August 7th - Who Is The Antichrist and What Does He Do?

"For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he cannot be revealed until his time comes." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-6)

"The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth." (Revelation 17:5)

The "man of lawlessness" Paul is speaking about is the Antichrist who is called a "beast" in the Book of Revelation. There will be a final global government system called Babylon the Great and will arise from among the "seven heads" of the final new world order system of government. Around the middle of the final seven years of this age the Antichrist will become the sole leader of that the new world order which I think the Bible called "Babylon the Great". The "day of the Lord" that Paul is speaking of is most likely the final year of the seven year Tribulation.

"Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns...and the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority." (Revelation 13:1-2)

Until the middle of the Tribulation, the beast with seven heads and ten horns seems to be a group of Nations with shared power. They most likely establish policies that bring the world together into a new world order with progressive policies that will be accepted by most of the world's population because they embrace peace, heath, environmental protection, and equal financial prosperity for all humanity. It will ignore national boundaries, sexual preferences, and racial differences. I think the "white horse rider" of Revelations's four horseman of the apocalypse represents the peaceful establishment of the new world order. Note the rider has a bow but no arrows which to me signifies that he comes to power through diplomacy rather than war.

 

"I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory." (Revelation 6:2)

There are currently two groups of nations called the G7 and G10 nations. They meet on a regular basis to discuss various progressive concerns. The G7 today is composed of the USA, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Canada. The D10 is composed of the G7 nations plus Australia, South Korea and India. The majority of those nations favor progressive policies and fit the prophecy of the "seven heads and ten horns" out of whom rises the Antichrist and his governmental system.

"Then for one seven, he will forge many and strong alliances, but halfway through the seven he will banish worship and prayers. At the place of worship, a desecrating obscenity will be set up and remain until finally the desecrator himself is decisively destroyed.’” (Daniel 9:27)

Daniel tells us that this seven year alliance begins the seven year Tribulation era. Among these alliances is a peace treaty between Israel and its enemies which apparently allows Israel access to the Temple Mount to build its third Temple and resume its worship rituals demanded by the Torah. Sometime after the peace treaty is signed, the Antichrist is given sole power over the new world order and banishes the worship and prayers of Israel in its Temple.

"Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels." (Revelation 12:9)

Revelation informs us that the Antichrist gets his power from Satan, so it is interesting that Satan will be "forced out of heaven" and "thrown to the earth" together with his angels during the Tribulation, most likely around the middle. The Antichrist will come to world power as a result of his assassination and resurrection, at least it will appear to the world that he had died and was resurrected . Satan probably takes possession of the Antichrist at that time. The various allied nations will give him sole power at that time and will soon thereafter break the peace alliance with Israel. 

"I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?”" Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months." (Revelation 13:3-5)

After he breaks the alliances with Israel he will enter commit what Daniel and Jesus call the "abomination of desolation".

“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place."...For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones." (Matthew 24:15,21-22)

From that point forward, with the help of a religious leader referred to as "another beast" and as a "false prophet", the Antichrist will wage war against God's chosen people and try to force all people of Earth to worship him.

And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering His name and His dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were NOT written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb." (Revelation 13:6-8)

"Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life." (Revelation 13:11-14)

The war on Israel brings in rapid succession the last three horsemen of the apocalypse - war, famine, and death. The pale green horse rider (death) kills one-forth of humanity by the the sword, famine and disease. These deaths are a direct result of the policies and actions of the Antichrist. 

"I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals." (Revelation 6:8)

Another one-third of humanity will be killed during the final year of the Tribulation when God intervenes and pours out His wrath on the new world order under the control of the Antichrist. In His wrath, God uses four angels that are now confined for that purpose at the Euphrates River.

"The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God: “Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at the great River Euphrates.” The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race." (Revelation 9:15)

That means one out of every two people on earth will die during the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation. Jesus Himself said unless that time was cut short everyone would on earth would die. 

"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day...People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes." “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.  “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming." (Mathew 24:37-42)

I think the end of the 6,000th biblically chronicled year from the creation of Adam is in the fall of AD 2035 and therefore the beginning of the seven year Tribulation will START in the fall of AD 2028.

Again, not guaranteeing the dates but just thinking about the possibilities and watching for His return.