Jerome

[Daniel 7:8] "I was looking at the horns, and behold, another small horn rose up out of the midst of them, and three of the earlier horns were torn away before it. And behold, there were in that horn eyes like unto human eyes, and a mouth uttering overweening boasts." Porphyry vainly surmises that the little horn which rose up after the ten horns is Antiochus Epiphanes, and that the three uprooted horns out of the ten are Ptolemy VI (surnamed Philometer), Ptolemy VII (Euergetes), and Artaraxias, King of Armenia. The first two of these kings died long before Antiochus was born. Against Artarxias, to be sure, we know that Antiochus indeed waged war, but also we know that Artarxias remained in possession of his original kingly authority. We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings, that is, the king of Egypt, the king of Africa, and the king of Ethiopia, as we shall show more clearly in our later discussion. Then after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor. "And behold," he continues, "there were eyes like unto human eyes in that horn." Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form. "...and a mouth uttering overweening boasts..." For this is the man of sin, the son of perdition, and that too to such a degree that he dares to sit in the temple of God, making himself out to be like God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

What the same Apostle writes to the Thessalonians: Unless the apostasy shall come first, and the man of sin be revealed (2 Thess. 2:3), and so forth. In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians he wrote: But of the times and moments, brethren, you need not, that we should write to you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall so come, as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape. (1 Thess. 5:1 seq.) For he had written to them above: we say this to you in the word of the Lord, that we who live, who survive, will not precede those who have died in the advent of the Lord. For the Lord himself at the command of the Archangel's voice and the trumpet of God will descend from heaven, and the dead who are in Christ will rise first. Then we who live, who are left behind, will be carried together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort each other with these words (Ibid. 4:14 et seq.). When the Macedonians heard this, they did not understand whom the Apostle calls those who are to be swept in the clouds to meet the Lord, together with whom he calls the "surviving" ones; but they thought that Christ, in his majesty, would come before they were dead, while they were still in their bodies. When the Apostle heard this, he begs and adjures them by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. And that there are two advents of the Lord and that all the books of the prophets teach this and the faith of the Gospels. His first coming in humility and His next coming in glory which the Lord Himself testifies to what shall happen before the end of the world and how the Antichrist shall come. When He spoke to His Apostles, "When you shall see the abomination of desolation, standing where it ought not," let him that readeth understand. Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop, not go down into the house, nor enter therein to take any thing out of the house. And again: If any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; do not believe him. (Matthew 24:15-16, 23). For false Christ's and false prophets will arise, and they will doubt great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness!’ do not go out; ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Matthew 24:24-31) And he speaks again about Antichrist to the Jews: 'I came in the name of my Father, and you did not believe me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him' (John 7:43). So, some Thessalonians were stirred by an error in their minds, whether it was because they did not understand an epistle, or because of a fictitious revelation that deceived them while they were sleeping, or because of the interpretations of Isaiah, Daniel, and the words of the Gospels predicting Antichrist at that time, which disturbed them and caused them to hope that Christ would come in his majesty then. The apostle corrects this error and explains what they should expect before the coming of Christ, so that when those things happen, then they will know that Antichrist, that is, the man of sin and the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above everything called God or that is worshipped, will sit in the temple of God. Unless the apostasy comes first, which is called the ἀποστασία in Greek, so that all nations subject to the Roman Empire may depart from them, and he, the man of sin, may be revealed, in whom the fountain of all sins is; and the son of perdition, that is, the devil; for he is the destruction of all, who is opposed to Christ, and therefore called the Antichrist: and he is exalted above all that is called God, so that he may tread with his foot upon all the gods of nations, or approve every religion chosen, and true to him; and he may sit in the Temple of God, or in Jerusalem (as some believe), or in the Church (as we believe more truly), showing himself as if he were Christ himself, and the Son of God. Unless," he says, "the Roman kingdom exists before it is laid waste and Antichrist has already preceded, Christ will not come: who is therefore coming in such a way to destroy Antichrist. You remember, he says, that I was telling you all this in the present conversation when I was among you, and I was saying to you that Christ would not come unless the Antichrist had preceded. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time: that is, you know very well what is the reason why Antichrist is not coming at this time. Nor does he want to openly say that the Roman empire must be destroyed, which those who rule it regard as eternal. Therefore, according to the Apocalypse of John, on the forehead of the purple-clad prostitute, the name of blasphemy is written, that is, the eternal Rome. For if he had openly and boldly said that the Antichrist would not come unless the Roman empire was first destroyed, it would have seemed like a just cause for persecution to then arise against the Church in the east.

And that which follows: For now the mystery of iniquity operates only that he who now holds, holds until he is taken out of the way, and then the wicked one shall be revealed, whose arrival is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of iniquity, in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. And because of his unknown influence he shall prevail, until the advent of the predestined period and the end of the world. And just as the darkness of the sun is dispelled by its coming: so by the illustration of His coming, the Lord will destroy and wipe him out. Whose works are the works of Satan. And just as in Christ the fullness of divinity was embodied, so in Antichrist all will be strength, and signs, and wonders, but all of them lies. For just as the Magi were able to resist the signs of God which Moses worked through their false arts, and the rod of Moses devoured their rods; so the truth of Christ will devour the lies of Antichrist. But those who are prepared for destruction will be led astray by his lies. And since a silent question could be raised, why did God allow him to have all power, signs and wonders, through which, if possible, even the chosen ones of God could be deceived, he provided the answer before the question was asked, and he absolved what could be opposed, before it was made. He says that none of these things would be done by his own power, but by the permission of God, for the sake of the Jews, who did not want to receive the charity of the truth, that is, the Spirit of God through Christ, because the love of God is poured into the hearts of believers (Romans 5:5) : And he himself says: I am the truth (John 14:6) : Of whom it is written in the Psalms: Truth has emerged from the earth (Psalms 84:12). Therefore, those who have not received charity and truth, in order to be saved by having received the Saviour, God will send them not an operator, but the operation itself, that is, the source of error, so that they may believe the lie. For he himself is a liar and his father. And if Antichrist had been born of a virgin and had come first into the world, the Jews could have an excuse, and say that they had believed the truth and therefore received a lie for the truth. But now they are to be judged, or rather without doubt condemned: because, having rejected the truth of Christ, they will afterwards receive the lie, that is, Antichrist.