Vladamir Putin, Jacques Chirac, Prince Charles, Pope Benedict XVI, Saddam Hussein, Henry Kissinger, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Antiochus Epiphanies (170 BC), even George W. Bush. What do these men all have in common? At one time or another they were identified as a person known as the "Antichrist."
The word "antichrist" appears only five times in the New Testament - all in the letters of John the Apostle.
Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22, ESV)
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18, ESV)
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3, ESV)
Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 1:7, ESV.)
Many Christians identify this particular Antichrist with the "man of sin" or "son of perdition" mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2.
He is also known in the book of Daniel as: The Little Horn, the King who has his own way, and, lastly, the Beast.
This person - known from prophecy to be a world ruler of peace who turns his back on Israel, proclaiming himself to be god - is introduced to us in Revelation 13, along with his sidekick, the False Prophet. Together with the Dragon of chapter 12, they make up Satan’s unholy trinity that attempts to replace God Almighty on the earth. His rise to power and subsequent defeat at the hands of the Messiah, mark the end of world history as we know it.
Before we get into Chapter 13, let’s meet this man in our key book to understanding how to interpret Revelation - the prophet Daniel. Turn to chapter 9 and look at verses 26-27
Daniel 9:26-27 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator." ESV
Remember - this is the 70 weeks prophecy about the future of Israel. What we learn here is that a group destroys Jerusalem - they are "the people of the prince who is to come." It was the Roman legions who destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD. This tells us that this "prince" will arise from that empire. We also know this from the dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar about the world kingdoms that would arise - ending with ten toes of iron and clay (that becomes important in a moment when we get back to Revelation).
We also learn here that in verse 27 - skipping into the far future as prophecies often do - that this "prince" will make a strong covenant that he’ll break after a half of a week - or 3 ½ years - proclaiming himself to be god until he is killed.
For more - see Daniel 11:36-45. Basically, he will have great power, be able to bestow that power on others, not care a wit about the real God - and I love how it ends: Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him. ESV
A man who seems to have everything in his favor ends up helpless and alone. But that’s not the way it begins - let’s have a look.
Verses 1-2
To understand verse 1 we need to consult one more place in Daniel - chapter 7. You don’t have to turn there but basically Daniel has a dream about world kingdoms to come - they are described as beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a beast so terrifying that it could only be described as what it did - "devoured and broke into pieces."
These beasts represent world kingdoms to come - the lion was Babylon (Dan 2:38), the bear was Medo-Persian (Dan 5:30), the leopard was Greece (Dan 8:20) and the final beast is Rome (Dan 9:26).
So another hallmark of this final beast that Daniel saw was this: "7 It was different from all the beasts that went before it, it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots." (Dan 7:7-8)
Horns represent kings. So - without confusing you further - the "little horn" comes up and destroys 3 of the seven horns. That’s where we get 10 horns with seven heads - because three of the heads were torn up by the "little horn." So we have 10 nations with 7 leaders.
The beast is described with the characteristics of all the world’s great kingdoms - even to the "dragon" which would be analogous to the 4th beast Daniel saw in chapter 7. He is a composite of all man’s attempts to dominate the world. He is the ultimate man who will attempt to become god.
But, you say - how could this man be Roman - Rome disappeared eons ago. Some say there will a "revived" Roman empire during the Tribulation - even going as far as to say that the European Common Market fits this 10 nation confederacy. I don’t think Scripture is definite enough on that point - but we do know that this confederacy and the Antichrist will rise from the ashes or have some distant affiliation to the nations that once made up the Roman empire - and that it is fully in league with Satan.
All that in just two verses! So now we get a taste of what this person is like and what they do.
Verses 2 - 4
Somehow there appears to be an assassination attempt against this ruler, but the mortal wound is somehow healed and it is attributed as a miracle. This fits when you think about the unholy trinity - Jesus died and was raised from the dead, and so too will Satan attempt to create a false "resurrection."
As a result, people will begin to worship the beast and the dragon - perhaps this signals a "new" understanding of Lucifer - no longer the guy in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork - but some sort of a savior for the world - finally putting things together in a time of peace and prosperity.
Verses 5-6
Notice the passive voice here: "was given a mouth, was allowed to exercise authority, was allowed to make war". The Antichrist gets his power from another - from the Dragon - but also, God is in ultimate control. He can only do what he is allowed to do.
The blasphemies echo what Daniel said about "the little horn" "a mouth that was boasting arrogantly." Paul, when speaking of the Antichrist said:
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God
By the way - notice he blasphemes "his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven." God’s dwelling place is His people.
Verse 7
Just as the Dragon in chapter 12 goes off to make war against the offspring of the woman - the Tribulation saints - he does it through the Antichrist. This isn’t warfare but tremendous persecution - and many believers will die physically - though for them it will simply be graduation to heaven.
The Antichrist will have tremendous authority - never before seen.
Verse 8
Not only will he have authority - but will actually be worshiped. Halfway through the Tribulation he will actually declare himself to be God as Paul said in 2 Thessalonians and Daniel in chapter 9. Everyone will worship except those that are or will become believers in Jesus Christ.
This brings up an interesting dilemma - the names were written before the foundation of the earth, so why is there any need for someone to decide to become a Christian? While I won’t get into a discussion of predestination and free will - suffice to say that God makes decisions, and we make decisions and they both count. We don’t understand how things work in God’s dimension - but He’s told us enough to trust that this can happen and it’s still fair.
Verses 9-10
These verses speak to the Tribulation saints - that some are destined to be taken captive and some killed - but that they should endure. (verse comes from Jeremiah 15:2).
So now we get introduced to the Second Beast - often overshadowed by the first.
The second beast is the unholy spirit - the agent of the Dragon and the Antichrist. He runs a worldwide religious system that even has control over the economy. Surprised that religion appears in the Tribulation? It will actually be a very religious time:
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false..."
People will buy what the False Prophet (so identified in chapters 16, 19, and 20) sells hook, line, and sinker.
Verse 11 The False Prophet sounds gentle - but the words are poison.
Verse 12 His job is to be the "cheerleader" for the Antichrist - mirroring the Holy Spirit
Verses 13 - 14 Just as the Holy Spirit came by fire, so too this False Prophet will do "miracles" - at least enough to convince people to worship the Antichrist. He tells them to make an image of the beast - interesting in light of the fact that God said in Exodus 20 to make no image of God.
Verses 15 - 18
It’s not that the image is really alive - but has "breath" so appears to be alive. It might be a demonic possession or some technological trick - but the image itself has voice and power.
Many people have suggested that a computer system in Brussels, called "The Beast" will eventually become the "image." It makes some sense - until only the last few decades have computers come to control much of our life - how would you do any work or banking without a computer these days - and now with the Internet, it is all connected.
Each person - during this time - will receive a "mark" that identifies them as part of the Antichrist’s religion. It is a mark of allegiance - but it will be used as a way to control the economy as well. People ask - will people be forced to take the mark just to survive - isn’t that unfair? It will be very clear during that time that taking the mark means accepting Satan as your lord and savior.
It will mean difficult times for those who don’t take the mark - and there will be plenty: hunger, homelessness, suffering - but only for a short while.
The end of verse 18 - ever since the 1st century Christians have been trying to "calculate" the number of the beast - the 666. One way people have tried to do it is by taking Greek, Hebrew, or Latin names and finding their equivalent numbers - these languages use letters for numbers. Doing that has resulted in all kinds of interesting names - including Billy Graham! (including the list at the beginning of this study).
John may have actually not wanted us to use the 666 as a cipher, but to tell us that it is symbolic of man - whose number is 6. You have the unholy trinity focusing on man and man’s religion - 6-6-6. The Antichrist is the supreme rebellious man.
Conclusions
How close is all this to reality? It is closer than you think. Thomas Friedman in his book: "The World is Flat" says that two events have reshaped our globe: 1 - the fall of the Berlin wall, which signaled the end of the only other economic model in favor of capitalism, and 2 - the Internet, which allows commerce and work to take place 24/7 from anywhere in the globe. Friedman contends that globalism is the new norm. All that’s left is someone to arise on the world scene to solve the problem of nation-fighting. That person will win tremendous power and will usher in the Tribulation by a 7 year treaty with Israel. It is at that point I believe that the church will be raptured off the earth.
In summary - the Antichrist:
1. He has a fatal wound and comes back
2. Demon possessed
3. Aided by the false prophet
4. Controls the world economy
Summary of 7 characteristics:
1. He is a gentile military head of state
2. Arises from the Mediterranean world
3. Makes peace with Israel and breaks it
4. He blasphemes God openly and sets himself up as god
5. He is Satanically inspired
6. He controls the world economy by the use of the mystical number 666
7. He is limited to 7 years - of which the last 3 ½ are the worst
The Anti Christ is the essence of self and the essence of sin (me first)
The essence of true worship is a full on commitment to Jesus - it’s either or.
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