Who is the Antichrist?

The title “Antichrist,” referring to an individual, is used only once in Scripture, in 1 John 2:18.  There, the Apostle John stated, “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.”  We learn that there is a specific Antichrist coming in these last days, and we learn also that there are many antichrists.  As one might expect, the chief characteristic of any antichrist, including the final Antichrist, is that each will deny that Jesus is the true Messiah (1 John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7).

The Greek preposition anti can have two different meanings, against, and instead of.  The ultimate Antichrist will be both against the true Christ, or Messiah, and he will present himself as a world savior instead of the true Christ.

Though the title Antichrist is used only once in relation to the final Antichrist, there are other sources of information about him.  John reveals a sinister leader who will gain power over the entire earth.  I did not post a picture of Adolf Hitler, above, to suggest that he was the Antichrist.  He was not and will not be.  But the Antichrist will be the same kind of person that Adolf Hitler was.  He will have remarkable persuasive powers.  He will gain a cult following who will be deceived by his true agenda until it is too late.  He will be inspired and empowered by Satan.  He will have remarkable military powers, and the people of the world will be amazed at his recuperative abilities.  They will both follow him and worship him (Rev. 13:1-4).  This persuasive, powerful leader will blaspheme God and put to death true believers all over the world.  He will be a totalitarian who monitors every purchase of earth’s citizens (Rev. 13:5-18).

We are given a clue as to his identity.  To Daniel, the Jewish / Babylonian statesman, was revealed an amazing prophetic chronology about the nation of Israel.  The prophecy he was given included the restoration of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, the death of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple (Daniel 9:24-26).  We know who destroyed the Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem.  It was the Roman army led by General Vespasian Titus in A.D. 70.  The Romans are “the people of the prince who is to come” (Dan. 9:26).  That is significant, for it reveals the identity of the coming prince, a reference to none other than the Antichrist, the charming but sinister world dictator.  This world dictator will appear to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict with a seven-year peace treaty (Dan. 9:27).  But half way through the period he will announce that he himself is the real Messiah.  He will install himself in the rebuilt Jewish temple (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:3-4).  But his end will be both inevitable and terrible (2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19:20).

The Antichrist will be of the same nationality or stock as the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.  Therefore the Antichrist must be of Roman or Italian descent, at the least European. When he appears on the world scene, he will emerge as a suave, sophisticated, mesmerizing diplomat who will grow in popularity around the world.  He will seem like a good man at the beginning, someone who seems to have the answers for the world's problems.  He will have supernatural powers, but he will be a supreme liar.  His interest is not in saving the world, but in gaining complete power over it.  He will be very religious, but he will be inspired by Satan.  He will be anti-God and Anti-Christ.  When the true Christ returns to this earth, the false Christ will attempt to destroy Him.  But he himself will be destroyed. His eternal doom will be the Lake of Fire and Brimstone (Rev. 19:20).

Who Is the Antichrist?

Prepared by James T. Bartsch
May, 2009
Published Online by WordExplain.com

Email Contact: jbartsch@wordexplain.com

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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