Who is the Antichrist?

The Antichrist naturally comes to mind first. This title occurs in 1 John 2:22, where he is spoken of as the leader both of Jewish unbelief and of Christian apostasy. He not only denies that Jesus is the Christ (the long known form of Jewish unbelief), but he denies also the Father and the Son. In 2 Thess. 2:3-4, he comes before us as the man of sin, the son of perdition. In this passage we learn that he will sit in the temple of God (in Jerusalem, surely), and proclaim himself the supreme object of divine worship. To this lie, God will give up the great mass of the Jewish people who will have returned to their own land in unbelief, and also the vast body of lifeless professors of Christianity who have never received the truth in the love of it. This passage reminds us of Dan. 11:36, where the same great leader in wickedness is spoken of as "the king." Here we find him in a strictly Jewish connection. He is the accepted political head of the returned Jews, and an object of jealousy and hatred to the kings of the North and of the South, who both make war upon him. No one, we judge, can read Dan. 11:36-39 carefully, and question that the Antichrist is a Jew. Under the same title of "king" he appears also in Isaiah 30:33; Isaiah 57:9. In the first of these passages his doom is described; in the second, Israel is reproached by Jehovah for having any dealings with him. Turning again to the New Testament, he comes before us in Rev. 13:11 as a wild beast coming up out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb, but speaking as a dragon. Here is shown his connection with the Imperial power, of which we will speak presently. It is plainly the same wonder-working person as in 2 Thess. 2. A later passage in Revelation (Rev. 19:20) speaks of him as "the false prophet," which carries our minds back to Deut. 18:15, of which Scripture he pretends to be the fulfilment. Another plain allusion to the Antichrist may be found in Zech. 11:15-17 As the foolish shepherd, he devours the flock that the true Shepherd loved so well, and would fain have blessed. Having refused Him who came in His Father's name, Israel will receive him who comes in his own name to their hurt and ruin. There are many minor allusions to the same person in different parts of Scripture (e.g., Psalm 10:18 — "the man of the earth"), but those referred to above are the most important ones, and will suffice for our present purpose.

A comparison of the account of this beast with that of the "man of sin" described in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 2:3-12, will lead to the conclusion that both passages describe the same person, and equally present the Antichrist foretold by the Apostle John in his epistle as going to appear at the end of the age (1 John 2:18). It is only in the Epistle of John that the Antichrist is referred to by name. There his character is wholly religious and he is presented as an heretical apostate that denies foundation truths as to Divine Persons in connection both with Judaism and Christianity. He denies that Jesus is the Christ — the expectation of the Jew; further, he denies the Father and the Son, the outstanding revelation of Christianity.

Ans.—Yes, it is opposed to what has been taught among us. Yet it is to Scripture we must turn as to the ground of our faith. In 1 John 2:22 we read that the Antichrist shall “deny the Father and the Son,” i.e., denies God as revealed in Christianity—he shall be a complete apostate. Compare this with what is said of “the man of sin” in 2 Thess.2:3,4. He is called “the son of perdition” (like Judas). He exalts himself in the place of Deity (denies the Father and the Son) and sits as God in God's temple (at Jerusalem). Is not this a demand for worship? Thus, can there be any reasonable doubt that the Antichrist of 1 John 2 and “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition” of 2 Thess.2 are one and the same person?—“the Wicked one” to be revealed in his time. (See also Daniel 11:36; Rev.13:11; John 5:43 as to this same person, and his end in Rev.19:20).

The Apostle John is the only inspired writer who uses the word “Antichrist.” In the Book of Revelation he describes him as “The False Prophet” (Rev. 16:13). He is described at length as “Another Beast” in Revelation 13:11-17. The Apostle Paul describes this same personage as “That Man of Sin,” “The Son of Perdition,” “That wicked” (2 Thess. 2:3, 8). In Daniel 11:36 he is alluded to as “The King.” Putting all these Scriptures together, we gather that the Antichrist will be an apostate Jew, who will reign at Jerusalem as a king, uniting with his kingly office religious functions as “The False Prophet;” indeed, these latter will be more characteristic of him than anything else. He will collaborate with the Beast, the Head of the Revived Roman Empire as prophesied in Revelation 13:1-10.

But there is the second beast (Rev. 13:11). This really is the antichrist, the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians. There is perfect concurrence between the dragon and the first beast and the second beast — they mutually co-operate and support each other. The dragon confers power and authority upon the first beast, obtaining through this the homage of men — "they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast" (Rev. 13:4). Then the second beast exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast (Rev. 13:12). "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (Rev. 13:13-15).

Here there is Satan's imitation of Christ. As Christ testified of the Father, so this beast bears testimony to the first beast, while Satan himself is the moving spirit behind all. It is of importance to apprehend the distinctness which Scripture thus exhibits not only between the three members of this Satanic trinity, but more particularly between the beast that is the head of the Roman Empire and the second beast that comes up out of the earth, since it has been a frequent error of prophetic writers to confuse these two. What is affirmed of the antichrist has been erroneously applied to the eighth head of the Roman Empire. Indeed, all the predictions as to the wilful king of Daniel, the Roman prince, the second beast of Rev. 13, the little horn of Daniel, the antichrist and the man of sin, as well as expired prophecies relating to Antiochus Epiphanes, have been indiscriminately applied to one person.

Such systems of teaching are not of the Holy Spirit: another spirit is at work in them. Our apostle tells us that every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Incarnate One, is not of God, but is the spirit of antichrist (ver. 3). The New Testament apostles and prophets warned the people of God that this spirit of antichrist would come. John, the last of them, now tells them that it has already come. It is not that the Antichrist himself has come, but that many have come who are characterized by his spirit — the spirit of insubjection to the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. We are justified, therefore, in rejecting as not of God, every system of teaching in which Jesus Christ come in flesh is disowned or dishonored.

(2) Nor is this all; for the abandonment of the Christian faith leads to another and worse development of evil: the revelation of "the man of sin, the son of perdition." He is to be the evident and personal contrast of Christ, the Man of righteousness, the Saviour of the lost. He will concentrate in himself the wickedness of man and the destructive power which Satan wields, the antagonist of the Lord in a fulness which Judas Iscariot had only in measure, though both are designated alike by the same tremendous name (John 17:12) which points to a doom most signal.

Of this personage also Scripture speaks in both the Old Testament and the New. Without citing types in the Law, there is a wicked one within (not merely an enemy outside) who is everywhere prominent in the Psalms. Isa. 11:4 (formally in view of the Holy Spirit in ver. 8 of our chapter) identifies him with the man of sin, and Isa. 30:33, Isa. 57:9, describe him as "the king," the usurper of His throne whose right it is, Dan. 11:36-39 yet more fully. The Lord speaks of him in John 5:43, as the Epistles of John call him "the Antichrist," and Rev. 13 "the second beast" from the earth, and "the false prophet" who in Rev. 19 perishes with the last head of the fourth empire revived, or first beast from the sea.

"The Antichrist" is a title only found in John's first epistle (1 John 2:18-22). Other titles belonging to the same transgressor may be found scattered over the Book of God. Almost from the beginning of Christianity there have been antichrists, but this does not touch the fact of a personal Antichrist yet to come, with whom no others can be confounded. Thus John writes: "Little children, it is the last time (or hour); and as ye have heard that the Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18). "Antichrist" means one who sets himself in opposition to Christ, and this manifestly where Christ should be exalted. This is sufficient to let us know where to look for antichrists in our own day — not in the atheistical lecture hall, but in the Christian university and pulpit. In like manner, when the last great deceiver is manifested his connection will not be so much with paganism, as with Judaism, and apostate Christianity.

The old Protestant idea (held tenaciously still by many) was that the Bishop of Rome is the Antichrist. This will not bear the test of Scripture; for two reasons: (1) the Antichrist is an individual, not a succession of men, nor a religious system; (2) the Romish Harlot is rather the woman of sin than "the man of sin" (compare 2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 17:1-6).

The name ἀντίχριστος signifies an opposer of Christ. It is used only by John in his first and second epistles, though those opposed to Christ are referred to by others under different names. It is important to distinguish between an antichrist and the antichrist. John says, "as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists;" whereas "he is the antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son." 1 John 2:18, 22. He is the consummation of the many antichrists. To deny Jesus Christ come in the flesh is the spirit or power of the antichrist, but it eventuates in a departure from the special revelation of Christianity: 'they went out from us.' 1 John 2:19; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7. Now this clears the ground at once of much that has obscured the subject. For instance, many have concluded that Popery is the antichrist, and have searched no farther into the question, whereas the above passage refutes this conclusion, for Popery does not deny the Father and the Son; and, in Revelation 17, 18, Popery is pointed out as quite distinct from 'the false prophet,' which is another name for the antichrist. It is fully granted that Popery is anti-christian, and a Christ-dishonouring and soul-deceiving system; but where God has made a distinction we must also do so. Besides Popery there were and there are many antichrists, which, whatever their pretensions, are the enemies of Christ, opposers of the truth, and deceivers of man.

As to the Antichrist, it should be noticed that John makes another distinction between this one and the many. He speaks of the many as being already there, whereas the one was to come; and if we turn to 2 Thess. 2:3-12 we read of something or some one that hinders that wicked or lawless one being revealed, although the mystery of iniquity was already at work. Now there has been no change of dispensation since this epistle was written, and John wrote much later, from which we learn that the revelation of the antichrist is still future, though doubtless the mystery of iniquity is getting ripe for his appearing; that which hindered and still hinders the manifestation of the antichrist is doubtless the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth. He will leave the earth at the rapture of the saints.

We haven't spoken of the Antichrist. There are only four references in the entire Bible to a personal antichrist (an opponent of Christ), all in John's epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3 and 2 John 7). He denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). Nowhere is this title "antichrist" definitely associated with any of the above personalities, so I won't speculate about this popularized personality, although writers whom I highly respect make him the same as the False Prophet, Israel's "willful king" and the "beast out of the earth."