Chapter 25

§ 1.

And not only by what has been said,¹ but also by the things which shall be under Antichrist, it is shewn that the Devil being a rebel and a thief desires to be adored as God; and being a slave, wants himself to be proclaimed King. For he, taking to himself all the Might of the Devil, will come not as a just King, nor as one in God’s Obedience, sanctioned by law; but being impious and unjust and lawless, [he will come] as a rebel, and unrighteous, and a murderer, [he will come] as a thief, summing up the rebellion of the Devil in himself: and while he setteth aside idols, to persuade men that he himself is God, he will exalt himself the one Idol, containing in himself the various error of all other idols: that those who by many abominations adore the Devil, may by this one Idol become slaves to him: of whom the Apostle in the 2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians thus speaketh: For except there have come a departure first,² and the Man of Sin shall have been revealed, the Son of Perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped: so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. The Apostle you see plainly declareth his apostasy, and that he is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: i.e., above every idol (for it is these who are called of men gods, but are not such) and that he after the manner of tyrants³ will endeavour to shew himself God.

§ 2.

And besides these things he hath manifested that also,⁴ which in many ways hath been proved by us, That the Temple in Jerusalem was made by direction of the true God. For the Apostle himself in his own Person hath called it distinctly, “The Temple of God.” But we have shewn in the third Book, that no one by the Apostles in their own person is called God, but Him who is truly God, the Father of our Lord: by whose command this Temple in Jerusalem was made, for the causes which we have alleged: in which Temple the Adversary will sit, trying to exhibit himself as Christ: as the Lord also saith,⁵ But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, that which is spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place (he that readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judæa flee unto the mountains: and he that is in the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of the house.⁶ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world even until now, no, nor shall be.

§ 3.

Daniel too, with an eye referring to the end of the last Kingdom,⁷ i.e., the last ten Kings, among whom is divided the Kingdom of those, upon whom the Son of Perdition will come,⁸ saith that ten horns spring up unto the Beast,⁹ and that another little horn springeth up in the middle of them, and that three horns of the former are uprooted before it.¹⁰ And behold, saith he, eyes as it were the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things, and his aspect of more greatness than the rest.¹¹ I beheld, and that horn was making war against the Saints, and was strong against them: until the Ancient of Days did come, and gave the judgment unto the Saints of the most high God, and the time was come, and the Saints obtained the Kingdom. Afterwards in the explanation of the visions it was said unto him,¹² The fourth Beast shall be the fourth Kingdom in the Earth, which shall stand high above the other Kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and trample on it, and cut it in pieces. And its ten horns, ten Kings shall arise; and after them shall rise up another, who shall surpass in evil things all who have been before him, and shall do away with three Kings, and shall speak words against the Most High God, and shall crush the Saints of the Most High God, and shall think to change times and the Law, and it shall be given into his hands unto a time of times and half a time, i.e., for three years and six months, wherein at his coming, he shall reign upon the earth. And of him again the Apostle Paul also in the 2nd to the Thessalonians announcing at the same time also the cause of his coming, saith thus:¹³ And then shall the unrighteous one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His Mouth and destroy with the presence of His coming; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of wickedness, to them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And therefore shall God send unto them a working of error that they should believe a lie, that they all may be judged who believed not the truth, but agreed unto iniquity.

§ 4.

And the Lord for His part said this also¹⁴ unto those who believed Him not:¹⁵ I am come in My Father’s Name, and ye received Me not: when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive: by “another” meaning Antichrist, who is alien from the Lord; and the same is the unjust judge,¹⁶ spoken of by the Lord, as one who feared not God nor revered man;¹⁷ to whom a widow had recourse¹⁸, forgetful of God, (i.e., the earthly Jerusalem) for redress upon her enemy.¹⁹ Which thing also he will do in the time of his Kingdom: he will transfer the Kingdom unto her, and will sit in the Temple of God, beguiling those who adore him, as though he himself were Christ.²⁰ Wherefore Daniel saith again, And the holy place shall be desolated: and sin is given for sacrifice, and righteousness is cast down upon earth, and he practised, and it prospered. And Gabriel the Angel explaining his vision said of this same Being²¹;²² And in the last time of their Kingdom shall arise a King very stubborn in countenance, and understanding questions, and strong shall be his might, and wonderful, and he shall corrupt, and direct, and act, and banish the strong men and the holy people, and the yoke of his collar shall be straightened: in his hand shall be deceit, and in his heart he shall be lifted up; and by guile he shall destroy many, and shall stand for the destruction of many, and as eggs shall he bruise them with his hand. And he proceeds to signify the duration of his tyranny, in which time the Saints shall be exiled, who offer to the Lord a pure Sacrifice.²³ And in half the week, saith he, the sacrifice and the drink offering shall be taken away, and into the Temple [shall come] the abomination of desolation, and even to the completion of the time shall a completion be given over the desolation; now the half of the week is three years and six months.

§ 5.

From all which not only the circumstances of the Apostasy are revealed, and the circumstances of that Being, who sums up in himself all diabolical error; but also that it is one and the same God the Father, who was announced by the Prophets and manifested by Christ. For if the Lord gave His approbation to Daniel’s predictions about the end,²⁴ in the words, When ye shall see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet; (now to Daniel the Angel Gabriel made an exposition of the visions: and he is an Archangel of the Creator, and the same who brought the good news to Mary of the visible Advent and Incarnation of Christ:) most evidently is one and the same God indicated, Who sent the Prophets, and sent forth His Son, and called us to the knowledge of Himself.