June 10 - 1 John 2:18-19. Antichrist

June 10 - 1 John 2:18-19. Antichrist

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

This is an interesting look at the idea of the antichrist.  A lot of us believe that there will be one antichrist and that he (or she) will be a world leader and will become obvious in their plans to overtake the world.

This word is pretty much taken straight from the Greek – antichristos.  The person is an adversary of Christ and will show up in the last days. John is the only person in the New Testament who uses this word and he uses it only in two of his letters (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3 and 2 John 7).  The word is not found in any of the Gospels, Paul doesn’t use it in his letters and, believe it or not, it is not found in the Revelation.

There are several references in Revelation to the false prophet – and apocalyptic traditions have built the assumption that these are one and the same. There is no reason to believe otherwise, but it was a little surprising to realize that the use of the term was limited to the first two letters from John.

John tells us that we are in the last hour, AND that the antichrists (plural, not singular) go out from us.  They were part of us and then left.  Antichrists are identified by their false teaching.  Now, Jesus and Paul spoke and wrote a great deal regarding false prophets. We must be wary.

The best way to guard against false teaching, whether it comes from within or without is to act as the Bereans in Acts 17:11.  It’s one of my favorite passages.  I’ll let you look it up!