THE ANTICHRIST

 

The Antichrist Man

Rev 13:1 – 8 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

There will be a man that comes in the flesh whom many call “antichrist” because he exemplifies the very spirit spoken of in John's epistles, that which opposes Christ. I will use that title in this article for tradition's sake but there are many other titles that he has throughout the Bible which shed more light on who he is and what he is to do. In Daniel he is called the “little horn” and the “king of fierce countenance”. He is called a “false christ” in Matthew. He is described by Paul as the “man of sin” and “son of perdition”. In Revelation he and his kingdom are called the “Beast”.

2Th 2:3, 4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Dan 11:36, 37 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god , and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

The teachings about this false christ will probably say that Jesus was just one of his many servants, as were Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna , and all the other religious leaders. The antichrist man will eventually act like the God of all these religions and the messiah that was expected to come. The Buddhists are looking for a messiah figure to come called Maitreya. The Muslims are looking for a messiah figure called Mahdi. The Jews are still looking for the Messiah because they did not receive Jesus. False Christianity will be looking for Jesus to return. They are all being set up by the spirit of antichrist to accept the man we call antichrist. New Age and the Masons try to blend all the religions of the world into one saying they are all true (which is a horrendous lie) and this is the kind of thinking that the antichrist will eventually promote.

Rev 13:11, 12 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast , whose deadly wound was healed.

The antichrist's prophet, the one like a lamb but speaks as a dragon, will say that the religions of the world need to stop fighting one another because all the religions have always been worshipping the same god, the antichrist. This terrible lie will make sense to the world and they will fall into the trap. The antichrist man will be exalted on two fronts: politically and religiously. The antichrist man will mostly head up the political arena and the prophet of the antichrist will head up the religious arena saying that all men must worship the antichrist.

Rev 13:14, 15 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast , which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

The false prophet will be a religious leader who will try to tell all the world's religion that the antichrist is God and is worthy to be worshipped since he recovered from a deadly wound to the head (“resurrected”). The false prophet will be able do all kinds of signs and wonders like making people see and hear the antichrist no matter where they were in the world through an image which men made. If they do not worship the image of the beast they will be killed.

Rev 13:16, 17 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

It will be required for all men to receive either a mark, or the name of the antichrist, or the number of his name (666) on their right hand or forehead if they want to buy or sell anything. We already have the technology to make such a concept happen. We are close to this time period and I believe we very well could see the end come to pass in our life times.

Dan 8:9 - 12 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.

Dan 8:23 - 25 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Dan 11:38 But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Dan 11:39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

Zec 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

 

Who Is He?

We cannot know with any certainty who the antichrist man is.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

2Th 2:6-8 KJV And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. (7) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

These verses show that the man of sin will be revealed after “he who now letteth” is taken out of the way. We, the Body of Jesus Christ, will be here during this whole revealing of the antichrist. There is no way of knowing for sure who the Bible is talking about when it says that the one who is withholing is will be taken out of the way. Some say it is an angel, others the Holy Spirit, and others the Church. The fact is that if it is the Holy Spirit or the Church, the phrase "taken out of the way" does not mean they are removed from the earth. It just means they are removed from being in the way of revealing the antichrist.

 

The Antichrist Kingdom

We can know that the antichrist man will come to power through a certain kingdom. Even the kingdom he comes from could be called the antichrist but the Bible calls it the Beast (The Bible speaks of the antichrist as a spirit, a kingdom, and a man):

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns .

Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The beast here is the satanic kingdom that rules the world system and has been in power in different forms since the days of Egypt 's ancient world empire. Notice that the beast was, is not, and yet is. I will explain this in a moment.

Rev 17:9 , 10 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains , on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

Mountains represent kingdoms. So there have been and are to be seven kingdoms. The seven kingdoms appear to be the very Biblical kingdoms that have ruled the world, particularly Israel, since the days of Noah's flood. In order they are Egypt , Assyria, Babylon , Medo-Persia , Greece , Rome , and a revived Rome that is blossoming on the world scene at this very moment. This explains clearly why the Scripture says five are fallen: ancient Egypt , ancient Assyria, ancient Bablyon, ancient Persia , and ancient Greece were all fallen by the time of the writing of Revelation. The “one [that] is” would be the one in power at the time of the writing which would be Rome . The other, which I will show later to be the revived Roman Empire , is not yet come at the time of the writing. But notice that when this seventh kingdom appears it will only be in power a short time. Now to go back to verse 8, the beast “was”, past tense, through these ancient world empires that had fallen. The beast “is not” because the final kingdom from which the antichrist man will arise had not yet manifested. The beast “yet is” because the Roman Empire was in power at the time of John's writing.

Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Let's take a closer look at these major world-power empires as described in Daniel and I think we can see some things that will help us understand the final kingdom of the Beast. I would encourage you to read all of Daniel chapters 2 and 7 on your own now to understand the next part of this article.

The following is a breakdown of the different visions of Daniel explaining the four world-dominating kingdoms that were and were yet to come:

 

We know that the fourth kingdom represented in these two dreams was the Roman Kingdom . History is very clear about each of these kingdoms coming in the exact order and manner as predicted by Daniel: The Babylonians were defeated by the Medo-Persians, who were defeated by the Greeks, who were defeated by the Romans. There were no other kingdoms mentioned after the Romans and no one defeated them. The Empirical Roman Empire was disbanded from within by divisions among its people. As we continue to read about the antichrist man, known as the little horn in Daniel, we see that he comes from this last kingdom of Rome:

Dan 7:7, 8 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns . I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn , before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Notice that this little horn comes from the fourth beast which is the Roman Kingdom . Thus, we could conclude that the antichrist is coming from somewhere in the Roman Kingdom.

Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

This Scripture was fulfilled by a Roman named Titus, son of Caesar Vespasian, who sacked Jerusalem , destroyed the temple, and killed and dispersed the Jews. It will also again be fulfilled in the future by the antichrist. The people of the prince are the Romans. Therefore, we see again that the antichrist would appear to be originating from the Roman Kingdom.

The following is a picture of the Roman Kingdom at its fullest extent 117A.D:

From http://www.villa-rustica.de/intro/intro01e.html

Notice that the antichrist could come from a variety of different countries if he comes from the ancient Roman Kingdom . Many believe that the antichrist will come from western Europe, citing the above Scriptures. But we may also consider the nations that were created from this Roman Kingdom which are also potential candidates. For example, the United States was originally a British colony which broke off. Britannia was a Roman province. At any rate, I believe from one of these nations the antichrist will cause a split, or maybe a civil war, and create a nation of his own that shall continue a short space (Rev 17:10). We cannot be certain as to which nation he will come from. But it seems likely be a nation of power that the other nations of the world will turn to in their time of crisis. He will have command of a great military that will invade the Holy Land and destroy its people.

 

The Great Whore that Sitteth Upon Many Waters

Rev 17:1 - 6 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters : With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

I believe this whore to be every false religious system of the world, or one continuous system branching out into different forms, since the days of the Tower of Babel up until today. Some say the whore is the Roman Catholic Church. I agree. But I also believe it is much much more than that because the RCC had its roots in paganism which had been around for thousands of years before the RCC's conception. The RCC is just one of the most powerful spiritually and most prominent ones in our time. I believe the whore covers the false religions spanning approximately four thousand years because we see her sitting upon the Beast which is the political world empires that ruled that world since shortly after the Tower of Babel . Also notice that she sits upon MANY waters; the waters represent peoples of humanity.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

The kings, plural, of the earth were involved with her. The inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with her fornication which means they were brought to a place of ecstasy because they were able to worship the god of their own creation and not have to submit to the judgment and justice of the true God.

Her name is Babylon . This is not referring to the physical city called Babylon because this vision is from a spiritual viewpoint. This is referring to spiritual Babylon. It is called Babylon because that is where the Tower of Babel was erected where all false religions started. The Tower represents a way in which men believed they could create their own path to Heaven and God. They could make their own rebellious path to worship themselves and their own creations instead of God's way and worshipping God. ALL false religions of the world, even today, find their roots in the practices of the Tower of Babel . The gods that they worshipped then have been brought down through all the generations since then to us but in different forms. The very gods of Babel moved to Egypt but their names were changed and multiplied into different forms. They moved to Assyria but with Assyrian names. Babylon , Persia , Greece , Rome , and now throughout the whole world today these gods and false religious systems have spread into different forms. Their names have changed and the gods have multiplied to an almost infinite complexity but they are all rooted in spiritual Babylon – the great whore.

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The false religions of the world have always slaughtered the true believers in God. This has been fulfilled both in the past and present.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

The mountains always symbolize kingdoms in the Bible. These are not literal mountains. If they were, then they would be the only thing that is literal in this passage while the rest would be symbolic. However, if we keep everything in context, we see clearly that the mountains would also be symbolic. Many try to point out that the Vatican sits on seven mountains but, again, this is a strained attempt to make the Word agree with their theology rather than making their theology agree with the Word. Not to mention, the very next verse says there are seven kings, and thus seven kingdoms that they rule. Again, we must discern that Revelation 17 is from a spiritual perspective, not an earthly physical one.

Rev 17:16, 17 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore , and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This says that these nations or national leaders of the Beast/antichrist kingdom will hate the religions of the world. It would seem like an interesting, and maybe even likely, scenario in which the antichrist kills the Pope. Since everyone thinks the Pope is the antichrist, the world will believe the real antichrist is the Christ because he fulfilled the Scriptures about Christ coming at the end of time to destroy the antichrist. We know that the antichrist will heavily persecute and slaughter Jews and anyone else that believes in Jesus during the tribulation. The Roman Catholics and all the other religions of the world will also be slaughtered unless they convert and worship the antichrist as God.

 

 

BACK NEXT

 

Introduction

Part 1 - Jews, Nations, and the Church of God

Part 2 - Current Time Period

Part 3 - The Tribulation Time Period

Part 4 - The Sixth Seal

Part 5 - The Pre-Wrath Rapture

Part 6 - The Antichrist

Part 7 - Christians In Heavens

Part 8 - The Second Installment of The Coming of the Lord

Part 9 - The Millennial Reign of Christ Time Period

Part 10 - The Great White Throne Judgment and a New Beginning

 

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