The Beast is Rising!

To identify the Antichrist, we must first understand what the relevant passages say about him, his methods, and his objectives. The subject of the Antichrist raises many questions. Who is he? When will he appear? How will we recognize him? In popular preaching, he is a global political leader who uses military might to subjugate other nations and attack Israel in the land of Palestine.

Scripture foresees a malevolent end-time figure hellbent on deceiving the followers of Jesus, causing as many as possible to abandon the true faith and even betray fellow believers.

• “Then many will be offended and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and they will mislead many. And because lawlessness will increase, the love of the many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, he will be saved” – (Matthew 24:10-13).

• “The hour is coming that whoever kills you will think that he is offering divine service to God” – (John 16:2).

[Dragon - Photo by Ryan Moulton on Unsplash]

The goal of the Devil is to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. This effort has been underway for thousands of years and is much larger than just one man or government that will appear at the end of the age. However, this program will intensify as the end grows close and reach its climax just before the arrival of Jesus, when he will destroy “the Man without law, the son of destruction” - (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

The Church has been inundated by predictions and theories about the Antichrist over many centuries. He has been identified with several Roman emperors, the Pope, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and other political figures. Plausible arguments are offered to support these propositions. Nevertheless, not one of the proposed candidates ever became the world-dominating “Beast from the Sea.”

The several terms used for this dark figure include “Antichrist,” “the Man of Lawlessness”, “the Son of Destruction”, and “the Beast.” Do they all refer to the same individual? There is no direct literary link, for example, between John’s “Antichrists,” plural, of his first epistle and “the Beast from the Sea” of the Book of Revelation. The identification of the term “antichrist” with “the Beast” is an assumption. That term only appears in two of John’s letters, and nowhere in the rest of the Bible – (1 John 2:18-22, 4:3, 2 John 1:7).

The language used by the authors of the Bible to describe this evil man is primarily from the Book of Daniel and its vision of the Little Horn, “the king of fierce countenance.” However, the New Testament documents do not simply quote Old Testament passages verbatim. They reapply them in the light of what God has done through Jesus Christ, and often in unexpected ways. If there is any hope of correctly identifying the Antichrist or Beast, we must seek it in Scripture, not the daily news headlines.

In the Book of Revelation, John sees the Beast “ascending from the Sea.” He describes it using a Greek participle in the present tense, signifying an ongoing action. John saw this Beast as it was rising from the sea. John saw a process, not a one-time event– (Daniel 7:1-8, Revelation 13:1-5).

This Beast has “seven heads,” which, we are told later, represent “seven mountains.” The seven mountains, in turn, symbolize seven kings or kingdoms. By the first century, five of these regimes had “fallen,” one was in power when John wrote Revelation, and the final or seventh kingdom is “yet to come.” The narrative of Revelation concerns more than just one final empire at the end of the age - (Revelation 13:1-5, 17:8-11).

John uses the characteristics of Daniel’s four beasts from the sea to describe what, for John, is now one entity, a single but terrifying monster. In the Book of Daniel, the four individual beasts represent four successive kingdoms. John saw only one beast, but it incorporated the animal features of all four of Daniel’s beasts. Moreover, John listed the four beasts in reverse order as if reading the history of world empires starting from the end of the book – (Daniel 7:1-8).

• “And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority” – (Revelation 13:2).

AN ANCIENT STORY

The Prophet Daniel linked the Babylonian incarnation of the World Empire to “the Land of Shinar,” the ancient kingdom of Sumer from which Babel or Babylon originated. The Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar was the latest installment of the original empire.

In the Book of Genesis, we find the first attempt to unite humanity under one government when the kingdom of Babel gathered all nations, peoples, and tongues to the plain of Mesopotamia and erected a great tower, a story that echoes and continues in the Book of Daniel:

• “And the whole earth was of one tongue and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar. And they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and erect a tower, the top of which may reach the heavens, and let us make us a name, so that we are not scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” - (Genesis 11:1-4).

• “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. And the king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” - (Daniel 1:1-4).

• “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits. He erected it on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon <…> Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and tongues, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and venerate the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has erected. And whoever does not fall down and venerate will the same hour be cast into the burning fiery furnace” - (Daniel 3:1-6).

The new King of Babel was implementing the same plan as the men who erected the Tower of Babel. He was gathering all nations, tongues, and peoples to be ruled by one government, and they were to speak one tongue. The golden image erected by Nebuchadnezzar corresponded to the Tower of Babel, and its dimensions are reflected in the number of the Beast described in the Book of Revelation:

• “And he deceives the inhabitants of the earth by signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to the inhabitants of the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who has the stroke of the sword and lived <…>. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free man and the slave, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead <…> He that has understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for it is the number of man. And his number is Six hundred and sixty and six” - (Revelation 13:14-18).

The Book of Daniel wants us to hear the verbal and conceptual parallels with the story of the original Babel of Genesis. We ought also to note the verbal allusions to the story of Nebuchadnezzar found in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation when describing the Beast, its image, and its number.

What the Bible presents is not a one-time event at the end of the age. The plot to install a World Empire spans the history of human civilization. Bible teachers and commentators who identify the beastly regime of Revelation with past empires like Rome are not entirely mistaken.

DECEPTION, APOSTASY, PERSECUTION

So, how do we identify the final incarnation of this World Empire, “the seventh kingdom” of the seventh chapter in the Book of Revelation? Whether discussing the “Beast,” the “Antichrist,” or “the Man of Lawlessness,” certain common characteristics are found.

All three designations are linked to deception and apostasy. Jesus warned of coming “deceivers” and “false prophets” who will disseminate false information about the end. They will cause many believers to apostatize and turn against one another. False prophets will use signs and wonders to deceive many of God’s elect:

• “Take heed that no man deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the anointed one, and they will deceive many” – (Matthew 24:3-4).

• “For there will arise false anointed ones, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect” – (Matthew 24:24).

When Jesus warned that the “love of many will grow cold” because of lawlessness, he was not speaking about humanity in general, but to his disciples. False prophets will work overtime to deceive the saints and sow discord among the followers of Christ.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul instructs believers not to be troubled by misleading information and false expectations about the Day of the Lord. That day will not come until “the apostasy” occurs and “the Man of Lawlessness, the son of Destruction” is revealed when he takes his seat in the house of God - (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

The deceiver described by Paul will use “lying signs and wonders” to deceive those who refuse “the love of the truth.” He will be energized by Satan “with all deceit of unrighteousness for those who are perishing.” His appearance will be the product of the Mystery of Lawlessness, which is working already to prepare the way for his unveiling. This Son of Destruction will be destroyed when Jesus arrives. Only those saints who “stand fast and hold tightly to the traditions” taught by Paul and the Apostles will escape deception. The rest will be swept away by false teaching and apostasy - (2 Thessalonians 2:5-14).

If Paul also believed that this Lawless Man is to be a global political leader who wages war on nations or Israel, he says nothing about this. That is not his purpose in the passage. We must not assume things that the passage does not mention. However, we should not also conclude that this man will not have political power. The point is this. Whether he uses political power or not, his goal is to deceive the followers of Jesus Christ.

This lawless man will take his place in “the Sanctuary of God,” a phrase Paul applies to the Church elsewhere in his letters. When writing his epistles, John likewise was concerned about “the many antichrists” that were disrupting his congregations. Peter also warned of false prophets in the church – (2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:21).

• “They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us” – (1 John 2:19).

• “But there arose false-prophets also among the people, as among you also there will be false-teachers, men who will stealthily bring in destructive parties, even denying the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves speedy destruction. And many will imitate their destructive ways…” – (2 Peter 2:1).

In his first letter, John calls false teachers in his congregations “antichrists.” They are forerunners of the final Antichrist and driven by “the Spirit of the Antichrist” that is active in the world even now. They can be identified by their deceptive activities and their denials of the humanity of Jesus Christ - (1 John 2:18-22, 4:3).

The Beast of Revelation is given the Dragon’s authority over the nations, and this indicates that he is a global political leader. However, we must observe how the Beast uses that authority, and against whom he wages war. He may be a politician; nevertheless, the target of his malevolence is the Church, the followers of the Lamb.

The Beast makes war on “the saints.” The Dragon prosecutes his war against “those who have the testimony of Jesus,” and “those who have the faith of Jesus.” The Beast from the Abyss kills “the Two Witnesses,” but only after they have completed “their testimony.” The Two Witnesses are identified as “lampstands,” and in Revelation, lampstands symbolize churches - (Revelation 1:20, 11:7, 12:17, 13:7, 14:12).

Neither Jesus, Paul, nor John stated that the Man without law, the Antichrist, or the Beast will wage war against the State of Israel or the nations of the earth. Whether the Beast from the Abyss will do so is not the concern of the relevant passages. The focus is on how events will affect the Church. The goal is to destroy the saints of Jesus Christ through persecution and deception.

So, where does this leave us? First, we must remain vigilant because the rise of the “Beast from the Sea” is an ever-present reality.

Secondly, since Satan and his vassals employ “signs and wonders” to deceive us, the manifestation of supernatural power is no guarantee that any individual, church, or ministry is from God.

And thirdly, however small it may begin, the Antichrist program will become global in scope, and it targets faithful believers wherever they are found. Even now, there is an empire rising on the world stage, a political entity that is hostile to the Apostolic Faith and led by an individual with little regard for the laws of nations, men, or God. This development deserves careful monitoring.

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SEE ALSO:

• The World Empire - (Imperial arrogance is the legacy of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first attempt, but certainly not its last, to impose the world empire) 

• The Spirit of Antichrist - (The Spirit of Antichrist is working to destroy the church through deceptions propagated by false teachers – 1 John 2:18-22)

• Empires Rise and Fall - (Only the Kingdom of God will endure. All other political entities are temporary, and even now, they are in the process of passing away)

• La Bête Monte! - (Pour identifier l'Antéchrist, nous devons d'abord comprendre ce que les passages pertinents disent de lui, de ses méthodes et de son objectifs)

[Text printed in small capital letters represents citations of or allusions to passages from the Old Testament]