Who Is The Antichrist?
How Do I Know?
As we come to the final week of our study on eschatology, we are going to discuss one of the more popular topics surrounding the end times, the antichrist. The antichrist is someone we see pop up as one of the 3 main beasts in the middle of Revelation who is given the sole purpose of leading the lost to serve and worship him over-serving and worshiping Christ. In other words, it is the antichrist’s mission to make sure the lost stay lost, and never come to saving faith in Christ. As Wayne Grudem mentions about the antichrist, “Certainly demonic miracles and false signs have been done for centuries, at least since the time that the magicians in Pharaoh’s court produced false signs in opposition to Moses’ miracles. Whatever the specific form it takes, such as working of deceptive miracles is almost always accompanied by false religions, leading many people astray.” With this clearly being the goal of the false Christ in Revelation, it would come as a great benefit to us to know as much about this antichrist as we can, so that we may be ready for this being and not be persuaded by him regardless of his abilities. With that being said, let’s dive into some of the top questions and answers we have regarding this beast.
How Many Are There?
To start, let’s ask one of the biggest questions surrounding the antichrist which is, ‘Is this being only active during the millennium?’ Like many other questions we’ve asked throughout this series, this question hangs on how you view the book of Revelation and its symbolic and literal passages. There are many people who believe that the antichrist isn’t just a being who will show up in the last days, but is a spirit that is passed on from generation to generation. Meaning that the antichrist never really goes away, but rather possesses its power in whichever lost person they so choose. On the other side, of course, are those who believe that the antichrist will only come when the millennium truly begins. Whichever view you take, one thing that is clear is that when the millennium begins and the 3 beasts are reigning on this earth, the antichrist’s power and persuasion at this point will be greater than in the past if he was indeed active at that point. Revelation 13:7-8 tells us, “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.” One thing that is certain is that not everyone who is a Christian these days serves the same false god. Many don’t even believe in a god or the antichrist and therefore, aren’t fulfilling what Revelation 13 tells us. However, when the antichrist comes in the last days, it is clear in scripture that ‘everyone’ who isn’t saved will worship this beast and follow his ways. This is why even if the antichrist is working in the world today, it won’t be comparable to what he will seek to accomplish in the last days when the 3 beasts reign on this earth.
Who Is It?
Furthermore, now that we have looked into the ‘when’ of this particular character, we can better answer the ‘who’. If you are of the belief that the antichrist is someone who isn’t coming until the millennium, then clearly it is almost impossible to answer this question. But if you are someone who believes that the spirit of the antichrist is alive and working from generation to generation, then we can take what we know about the antichrist from Revelation and apply it to past historical figures to see if we find any strong matches. This is where the description of Revelation 13:15-18 becomes very vital. It says, “And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” It is clear from this description that the antichrist is someone who seeks the death of those who don’t serve him, will have a global sign that you are a follower of this beast, and you won’t be able to use your finances unless you have this mark. These goals alone lead many to believe that Hitler was one of those beings who was used as the antichrist. Hitler clearly sought to kill those he didn’t approve of, had a universal mark, and used this mark to identify those who were on his side.
Not only that but it is rumored that the letters of Hitler’s name in Hebrew add up to 666. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to believe that in that current day and age, anyone would doubt that Adolf Hitler was the antichrist. The same has also been said about Nero Caesar. He was clearly a ruler who was more relatable in Jesus’ day and his face was on the coin of all currency. Nero’s name also adds up to 666 in Hebrew. Now the fact that a person’s name in Hebrew equals 666 is not one of the signs we see mentioned in Revelation, however, when considered with all of the other signs that are mentioned, it’s a very intriguing piece of evidence. Now before we close, I do want to say that the goal of this post was not to lead everyone to assume that everyone they disagree with is the new antichrist. I hope I made it clear that the antichrist must fulfill what scripture says about him, despite what we may think about him in this current day and age. It’s not as simple as someone being in power who isn’t a Christian or whom we disagree with politically, the signs are beyond that. The goal of this study was to keep your mind level-headed about who the antichrist may truly be when the millennium comes and who the antichrist may have been when we look at history past. I hope that this resource along with scripture itself may guide your study of who this being ultimately is.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Grudem, W. A. (1994). Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA79455700