WHAT IS NEXT? – THE COMING ANTI-CHRIST
The Son of Destruction – The Man of lawlessness – The Anti-Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, verse 2, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Verse 3. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, verse 4, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
1 John 2:18, tells us that since the first century many antichrists have come and gone, “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”
1 John 4:3, informs us that you can identify this spirit of antichrist because that person will not confess Jesus is from God, and we learn that the spirit of antichrist is already in the world,“and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.”
2 John 1:7-19, tells us that “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
Daniel 9:24-27, gives an overview or a panorama of the timing of the coming and the actions of the antichrist.
Verse 24. “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Verse 25. “So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress.
Verse 26. “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Verse 27. “And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”
The ‘middle of the week’ is a reference to the 3 ½ year point of the final 7 years of the tribulation period, a.k.a., the Great Tribulation. Therefore, we can reasonably assume that at the mid-point of the final 7 years, the Antichrist will already have been revealed and will take his place in prophecy.
This antichrist is referred to as “The Beast” in chapter 13 of the book of the Revelation. These verses give us a terrifying, although symbolic, look at this monster. One valuable clue is found in Revelation 13:3, which says, “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.” Whether this is an actual wound on the head of a person or a mortal blow to a world power, such as a ten-nation confederation, either way, he or it, will be ‘healed’ and this Beast will, for a period, bring a reign of terror and death.
Finally, Matthew 24:15-16, also warns. “Therefore, when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place — let the reader understand — then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.”
Although this was a direct message and waring to those in Israel, just prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, it is also a foreshadowing of a yet-to-come destruction. The timing placement in scriptures regarding this warning given by Jesus, follows the breaking of the 5th Tribulation Seal and the reference to “the middle of the week” would indicate it the midpoint of the final 7 years of Daniel’s 70th week or the Great Tribulation period. So, we can rightly assume these events will take place after the antichrist has been revealed and at the midpoint of the Great Tribulation.
No one knows who the Antichrist will be, but we do know that when he is revealed, he will not be a frightening figure. In fact, he will be just the opposite until he has gained power.
Traits of the Antichrist Described in the Bible
- Intelligent: Revelation 13:18; Daniel 7:8.
- Charismatic Speaker: Daniel 7:8 Revelation 13:5.
- Crafty Politician: Daniel 9:27; Revelation 17:12, 13, 17.
- Distinct Physical Appearance: Daniel 7:20.
- Military Genius: Revelation 4; 17:14; 19:19.
- Economic Genius: Daniel 11:38.
- Blasphemer: Revelation 13:6.
- Utterly Lawless: 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
- Selfish, Ambitious Egomaniac: Daniel 11:36, 37; 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
- Greedy Materialist: Daniel 11:38.
- Controlling: Daniel 7:25.
- Proud and Self-exalting Above God and Everything: Daniel 11:36; 2 Thessalonians. 2:4.
What is the purpose of the Antichrist?
His purpose is to deceive. The Antichrist is a person prophesied by the Bible to oppose Christ and substitute himself in Christ’s place before the Second Coming.
There is a reference in Daniel 11:21 comparing Antiochus Epiphanes to a type of antichrist, who is one of the most brutal rulers known in history, easily eclipsing the horrors of Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich.
But, the horrors of Antiochus Epiphanes will pale in comparison to the brutality and horror of the coming Antichrist.
ANOTHER BEAST – The False Prophet
Revelation 13:11 says, “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.
- He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.
- And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
- He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
- And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
- And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
- And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
- and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” Revelation 13:11-18.
He will doom anyone who receives his “mark” and worships him to suffer God’s Wrath. “So, the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.” Revelation 16:2
Those which he deceived, those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image, are thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Revelation 19:20
NEXT: PERFECTION – Chapter 24 – THE MARK OF THE BEAST.
PREVIOUS: PERFECTION – Chapter 22 – Where are we now? The Great Apostasy.
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