Taking a Look at 1 John

“Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.”- 1 John 2:18-19 New Living Translation

            Here in these two verses John speaks of not only the Antichrist, the many other antichrists that have appeared and shall be appearing. “The last hour”, which is shown to mean “the last days” in some sources, is the period after Christ’s ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. No other time periods are noted in scripture so the last days represent the period of time from Christ’s ascension until he returns. We are in the last days. There are still Biblical prophecies that must be fulfilled before the Lord returns for his church. John is pointing out that these antichrists are among them. This term refers to evil, oppressive rulers or priests down thru the ages. Adolf Hitler was considered by many Biblical scholars to be a type of antichrist because of his thoughts and actions against humanity. But none of these were The Antichrist, the unholy one that sets himself up against God himself.

            “Many ancient thinkers recognized that commitments that were insincere eventually became evident”.¹You will find an example of this in 2 Chronicles 12:13-14 which speaks of the evil King Rehoboam. Watch someone’s behavior long enough and you can discern their heart’s intention. I would classify that statement as a ‘Universal Law’, which actually would have nothing to do with spiritual things, but rather applies to all areas of life. Insincerity is kin to lying and damages ones integrity. Those who love the Lord and live according to his teachings will be able to spot these phony teachers and believers because their opposition to Christ’s teachings will eventually come into the light. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible & www.biblegateway.com

¹NIV Study Bible.

An example of an antichrist in scripture:“King Rehoboam firmly established himself in Jerusalem and continued to rule. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, a woman from Ammon. But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the Lord with all his heart.”- 2 Chronicles 12:13-14

Note:“the antichrist . . . many antichrists”. John assumed his readers knew that a great enemy of God and his people would arise before Christ’s return. That person is called “antichrist” (here), “the man of lawlessness” (2Th 2:3; but see note there) and “the beast” (Rev 13:1–10). But prior to him there will be many antichrists. These are characterized by the following: (1) They deny the incarnation (see 4:2 and note; 2Jn 7) and that Jesus is the divine Christ (v. 22); (2) they deny the Father (v. 22); (3) they do not have the Father (v. 23); (4) they are liars (v. 22) and deceivers (2Jn 7); (5) they are many (v. 18); (6) in John’s day they left the church because they had nothing in common with believers (v. 19). The antichrists referred to in John’s letter were the early Gnostics. The “anti” in “antichrist” means “against” (cf. 2Th 2:4 and note; Rev 13:6–7; cf. also Mt 24:4–5, 10–11, 15, 23–24).