At the same time, Neal reassures us that she is “ absolutely not a ‘date-setter’!” (p.107). But she then redefines ‘generation’ with a sense of it meaning ‘lifetime’, giving it a numerical value of 80 years to fit a scheme which takes us to 2028. She rightly identifies this as the generation who are living at the time when all these signs begin to happen. One issue here is Neal’s interpretation of ‘generation’ in Matthew 24. The meat of the book is the middle chapters, which focus on God’s shaking of the nations and what he says about the End-times, based on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Neal is right to issue a wake-up call to ‘Be aware!’ of the spirit of antichrist that is active in the world. But while he has authority over mankind in rebellion against the Lord, it is the God of Israel who rules and reigns (Psalms 93-99), and it is the Lord Jesus to whom all authority has been given.
She sets the scene by brief studies of the Antichrist in the prophetic visions of Daniel, and the descriptions of the character of Antichrist in the New Testament as Satan seeks to rule over disobedient mankind. The message is: Make no mistake – the Antichrist IS arising. However, Neal is right to issue a wake-up call to ‘Be aware!’ of the spirit of antichrist that is active in the world. This is too wide a definition and not in line either with the use of the word in John’s epistles, where the emphasis is on deliberate deceivers and heresies (1 John 2:18, 2 John 7), or the biblical view of the final Antichrist as one who aims to take the place of’ Christ, which the author does go on to focus on. In reality, anyone who rejects Jesus Christ and His message of salvation through faith in Him, is effectively anti-Christian, and thereby is ‘anti-Christ’ in their personal beliefs and opinions” (p.29). Unfortunately, her initial definition is rather misleading, by claiming it simply means “ someone who is against Christ. The author first considers the meaning of the term ‘Antichrist’. The layout of the book is clear and progressive. We need to understand these and make a timely response, in particular to what the Bible says about the rise of the Antichrist, and the effect of this on humanity in the context of the rapid changes now upon us. The signs of the End-times are all around us. Michele Neal begins her study by explaining her reason for writing the book. “ The rise of the Antichrist is prophesied in the Bible, and this reality is coming to pass”.
“ This is not the fantasy of a blockbuster Hollywood movie, nor is it a joke”, notes the blurb on the back of this End-times book.
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