250 G.K. BEALE 27,9 and 53,5 prophesy about the future, but with respect to Israel’s “sin” and “lawlessness” being forgiven). Therefore, “the lawlessness ” of 1 John 3,4 is that expected lawlessness of the end- time opponent and his colleagues (the latter of which Dan 11,32 and 12,10 describe prophetically), which has begun its fulfillment in John’s community, as we have argued in the case of 1 John 2,18. If all of this is on the right track, then there is a natural link be- tween 2,18 and 3,4, which is fueled further by noticing that the nyn˜ in 2,28 and again in 3,2, are likely eschatological nynÃs, further de- ˜ veloping the nyn that occurs for the first time in 2,18, which is ˜ clearly eschatological (as is the nyn in 4,3). ˜ There has also been recent work that shows that a number of phrases in 1 John have been coined against the general background of Septuagintal vocabulary 31, which shows that the author’s mind has been generally influenced at points by the Septuagint. The point of this section is to show that, while 1 John is not saturated with Old Testament allusions, there are some. In fact, there is even allusion to other parts of Daniel and even in the im- mediate context of 2,18, which makes an allusion there, at least, something that would not be foreign to the context. 4. Thematic Coherence The alleged Daniel allusion in 1 John 2,18 fits well into the au- thor’s line of argumentation in chapters 2 and 3. The allusion illu- minates and enhances the significance of John’s argument in that the personal and local struggle that they have had with the seces- sionists is placed within a wider redemptive-historical context. They are not merely Christian Gentiles (for the most part) who are trying to remain loyal to the truth, but in doing so they are eschat- ological Israelites who are living in the dawning of the end-time tribulation predicted by Daniel and Jesus. Indeed, they are living in the “last hour”. This should lead to assurance that they really do “ know God” and should motivate them “to display strength and take action” in not being deceived “by smooth words” of the lawless antichrists (Dan 11,32). This then would appear to be a E.g., see R.W. YARBROUGH, 1-3 John (Grand Rapids, MI 2008) 34, 171, 31 181-182, 272, 323.