The Antichrist’s Nationality

Yesterday we discussed whether the Antichrist is Jewish or gentile. Before I offer my opinion as to his ethnicity, let me introduce one more interesting dimension to the debate. Some commentators believe, based on several OT allusions, that the Antichrist is Assyrian.

• Isa 10:5, 12 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
• Micah 5:5-6 When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders.

Assyria covered parts of modern Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. So they deduced that the Antichrist is from the Middle East, and Moslem. However, I find the premise not convincing, as Isaiah was primarily pronouncing judgment on Assyria, which captured and exiled Israel between 740-722 BC, and later judged by God. The connection to the end-times Antichrist, based on the noun Assyrian being singular and his proud words in Isa 10:13, is rather weak, as that’s what conquerors tend to do.

But back to the original question: Is the Antichrist Jew or gentile? Most view this as an either/or, but one interesting minority view is that he is both/and. This is because for Orthodox Jews, a person is a Jew if his/her mother is a Jew, or if he/she has formally converted to Judaism. So the Antichrist could have a Jewish mother and be considered a Jew, but a gentile father and hold other faiths, including being a nominal Christian, and be viewed as gentile by the rest of the world. This perspective reconciles the “evidence” cited by both sides, and is a possible solution. It would also explain why he is able to hold opposing factions to a truce and establish world peace, at least temporarily, long enough for him to be seen as a “savior”. Hard proof? There is none. We just have to watch and pray as world events unfold.

(To be continued)

Is the Antichrist a Jew or Gentile?

Daniel has one more chapter (11) about the Antichrist and his type Antiochus Epiphanes, under the figure “the Willful King”:

• Dan 11:36-37 Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. (NKJV)

Besides reiterating his exalting himself above every god, including blaspheming against the God of gods, v 37 adds he will disregard the God of his fathers. Is the God of his fathers Yahweh? This raises an interesting question, “Will the Antichrist be Jewish, or gentile?” What’s his religion, and ethnicity?

This issue has been much debated, especially with the decline of Western Christianity and the rise of Islam. Will the Antichrist be Moslem? The Bible does not explicitly state the Antichrist’s religion, but both sides have their supporting evidence. Those who argue that he is a Jew claim so because:
• Jews will never accept a gentile Messiah;
• The pseudo-Christ must mimic Christ in most aspects, including His Jewishness;
• Jesus said in Jn 5:43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” The word “another” in Greek is “allos“, meaning another of the same kind, not “heteros“, another of a different kind. So the Antichrist will be the same kind as Christ and therefore a Jew.

On the other hand, those who support a gentile Antichrist point out that:

• In Dan 11:37 “God of his fathers” should be “gods of his fathers”, as reflected in newer versions like NASB or ESV, which would imply that he is a polytheistic gentile. [Actually the Hebrew can be translated both ways, as indicated in both the NKJV and newer versions’ footnotes.]
• The Antichrist is the Beast from the Sea. In Jewish thinking, the sea represents turmoil and the nations, whereas land represents stability and Israel. So he must be gentile, in contrast to the false prophet, the Beast from the Land, who must be a Jew.
• The Beast has 7 heads and 10 horns (Rev 13:1; 17:3, 7). According to Rev 17:9 ” Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.” Rome is the city built on seven hills. So the Antichrist must be of Roman stock and therefore gentile.

There are other arguments on either side, too lengthy for me to go into. Which is correct?

(To be continued)

The Little Horn

(Continued from yesterday)

Daniel had other things to say about the Antichrist, under the title “the little horn“:

• Dan 7:8 While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
• Dan 7:11 Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.
• Dan 7:20-21 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,
• Dan 7:24-26 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.

Note the following:
• The horns are kings (7:24), so the little horn is a ruler;
• He is boastful (3 X), speaking against even the Most High;
• He will wage war against the holy people and defeat them;
• He will oppress the holy people for 3.5 years (a time, times and half a time), but will be completely destroyed when Christ returns.

Daniel prophesied further in chapter 8 about Antiochus Epiphanes, who prefigure the Antichrist to come:

• Dan 8:9-12 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the LORD; it took away the daily sacrifice from the LORD, and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the LORD’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.
• Dan 8:23-25 “In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.

Notice the emphasis from the repetition, and additional information:
• Set himself up to be as great as the Lord; consider himself superior – boastful;
• He will destroy the holy people and take away the daily sacrifice;
• He is a master of intrigue, deceitful, and truth will be trampled; but
• But he will be destroyed by divine power.

(To be continued)

The Abomination of Desolation

Another name unmistakably associated with the Antichrist, given by the Lord Himself, is the “abomination of desolation“:

• Mt 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— (Also Mk 13:14)

Daniel referred to it 3 times, in:
• Dan 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
• Dan 11:31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.
• Dan 12:11 From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

There are different schools of interpretation. The historical school believes that Daniel’s 70th “seven” had already taken place at the time of Christ up to AD 70, and there is no future fulfillment. I hold the futurist view and believe there is a double reference here, both historically in Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC) as a type, and in the future Antichrist as the antitype, who will abolish daily sacrifices and set up an abomination that causes desolation in the Holy Place. Which interpretation is correct? We just have to wait and see.

(To be continued)

The Beast

Q. Can you comment on the Antichrist?

(Continued from yesterday)

What else do we know about the Antichrist from his names? Older authors wrote about titles such as:
• the Bloody and Deceitful Man (Ps 5:6),
• the Wicked One (Ps 10:2, 4),
• the Man of the Earth (Ps 10:18) etc.

But if you look up the references in the Bible, you’ll see:
• Ps 5:6 You destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. (NASB)
• Ps 10:2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. (NASB)
• Ps 10:18 To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror. (NASB)

Notice that there is no capitalization as proper nouns, and the translation is as common nouns for man in general, not a Man in particular. Check using other versions such as ESV or NKJV and you’ll see the same. In fact, there are no capital letters in Hebrew. What the older writers had done is to read their own interpretation into the texts, and presented them as fact. While I understand that there are types in the Bible, this is not exegesis, but eisegesis. Some of these so-called “titles” may not be referring to the Antichrist at all. Having said that, there are several titles that unmistakably apply to the Antichrist. One of them is used by John, who called the Antichrist the beast.

The title “beast” appears 37 times in 29 verses in Revelation, and refers primarily to 2 different beasts:
• Beast from the Sea, commonly known as the Antichrist : Rev 13:1 he dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
• Beast from the earth, commonly known as the False Prophet: Rev 13:11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

It is true that Rev 11:7 and 17:3 mention two other beasts:
• Beast from the abyss: Rev 11:7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
• Scarlet beast: Rev 17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

But from their description of:
• being “was, and is not and will come” (Rev 17:8), an imitation of Christ’s life, death and resurrection; and
• having 7 heads and 10 horns with blasphemous names (cf Rev 17:3 to 13:1),
most scholars believe they are one and the same as the beast from the sea, viz. the Antichrist, though some interpret it as a political system rather than a person. Space does not allow me to elaborate on all 37 references. The readers can study Rev 11-20 for themselves to see his final doom.

(To be continued)

The Man of Sin

Q. Can you comment on the Antichrist?

(Continued from yesterday)

The name antichrist is used only by the apostle John, and appears 5 times in 4 verses, all in his 1st and 2nd epistle:

• 1 John 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
• 1 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.
• 1 John 4:3 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.
• 2 John 1:7 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.

Notice the following:
• There are many antichrists at the last hour, so the name refers to a group, not an individual.
• They are liars and deceivers.
• They do not acknowledge Jesus, His incarnation, and deny that He is the Christ, the Anointed.
• In denying the Son they deny the Father.

The idea of an individual Antichrist comes from Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness (man of sin in KJV) or the lawless one, even though the name Antichrist is not actually used there:

• 2 Thes 2:3 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.
• 2 Thes 2:8-9 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. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,

Notice again the focus on “deceive” and “lie”. The man of lawlessness is also called the man doomed to destruction (son of perdition in KJV). This latter name is used for one other person in the Bible – Judas Iscariot:

• John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Some therefore conclude that just as Judas was the Lord’s apostle but betrayed Him, the Antichrist will be a nominal Christian who commits apostasy, or rebellion.

(To be continued)

The Antichrist

Q. Can you comment on the Antichrist?

A. The Antichrist is a vast subject. Many books and countless articles have been written on it. I can only scratch the surface by noting the observations from several key verses.

The questions on most people’s minds are, “Who is he, and when would he come?” The short answer is, “I don’t know, and I don’t think anybody really knows, although there are clues in Scripture to help us make an educated guess. And based on the signs of the Lord’s Second Coming, I believe the Antichrist is coming very soon.

First, why don’t we know:
• 2 Thes 2:6-8 And now you know what is holding him (the Antichrist) back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way. 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.

Most scholars agree that the One who is holding the Antichrist back is the Holy Spirit, so that he won’t be revealed prematurely. The Holy Spirit has not been taken out of the way yet, so the Antichrist has not been revealed, and nobody really knows who he is. They can only speculate. So if anyone says he knows, he is only guessing based on available evidence.

Having said that, we do know certain things about him from the Bible. AW Pink, for example, wrote a book called “The Antichrist” in which he described his person, 25 names and title, character, career, and his end. You can consult his work yourself; I will limit myself to a few important points.

The term “antichrist” is made up of two parts – “anti” and “Christ”. “Anti” can mean “against, opposed to“. It can also mean “in place of, substitute“. Most literature take the first meaning i.e. antichrist is a “contra-Christ“, a military dictator who is opposed to Christ and persecutes Christians. While he certainly does that, my opinion is that he is first a substitute-Christ trying to take the place of Christ i.e. a “pseudo-Christ“. I adopt this position in light of our Lord’s teaching:

• Mt 24:24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Also Mk 13:22.

The emphasis there is deception to usurp Christ’s place. If the elect are deceived to follow the antichrist, he had overcome them already. However, if they are not deceived, then he would persecute them. So I believe his approach will be “first soft, then hard”.

(To be continued)

Will China escape the Great Tribulation?

Q. Please comment on the antichrist. Is it true that Revelation has not mentioned China? The other 4 major powers have been mentioned as the 4 beasts. If China (continent of Asia) and Australia are not mentioned and although China had been visited by the fallen angels, will China escape the “tribulation”?

(Continued from yesterday)

I don’t know what you have in mind regarding the 4 major powers represented by the 4 beasts. The word “beast” occurs 37 times in 29 verses in Rev., but these primarily refer to the beast from the sea (Rev 13:1) and the beast from the earth (Rev 13:11). The majority view is that these represent the Antichrist and the false prophet (Rev 16:13, 19:20, 20:10), not some continental power which you may be alluding to.

The only four beasts mentioned in the Bible is in Daniel 7:
• Dan 7:3-4 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.
• Dan 7:5 And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear.
• Dan 7:6 After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.
• Dan 7:7 After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful.
• Dan 7:17 The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth.
The generally accepted view is that these beasts represent the empires Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, not the continents which you may be thinking of.

Although China and Australia are not specifically mentioned, I don’t think they will escape the Great Tribulation.
• Rev 6:8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
• Rev 9:15, 18 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.
During the seal and trumpet judgments, a fourth and then a third of mankind will be killed. A third of the earth, sea, fresh water, and even stars will be destroyed (Rev 8:7-12). The tribulation is global, even cosmic. I don’t think China is exempt.

China in Prophecy

Q. Please comment on the antichrist. Is it true that Revelation has not mentioned China? The other 4 major powers have been mentioned as the 4 beasts. If China (continent of Asia) and Australia are not mentioned and although China had been visited by the fallen angels, will China escape the “tribulation”?

A. I’ll answer the second part of your question on China first, as the Antichrist is a rather broad subject. If the fact that China is not mentioned in Revelation means it will escape the Great Tribulation, then many other countries will escape too, since they aren’t mentioned either! The name “China” does not appear in the Bible, let alone Revelation. However, some commentators believe that there are several possible references to China in Scripture:

1. Kittim
The old English name for China is Cathay, from Khitan, which remains to be the modern name for China in many Slavic (e.g. Russian) and Turkic languages. Khitan is derived from Kittim:
• Gen 10:2, 4 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
According to this view the peoples of north-eastern China and Manchuria are descendants of Kittim, grandson of Japheth, third son of Noah.

However, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia identified the descendants of Javan as the Greek-Latin races, and Josephus connects Kittim with the town of Kition in Cyprus:
http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/K/kittim.html
Other commentators are just as convinced that the Chinese are descended from Shem or Ham! So by itself this thread of evidence is not conclusive. A second possibility is:

2. Sinim
• Isa 49:12 “Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim.” (NASB)

In context, this verse refers to the restoration of Israel, when the exiles will return from afar to their homeland, from the north, the west, and from Sinim. Now what is Sinim? According to Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, “the context requires that this must be a very remote country, to be sought for either in the eastern or southern extremities of the world.” Some take it to be the Far East i.e. China, as in sinology, the study of China. Others take it to be the south e.g.
• Isa 49:12 See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt. (NLT)

So this could, but not necessarily, refer to China. A third possibility is:

3. Kings from the East
• Rev 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. (NIV)

East is literally “rising of the sun”. Who are the kings of the East? Revelation did not specify, but some conjecture based on:
• Rev 9:16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. (NIV)
Twice 10,000 X 10,000 is 200 million. Who has an army of 200 million? Only China! But there are problems with this conclusion. First, Rev. 16:12 refers to the 6th bowl, while Rev. 9:16 refers to the 6th trumpet. Most scholars do not view the two to be the same. Secondly, from the description of the horses and riders in v 17-19, some believe that these mounted troops are not human at all, but demonic. So there is no need for a human army that fits 200 million.

Based on the above, the best we can say is that it may refer to China, but not definitely.

(To be continued)

Trusting, not Trying

Yesterday we saw Paul concluded, in no uncertain terms, that the whole world is guilty before God. What can we do then to deal with this sin problem? The natural reaction of most people is to try harder to live a good life, to do more good than bad, which to them somehow tips the cosmic balance in their favor. But this is not the way according to God. The proper way, in fact the only way, is to trust, not try – to believe God, not in your own efforts. It makes the difference between heaven and hell. One little word appears a total of 9 times in Rom 4:3-24 in the NIV- “credit”:

• 4:3-5 For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
• 4:9-11 Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,
• Rom 4:22-24 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

The word means “to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over“. It is simply given to us, free! Did Abraham do anything? None whatsoever, absolutely nothing! He simply believed God, took God at His word, placed himself completely in God’s hands, and God reckoned him as righteous, in right relationship with God. He did not count his sins against him.

Some feel that being righteous must be based on some ritual, in Abraham’s case circumcision, in order to have this right standing before God. Nowadays that ritual might be changed to joining a church, or temple in other religions, or baptism, or becoming lifelong vegetarians etc. But that is not the case. Abraham was counted righteous while uncircumcised, before any ritual, which came later only as a sign that he had faith. So not works, not rituals, only faith, trusting in God alone.

That’s good news! Because we gentiles can believe in God who justifies the ungodly, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, and our faith is credited as righteousness. We too, can be right with God, no longer alienated from God because our sins have been forgiven. We no longer have to live under the burden of guilt. Have you done that, trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and reconciled to God? Don’t delay. That’s the most important decision you can make. Do it now.