Antichrist

[Unless otherwise specified, all scripture is from the World English Bible (WEB), since it is the only modern English translation of the Bible that is in the public domain and, therefore, is free for use without restriction regardless of how much I quote.]

Recently, I heard someone speculate that one of the current candidates for president (I won’t identify which one) is the Antichrist. Over the course of history, a number of political leaders have been suggested, or accused, of being the Antichrist—Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, and Reagan, to name a few. Mussolini was a particularly strong candidate, because he fit the myth that the Antichrist had to be an Italian, a descendant of the Romans.

I think that we can safely say that none of these, nor any other recent or current world leader, is the Antichrist. And I think that we can safely debunk the myth of an Antichrist who will rule the world during some future Great Tribulation that will occur just prior to the Second Coming of Christ, either before or after the Rapture. Rather than basing our beliefs on popular books and sermons on the end times, I propose that we focus on what the Bible says about the subject. And take the footnotes in your “Study Bible” with a grain of salt—many have been written to promote a particular point of view on the subject, and serve to distort what the Bible says rather than clarify it.

The term “antichrist” appears only in two books of the Bible, 1 and 2 John. John mentions "antichrist" five times in three passages (emphasis added):

1 John 2:18 Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. (19) They went out from us, but they didn't belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us. (20) You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (21) I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. (23) Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (2) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, (3) and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

2 John 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don't confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.

Note four things:

1. John considers that he is living in the end times and the final hour, as 1 John 2:18 states, "... these are the end times .... By this we know that it is the final hour." If John meant that he was living in the end times and final hour of the world, he was clearly mistaken, and the Bible is in error. Of course, that cannot be the case; John meant that he was living in the end times and the final hour of the Old Covenant, which was fulfilled in Christ, but which continued for the first 40 years (one Biblical generation) of the New Covenant until the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

2. These passages do not describe one Antichrist; in 1 John 2:18, John writes, "even now many antichrists have arisen"—not one antichrist, but many.

3. This same passage shows that John does not describe an Antichrist who will be living at the Second Coming of Christ, as "many antichrists have arisen" at the time John wrote these letters, not some time in thousands of years in the future. This is also stated in 1 John 4:3, "... this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already."

4. These passages do not describe the Antichrist as someone who will rule the world, or be a ruler at all. 1 John 2:22(b) states, "This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son." 1 John 4:2-3 states, "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, (3) and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already." 2 John 7 states, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don't confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist." In all of these passages, John defines an antichrist as "... those who don't confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh" (2 John 7). These were the Gnostics, the first Christian heretics, not an evil ruler or rulers.

Interlude: When Did John Write the Book of Revelation?

In Revelation 11, we read:

11:1 A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, "Rise, and measure God's temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it. (2) Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.

Obviously, from this passage itself, the temple was still standing when John wrote this, and apparently the war between the Romans and the Jews had not yet begun. Note that the war lasted approximately 42 months in accordance with this prophesy, which was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Also, this prophesy contains no hint of any "double fulfillment," once at that time, a second at the end of the world. This prophesy has been completely fulfilled and there is no need for it to be fulfilled again.

Identity of the Beast of Revelation

The beast of Revelation is commonly equated with the Antichrist. John identifies the beast in both chapters 13 and 17. In chapter 13, we read, "13:18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six." Note that John thought that someone with understanding who read this passage in his day could "calculate the number of the beast" and, therefore, identify the beast; this was not some mystery whose interpretation was to be sealed up for thousands of years. "... Nero Caeser's name (NRWN QSR), written in Hebrew characters, adds up to [666]."[1] Thus, the beast was Nero.

In Revelation 17, John further identifies the beast:

17:7 The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. (8) The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present. (9) Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. (10) They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while.

Clearly, the angel expected that John would understand the identity of the beast, as he said, "Why do you wonder?" (v. 7). Verse 10 makes the identity of the beast perfectly clear. The first five "kings" of the Roman empire were Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius; they "have fallen". Nero ("the one is") was the sixth, and Galba, the seventh, "... has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while"; he only reigned from June 8, 68 until his death on January 15, 69.[2] Again, the beast is Nero.

Titus

Two other passages that are used by those that believe in a future Antichrist actually refer to Titus, the Roman general in charge during the destruction of Jerusalem. The following is from my the May 2006 edition of my newsletter, CrossWalk,

Let's look at two passages of scripture that futurists—that is, those who believe that the tribulation is still in the future—believe describe a future Antichrist, and see how these passages actually describe Titus. The first is Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel's 70 weeks of years. We have previously examined this passage in the January 2005 edition of CrossWalk and Part IV of Don't Be "Left Behind"!; in that article, we saw that the dates and years required by the futurist version literally don't add up, while the dates and years of the traditional version, which sees the passage fulfilled when Titus and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, add up perfectly.

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. (25) Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. (26) After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined. (27) He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate.

Note particularly verse 26b, which says, "and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined." "The people"—that is, the Roman army—did indeed "come" and "destroy the city and the sanctuary"—"the end" was as "with a flood"—a flood of Roman soldiers pouring through the breaches in the wall—and "desolations are determined"—that is, acts of destruction—occurred. These events are all recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus in Wars of the Jews; Josephus was an eyewitness to the war. Note also that this verse says, "the people of the prince who shall come...." Futurists, such as pretribulationists, identify this prince with a future Antichrist. However, as the son of the current emperor, Titus was, indeed, the "prince" of the "people"—the Romans. This passage is no prophesy about a future Antichrist and a destruction of Jerusalem still in the future; this passage was fulfilled completely when Titus and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and there is no reason to expect it to be fulfilled again.

The second passage is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul's "man of sin" passage.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you (2) not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come. (3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, (4) he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. (5) Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? (6) Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. (7) For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. (8) Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; (9) even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (10) and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; (12) that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Look at verses 3 and 4:

(3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, (4) he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.

This prophesy of the "man of sin," or the "son of perdition," was also fulfilled by Titus. Recall that the Romans considered the emperor, or Caesar, to be a god. Since Titus was the son of the current emperor, he was considered to be the son of a god, in a Satanic mockery of Jesus Christ. In Wars of the Jews, Josephus records,

And now, since Caesar [Titus] was in no way able to restrain the enthusiastic fury of the soldiers, and the fire proceeded on more and more, he went into the holy place of the temple, and with his commanders, and saw it, with what was in it, which he found to be far superior to what the relations of foreigners contained, and not inferior to what we ourselves [Jews] boasted of and believed about it.... [3]

So Titus, whom the Romans considered to be the son of a god, literally entered the holy of holies. Suetonius records that when Titus knew that he was about to die of a fever, he "complained bitterly that life was being undeservedly taken from him—since only a single sin lay on his conscience."[4] Although he never clarified what the sin was, Jews and Christians both have always identified it with his entering the holy of holies. So again, we see that a passage that futurists identify with a future Antichrist has already been fulfilled by Titus, and there is no reason to expect it to be fulfilled again.

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[1] C. Marvin Pate, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Sam Hamstra, and Robert L. Thomas. Four Views on the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998, p. 68.

[2] Wikipedia article on Galba, retrieved Oct 12, 2008.

[3] Josephus, Wars of the Jews, VI.V.7.

[4] Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, translated by Robert Graves. New York: Penguin Books, 1978, p. 292.