What Does the Bible Teach About the Antichrist?

The book of Revelation is an enigma to most people. Many have heard about the antichrist. Who is the antichrist? Does the Bible describe the antichrist? Does the Bible tell us who the antichrist is? Does the Bible teach where the antichrist will come from? How can we know who the antichrist is when they come? What will the antichrist be like so we can realize who it is?

Two Types of Antichrists

Anti means opposed to or someone who is against whatever the prefix is attached. Anti can also mean in place of as we will find in the book of Revelation. Thus, to be antichrist means to be opposed to Christ or to place oneself in His place. The Bible actually describes two different antichrists. In fact, antichrists are here today. We don’t have to look toward the future for the arrival of the antichrist because there are in the world today. But the antichrist is not the same as the antichrist.

The apostle John talks about the antichrist but he differentiates the difference between the two antichrists that exist. One is the antichrist with the small “a”. Then, there is the Antichrist. That is the one that is capitalized. One is a proper noun meaning it is a specific person. The non-capitalized antichrist speaks of several who are antichrists.

A Definition of an Antichrist

The small “a” antichrist is only recorded in the Bible three times. The antichrist is anyone who denies that Jesus came in the flesh or that He was both man and God. By denying this, they also deny the Father and the Son, as stated by the apostle John in I John 2:22, “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.” As John says in I John 4:3, they were already living in his day as he testified, “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Anyone who denies that Jesus is from God and did not come in the flesh is saying God is a liar (John 1:14). John says further, “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist“(II John 1:7).

The Antichrist

The apostle Paul speaks of a specific person as the Antichrist, although not using the name specifically, it is nonetheless the same thing he wrote about in II Thessalonians verses 3 and 8, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”

Revelation chapter 13 describes a deceiving imitation of the Trinity that includes Satan, the False Prophet, and the antichrist. The dragon is what is often referred to as Satan throughout the Bible and is clearly identified as Satan (Rev. 12:9). The beast and the false prophet who comes next (Rev. 13:11) will be given power by Satan and they will rule the world for 42 months during the time of what is called the Great Tribulation (Rev. 13:5-7). They will rule over the earth and place themselves in the place of God and demand to be worshipped (Rev.13:4). The beast of Revelation 13:11 is the third person of the evil trinity that mimics the Holy Trinity of God, performing signs and wonders that will deceive the world (Rev. 13:13-14).

Safely Delivered From the Antichrist

No one that is saved today and has been born-again has to worry about the antichrist who lives in the world today or the Antichrist that is to come. God will pour out His wrath upon the unsaved world in the Great Tribulation but He has not appointed those who are His to wrath (I Thess. 5:9). Just after Jesus raptures His church out of the world, the world will see such a time that it has never seen before (Matt 24:21). Daniel 12:1 explains that this will be the worst time that has ever been experienced for humans on earth “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people–everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered.”

If you are not saved, then you may have to go through the Great Tribulation and it will be, as Daniel wrote and as Jesus said, it will be the worst time in human history since there were nations that existed. I would hope that today, if you are not a Christian, you could be born-again this very moment. When a person believes in Jesus Christ and places their life in Him and trusts in the atoning work of the cross, they are safe from the wrath of God and will be found worthy to escape the wrath of God in the Great Tribulation. This free gift of faith came at great cost to Jesus Christ but His blood has paved the way for anyone who wants to be saved to be sparred from eternal judgment and to spend eternity with God in heaven.

Decide today and you will never have such a worry again about your future for you will be placed under His protection. Then you can warn others of the coming Great Tribulation and tell them of a way to escape the wrath of God and avoid having to worry about the Antichrist. Then find a Bible-believing church where the cross of Christ is preached and the Bible is taught and join a Sunday school class where you can begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Sources

The Holy Bible, New International Version

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