The Antichrist - The Beast

The Antichrist will rise to power on the exagerated feeling of joy that the world experiences, when he appears to save the world from its critical economic and political problems with the cleaver deception of his seven year plan for world peace, economic stability & religious freedom.

The only places in Bible that the name Antichrist is used are, I John 2:18,22,4:3, and II John 7).
_1 John 2:18,22; "18 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. 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."_
_1 John 4:3; "3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."_
_2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."_
The key passages concerning the Antichrist are found in Daniel 7, 8, 11; Matthew 24; II Thessalonians 2; and Revelation 13, 17 and 18. The Antichrist is referred to as a beast, a little horn, a false Christ, that wicked one, and the man of sin.

Most of us acquainted with the Word of God, are aware of the major contenders in the end time period. We have all heard of the Beast, the Antichrist, the prophet of the Antichrist, the two Witnesses who oppose the Antichrist, Gog - the ruler of MaGog, the Dragon, but there is one significant participant in the End Time struggle. A seldom taught or even discussed participant is the pre-tribulation prophet, referred to as "the restraining one," who hinders the rise to power of the Antichrist for a short period of time (referenced to in 2 Thessalonians 2:7). "He that restraineth, will restrain.", this individual will restrain and hinder the Antichrist immediate rise to power. The prophecy of the End Time recorded in the book of 2 Thessalonians interacting for God's people to slow down the strengthening of the Antichrist prior to the rapture of the Body of Christ from the earth.

Let us look at the prophecy in 2 Thessalonians regarding the events to unfold as the Antichrist prepairs to make his appearance and then makes his play for total domination. The account here points out how Antichrist comes as an impostor of Christ. The kingdom of Christ comes by the power of the God and the Antichrist's kingdom will come by the power of a "spirit", who is the Devil (Satan) himself.
_2 Thessalonians 2:2-12; "2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand."_
Paul tells the First Century believers not to be worried about what he will say here. He told them the Day of Christ was not at hand but off at some point further on time wise. There were those during that time who were teaching that the end was going to come in their life time and upsetting the Church. Paul next sets things in the proper perspective.
_"3 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;"_
Here in verse 3 Paul told them that the day would not come until there was a falling away. This is in reference to a falling away of many believers in the Church and apostasy of the Jewish people. Note that this falling away must first happen before the gathering together will happen. Next, the man of sin is revealed, the Antichrist, the cheif son of Satan.
_"4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."_
The Temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt prior to the event foretold in verse 4. The Antichrist will sit in the Jewish Temple exalting himself as God and comanding worship of himself by the world. When this happens the one world economy will have completely taken over It is at this time that the Antichrist imposes his infamous one-world credit system.
_"5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." _
Even though the man of sin had not yet appeared, the satanic power that will ultimately produce the Antichrist was already at work in Paul's time as it is very much at work in our time today.
_"7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."_
Of importance note, "he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.", that is, "He that restraineth, will restrain." In this verse, the Greek word "Katecho" is translated "letteth and let," the literal translation is "the restrainer" or with the present article in use, "the restraining one." There is someone, a pre-tribulation prophet / man of God, who will restrain and hinder the Antichrist from coming to immediate power, but in the end this hindrance will be taken out of the way so that the Antichrist can succeed in uniting all the kingdoms and nations of the world into one. It is clear that behind this restraining is the will of God. This will be the point in time that the Gospel will be completely preached to the whole world and all living men will have the opportunity to either accept Christ Jesus as their Lord and savior or reject him. As in all battle plans, not everything was revealed prior to the plan of action being launched, for example the Devil did not realize the full impact of what his killing Jesus would accomplish (1 Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.). This element of surprise is what stops the Antichrist's ability to completely take over when he first starts to make himself known in the world. God gives mankind one last breif season to become a part of the body of Christ before the availablilty is removed. Jesus, when he prophesied concerning the end times, said as recorded in Matthew 24:21 " For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Jesus spoke of a period of time when tribulation in the world would begin affecting the believers but would be shortened prior to the Great Tribulation of the Antichrist in full power. "Until he be taken out of the way," indicates this very thing. Concerning the restraining prophet this would imply two possibilities:1) this restraining prophet will be removed from hindering the Antichrist by the rapture or stop hindering upon instruction from God; or 2) the Antichrist will succeed in removing the restraining prophet by force in the same manner he kills the two witnesses of Revelation. In the process of removing his hendrence, the Antichrist will accuse the prophet of being the Antichrist and every other trick the Devil uses to discredit the Word of God spoken by men of God (Revelation 12:10 "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."). Either way the gathering together will then come to pass, the Antichrist will be the one behind all efforts to stop the restraining one, and when restraint is removed the Antichrist will proceed fully unrestrained in any way and the Great Tribulation will be upon the world.
_ 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Performing miracles (verse 9), the Antichrist will establish himself and validate his claim to be God's anointed (Christ Jesus). Men of God have always performed miracles that establish the authority of their divine appointment. Moses did in Egypt. Elijah did on Mount Carmel. Jesus Christ and His apostles did. So also will Antichrist as a way to establish his credibility.
_9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
He will draw away them by deception, who are already inclined against the truth of God's Word, them who believe the teaching he speaks in crafty, lying words. His speeches will be heard by millions who will hang on his persuasive speech and his form of speech will attract even the believers who are not well grounded in a knowledge of God's Word. He will even be sincere and passionate and will add bits of the truth so that his lie seems like truth. He will use the language of the church throwing in a scripture here and there to sound genuine. But he is the ultimate Liar and will deceive many who preferred to hear "comfort sermons" based on the prevelant corrupt doctrinal teaching of the secularized Church right before the End TImes.
_10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."_
The Antichrist is Satan's counterpart to Christ. Christ Jesus was God's choice to establish His kingdom and redeem His people whereas the Antichrist is Satan's choice to establish his kingdom, gather in as many people as he can to prevent them from receiving salvation and subject all to himself. All of God's plan hinges on the works of Jesus Christ and His revealed Word to the Church, and, all of Satan's plans hinge on the working and success of Antichrist and his unification of the whole world in rebellion against God. It is obvious that the Antichrist will be one man. He will be a single individual of outstanding ability and extraordinary power. He will will not be unrecognizable to you and me or some foreigner or some extraterrestrial like some in the world today think. This man's claims will be believable because he will fit into the world's logic system of science and secular humanism. The Bible even gives some clues about his personal characteristics. The prophet Daniel wrote that the Antichrist "does not regard the desire of women." Daniel also says that he will have a "fierce countenance" or stern look, and will be "more stout than his fellows"or in other words will be more proud and boastful.

To gain a better understanding of the Antichrist and the events that will happen, lets go look at the record in the book of Daniel for additional details. We will see that the beast of Daniel 7 is the same beast of Revelation 13.
_Daniel 7:7-8, 21-22, 25; "7 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."_
This fourth beast of Daniel's vision represented the yet to come Roman empire. The ten horns represents ten kings (or nations) still to come after the Roman empire. These are ten nations that will appear in succession and will coexist during the time of the Antichrist's birth and will still be around when the Antichrist begins his move for power.
_"8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, 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. "_
The little horn that uproots, takes over and dominates, three of these ten kingdoms is the Antichrist. This is the first prophetic reference to the Antichrist in the scriptures. It says he will speak great things, the deception of lies referenced to in 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9-10. This is the emergence of the one world religion.
_"21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."_
At this point, the foolish deception of carnal weapons as opposed to the proper use of Spiritual Weapons is manifested to the believers. The Antichrist was prevailing against the saints because they were guilty of exerting influence according to the power of carnal weapons and politics which would provide no authority or protection. This is a very devastating deception, the belief that the Church is called to assume civil authority.
_"25 And he 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."_
Here we have what is already quite well in existance in the world today, Christian bashing by unbelievers and by the broadcast media, the removal of God from government and education by governments. This will pave the way for the one world religion.
_Daniel 8:9-12, 23-26; "9 And 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. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered."_
Here the attack against the people of God transcends to an attack against heaven itself by the Antichrist. In the resulting battle in the heavens, the Antichrist and his forces are cast back down to the earth in defeat, but still in control of things on the earth. He will completely put an end to all ceremonies and worship of God by both the Jews and believers. It will be a time of major "book burning" in his attempt to completely wipe out all traces of the Word of God (cast down the truth to the ground) and he will have what seems to be apparent success.
_"23 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.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people."_
Here is the appearance of Gog, leading Maygog and it's confederacy in opposition to Israel and the nations siding with Israel.
_25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."_
And finally is the prophecy of the entire army lead by Gog being destroyed by God at the battel of Armageddon.
_"26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days."_
The angel instructs Daniel that this vision is of the future and he was instructed to "shut up the vision," or literally to close it up for confidentiality and safekeeping. It was to be preserved for those people it was intended to instruct just prior to the fulfilling of those prophecies.

Next in Daniel, there is further information to be had from the prophecy that is commonly referred to as the Seventy Weeks Prophecy in chapter 9.
_Daniel 9:24-27; "24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."_
In verse 24, the word translated "week" is the number seven. This would literally translate seventy sevens, or the number 490. This number represents 490 years and the covenant for one "week" is actually 7 years. This would span a time period of the time from Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, gave the proclamation that the Jews were released from captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city (Ezra 7:12-26) and in verse 25 the Messiah (Jesus) starting his ministry on earth in 27 AD.
_"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; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."_
The crucifixion of Jesus is signified as "Messiah be cut off" after threescore and two weeks (62 weeks). From this point there is a time interval that is takes place till "the people of the prince come," the people of the Antichrist (the prince being the Antichrist himself). The Antichrist (prince) will "confirm a covenant" with the jewish people, regathered in the land of Israel during the Tribulation period for seven years (Matthew 24:21).
_"27 And he 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."_
Even though the peace treaty is set for seven years, "in the midst of the week", after three and a half years, the Antichrist will stop the worship of God in the Temple, stop the sacrifice and offering in worship of God. The "overspreading of abominations" he uses to make it desolate describes a catastrophe that will come on Jerusalem in connection with the activities of the Antichrist. Jesus was recording quoting this prophecy in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14, regarding End Time events yet future.

Continuing on in Daniel in chapter 11, more is revealed of the End Time. Note in particular verse 37 where additional information about the Antichrist is given not revealed in the previous scriptures in regard to the personality of the Antichrist.
_Daniel 11:29-39; "29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. "_
In verse 30 the ships from Chittim that would come against the Antichrist would be from the lands to the west that confront him in defense of Israel. He will then return to his lands and start the process of building the army of his confederacy by gathering together the unbelievers to his side.
_"31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."_
At this point the prophecy of Daniel 9:27 is restated in that the Antichrist with stop the worship of God in Jerusalem. BUT!!! "The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." The believers are not and never were intended to be whimps, whining their way toward salvation and accepting defeat by the adversary (i.e. - Romans 8:37 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." These End Time Warriors of God willl be strong and do exploits, they will fight the Antichrist and have decisive victories in battle (as in the promise, "one shall chase a thousand style!).
_"33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed."_
These that understand among the people are God's reserved people who will teach many, who in turn will come over to God's side. In the ensuing and increasing conflict during the End Time there will be some casualties (martyred) for their stand for God, yet they will obtain white robes and be held in reserve for the final battle, to return with Christ Jesus to fight again victoriously.
_" 36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done."_
The Antichrist will continue to prosper from his activities against Christ and God for a while as he grows in strength.
_"37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all."_
Here is a revealing look into the personal history of the Antichrist. He will not regard the God of his fathers, which establishes that he arose to power from within the Church, he was the son of Christian or Jewish parents who were faithful worshippers of God. He will not regard the desire of women which would indicate a man that is either a homosexual or a celibate (an unmarried person who has taken a religious vow of chastity). And finally, he regards no God at all, he is the new age religious sentiment personified, that man is God and that he "the man" is the God for all people.
_"38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain."_
In verses 36 to 39 is foretold the one world order precided over by the worlds most prominent, powerful, popular personality.