Antichrist

 

Antichrist is a dominant figure of the end of the age, for sure, but nothing like what we have made him out to be. Antichrist gets far too much notoriety in modern books, and movies. Far more than what the Bible itself gives to him. That title, Antichrist, does not even appear in Revelation, Daniel, or Ezekiel. The Antichrist, if we must use that name, is the same person as Gog in Ezekiel 38-39, as well as the man of lawlessness that Paul describes at length in 2 Thessalonians 2. He is the same person mentioned in Revelation 17:11-14, the leader of the ten-nation Arab alliance that will attack Israel and battle with the returning Messiah. It would make sense, then, that the man of lawlessness will be an Islamic Imam or Caliph.

But Antichrist is not the beast of Revelation 13. That is where most people get there colorful, larger-than-life image of Antichrist. The seven headed beast refers to seven nations, not the Antichrist. That is why I hesitate to even use the name, Antichrist, because it conjures up false images from Revelation 13 and Daniel 9:27. Antichrist is not going to lead a one-world government for seven years. He is not healed from a deadly wound. And he is not going to desecrate the temple.

The Apostle John is the one who coined the name Antichrist -- not in Revelation, but rather in his epistles (I John and 2 John). John was gravely concerned about the lies and deception that the Gnostics were spreading, particularly their teaching that Jesus was not the Christ. John’s intent was not to coin a name for the future man of lawlessness, but rather to give a creative moniker for the Christ-denying gnostic deceivers. They were anti-Christ deceivers.

So, what exactly do we know about Gog and the man of lawlessness. Paul wrote that the man of lawlessness will lead a great rebellion (confirmed in Ez 38-39 and Rev 17). He will exalt himself to be God, usurping God’s heavenly temple. He will be enabled by Satan to display all kinds of power, signs and wonders, deceiving those who are perishing (2 Thess 2: 3-4, 9-10).  Ezekiel wrote that God’s main purpose for drawing Gog into the great battle of Armageddon and striking him down is so that “the nations will know that I the sovereign Lord am the Holy One in Israel” (Ez 39:7).

If we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, rather than letting our imagination run wild with speculation, we get a much more accurate picture of the Antichrist of the last days. When the man of lawlessness rises on the scene in the Middle East it will fulfill the final sign of the end of the age, the sixth trumpet warning – Armageddon.