Dr. Couch, is Revelation 13:3 a reference to the Antichrist or to the restoration of the Roman Empire?
ANSWER: The Antichrist is the “beast” in this passage, but he will be the
instrument in restoring the Roman Empire. Note in verse 3 he “appears”
to have been slain and to have come back from the dead. This is a
counterfeit of the actual death and resurrection of Christ. We are now
seeing the progressive construction of the Roman Empire taking place in
Europe. There is the European parliament, common money, open borders, a
common European taxation, and open trade between countries.
We premillennialists and dispensationalists
are continually being proven correct in our normal, literal
interpretation of Scripture. I don’t know what the poor
allegorist/covenant/amillennial guys are going to do! They have no
biblical and prophetic answers as to what we see in history that matches
up with Scripture. I sometimes watch Dr. Kenney on television. He never
can speak of international issues. His audience is going to sleep, and
they rarely have a Bible in their laps. Covenant theology is a dead end
and can not speak to the issues of the rapture, the tribulation, and the
coming earthly reign of Christ in Jerusalem! Poor fellows!
To show how demented the covenant guys are in
reference to prophecy, we look to Ellicott’s commentary on Revelation.
He says, “The beast of Rev. 13 is always the figure of the kingdoms of
this world today.” And, “the wild beast (the Antichrist) broke forth
when Christianity seemed to have put fetters on the Roman empire.”
What??? What sick interpretation.
Thanks for asking,
Dr. Mal Couch
