2:18 it is the last hour. John will not satisfy the desire to “know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7); he characterizes the whole time between the first and the second comings of Christ as “the last hour” (cf. Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 10:11). No matter how long this “hour” may extend in terms of calendar time, it remains true that “the time is near” (Rev. 1:3; cf. Rev. 1:1; 22:20) for all of God’s promises to be fulfilled.

antichrist is coming . . . many antichrists have come. This is commonly seen as a distinct prediction of many antichrists through the course of history, followed by a final Antichrist at the end (2 Thess. 2:3–10; Rev. 13:11–18). John, however, may be referring only to the sort of false teachers who already trouble the church (v. 22; 4:3).