In the last days of world history, as the governments and nations of the world disintegrate in lawlessness, as economies fail, as nature itself unravels, as war, famine and death multiply, the world will look for a strong leader to restore order and peace and basic necessities. Having rejected the true King of kings and Lord of lords, having despised God’s government — the kingdom of God — the world will be ruled by a false messiah, the Antichrist. He will bring peace and prosperity for a season and the world will gladly embrace him. But the price will be the complete domination and ultimate damnation of every Christ-rejecting soul.
For centuries, conquerors and emperors have dreamed of world empires, have declared themselves to be gods. But the Antichrist will truly rule the world, will set up an idol to himself in the rebuilt Jerusalem temple and will demand the worship of all the earth.
The spirit behind him is ancient. In the first century, John said, Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared (I John 2:18). John reminds us that the antichrist spirit manifests in anyone who denies the Father and the Son (I John 2:22). He adds, For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 1:7).
The antichrist spirit is the spirit that opposes Jesus — opposes His truth, opposes His glory and His ministry. This spirit has been operating since humanity’s fall from grace in Eden. However, as we move deeper into the end times, deception will increase. Jesus warned, Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He’ and will mislead many … For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect (Mark 13:6,22).
Though the antichrist spirit has been operating throughout human history, all the generations of religious and political deceivers will culminate in one evil, demonized man— the Antichrist. Daniel prophesied extensively of him (see Daniel 7 and 8). The Apostles John and Paul taught the church about this man (I John 2, 2 Thess. 2). Though he will provide a measure of world peace and order, he will blaspheme God, will persecute Israel and the true church and will institute the final false religion centered on the worship of himself.
Regarding the Antichrist’s declaration of himself as a god, Jesus said, Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:15,16). The abomination of desolation refers to an image of himself which the Antichrist will set up in the rebuilt Jerusalem temple.
The Apostle Paul spoke of the man of lawlessness ... the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as God (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).
In Revelation 11:7, he is described as the beast that comes up out of the abyss. The fact that he comes up out of the abyss, the place of demonic imprisonment (Luke 8:31, Revelation 9:2,3), does not mean that he is demonic in origin. It means that his power and authority and character are entirely demonic. This is a human being with a demonic anointing on his life, totally surrendered to and energized by the will of Satan.
Satan has always attempted to incarnate his purpose and plans in people. Because he is a spirit being, he needs access to physical beings whom he can influence or control. Paul reminds us that all of us, before we were redeemed, lived according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). To be redeemed is to be delivered from the domain (power, jurisdiction) of darkness, and transferred … to the kingdom of His (God’s) beloved Son (Col. 1:13). Those who reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who disobey His truth in a vain attempt to be free, are in fact led, influenced and in some cases, entirely controlled by Satan.
The Antichrist, the beast, will be a thoroughly demonized man, completely under the command of Satan. In Revelation 13:1 we read, And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
Using the visual terminology of Revelation, the dragon (the devil) is the source of evil and the beast (the Antichrist) is the person who carries out evil. The dragon conceives evil and incarnates evil in the soul of the beast. The beast then releases the destructive impact of that evil.
The word beast could be translated monster, wild animal. He is described as rising up out of the sea. In Revelation 11:7, he is described as coming up out of the abyss (and again in 17:8). This is not a contradiction. Although he is human, it is the abyss, the dwelling of demons, that energizes this beastly man. His power and authority are entirely demonic. But whereas the abyss describes the source of his power, the sea is a way of describing the circumstances that lead to his rising.
In Scripture, the sea often symbolizes chaos (see Psalm 65:7 and Isaiah 17:12,13). The sea also represents the nations and people groups of the world (see Rev. 17:15). Combining these images, we see the beast rising up out of the turmoil and anarchy of collapsing nations.
Notice that the dragon is standing on the shore, as though Satan summons the beast out of the chaos and upheaval of these stormy last days. Out of such times, tyrannies and beasts do arise. Napoleon rose to power during the lawless, godless, bloody aftermath of the French revolution. Lenin and the communists seized power in Russia following the disastrous defeat of Russia during Word War I and the national collapse that followed. Hitler seduced the German people as they staggered under the weight of the ruinous Treaty of Versailles, social disorder, hyper-inflation and world wide economic depression.
So this last manifestation of the antichrist spirit, this beastly, monstrous man, will rise up out of the sea of world wide social, economic and political disintegration. This beast represents both the person and the kingdom of the Antichrist. The empire is merged into the identity of the emperor, even as Hitler is indelibly joined to the Third Reich.
In Revelation 13:1 the beast is represented symbolically with ten horns and seven heads, which are dealt with in more detail in chapter 17. Notice the similarity, the family resemblance, to the description of the dragon in Revelation 12:3. The Antichrist is like his master, Satan.
Horns speak of power, brute force — exercised through political, military and economic instruments. The number ten may be a symbolic number representing absolute political / military / economic authority of the Antichrist.
The seven heads emphasize the beast’s relationship to the seven headed dragon, from whom he receives power and authority. It is not that the Antichrist literally has seven heads. Seven symbolizes completeness, fulness. He is the ultimate enemy of the believing church.
On his horns were ten diadems (Rev. 13:1) — royal crowns speak of rule. The beast seeks to rule and, as we have said, expresses Satan’s lust to establish his kingdom across the earth, in opposition to the kingdom of God.
On his heads are blasphemous names (Rev. 13:1), which speak of the tendency of tyrants to assume god-like status. Nero had the phrase “Savior of the world” stamped on his coins. The Roman senate often conferred divinity upon living and deceased rulers. Emperor Domitian demanded to be called “Domitus et Deus noster” — Our Lord and God.”
Witness in our own times the self-aggrandizing ways of tyrants, demanding not mere allegiance but worship. This is always blasphemy. But the beast, the Antichrist, energized by Satan’s unrepentant, unredeemable lust to be worshipped, will take this idolatry to its climax, setting himself up in the Jerusalem temple and demanding the worship of the world.
The beast possesses the authority of Satan, blasphemes the name of God, wars against the saints and receives the worship of the pagan world. In one sense, the beast has manifested in every generation since the fall of humanity and surely through the Roman empire of John's day unto the dictatorships of this century and the last. Witness the Nazi boast of a thousand year reign as they saluted and shouted “Hail Hitler.”
But there will be in the final days of the end times one final manifestation of the beast, one final deifying of secular authority, one final rising up of the beast more terrible than any before. He will probably be a highly gifted man with vast intellectual capacity, unparalleled leadership skill, organizational ability and charisma. And he will be entirely demonized.
And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority (Rev. 13:2). The dragon / Satan gives power, throne and authority to this beast, releases his power and authority through this human instrument, the Antichrist. Satan will share his throne with the beast, even as Jesus shares His Father’s throne. But this is equally true of every empire that has set itself against God, making war on the people of God while establishing ungodly kingdoms. Though it is God who ordains governments, many rulers have rejected the Godly use of their authority and in their rebellion have given themselves over to demonic influence and power.
In Romans 13:1-6, I Timothy 2:1,2, and I Peter 2:13-17, the Apostles Paul and Peter direct the church to pray for the emperor, honor him, pay the taxes which he levies and obey his laws. Why? Because God has ordained governments to keep peace and enforce order in a fallen world.
But it is also true that as the first century played out, persecution increased. Roman tolerance of the church gave way to an aggressive program of emperor worship and violent persecution of all who resisted. Christians were required to choose between Kyrios Kaiser or Kyrios Kristos — Lord Caesar or Lord Christ. The redeemed church chose to honor Christ. This resulted in martyrdom. Peter and Paul and many of their brothers and sisters were executed by the emperors for whom they prayed.
God has ordained governments to keep peace and enforce order in a fallen world. However, when the state exceeds the limits of divinely ordained authority, when the state becomes a beast incarnating Satan’s lust for worship, the believer has no choice but to obey the Lord. This does not relieve the church of the command of Scripture to pray for those in authority, to honor their office, to pay our taxes and obey the just laws of the state. But insofar as those laws require us to deny Christ or violate His commands, we honor Christ and accept the consequences. So it was that when the Sanhedrin ordered the Apostles to cease proclaiming Christ, Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29).
We may be certain that in time, God will destroy all governmental authority that opposes Him and blasphemes His name. Daniel testified of the Lord, It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings (Dan. 2:21). And the Psalmist testified, But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another (Ps. 75:7).
So it is that two thousand years ago John heard this triumphant shout in heaven, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15). That will be true someday but until that day, the redeemed church will be involved in fierce spiritual warfare.
What will be necessary for the Antichrist, this man of lawlessness, to be received?
1. He will require an audience that is terrified and exhausted by crisis and collapse, desperate for a savior but rejecting the true Savior.
2. He will require an audience desperate to believe him as a messiah figure who offers solutions to a disintegrating world system.
3. He will require the capacity to perform believable, persuasive signs and wonders. People are innately religious and the Antichrist, along with his false prophet, will perform what seem to be miracles.
So it is that John described one counterfeit miracle in Revelation 13:3,12,14. The beast (the Antichrist) will suffer what appears to be a fatal wound which will be healed and the whole world follows the beast in amazement. This apparent imitation of the death and resurrection of Jesus will surely be a counterfeit, in keeping with the lying signs and wonders prevalent during the last days. How could this be done in a believable manner?
Consider the possibilities of AI. The image of a person can be produced which exactly resembles that person, doing things that person never actually did — though it is not really that person. Their voice can be reproduced speaking words they never actually spoke. Or an entirely fictitious character can be produced who looks and sound absolutely real but in fact is merely the production of an AI program.
It will be a simple matter to present the counterfeit, heroic death and resurrection of the Antichrist. Given our present technology, this deep fake could be shown all over the world instantly — false signs and wonders indeed. This lie will amaze the world and cause many to believe and follow after the beast. Having rejected the true risen Lord, they will be given over to lying wonders and deceptions.
4. He will require a mass media capability with world wide reach and impact.
When John wrote the Revelation and for the centuries that followed, this was impossible but not today. It is possible now to project deep fake lies and propaganda instantly across the world.
As the disintegration of human society accelerates, as lawlessness multiplies, as relations between nations continue to fray, as nature itself collapses under the weight of the curse and the judgment of God, as racism and anti-semitism germinate like pond scum, we lack only a severe global economic crisis or series of seismic economic events to set the stage for an Anti-Messiah to be revealed.
Using the available technology, the Antichrist will rather easily gather a passionate following. And though people will be deceived, it is also true that they will to be deceived. Having rejected the truth of God, they allow themselves to be blinded by the god of this age. God will then confirm their blindness with a spirit of delusion. Even as the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh who hardened his own heart, so the Lord will send delusion on those who have chosen delusion.
False religions and new age philosophies will condition fallen, darkened minds to believe in a counterfeit, resurrected beast. Possibly he will even attempt to pass himself off as a reincarnation of Jesus. At a time when death is experienced in unprecedented measure, the world will rejoice in the Antichrist who, seemingly, conquers even death.
Who will be deceived?
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (2 Thes. 2:8-10).
Those who did not love the truth will be deceived by the lie. Therefore God will give them up to the delusion which they do love. Paul continues, For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness (2 Thes. 2:11,12).
We see a picture of this in Romans 1:18-32. Humanity suppressed the truth of God’s existence, invented false Gods and fell into darkness and depravity and God gave them up to their lies and their sin. Who did God give up? Those who suppressed the truth, worshipped idols, embraced darkness and settled into depravity.
We are living in a time when people are rejecting every expression of truth: rejecting the truth of the existence of an intelligent Creator; rejecting the truth of the humanity of other human beings different from their own tribe; rejecting the truth of a baby’s humanity; rejecting the truth of their own biological identity; rejecting the truth that a society is held together by law and rejecting the truth that when its citizens ignore the rule of law, the result is anarchy.
We are living in a time when people have unprecedented access to information and yet never before in our history has there been less confidence as to what is actually true or real. People can gain vast amounts of knowledge but when they refuse to love God’s truth, they are then vulnerable to every lie. And the lies are becoming more and more believable.
There are times when God removes His hand, allowing people who have rejected Him to experience fully the lie they have chosen. Given the vulnerability, naiveté and outright ignorance resident in so many people today, there exists a vast opportunity to deceive. Given the rapid advancement in AI technology, it may become impossible for God-rejecting people to distinguish truth from lies, reality from invention. It will surely become difficult to resist the deception.
How do we resist the lie? How do we respond to the antichrist spirit in every generation and especially as we move deeper into the end times?
1. Examine everything and hold fast the truth.
Paul exhorts us, Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good (I Thes. 5:21).
Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 1:13).
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (I Jn. 4:1).
Examine everything and hold fast to the truth as revealed in Jesus and in God’s holy word — eat it, digest it, speak it, live it, defend it. His word is truth that does not change. It is truth that works in us, builds us, empowers us. Let the word do its work in us. When the three Hebrew young men stood before the golden idol, they did not have any new thoughts. They did not suddenly develop new character patterns. They acted consistently with the character that had been developed in them over the years as they held fast to the truth.
2. Avoid anything that might blunt our perception of truth or dim our discernment.
In the midst of the horrific slaughter in Europe during WWII, as Hitler, the antiMessiah, shed the blood of millions, a pastor and his wife convinced their little village to become a city of refuge for Jews escaping the holocaust. As the pastor became more aware of the depth of evil in the human heart, he exclaimed, “I use to think the conflict was between good and evil. Now I realize there is a third party — ordinary people who believe every lie they’ve ever been told.”
How do we overcome the lie? How do we overcome the numbing of our perception, our discernment? Paul counsels us, Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things (Phlp. 4:8).
In Proverbs we are counseled, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:1,2).
We overcome as we focus our minds and our emotions on that which is true. Don’t present your mind, your emotions or your body to anything that will hinder, resist, restrict or numb your capacity to discern the truth. We are the blood bought church of the redeemed, continually transformed through the powerful, truthful word of God.
3. We resist the lie as we maintain faith and focus in the true Messiah who will ultimately triumph.
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming (2 Thes. 2:8).
Indeed, in every generation Jesus does this — He destroys the lier and the lie with the breath of His mouth. He is the Word made flesh and when His word goes forth, lies are exposed, idols crumble, souls are transformed. Jesus is the truth and because He is everlasting, before the beginning and beyond the end, His truth is everlastingly true, in every generation, before and after every generation. God spoke this universe into being with His word. Surely He can and does uncreate evil with that same word.
The antichrist spirit, the beast, has been continually rising throughout history. The God-rejecting world system has always sought to destroy and devour the people of God, from Egypt to Babylon to Rome and into the 20th and 21st centuries. And though each empire has in turn been dealt a mortal blow, another rises up to take its place. The beast continually rises and manifests, century after century. And deceived people continue to follow the deceiver.
Humanity was created to worship some absolute. For many, the object of that worship is a beast who promises security and prosperity but uses his power and authority to inflict suffering and to enslave: They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? (Rev. 13:4).
Who are these beast-worshippers? All who reject the claims of Christ, who refuse to believe the truth of God’s word, who choose instead to bow down to deception and worship the Deceiver, are given over to the deception which they have chosen.
They worship the dragon, Satan, through the beast, the Antichrist. The reason Satan lends his authority to the beast is for the purpose of gaining worship through the beast. The deification of secular power is in fact Satan worship. All idolatry is at its core, demon worship.
The language of beast worship is a burlesque of true worship of the true God. Who is like the beast? But what attribute are they praising? Is it that the beast heals, or saves, or delivers, or pours out mercy and blessing? No, it is his ability to wage war. They worship his power. And so the public worship of tyrant heads of state is accompanied by military parades, the public display of the power to make war and to conquer and destroy. Of course, the weapons are accompanied by banners and trumpets, torches rather than candles, speeches replacing prayers, with symphonies and choirs singing the hymns of tyrant worship.
Their question, Who is like the beast? is a blasphemous imitation of the worshipful cry of psalmist and prophet and true worshippers throughout the ages who cry out, “Who is like our God?” This desire to steal the worship of God has been Satan’s desire from eternity when he said, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God ... I will make myself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13,14).
Beast-worship is nothing new. The ancient king Antiochus IV called himself Theos Epiphanes — God manifest, exalting himself above the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods and even above Yahweh, placing an image to Zeus in the Jerusalem temple (he is described in Daniel 7:25 and 11:36). The Roman emperors declared themselves to be gods. Countless tyrants have attempted to confer divine status on secular government. However, Satan’s lust for worship will be most fully realized in the Antichrist, Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (2 Thess. 2:4). In worshipping the Antichrist, people are worshipping the devil who empowers him.
In fact, it is always true that when people worship false gods, whether they are heads of state or the deities of false religions, they are worshipping the demons which empower the deception. Paul said, The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons (I Cor. 10:20).
The Antichrist will not be a mere wolf in sheep’s clothing. He will be a man unabashedly evil, entirely lawless, stepping onto the world stage when people are crying out for rescue but refusing God’s offer of grace. He will be a man of profound intelligence, leadership skill, administrative ability. He will employ the deepest of deep fakes, the ultimate perverse algorithm. He will use violence when necessary to establish his dominion but his far more effective use of force will be his ability to manipulate and convince with words, pictures, narratives carried world wide on his media platforms. People will embrace the deception and the deceiver.
His deception will be welcomed with holographic palm branches, profane hallelujahs and blasphemous hosannas. But his dominion was established long before he appears. It began in Eden in the heart of Adam and Eve who, in a perfect garden, enjoying the perfect love and wisdom of their Creator, willfully chose to reject God’s truth and live out another narrative. The dominion of the Antichrist was evident in the lives of those who saw the miracles and heard the truth spoken by truth in human form, Jesus Christ, and yet chose to reject Him in favor of the lie.
In Revelation 13:4 a question is asked concerning the beast, Who is able to wage war with him? The Antichrist will exercise absolute political, military and economic power. God will remove His restraining hand (2 Thess. 2:7) allowing the beast to run his course according to God’s predetermined purpose, at God’s predetermined time in history.
But there is Someone who is able to wage war with the Antichrist. Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, empowers His holy church to wrestle triumphantly against powers of darkness. In the midst of world wide worship of the beast, the blood-bought followers of the Lamb of God worship the Lord who accepted humiliation and suffering and thereby released the power of God to redeem from slavery all who surrender to His Lordship. In the fulness of divine purpose, the true King will return, will destroy the kingdom of the Antichrist with the breath of His mouth. The beast and the dragon will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Jesus Christ will establish His kingdom on earth and so shall we live and reign with Him.
Receive now Jude’s wonderful benediction: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24,25).