Yes, we are jumping back into Matthew's gospel and we previously ended on Matthew 4:22. Next, Jesus preaches to great crowds.

 This next section of Matthew's gospel is entitled

“Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds.”

Yes, we are jumping back into Matthew's gospel, and we previously ended on Matthew 4:22, where four of the new disciples have left their jobs fishing and are now following Jesus.

I now throw in a bonus question.

Where was the Apostle Paul's first stop in virtually every city he entered?

If you said the synagogue, you would have been right. But that opens a line of sarcastic questioning; I thought the focus, here in the Gospels, was on Jesus? Well, it is, but guess what? We frequently found Jesus in the synagogues.

What was the logic of a move like that?

Some will say, what an odd question, seeing as the message Paul delivered almost got him killed on several occasions and was his final end.

One of the answers to such an obvious question is that Paul was a changed man and thoroughly committed to the message of Jesus and God's grace because of what he encountered on the road to Damascus. Paul was prepared to die for this message of grace.

Isn't that what we saw in Jesus?

Jesus did not change His ways, for He was sin-free (this state of being sin-free had everything to do with NOT being born with damaged human DNA. Yes, I believe that the fruit they ate, much like current vaccines that change your DNA, changed theirs, and every human being born of man was born with a propensity to sin. God bypassed all that by having the virgin Mary carry a fertilized ovum that He made.) In spite of valid temptations from Satan, Jesus stayed committed to the painful path that would bring those of us who accept God's love back into the arms of the Father.

How do I apply what Paul did to Christ?

Jesus, too, was painfully aware that His death would come, and it is not difficult to watch something like The Chosen, which portrayed Him frequently praying all night, and imagine Him speaking freely with the Father and asking, is there any other way? He knew what was coming for Him would be brutal and painful, and yet He continued to stay committed to the cross.

When you read the Gospels, you see Jesus frequently saying things like, tell no one, and my time has not yet come. No, He did not want to die prematurely – as though that could happen but was more than willing to take our place on the cross and pour out His blood on our behalf.

So, what did Paul preach to these Jews in their synagogues?

The message that Paul preached was based on the Torah – the Old Testament and there were always a few who listened, heard the truth, absorbed what he said, and believed.

So, too, was the message that Jesus preached. He preached from the Torah, just as Paul did. Now, picture the disciples. Did they understand, absorb, and believe? Strangely, many indicated that they did. The reality of that understanding was wrapped up in their longing for Jesus to be the warring Messiah that they longed for. Instead of war, his message was one of love and the hope of peace obtained by a relationship with the Father. 

In either case, these new Jewish “believers” were the beginnings of new churches, which we are familiar with because Paul wrote letters back to those communities.

So much for an introduction.

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” Matthew 4:23 MKJV)

Let that sink in.

• Jesus went about all Galilee.

  This sounds like purposeful intent to me. The crowds were not in the Jewish synagogues but were the result of the times when they fed the thousands that came, and they came because of the miracles.

• Doing what?

  Teaching in their synagogues.

  That means, in Galilee, Jesus had a reputation as a respected Rabbi, and they gave Him, initially, an open door to teach.

  Preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

  The Jews had an understanding of what the kingdom represented, and it had everything to do with the time when God was back in full control of the earth, and Jesus ruled as the warring Messiah. While that imagery must have carried some weight in Jesus' mind, the kingdom was, at this point, love and gentleness.

  What did He tell James and John when they wanted to call fire down on the small crowd that disrespected them?

  Effectively, He said that is NOT why they were here and that they were to act as gentle as doves and wise as serpents.

And healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Matthew 4:23 ESV  “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

If you are doing a more intense study, read from multiple translations because that one word that the translators used has multiple meanings.

“The news G189 about Him spread G565 R1 throughout G1519 all G3650 Syria G4947; and they brought G4374 to Him all G3956 who were ill G2192 G2560, those suffering G4912 with various G4164 diseases G3554 and pains G931, R2 demoniacs G1139, N1 R3 epileptics G4583, R4 paralytics G3885; and He healed G2323 them.”
Matthew 4:24 NASB+)

• who were ill

  G2192 echō - to be held in possession.

  G2560 kakōs - to be grievously ill, wrongly held by evil.

• suffering

  G4912 sunechō - suffering, perplexed, or afflicted.

• various

  G4164 poikilos - various, diverse, manifold.

• diseases

  G3554 nosos - Disease, sickness. Metaphorically, pain, sorrow, evil.

• pains

  G931 basanos - (by analogy) torture: - just generally tormented.

• Those who were thought to be demoniacs

  G1139 daimonizomai - to be used by a demon: - to be vexed with, or possessed by demons.

• Epileptics

  G4583 selēniazomai – these people often shake uncontrollably and fall: -many are thought to be lunatics.

• Paralytics

  G3885 paralutikos - “paralytic”: one who is deprived of the power of muscular motion; there are sometimes thought of as weak, trembling, and subject to  involuntary shaking;

After doing all this for the people, His fame spread throughout Syria and a few other places.

“And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed them.
Matthew 4:24 KJV)

In the book of Acts, we see a statement that seems to be a retelling of Matthew 4:24.

“But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Acts 10:35-38 KJV)

This last statement, more than all the others, says that there is no disease among humans that does not have its origins in Satanic oppression. I also had a strong sense that this was Peter talking because Peter did not mention Syria, the land of Gentiles. It is.

Why wouldn't Peter, in Acts 10, bring the Syrians into the conversation?

Because he, more than Matthew (an apostate Jew when Jesus found him,) was a devout Jew and Syrians were unclean; to touch them would have made him unclean (according to Jewish - add-on laws – the Tenach), and Peter struggled to maintain his Jewish identity.

Some will try to come back at me on this last statement because Peter was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Yeah, that didn't last long; we know this because we eventually find Peter seated among the “Christian” Jewish council in Jerusalem.

Acts chapter ten seems to be the major marker that we assume makes him the Apostle to the Gentiles. The scriptures tell us.

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!" And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter.” Acts 10:1-5 NKJV)

It is possible this is the same centurion who, upon seeing all that happened to Jesus, said, surely this is the Son of God. If not, it is a peculiar coincidence that the scriptures give us multiple instances that refer to “the centurion.”

“And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” Matthew 27:53-54 KJV)

We are not told what Cornelius' prayer was, but if I were to guess, he wanted as much of God as God was willing to give. With that in mind, the angel in the vision tells him that his prayers and acts of kindness have come up before God, so go get Peter.

I am always stunned at how well God coordinates these appointments. So, while Cornelius has sent men to ask if Peter would come to the house, in the meantime, God begins to show Peter a vision that, in a few minutes, breaks down Peter's barriers in a manner that would convince Peter to enter the house of a Gentile. (Note, at this point, for the most part, salvation - life in Christ, has only come to the Jews.)

“...Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." Acts 10:9-15 NKJV)

In case you are lost, we have been working on Matthew 4:24, where Jesus' fame went throughout all of Syria. By the time Peter has his interaction with Cornelius and his family, Jesus has been dead for several years now.

If Jesus went into Syria, we are not told about it in any other place.

It becomes obvious and quickly that Jesus has been to many places.

Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:25 NKJV)

People were now following Jesus, not just from Galilee but from Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea.

So this travelog begins with John the baptizer baptizing Jesus somewhere around Bethany. Jesus traveled North to Nazareth and then to Capernaum and eventually moved South once again toward Jerusalem.

Questions and concerns about the antichrist. Part two of four.

 It feels like I covered all my bases in dealing with the antichrist in the previous post, so let's move on to the rule and influence of the antichrist.

“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” Revelation 13:1-2 NKJV

The beast rises out of the sea, and the sea is the nations.

Check your focus because usage of the word nations tends to send our minds to Indonesia or Myanmar. For the Jewish audience, this reference to the sea was an allusion to the nations that surrounded Israel. Nothing has changed, and almost every nation surrounding Israel is under Islamic rule. There is an oddity in that a bizarre, multi-headed beast is suddenly referred to as a male entity, which has a throne, and Satan, himself, has given this man his power.

The question is, who gives someone evil, like George Soros, the power to bring down nations and economies?

This is one of those rhetorical questions that really does not need an answer, but hopefully, it makes you think. I suspect that the same people who empower the likes of Bill Gates and George Soros will empower this man as well. 

We are told that the dragon gives the antichrist power; we have nothing that says that Satan does not empower others. Matthew's gospel recorded that Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness. This time ended with Satan offering Jesus the riches and glory of the kingdoms of this world (Matthew 4:8,) so it is Satan's to give thanks to Adam, and he is capable of giving this power to whoever he pleases.

"Throne" is the Greek word thronos and can mean (to sit) in a stately seat (“a throne”); by implication, it means power or (concretely) a potentate.
A synonym for potentate is a dictator.

How do most dictators come to power?

Through bloodshed (Most often through the death of previous leadership and those who refused to comply with the new state of things.) Isn't that what we have been experiencing over the last several years. On the plus side, we have not had to see much of the bloodshed?

Pay close attention to the words.

This idea that this coming “man” will be shot in the head is bogus.

“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3 NKJV

This bizarre, multi-headed beast initially represents kingdoms or authority figures that assert power over us even though we may not have voted for them. In the world of dangerous, multi-headed beasts, we have already had one sustain such a wounding. Sadly, only some of us will pay attention to this piece of history, and for the most part, you are deemed a racist fanatic if you focus on words like Muslim or Islam. This oppression allows for Islam to grow and fester right beneath our noses, and no one seems to care.

End page one.

1920s-era classic yacht previously owned by royalty.

The Empire that sustained such a mortal wound was the Ottoman Empire. This “head” was tormenting the world of the early 1920s, and many feared that it/they would take over the peace-loving existence they understood back then. One of Islam’s notable offenses during this “global” reign of terror was to board luxury ships and take “white,” well-to-do people off those ships and sell them as slaves to traders from the Northern African coast. As you might imagine, that did not settle well with many back home. Finally, with the aid of a well-armed coalition that included the United States Marine Corp. and the British military, mortally wounded, or so they thought, the head of this beast in 1924. The Ottoman Empire went silent for years, and the Martini-drinking, global vacation crowd cheered. At the time, the world breathed a sigh of relief and may have said, Thank God that oppressive power is dead.

Guess what?

Slowly, under other names, the head of this beast began to resurrect itself. It finally came back into full bloom in 1979 with the Islamic revolution in Iran. 

So much for supposedly killing the beast.  

If you have been paying attention to the Mideast news, then you know that Hezbollah and Hamas, both Islamic instruments of destruction funded by people with deep pockets and political ties, have been tormenting Israel for years. 

Now, you may think Hezbollah and Hamas are wholly justified in their actions. But we are Bible-believing people and should have an understanding of the promises made to Abraham.

“And the LORD said to Abram after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Genesis 13:14-15 NKJV

Regardless of your political affiliations and twisted bent toward Israel, God promised the land to His people – descendants of Abraham through Issac. When it comes to Ishmael and Esaau, their descendants, too, would become the sands of the sea.

An intriguing comparison in light of Revelation’s references to the sands of the sea. 

One more thing.

Did you notice how the above scripture passages end with the word forever?

Once this promise was made, it was never rescinded.

Genesis 12:5-7 NKJV “Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6) Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7) Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”

Watch what happens next.

Having sustained what appeared to be a mortal wound, the beast – an empire, came back to life; “all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3.

To this day, conversations surrounding Islam are thrown back at me, with "we will never see Islam become large enough or strong enough to rule the world." Unfortunately, we buy into that false understanding, for Islam is wholly committed to dominating the world.

“So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" Revelation 13:4 NKJV

The question is, who is this "they" who are worshiping the beast?

It is NOT the church, for the believers will have been snatched off the earth by God when this happens. Keep in mind that people are dying under these conditions as we speak, so don't get too haughty.

Since you nor I can see the heart of the person that sits next to you in church and is now vehemently arguing with you as though they are a supporter of Islam, even worse, you have no way of knowing if they are truly a follower of Jesus Christ. My own son-in-law will tell you I don't read the Bible but make decisions as to whether the message I hear is Godly or will lead me to God. Based on this, I am not sure what he believes; therefore, he may well be one of those people who will make up the “they” who will fall on his knees to worship the beast, as I described below.

Most of the people who make up this crowd of “worshipers” are, in most cases, blinded; they will prostrate themselves in submission. How about the weak, who will submit to whatever this fool will be selling? Some will submit to Islam. It may not go so well for you if you do that, as they will probably kill you because you are weak, but if it does, it is a man's religion as the woman is subservient and easily brutalized and killed under Sharia law. The drawback is that entrance into the heaven these people are looking for only comes by spilling your own blood in Jihad.

Worshiped is the Greek word proskuneō,  meaning “ To kiss like a dog licking his master’s hand, which can imply a fear-based subservience. It also carries the idea of prostrating yourself in homage.

Prostrating myself before God/Jesus seems like the finest thing I could do because He has forgiven me for so much. But, it, too, can imply submissiveness based on fear.

Homage, as defined by Webster, reads,

"In feudal law, the submission, loyalty and service which a tenant promised to his lord or superior,when first admitted to the land which he held of him in fee; or rather the act of the tenant in making this submission, on being invested with the fee. The ceremony of doing homage was thus performed. The tenant, being ungirt and uncovered, kneeled and held up both his hands between those of the lord, who sat before him, and there professed that "he did become his man, from that day forth, of life and limb and earthly honor," and then received a kiss from his lord.”

The idea that the antichrist creates a new religion and forces everyone to worship him, as we do the Father, is based on the assumption that these people, referred to as “they,” worshiped the beast, antichrist, because the beast (an empire) which they alternately see as a man, sustains this mortal wound, dies, and comes back to life.

As children, we watched cartoons that portrayed incidents just like this. What did the bystanders in the cartoon do? They said ooh, and aah, and then blindly followed this leader into some form of captivity.

We cannot find a biblical or legitimate reason to see the world following this man’s religion if he has one, or to initially worship him. 

In time, he will try to make the entirety of the global population bow to him. I am making a massive assumption here because, as I have pointed out, most of our eschatological conversation should be focused on the Mideast. There is nothing dominant that should make us change our thinking. 

Well, there is one thing: the idea of a sea.

The seas touch the shorelines of virtually every significant nation that plays a role in the end times. If the antichrist, like one of our recent American Presidents, has declared that he is a Muslim, then the “religion” that this man may try to make everyone follow is Islam. (If he shows up wearing a monk’s robe, he may try to push everyone to be a Catholic; at least they are not so openly violent.) Islam also advocates, through violence, that all people bow to Allah in allegiance. An intriguing way to look at life and prophecy, right? 

I need to interject this.

Recently, on 07/21/23, an individual who makes Christian videos recommended that we all watch a Christian video but gave no defining terminology, so I watched a few minutes of it, clicked dislike, and turned it off. The video was the preaching of Pastor Robert Breaker. His claim to fame is that he is a proponent of the King James version of the Bible only, as it, in his opinion, is the untainted word of God. 

Untainted? Not by a long shot, and as the now deceased Bible teacher Dr. Chuck Missler used to say, “the King James is filled with errors but those errors are well known and documented,” and we have pointed those out errors on multiple occasions. I pointed out one of those major issues as we looked at 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and how the Catholic church, the state church of England, in the 1500s, forced King James to rewrite and change the wording found in the Geneva Bible to reflect their disdain for those leaving the church. This action taken by the Catholic church diminished and changed our focus on the rapture and perverted the way we look at the timing of this event. I am sure this information means nothing to most of you, but it is vital, and the lack of sound and biblical wisdom feeds into the confusion I perpetually hear from the mouths of those I sit by in church – people, by the way, that will not pick up their Bibles, I know this because they tell me.

Pastor Breaker initiated his talk with a chuckle as he stated that there are a lot of false teachers out there. He continued his address by trying to define what will happen after the rapture. If you are a follower of Christ that reads your Bible, then you know that a significant player emerges after the rapture and is called the antichrist.

Pastor Breaker quickly focused on Revelation 13:3, and he seemed antagonistic as he talked about why we should take the bible literally when it says this man receives a mortal wound. (No matter the translation, it does NOT say that he receives a mortal wound.)

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”
Revelation 13:3 KJV

Try to picture a human with three heads, and one of them takes a bullet. You cannot because there is NO way something like this can exist. It is certainly easier to imagine a head of state being killed, but even that is morbid and goes against our moral character if we have one.

How does the Tree of Life translation convey this same verse?

“One of his heads seemed to have been slain, but the fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.”
Revelation 13:3 TLV

Can you see a common thread?

They both imply that it seemed to be dead. The King James Bible adds, “his deadly wound was healed.” And both express that many begin to follow this beast because it rises from its deadly wound, and now, in the form of a man, he is doing great signs, much like the old testament prophets did.

The Strong's concordance gives us this.

One short Greek word, hōs, and we get all this, as it were, in that manner.

“ as it were' is the transliteration for the Greek word hōs. In effect, that means we have no direct translation and, therefore, must improvise.

“his” is the Greek word hautou and has some vague meanings. It is a contraction for G1438; self (in some oblique case or reflexive relation): - her (own), (of) him (-self), his (own), of it, thee, their (own), them (-selves), they.

Perhaps this is indicative of the amount of information that we do not know about the antichrist. What we do know is that the antichrist is always referred to as he.

“deadly” is the Greek word thanatos, and it means death; however, it can mean death in a figurative sense.

We are not playing words here, as the verse itself tells us to look at this as if it had been mortally wounded.

“Wound” is the Greek word plēgē. It means, by implication, a wound, but figuratively we are to be looking for a calamity.

Calamity, according to Webster, is any great misfortune or cause of misery.

Go back to the beginning of page two, where I gave a brief explanation of how the Ottoman Empire fulfilled this role. Having been captured, outlawed, and forced to disband, certainly qualifies as a calamity for them, at least for a time.

One of the things that bothers me is how much authority and power the “bible teachers” give the antichrist.

Daniel chapter eleven is both a history lesson and an eschatological map of the end times. For example:

“His forces will rise up and profane the fortified Temple; they will stop the daily offering and set up the abomination of desolation.”
Daniel 11:31 TLV

Anyone who reads the Bible with the intent to learn knows that the antichrist will do just that but at the three-and-one-half-year mark. I am not foolish because I know that Antiochus Epiphanes did this very thing. If you understand that prophecy, to the Jew, is repetition, then you know that it just makes sense for God to have shown them this very thing on a previous occasion.

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Daniel 12:11 NKJV

So much of Daniel 11 speaks of Antiochus Epiphanes; however, there is a moment where there is a definite shift in power. Notice the time frame, 1290 days. If you have been doing the math, the first segment of the seven years is clearly stated as 1240 days. Because we have been fed this idea of a seven-year peace treaty, you would logically assume that the last section of time would also be 1240 days. Surprise, the antichrist seems to be the one who establishes this extra fifty days. Another surprise comes as we were prompted to see the false prophet as the one who sets up an image of the beast, the abomination of desolation, and we all seem to believe that this happens three-and-one half-years into the seven years of the covenant. 

Once the temple sacrifices are reestablished 1240 days later, the daily sacrifices will cease. 1290 days later, the image of the beast will be set up in the temple. Now pay attention to something I have never understood before. 

"Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." Daniel 12:12 NKJV

From the time the daily sacrifice is taken away until Revelation 19:11, where Jesus comes back for war, riding a white horse, would appear to be these 1335 days. We assume a lot of things. Such as: how quickly the temple gets built after the rapture, how quickly the antichrist shows up after the rapture, how the antichrist's affirmation of the covenant is the trigger for the seven years of  God's wrath, and how the seven-year period must hold to a precise seven years. Well, let's not make assumptions here, either. 

Revelation 19:12-18 gives us a tremendous amount of background information, all of which can transpire with a thought. So we don't have to go looking for gaps in time.

"And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army."

Revelation 19:19 NKJV

Revelation 19:19 does not allow for last-minute preparations, as this has been at the forefront of the beasts thinking since he came into power; and, when Jesus shows up, they are there, in the Megiddo Valley, waiting for their chance to kill the Messiah. Good luck with that.

Back to our descriptions of the beast.

“And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably and seize the kingdom by intrigue.” Daniel 11:21 NKJV

Consider how the Tree of Life version conveys this same passage.

“Then in his place will arise a despicable person, on whom royal honor has not been conferred. He will come in a time of tranquility, and seize the kingdom through intrigue.” Daniel 11:21 TLV

The terminology makes me think of King Charles 111. His mother added the title “Sir” to a tremendous number of people. Whoever it is that will step up to fill the role of the antichrist (it will not carry the title of antichrist) will have no previously known title.

Honor. The Hebrew word is hôd and means splendor, majesty, vigor, and glory.

Many, like Emmanuel Macron, are contending to hold power over the planet. Macron is contending for the title of antichrist, although he does not realize it.

Kingship - malkûth meaning rule; concretely a dominion: - empire, kingdom, realm, reign.

This has a familiarity to it. Again the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, or Barack Obama, should be excluded as they have both held the rule over a dominion.

Another clear description of the antichrist that excludes many is this statement - “on whom royal honor has not been conferred.”

Conferred is the Hebrew word nâthan and means to give or put upon him.

Because he, the antichrist, affirms the peace covenant, we seem to think he is the one that initiates it, and that is not what the scriptures tell us.

A common translation reads like this.

“he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;” NKJV

End part two.