Identifying the Antichrist

Throughout history people have devised numerous ways to try and identify who the Antichrist is. In fact, many famous people in history have been mistaken for the Antichrist. Adolph Hitler is a good example.

Try this. Take the number 666. Figure the number of letters in a person's name. Ronald Reagan (Ronald Wilson Reagan) three names, six letters each, 666…has to be Ronald Reagan. Well, Ronald Reagan died.

An antichrist is any person who wants to be Christ or who opposes everything the Lord Jesus stands for. There have been lots of people like that. But this is the Antichrist, the person who opposes the Savior like no one ever has before. However, he is doomed because Christ will not be denied His kingdom. And though the Antichrist will have a great deal of success, in the end, he ultimately is doomed.

Who is the Antichrist revealed to us in the Book of Revelation? We've all heard about the Left Behind series of books and the movie. In these and the bible, the Antichrist has always played a role in Satan's war against God. And it has been a long one. It started even before the Garden of Eden and has continued ever since.

This Antichrist is a cohort of Satan’s’ who will do his bidding. He is a future individual who will only have power as Satan allows. But, the power he will have is going to be significant. In fact, he is so powerful that the whole of the world accept those having faith in Jesus Christ, will believe everything he says, which will be all lies, and worship Satan. Who on the national scene today has spouted nothing but lies?

He will be the ultimate politician, the ultimate salesman…everything people are looking for. Is the Antichrist alive today? Of course, the spirit of antichrist has always has been alive and well. Anybody who denies Jesus is the Christ…overtly or otherwise.

But this person, even though the name Antichrist is not used in describing him, is mentioned frequently in scripture. There are 10 different descriptions of the Antichrist… and all but one is outside of the Book of Revelation. They are;

· The man of sin

· The lawless one

· The beast

· The abomination

· The worthless shepherd

· A despicable person

· The insolent king

· A contemptible person

· The man of destruction

· Daniel 7:8 calls him "the little horn”

It says in Daniel 11: 21, "He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty." So, he is just a person, a man. He doesn't have any power other than what Satan gives him. "He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue" (NIV).

The word intrigue has come up several times in describing the Antichrist. He’ll be known by his intrigue. He will keep the world guessing as to his identity. The Antichrist wants people to believe Satan should be worshiped.

Whoever the Antichrist is, he's going to be super persuasive and charming. He will make so many convincing promises the world will flock to him for answers. But, we've seen persuasive talking people like that before haven’t we?

It says in Daniel 11 that he will not regard the” god of his father’s”. That could be taken as a general statement. But "God of his father’s" is a statement in the Old Testament that is always used of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Satan in the future will try to imitate God and set up his own evil version of the Trinity. We have the real Trinity…God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Then there is the opposite of that, the evil Trinity which would be Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet.

Scripture also mentions he will hail from unknown origins. Who do we know who hasn’t produced a birth certificate?

Nobody knows who he will be. But he will be slick, believable, ruthless and cruel. However, the world will see him as their only savior. Why? Because they have already rejected the true savior.