The Antichrist and the False Prophet
• "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." The New Testament word "antichrist" comes from the Greek antichristos, meaning in opposition to Christ or in substitution for Christ; and, is found only in the epistles of the Apostle John, e.g., "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" (1John 2:18). Here, in an apocalyptic vision, John stands "upon the sand of the sea" (Rev 13:1), where the "sea" depicts the Gentile nations, i.e., the "isles of the Gentiles" (Genesis 10:5).
"Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise from the end of the Earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof" (Isaiah 42:10). The "beast" that rises up "out of the sea" (Rev 13:1) has been traditionally understood to be the Antichrist. Victorinus (circa 3rd-4th century) remarked about the "beast" ( Rev 13:1): "This signifies the kingdom of that time of Antichrist, and the people mingled with the variety of nations" (from Victorinus' "Commentary on the Apocalypse").
The Antichrist or the Beast is described as "having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev 13:1)-- calling to mind Daniel's description of the Roman Empire, that ultimately brings forth the "Man of Sin" (2Thessalonians 2:3) from its revived form. "7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast [the Roman Empire], dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake 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.
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another Little Horn [the Antichrist], 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" (Daniel 7:7-8). The "seven heads" (Rev 13:1) represent seven successive phases of governmental history (cp. Revelation 17:10-12), while the "ten horns" (Rev 13:1) signify ten simultaneously reigning rulers, who will be contemporaries with the Antichrist (Rev 17:12). In the Book of Revelation, both the "horns" and "crowns" (Rev 13:1) are symbols of governmental authority; and in this instance, they are used to blasphemously supplant or usurp the true authority of the KING of Kings, and LORD of Lords, i.e., "and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (Rev 13:1). Though human government was instituted by God "to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Romans 13:4), it will ultimately be perverted to blaspheme and war against the return of the LORD Jesus Christ, "Who is the Blessed and Only Potentate" (1Timothy 6:15), to establish His earthly Kingdom "wherein dwelleth [good and] righteousness" (2Peter 3:13).
Seven successive stages of Gentile world power-- out of which the Antichrist will come-- are represented by the "seven heads and ten horns" (Rev 13:1). The difficulty of interpretation is the honest bias of each commentator, who is impressed that he is one "upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1Corinthians 10:11). As we approach the conclusion of the matter, the Infallible Commentator, which is the Holy Spirit, will drop the scales from our eyes to teach us the wonderful secret of His infallible interpretation. "For the forward is abomination to the LORD: but His secret is with the righteous" (Proverbs 3:32). Of the seven stages of Gentile world power, six are historical, and the seventh is a revived form of the sixth (the Roman Empire): (1) Egypt (1600-1200 BC),
(2) Assyria (900-600 BC),
(3) Babylon (606-536 BC),
(4) Medo-Persia (536-330 BC),
(5) Greece (330-146 BC),
(6) Rome (200 BC-400 AD), and
(7) the Revived Roman Empire, which seems to be the European Union, that was formed from the older European Economic Community (1957-1958) through the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty), which was enacted on November 1st 1993. How do we arrive at identifying the Beast "out of the sea" (Rev 13:1) with the Roman Empire? To answer that question, we must read the prophecies of the second chapter of Daniel. There, we are given a description of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a "great image" (Daniel 2:31), whose "head was of fine gold [Babylon], his breast and his arms of silver [Medo-Persia], his belly and his thighs of brass [Greece], 33 His legs of iron [Rome], his feet part of iron and part of clay [the Revived Roman Empire]" (Rev 2:32-33).
The Almighty gave Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its interpretation to Daniel in response to believing prayer, i.e., they desired "mercies of the God of Heaven concerning this secret... Then was the secret revealed" (Daniel 2:18, 19). "Thou, O king [Nebuchadnezzar] ... art this head of gold [the Babylonian Empire]" (Rev 2:37-38). As it was with Daniel, so it is true with the Saints throughout time, divinely revealed prophecy is merely history in its yet to be fulfilled form. "39 And after thee [Nebuchadnezzar] shall arise another kingdom [the Medo-Persian Empire of Darius and Cyrus] inferior to thee, and another third kingdom [the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great] of brass, which shall bear rule over all the Earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom [the Roman Empire] shall be strong as iron" (Rev 2:39-40).
• "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." John the Beloved Apostle describes his vision of the "beast" as "like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion" (Rev 13:2). Similarly, the Old Testament prophet Daniel was given a vision of "four great beasts [of prey, which] came up from the sea" (Daniel 7:3). Daniel described the Babylonian Empire as a "lion, [that] had eagle's wings" (Rev 7:4). A second kingdom, the Medo-Persian Empire, was represented as a bear, i.e., "And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs [i.e., dominating Media, Persia, Babylonia] in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh [i.e., subduing Lydia, Egypt, etc.]" (Rev 7:5).
A third world empire, Greece, was depicted as a leopard, which speaks of the swiftness of Alexander the Great's conquests, i.e., "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" (Rev 7:6). Finally, the Roman Empire was likened to a dreadful beast with ten horns, i.e., "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 brake 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" (Rev 7:7). And so, Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a "great image" (Rev 2:31) agrees with both Daniel's vision of "four great beasts" (Rev 7:3) and John's vision of the "beast which... was like unto a leopard... a bear... [and] a lion" (Revelation 13:2).
It is said that the "dragon [Satan] gave him [the Antichrist] his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Rev 13:2). But, how could the devil give governmental power and authority to the Antichrist, when God never placed them in Satan's hands? "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in Earth" (Matthew 28:18). Sadly, however, when the children of this world give obedience to the devil, then they acknowledge his illegal seizure of that power.
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16). Satan is the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) and the "god of this world" (2Corinthians 4:4) only because he has been crowned as such through the willful surrender of obedience of any and every moral agent, when they demonstrate themselves to be "lovers of their own selves" (2Timothy 3:2) and not of God. Antichrist will be the human epitome of the self-love promoted by Lucifer, when he attempted to seize the heavenly throne of the High and Lofty One That Inhabiteth Eternity (Isaiah 57:15). "13 For thou [Lucifer] hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14).
• "3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." Understanding that the Beast with "seven heads" (Rev 13:1) represents Gentile world power, the Apostle John "saw one of [the Beast's] heads as it were wounded to death" (Rev 13:3). This referred to the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, when the Vandals plundered the city of Rome (455 AD) and the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, abdicated (476 AD). The Beast's "deadly wound was healed" (Rev 13:3) indicates that the Lamb of the Revelation anticipated Satan's attempt to revive the power of the Roman Empire. "I [Christ, the Lamb of God] am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (Rev 22:13). What is known as the Holy Roman Empire-- originally including what is now Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, eastern France, the Low Countries, and parts of northern and central Italy-- was the attempt of the papacy to enlarge its power through the control of secular governments, beginning with the coronation of Charlemagne, king of the Franks, in 800 AD by Pope Leo III, to the resigning of the imperial title of Holy Roman emperor by Francis II, emperor of Austria, in 1806. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).
The imperial title of Holy Roman emperor was virtually hereditary to the Austrian House of Habsburg, beginning in the fifteenth century. "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment" (Exodus 23:2). Alluding to Otto von Bismarck's German Empire (1871-1918)-- where the equivalents of caesar and empire are the German, kaiser and reich, respectively-- as the Second Holy Roman Empire (or, Second Reich), Adolph Hitler referred to Nazi Germany as the Third Reich. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered" (Proverbs 11:21). Each attempt to revive the power of the Roman Empire has failed-- until (possibly) now, with the burgeoning political and economic strength of the modern European Union (2000). But, "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that Power belongeth unto God" (Psalm 62:11).
Since the Beast "out of the sea" (Rev 13:1) is both a system, i.e., Gentile world power in the form of a Revived Roman Empire, and a man that is called the Antichrist, who comes out of that system, then the "deadly wound" (Rev 13:3), most likely will also refer to an actual wound to Antichrist's head. The Greek word for "wound" (Rev 13:3) is plege, which is also translated as plague. Just as the LORD Jesus Christ was "wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5) and "by His stripes we are healed" (Isa 53:5), the Antichrist will falsely simulate a resurrection from what appears to be a mortal head wound. "For there shall arise false Christ's, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very Elect" (Matthew 24:24).
Because the power to create life or resurrect from the dead belong only to the Living God, i.e., "Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25), Antichrist's resurrection will only be a "lying wonder". "8 And then shall that Wicked [the Antichrist] be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: 9 Even him [the Antichrist], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2Thessalonians 2:8-9).
• "4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" Worship is directed to the Father by the Son. "21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him" (John 4:21, 23). In a false imitation of the relationship of Christ to the Father of Mercies (2Corinthians 1:3), the Antichrist will be instrumental in directing worship to Satan, i.e., "And they worshipped the dragon [Satan] which gave power unto the beast [Antichrist]" (Rev 13:4).
Satan would have no interest in giving power to the Antichrist, if it would not somehow come back to him in worship. "And [Satan] saith unto Him [the LORD Jesus Christ], All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9). What the LORD Jesus refused, Antichrist will gladly receive. "Again, the devil taketh Him [Jesus] up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 10 Then saith Jesus unto him , Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the LORD thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Rev 4:8,10).
Who "worshipped the dragon... and... the beast" (Rev 13:4)? "All the world" (Rev 13:3), who "wondered after the beast" (Rev 13:3), are the "they" of verse four, who are deceived into worshipping Satan and the Antichrist. Before modern times, when global communications and the Internet have now intimately linked the far reaches of the planet, it would have been difficult for any man or devil to have achieved the feat of gaining the worship and admiration of not merely a nation or continent, but of "all the world" (Rev 13:3). "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them" (1John 4:5). This is the climactic act of the world system, to worship the devil and his false Christ. "15 Love not the world [system], neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him . 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (Rev 2:15-17).
"Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Rev 13:4) will be the adulation of the world for the Antichrist. The strength of human government is measured by how its might maintains rule within its borders, and how it successfully defends against foreign enemies. "For he [human government, as intended by God] is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Romans 13:4). In keeping with Antichrist's praise, i.e., "who is able to make war with him?" (Rev 13:4), Antichrist will be a man of military and political power, for he will be responsible for the "covenant with many" (Daniel 9:27) that takes place at the beginning of the Seventieth Week of Daniel. This usurper will be a minister of Satan against the Saints for evil, who will be known for his execution of wrath in the martyrdom of the Godly, who practice righteousness. "And he [Antichrist] 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" (Daniel 7:25).
• "5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Blasphemia is the Greek word for blasphemy, which means evil speaking, especially in the sense of speaking evil of God. "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory" (Rev 16:9). Anyone who would falsely claim to be the Son of God, speaks blasphemy; and, ironically, the LORD Jesus was attacked as a blasphemer because He truly said that He was the Son of God. "33 The Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a Man, makest thyself God... 36 Say ye of Him, Whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:33, 36). Yet, the very fact that the Antichrist (prophetically) "sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2Thessalonians 2:4) is the ultimate blasphemy. "And there was given unto him [Antichrist] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies" (Rev 13:5).
It may be initially strange to the minds of the Godly that "power was given unto" (Rev 13:5) Antichrist by Jehovah to return blasphemy against Jehovah; but, God allows Antichrist and the unelect "to fill up their sins" (1Thessalonians 2:16) through this blaspheming, which justifies the Almighty's granting of their free moral agency and their subsequent "eternal damnation [Greek, krisis, or judgment]" (Mark 3:29). "4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment... 9 [then] The LORD knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2Peter 2:4, 9).
And, Antichrist's "power" (Rev 13:5) or liberty to "continue" (Rev 13:5) sitting in the reconstructed Jerusalem Temple "as God" (2Thessalonians 2:4) is for "forty and two months" (Rev 13:5)-- or, 3 1/2 prophetic years, which is 1,260 days. This period will begin at the Middle of the Tribulation Week, which is the "Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15). The forty-two month period, which follows the Abomination of Desolation, is commonly known as the Great Tribulation. "For then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Mt 24:21).
• "6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven." Again, the hallmark of Antichrist's short career is his blasphemy of all that concerns the Living God, i.e., "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His Name, and His Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven" (Rev 13:6). The profane use of the Name of God to damn whoever and whatever, is common to mankind; and, it is this loose but perverse speech that qualifies as blasphemy. "1 This know also, that in the Last Days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy" (2Timothy 3:1-2). We, in this closing Laodicean Age of Church History, have seen a greater than ever degeneration of evil speaking, that will culminate in the Antichrist's blasphemy. "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (Rev 3:13). Consider the following, to benchmark how much worse the present blasphemy has become. During the Philadelphian Age of the Church (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), when the Church was still characterized as having "a little strength" (Revelation 3:8), the evangelist Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) described the blasphemy he encountered in the little New York village of Antwerp of the early 1800's.
"In passing around the village I heard a vast amount of profanity. I thought I had never heard so much in any place that I had ever visited. It seemed as if the men, in playing ball upon the green, and in every business place that I stepped into, were all cursing and swearing and damning each other. I felt as if I had arrived upon the borders of hell. I had a kind of awful feeling, I recollect, as I passed around the village on Saturday. The very atmosphere seemed to me to be poison; and a kind of terror took possession of me. I gave myself to prayer on Saturday, and finally urged my petition till this answer came: 'Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people in this city' [Acts 18:9-10]" (from Chapter 8, "Revival at Antwerp", of "An Autobiography" -- by Charles G. Finney).
• "7 And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindred's, and tongues, and nations." John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" describes CHRISTIAN's approach to the Palace Beautiful, where he encounters two lions on either side of the narrow approach to the palace. While reconsidering his need to enter the palace, WATCHFUL, the porter of the palace, calls out to Christian, "Is thy strength so small? fear not the lions; for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is; and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee!" "And [Jesus] said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Though the Almighty has made us immortal until our work on Earth is done, "If there is no more work for you to do for your Master, it cannot distress you that He is about to take you Home [through martyrdom] and put you where you will be beyond the reach of adversaries" (from C. H. Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" April 8th entry, "Preserved to Work's End"). "And the night following the LORD stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome" (Acts 23:11).
But, the All Wise God has chosen that some of His Saints will give the ultimate confession and witness of their faith in the LORD Jesus Christ through their martyrdom, i.e., "And it was given unto [Antichrist] to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them" (Rev 13:7). "Jesus answered, Thou [Pontius Pilate] couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from Above" (John 19:11). And, power to hurt the Saints, indicates that the Antichrist has had the restraint removed to give him power "over all kindred's, and tongues, and nations" (Rev 13:7). "For the Mystery of Iniquity doth already work: only He [the Holy Spirit indwelling the Saints] Who now letteth [i.e., restrains Satan and sin] will let [continue to restrain], until He [the Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way [at the Pre-Tribulational Rapture]" (2Thessalonians 2:7).
• "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." Those who are not Heavenly minded, are described as "all [those] that dwell upon the Earth" (Rev 13:8), i.e., Earth dwellers. "He that cometh from Above is above all [i.e., Jesus Christ]: he that is of the Earth is earthly, and speaketh of the Earth [i.e., Antichrist, and his followers]" (John 3:31). Scripture tells us that "all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship" (13:8) the Antichrist; but, later in this chapter, we will find the reason for this universal worship, i.e., coercion based upon the threat of death. "And he [the False Prophet] had power to give life unto the image of the beast [image of the Antichrist], that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (Rev 13:15).
These Earth dwellers, "whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8), are the unelect, who never will repent. However, it is important to note that a commandment to leave Babylon the Great, i.e., "And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4), comes towards the End of the Tribulation Week, indicating that some of the Earth dwellers must have repented. "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me" (Isaiah 49:16). Therefore, it appears that some that worshipped the Beast, will repent; but, Scripture gives no one the slightest chance of Heaven, who thinks to preserve himself through aforethought and premeditation to bow down to the Beast. "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His Commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him" (1John 2:4). And, the "fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the Second Death" (Revelation 21:8).
• "9 If any man have an ear, let him hear." The voice of the Holy Spirit is only to those who "have an ear" (Rev 13:9). In keeping with the Creator's original plan of a "perfect man" who measures up unto the "stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13), the Spirit of Christ is constantly watching for any man "whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2Chronicles 16:9). That perfection occurs the moment a man repents of sin, for it is the perfection of intention (where opportunity allows) that always manifests itself in the "fruits meet for [literally, worthy of] repentance" (Matthew 3:8). "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
Who will this Antichrist be? Periodically, each generation has had its own Antiochus Epiphanes, Caligula, Pontifex Maximus, Hitler, or Mussolini that must be the Antichrist. But, why? The appearance of the Antichrist will precede the Second Advent of the LORD Jesus Christ for the counterfeit to properly work its deception. "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" (2Thessalonians 2:3). The fact that the LORD Jesus informed His people that He would return, must be a large part of the reason for the Saints' anticipation that "Antichrist shall come" (1John 2:18). "2 In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2-3). Coupled with the Saviour's Promise that He would return, is His assurance that He would return speedily. Most certainly, this has inflamed the Saints' desire for His return and their departure. "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:7). Remembering that the Restraining Influence, which is the Holy Spirit dwelling in His Saints, must first "be taken out of the way" (2Thessalonians 2:7), only "then shall that Wicked [the Antichrist] be revealed" (2:8). So, the Pre-Tribulational Rapture will remove the Watching and Waiting Saints before the revelation of the "man of sin" (Rev 2:3).
The Protestant Reformation, which was marked by a return from an infallible pope to the authority and infallibility of the Scriptures and the concurrent right and necessity that every man should be his own priest, typically saw the Roman pontiff as the Antichrist. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous Light" (1Peter 2:9). Even before Martin Luther (1520) wrote, "I know that the Papacy is none other than the kingdom of Babylon, and the violence of Nimrod the mighty hunter"; John Milicius (1294-1374), Archdeacon and Canon of the Archiepiscopal Cathedral of the Hradschin, Prague, was so shocked at the moral scandals of the Rome that he served, that on his visit to the Pontifical city, "he wrote over the door of one of the cardinals, 'Antichrist is now come, and sitteth in the Church,' and [then] departed" (from James A. Wylie's "The History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 3 ).
Scripture gives many clues to the identity of the Antichrist: (1) He will arise from the Revived Roman Empire. "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another Little Horn [the Antichrist], 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" (Daniel 7:8). [See our comments on Revelation 13:1 for a development of Daniel 7:8.] Also, "26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary [which was accomplished by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD]; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he [Antichrist, who shall arise from the 'people of the prince that shall come' (v. 26)] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:26-27).
(2) He will counterfeit himself as the True Christ, sitting "in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2Thessalonians 2:4); thus, he may exhibit many of the characteristics of the LORD Jesus Christ. For example, like Jesus, he may be about thirty years old, when he begins his brief career, i.e., "Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23).
(3) He will be well connected to the power structure of the world system, i.e., the religious, economic, political, military power of the world. "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? " (Revelation 13:4).
(4) He will be instrumental in establishing a covenant or treaty "with many" (Daniel 9:27), including Israel, at the Beginning of the Tribulation Week; thus, he may already be functioning as a politician or power broker at the time of the Pre-Tribulational Rapture. But,
(5) He will not be allowed to be revealed "as God [sitting] in the temple" (2Thessalonians 2:4) until the Middle of the Tribulation Week; thus, Antichrist will not be obvious as Antichrist until he is demanding the worship of the world to himself as God, on penalty of death. "And [the False Prophet] had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (Revelation 13:15).