The Beast
HEGE Series
Every day is one day closer to the Parousia (Second Coming of Christ) and the Final Judgement.
So live each day like it’s the last, because it very well could be.
The Beast (aka Antichrist) — is prophesied to arise unlike any other totalitarian despot in that he will at first pretend to be a benevolent ruler capable of solving the world's problems and restoring peace and prosperity. It is only after he has deceived humanity and been ceded power that his true color (spots or stripes) will be revealed.
Hebrew sacred scripture indicates that Cain (the son of first parents Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel) built the first city, and his descendent Tubal-Cain forged tools out of bronze and iron (Gen 4:17, 21), becoming the father of human technology — thereby confirming urban civilization in the temporal world to be a worldly material, not godly spiritual, human endeavor. From archaeology and ancient texts is known that earliest human civilization (urban kingdoms) arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt, where pharaohs claimed to be god as long ago as 3150BC. In early Mesopotamian culture, kings were often regarded as deities after their death. (See — Divine right of kings)
This practice was later eventually carried on by Rome. Early in the reign of Augustus, Halley’s Comet passed over Rome, and Augustus claimed it was the spirit of Julius Caesar entering heaven. If Caesar was a god, then, as his heir, Augustus was the son of a god, which he proclaimed boldly and emphatically. It is highly important that Augustus was the last in the line of emperors to arrogate godhood to himself, prior to the rise of The Antichrist. During the reign of Caesar Augustus, ησούς Χριστός (Iisoús Christós - Jesus Christ) was born after Augustus decreed that all the Empire should be taxed at the ancestral homes of each and every citizen. This is highly important in that The Living God of the Hebrews chose the perfect time to reveal Himself to mankind in the Incarnation of His Son (the joining of Divine essence in comm-union with human essence in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One of God) only after humanity had made an utter and complete fool of itself by arrogating godhood to itself.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) — (Luke 2).
Naram-Sin of Akkad, who ruled from 2255-2119BC, was the first Mesopotamian emperor who claimed to be a god. After him, Shulgi of Ur also declared himself to be divine. It was out of Ur of the Chaldees that Abraham was called by God to be the progenitor of the Hebrew Children of Israel (Israelites), the chosen people of God through whom God would reveal himself to humanity as the One, True, Living God who is not an imposter, an illusion of satan, an idol made of dead wood or clay. There were several Mesopotamian cities named Ur, but regardless of which urban Ur Abraham came from, he came from the same region, from Mesopotamia, where the cult of man-god was practiced.
The city of Ur in Mesopotamia was eventually ruled by the Babylonian Empire with Babylon as the capital city. Other rulers who arrogated godhood to themselves would follow the Egyptian pharoahs, Naram-Sin of Akkad, and Shulgi of Ur, culminating in the caesars of Rome, especially Caesar Augustus. In this can be seen the connection between Babylon and Rome, and the corrupt concept of an imposter “son of god” who is a man-god (not the God-Man, Theanthropos), a man who arrogantly self proclaims himself god (considered an abomination by the Hebrews, and later the Jews) as opposed to the God-Man, Iisoús Christós, who is True God, the comm-union of God and man in one person who restores comm-union between God and humanity, and through humanity reunites all Creation with God.
A man-god is a satanic-demonic imposter of the God-Man, Iisoús Christós, an anti-christ, a type or forerunner of The Antichrist who is prophesied to eventually appear just before the end of days. The historic fallen human tradition of man-god is alive in modern times in each and every authoritarian, totalitarian, despot and dictator. But it is not in such an obvious way that Antichrist will appear. Rather, he will appear as a mild-mannered, benevolent savior of the world, before revealing who and what he actually is.
Antichrist is nothing but the material puppet of the demonic spirit of the immaterial satan, the enactor of the malevolent will of a creature who, though created by God as the most beautiful of all angelic beings, let such beauty go to his head, and in his pride challenged God for supremacy over all Creation and over God himself, and was cast down out of heaven (becoming “fallen”). Satan seeks to usurp the throne of God by destroying all the works of the hand of God, especially humanity created in the image and likeness of God, in order to return the Divine Cosmos (Order) to Chaos (Disorder) out of which the Cosmos was created, and reign over the ruins of Cosmos. Satan is fallen because he has set self up in opposition to God rather than cooperate with God in interdependence (Interconnectivity) of Creation, and has led humanity through temptation into the same fallen condition and along the same path.
The satanic spirit is evident in the self proclamation of godhood by humans existing apart from God in a fallen condition, and subsequently in the fallen human campaign to conquer nature (Creation) that arose most strikingly in Western Europe. Rather than practice husbandry (caregiving) of nature as true to human being interconnected with nature, Westerners became deluded by satan into thinking it their human duty to forcefully conquer nature and bring her into submission. If they had actual, real comm-union with God, then all Westerners would need do is ask, and Creation would do their bidding. (See — Environment)
Humanity is created to be Homo adorans, to worship God, to serve God as master, not to serve Mammon (matter, materialism, money, material power) and be mastered by Mammon, by Love of Money. Iisoús Christós (Ιησούς Χριστός - Jesus Christ) revealed this clarification of the First Commandment (Thou shalt have no other gods before me) when he taught that there were only two masters of humanity, God and Mammon, and that humans can serve only one, loving one and hating the other (Matthew 6:19–20). In fallen humanity, the self (selfish ego) rules the human heart which is the rightful throne, not of the ego, but of the spirit of God (Holy Spirit). Such corruption by mammon materialism is pervasive in all materialist utopian systems that seek to build Heaven on Earth through conquest and control, including Communism, Zionism, and Islam, and especially global Western Capitalist Consumerism with its emphasis on material riches. Such materialistic corruption also pervades virtually all human governance, only becoming most obvious in the despot or dictator, which ultimately only points to God and His Anointed (Christos, Mashiach), to the King of kings as the only solution to the problem of humanity‘s fallen, grossly material condition (lacking in comm-union with the Living God), subject to death.
The whole history of humanity will culminate in the complete humiliation of fallen humanity, when all fallen, arrogant human aspiration will be revealed for the Hubris it is — the inspiration and the puppet strings of satan. God gives humanity as much rope as it needs to hang itself (like Judas), so that those with “eyes to see and ears to hear” who till the ground of their hearts like soil of the earth so that His Word can be seeded therein, can turn to Him in humility and repentance, be united to Him in comm-union and thereby saved in eternity from the fate of satan and his demons. The primary mark of humility is recognition and understanding that humans are not gods, much less God, but are, without God, nothing but dust of the earth from which they were originally created by Him.
Ask any American what they think the meaning and purpose of life is, and they will reveal how Lost or Found they are. The real meaning and purpose of life is the temporal (temporary) time for human repentance for attaining to uncreated Divine energies (grace of God) in order to be united with Him in comm-union eternally (to become gods by Grace), not to while away the temporal time one is given Amusing Ourselves to Death, seeking entertainment, and amassing great fortune, mountains of material things, extensive fame and power.
The latter is the goal, not of Christian life, but of The American Way (of Amoral (Immoral) Economy, otherwise known as the Whore of Babylon).
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!
The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth! — Revelation 11:18
List of people who have been considered deities | Wikipedia
Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond
Meet the absentee gods and nefarious spirits of ancient Mesopotamia | Aeon
Which Ur is Abraham’s Ur?
Gender as Prophecy and Revelation
The Mystery and Meaning of Love, Marriage and Gender
Beatus of Liébana | Wikipedia
Commentary on the Apocalypse | Wikipedia
A Companion to the Premodern Apocalypse | Amazon
Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana (730-785): An Example of the Mozarabic Style
Picturing the End of Time: The Illustrated Commentaries on the Apocalypse from Medieval Spain
Beatus of Liébana - Urgell Codex | YouTube
See —
Oil (Petroleum)
Babylon
Eugenia Constantinou Ph.D.
Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Foreign Policy
US spy agencies
CIA
The Devil‘s Advocate | Quotegeek
—“The virtue of the Devil is in his loins.” John Milton (Satan)
The Devil‘s Advocate (1997 film) | Wikipedia
—Of course, the Devil (satan) has no virtue, but is only full of vice. Such is the Propaganda (lies) of the Father of Lies, the teller of the first lie that God was jealous of humanity and did not want them to be like Him by eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, when in fact, humanity was already like God having been created in the Divine image and likeness. Thus, devilish, satanic lies (Propaganda) always invert the Truth, claiming that black is white and evil (vice) is good (virtue).
The “loins” (sexual organs) are fallen humanity‘s Achille‘s heel, the weakest link which the Devil satan exploits to his advantage in tempting humanity to his will, the destruction of humanity and all Creation. See — Sexuality
IT - Facing Evil | YouTube
What the Bible says about Satan as ruler of this world
The Antichrist: A New Biography
Antichrist From The Tribe Of Dan | The Journal of Theological Studies
The Ethnicity of the Antichrist
The 666 Symbol Why is the number 666 used as a symbol of the Antichrist?
Why is Satan called “the god of this age”?
Story of Lucifer
Satan, the Ruler of this World
Devil | OrthodoxWiki
The Devil
Angels and Evil Spirits
The Person of Satan according to the Orthodox Church
Who is the Devil?
Satan and Demons
End Time Signs
Signs Of The End Times
Bible Verses about the End Times
150 Chapters on the End Times
101 End Times Bible Prophecies
— this list needs editing
Revelation
The Beast (Revelation) | Wikipedia
Great Tribulation | Wikipedia
Olivet Discourse | Wikipedia
Events of Revelation | Wikipedia
The Book of Revelation: Timetable for the End Time
What Are the Seven Last Plagues of Revelation?
FEBC.org
— 1 out of 3 people in the world have little to no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Countries Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be a Christian in 2023
— North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan
Countries Hostile to Christianity or with Restrictions
Persecution of Christians | Wikipedia
As evident in the chart below, the Book of Revelation is not intended to be a specific, chronological event by event prophecy of the end times (the end of temporal time, the end of the world) as claimed by Reformed Protestant “Prophecy”. Rather, as Dr. Jeanie explains, Revelation is simply meant to give hope and encouragment to the faithful to hold fast to faith through ever increasing troubling times that lead up to The Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ.
From the Olivet Discourse of the Hebrew Messiah (Christ), the following signs mark the beginning of the end times:
1) wars and rumors of war
2) earthquakes, famines, pestilence, and fearful events
3) false prophets and apostasy
4) persecution of Christians and spread of the Gospel around the world, and
5) false claims of Messiah.
All of these have come to pass except complete spread of the Gospel, where such is forbidden, outlawed and subject to death in some parts of the world. To these, St. John's Revelation adds the failing of the world's false religion of Babylon and the falling of the whorish Babylonian economic system, culminating in the rise and reign of The Antichrist (The Beast), and the great war of Armageddon, after which will occur The Parousia. With the rise of Western global capitalist consumerism, current events are already giving indication of the potential for the global economy to collapse, and the need for a global religion by which humanity of the world can be controlled when that occurs. The world will then be looking for a savior and ripe for the picking of The Antichrist, just as the German people during the Great Depression were ripe for the picking of Adolph Hitler.
The puzzle remains as to what totalitarian systems are evident today and how they might shake out over time. Some claim that Islam has aspirations for global dominance, but there is evidence to suggest the same for Judaism by way of Zionism. Any such system that blatantly calls for domination of the world is materialistic utopian, chiliastic in attempts to materialistically and artifically create Heaven on Earth rather than humbly repent and turn to worship in spirit and truth of The Living God of the Hebrews (from whom has come Divine salvation), whose Kingdom is not of this material world.
Communism has already embraced capitalism, though without the so called social “freedoms” (licentiousness) of western liberalism. USA has instigated a proxy war in Ukraine to weaken Russia in order to eventually exploit her vast expanses of natural resources, which global warming is making more accessible. China is in the crosshairs of the USA as well, however it remains to be seen how USA will contain her (and to lesser extent North Korea), and complete opening of Asia and the Islamic world to liberal society. Currently, Muslims continue to infiltrate western societies, but have yet to dominate them and enact sharia law (as some claim is their goal) in order to bring the rest of the unconquered (non-Muslim) world into submission to Allah (as is claimed is the goal of Islam as expounded by its prophet Muhammed). Judaism has yet to show evidence of world domination except in the minds of conspiracy theorists who take the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a propaganda tract produced by White Russians who fled to Germany against Bolsheviks) as gospel.
At this point, the USA push for global liberal hegemony seems the most likely candidate from which the totalitarian spawn of satan could arise. It may take many more years for USA to contain China and for western liberal religious tolerance, universalism and syncretism to overcome the fundamental nature of Islam, and holdouts within Asia and the Arab world, in order to prepare the world for the coming of The Antichrist. But that's no reason for Christians to become, or remain complacent. Current events only testify to the truth of Christianity and the fulfillment of prophecy of the Hebrew Christ's Second Coming, which but gives everyone today Every Reason to Believe.
Behind the Meaning of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” — “The lyrics to the song became an anthem against greed and power hunger in the world. In the opening verse, frontman Curt Smith sings about the inescapable eye of “Big Brother.” Elsewhere are allusions to nuclear war (There’s a room where the light won’t find you) and rising tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the time of the song’s release (Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down). To the band, the song’s message is as needed now as it was during the Cold War.”
| Revelation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chapter | ||
| 1 | Introduction | |
| 2-3 | Message to the seven churches | |
| 4-5 | Prelude—Setting | |
| 6 | First six seals | 1. Religious deception (Revelation 6:1-2; compare Matthew 24:4-5, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:23-25) 2. War (Revelation 6:3-4; compare Matthew 24:6-7) 3. Famine (Revelation 6:5-6; compare Matthew 24:7) 4. Disease epidemics (Revelation 6:7-8; compare Matthew 24:7) 5. Tribulation and persecution (Revelation 6:9-11; compare Matthew 24:8-12, Matthew 24:21-22) 6. Heavenly signs (Revelation 6:12-17; compare Matthew 24:29) |
| 7 | 144,000 and the great multitude | |
| 8-10 | The trumpet plagues | 1. Destruction of vegetation (Revelation 8:7) 2. Devastation of oceans and sea life (Revelation 8:8-9) 3. Devastation of rivers and fresh water (Revelation 8:10-11) 4. Sun, moon and stars darkened (Revelation 8:12) 5. Rise of major military power (Revelation 9:1-12) 6. Rise of competing military power (Revelation 9:13-19) 7. Seven last plagues (Revelation 15:1; Revelation 16:1-21) |
| 11 | The two witnesses | |
| 12 | The true church | |
| 13 | The two beasts — a “leader” (The Antichrist, Beast) exercises authority over all nations, implements the mark of the Beast, a global system that controls access to economic resources | |
| 14 | The three messages | |
| 15-16 | The seven last plagues — “golden bowls full of the wrath of God” poured out upon the earth |
1. The contents of the first bowl will cause painful sores upon those “who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image” (Revelation 16:2). It appears these painful, open sores will be caused by some sort of skin disease or infection. 2. When this bowl is poured out, the sea will become blood and cause all life in it to die (verse 3). The death of saltwater marine life will destroy a major food source for millions of people. 3. After the third angel pours out its bowl, the rivers and springs of water will become blood (verse 4). This plague will destroy freshwater fish—even further impacting the food supply for millions of people. 4. The fourth bowl will cause the sun to become so hot as “to scorch men with fire” (verse 8). 5. This punishment will bring darkness, pains and sores (verses 10-11). 6. The bowl containing this plague will be poured out on the Euphrates River, causing it to dry up and make land travel easier for the armies of “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” to assemble at Armageddon (the area of Megiddo, which is approximately 18 miles or 30 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Haifa). From this location, the assembled armies will then advance toward Jerusalem for a final battle against Jesus Christ (verses 12-16). 7. This final plague will consist of “noises and thunderings and lightnings” and “such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (verse 18). Babylon, a powerful false religion, will fall (verse 19, compare Revelation 18:2) and there will be devastating hail, with hailstones weighing up to a “talent”—approximately 100 pounds (verse 21). |
| 17-18 | The false church | |
| 19 | The return of Jesus Christ — The Parousia |
|
| 20 | ||
| 21-22 | The new heaven and new earth |
Bridegroom Services of Great and Holy Week
See — Sexuality Gender as Prophecy and Revelation — must read!
Hymns from the Bridegroom Matins Services of Great and Holy Week
Learn: Services of the Bridegroom
Services of the Bridegroom
Exapostelarion - Thy Bridal Chamber
Troparion - Behold the Bridegroom Comes
Behold The Bridegroom
Great and Holy Monday
Exapostelarion - Thy Bridal Chamber (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
Troparion - Behold the Bridegroom Comes (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
Great and Holy Tuesday
Canon of Great and Holy Tuesday - The Odes
Kathismata
Praises - Idiomela 1
Praises - Idiomela 2
Aposticha - Idiomela 1
Aposticha - Idiomela 2
Aposticha 5 - Hymn of Kassiani
Exapostelarion - Thy Bridal Chamber (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
Troparion - Behold the Bridegroom Comes (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
Great and Holy Wednesday
Canon of Great and Holy Wednesday - The Odes
Kathismata 1 - The Harlot Came To You
Kathismata 2 - Enamored Of Avarice
Kathismata 3 - The Harlot Wept Aloud
Praises - Idiomelon 1 - When The Harlot Became Aware
Exapostelarion - Thy Bridal Chamber (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
Troparion - Behold the Bridegroom Comes (Fr. Apostolos Hill)
See —
Sexuality
Love
Desire
Anthropology of Antichristianity: The Age of Desire (Part 6)
Babylon
The Thing
The Machine
The System
The Phenomenon
Amoral (Immoral) Economy
Mystery of Lawlessness
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. — 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Matthew Henry Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2 ...3. His rise is mentioned, v. 6, 7. Concerning this we are to observe two things:- (1.) There was something that hindered or withheld, or let, until it was taken away. This is supposed to be the power of the Roman empire, which the apostle did not think fit to mention more plainly at that time; and it is notorious that, while this power continued, it prevented the advances of the bishops of Rome to that height of tyranny [totalitarianism] to which soon afterwards they arrived.
Early Church Fathers interpreted "He who now restrains" as the Christian Emperor Constantine I, the Great (and his heirs), who ruled the Roman Empire from the Eastern capitol of Constantinople (Byzantium). After the fall of Constantinople, the Russian Church interpreted Constantinople as the "Second Rome", Moscow as the "Third Rome", the Czars as Emperors of the remaining Roman Empire (Russia), and Czar Nicholas II as the Roman Emperor "taken out of the way" by the Bolshevik Revolution.
Unfortunately, such interpretation fails to take into consideration that it was the Western philosophy of Marxism by which the reign of Czar Nicholas II was undermined. Such notions of a Third Rome are therefore clouded by triumphalism and civil religious Ethnophyletism. Certainly, it may seem as if lawlessness escalated to extremes after Czar Nicholas and family were assassinated by Bolsheviks in 1918 a few months before the end of World War I, but that then leaves out all the lawlessness of WWI and before, including all the prior religious wars in Western Europe between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
So, it’s more reasonable that the Emperor Constantine was the one "taken out of the way" when he moved the capitol of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium in 330 AD, and renamed Byzantium the "New Rome". Thereafter (as Matthew Henry states in his commentary), there was nothing to prevent "the advances of the bishops of Rome to that height of tyranny [totalitarianism] to which soon afterwards they arrived". Such accounts for all the lawlessness of the Borgia and Medici popes, and all other ills that have arisen from "Rome" and proceeded out of Western Europe, and not merely for world events revolving around Russia since near the end of WWI.
That makes the Church of Rome and its "reformation" the source from which the "mystery of lawlessness" has arisen unrestrained. Following the reformation of the Church of Rome into Roman "Catholicism", the saeculum (secular) was created, and thereby also Modernism with its trajectory from Roman Catholicism — Augustinianism, Original sin, Scholasticism, Satisfaction theory of atonement, Filioque, Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, Papacy, Papal infallability, Humanism, Secularism, Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Western European Imperialism, Colonialism and Globalism (by way of the USA formed from Western European expatriates).
Protestants have later identified the Holy Spirit in the role of restrainer of lawlessness, and even perhaps an angel. Nevertheless, lawlessness in the world remains a mystery as well as he who once restrained it, and the man of lawlessness who is to come. The point that St. Paul makes in his 2nd epistle to the Thessalonians is really about the Providence of God, and not necessarily about the identity of any restrainer of lawless one. This is the same point that Dr. Jeanie says St. John makes in the Book of Revelation. Orthodox Christians are not to allow their ears to be tickled with Reformed Protestant “Prophecy”. Christian focus should remain on the Providence of God, not on fear of the future. That the world is going to hell in a handbasket should not cause Christians dread and fear, but serve as a constant reminder that God is the One who has provided The Way out of the fallen world for those who desire comm-union with Him, who Love God not mammon, the material things of the world and the illusion of power derived from them.
The lawlessness of the world gets worse with each passing day, because each day brings humanity one day closer to the End of Time, to the Parousia (Second Coming of Christ). So each day must be lived as if it’s the last, with focus on God and not on the world and all its illusions, delusions, and distractions.
The Antichrist: An Orthodox Perspective from the Church Fathers
On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World — St. Ephraim the Syrian
The Secret Power of Lawlessness
— “How do we preach the eschatological teachings of 1 and 2 Thessalonians today? Some are content to preach details of their systematic prophecy constructs, feeding the fascination of a few in their congregations. These theories include modern identifications of the lawless one as the antichrist of the Johannine Epistles or the beast of Revelation 13 and 17 by seeking to weave all of these difficult texts into a neat package. Speculation thus equates the lawless one to various popes, presidents, or other world leaders. Other preachers tie these passages to the modern state of Israel, which is seen as a fulfillment of prophecy and a key to setting the eschaton in motion. Still others use these passages to construct elaborate theories of a rapture of the saints, annihilationism, or predestination for salvation.
None of these things were in Paul’s intent when he wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He was seeking to correct and encourage a group of new Christians with few resources to help them remain orthodox in their beliefs. They may not have been the diligent students of Scriptures that their neighbors in Berea were, but they seemed to devour and treasure the teachings of their beloved Paul, the one who had brought them the saving power of the gospel.
In 2 Thessalonians 2.7, Paul teaches his readers that “the secret power of lawlessness is already at work” (NIV2011) For Paul, everything he wrote about was either in the present or in the near future. This secret power of lawlessness was only secret if unrecognized. It still is. Rebellion and apostasy have attacked the church relentlessly since Paul’s day until now and must be exposed. Paul held out the hope of Christ’s return, but this was not his only message. The secret power of lawlessness can only be countered by the public proclamation of truth. The power of Satanís agents, whether in Paul’s time or ours, is destroyed by the spirit of Christ’s mouth, his words of grace and truth.
It is right for us to look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus to pray, “Maranatha” (1 Cor 16.22, Rev 22.20). But we must look forward to his return with joyful anticipation, not fear or dread. Are we to fear the coming lawless one and the havoc he might wreak on the church? Maybe, but Paul’s message is not designed to engender such fear. It is to encourage and comfort, to rest in the assurance that the risen and living Christ has not forgotten us, and that whether we are in our homes or our graves, he will come and take us to be with him forever.”
The Mystery of Lawlessness (Iniquity)
— “Lawlessness is a mystery because it parades around in clothes that give the impression of goodness instead of lawlessness [like the Emperor’s New Clothes]. When a restraint is put on the outfits it can wear, its true nature is revealed. When this occurs, people are ready to receive the true light of Christ, and His light does away with the lawlessness of our carnal nature.
Love for the truth is central for receiving truth! (v. 10) If we hide in our cave of darkness because we love darkness, we will not receive the truth. We will remain in our forms of truth and traditions until we realize their uselessness. The restraining order against lawlessness gives us the opportunity to see it as it actually is, and to become dissatisfied with it, and to see our need for Him who truly satisfies. We need that restraining order against lawlessness in order to see that all religions are steeped in a striving of self-will to become like a god of our own imaging.
We are the temple of God. It is in us that the lawless one wants to usurp the place of God, and rule us as though he were God. This lawless one is our carnal mind and carnal nature. Living in the mind of Christ does away with all our carnality. Only the Holy Spirit knows all the areas in which we need to change! He alone can lead us into all truth and deliver us from ALL evil. As we live and walk in the light, we will be kept from all forms of religious evil as well as other evil.
Praise God for His great salvation! Only the light of Christ can reveal the deceitfulness of lawlessness to us. Once we recognize its true nature, we can be delivered from its tyranny over us, and walk in truth!”
What Does the ‘Mystery of Iniquity’ Mean?
— “The mystery of iniquity refers to the power of sin and lawlessness in the world. Like the other “mysteries” of the New Testament, in times past, the truth about this power was unrevealed.
However, we now know that this power will be fully unleashed before the Day of the Lord when God will bring judgment to the earth. Also, the revealing of the Antichrist is closely connected to the future unrestrained power of lawlessness.
The power of sin and disobedience are present in the world today but will increase in the End Times.
While these matters may threaten to cause us to fear or worry, Scripture teaches us that Jesus will prevail against the power of lawlessness and the Antichrist. Nothing, not even the “mystery of iniquity,” can stop the Lord’s perfect plan.”
In 2 Thessalonians 2:7 who is holding back the "secret power of lawlessness"?
Providence | Merriam-Webster
The Provenance of 'Providence': As well as 'province' and 'provenience'
See — Catholicism, Modernity, Secularism
Types of Antichrist
Types precede and foretell actual appearance of The Antichrist (The Beast) by reflecting actions typical of the spirit of antichrist, which are an unreal, counterfeit (fake), imitation of actions of the Hebrew Messiah (Christ) who is God's Anointed, His chosen ruler over humanity and all of His Creation.
Satan is known as the god of this (fallen) world because he seeks to lead humanity down his path of rebellion against God, so he (Satan) can rule over humanity instead of God's Anointed (Messiah, Christ). In that way, Satan still seeks to usurp the Throne of God, rebelliousness for which he was cast down (fell) from the immaterial spiritual realm of Heaven, along with all his insubordinates, into the material physical realm of this world. Originally called Lucifer (light bearer), the most beautiful of all God's created immaterial angelic beings who shone with the Light of God's uncreated Divine energies, Satan became grossly disfigured and deformed through pride and arrogance of his attempt to subjugate God, to be god without God.
Out of hatred of God, Satan hates all the works of God's hand (Creation) including and especially humanity, which is created in the very Image and Likeness of God Himself, and seeks not only to subjugate humanity since he cannot subjugate God Himself, but also, out of hatred of God, to destroy all Creation, including humanity. He is destroying non-human Creation through temptation of humanity to see Creation not as the Image (Icon) of God whose face is visible in the works of His hand, but as resource for human exploitation, by which Creation is polluted through all manner of artificial human artifice. (See — Oil (Petroleum) Likewise, Satan is destroying humanity itself through temptation to exploit human labor, and to distort understanding of humanity away from Divine Image and Likeness through evolutionary biology and mechanistic rationalism toward abortion of human fetuses, homosexuality, gender fluidity, and ultimately replacement of humanity with Artificial Intelligence (AI) machinery.
Nimrod | Wikipedia
— mighty hunter and builder of cities associated with rebellion against God; Nimrod’s defiance parallels the spirit of antichrist
Tower of Babel | Wikipedia
— Just like Cain the builder of the first city, Nimrod’s attempt to build a city to provide and make a name for himself, and to build a tower reaching into heaven are a direct challenge to God’s divine plan wherein humanity is dependent upon comm-union with God and His provision for humanity, not dependent upon self provision. In response to the Tower of Babel, God confuses the single language spoken by humanity at that time, and disperses humanity by formation of different language groups. Globalization is in direct contradiction to God's historical action, a veritable revival of the age old Tower of Babel.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes | Wikipedia
— his actions, persecution of the Jews, and desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem anticipate deeds of The Antichrist
Subjugation (Empire)
Assyria, Assyrian people | Wikipedia
— attempts to subdue the northern tribes of Israel were thwarted by God
Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia, Tower of Babel | Wikipedia
— Nebuchadnezzar’s dream described in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 2 features multiple empires which are all attempts to establish dominance, one world governance. Nebuchadnezzar practiced relocation of conquered peoples to foreign lands and importation of new foreigners into his domain which aimed to suppress rebellion and coup attempts, a further indication of his vision of a final world empire. Global immigration and dilution of nations into pluralistic societies are a modern continuation of Nebuchadnezzar’s practices.
Union of nations
United Nations | Wikipedia
World Government Summit | Wikipedia
World Governments Summit
G7 | Wikipedia
49th G7 summit | Wikipedia
Third Temple
Third Temple | Wikipedia
Arab-Israeli Conflict and Prophecies about the “Third Temple”
— “He [Antichrist] will not lead to idolatry, but will be an antagonist, reject all gods and command everyone to worship himself instead of God. And he will sit in the temple of God – not only in Jerusalem, but everywhere in churches” (St. John Chrysostom).
The Temple
— “So the one and only temple, that was formerly the heart of the chosen people, is destroyed. But in its very destruction it is fragmented and multiplied a thousandfold, now becoming the heart of every Christian village and every Christian city. In these temples, a new teaching is preached, according to which the person himself must be a temple. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are (1 Cor 3. 16–17).”
The Temple Institute
The Third Holy Temple Plans Have Begun | YouTube
The Third Temple? (362-630) | YouTube
Israeli Movement to See Temple Rebuilt in Jerusalem | Jerusalem Dateline - September 26, 2023 | YouTube
G.M. Davis PhD
Globalization and the Apocalypse, with GM Davis | YouTube
Interview with G.M. Davis on his book Antichrist: The Fulfillment of Globalization | YouTube
Antichrist: The Fulfillment of Globalization: The Ancient Church and the End of History
From economics, to politics, to religion, globalization has shown itself the most significant historical phenomenon of our time. No area of life or culture has gone untouched by the seemingly relentless global centralization of power. Globalization promises an “end” to history when all of the peoples of the world will be united in a single civilization of global reach. But what is the ultimate meaning of globalization? What would an “end” to history look like? Where does the process ultimately lead? Contrary to much contemporary thought, the answer is not to be found in social science text books or political editorials. It is only from a perspective outside of history that the ultimate meaning of history may be found. In this book, G. M. Davis, PhD, provides a powerful analysis of the most significant events of our time from the only perspective capable of making sense of them: the eternal perspective, the timeless wisdom of the Orthodox Christian Church, in which the Alpha and Omega of history have been revealed and received. For twenty centuries, the Church has forewarned her children of the end of history, when the world will be united by a great deception, of a time when mankind will follow a world leader of unprecedented powers and charisma, a man of apparent superhuman abilities who will fulfill all of the world’s most profound, but misguided, hopes and desires: it will be the reign of Antichrist, the fulfillment of globalization.
Archbishop Averky
Averky (Taushev) of Syracuse
Is It Possible To Recognize The Antichrist?
Prophet Elijah and the Antichrist The second Forerunner of the coming of Christ
The World Is Mad — Archbishop Averky (1906-†1976)
"The time will come when people will behave like madmen, and to him who does not, they will say: you behave like a madman because you're not like us."
Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios (1927-†2006) | Zoe Press
Revelation Vol 1-5 — Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Archimandrite Athanasios stated in his lectures on Revelation that there would be no other civilization after “western” (western European) civilization, that The Beast (Antichrist) would arise from within western civilization.
Leading up to that are many "antichrists" (e.g. fascists, Bolsheviks, communists, globalists) — totalitarians one and all, which culminate in The Antichrist.
See — Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Eugenia Constantinou Ph.D.
Acquiring the Orthodox Phronema Part 1 | YouTube
Acquiring the Orthodox Phronema Part 2 | YouTube
Reading the Bible as an Orthodox Christian | YouTube
Eugenia Constantinou, PhD
Amazon Author's Page
Search the Scriptures | Ancient Faith Ministries
Search the Scriptures Live! | Ancient Faith Ministries
Thinking Orthodox: Understanding and Acquiring the Orthodox Christian Mind Orthodox Christianity is based on preserving the mind of the early Church, its phronema. Dr. Jeannie Constantinou brings her more than forty years’ experience as a professor, Bible teacher, and speaker to bear in explaining what the Orthodox phronema is, how it can be acquired, and how that phronema is expressed in true Orthodox theology—as practiced by those who are properly qualified by both training and a deep relationship with Christ. Commentary on the Apocalypse The early seventh-century Roman Empire saw plague, civil war, famine, and catastrophic barbarian invasions. Eschatological fervor ran high, as people were convinced that the end of the world was near. In this climate, a noteworthy Greek commentary on the Apocalypse was composed by Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia. Guiding to a Blessed End: Andrew of Caesarea and His Apocalypse Commentary in the Ancient Church Apocalyptic fervor gripped the Eastern Roman Empire as late antiquity drew to a close. The empire confronted bubonic plague, civil war, famine, and catastrophic Persian invasions. Meanwhile, Andrew, archbishop of Caesarea, was tasked with writing what would become the first Greek patristic commentary on the Apocalypse and the single most influential commentary on any biblical book. Andrew preserved existing Eastern Apocalypse interpretation and applied his own exegetical skills to create a commentary that remains fresh and remarkably contemporary. Andrew emphasized the spiritual value of the Apocalypse, transforming popular understanding of Revelation from a doomsday scenario to a "useful, God-inspired" book that would "guide those who read it to a blessed end." At the time, Revelation was largely rejected from the canon in the East, but Andrew's explanation would change its fate and influence Eastern eschatology forever. His work became the predominant and standard patristic commentary for the Greek East as well as the Slavic, Armenian, and Georgian churches. So highly regarded, it was directly responsible for the eventual acceptance of Revelation into the canon of the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches.
Power
See — Oil (Petroleum)
Marie Antoinette | Wikipedia
Marie Antoinette (2006) Official Trailer | YouTube — Sony Pictures
Marie Antoinette - The Downfall & Death of a Queen | YouTube
The Really Bad Sex Life (And Reign) Of Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI | YouTube
The Terrible Fate Of Marie Antoinette's Children | The Lost Dauphin of France And His Siblings | YouTube
'Marie Antoinette': PBS Period Drama Gets Spring Release Date 2023
The Queen's Hamlet
The Renaissance Parterre garden is an explicitly mathematical, geometrical icon of human power over nature, the human jackboot on the face of God, of whom Creation is an icon — not a Christian material-spiritual sacred icon, but rather an anti-christian materialistic anti-icon of the gnostically inspired, rising Western Whore of Babylon who rides The Beast until his final, actual appearance in the flesh.
It is just such arrogant creaturely, human "power" (visible in the Renaissance Parterre garden) that will eventually lead to anti-christian subjugation of all the Earth, not just nature but humanity as well by way of Totalitarianism, culminating in rule of The Beast.
Square away what you think you know about the parterre garden style inspired by 15th-century France
"After all, the point of the parterre is to show off. ...”
“Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.” — Proverbs 16:18
