who is the antichrist?

[HAZARD]

3 hours ago, ayin jade said:

I dont want to name names or try and guess who he is from the current world leaders. I am interested in what scripture has to say about the identity of the antichrist.

So who is he? What does scripture say about how he is identified?

  Just about everything the Bible teaches about the Antichrist in one hit! with Scriptural support.

He may be alive today, either a baby, young boy, or older as someone being a member of a political party, Scripture does say, "a king of fierce counternance would rise," so we can expect him to be a king of a particular country. And the times seem right in my humble opinion.
The book of Daniel makes it clear that the Antichrist will come from the ten kingdoms of the Old Roman Empire, as in Dan. 7:7-8, 23-24, and from the four divisions of the Grecian Empire, which are four of the ten, as in Dan. 8:7-9, 20-23, but it also makes it clear that he will come from the Syrian division of the four divisions of Greece, as taught in Dan. 11. The king of the north of this chapter is Syria, and the king of the south is Egypt. Wars between these two divisions of Greece are pictures in Dan. 11:5-34. Verses 35-45 portray war between these same two kingdoms "at the time of the end," showing the result of the last war between them. It states that the land of Egypt shall not escape the king of the north in this last war, thus identifying Syria as being the country from which the Antichrist must come. If the king of the North was Russia, as many Bible students now teach how could Dan 11:44 be fulfilled? What countries are north of Russia that could fight against her, as required by this verse? I even had one minister argue that America is north of Russia. I had a little difficulty explaining to him that America was south of the North Pole, and not north of Russia, and Russia was also south of the North Pole. He eventually agreed. Geography was his weak point.

When Alexander the Great died, his empire was divided into four parts which can be seen by consulting history books. In Dan. 8:9 it states, "Out of one of them," that is, out of one of these four divisions of the Grecian Empire the "little horn" would come, and this is explained in verse 23 as being in the latter time of the existence of these four kingdoms a king of fierce countenance would rise. The four kingdoms of Dan. 8 will make four of the ten of Dan. 7, and the purpose of this chapter over Dan. 7 is to narrow the coming of the Antichrist geographicly from the ten kingdoms to four of the ten, so we can definately say that he will not come from any country outside of these four kingdoms.

Here's the good news, He will definately not come from America, or even rule America, or even be a world wide dictator as many teach and believe, although his wars in the middle east will cause disruption in world wide trade, oil etc. Scripture shows he will only reign over ten kingdoms that will yet be formed inside the Old Roman Empire territory (Dan. 7:23-24).

Only these ten kingdoms will give their power and kingdoms to him (Rev. 13:1; 17:12-17).

Certain countries WILL ESCAPE his rule (Dan. 11:40-44).

Certain countries will make war on him at the very time he is supposed to be ruling the whole world (Read Dan. 11:40-44). If he was ruling the whole world this could not happen. Because he will rule and reign only over ten countries inside the Old Roman Empire territory, and because America never was or ever will be inside that territory, and because certain countries escape the antichrist, we can Scripturally conclude and be at ease that he will not come from, or rule America, or even be a world wide dictator.

Hundreds of millions of people will never take his mark either. We have seen that many nations will not be under his rule, so naturally people in these countries, America included, will not have to take his mark and they will therefore not be killed. The Bible teaches that many peoples of "all nations," that are left after the reign of the Antichrist, people who will be alive in the Millennium and will go up yearly to worship God (Read Zech 14:16-21). This again further limits the kingdoms of the Antichrist to only a part of the world and limits his ability to kill everyone who does not take the mark, even in his own empire. According to Revelation 14:9-11, no one who has taken the mark will go into the Millennium, but will be sent to eternal Hell. That multitudes go into the Millennium proves they have not taken the mark of the beast and have not been killed. If the Antichrist ruled the entie world as many people believe, and he killed everyone who did not take his mark, and the Lord Jesus sends to Hell everyone who has taken the antichrists mark, then there would be not one person left to enter the Millennium? And this would be contrary to Zech. 14:16-21; Matt. 25:31-46; isa. 2:1-4 and many Scriptures.

The Antichrist, a man, will reign over only ten kingdoms that are yet to be formed inside the yet to be revived, Old Roman Empire. (Dan. 7:23-24). Only these ten kingdoms will give their power and kingdoms to him. (Rev.13:1; 17:12-17). Certain countries will escape his rule (Dan.11:40-44). Certain countries will make war on him at the very time he is supposed to be ruling the whole world (Dan. 11:40-44). Because he will reign only over ten countries inside the Roman Empire territory and because America is not inside that territory and never will be, and because certain countries will escape him we can scripturally conclude that he will never rule America or be a world-wide dictator. Therefore, multitudes of people of many nations will also never take the mark of the beast and they will never be killed by the Antichrist for not doing so.

 

The Bible speaks of many peoples of many nations that are left after the reign of the Antichrist, people who will be alive in the Millennium and will go up yearly to worship God (Zech. 14:16-21). This further limits the kingdom of the Antichrist to only part of the world and also limits his ability to kill everyone who does not take the mark even in his own empire. According to Rev. 14:9-11 no one who has taken the mark will go into the Millennium, but will be sent to eternal Hell.

That multitudes go into the Millennium proves they have not taken the mark of the beast and have not been killed, as taught by many Bible students. If the Antichrist were to kill every person who does not take his mark, and God sends to Hell everyone who does take the mark, then there would be not one person left to enter the Millennium. Also, The mark of the beast will not be 666. There are three brands men will have a choice of taking in the days of the Antichrist inside his kingdom. They are his name, his mark, and the number of his name (Rev. 13:16-18). The name and mark of this man is not given in scripture; so no one will know what they are until he comes and men get to know what his name and mark will be, and what he will chose to put on his followers. The only one of these three brands that is given is the number of his name, and that is stated as being 666 in Rev. 13:18. So 666 is not the name or the mark of the beast. It is the number of the beast.

 

Will the Antichrist be in our lifetime? 

No One knows! Only the Father knows when this will happen.

 

We do know that the church will be raptured and then the Antichrist will be revealed. According to 2 Thess. 2:7-8, it is stated that the hinderer of lawlessness [the church],  will be taken out of the way "And than shall the wicked be revealed" and since the wicked is here for the last seven years of this age, according to Dan. 9:27, the hinderer must be removed before the Antichrist comes and before the Tribulation that he will cause when he comes. What besides governments, the church, and the Holy Spirit is hindering the powers of darkness from having full sway and thus preventing the revelation of the Antichrist? There is nothing, so this hinderance must be one of these.

Governments will be more in evidence during the coming reign of the Antichrist that now, yet it will not hinder the revelation of the Antichrist. The Holy Spirit will not be withdrawn during the tribulation and after the rapture as is shown in Joel 2;28-32 Acts 2 :17-21; Zech.12:10; John 14:16; Rev. 7:9-17; etc. Rev. 7:9-16 proves that multitudes will be saved during the tribulation , and we know that no man everhas been or ever will be saved except through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8; 16:7-11; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 2:18; 1 Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5 etc.).

Since governments and the Holy Spirit remain here during the tribulation, it follows by logical process of elimination that the church is the hinderance  referred to. That hinderance will be withdrawn for the simple reason that the church, including every person born of the Spirit is raptured, then the Antichrist is revealed.

 

There will be three things men will have a choice of taking in the days of the Antichrist: The mark of Antichrist, his name, or the number of his name. What the Antichrist's name and mark will be is not stated in Scripture; but the number of his name is stated as being 666. Therefore, no man can now know his name or his mark and will never be able to know them untill the Antichrist comes. However, anyone now can know that 666 is the number of his name, as revealed in Revelation 13:18.

 

 Scripture shows those willingly and willfully taking the mark will be sent to hell by God. Those who are captured by Antichrist and refuse to take the mark will be killed by him but they will not be sent to eternal hell by God so they are safe.
If anyone unwittingly or even unwillingly receives a mark of the beast, they will never be rejected by God. It is only those who willingly and willfully do such things who will be rejected.

Regarding the Antichrist ruling the "whole world," the scriptures speak in context of the whole world as was then known. For example, regarding the Extent of Antichrist's Reign (Rev. 13:5-18) (Dan.7:23).

The question often arises, "Will the Antichrist have power over all kindreds, tongues, and nations, and will all that dwell on Earth worship him?" While this can generally be answered in the affirmative, still much depends on what is meant by all. If all is used in the most inclusive sense and is meant to include every individual in the known world today, we can say that he will not have this power, but if it is taken to mean all that God has in mind-the latter day ten kingdoms of old Rome--we can say that all will include all affected by the decree made by the Antichrist in his empire.

The following points from scripture prove that the Antichrist will not rule over America or be a World Wide Dictator as many students of prophecy teach.
1. The word all in Rev.13 is simply part of the figure of speach called "synecdoche" in which a part is used for a whole and a whole for a part. It is frequently used in scripture as in the following examples:

1."I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherin is the breath of life, from under heaven; and EVERY THING that is in the earth shall die" (Gen.6:17). If we look at this literally as men do Rev.13, we would have Noah and his family and all the animals in the ark dead, for they were also under the Heaven and in the earth and yet did not die.

2. " And they utterly destroyed ALL THAT WERE IN THE CITY, both men and women" refering to the people in Jerico when the wall fell, but "all" here must be understood in a limited sense, for Rahab and all her people were spared (Josh. 6:21-25).

3. "David and ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL played before the Lord" and brought up the ark" (2 Sam.6:5,15). yet not all Israel did this, for many did not know how to play instruments and many were too young and still many more were not even gathered at that one place.

4. "Six months did Joab remain there [out of his own country] with ALL ISRAEL untill he had cut off every male in Edom" (1 Kings 11:16,17). The "ALL ISRAEL" referred to here is part of the army of Israel.

5. In Rom.1:8 Paul said, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the WHOLE WORLD," but we know he meant only that the local church at Rome was known by many in the various parts of the Roman Empire. Multitudes outside of Rome, and even many inside the Empire of Rome had never yet heard of the Christian faith, much less of the local church at Rome. The same thing is true of Col. 1:23 where we read that the gospel had been "Preached to EVERY CREATURE UNDER HEAVEN" and in Rom. 10:18 it was preached "INTO ALL THE EARTH" and ''UNTO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD" The gospel has not even yet been taken to all nations, so we know the whole world was not evangelized in Paul's day.

6. In Acts 11:28 we read of a dearth [famin] "THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD" which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. That famin did not cover every part of the Roman Empire much less all continents and islands of the world.

Many hundreds of examples can be given to demonstrate the word ALL is used in a figurative sense of a part, so we do not need to believe that Rev.13 and Dan.7:23 means that the Antichrist of the future will literally reign over all the earth and kill all who do not take his mark.
We must, therefore, understand the way the word "all" is supposed to be understood in a particular scripture. If it means ALL in the all inclusive sense then there will be no limitations to it in the passage itself or in other scriptures on the same subject. If it means ALL of what it has reference to specifically and it is clear that it means a part of something and this is made clear in the passage itself or in other passages on the same subject, then we must be sensible to recognize the fact that ALL is not inclusive of all men on earth.

For example, when Paul said of God that it was His will that "ALL men come to the knowledge of the truth" (1Tim.2:24), we know that this means ALL MEN without exception. But when we read of ALL MEN being baptized of John and in the same passage and in other passages on the subject, it is made clear that many were not baptized, then we take it as a figurative statement expressing that a great many in the region were baptized of John. We can see in both Testaments that God used universal terms in speaking of the extent of certain kingdoms and the powers of certain kings. We can also see that these terms show that only a great part of the earth was ruled by these kings and empires. We can therefore logically conclude that the extent of Antichrists kingdom and power could likewise be limited to a part of the world. Because we can find a number of scriptures limiting his power and authority to a part of the Earth, and they plainly tell us what part of the Earth will be under him and what part will not be under him then we must limit the "ALL" of Rev.13 and Dan. 7:23 to what territory he rules over and not make it universal as many prophetical students do.

Edited July 28, 2016 by HAZARD

[Marilyn C]

4 hours ago, ayin jade said:

What characteristics will he have? How would one recognize him?

Hi ayin jade,

I think this description from Daniel 8 is very helpful -

`A king shall arise

- having fierce features,

-who understands sinister schemes,

- his power shall be mighty,

- he shall destroy fearfully,

- he shall prosper & thrive,

- he shall destroy the mighty,

- also the holy people,

- he is cunning,

- he causes deceit to prosper under his hand,

- he shall magnify himself in his heart,

- he shall destroy many in their prosperity.` (Dan. 8; 23 - 25)

 

Now I believe that in a couple of years there will arise a new leader of ISIS & he will, by cunning relate to the West. (false peace) This leader will be the Assyrian, the future anti-Christ.

Marilyn.

 

[Ezra]

1 hour ago, Marilyn C said:

Now I believe that in a couple of years there will arise a new leader of ISIS & he will, by cunning relate to the West. (false peace) This leader will be the Assyrian, the future anti-Christ.

Only a renegade Jew can fill the role of the Antichrist.  That is quite clear from Scripture.  All the Reformers thought that the Pope was the Antichrist, and now we have people thinking that a rabid Muslim will be the Antichrist.  But the Antichrist takes power by Satanic deception.

[Behold]

The anti-christ is the Islamic Messiah..

He is called the "Mahdi"

[other one]

If the entity you call the Antichrist is the beast out of the abyss, it/he is a fallen angel.

[Last Daze]

On 7/27/2016 at 7:04 PM, ayin jade said:

So who is he? What does scripture say about how he is identified?

In Revelation we see the evil trio of Satan, the beast, and the false prophet.  Of these three, only one is a human, the false prophet.

The false prophet calls fire down from heaven among other signs and wonders and deceives the world.  He proclaims to be God and has the people of the world build an image of the evil angel beast, which I believe will be a "code of conduct" that affirms the false prophet's "deity."  People must obey its terms or be put to death.  He also requires everyone to receive his mark in order to buy or sell.

• supernatural signs and wonders
• claims to be God
• has the image built
• worship or die ultimatum
• requires his mark to buy or sell

In a nutshell.

[WilliamL]

On 7/27/2016 at 6:04 PM, ayin jade said:

I am interested in what scripture has to say about the identity of the antichrist.

11 hours ago, WilliamL said:

John was the only biblical author who used the term, and John prophesied nothing about that one for the End Times. Everything that people say about "the Antichrist" in our day is a doctrine of men, not Scripture.

Jesus told us,

"For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ....' " Matt. 24:5

All of these therefore can be called antichrists, so there will be no single The Antichrist.

People can point to different personages in prophecy as being The Antichrist, but Scripture tells us no such thing. If you put the teachings of these people above the Word, you will only become confused. Stick to the Word.

Edited August 1, 2016 by WilliamL

[OakWood]

3 hours ago, WilliamL said:

Jesus told us,

"For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ....' " Matt. 24:5

All of these therefore can be called antichrists, so there will be no single The Antichrist.

People can point to different personages in prophecy as being The Antichrist, but Scripture tells us no such thing. If you put the teachings of these people above the Word, you will only become confused. Stick to the Word.

Although the term AntiChrist was only used by John, it has fallen into common usage as a general term meaning the false prophet / World ruler of the End Times.

Scripture DOES clearly point out that there will be an End Times ruler who will persecute believers. This is the man who we commonly refer to as THE AntiChrist, the Antichrist greater than all other antiChrists.

 

 

[WilliamL]

1 hour ago, OakWood said:

Although the term AntiChrist was only used by John, it has fallen into common usage as a general term meaning the false prophet / World ruler of the End Times.

But there is no "common usage," or else this topic would be meaningless, because everyone would agree about the term. You write, "the false prophet / World ruler," but most people say that the False Prophet and the World Ruler are two different antichrists. So what the common usage generates is confusion, which is of the devil, not the Spirit.

If people simply stick to biblical terms like Son of Perdition, Gog, the False Prophet, the Beast, the Assyrian, etc., then they build upon Godly foundations. When they introduce non-biblical "common," tradition-of-men terms, they build upon sand, because they are adding to the Word.

[OakWood]

12 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

But there is no "common usage," or else this topic would be meaningless, because everyone would agree about the term. You write, "the false prophet / World ruler," but most people say that the False Prophet and the World Ruler are two different antichrists. So what the common usage generates is confusion, which is of the devil, not the Spirit.

If people simply stick to biblical terms like Son of Perdition, Gog, the False Prophet, the Beast, the Assyrian, etc., then they build upon Godly foundations. When they introduce non-biblical "common," tradition-of-men terms, they build upon sand, because they are adding to the Word.

Does that mean people who mention the word 'rapture' are adding to the word because the word 'rapture; is not in the Bible? What about Jesus? His name is not in the Bible. He's called Yeshua.

The term AntiChrist is in common usage. Everybody knows what it means. Nobody is adding to the word. You're splitting hairs over nothing.