Stratēgos is the Greek word for a commander, and antistratēgos can mean either the hostile commander or the deputy commander. Antichrist can mean either the opponent of Christ or the one who seeks to put himself in the place of Christ. In this case, the meaning will come to the same thing–but with this difference. If we take the meaning to be the one who is opposed to Christ, the opposition is plain. If we take the meaning to be the one who seeks to put himself in the place of Christ, antichrist can be one who subtly tries to take the place of Christ from within the Church and the Christian community. The one will be an open opposition, the other a subtle infiltration. We need not choose between these meanings, for antichrist can act in either way. The simplest way to think of it is that Christ is the incarnation of God and goodness, and antichrist is the incarnation of the devil and evil. (William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude (The New Daily Study Bible), 104 (Kindle Edition): Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press)
Second, John declares that the Christians “had heard” that Antichrist is coming into the world. Throughout John’s Epistles, this phrase meant that the Christians “had heard” these things from Divine revelation. In other words, they had been told these things by God’s Word. This included what the Apostles themselves taught, but also included the Old Testament Scriptures background (1 John 1:1, 3, 5; 2:7, 18, 24; 3:11; 4:3).
While no verses are actually quoted, there are verses in 1 John that would be far less clear without a knowledge of the Old Testament. “What we have heard” (1:1) might include the Old Testament Messianic prophecies. “To forgive us our sins” (1:9) may reflect certain Psalms. “His word is not in us” could include the Old Testament (1:10). Cain slew his brother (3:12) certainly is an allusion to something recorded in Genesis 4:8. Jesus was with the Father (1:2,3) is an Old Testament teaching. The evil one (2:13) is one who has sinned from the beginning (3:8) reminds us of the devil’s activities recorded in Genesis 3. Antichrist is coming (2:18,4:3) is something predicted in Daniel 7. An anointing from the Holy One (2:20) may reflect certain prophecies from Joel (e.g., 2:28-32). The Christ (2:22) is a well-known Old Testament title for “the Coming One” (cp. John 1:41). That Jesus appeared in history (3:5) to destroy the works of the devil (3:8) recalls Genesis 3:15. God has commanded us to believe in Jesus (3:23). False prophets prompted by lying spirits (4:1ff) reminds us of certain false prophets in pre-Christian times. God is greater than the devil who is in the world (4:4). That God sent His Son to be a propitiation for sins (4:10) recalls the Suffering Servant poems of Isaiah. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (5:19). Idolatry is to be avoided (5:21). These are all ideas taught in the Old Testament. (Gareth E. Reese, New Testament Epistles: James & 1, 2, 3 John- A Critical And Exegetical Commentary, 10632-10641 (Kindle Edition): Moberly, Missouri: Scripture Exposition Books, LLC)
Several passages from the Old Testament likely form a basis for John’s warnings about antichrist (especially Daniel 11:34-12:13).
Third, John is very clear that the Christians had been told by Divine revelation that “the” antichrist (singular) is coming (in the future). The definite article appears in 1 John 2:18 and 4:3. Indeed, 1 John 4:3 declares that the “spirit” of “the” antichrist was already in the world when he wrote, while the emergence of “the” antichrist has not yet occurred.
Reese’s notes here are informative.
Some contemporary commentators (Dodd, p.49-50, and Bultmann, p.36) have proposed that John’s language “many antichrists have arisen” indicates he no longer looks for the appearance of a future antichrist coinciding with the final states of history. They have John here deliberately demythologizing the “antichrist myth” (as they call it) that some 1st century folk superstitiously held. They interpret him to say that any one who in any way denies Jesus is antichrist. But John does not say that the antichrists who are present in the churches at the time he writes 1 John completely fulfill the prophecy of the coming of THE antichrist. Alford (op. cit., p.448) long ago pointed us in the proper direction. “‘Christ’ (ho christos) and ‘antichrist’ (ho antichristos) stand over against one another, an analogy that requires that if one be personal, the other should be also. ‘Antichrist’ to come is not just an aggregate of all the antichrists who have bothered the church and world.” Alford also reminds us that John says more about “antichrist” than what we have here in 2:18. He also wrote 4:3, and there “we are not told that all there is to Antichrist is ‘the spirit of antichristou.’ Instead the personal reference is still kept as John writes tou antichristou. (Gareth E. Reese, New Testament Epistles: James & 1, 2, 3 John- A Critical And Exegetical Commentary, 14669-14779 (Kindle Edition): Moberly, Missouri: Scripture Exposition Books, LLC)
Fourth, the “many” antichrists that were in the world when John wrote (and are still in the world) are here identified as those who in some way oppose Christ while trying to place themselves in His place. This would include the Gnostic heretics who had tried so very hard to combine Christianity with paganism.
As such, there are many persons and organizations which exist in the world that may readily be identified as antichrist in nature. The Reformers graphically pointed out that the papacy of the Roman Catholic church fits into that category, and this is certainly true. So also are any religious organizations which usurp the Lord Jesus and His Word, and political leaders who do the same.
Fifth, the way forward in dealing with such is clear: we hold to Christ and lovingly and confidently preach His Word to the lost (Mark 16:15-16; Revelation 2:10). God’s desire is that all be saved (2 Peter 3:9), and we should make that our aim as well (Ephesians 4:11-16; 2 Timothy 2:24-26). We do not live in fear of any antichrist, or even of THE antichrist. We know where we are going, why we are here, and we hold to the promise that we have from the true Christ!
1 John 2:25-And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
Father, give us wisdom as we stand for You and speak Your Word in this world. Amen.