An·ti·christ 'an-ti-"krIst, -"tI- 

Function: noun 

Etymology: Middle English anticrist, from Old English & Late Latin; Old English antecrist, from Late Latin Antichristus, from Greek Antichristos, from anti- + Christos Christ
1 : one who denies or opposes Christ; specifically : a great antagonist expected to fill the world with wickedness but to be conquered forever by Christ at his second coming 
2 : a false Christ ¹

Introduction

A popular subject of discussion and debate in the realm of eschatology has always been the topic of a character known as “Antichrist.” The Antichrist has casually been referred to as a charismatic world leader that is to come onto the world stage and take control of the world politics and religion uniting the planet under one common umbrella of control. There are many theories out there in regards to the nature of the antichrist, and as to the personage of the antichrist, however the ultimate authority on the matter remains the clues and statements we find within the scriptures.

There has been much reckless speculation as to the naming of the antichrist throughout history. Several writers and theologians have developed intricate numeric schemes in an effort to identify either his name, or his identity. Scripture on the other hand is clear to say that there will ultimately be no doubt as to his identity as his deeds and doctrine will bear witness in exposing himself to the world. The bible also tells us that the man will not be revealed until he signs a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27) and that the current church (Christians indwelled by the Holy Spirit) are taken out of the way in an event we call ‘The Rapture’ (2 Thessalonians 2:1-9)

In order to study these concepts further, and find out exactly what the bible says about the Antichrist, join me in the next few paragraphs as we discover things about this mystery called ‘AntiChrist’.

The Beast from the ‘Sea’

In Christ’s revelation to John, we find a mentioning of two mysterious beasts in Chapter 13. Firstly, one that comes from the ‘sea’; and secondly, one coming from the ‘land’. The topic of this article is in regards to the first beast, the one that comes out of the ‘sea’.

Rev 13:1 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. 
Rev 13:2 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.

At first glance this passage seems quite mysterious and confusing in meaning. However, if we let scripture interpret scripture, we can in fact find out the meaning of this beast and what ‘he’ represents.

Go with me now to one Daniel’s dreams as found in Daniel 7:1-8;

Dan 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 
Dan 7:2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 
Dan 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 
Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 
Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 
Dan 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 
Dan 7:7 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. 
Dan 7:8 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.

Note the apparent similarities between this passage and that of Revelation 13:1-2. These similarities provide with us strong evidence that these dreams/visions are related to each other. Lucky for us, the Daniel passages are interpreted for us later on in the same chapter:

Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 
Dan 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. 
Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 
Dan 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 
Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 
Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 
Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 
Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Ah... the beasts of Daniel 7 are kings. With this interpretation now we can therefore comfortably apply it to the beast of Revelation 13 as well.

In fact those 4 kings can be historically found to be the following empires that chronologically came unto the world scene from Daniel’s time forward.

1. Lion with wings of an Eagle – BABYLONIAN EMPIRE (612 – 539 BC) – Any historic research on the Babylonian empire will quickly bring up pictures and images of ‘winged’ lions. In fact Ishtar’s gate in modern Babylon contain these exact images as duplicates of the original Babylonian empire. 
2. Bear Raised up on one Side – MEDO-PERSIAn (539 - 331 BC) – Again history will reveal that the next world kingdom on the stage was the Medo-Persion empire. Raised up on one side, would seem to suggest the way that the Persians were the more dominate partner in the Medo-Persian coalition. 
3. Leopard with four heads and four wings on it’s Back – GRECIAN EMPIRE (331-65BC) – The Medo-Persian empire was succeeded by the Greeks, namely the kingdom of Alexander the Great. The speed and agility of a leopard is very descriptive of Alexander’s conquest and the speed at which the empire spread. The beast had four heads which represent the fourfold division of the Greecian empire after Alexander’s untimely death. 
4. Fourth Beast with iron teeth and claws of Bronze and 10 horns – ROMAN EMPIRE (63-476) – Note that the fourth beast will ‘devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.’ A flesh A flesh-eating beast has typified every kingdom in Daniel 7, namely: a lion, a bear and a leopard. This beast, which is not typified by any animal – it is that unique – is the most ferocious of all. During its decades of reign, we can expect sinfulness in the world to reach unprecedented heights, which is the manner in which Satan will spiritually crush and devour the earth.

Note here now the chronology of the description of the beast from our previous mentioned vision of John from Revelation 13:1-2

1. Beast with 10 horns
2. Leopard
3. Bear
4. Lion

Note that it is in the reverse order of Daniel 7. The reason is that Daniel was in the period of the Persian empire looking forward through time, and John was in the period of the Roman Empire looking back through time. By examining these two sets of passages we can see that truly Daniel and John are referring to the same thing; Kingdoms of the World.

Another item worth noting here is found in both Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1. Note if you will, the mention of the beast(s) rising up out of the sea.

The bible often refers to the sea as a symbolic reference to the ‘gentile’ nations of the world. (see also Revelation 17:15). It is therefore important to note the origin of this beast as coming up from the gentile nations. This means that the beast with 10 horns is definitely of gentile decent, and not jewish.

With a start already of the comparison of Daniel 7 to Daniel 13, we can continue on with our comparison of the beast in Revelation 13.

Now lets take a recap and closer look at the similarities:

He will come out of the gentile nations:

Notice also that the beast and the little horn rule for the same period of time:  

The beast and the little horn have a notable leader: 

The beast of Revelation 13 and the little horn do the same things: 

Notable power and position comes from the 'dragon':

The beast receives a deadly wound: 

This wound is healed and the beast regains worldwide influence and power:

The beast is a religious power that receives worship: 

With these comparisons we can clearly see some of the characteristics of the Antichrist coming to light. The ‘little horn’ of Daniel 7 and the Beast from the ‘sea’ of Revelation 13 are one in the same.

With this important comparison completed, we are now prepared to piece together these and other portions of scripture to further define the character, make up and personage of one called ‘Antichrist’.

Curriculum Vitae of one called ‘Antichrist’

The following are verses that reference the character in Eschatology commonly referred to as the Antichrist. Scripture provides many names for this man including: ‘Beast from the sea’ (Revelation 13:1), ‘Little Horn’ (Daniel 7), ‘Man of Sin’ (2 Thess 2:3), ‘Son of Perdition’ (2 Thess 2:3), ‘Lawless One’ (2 Thess 2:8), ‘The Assyrian’ (Isa. 10:5,12), ‘Prince to Come’ (Dan. 9:26), ‘The Willful King’ (Daniel 11:36), etc.

The antichrist will be a man - Daniel 7:24-25

He will confirm a covenant for 7 years - Daniel 9:27

Note the word ‘confirm’ in the passage. This does not mean that he creates this covenant. The word here for "confirm" is 1396 gabar (gaw-bar'); a primitive root; to be strong; by implication, to prevail, act insolently: KJV-- exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more [strength], strengthen, be stronger, be valiant. The antichrist will therefore strengthen a covenant for a 7 year time span. This could very well be an existing peace accord like the Oslo Accord for an instance.

He will ascend to power on a platform of peace. By peace, he will destroy many - Daniel 8:25

I see this occuring prior to the midpoint of the tribulation. He will become the 'savior' of the worlds problems until the middle of the tribulation week. He will be a counterfeit 'prince of peace'.

He will rise among 10 kings - Daniel 7:8

These 10 kings will arise out of the revived Roman Empire (see Daniel 2:43). The world organization that best suits this description or a revived Roman Empire today is the European Union. It seems that 10 men will arise in power over 10 distinct portions of the world. This could be physical kingdoms, or perhaps economic regions. Althought speculation now, this prophecy will become very clear to those who witness it's birth.

He will uproot 3 kings from the original 10 kings to gain political power - Daniel 7:8

This would appear to occur at the time of the midpoint of the tribulation (Daniels 70th week - Daniel 9:27) when the Antichrist will assume world power and reveal himself as he truly is... ruthless world dominator, and not a counterfeit 'prince of peace' as he was originally made out to be.

His 10 nation union will merge into a world government which he will dominate - Revelation 13:1-2

He will be promoted and exalted by a miracle working religious partner (false prophet – or ‘beast of the earth’) - Revelation 13:11-12

The beast from the land will be a man who leads the 'Church of the Antichrist'. This man will be given the power to decieve the world into believing in the godhood of Antichrist and inforce the worship, and economic sanctions of the anitchrist on the world.

He will have a mouth speaking great things. Very boastful - Daniel 7:8

The Antichrist will be a proud man, and declare himself a God. Similar to the Roman Caesars of old, but on a much grander scale.

His look will be more stout than his fellows - Daniel 7:20

To figure out what stout means, let’s have a look at the Hebrew:

רב
rab (Chaldee); corresponding to H7227: - captain, chief, great, lord, master, stout.

He could be chief, great, a Lord, a master, or of stocky build. Whatever this verse is speaking about, it would appear to be obvious when you look at him.

He will have a fierce countenance - Daniel 8:23

Countenance means: Appearance, especially the expression of the face.

He will understand ‘Dark Sentences’ - Daniel 8:23

Again the Hebrew reveals for us:

חידה
chi^yda^h khee-daw' From H2330; a puzzle; hence a trick, conundrum, sententious maxim: - dark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.

He will understand, puzzling, hard questions or things; Seem wise beyond others.

He will cause craft to prosper - Daniel 8:25

It is interesting to note the definition of the word "craft" here.

מרמה
mirma^h meer-maw' From H7411 in the sense of deceiving; fraud: - craft, deceit (-ful, -fully), false, feigned, guile, subtilly, treachery.

So his policy or his success will make it possible for his deception of the world to prosper. God said that if you do not believe the truth, that he would send strong delusion that you should believe a lie. (2 Thess. 2:11)

He will not arise until the ‘restrainer, or he that restrains’ is taken away. – 2 Thessalonians 2:6

For more discussion on the restrainer, or he that restrains, please go here -> http://www.tribulationforces.com/tfcdr/therestrainer.shtml 

He apparently assumes world dominating power 3 1/2 years after he confirms the covenant. He then will continue to reign for 42 months - Revelations 13:5-6

Here is the midpoint of the tribulation week as mentioned above. It is here that he would seem to transform from a platform of peace, to a platform of world domination, and declare himself god, to be worshipped as god.

The Abomination of Desolation is the event that signals the beginning of this final 42 months - Daniel 9:27, Mat 24:15, Rev 13:5-6

To hold to Revelation's chronology, it would appear that the Abomination of Desolation is when Revelations 12:7-10 occurs. At which point the Antichrist becomes "possessed" by Satan himself.

He opposes God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Rev 13:6

He will speak marvellous things against the God of gods - Daniel 11:36, Rev. 13:5-6, Daniel 7:8, 20, 25

He will exalt himself above all that is called God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4

He will sit in the temple of God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Interesting….. there is no temple yet…. And so there so shall there be.

He will claim to be God (or an incarnation of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:4

He will take away the daily sacrifices from the temple - Daniel 11:31 Again… we require a temple.

He will plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain - Daniel 11:45

It would seem here that the Antichrist will setup small area offices between the sea and Jerusalem, to help keep control over things in distant areas away from the headquarters of his reign - babylon.

He will have power to make war with the saints and to overcome them - Revelation 13:7, Dan 7:25.

He will continue this war with the saints for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:21, 25

This time of Great Tribulation comes upon the Earth after the Abomination of Desolation. - Matthew 24:15,21.

During this time, the antichrist will scatter the power of the holy people - Daniel 12:7

He will rule a mighty and strong kingdom - Daniel 7:7

He was given power over all kindreds, tongues and nations - Revelation 13:7

His kingdom will devour the whole earth - Daniel 7:23

He will have great military power that will stand behind him, to enforce his laws - Daniel 11:31

He will try to change times and laws; and they will be given into his power for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:25

He will give great honour to the God of forces, with gold, silver, jewels, etc - Daniel 11:38

He will prosper in everything that he does - Daniel 8:24

He will not regard the God of his fathers - Daniel 11:37

This curious verse is where many people get the idea that the Antichrist will be a jew. However, we discussed above that the Antichrist will apparantly come from a gentile or non-jewish nation. However, the god of his fathers, could simply be from a Christian viewpoint. A man arising out of a 'Christian' nation.  

Another viewpoint could be that he arises from a Muslim nation.  As the muslims claim inheritance through Abraham, and believe that they worship the same god as Abraham (which they don't).

He will not regard the desire of women - Daniel 11:37

It is interesting to note here that some people think that he will be a homosexual, which could be. Or it could be that he is just too busy for relationships in his power hungry ambitions.

The mark of the beast will be the amount of his name - 666 - Revelations 14:11

All that dwell upon the Earth will worship him, except those who's names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life - Revelation 15:2

He will have an image made after him - Revelation 15:2

He will fight against Jesus Christ at Armageddon - Revelations 17:14

He will stand against the Prince of princes - Daniel 8:25

The Lord will consume him with the sword of his mouth (which is the Word of God) - 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Rev 19:20

The Lord will destroy him with the brightness of his coming - 2 Thessalonians 2:8

He will be cast alive into the lake of fire - Revelation 19:20

He will be tormented day and night for ever and ever - Revelation 20:10

The Name 'Antichrist'?

Although we attribute most of our knowledge of the antichrist from the descriptions in the passages previously studied, the word Antichrist only appears in the epistles of John.

2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

1Jo 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

It becomes apparent that as a whole, John's reference was more pointed to a false doctrine than to a particular person. The only exception to this would Possibly be the verse of 1 John 2:18 where it is told that ‘antichrist’ shall come.

With that being said we need to look a bit at the title of Antichrist and what it truly means.

Two meanings go along with the prefix anti. The first carries the thought of "instead of" or "a substitute." A better way of putting this would be ‘false’ Christ. A false savior of the world. We saw from our previous passages that the Antichrist will be ‘appear’ to be just that. He will unify the planet under one global economy and religious system and become the worlds savior ‘so to speak’.

The second meaning is probably the one most often thought of—"against," or "against Christ." If you are ‘anti’ something, then you are against it.

The second definition, although well suited for the ‘beast’, seems to be more of the description in John’s epistles. Whereas the first definition would appear to be the best description for the one we have dubbed “Antichrist” in eschatological circles.

The Antichrist will be the great deceiver. He will set himself up as God, he will mimic Christ in many ways, shapes and forms, but unlike our Lord and Savior (The True Christ), Antichrist and those who follow him are doomed to the lake of fire, and not eternity in the Kingdom of God.

-- J.R. Hall

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