For those pursuing a “better country” and praying for the coming of the Lord’s kingdom, there is much to ponder from the recently televised U.S. presidential party conventions. In ways not understood before, we were witness to Bible prophecy coming to fulfillment. In fact, the earth has been witness to this fulfilment for quite some time, but we have not had the eyes to see it.

 

To understand this fulfilment, I must paint a picture for you from scriptures that have not previously been associated in our search to understand the end times. At the heart of these scriptures is the meaning of the words “freedom” and “liberty.”

I.     Jesus and the True Definition of Liberty

Jn. 8:31 [Jesus to the Jews:] "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

[The Jews:] "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, `You will become free'?"

34 [Jesus:] "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."

Among the many spiritual conflicts during His ministry, the Lord Jesus once challenged the Pharisees over the meaning of freedom. He declared that it is truth that sets us free (He, of course, being “the Truth”).  But the Pharisees retorted, “What are you talking about? As Abraham’s children, we have always been free. We’re under bondage to no one.”

Jesus replies that anyone who sins is a slave to sin, thus not free. In other words, even if one has an external appearance of freedom, he isn’t free unless he has first been delivered from the inward power of sin. There is true freedom and apparent freedom. To be genuine, freedom must begin with the heart’s liberation from sin.

In reality, the Pharisees were under two illusions about freedom. The first was that external freedom is the essence of freedom. They defined liberty as an outward state securable through fleshly lineage and effort.

Their second illusion was that they were even externally free. Obviously, as subjects of Rome, they were not free—even by their own definition. Having once been freed from Egypt to live under the truth of Moses, their nation had been under dominion of foreign powers since before the Babylonian captivity.

The real point for observation is that the first illusion led to the second. Starting with the false premise that liberty is an external state obtainable by human effort, the Jews had talked themselves into believing that they had such liberty even when they plainly did not. The apparent freedom they claimed to have was just that—a mere claim!

As unrelated as this story may seem to end time prophecy, it holds the germ of what is to drive the final titanic conflict of this age. That conflict is not (as commonly believed) between competing world philosophies of “liberty” and “tyranny”—between human freedom and human control. It is not between “democracy” and “communism” or between “democracy” and “terrorism.”

The final conflict is between competing philosophies of liberty itself—one true and one false—one spiritual and one carnal—one divinely birthed and one humanly copied—one based in salvation from the power of sin, and one based in the power of human will and might—one that begins in genuine inward freedom under God’s rule leading to external freedom, and one that begins with an appearance of external freedom under human rule—but which finally becomes unmasked as tyranny. The final conflict is between the kingdom of Christ and its counterfeit: world democracy.

It is the winner of the conflict between the philosophies of true and false liberty that ultimately determines who becomes the permanently manifest ruler of the earth. This article is dedicated to redrawing our understanding of the conflict so that we can be found on the winning side, a side most of us—like the Jews—only think we are on now.

II.     Peter Predicts the Conflict

Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
II Pt. 2:19

To trace this conflict from its germ to its end time fulfilment, we move next to Peter. In his second letter, Peter prophesies the development of a false liberty movement to come out of the church. In the immediate context, Peter warns about the rise of false teachers in the church who replace the truth of liberty from inner sin with an outward liberty that masks inner self-will and self-indulgence.

In course of his description, Peter uses certain highly significant words and pictures.

II Pet.2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you… 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 12 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, … will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

Containing elements from the Lord’s teaching on freedom, these phrases are also integral to end time prophetic scriptures. This teaching provides a direct link between what the Lord told the Pharisees and what Daniel and John tell us about the end.

Peter says that false liberty teachers will cause the way of truth to be maligned. He also states that a man is enslaved to what overcomes him. These two statements link directly back to what the Lord had told the Pharisees—identifying freedom with truth, and relating slavery to sin.

But Peter uses other phrases that connect to end time prophecy. These phrases move his teaching from context in the church to application on the world stage. Peter compares the teachers to false prophets, describes them as beasts to be killed, and as those who speak arrogant vanities. When we plug these values into the end time prophecies, we receive a revelation of what the end time conflict is about—and that we are in the midst of it now!

III.     Daniel and John Unveil the Final Conflict

Dan. 7:7 "After this … behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; … and it had ten horns. 8 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, … possess[ing]… a mouth uttering great {boasts.} 11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire."

Rev 13:3 …And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" 5 There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies… 7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

Rev. 13:14 And [the false prophet] deceives those who dwell on the earth … telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast.

Daniel and John unveil to us the end time conflict. They describe the development of a worldwide “beast” entity which utters arrogant boasts, blasphemes the way of the truth, is supported by a false prophet(ic body), makes war against the saints and is finally killed—virtually the same description used by Peter of the purveyors of false liberty.

The harmonization between Peter’s teaching and these prophecies reveals the following key things about the end:

— the final end time system of world control comes to power on the wings of the promise and doctrine of human freedom—ie, freedom removed from the truth of the gospel.

— the final conflict of the age is between this worldwide system of “human freedom” and the “saints”—ie, a people who advocate liberty from the power of sin found only through submission to the Truth.

—the strength of the false freedom movement is derived from the church. It rises out of the church as a byproduct of the kingdom gospel’s worldwide influence—spinning off as a corruption of the gospel’s message of true liberty.

IV.     “Liberty” Unmasked as Tyranny

Rev. 13:15 And it was given to [the false prophet] to…cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

On one hand, the end time beast comes to power on the boastful promise of liberty throughout the world. Its persuasive prophets decry “tyranny.” The beast even appears to have the military power to make good its promise of freedom, trampling on more obvious despots. "Who can make war with him?" The earth worships the beast on account of his promise and apparent ability to deliver on it.

But underneath, the beast harbors its own hidden heart of tyranny, being itself the slave of sin and corruption. Thus, what begins as voluntary worship through the alluring promise of liberty turns to forced worship under pain of death. What appears as a “free” economy under the beast’s authority morphs to become totalitarian. No one can buy or sell unless he “applies for a certain number.” (Anything sound familiar about this now?)

In the end, a world system that first advances itself to power on the promise of world freedom brings only slavery.

And yet, even as the true heart of this beast becomes unmasked, Revelation shows that the earth’s peoples continue to worship it, refusing to repent before the True One. Why? Like the Pharisees, those who worship at the altar of external human liberty are not only deluded about what true freedom is, but can be made into slaves while still believing themselves to be free.

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But how can all this happen? And in what kind of time frame? Is it suddenly? Does Daniel’s beast just arise in a day, or perhaps over a few years? What does it take to lead the entire world into slavery veiled as liberty?

Even more importantly, what are the implications for those of us who think of ourselves as politically “free” now? Is it possible we are not as free as we think we are? Could it be that the beast is closer to us than we have always thought? 

The only way to understand this subtle deceptive end time evolution—how it can occur, and where we may be in relation to it—is to understand the spiritual truth of wheat and tares.

[In Part II: Human Liberty: The Principle of the Tare…]

Chris Anderson
New Meadow Neck, RI

First Love Ministry
- a ministry of Anglemar Fellowship
http://www.firstloveministry.org

9/04

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