Post by Tom Green on Jan 28, 2007 12:10:37 GMT -5
The Greek/Roman Connection
Following the death of Alexander the Great, there was a great battle for control of the Middle East. The Greek houses of Seleucus and Ptolemy were both in close contact with the leaders of the Roman Empire. The Seleucid dynasty controlled Syria, ranging at times into Israel, especially in the days of Antiochus IV. Its latter rulers – extending to Antiochus XIII – were finally absorbed into the Roman Empire.
In those days, Greek blood merged with Roman blood. On the basis of the history quoted in this study, we believe that the roots of their Grecian genealogy carry the bloodline of the tribe of Dan. Thus, the Flavian house of A.D. 70 could be said to have a Danite genealogy.
There are many evidences for the close relationships between Seleucid Greeks and Roman royalty. One can be found in The Histories of Tacitus, himself a servant of the Flavian dynasty. As he recounts a Roman battle, we discover a Seleucid Greek:
"There was a small wood close by, too. From this they ventured to stage a counter-attack, and in so doing managed to kill the most eager of the praetorian troopers. Among the wounded was Prince Epiphanes (Antiochus IV, King of Commagene), who was eagerly leading his men into battle on Otho’s side."
Otho became a Roman emperor in A.D. 69, the year before Vespasian took the throne. He was the first husband of Nero’s wife Poppaea. Here, Otho and Antiochus were close confederates.
It is a historical fact that the children of the Seleucid Greeks merged into the royal houses of Rome. Josephus documents this in several ways, one of which follows:
"As to ourselves, although we have had many wars that have compassed us around, by reason of the covetousness of our neighbors, yet did not we determine to be troublesome either to you or to others that were related to us; but since we have now overcome our enemies, and have occasion to send Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, who are both honorable men belonging to our senate, to the Romans, we gave them this epistle to you also, that they might renew that friendship which is between us" (Antiquities, XIII, v. 8).
This "Numenius" was a Seleucid who preceded Antiochus IV, King of Commagene. He was also a member of the Roman senate. Again, this demonstrates the close relationships that existed between the Seleucids and the Romans.
The Model of the Beast
In the first and second centuries, there was much speculation about the identity of the Antichrist. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that about a year after Nero’s death in A.D. 69, the Emperor Vespasian brought stability back to Rome. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, there arose a clamor in Greece and Asia Minor that Nero was still alive.
Tacitus writes, "About this time Achaia and Asia were upset by a false alarm. It was rumored that Nero was on his way to them. There had been conflicting stories about his death, and so numbers of people imagined – and believed – that he was alive."
With this incident, there began the first of many Antichrist myths among Christian communities. As time went by, this belief in the so-called "Nero redivivus" propagated the false belief that Nero would somehow return to fulfill the Apostolic teachings about the "man of sin."
In the fifth century, Augustine commented on these reports about Nero: "Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; so that in saying, ‘For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,’ he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he shall rise again and be Antichrist. Others, again, suppose that he is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that he now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom" (Augustine, City of God, ch. 19).
Hayyim Schauss, author of The Jewish Festivals (1938) wrote a chapter on Tisha B’Av, in which he reported that students in Jewish schools are told that Nero was "a fine and gentle individual who abandoned his army near Jerusalem, escaped, and became a convert to Judaism. Not only that, but the great teacher, Rabbi Meir, was a descendant of his" (p. 103). No wonder rumors persisted that Nero faked his death. It would certainly be a bizarre turn of events if the Roman emperor who had the Apostle Paul beheaded should convert to Judaism!
In the First and Second epistles of John, the term "antichrist" is mentioned four times. He is presented as a prophetic personage. Of course, John also wrote about his political exploits in Revelation 13, where he is called, "the beast."
Even in the first century, there was much conjecture that the Antichrist would come from Roman royalty.
The Assertions of Irenaeus
For the purposes of this study — that the blood of Dan may flow through the veins of the Antichrist — we shall now look at the teaching of Irenaeus. He was born sometime between A.D. 115-130 and died in 202. He was a disciple of Polycarp who was, in turn, a disciple of John the Revelator and bishop of Ephesus. The teachings of Irenaeus are considered among the most important of early Christianity.
In his classic Against Heresies, he devotes a section to a discussion of Antichrist’s name. Bearing in mind that he received his instruction from a man taught by John himself, his thoughts on the identity of the Antichrist are most important.
At one point, Irenaeus spends some time dealing with the number of Antichrist’s name, asserting that the Apostle John probably knew his name, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it was obscured until the time for its revealing was right.
In terms of our present study, his concluding remarks about the Antichrist are stunningly significant:
"These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred sixty and six, let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, [let them learn] to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall terrify those men of whom we have been speaking, having a name containing the aforesaid number, is truly the abomination of desolation. This, too, the apostle affirms: ‘When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them.’ And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, ‘We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fullness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein.’ This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved." [Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book V, p. 1117]
Here, to support his view of the Antichrist, Irenaeus quotes Jesus, Paul and Jeremiah. The astounding nature of these statements, given in an almost conversational manner, must be considered in the light of the man who made them.
Dan’s Wild Horses
For this reason, we cannot overstate the importance of the fact that Irenaeus studied under Polycarp who, himself, had been personally discipled by the Apostle John, writer of the book of Revelation. He had been born only about 20 years after John’s death, when Polycarp was in the prime of his ministry.
As a young man, Irenaeus was personally tutored by Polycarp. How many anecdotes and personal stories they must have shared, as they talked about John’s life and beliefs! John’s very personality must have been made real to Irenaeus.
Polycarp lived to the ripe old age of 85, so there was plenty of time for the young Irenaeus to have absorbed John’s doctrine through him. Both men were fervently devoted to combating the several theological heresies that arose in the second century.
In the above statement about the Antichrist, Irenaeus quotes a portion of First Thessalonians 5:3, a verse usually connected with the unveiling of the Tribulation, not the coming of the Antichrist. In other words, he links the idea of "sudden destruction" with the Antichrist in a way that is not common today.
Then, he does something completely surprising, quoting a prophecy from Jeremiah as indicating the Israelite tribe from which the Antichrist will come:
"For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
"I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
"Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
"We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
"The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
"For, behold, I will send serpents, thingy-atrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 8:11-17).
The context of this section of Jeremiah prophesies the impending judgment of Judah in the time preoccupied with peace and security, when there is none. Certainly, his prophecy is set in the dark days of the Babylonian captivity. But it is also set in a global, latter-day background. How else are we to interpret the horses of Dan and the accompanying hoard of poisonous serpents?
As we have said, Irenaeus’ own interpretation of this Scripture must have come from his conversations with Polycarp and perhaps others who had personally received their doctrinal training from John. He has no difficulty linking Paul’s warning about the swift onset of the Tribulation with the "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15) and the horses of Dan. He sees Dan as the progenitor of the Antichrist.
He follows this train of logic with the assertion that Dan is not listed among the tribes of Israel because his tribe is the one that brings forth the Antichrist. Thus, we see that this belief dates back to the earliest days of the church!
Dan the Judge
Jeremiah’s picture of horses accompanied by serpents is not only the symbol of Dan, it is a view of the Apocalypse, which opens with four rampant horsemen. The first of them – the white horse – is commonly presented as the Antichrist:
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
"And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Revelation 6:1,2).
In rapid order, the red horse of war, the black horse of famine and the pale horse of death accompany him on a divinely ordained mission. They are the leaders of a horrifying procession of calamities that are brought upon the world in the seals, trumpets and vials of Revelation.
But their real purpose is judgment … judgment of Israel and of the nations. Earlier in this article we raised the question about the prophecy that Dan would, in time, rise to judge national Israel. We observed that the wandering tribe that never claimed its original land allotment, then fled to parts unknown, seems an unlikely judge.
One of the chief reasons for the Tribulation is the judgment of Israel. And the Antichrist is the leading element of this judgment. In the end, Israel will be brought down from religious arrogance to true faith. The prophet Daniel (A prince of Judah whose name means "God is my judge.") receives this particular truth at the end of his vision:
"Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
"And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished" (Daniel 12:5-7).
Here, the word "scatter," is from the Hebrew nefetz [.pb], which means, "to shatter, break or destroy, as with a hammer or war club."
The "holy people" is Israel, which has always been characterized as "stiffnecked," proud, and given to apostasy. The events of the Tribulation will bring them close to destruction. At its midpoint, the "abomination of desolation," mentioned by Christ and quoted by Irenaeus, brings forth the Antichrist as the instrument of God’s judgment.
If he is descended from Dan (as we believe he is), then truly, "Dan shall judge his people."
John’s powerful doctrine was preserved by Polycarp and Irenaeus, then handed down to another powerful figure of the early church.
The Testimony of Hippolytus
Hippolytus, a student and disciple of Irenaeus, lived from A.D. 170 to 236. He was a Roman citizen of Greek extraction who carried the words of his teacher forward to coming generations. His words powerfully echo those of his master.
In the following passage, his words bring together a number of symbols and ideas in support of the Danite background of the Antichrist:
"Thus did the Scriptures preach before-time of this lion and lion’s whelp. And in like manner also we find it written regarding Antichrist. For Moses speaks thus: ‘Dan is a lion’s whelp, and he shall leap from Bashan.’ But that no one may err by supposing that this is said of the Savior, let him attend carefully to the matter. ‘Dan,’ he says, ‘is a lion’s whelp’; and in naming the tribe of Dan, he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to spring. For as Christ springs from the tribe of Judah, so Antichrist is to spring from the tribe of Dan. And that the case stands thus, we see also from the words of Jacob: ‘Let Dan be a serpent, lying upon the ground, biting the horse’s heel.’ What, then, is meant by the serpent, but Antichrist, that deceiver who is mentioned in Genesis, who deceived Eve and supplanted Adam …? But since it is necessary to prove this assertion by sufficient testimony, we shall not shrink from the task. That it is in reality out of the tribe of Dan, then, that that tyrant and king, that dread judge, that son of the devil, is destined to spring and arise, the prophet testifies when he says, ‘Dan shall judge his people, as (he is) also one tribe in Israel.’ But some one may say that this refers to Samson, who sprang from the tribe of Dan, and judged the people twenty years. Well, the prophecy had its partial fulfillment in Samson, but its complete fulfillment is reserved for Antichrist. For Jeremiah also speaks to this effect: ‘From Dan we are to hear the sound of the swiftness of his horses: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing, of the driving of his horses’" (Hippolytus, The Extant Works and Fragments, Part 2, Paragraph 14).
Note that Hippolytus links the serpent in Dan’s prophecy with the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and thereby connects the Antichrist with the Old Serpent, Satan. He will fulfill the prophecy concerning the "seed" of the serpent (Gen. 3:15).
The Bashan Prophecy
This brings us to a final subject of utmost importance. As a way of emphasizing the tribal origin of the Antichrist, Hippolytus quotes Moses’ prophecy depicting Dan as a "lion’s whelp."
His point is well taken, but he didn’t comment upon the ethnic and territorial importance of historical Bashan.
The prophecy he quotes comes from Moses’ blessing of the twelve tribes, prior to his departure for Mount Nebo. In the context of the Antichrist’s genealogy, the portion of the prophecy devoted to Dan is absolutely staggering:
"And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (Deuteronomy 33:22).
When we think of a lion, our first thought is of Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He came to Israel, but was rejected. The prophet Hosea quoted the Lord in this way:
"For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him" (Hosea 5:14).
Jesus sprang from the tribe of Judah. But another lion is coming, this time from Dan. He will be a pretender to the messianic throne who will claim to fight for Judah and Jerusalem.
This lion – the Antichrist – will spring from Bashan, the fertile territory east of the Sea of Galilee, and northward to Mount Hermon and Damascus. Our study has established that during the period of Greek rule, this was the territory of Seleucid Syria!
Bashan is the territory of Seleucid Syria! Through this prophecy, Moses affirms that the Antichrist will leap from the dynasty of the Seleucids. Here, we find further biblical documentation that the genealogy of Dan lives on in the blood of those descended from Graeco-Roman royalty.
We must conclude by stressing that these disclosures are only the tip of a very large iceberg. There are hundreds of additional references in Greek and Roman history that throw light on this subject. Needless to say, our studies will continue!
Following the death of Alexander the Great, there was a great battle for control of the Middle East. The Greek houses of Seleucus and Ptolemy were both in close contact with the leaders of the Roman Empire. The Seleucid dynasty controlled Syria, ranging at times into Israel, especially in the days of Antiochus IV. Its latter rulers – extending to Antiochus XIII – were finally absorbed into the Roman Empire.
In those days, Greek blood merged with Roman blood. On the basis of the history quoted in this study, we believe that the roots of their Grecian genealogy carry the bloodline of the tribe of Dan. Thus, the Flavian house of A.D. 70 could be said to have a Danite genealogy.
There are many evidences for the close relationships between Seleucid Greeks and Roman royalty. One can be found in The Histories of Tacitus, himself a servant of the Flavian dynasty. As he recounts a Roman battle, we discover a Seleucid Greek:
"There was a small wood close by, too. From this they ventured to stage a counter-attack, and in so doing managed to kill the most eager of the praetorian troopers. Among the wounded was Prince Epiphanes (Antiochus IV, King of Commagene), who was eagerly leading his men into battle on Otho’s side."
Otho became a Roman emperor in A.D. 69, the year before Vespasian took the throne. He was the first husband of Nero’s wife Poppaea. Here, Otho and Antiochus were close confederates.
It is a historical fact that the children of the Seleucid Greeks merged into the royal houses of Rome. Josephus documents this in several ways, one of which follows:
"As to ourselves, although we have had many wars that have compassed us around, by reason of the covetousness of our neighbors, yet did not we determine to be troublesome either to you or to others that were related to us; but since we have now overcome our enemies, and have occasion to send Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, who are both honorable men belonging to our senate, to the Romans, we gave them this epistle to you also, that they might renew that friendship which is between us" (Antiquities, XIII, v. 8).
This "Numenius" was a Seleucid who preceded Antiochus IV, King of Commagene. He was also a member of the Roman senate. Again, this demonstrates the close relationships that existed between the Seleucids and the Romans.
The Model of the Beast
In the first and second centuries, there was much speculation about the identity of the Antichrist. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that about a year after Nero’s death in A.D. 69, the Emperor Vespasian brought stability back to Rome. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, there arose a clamor in Greece and Asia Minor that Nero was still alive.
Tacitus writes, "About this time Achaia and Asia were upset by a false alarm. It was rumored that Nero was on his way to them. There had been conflicting stories about his death, and so numbers of people imagined – and believed – that he was alive."
With this incident, there began the first of many Antichrist myths among Christian communities. As time went by, this belief in the so-called "Nero redivivus" propagated the false belief that Nero would somehow return to fulfill the Apostolic teachings about the "man of sin."
In the fifth century, Augustine commented on these reports about Nero: "Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; so that in saying, ‘For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,’ he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he shall rise again and be Antichrist. Others, again, suppose that he is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that he now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom" (Augustine, City of God, ch. 19).
Hayyim Schauss, author of The Jewish Festivals (1938) wrote a chapter on Tisha B’Av, in which he reported that students in Jewish schools are told that Nero was "a fine and gentle individual who abandoned his army near Jerusalem, escaped, and became a convert to Judaism. Not only that, but the great teacher, Rabbi Meir, was a descendant of his" (p. 103). No wonder rumors persisted that Nero faked his death. It would certainly be a bizarre turn of events if the Roman emperor who had the Apostle Paul beheaded should convert to Judaism!
In the First and Second epistles of John, the term "antichrist" is mentioned four times. He is presented as a prophetic personage. Of course, John also wrote about his political exploits in Revelation 13, where he is called, "the beast."
Even in the first century, there was much conjecture that the Antichrist would come from Roman royalty.
The Assertions of Irenaeus
For the purposes of this study — that the blood of Dan may flow through the veins of the Antichrist — we shall now look at the teaching of Irenaeus. He was born sometime between A.D. 115-130 and died in 202. He was a disciple of Polycarp who was, in turn, a disciple of John the Revelator and bishop of Ephesus. The teachings of Irenaeus are considered among the most important of early Christianity.
In his classic Against Heresies, he devotes a section to a discussion of Antichrist’s name. Bearing in mind that he received his instruction from a man taught by John himself, his thoughts on the identity of the Antichrist are most important.
At one point, Irenaeus spends some time dealing with the number of Antichrist’s name, asserting that the Apostle John probably knew his name, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it was obscured until the time for its revealing was right.
In terms of our present study, his concluding remarks about the Antichrist are stunningly significant:
"These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred sixty and six, let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, [let them learn] to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall terrify those men of whom we have been speaking, having a name containing the aforesaid number, is truly the abomination of desolation. This, too, the apostle affirms: ‘When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them.’ And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, ‘We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fullness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein.’ This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved." [Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book V, p. 1117]
Here, to support his view of the Antichrist, Irenaeus quotes Jesus, Paul and Jeremiah. The astounding nature of these statements, given in an almost conversational manner, must be considered in the light of the man who made them.
Dan’s Wild Horses
For this reason, we cannot overstate the importance of the fact that Irenaeus studied under Polycarp who, himself, had been personally discipled by the Apostle John, writer of the book of Revelation. He had been born only about 20 years after John’s death, when Polycarp was in the prime of his ministry.
As a young man, Irenaeus was personally tutored by Polycarp. How many anecdotes and personal stories they must have shared, as they talked about John’s life and beliefs! John’s very personality must have been made real to Irenaeus.
Polycarp lived to the ripe old age of 85, so there was plenty of time for the young Irenaeus to have absorbed John’s doctrine through him. Both men were fervently devoted to combating the several theological heresies that arose in the second century.
In the above statement about the Antichrist, Irenaeus quotes a portion of First Thessalonians 5:3, a verse usually connected with the unveiling of the Tribulation, not the coming of the Antichrist. In other words, he links the idea of "sudden destruction" with the Antichrist in a way that is not common today.
Then, he does something completely surprising, quoting a prophecy from Jeremiah as indicating the Israelite tribe from which the Antichrist will come:
"For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
"I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
"Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
"We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
"The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
"For, behold, I will send serpents, thingy-atrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 8:11-17).
The context of this section of Jeremiah prophesies the impending judgment of Judah in the time preoccupied with peace and security, when there is none. Certainly, his prophecy is set in the dark days of the Babylonian captivity. But it is also set in a global, latter-day background. How else are we to interpret the horses of Dan and the accompanying hoard of poisonous serpents?
As we have said, Irenaeus’ own interpretation of this Scripture must have come from his conversations with Polycarp and perhaps others who had personally received their doctrinal training from John. He has no difficulty linking Paul’s warning about the swift onset of the Tribulation with the "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15) and the horses of Dan. He sees Dan as the progenitor of the Antichrist.
He follows this train of logic with the assertion that Dan is not listed among the tribes of Israel because his tribe is the one that brings forth the Antichrist. Thus, we see that this belief dates back to the earliest days of the church!
Dan the Judge
Jeremiah’s picture of horses accompanied by serpents is not only the symbol of Dan, it is a view of the Apocalypse, which opens with four rampant horsemen. The first of them – the white horse – is commonly presented as the Antichrist:
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
"And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Revelation 6:1,2).
In rapid order, the red horse of war, the black horse of famine and the pale horse of death accompany him on a divinely ordained mission. They are the leaders of a horrifying procession of calamities that are brought upon the world in the seals, trumpets and vials of Revelation.
But their real purpose is judgment … judgment of Israel and of the nations. Earlier in this article we raised the question about the prophecy that Dan would, in time, rise to judge national Israel. We observed that the wandering tribe that never claimed its original land allotment, then fled to parts unknown, seems an unlikely judge.
One of the chief reasons for the Tribulation is the judgment of Israel. And the Antichrist is the leading element of this judgment. In the end, Israel will be brought down from religious arrogance to true faith. The prophet Daniel (A prince of Judah whose name means "God is my judge.") receives this particular truth at the end of his vision:
"Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
"And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished" (Daniel 12:5-7).
Here, the word "scatter," is from the Hebrew nefetz [.pb], which means, "to shatter, break or destroy, as with a hammer or war club."
The "holy people" is Israel, which has always been characterized as "stiffnecked," proud, and given to apostasy. The events of the Tribulation will bring them close to destruction. At its midpoint, the "abomination of desolation," mentioned by Christ and quoted by Irenaeus, brings forth the Antichrist as the instrument of God’s judgment.
If he is descended from Dan (as we believe he is), then truly, "Dan shall judge his people."
John’s powerful doctrine was preserved by Polycarp and Irenaeus, then handed down to another powerful figure of the early church.
The Testimony of Hippolytus
Hippolytus, a student and disciple of Irenaeus, lived from A.D. 170 to 236. He was a Roman citizen of Greek extraction who carried the words of his teacher forward to coming generations. His words powerfully echo those of his master.
In the following passage, his words bring together a number of symbols and ideas in support of the Danite background of the Antichrist:
"Thus did the Scriptures preach before-time of this lion and lion’s whelp. And in like manner also we find it written regarding Antichrist. For Moses speaks thus: ‘Dan is a lion’s whelp, and he shall leap from Bashan.’ But that no one may err by supposing that this is said of the Savior, let him attend carefully to the matter. ‘Dan,’ he says, ‘is a lion’s whelp’; and in naming the tribe of Dan, he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to spring. For as Christ springs from the tribe of Judah, so Antichrist is to spring from the tribe of Dan. And that the case stands thus, we see also from the words of Jacob: ‘Let Dan be a serpent, lying upon the ground, biting the horse’s heel.’ What, then, is meant by the serpent, but Antichrist, that deceiver who is mentioned in Genesis, who deceived Eve and supplanted Adam …? But since it is necessary to prove this assertion by sufficient testimony, we shall not shrink from the task. That it is in reality out of the tribe of Dan, then, that that tyrant and king, that dread judge, that son of the devil, is destined to spring and arise, the prophet testifies when he says, ‘Dan shall judge his people, as (he is) also one tribe in Israel.’ But some one may say that this refers to Samson, who sprang from the tribe of Dan, and judged the people twenty years. Well, the prophecy had its partial fulfillment in Samson, but its complete fulfillment is reserved for Antichrist. For Jeremiah also speaks to this effect: ‘From Dan we are to hear the sound of the swiftness of his horses: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing, of the driving of his horses’" (Hippolytus, The Extant Works and Fragments, Part 2, Paragraph 14).
Note that Hippolytus links the serpent in Dan’s prophecy with the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and thereby connects the Antichrist with the Old Serpent, Satan. He will fulfill the prophecy concerning the "seed" of the serpent (Gen. 3:15).
The Bashan Prophecy
This brings us to a final subject of utmost importance. As a way of emphasizing the tribal origin of the Antichrist, Hippolytus quotes Moses’ prophecy depicting Dan as a "lion’s whelp."
His point is well taken, but he didn’t comment upon the ethnic and territorial importance of historical Bashan.
The prophecy he quotes comes from Moses’ blessing of the twelve tribes, prior to his departure for Mount Nebo. In the context of the Antichrist’s genealogy, the portion of the prophecy devoted to Dan is absolutely staggering:
"And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (Deuteronomy 33:22).
When we think of a lion, our first thought is of Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He came to Israel, but was rejected. The prophet Hosea quoted the Lord in this way:
"For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him" (Hosea 5:14).
Jesus sprang from the tribe of Judah. But another lion is coming, this time from Dan. He will be a pretender to the messianic throne who will claim to fight for Judah and Jerusalem.
This lion – the Antichrist – will spring from Bashan, the fertile territory east of the Sea of Galilee, and northward to Mount Hermon and Damascus. Our study has established that during the period of Greek rule, this was the territory of Seleucid Syria!
Bashan is the territory of Seleucid Syria! Through this prophecy, Moses affirms that the Antichrist will leap from the dynasty of the Seleucids. Here, we find further biblical documentation that the genealogy of Dan lives on in the blood of those descended from Graeco-Roman royalty.
We must conclude by stressing that these disclosures are only the tip of a very large iceberg. There are hundreds of additional references in Greek and Roman history that throw light on this subject. Needless to say, our studies will continue!