CHAPTER EIGHT. ANTICHRIST IN THE PSALMS.
The references to the Man of Sin in the book of
Psalms are, for the most part, more or less incidental ones. With rare
exceptions he comes into view only as he is related to Israel, or as he affects
their fortunes. One cannot appreciate the force of what is there said of him
except as that is examined in the light of its prophetic setting. The time when
the Antichrist will be in full power is during the Tribulation period, and it
is not until we discover, by careful searching, which of the Psalms describe
the Time of Jacob's trouble, that we know where to look for their last great
Troubler.
Politically and ecclesiastically the Antichrist
may be viewed in a threefold connection, first, as he is related to the
Gentile; second, as he is related to the apostate Jewish nation; third, as he
is related to the godly Jewish Remnant, who separate themselves from their
unbelieving brethren. More details are furnished us in the Psalms upon this
third relationship than upon the other two, though we have occasional allusions
to Antichrist's connections with the Gentiles and the Jewish nation as a
whole.
The second Psalm gives us a brief but vivid
picture of that which will wind up the Tribulation period, and while the
Antichrist is not directly named, yet the light which other scriptures throw
upon it reveals the dreadful personality who heads the rebellion there
described. This second Psalm is prophetic in its character and has, like most
(if not all) prophecy, a double fulfillment.
"Why do the heathens rage, and the people imagine
a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us
break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" (Psa. 2:1-3). A
part of this passage is found quoted in Acts 4, but it is striking to note
where the quotation ceases. Peter and John had been arraigned before the
religious authorities of Israel, because that in the name of Jesus Christ they
had healed an impotent man. The apostles boldly and faithfully vindicated
themselves, and after being admonished and threatened were allowed to depart to
their own company. Then it was that they "lifted up their voice to God with one
accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and
the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hath
said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings
of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord,
and against His Christ" (Acts 4:24-26). Notice they quoted only the first two
verses of Psalm 2, and this they did not say was now "fulfilled". What they did
say was, "For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed,
both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,
were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel
determined before to be done" (v. 28). In the apprehension of Christ and in His
trials before the Jewish and Gentilish authorities, this prophecy through David
had received a partial fulfillment, but its final one is yet future. The time
when Psalm 2 is to receive its complete accomplishment is intimated in the
middle section - it is just prior to the time when Christ returns to the earth
as "King", and receives the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts
of the earth for His possession; in other words, it is just before the dawn of
the Millennium, namely, the end of the Tribulation period.
As we re-read this second Psalm in the light of
Rev. 16:14 and 19:19 we find that it depicts the final act in the blatant and
defiant career of the last great Caesar. it is an act of insane desperation.
The Son of Perdition will gather his forces and make a concerted effort to
prevent the Christ of God entering into His earthly inheritance. This we
believe is evident from the terms of the Psalm itself.
The Psalm opens with an interrogation: "Why do
the heathen (the Gentiles) rage (better, "tumultuously assemble"), and the
people (Israel) imagine (meditate) a vain thing?" The fact that this is put in
the form of a question is to arrest more quickly the reader's attention, and to
emphasize the unthinkable impiety of what follows. "The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against
His Anointed". Notice that this rebellion is staged not only against the Lord
but also against His "Anointed", that is, His Christ. The madness of this
effort (headed by Antichrist) is intimated in v. 4: "He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision". The futility of
this movement is seen in v. 6: "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of
Zion". The "yet" here has the force of "notwithstanding": it shows the aim and
the object which the insurrectionists had in view, namely, an attempt to
prevent Christ returning to earth to set up His millennial kingdom. The
response of heaven is noted in v. 5: "Then shall He speak unto them in His
wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure". This is enlarged upon in Rev.
19:20,21. Psalm 2, then, brings us to the end of the Antichrist's history and
treats only of the closing events in his awful career. In the other Psalms
where he is in view earlier incidents are noted and his dealings with the Jews
are described.
The next Psalm in which the Antichrist appears is
the fifth. This Psalm sets forth the petitions which the faithful Remnant of
Israel will make to God during the Tribulation period. It would carry us beyond
our present bounds to attempt anything like a complete exposition of this Psalm
in the light of its prophetic application. We shall do little more than
generalize.
The Tribulation period is the time when Satan is
given the freest rein, when lawlessness abounds, and when to the unbelieving
heart it would seem that God had vacated His throne. But the eye of faith
recognizes the fact that Jehovah is still ruling amid the armies of the heavens
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Hence the force of the Divine title in
v. 2 - the remnant address Jehovah as "My King and my God". The most
awful wickedness and rebellion is going on around them, but they are fully
assured that God is quite able to cope with the situation. "The Wicked shall
not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy
them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (vv.
5,6).
The "Bloody and Deceitful Man" is plainly the Man
of Sin. He is denominated "bloody" by virtue of his military ferocity; he is
called "deceitful" because of his political duplicity. One after another of his
opponents will fall before him: through a sea of blood will he advance to his
imperial throne. Utterly unreliable will be his word, worthless his promises. A
manifest incarnation of that one who is the father of the Lie will he be. Most
completely will he deceive the Jews. A first, posing as their friend; later,
standing as their arch-enemy. All doubt as to the identity of this Bloody and
Deceitful Man" is removed by what is said of his mouth".
From Psalm 5 we turn to Psalm 7 where we find the
godly Jewish Remnant crying unto the Lord against their persecutors, chief of
which is the Antichrist. This is clear from the first two verses, where the
change from the plural to the singular number is very significant - "O Lord my
God, in Thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and
deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there
is none to deliver". The Remnant plead their innocency before God and call down
upon themselves the Enemy's curse if they have acted unjustly - "O Lord my God,
If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have requited him
that did evil unto me, or spoiled mine adversary unto emptiness; Let the Enemy
pursue my soul, and overtake it" (vv. 4-6, Jewish translation). This at once
serves to identify the individual of v. 2 who would tear their souls like a
lion" (not like a bear) - showing his kinship with that awful one who "goeth
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". Observe, too, the word he
"was at peace", but now "without cause is mine enemy". Clearly it
is the Antichrist that is here in view, and, as manifested in the second half
of Daniel's seventieth week, when he shall have thrown off his mask and stood
forth revealed in all his dreadfulness. The twelfth verse goes on to say, "If
he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready".
It is this which causes the Remnant to cry, "O Lord my God, in Thee do I put my
trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me" (v. 1). The
fourteenth verse unmistakably identifies this end-time Enemy of Israel, and
again stamps him as a worthy son of the father of the Lie - "Behold, he
travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth
falsehood". In the sixteenth verse the Remnant express their assurance of the
certain fate of their Foe: "His mischief shall return upon his own head, and
his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate".
The eighth Psalm is closely connected with the
seventh. In the last verse of the seventh we hear the Remnant saying, "I will
praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing praise to the
name of the Lord most high". This anticipates the time when they shall be
delivered from their awful Enemy, and when the glorious Millennium shall have
dawned - "The Lord most high" is His distinctive millennial title. Psalm
8 follows this with a lovely millennial picture, when Jehovah will be
worshipped because His name is then "excellent in all the earth". Then shall
the Remnant say, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained
strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightiest still the Enemy and
the Avenger" (v. 2). The Enemy and the Avenger, more literally "the Foe and
the Revenger", are two of the many names of the Antichrist.
Much in the ninth Psalm also anticipates
millennial conditions and celebrates the overthrow of the Man of Sin. Sings the
Remnant, "For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause; Thou satest in the
throne judging right. Thou has rebuked the heathen, Thou hast destroyed the
Wicked" (vv. 4,5). That the Wicked, or Lawless One, is the Antichrist, is clear
from the next verse: "The destructions of the Enemy are come to a perpetual
end: and their cities hast Thou destroyed". We hope to show in a later chapter
that "their cities" which God will destroy are the cities of Antichrist and the
False Prophet, namely, Babylon and Rome. Again; in vv. 15,16 of this Psalm we
read, "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which
they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which He
executeth: the Wicked is snared in the work of his own hands!" This refers to
the destruction of the Antichrist and his forces at Armageddon.
In the tenth Psalm we have the fullest
description of the Antichrist found in any of the Psalms. This Psalm is divided
into four sections: first, the Cry of the Remnant (v. 1); second, the Character
of the Antichrist (vv. 2-11); third, the Cry of the Remnant renewed (vv.
12-15); fourth, the Confidence of the Remnant (vv. 16-18). In its opening verse
we discover its dispensational key - the "Times of Trouble" (cf. Jer. 30:7)
being the great Tribulation. Observe now what is here said of the Wicked One.
In v. 2 we read, "The Wicked in his pride doth persecute (R. V. "hotly pursue")
the poor". The "poor" (referred to in this Psalm seven times - vv.
2,8,9,9,10,14, and "humble" in v. 17 should be "poor" - emphasizing the
completeness of their poverty) are the faithful Remnant who have refused
to receive the mark of the Beast, and as the result are suffered to neither buy
nor sell (see Rev. 13:17). In vv. 3,4 we are told, "For the Wicked (One)
boasteth of his heart's desire, and curseth, yea, abhorreth the Lord (see
Hebrew). The Wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after
God: all his thoughts are - no God". This tells of his frightful impiety and
reveals his satanic origin. In v. 6 his consuming egotism is depicted: "He hath
said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity".
Then follows a description of his awful wickedness: "His mouth is full of
cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He
sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he
murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor". Notice in this
last verse the mention of "the secret places". It was to them our Lord referred
in His Olivet Discourse, when He said, "Wherefore if they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not". This whole Psalm will well repay the most minute
study.
In the opening verse of the fourteenth Psalm we
have what we doubt not is another reference to the Antichrist, here called
"The Fool". He is the arch-fool, who, in his blatant defiance, says in
his heart - "no God". The mark of identification is found in the marginal
reading of Psalm 10:4: "All his thoughts are - "no God". Does not this title
point out another contrast between Christ and the Antichrist: One is "the
wonderful Counseller", the other is "the Fool"!
In the seventeenth Psalm, which contains the
confession of the Remnant, (pleading their innocency before God), reference is
again made to the antichrist. "By the word of God's lips" will the believing
Jews be "kept from the paths of the Destroyer". This is another of his titles
which points a contrast: Christ is the Saviour; Antichrist the Destroyer. That
it is the Antichrist who is here in view is clear from what follows in vv. 12
and 13, where we read, "Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it
were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast
him down: deliver my soul from the Wicked, by Thy sword". The "Wicked" is here
in the singular number. Note again the reference to the "secret places", about
which we shall have something to say, in our exposition of Matt. 24, vv. 25,
and 26 when we treat of the Antichrist in the Gospels.
We pass over several Psalms which contain
incidental allusions to the Wicked One and turn now to the thirty-sixth. The
wording of the first verse is somewhat ambiguous, and we believe its force
comes out better by rendering it, with the Sept., Syriac and Vulgate, "the
transgression of the Wicked saith within his heart, that there is no fear of
God before his eyes". He defies Jehovah and fears not Elohim. "For he
flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful"
(v. 2). Haughty conceit fills him, but in the end he shall reap as he has sown.
"The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he hath left off to be wise,
and to do good" (v. 3). This refers to his treacherous dealings with the Jews,
and takes note of the two great stages in his career; first, when he poses as
Israel's friend, later when he comes out in his true character as their enemy.j
Verse 4 describes his moral character: "he deviseth mischief upon his bed; he
setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil".
The thirty-seventh Psalm, which in its ultimate
application has to do with the godly Remnant in the Tribulation period,
contains a number of references to the Antichrist. In the seventh verse the
Remnant is exhorted to "rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him" (i.e. for
His personal appearing) and to "fret not because of him who prospereth in his
way, because of the Man who bringeth wicked devices to pass" - a manifest
allusion to the Man of Sin. In the tenth verse they are assured, "for yet a
little while, and the Wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place, and it shall not be". In vv. 12 and 13 we read, "the Wicked plotteth
against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at
Him: for He seeth that his day is coming". This brings out the satanic malice
of Antichrist against the people of God, and also marks the Lord's contempt for
him as He beholds the swiftly approaching doom of this one who has so daringly
defied Him. The end of the Wicked is noticed in v. 35. "I have seen the Wicked
in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed
away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found". The
whole of this wondrous Psalm calls for close study. It throws a flood of light
on the experiences of the Remnant amid the awful trials of the end of the
age.
"I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin
not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the Wicked is
before me" (Psa. 39:1). This sets forth the resolutions of the Remnant in view
of the troublesome presence of the Wicked One; while in v. 8 they are seen
praying that they may not be made the reproach of the Foolish One - "Deliver me
from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the Foolish".
The forty-third Psalm opens with the plaintive
supplications of the Remnant in view of the contempt and opposition of the
Jewish nation as a whole, at the head of which will be the false Messiah:
"Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me
from the deceitful and unjust Man. For Thou art the God of my strength: why
dost Thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the
Enemy?" The allusion to the deceit and injustice of the man of Sin views, of
course, his breaking of the covenant.
In the forty-fourth Psalm we are given to hear
more of the bitter lamentations of the Remnant, betrayed as they have been by
the one who posed as their benefactor, and scorned as they are by their fellow
Jews: "Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among
the people (Israel). My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my
face covered me, For the voices of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by
reason of the Enemy and Avenger".
The fiftieth Psalm is one of deep interest in
this connection. It announces the response of Jehovah to the cries of His
faithful people. It declares that "God shall come, and shall not keep silence:
a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be tempestuous round about Him"
(v. 3). It promises that He will gather His saints together unto Him (v. 5). It
contains an exposulation with Israel as a whole (see vv. 7-14). And then, after
bidding His people call upon Him "in the Day of Trouble" and assuring them He
will deliver them, God addresses their Enemy as follows: - "But unto the Wicked
God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest
take My covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth My
words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him,
and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy
tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou
slanderest thine own mother's son" (vv. 16-22). First, God rebukes the
Antichrist for his hypocrisy, referring to the time when, at the beginning of
his career, he had (like Satan in tempting the Saviour) come declaring God's
statutes and taking the Divine Covenant in his mouth (v. 16). Second, He
charges him with his treachery when, at the midst of the seventieth week, he
had cast God's words behind him (v. 17). Third, He exposes his depravity and
shows that he is altogether destitute of any moral sensibility (vv. 18-20).
Fourth, He reminds him of how he had congratulated himself that he should
continue on his vile course with impugnity and escape the due reward of his
wickedness (v. 21). Finally, He announces the certainty of retribution and the
fearful doom which awaits him (v. 22).
The fifty-second continues and amplifies what has
just been before us from the closing verses of the fiftieth Psalm. Here again
the Antichrist is indicted by God - no doubt through the Remnant. "Why boastest
thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth
continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working
deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak
righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
God shall likewise destroy thee forever, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling
place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also
shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not
God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened
himself in his wickedness" (vv. 1-7). The pride, the enmity, the treachery, the
moral corruption, and the vaunting of the incarnate Son of Perdition are all
noticed and charged against him. The certainty of his doom, and his degradation
before those he had persecuted, is graphically depicted.
The prophetic application of the fifty-fifth
Psalm first found its tragic realization in the treachery of Judas against the
Lord Jesus, but its final accomplishment yet awaits a coming day. In it we may
see a pathetic description of the heart-pangs of the Remnant, mourning over the
duplicity of the mock Messiah. Driven out of Jerusalem, they bewail the awful
wickedness now holding high carnival in the holy city: "Wickedness is in the
midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an
enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that
hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from
him: But it was thou, a man mine equal (i.e. a Jew), my guide, and mine
acquaintance" (vv. 11-13). Thus will the Jews in a coming day be called upon to
endure the bitter experience of betrayal and desertion by one whom they
regarded as their friend. Concerning their Enemy the Remnant exclaim, "He hath
put forth his hand against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his
covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his
heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords" (vv. 20,21).
The reference is to the seven-year Treaty which the final Caesar makes with
Palestine, and which after three and one half years is treated as a scrap of
paper. But such treachery will not go unpunished. In the end Antichrist and his
abettors will be summarily dealt with by the Judge of all the earth: "But Thou,
O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful
men shall not live out half their days" (v. 23).
Psalm seventy-one contains another of the
Remnant's prayers during the End-time. "Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand
of the Wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel Man" (v. 4). The
reference is, again, to the Man of Sin who has acted unjustly, and whose
fiendish delight it will be to persecute the people of God.
In Psalm seventy-two we find expressed the
confidence of the Remnant. They are there seen anticipating that joyful time
when God's King shall reign in righteousness. With glad assurance they exclaim:
"He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgments. The
mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills Thy
righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the
children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the Oppressor" (vv. 2-4).
Mighty as their Enemy appeared in the eyes of men, and invincible as he was in
his own estimation, when God's appointed time comes he shall be broken in
pieces as easily as the chaff is removed by the on-blowing wind.
The seventy-fourth Psalm makes reference to the
violence of the Antichrist against the believing Remnant: "They said in their
hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of
God in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any profit: neither is
there any among us that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the Adversary
reproach? Shall the Enemy blaspheme Thy name forever?" (vv. 8-10). This
contemplates the time when the Man of Sin and his lieutenants will make a
desperate effort to cut off Israel from the earth and abolish everything which
bears the name of God. Note it does not say "all the synagogues" will be burned
up, but the "synagogues of God", that is, where the true and living God is
owned and worshipped.
The eighty-third Psalm carries us to a point a
little nearer the end. Not only will the synagogues of God be all destroyed,
but an attempt will be made to exterminate those who still worship God in
secret. Listen to the tragic pleadings of this Satan-hunted company, "Keep not
Thou silence, O God: hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo,
Thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy
hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a
nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance" (vv. 1-4). As to
who is responsible for this the verses following show. In v. 5 we read, "For
they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against
Thee". Then will be realized man's dream of a League of Nations. It is
remarkable that just ten nations are here named - see vv.6-8. "Assur" in v. 8
is "the Assyrain" - the Antichrist in his king-of-Babylon character. This verse
is one of the few passages in the Psalms which shows the Antichrist in
connection with the Gentiles. Psalm 110:6 also contains a reference to him as
related to the Gentiles - "He hath stricken the Head over many countries" (R.
V.).
The one hundred and fortieth appears to be the
last of the Psalms that takes note of the Antichrist. There we hear once more
the piteous cries of the Remnant to God: "Deliver me, O Lord, from the Evil
Man: preserve me from the Violent Man: Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the
Wicked; preserve me from the Violent Man; who hath purposed to overthrow my
goings...Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the Wicked: further not his wicked
device" (vv. 1,4,8).
Thus we have glanced at no less than twenty
Psalms in which allusion is made to the Antichrist. This by no means exhausts
the list; but sufficient has been noted to show what a prominent place is there
given to this dreadful monster. Let it not be supposed that we are denying the
present value and application of the Psalms to ourselves. Nothing is more
foreign to our desire. We not only firmly believe that all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is "profitable for doctrine", but we readily and
gladly unite with the saints of all ages in turning to this precious portion of
God's Word to provide us with language suited to express to God the varying
emotions of our hearts. But while allowing fully the experimental and doctrinal
value of the Psalter for us today, it needs to be pointed out that many of the
Psalms have a prophetic significance, and will be used by another company of
believers after the Church which is the body of Christ has been removed from
these scenes of sin and suffering. We would urge those of our readers who are
interested in dispensational truth to re-study these lyrics of David with a
view of discovering how much they reveal of things to come.