Today we begin the topic of the anti-Christ.  Thought I’d kick things off with the secular view:
“According to most Christian prophesies of the End Time, the Antichrist will act as Satan’s chief agent on earth during this period. The Antichrist—a sort of evil twin of Jesus in many ways—will forge a one-world government through promises of peace. But when Jesus returns, he will expose the Antichrist as an impostor, defeat him in the battle of Armageddon, and reign with the Christian martyrs for a thousand years on earth…(the antichrist will then) emerge as a ‘beast from the sea’ to be satan’s ally in a last, desperate assault on Christ and his church. This parody and mirror opposite of Christ will be identifiable in a number of ways…blah blah blah”¹

Going on the basis that the LORD does not need Morli to fight His battles or come to His defense 🙂 I will tone down my intense indignation.  In addition to Truth about where the Most High and the foolish little horn resp. rank on the supernatural hierarchical structure, we can also be sure that nowhere in the Bible does scripture imply that the anti-Christ is Jesus’ perverse counterpart.  There is no direct or indirect implication that the anti-Christ could ever possibly be on the same playing field—or on the same planet for that matter metaphorically speaking.  In fact he is infinitely and hopelessly out-ranked, out-classed, and eventually outcast according to the Bible.  Basically, he’s a not-terribly-savvy pawn of the devil.  And we know what the devil’s ranking is in the spiritual hierarchy.

So the anti-Christ is not the opposite of Jesus; rather he is the “distillation of all opposition to Jesus.” (Colin Smith video, see last citation) The secular community’s confusion might in part be due to the term, “anti-Christ” (but 99% due to the fact that the devil is working double-overtime to blind their minds).  “Anti-” may sound like it means “opposite” or “alter” or “pseudo” or “counterfeit.”  But it actually means “against.” And where did the term come from?

  1.  The term anti-Christ originates from none other than the Apostle John, and it’s a Greek word which John actually might have invented, by combining the two words, “anti” and “Christos.”  There is no equivalent Aramaic word.  John 1:28 says:  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.…  The Peshitta translates this:  “many false messiahs have come.”  (The Aramaic word actually means, “pretender” or “hypocrite.”  And we know what Jesus thinks about hypocrites.)

  2.  “The name Antichrist was formed perhaps by John, the only writer in the N. T. who uses it (five times); he employs it of the corrupt power and influence hostile to Christian interests, especially that which is at work in false teachers who have come from the bosom of the church and are engaged in disseminating error: 1 John 2:18 (where the meaning is, ‘what ye have heard concerning Antichrist, as about to make his appearance just before the return of Christ, is now fulfilled in the many false teachers, most worthy to be called antichrists’)…In Paul and the Rev. the idea but not the name of Antichrist is found;”²

Why did the Apostle John say that it was the “last hour” (or per other translations, “last time,” “final hour,” or “end/of time”)?

Barnes:  Some have supposed that the “last time” here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the Jewish economy; but the more natural interpretation is to refer it to the last dispensation of the world, and to suppose that the apostle meant to say that there were clear evidences that that period had arrived; Meyers:…may be the whole Christian era from the incarnation of Christ to His second advent.³

And who were the many anti-Christs who had come?  Factoring in the “false messiah” Aramaic translation, I looked on wiki and the Jewish Encyclopedia for “Claimants,” starting in the early 1st century, after Jesus’ ascension.  (1) Simon Magus (early 1st century), was a Samaritan, and a native of Gitta; he was considered a god… (2)  Dositheos the Samaritan (mid 1st century)…he wished to persuade the Samaritans that he himself was the Messiah prophesied by Moses;  (3) In ~44 A.D., a certain impostor, Theudas, urged the people to follow him with their belongings and convinced them that he would part the waters of the Jordan so they could escape.  The Roman Procurator stopped them in their tracks, and neither Theudas, nor his head, escaped); (4) Another, an Egyptian, is said to have gathered together 30,000 adherents, whom he summoned to the Mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem, promising that at his command the walls of Jerusalem would fall down (didn’t happen); (5) Menahem ben Judah attacked Masada with his band (then) proceeded to Jerusalem, where he captured the fortress Antonia, overpowering the troops of Agrippa II. He was destroyed by one of his Jewish zealot brethren; (6) Simon bar Kokhba (died c. 135), founded a short-lived Jewish state before being defeated in the Second Jewish-Roman War; (7) Moses of Crete, who in about 440–470 persuaded the Jews of Crete to walk into the sea, as Moses had done, (so that they could) return to Israel; A fatal case of mis-reading God on a corporate level. 😦

And it’s still going on every day.  I recently came across a copy of Time-Life Magazine’s Killer Cults at my hairdresser’s.  Never got the backstory about why the ladies had it on their magazine rack :-); but it made for some sorrowful reading about how well-meaning people can be completely conned by messiah claimants like Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc.  (Next week, rather than names of people who claimed they were the messiah, I’ll be revealing names of people who were/are accused of being the anti-Christ.  Get ready for comedy hour.)

Back on topic:  Colin Smith (Scottish-born pastor and author) additionally had some great observations about the anti-Christ that I would like to paraphrase.  He is:
a.          The man of lawlessness (2 Thess 2:3) in place of God’s law.
b.          He opposes and exalts himself over every so-called god – therefore, he is essentially against all religion.  He would be the one to say, “Religion causes all the problems in the world!” “A plague on all your religions!”  “Throw the shackles off the oppressive religions of the world—Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam!” (And he probably could get thousands of people to join him immediately.)
c.          He sets himself up in the temple of God.  The temple/Holy of Holies/Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the Ten Commandments.  Therefore, he tries to put himself in the place of God’s Law.  He basically says, “I define what is right and what is wrong.”
d.          He tries to place himself above the sacrifice/sacrificial system saying, “I’m a good person. I don’t need to respect the Goodness of God.”
e.          He installs himself in the place where God came down to earth/visited (until the departure of the Shekinah).  Therefore, he tries to place himself above God.⁴

Some people devote their lives to investigating claims that the anti-Christ is alive and well today, busily planning to take/dominate the world stage.  Like us, they know that Daniel introduces him, and gives us some great clues to his identity.  But Revelation shows us how the story ends.  Whoever the anti-Christ is, and no matter how nefariously far-reaching his plans, he is still the foolish little horn whom Jesus—in Almighty Power and Majesty—will utterly incapacitate and toss into the Lake of Fire like a tiny piece of kindling.

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¹PBS Website:  /wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/antichrist/quiz.html

²Studylight website:  /lexicons/greek/500.html

³Bible Hub website:  /commentaries/1_john/2-18.htm

⁴Godtube website:  /watch/?v=WLYK7GNX