Before we take a look at the candidates, we need to get his final description, so we will be able to recognize him a little more easily when he appears. What is the antichrist going to look like, the one who takes the Kingdom out of the control of “king seven” and becomes “number eight”?
His descriptors and titles are clearly laid out by Paul, John, and Daniel. First Paul: (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 8-9)
The man of sin
The son of perdition
Exalts himself above any God
Sits as God in God’s Temple
Shows himself to be God
Consumed by the breath of Jesus at His return
His coming is with power, signs, lying wonders
Those who are perishing will be deceived
Then John (Revelation 13, 1-10; 17:8-17; 19:19-20)
Caricatured as having seven heads
Pictured as having 10 horns with 10 crowns
He wears a blasphemous name
Empowered by Satan
Miraculous cure, healing, resurrection, that deceives the world
Receives worship
Speaks blasphemies against God, and all pertaining to God
Continues for 42 months
Overcomes the saints of God (Church)
Worldwide authority
All un-saved will worship him
He lived during “Old Testament” times
He was not alive on earth in John’s day
He will ascend from the Pit to the earth
The earth will marvel at his ascent
(Perhaps) his death is by a sword wound
He is the eighth world ruler, but one of the original seven also
He will unite with ten kings at the end, and destroy Babylon
He will attempt war with Jesus at His coming
He is captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire
He will be tormented there day and night forever
And Daniel. We shall examine the sequence of the prophecy of Daniel 11 later. For now we look only at that part of the Daniel prophecy that is clearly a description of the final campaign of antichrist, verses 36-45.
He is a willful king
He magnifies himself above every god
He speaks blasphemies against the God of Gods
He is prosperous until the end
He does not care about women
He honors only the “god” of armies, a foreign god which he will promote
He will be attacked in the end from north and south
In escaping, he will destroy as he goes
He enters Israel and takes it
He conquers Egypt
Libya and Ethiopia shall either follow or pursue him
He hears of more trouble and so must destroy even more
He sets up a last stand somewhere in the Israel area
He suddenly comes to his end, and no one helps him.
Place all these descriptions side by side and you see the sketch of the Evil One emerge. Let me try to summarize:
He proudly receives the worship of mankind. He totally defies the true God and all of God’s true people.
He rules an Empire, and wants control over the entire world.
He is in league with Satan, actually possessed by him, and thus able to deceive the masses. His power is immense.
He is eventually countered by other earth forces, then dealt with by the Son of God. He comes to a quick, violent, end.
There he is. But this Evil One has lived before and was doing some of the same things in his first go-around. Look carefully at the following biographies of men who were like him, and see which one is pin-pointed as the one who will return. Some of the names are found in your Bible, others by a quick look at history. Only number seven is a mystery, but if I understand the prophecy, his is a mystery that matters very little.
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