Tag Archives: 6th trump

Revelation

Revelation 11

1 Comment

Now that we have seen the first half of the tribulation detailed somewhat, and then entered into the second half of the tribulation in chapter 9, and we were introduced to the seven thunders in chapter 10, we will now be told about antichrist and the two witnesses. We are still in the second half of the tribulation, as we were in the two previous chapters, but this will give us a clearer picture of the signs and prophecies we will want to know at that time.

(Rev 11:1) And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

John was given a scepter, or rod, to see how things measure up with the state of the “Temple of God,” and those on the Temple Mount who profess the name of Christ.

In these end days, just as it has been throughout Christian history, there are those who sincerely have accepted Christ, and there are those who claim to be Christians, but have not truly made that change in their hearts.

As we are in the second half of the tribulation, antichrist will sit on the throne and those around him will be worshiping him as if he was God. By this point, the Temple Mount will have been covertly put under the control of heathen, specifically the kenites, claiming to be the children of God and the children of Israel. Many Christians will therefore be led away from Christ, and they will unknowingly commit apostasy by following another christ, a false one.

(Rev 11:2) But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

The outer parts of the temple are given over to the gentiles, and just as they were allowed to enter into it, regardless of their faith, in the Old Testament times, this outer court is filled with people who are Christians in name only, but who are not sincere in their profession of faith. These people put other things before and above Christ. But the inner court is only for the spiritual children of Israel, who are wholly dedicated to serving Christ. However, in the second half of the tribulation, satan will take over this inner sanctuary as antichrist, claiming to be Christ, and many of those who had been dedicated to Christ will commit apostasy, or fall away from their professed faith, because they will be deceived. This is where we are told judgment will first occur, at the pulpit. And, this is where John is told to measure, observe, with this rod.

(2Th 2:2-4) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Before the return of Jesus Christ, the son of perdition, satan, must take the supposed throne of God on the Temple Mount, claiming to be God. This must, and will, take place before we ever see the Second Coming of Jesus. Those who claim to be here on behalf of God, but lie, will be judged harshly.

(Rev 11:3) And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Two of God’s most trusted servants will be given miraculous power right at the beginning of the second half of the tribulation, just after the 6th Trumpet, probably about 5-6 days before satan appears as antichrist (we will explain that calculation at a later time). They will be humbly, but boldly, preaching the truth of God, and of the deception of satan, day and night, to urge people to repent and refuse to bow to antichrist.

(Rev 11:4) These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

This is not the first we’ve been told of the two witnesses, but we will now be given much more clarification of their roles, in this chapter of Revelation.

(Zec 4:2-4) And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

(Zec 4:11-14) Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

The two witnesses have stood with God unfailingly throughout time, and would never waiver in their service, which is why God trusts them to do this very vital and honorable job. In this vision, they are represented by two olive trees because of the oil they produce within their berries, and this golden oil is representative of God’s Holy Spirit. They will be charged with allowing the golden oil to flow to God’s elect, in the form of the deepest knowledge and understanding (gold) of what God wants His faithful servants to know.

The seven lamps held on the golden candlestick in the vision of Zechariah in chapter 4, are the 7000 elect (and anyone else who will continue to stand only with Christ), and they are fed the golden oil by the two olive trees, which also appear in John’s vision. These seven lamps are to let their light of God’s truth shine all over the earth. 

The disciples of Christ are instructed not to hide their light of God’s truth underneath a bushel, but to project it everywhere they can.

(Mat 5:14-16) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Now, in the vision in Revelation 1, which also was given to John, there are seven candlesticks, and they each represent one of the seven churches (Rev 2 & 3) of Christianity in the end times.

(Rev 1:20) The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

The two witnesses lead two of these candlesticks, meaning that they represent the two churches approved by Jesus, Smyrna and Philadelphia. Smyrna and Philadelphia contain all of God’s elect, both the 7000 and the 144,000 (as well as the kings of the ethnos, who are those sealed, but that are not of the tribes of Israel). In other words, those two churches contain all of God’s faithful servants who will be sealed and will serve only Him. These two churches stand united as one under Christ (the single golden candlestick).

(Rev 11:5) And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Because they will be speaking against the church of the one world religion under satan, whom the world believes to be Christ, they will see only evil in the eyes of the two witnesses. They really don’t know that the two witnesses are true ambassadors of  God. But the people of the world will be so dedicated to their messiah that they will hate anyone who would dare speak a word against him.

To anyone who has the gumption to attack these two men in any way, the witnesses will project the consuming fire of God by the words of their mouths, and this would cause those people a spiritual death. Spiritual death means that a person is liable to die in the lake of fire at the end of the Millennium, unless he straightens up his act before that time. God is loving, but His patience can only go so far.

(Rev 11:6) These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

During this second half of the tribulation, there will be a famine for hearing the word of God.

(Amo 8:11-13) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

In the last days, understanding of the Word of God will be shut off for anyone who has not been sealed and who has not made the effort to know Christ through His Word. They will thirst because they will no longer be able to partake in the Water of Life that comes through salvation by the acceptance of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they will wander from person to person, group to group, trying to find this truth (Remember the 5 unwise virgins in the Parable of the Ten Virgins), and they will believe they have gotten it when antichrist arrives, but sadly they will not have anything of the sort. Because they will not be able to quench this thirst, they will fail.

Well, we are told of the latter rain in Joel, and this is the knowledge and understanding, through the Holy Spirit, that comes in the second half of the tribulation:

(Joe 2:23) Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

The true servants of God are given moderate understanding in the last generation leading into the tribulation, but the latter rain, which allows for the blossoming of the fruit of God, will come in the spring. This is when God’s elect will be at their best, and will be showing what they are made of. But, when the two witnesses are in place, they will be able to shut off God’s understanding from anyone who is not worthy of it, through their own doing, and ultimately for their own good.

(Rev 11:7) And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

As we will find our in chapter 13, this beast, which is the second beast of revelation (the fourth beast of Daniel 7), is none other than satan the antichrist. He is the one who comes out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9, and unleashes all hell. He will finally have enough of God’s two right-hand men and will literally kill them, which tells us that the two witnesses are in flesh bodies at this time. This is a big no-no as satan and his angels have been instructed not to harm any of God’s servants, which includes the two witnesses.

(Rev 11:8) And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

They will lie there on the ground in the middle of Jerusalem, right where they are killed. This city, having been overrun by heathen serving satan, is spiritually equated with Sodom (of Sodom and Gomorrah fame) and Egypt, which has seen its share of heathenism as well, but is reminiscent of the oppressive system of ancient Egypt in which Moses lived. Just as most of the Hebrews fleeing Egypt in the Exodus wished to go back to their captors out of fear, the people of the world will wish to remain enslaved by the world system of antichrist because they don’t even realize how horrible it is.

(Rev 11:9) And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

No one will even bother to give these two bodies the respect normally associated with the corpses of the dead. They don’t even care, and they are even glad that the witnesses are dead. But, as most Christians are aware, their souls will no longer be within those broken clay vessels.

(Rev 11:10) And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

Not only is the world glad to hear of the deaths of these two, but they rejoice and even give gifts to one-another. The way they see it, these two horrible people would not leave them alone and constantly attacked the god that they love.

(Rev 11:11) And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

However, something unexpected is about to happen to these bodies as they lie in the streets, and it will throw the world for a loop. After all, God is all powerful and should have control over his enemies, and He does, but this false messiah, antichrist, is not truly God on earth yet. Suddenly, after three and a half days lying dead of flesh, the spirits of the two witnesses will re-enter into their flesh bodies and they will rise up, alive. This is going to be a shocking site. Is antichrist about to begin to lose control? Will people begin to doubt his power? They should, but at least most won’t.

(Rev 11:12) And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Almost as soon as they are reanimated, the two witnesses are called up into Heaven, and are translated into the spirit just as Enoch and Elijah were, long before. The world can only watch in wonderment.

(Rev 11:13) And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Just as soon as the two witnesses are witnessed heading to Heaven, there is a massive earthquake, in which 7000 men, the evil counterpart to God’s 7000 predestinated elect, are killed. These are the satan’s most trusted confidants. Because of this destruction and death, suddenly those remaining ecstatic followers of antichrist have a change of tone. However, the Remnant of God may be startled, but their faith is affirmed with all these recent events, and they continue giving glory to God for it.

(Rev 11:14) The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

If you remember, we’ve already discussed the first two woes, the first half of the tribulation (5th trump) and the second half of the tribulation (6th trump). Each woe is progressively worse for those who do not reside in the Ark of Truth. We will now enter into the third, and final woe, the 7th Trumpet.

(Rev 11:15) And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The reign of satan is coming to an end, and Jesus is about to return to earth to take His rightful place upon the throne of God on Mount Zion. He will never leave this place as our sovereign King.

As Jesus returns, He will send His consuming fire to burn away all that offends Him from the earth, and this fire of God will consume all the flesh that remains in order to cleanse the earth of evil imperfection.

(2Pe 3:5-7) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

You can read a very detailed account of His return in the entire chapter of Zechariah 14.

(Rev 11:16) And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

We see again the twenty four elders, mentioned earlier in Revelation, sitting on thrones before God as patriarchs. Just as all of God’s faithful do, they rejoice that the flesh age is finally at an end, and we can move into the final stage of the test to determine who is loyal to God and who is not, the Millennium.

(Rev 11:17) Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

(Rev 11:18) And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Everyone who has been faithful is praising God and His plan because it is for the good of everyone that it be completed, but there is still one more phase that will last one thousand years.

(Rev 11:19) And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

This is the final destruction of the flesh age on earth and the cleansing of the land, so that we can finally live according to God’s pure ways. The earth will be renewed and clean and purified and we will have complete memory of what happened before man was placed on earth in these flesh bodies.

Those who have passed the prior tests, which God has given us, will be safe for eternity, but those who failed both times will have one last chance, and will be in danger of being blotted out of the Book of Life in the lake of fire. Which category would you prefer?

God bless.

Reference Notes

Antichrist

24 Comments

The role of the antichrist will be filled by satan (Isa 14, Eze 28, 2 Thess 2:3-4), when he returns, halfway through the tribulation (Dan 7:7-8, 8:13-14, 9:27, 11:20-21, Rev 8:1, 9, 11:1-2, 13:11-18). He will claim to be Jesus, and any other savior from other religions. The antichrist will appear to be everything that most Christians expect Jesus to be when He returns, but it will not truly follow what the scriptures say about Jesus’ return. He will be a cheap impostor, just as he carries a cheap imitation bow and rides the white horse (Rev 6:1-2), with the purpose of uniting the world in a one world religion (Rev 13:11-18). And most importantly, he will come before Jesus’ return!

He will be given miraculous power, by God, to perform miracles and signs to deceive the world to believe that he is the savior that everyone has been waiting for (Rev 13:13-14). This deception will unite the world religions and convince the world that the differences between religions, and their respective messiahs, are merely misunderstandings of their scriptures (Rev 12:9, 13:11-18). The world, for a while, has been promoted the idea, by religious leaders and public figures, that all religions are equal, and even that they the same. This has been used to prepare the world for this deception of antichrist.

The deception of antichrist and his one world religious system will be allowed by God to separate those who have studied and know the scriptures very well from those who have not (2 Thess 2:7-12, 2 Tim 2:15). Only the best biblical students (the elect) will be able to pass this test and know that antichrist is not Christ (Matt 24:24, Rom 11:7-11, Rev 12:9). Those who know who antichrist really is will not bow to him in worship or receive the mark of the beast (Rev 20:4). This is because these people are sealed with this knowledge by the Holy Spirit, and they will pass this test and overcome (Rom 11:4-5, Rev 7).

Everyone who receives the mark of the beast, because they were deceived, will fail this test, and will be taught and disciplined in the period immediately following Jesus’ return, the Millennium (Eze 44, Rev 20). This will lead to a third, and final, test at the end of the Millennium when satan is released to try to deceive the world one last time (Rev 20:7-9).

Topic Discussions

The Deadly Wound

4 Comments

One doesn’t need to study end time prophecy long before coming to the deadly wound, but you don’t have to be an expert to understand the deadly wound. We are going to take a walk through the events leading up to and constituting the deadly wound that is given to one of the heads of the beast.

Let’s first take a look at what Revelation has to say about it:

(Rev 13:1) And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
(Rev 13:2) And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
(Rev 13:3) And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Now let’s break down this image and take a look at it together:

Rev 13:1

This beast is the one world political system that gains its momentum during the first half of the tribulation and precedes the one world religious system that is in place under antichrist. This political system has seven divisions which are roughly by continent. Of course seven is the number that represents spiritual completion of God’s will. The seven-headed beast has ten positions of leadership, or offices, or estates, which are headed by ten kings or officials – the number ten means law here. Each one of these seven divisions, or world nations, serve the purpose of satan’s will, though overall, it is all according to God’s will. But in serving satan’s will, they do not give glory to God. Instead, they are trying to circumvent God and bring their own salvation to the world, just as Nimrod, and the men that followed him, were doing in building the Tower of Babel. This world government is trying to bring peace to the world by its own means, however God said that until He returns, there will be no peace, and that anyone who claims they will bring world peace is lying. There shall be no peace in this flesh.

(Jer 6:13) For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
(Jer 6:14) They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

(Jer 8:9) The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
(Jer 8:10) Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
(Jer 8:11) For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

(Eze 13:8) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
(Eze 13:9) And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
(Eze 13:10) Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
(Eze 13:11) Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.

(Jer 12:12) The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

(1Th 5:1) But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
(1Th 5:2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(1Th 5:3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

The peace of this modern day Tower of Babel is built with untempered mortar, meaning that it is weak and this tower will not stand for long. It will begin to fall just as soon as it begins to achieve some height. God didn’t allow the builders of the original Tower of Babel to succeed and He won’t allow the builders of this one to succeed either.

We saw the foundation of this modern day tower begin to be laid in the early 1900’s just after the first world war, and in the late 1940’s, the United Nations was established. Now the nations of the earth belong to this tower and are the builders of its structure. They are even the bricks of its structure. The untempered mortar is the thin thread of the illusion of peace that they are working to achieve. But we know from the Bible that no true peace can be attained except with the love of God. The builders of this tower are doing their work and are completely and purposely leaving God out of everything, just as in the building of the original tower in Genesis 11. When peace is enforced, the hostility isn’t magically removed from the hearts of those who hate each other. It still exists there and festers, and eventually, it will explode into war. The only way to have true peace is to have God and the only way to have God the Father is to have God the Son, Jesus Christ and to dedicate your life to serving Him. Anything short of that will fail. True love cannot be forced, and it cannot be enforced.

(Joh 14:6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(Joh 14:7) If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Rev 13:2

(Rev 13:2) And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
This seven-headed beast, the same as the fouth beast in Daniel 7, has traits from each of the three beasts that preceded it.

(Dan 7:4) The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

The United States who was made great by the providence of God, but began to turn away from Him just as ancient Israel did, for which reason it was knocked off its pedestal and made to stand on its own like the rest of the nations of the world.

(Dan 7:5) And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

The Soviet Union/Russia who introduced the idea of communism into the world and put it into practice, and began to slip at its peak, but also recovered while still giving the impression that it is lying dormant, just to rise up again at an opportune time to deceive supposed allies and regain its place as a superpower.

(Dan 7:6) After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

The kenite nation along with its four hidden dynasties that slowly gnaw away at the freedoms of the citizens of the world and gently lead them into captivity and prepare them for the next beast.

(Dan 7:7) After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

The one world political system of the first half of the tribulation is used by satan to prepare his way as antichrist and form the structure that he will use for his second beast, the one world religious system. This seven-headed beast will utilize the methods of control of the leopard beast. It will operate just like the communist system of the bear beast. And it will speak and make itself sound and appear that it is a great civilization just like the eagle beast.

(Dan 7:8) I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

But never fear. Christ will not allow this horn or power to stand for very long. Keep your faith that all of this happens according to God’s plan and for very good reason.

Rev 13:3

There will be an event that occurs to one of these seven world nations, and that nation will be the Middle Eastern head. A kingdom divided against itself shall not stand, and this is what the deadly head wound will be. War will begin in the Middle Eastern head between many muslim nations and the nation of Israel. Those nations that come against the nation of Israel will be backed by Russia and many Christian nations will come to the aid of the nation of Israel, whom they see as an ally.

Ezekiel 38-39 tells of a similar war to what is being seen here, but that chapter actually details the entry into Armageddon, which happens at the end of this flesh age between God’s elect and satan and his forces. Satan will have God’s elect surrounded, true Israel, those who remain faithful to Jesus Christ throughout the tribulation, but Jesus will come in just before antichrist acts to destroy His elect and destroys his forces. However, antichrist loves to try to copy everything that God has, but on a more fleshly level. So in this deadly wound, this happens on a more literal level as the forces of Rosh, Gog and Magog, which represent Russia, will surround the physical city of Jerusalem in the nation of Israel, at which time satan will come in to stop this war and impersonate Jesus. None-the-less, this is one head that is divided against itself and you cannot have a stable governance with the chaos of civil war.

(Mat 12:25) And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
(Mat 12:26) And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

This is satan’s kingdom (as all the nations serve him) and satan knows it can’t stand if it’s divided against itself, so he knows he must do something to prevent it from crashing down to the ground, so He will come in at the nick of time to halt the impending doom. The whole world, except those sealed by the Holy Spirit with the truth of God, will believe that this war is the war of Armageddon, and this is just the deception that satan needs to achieve his goal. He will come in just as the city of Jerusalem is surrounded and end this war and bring in a false world peace, and the world will believe that this is Jesus Christ coming to bring in a new age of love and peace. Antichrist will have finally arrived to usher in the second half of the tribulation.

(Luk 21:20) And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Satan coming as antichrist is this desolation, as he is the desolator.
(Luk 21:21) Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

Once he arrives he will take his seat in Jerusalem claiming to be God/Jesus Christ. This is not a place you want to be when he is here, and in the near future, God will rain down hailstones on this city over a hundred pounds.

(Luk 21:22) For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

(2Th 2:1) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Before Jesus Christ will return at the 7th trump, there must be some things that take place first.
(2Th 2:2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Do not be deceived.

(2Th 2:3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Before Jesus Christ returns there will be a falling away, an apostasy, in which people will be led away from the God they love and to a false Christ. Satan, as antichrist, is this son of perdition—he is the first one who was sentenced to death for his rebellion from God. His only goal is to have God’s children follow and worship him instead, and he will sit on his throne in Jerusalem pretending to be God.

(2Th 2:4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

(Rev 13:4) And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

When satan ends this war, the world will be in euphoria because they will believe they have just witnessed the end of all war. As mentioned earlier, this peace is a false peace because man will still be flesh and God said that flesh shall never have peace. Peace can’t be enforced because no one can force you to get rid of the hatred that is inside you. The only way to truly rid yourself of that hatred is through the love of Jesus Christ. This hatred will always fester just to be released when it is under enough pressure. This may appear to be the end of all war, but this is just the beginning of a major spiritual battle—the biggest war ever seen on earth in this flesh age.

(2Ti 2:15) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

(2Th 2:10) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the Truth. If you love Him, you will spend time with Him. The best way to spend time with Him is to know Him and study Him. Study the Word of God.

(2Th 2:11) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
If you don’t, you will be one of these who is led astray in the tribulation as you will believe all of satan’s lies, and God will allow it for His ultimate purpose.
(2Th 2:12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Study the signs of the times so that you’re not led astray by all of this cunning deception planned by satan. He knows scripture better than almost anyone and he knows just how to twist it to deceive all but the most skilled biblical students, those sealed with the truth of the Holy Spirit.