~Conclusion~
How can one impostor-- the Antichrist-- so completely deceive the world? The world will be deceived because "they received not the Love of the Truth, that they might be saved" (2Thessalonians 2:10). The Judge of All the Earth (Genesis 18:25) will cause it to be so.
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2Thessalonians 2:11). As if the LORD finally allows the dog to catch the car that it has perpetually chased, man finally receives the climax of the lie that "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). A fourth of mankind will die under the Fourth Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:7-8) directly or indirectly because of the slaughter caused by the Antichrist. Christians will be martyred under the Fifth Seal Judgement (Re 6:9-11) due to the persecution of Antichrist.
Multitudes more of the Tribulation Saints will be martyred shortly thereafter, when they refuse the Mark of the Beast at the Middle of the Tribulation Week. "7 And it was given unto him [Antichrist] to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 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" (Re 13:7-8).
With the blood of so much of the people of the world on his hands in so short a time, how can we conclude anything but that Antichrist is identical to his "father the Devil, and the lusts of [his] father [he] will do. [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the Truth, because there is no Truth in him. When [Satan] speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). [See our "Commentary on the Book of Revelation" -- http://Whatsaiththescripture.com/The.Holy.Bible /Commentary.Revelations.1.html -- for more on the Seal Judgments.]
The Fountain of Living Waters (Jeremiah 2:13) or Broken Cisterns (Jer 2:13). Christ or Antichrist. Sound Doctrine or the Lie. The choice seems so stark by comparison, but the practicality is that the vast majority will not see the difference. "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:15).
Since a "prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself" (Proverbs 22:3), then it is my prayer that many who peruse this article will do so with their faith strengthened that they wait for the LORD Jesus Christ, not the Antichrist. "But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear" (Matthew 13:16). And, if you look for the Saviour, "unto them that look for Him shall He appear the Second Time without sin unto Salvation" (Hebrews 9:28).
Maranatha!
by Tom Stewart