Bob Josey - Antichrist Aug 25 2019

Post date: Aug 26, 2019 3:14:52 PM

C.  His Identity

1.    He will not be Jewish - Some think that the antichrist will be Jewish. One

line of thinking is that the antichrist will come from the tribe of Dan since Dan fell into deep apostasy and idolatry by setting up a shrine for the idols and they made it the center of their worship of graven image in Judges 18:30. Some think that since Dan was omitted from the list of the tribes in Revelation 7 that the antichrist was a Jew who came from that tribe

Some think that the antichrist will be Jewish because they see be Judas Iscariot as the antichrist who was resurrected from the dead. 

·       Luke 22:3; John 13:27 -  In this verse Satan truly enters Judas. Judas is the only one in the Bible that is said to be Satan indwelt. It was common gospels for demons indwell people, but not Satan.

·       John 6:70-71 – In these verses Jesus refers to Judas as the devil. Jesus is using a metaphor to describe Judas. They think from these verses that Judas will be Satan incarnate.

·       John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The title "son of perdition" is only used two times in Scripture. In the first occurrence in John 17:12 Jesus used this title to refer to Judas. In the second instance in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Paul used it to refer to the antichrist.

·       Acts 1:24-25 - In this verse Peter says that Judas after his death went "to his own place." Some have seen this referring to the bottomless pit, and believe that Satan has retained Judas here for the past 2000 years in preparation for his future role of the antichrist. There is no evidence in Scripture to justify that view.

.

2.    He will be a Gentile – There are several Scriptural references and historical events that indicate that the antichrist will be a Gentile.

Daniel 9:26 – When we discussed this verse several weeks ago, we learned that “the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” are the Romans. They destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple, killed thousands of Jews and scattered the remainder around the world in AD 70 under the leadership of General Titus. The prince, then, will be a Roman from the Revived Roman Empire. He will be a Gentile not a Jew. 

Revelation 13:1 – John sees the dragon, Satan, standing on the sand of the sea. Satan was in the sea not on the seashore because the Greek term Thalassa means sea which is borne out in other translations. Instead of “stood on the seashore.” most versions have “stood on the sand of the sea.” The sea and the sand of the sea symbolize the Gentile and heathen nations as seen as a sea of peoples around the Mediterranean. John defines the term in Revelation 17:15. Let’s also look at Isaiah 17:12-14. The sea is an appropriate symbol of the agitated surface of unregenerate humanity as seen in Isaiah 57:20. The image of the sea monster is used throughout the Old Testament to represent evil kingdoms who persecute God's people.  In Revelation 13:1 and 17:15 the beast, the antichrist, is seen coming up out of the sea. Therefore, these verses in Revelation demonstrate that the antichrist will come from a Gentile nation which we know from Daniel 9:26 is the revived Roman empire.

Another way of demonstrating that the antichrist will be a Gentile are the many Gentiles leaders who foreshadowed the antichrist who hated Israel and/or wanted to destroy them. 

Ø  Pharaoh

Ø Balaam

Ø Goliath

Ø Sennacherib

Ø Nebuchadnezzar

Ø Haman

Ø Antiochus Epiphanes

Ø General Titus

Ø Adolph Hitler

Ø Yasser Arafa

Ø Leaders of the Arab nations since 1948

Ø There are others in the Bible, as well as history that could be listed.  

Therefore, Scripture references and historical leaders who foreshadowed the antichrist in their hatred of Israel and some wanting to destroy them as a people, demonstrates that the antichrist will be a Gentile. 

A General Overview of the antichrist during the Tribulation period in Revelation 13:1-10

13:1 - The word “and” connects chapter 13 to chapter 12 because they are very important chapters that are related and are keys to the last 3½ of the Tribulation period. As we have seen, chapter 12 is about Satan who is the leader of the unholy trinity who causes havoc on the earth during the tribulation period. Then chapter 13 discusses the other two members of the unholy trinity - the antichrist and his cohort, the false prophet. The antichrist and the false prophet are both called beasts because they are ferocious and savage individuals who will help Satan maintain control over the world. They will launch the most terrorizing holocaust ever witnessed by the world against Israel and Gentile believers and unbelieves in Christ.

On the previous page we discussed about the beast coming out of the sea and what all of that represents.

The beast that John saw is the antichrist that is to come during the tribulation period. It has seven heads and ten horns. On the ten horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. Since this series is just an overview of future things to come, let me just give you a general overview of what’s going on here. Six of the seven heads on the beast symbolize the six successive world empires that opposed God and His people throughout history – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece, and ancient Rome. Each head was active at one time in the past but not now. The seventh head is the active head during the tribulation period that symbolizes the revived Roman empire. The active head has the mouth of a lion which symbolizes the king of beasts who roars with authority and that devours its prey. Notice that the heads have names of blasphemy on them. During the reign of each of the seven countries, they blasphemed God with many different blasphemous names.

The ten horns are probably on the seventh head and each horn has a diadem on it.  A diadem is a royal headband or crown worn by a king that refer to a symbol of governmental authority and power. So, the ten horns represent the ten nations of the Revived Roman empire that are ruled by ten kings at the same time. They will form the original alliance that will support the future world ruler, the antichrist, and eventually give him their power.

13:2a – The beast that John saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The selection of these three animals is related to the similar revelation given in Daniel 7, where the successive world empires are described by the lion, referring to Babylon, the bear, referring to Medo-Persia, and the leopard, referring to the Alexandrian Empire of Greece. The antichrist will combine and embody three of the world's most powerful empires, that is, empires that had conquered and controlled most of the known world of their day.

These animals are typical of the beast, the antichrist, in the revived Roman Empire during the great tribulation. The beast will have the majesty and power of the lion who has large menacing tenth with fearful devouring capabilities along with the terror associated with his loud roar which was characteristic of Nebuchadnezzar. The beast will have the strength and tenacity of a bear to crush his enemies as was characteristic of Medio=Persia.  Lastly, it will agility and swiftness of the leopard, which is so well-illustrated in the conquest of Greece under the leadership of Alexander the Great. This is what the Jews and the Gentiles will face during the Great Tribulation.

13:2b -In addition to these natural symbols of strength that each animal has, there is the added factor of satanic power and authority coming from the dragon.

Satan is going to give the antichrist the following:

o   His physical and evil spiritual strength

o   His charismatic personality

o   His skills of persuasion, competence, and manipulation

o   His command over the forces of evil i.e. the demons

o   His throne i.e. power to lead his evil government. Satan will give the antichrist exactly what he offered Jesus during one of the temptations is the wilderness – “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” (Matthew 4:8-10)

o   His complete authority to rule the world. The antichrist will have the greatest power and authority to rule the world that any leader has ever had before. 

Next week we will continue out study of the antichrist during the Tribulation period in Revelation 13:3-10.