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As we have seen in this series, God is a Triune Being encompassing
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Satan,
the great deceiver, will follow this template to convince those left behind at
the Tribulation that he is the promised Messiah. His false trinity will consist
of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False
Prophet.
God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, wrapped in
flesh to come to earth and to save mankind by being the perfect sacrifice for
our sins. He paid our sin debt in full, so that whosoever believes in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-50) will have
eternal life with Him in Heaven (John
3:16).
To copy this pattern, Satan will bring the Antichrist
into the world, who will at first appear to be a savior in that he promises to
end global famine and to bring world peace (Daniel
8:23-27; 9:25-27). The Antichrist will mimic the miracles of Jesus by performing signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9) But
three and a half years after the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel,
he will commit the “abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14),” desecrating the altar of
the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and proclaiming that he is god (Daniel 8:11-13; 2
Thessalonians 2:3-4).
The Antichrist is referred to in Revelation 13 as the beast resembling a leopard, but with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion
(v.2). His blasphemy against God
has three targets: God’s Name, His
tabernacle, and the saints in heaven (v.6),
and he rises to power over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations (v.7).
The Antichrist will parody the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus by suffering
an apparently fatal wound, lying in a coma, and then miraculously returning to
life (Revelation 13:3).
John contrasts the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, with
the spirit of antichrist. Any true believer in Christ is indwelled by the Holy
Spirit and is not ashamed to proclaim that Jesus is God Who came to the earth
in the form of human flesh (1 John 4:1-2).
Conversely, any person indwelled by the spirit of antichrist will not admit
that Christ is fully divine, yet fully human (1 John 4:3).
During the Tribulation, the False Prophet (Revelation 13:11-18) will play
the dark counterpart to the Holy Spirit, drawing attention to the Antichrist
just as the Holy Spirit leads hearts and minds to focus on Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14). The tools of his
trade are speaking like a dragon,
miraculous signs, and deception.
The False Prophet will appear to unite all remaining
religions into a single, global, ecumenical system worshipping Antichrist as
the false god (Revelation 17).
He will lead many souls still alive in the Tribulation to be branded with the
mark of the beast, or the Antichrist, namely “666” on their forehead or right hand. This number, composed of three sixes (the number of man) is described as the sum of three numbers: six hundred,
threescore, and six (Revelation 13:
18).
People who accept the mark hail from three groups of men: small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond (Revelation 13:16), Whoever refuses the mark of the beast
cannot buy or sell in the new world order
(Revelation 13:16-18),
but whoever accepts it is doomed forever – this is the point of no return regarding
the possibility of salvation.
During the Tribulation, after the sixth angel dries up
the river Euphrates, three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
of the dragon (Satan), and out of the mouth
of the beast (Antichrist), and out of the mouth of the false prophet to deceive mighty kings to come against
Israel at the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation
16:12-14).
After Christ’s return and His defeat of Satan and his
armies at the Battle of Armageddon, Satan has three more destinations (Revelation
20): bound in the bottomless pit
for 1000 years (v. 3), loosed to deceive the nations and fight
a final losing battle (v. 7-9), then cast into the lake of fire and brimstone
forever with the beast and the false prophet (v. 10).
Much speculation has been written about the possible identity of the Antichrist and the
False Prophet. Based on current events and Bible prophecy (Matthew 24), we may
indeed be caught up in the last throes or birth pangs (Romans 8 :22) of the Church Age before the
Rapture, when believers are caught up in the air to meet Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17).
These two tribulation
villains (Antichrist and the False Prophet) may already be prowling the earth, being
groomed by their evil father to come to prominence once the restraining
influence of the Church and the Holy Spirit indwelling believers is removed at
the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:2-11).
But as Christians, we
should not be anxious about the identity of the Antiichrist, because during our
lives, we will never find out who he is. Instead, we should be looking up (Luke 21:28) for the blessed hope
(Titus 2:13) of Christ’s
return!
© 2012 Laurie Collett
