One of the time-appropriate topics to be discussed in Christianity today is Satan's deceitful ways of operating in his unholy trinity: Satan (the dragon, the ancient serpent), the Antichrist (being the beast of the sea) and the false prophet (the sea beast the Earth). Eschatological prophecies provide information about how this unholy trinity will function in the end times (last hour). In this short text, we will try to understand who the Antichrist is before moving on to a more in-depth assessment [in future publications] of how he rises to power and how the three work together.
The term antichrist simply refers to “against Christ”. This specific term was probably most used by the Apostle John in the Scriptures. As John exhorts us, an antichrist does not acknowledge Jesus (1 John 4:3), denies that Jesus came in the flesh (2 John 1:7) and denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). There have been many “antichrists,” as 1 John 2:18 states, but there is also coming the Antichrist.
Daniel prophesized about the Antichrist as the ruler who will speak words against God and oppress Jews, intending to change religious festivals and laws (Dan 7:25). He (Daniel) also saw that the same ruler [when he comes in power], will establish a 7-year covenant with Israel but break it in the midpoint to set up an abomination that causes desolation in the Jewish temple, that’s when he will begin to persecute Jews (Daniel 9:27). This verse was also quoted by Matthiew 24:15 and overemphasized in Mark 13:14.
Apostle Paul also speaks about Antichrist in his embodiment form as an apostasy and man of lawlessness: “For that day will not come unless the apostasy[c] comes first and the man of lawlessness[d] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits[e] in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God”. (2 Thes 2:3-4).
In Revelation, Apostle John saw the Antichrist in a form of a beast, representing a world governance system in the last days. We first see information about the Antichrist in chapter 6:2 as the rider on a white horse (representing his claim to be a man of peace). Further details of this ruler are presented in Revelation 13, as the first beast from the sea, with ten horns and seven heads. This beast is empowered by the dragon (Satan) and speaks “proud words and blasphemies” (verse 5) and makes war on the saints (verse 7). Fortunately, the beast (Antichrist), along with his false prophet (second beast from the earth), will be cast into the lake of fire, where they will spend all eternity in torment (Revelation 19:20; 20:10).
To sum it up, the Antichrist will be the ultimate embodiment of what it means to be against Christ. In the end times (last hour), a man will rise to oppose Christ and his followers more than anyone in history. Probably claiming to be the true Messiah, the Antichrist will seek world domination and attempt to destroy all followers of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel.
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