By C. Eldon McNabb

In Psalm 69:13-29, King David wrote about the agony of Jesus on the cross, and how the leaders, as well as the general population of Israel, insulted and abused the Son of God. And David called for God to exact retribution on them, saying, "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." In the space of about forty years, from the beginning of Jesus' ministry, all of those things had come upon natural Israel. They were slaughtered, and scattered, and Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord were destroyed. And to this day, "the sword" follows them everywhere they go.

In this prophecy, and in Psalm 109:8, the Psalmist made two prophetic statements which Peter quoted, in Acts 1:15-20, saying, "Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let another take." At a glance, reading the way these statements were phrased in the Psalms, you might think it was a general statement about all Israel, but, in fact, these statements are about two people. In Acts 1, Peter applied the prophesy to one person: Judas Iscariot, whom Jesus called The Son of Perdition (John 17:12; Acts 1:15-20). And Paul, in 2 Thess. 2:1-6, prophesied of another Son of Perdition, who would be revealed before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. (This is a good example of Isaiah 28:10 in action: "precept upon precept.")

This prophecy, in Psalm 69, is much more easily understood when we comprehend that the prophecy is speaking about two different times, historically. And, in the light of Romans 2:6-11,28,29, it also speaks of both the nation of Israel, and of Gentile Christianity as a whole. He also speaks particularly of Jesus Christ, who was to come twice.

That first Son of Perdition, was one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles. The second time Jesus comes, the other Son of Perdition must precede His coming; as a sign of His soon coming. And he shall sit as king, in the seat of God's anointed (Moses' seat); until he is removed from that office, in fulfillment of Ezekiel 21:24-27. The prophet said, "Thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end (Dan. 9:24). Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."

All prophecies must be fulfilled in a certain setting. Likewise, Ezekiel 21:24-27, can be fulfilled only within the functions of the restored Church, and within 70 years from the time of its rising in 1903 (Dan. 9:2,24). And Peter told us that Jesus would be kept in Heaven until the fulfillment of all of those things (Acts 3:19-21).

According to Ezekiel, at the time of the casting down of that "profane wicked prince of Israel" from the leadership of the Church, "Iniquity shall have an end." (That is to say, all iniquity which the prophets said would occur in the Church, throughout the Grace Age (2 Tim. 2:20), will have been accomplished). A careful study of Ezekiel 21:24-27, and its mates elsewhere, will reveal that a group of people must rise up, near the end of the Grace Age. That group shall be overturned and rise up again, and that shall happen a second time, and then a third. And God set that up, partly to help us recognize the Son of Perdition when he was revealed.

At that third overturning, the Church shall fall into a sleep of death, "Until he comes whose right it is." Then, when God gives the leadership of His people to that man, the final work of God of the sixth Millennium will begin. With God's permission, that man will assemble a group of God's Elect, and lead them to perfection (Heb. 6:1): "A glorious church (The Bride the Lamb's Wife), not having spot (unrighteous ministers Jude 1:8-14), or wrinkle (erroneous doctrine), or any such thing ."

At the revealing of the first Son of Perdition, in about A.D. 33, the nation of Israel had several things on their table of doctrine which hid from them the fact that Messiah had truly come in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Those errors of doctrine became a snare unto them, and what should have been unto them a great blessing became a trap. Consider John 7:40-44, "Many of the people . . . said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" They knew the prophecy, but they did not know how to apply it in relationship to its fulfillment, and also to him being called a Nazarene.

Jesus came, as the prophets had said, but their eyes were blinded, and they were not allowed to "come into (God's) righteousness." Their idolatry, disobedience and rebellion caught up with them, and they were cast aside, as salt which has "lost its savor," except for the election which we refer to as "the Early Church" (Rom. 11:7).

The doctrine regarding the Son of Perdition, who shows up at this end of the age, and who is popularly called "The Antichrist," is one of the most prominent doctrines on the "table" of Christian doctrine today. The modern promotion that "another natural temple must be built in Jerusalem, and, after the 'rapture,' he must rule the world from there," is simply not a viable assertion. Paul was talking about the New Testament, spiritual, Temple which he described in Eph. 2:19-22: The Church of God. This erroneous promotion is just one of several major errors which are sapping the zeal of today's Christians for searching the Scriptures to find out what is really going to happen.

In 1995, in my book, God's Church, Prophecy in Motion, I revealed who The Son of Perdition was. I know, because I was there, and saw it happen between 1964 and 1972. And, in the process of time, God made me to realize what had actually happened. Truly, one of the big prophecies is behind us, but most prominent Christian leaders are still insisting that we anticipate its fulfillment in the future. Of this prophecy, in particular, Paul admonished us to not let anyone deceive us by any means, that Jesus could, or would, come before the Son of Perdition had been revealed

Gentile Christianity has fallen into the same errors as did Israel of old, in spite of Paul's admonition to us in Romans 11, saying, "Take heed that He also spare not thee." Christianity has become polluted with idolatry, disobedience and rebellion against the Word of God. We have fallen into a trap because of the errors which we have inherited from our spiritual "fathers," over the last few centuries. And we have fallen into a spiritual slumber; even the Churches of God which, because of their prophecy-driven activities and anointed prophets for leaders, didn't actually succumb until that profane wicked Prince was manifested and had fallen. Therefore, Paul had to admonish the Church of God to "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." He was speaking expressly to those of us who are looking back upon the fulfillment of Ezekiel 21:24-27.

Some of the "wrinkles," which lie upon our table of doctrines, have been particularly instrumental in blinding our eyes to the truth, in this critical and momentous time. Because of these doctrines, Jesus will come, the marriage will take place, and they will not believe any part of it. But we must heed Paul's admonition, "Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober." In the first Century A.D., an election believed it and received the benefits which had been promised (Rom. 11:7). That is exactly what will happen to Gentile Christianity in the next few short years. Israel was given the "sign of Jonah," long before the day of the Lord's wrath came upon them. Likewise, we will be given the "sign of Noah," just before the day of the Lord comes upon spiritual Israel now. We really need to recognize this "Noah," and his work, before "The enemy shall come in like a flood" (Isa. 49:19; Jer. 46:8; Zeph. 2:1-3).

The erroneous doctrine of "the son of perdition" is on Christianity's doctrinal "table" with several other doctrines, all of which will have the same devastating effect upon the Christians who are holding to a false hope because of it. These doctrines limit the ability of Christians to believe what God is doing now, and will do in the immediate future, before Jesus comes (Acts 3:19-21).

Another of those errors is the doctrine of "The Rapture." I wrote an article in The Vision Speaks (the magazine of The Church of God, under Grady R. Kent, and his successors), in 1966: "The Rapture, The Christian's Great Sleeping Pill." It has been long nap, and it is now time to wake up. The popular "Antichrist" doctrine is a good bedfellow with the "Rapture" doctrine, especially insomuch as neither can be found in the Bible. Yet, I am told that if I do not believe in The Rapture, I will be lost. How can I be lost for not believing in something which is not even mentioned in the Holy Scriptures? Oh, Antichrist is mentioned in the Bible, but never in relationship to a particular individual.

Some other misleading doctrines of today include the erroneous application of the Holy Scriptures concerning The Time of Jacob's Trouble, The Restoration of Israel, The Abomination of Desolation, and others. These subjects need to be understood, and that very soon. To have misunderstood them, up until now, was not particularly perilous, but there is not even six years remaining of the forty-nine years of "the Time of Harvest" which began in 1962, with the creation of the Ecumenical Movement (Matt. 13:24-30,36-43). It is time we got busy and found out the truth of these things.

The Elect of God must soon wake up, and come together, bone to his bone. The cry is going forth, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him," and all of God's "spiritual Israel," who "are called, and chosen, and faithful," will come together, bone to his bone. They will then be breathed upon by the Four Spirits of the Heavens, and "(stand) upon their feet, (the) exceeding great army (of the Kingdom of God)."

If you have a real Bible, you have "the words of God," but, until you know the true meaning of those words, you do not have "the Word of God." It is time to get your Bible out, read it, discover the truth of it, and believe it.