THE ANTICHRIST

Back to Bible doctrines

“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). While this verse speaks of Christ as the seed of the woman, it also prophetically declares the Antichrist as being the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent, the Antichrist, is mentioned first in the first book of the Bible, and described fully in the last book of the Bible; it can be traced in between as well. This is very significant.

A. His Person.

The Early Church taught that Nero was the Antichrist, and that when he died he would be raised from the dead. In the eleventh century the Waldenses, Hussites and Wycliffites declared that the Roman Catholic Church was the Antichrist. The Roman Catholic Church, in turn, declared that Napoleon was the Antichrist. During World War I Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany was thought to be the Man of Sin. Many men will be proposed for this office, but it is useless to speculate, for he will not be revealed until after the Rapture of the Church (II Thess. 2:1-12). He Is a Man! “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three score and six” (Rev. 13:18). Notice the Scripture says he has the number of a man. Man’s number is 6. God says his number is 6-6-6: he is a man; he is a man; he is a man! He is not the Roman Catholic Church; he is not a system; he is a man. He will rule in Jerusalem, and not in Rome.

1. He Will Be a Jew.

“Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers” (Dan. 11:37a). “God of his fathers” means Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). The word “another” implies “another Jew.” The name Antichrist is a Jewish title, and the Jews will not accept a Gentile as their Messiah.

2. He Will Be a Genius.

He will be the most remarkable man the world has ever seen apart from Jesus Christ.

a. An Intellectual Genius.

“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” (Dan. 8:23). See also Ezekiel 28:3.

b. An Oratorical Genius.

“He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries” (Dan. 11:21b). He shall be a mockery and an imitation of Him of whom it is said. “Never man spake like this man.”

c. A Governmental Genius.

He rises from obscurity to power. He is the “little horn” spoken of in Daniel 7 and 8, and the “beast” of Revelation 13 and 14. All kings will give their power to him.

d. A Commercial Genius.

No one will be able to buy or sell without his seal. “No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:17).

e. A Military Genius.

“I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2). “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4b).

f. A Religious Genius.

He demands to be worshiped as God. “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, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thess. 2:4).

g. A Financial Genius.

“He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps” (Dan. 11:43). See also Ezekiel 28:4,5.

B. His Titles.

1. Man of Sin.

This is the most important and most terrible of all his titles. All the sins of man will be embodied and headed up in him. “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” (II Thess. 2:3).

2. Son of Perdition.

The above Scripture declares him to be the son of perdition, also (II Thess. 2:3).

3. The Lawless One.

“Then shall that Wicked [lawless one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (II Thess. 2:8). Christ is the righteous one; the Antichrist is the lawless one.

4. The Lie.

“God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a [the] lie” (II Thess. 2:11). Jesus Christ is the Truth; the Antichrist is the Lie. John 8:44 says that the Devil is a liar “and the father of it.” “It” refers to “the lie.”

5. The Antichrist.

“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” (I John 2:18).

6. King of Babylon.

Babylon is always the seat of Satan. Babylon shall be revived in the last days, and the Antichrist shall reign over it (Rev. 17 and 18).

7. The Little Horn.

“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 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” (Dan. 8:9, 23). See also Daniel 7:8.

8. The Willful King.

“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” (Dan. 11:36).

9. The Assyrian.

“O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation” (Is. 10:5). See also Isaiah 10:12, 24.

10. The Beast.

(Rev. 13, 17, 19).

C. His Forerunners.

Some are seen in the Scriptures, and some out of the Scriptures.

1. Cain.

He denied the blood and was a liar and murderer (I John 3:12).

2. Nimrod.

His history preceded the calling of Abraham to the Promised Land. The Antichrist will precede the call of the seed of Abraham and enter into the Promised Land the second time. Nimrod means “rebel,” While the Scriptures speak of him as being a mighty hunter, in reality he was not a hunter of animals, but a hunter of souls. He was “a mighty man against the Lord.” So the Antichrist will be.

3. Saul.

This king of Israel was demanded by the people, but he was against the anointed of the Lord. The Antichrist will be the choice of the people also, and he will be against God’s anointed.

4. Absalom.

Absalom means “father of peace”; yet he denied his father. He posed as a man of peace and tried to steal the kingdom. So will the Antichrist.  

5. Nebuchadnezzar.

He was the first world ruler, who became the forerunner of the last world ruler.

6. Antiochus Epiphanes.

He was the mad man who sacked Jerusalem, killing four hundred thousand Jews. He took a sow and burned it upon the altar. The Antichrist, too, shall profane the altar.

7. Alexander the Great.

He was known as the “Unsatisfier.” He was a military genius who never suffered defeat. He sought to be worshiped as the Son of God. The same will be true of the Antichrist.

8. Caias Caligula.

This Roman Emperor was considered mad. No doubt he was possessed by a demon. The Antichrist shall be fully possessed by the Devil.

9. Nero.

During his life he was thought to be the Antichrist by the early Christians. Many believed that when he died he would be raised from the dead. The Antichrist shall be raised from the dead.

10. Charlemagne.

This man was considered a great warrior and statesman. The Antichrist shall he considered the same.

11. Napoleon.

He thought to revive the Holy Roman Empire. This figurative empire is considered to comprise those countries whose lands are washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Napoleon planned a new Jewish kingdom and Sanhedrin. The Antichrist will accomplish many of these same plans.

12. Kaiser Wilhelm.

This leader of the German Empire had the same objective as Napoleon. It is said that every general carried a map of the Holy Roman Empire.

13. Mussolini.

There were no doubts as to the objectives of this man. At one time he made a map of the old Roman Empire and included England in it. England protested, but the map remained. The Antichrist will not only make a map, but he will make a kingdom with all empires in it.

D. His Work.

His work shall be motivated by Satan, ruling the world and trying to destroy the Jew (Is. 10:12-27).

F. His Career.

Remember, this is the mocker and mimic of Christ. He shall claim a reincarnation. His birth shall be obscure; he will begin as a mere man in world affairs; but he will be rapidly promoted until he becomes ruler of the entire world. Daniel 9:27 states that he will “confirm the covenant” with the Jews. “Confirm” means to “recognize.” What covenant is Israel interested in? The Mosaic Covenant. For the first three and one-half years of the Tribulation the Jews will be allowed to worship in their new temple. This would have been hard to believe a hundred years ago, for then only a handful of Jews lived in Palestine. But look at Israel today. She is recognized as a nation; she has a government, an army, an air force; she is doing business with the rest of the world. There are literally hundreds of thousands of Jews back in the land. Here is Israel as a nation; why do they so exist? Is this the last regathering? Are they waiting for the Messiah? No. For the most part, Israel has returned to the land in unbelief. They do not even believe the God of their fathers, much less in their rejected Messiah. What, then, is Israel waiting for? She is waiting for the rise of the Antichrist, although she knows it not. He is to confirm the covenant. Therefore, there must be a nation with which the Antichrist can confirm the covenant. Here is Israel waiting for the Antichrist.

“I saw one of his heads as it was wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast” (Rev. 13:3). According to this Scripture and Revelation 17, we see that the Antichrist shall suffer death, that he shall die. The words “deadly wound” are better translated “death stroke.” Revelation 13:12 has the phrase, “whose deadly wound was healed,” which describes fully the death and resurrection of the Antichrist. See also Revelation 13:14. No wonder the world will wonder after him and say, “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4). He shall be the seventh of seven kings who shall be world rulers. When he dies and is resurrected he becomes the eighth ruler of the world. The world shall be divided into ten kingdoms, overlorded by ten rulers, “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:13).

No doubt he comes to the ascendancy of world rule in the seventieth week of Daniel. He demands to be worshiped as God at this time, and thus he marks the beginning of The Day of the LORD.

F. His Time.

He has not yet been revealed, but it is possible in the light of present-day events, that somewhere in the world he is alive today. He will not appear as the Antichrist until the old Roman Empire is revived, composed of the ten-toed kingdom of Daniel 2 and the ten horned beast of Revelation 13 and 17. Another thing that must come to pass before he is revealed is the Rapture of the Church.

G. His Appearance.

He shall be a Jew by birth, a Roman by citizenship, and a Syrian by nationality. “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” (Dan. 8:9). He marches on to conquer the nations of the south, and the east, and the west, He does not conquer the north, for that is where he shall come from — Syria!

H. His End.

“Then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (II Thess. 2:8). See also Revelation 19:20.

Back to Bible doctrines