of the Antichrist that was " to come" in the last times, according as they had been orally taught, who would be the antitype of these his forerunners and servants." Comp. also 1 John iv, 1-3 ; 2 John v, 7. " From John and Paul together we learn (1) that the Antichrist should come ; (2) that he should not come until a cer- tain obstacle to his coming was removed ; (3) nor till the time of, or rather till after the time of the anoara- aia ; (4) that his characteristics would be (o) open op. position to God and religion ; (b) a claim to the in, communicable attributes of God; (c) iniquity, sin, and lawlessness; (d) a power of working lying miracles; (e) marvellous capacity of beguiling souls ; (5) that he would be actuated by Satan ; (6) that his spirit was already at work manifesting itself partially, incom- pletely, and typically, in the teachers of infidelity and immorality already abounding in the church" (Smith, s. v.).
The Obstacle, (to Kartxov). — Before leaving the apostolical passages on Antichrist, it is expedient to inquire into the meaning of the "obstacle" alluded to in the last paragraph: that which uwithholdeth'" (to Kartxov, 2 Thess. ii, 6) ; described also in ver. 7 as a person: "he who now lettetW (6 KaHxiav). The early Christian writers generally consider "the ob- stacle" to be the Roman empire; so "Tertullian (De liesvr. Cam. c. 24, and Apol. c. 32) ; St. Chrysostom and Theophylact on 2 Thess. ii ; Hippolytus (be Anti- chrisio, c. 49) ; St. Jerome on Dan. vii ; St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, xx, 19) ; St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech. xv, 6 ; see Dr. H. More's Works, Ik. ii, ch. xix, p. G90; Mede, bk. iii, ch. xiii, p. 656; Alford, GJc. Test. iii, 57; Wordsworth, On the Apocalypse, p. 520). Theo- doret and Theodore of Mopsuestia hold it to be the de- termination of God. Theodoret's view is embraced by Pelt; the Patristic interpretation is accepted by Wordsworth. Ellicott and Alford so far modify the Patristic interpretation as to explain the obstacle to be the restraining power of human law (to kaTtxov~) wielded by the empire of Rome (<i (oarsvwi') when Tertullian wrote, but now by the several governments of the civilized world. The explanation of Theodoret is untenable on account of Paul's further words, 'un- til he be taken out of the way,' which are applied by him to the obstacle. The modification of Ellicott and Alford is necessary if Ave suppose the cnrooTaoia to bo an infidel apostasy still future ; for the Reman empire is gone, and this apostasy is not come, nor is the Wick- ed One revealed. There is much to be said for the Patristic interpretation in its plainest acceptation. How should the idea of the Roman empire being the obstacle to the revelation of Antichrist have origi- nated? There was nothing to lead the early Chris- tian writers to such a belief. They regarded the Ro- man empire as idolatrous and abominable, and would have been more disposed to consider it as the precur- sor than as the obstacle to the Wicked One. What- ever the obstacle was, Paul says that he told the Thes- salonians what it was. Those to whom he had preached knew, and every time that his Epistle was publicly read (1 Thess. v, 27), questions would have been asked by those who did not know, and thus the recollection must have been kept up. It is very difficult to see whence the tradition could have arisen, except from Paul's own teaching. It may be asked, Why then did he not express it in writing as well as by word of mouth ? St. Jerome's answer is sufficient : ' If he had openly and unreservedly said, "Antichrist will not come unless the Roman empire be first destroyed," the infant church would have been exposed in conse- quence to persecution' (ad Air/as. Qu. xi, vol. iv, p. 209, Par. 170G). Remigius gives the same reason : ' He spoke obscurely for fear a Roman should perhaps read the Epistle, and raise a persecution against him and the other Christians, for they held that they were to rule for ever in the world' (Bib. Pair. Max. viii, 1018 ; see Wordsworth, On the Apocalypse, p. 343). It
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■would appear, then, that the obstacle was probably the Roman empire, and on its being taken out of the way there did occur the ' falling away.' Zion the beloved city became Sodom the bloody city — still Zion though Sodom, still Sodom though Zion. According to the view given above, this would be the description of the church in her present estate, and this will continue to be our estate, until the time, times, and half time, dur- ing -which the evil element is allowed to remain within her, shall have come to their end" (Smith, s. v.).
4. Passages in the Apocalypse. — (1) The Beast from ike Sea. The Apocalypse symbolizes the final opposi- tion to Christianity as a beast out of the pit (xi, 7) : "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them ;" out of the sea (xiii): "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion ; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (comp. the whole chapter, and chap, xvii, 1-18). The "beast" is here similar to the Little Horn of Daniel. " The Beast whose power is absorbed into the Little Horn has ten horns (Dan. vii, 7), and rises from the sea (Dan. vii, 3) : the Apocalyptic Beast has ten horns (Rev. xiii, 1), and rises from the sea (ibid.). The Little Horn has a mouth speaking great things (Dan. vii, 8, 11, 20): the Apocalyptic Beast has a mouth speaking great things (Rev. xiii, 5). The Lit- tle Horn makes war with the saints, and prevails (Dan. vii, 21) : the Apocalyptic Beast makes war with the saints, and overcomes them (Rev. xiii, 7). The Little Horn speaks great words against the Most High (Dan. vii, 25) : the Apocalyptic Beast opens his mouth in blasphemy against God (Rev. xiii, 6). The Little Horn wears out the saints of the Most High (Dan. vii, 25) : the woman who rides on, i. e. directs, the Apoc- akyptic Beast, is drunken with the blood of saints (Rev. xvii, 6). The persecution of the Little Horn is to last a time, and times and a dividing of times, i. e. three and a half times (Dan. vii, 25) : power is given to the Apocalyptic Beast for forty-two months, i. e. three and a half times (Rev. xiii. 5)" (Smith, s. v.). These and other parallelisms show that as the Little Horn was typical of an individual that should stand to the church as the leading type of Antichrist, so John's Apocalyp- tic Beast was symbolical of a later individual, who should embody the elements of a similar Antichristian power with respect to the Christians.