Anti Christ
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 2:37 pm
Does anyone beilieve the Anti Christ is on our earth now? Would you please explain to me why or why not you have your belief. Thanks
Hi Glow,
The idea that there is going to be an individual living in the last days, called Antichrist, is one of the most prevalent traditions that dispensationalism has brought into the modern evangelical church. It has very little scripturally to support it. Here is the relevant data:
There is a bad guy mentioned as "the little horn" in Daniel 7:8, 20-26, who is probably the same entity that Paul calls "the man of sin" and the "son of perdition," in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10. These passages are very popularly applied to some future world dictator, who will be anti-Christian and who will set up an image of himself in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Popular as this teaching is, none of these details are affirmed in either passage. The Reformers, to a man, felt that these passages predict the coming of the Roman Cathilic papacy after the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. Their arguments were pretty impressive. Far more so, in my opinion, than those of modern dispensationalists.
There is another bad guy (or bad guys) mentioned as another "little horn" in Daniel 8:9-12 and as "the king," in Daniel 11:36-45. These two are popularly identified with each other as one person, and also with the other little horn and man of sin discussed above. There seems little reason, if we take these passages in their context, to identify them with each other, or to identify either of them with the afore-mentioned man of sin. The horn in Daniel 8 is almost indisputably Antiochus Epiphanes, who lived in the second century B.C. "The king" in Daniel 11 is one of the most disputed entities in scripture. I think he is the ancient Roman Empire, though he has also been identified with half a dozen historical figures, as well as with the future, so-called Antichrist.
Finally, there is "the beast" (two of them, actually), in Revelation 13. The popular teaching identifies the first of these beasts with all of the characters mentioned above, thus rounding out the composite drawing of the future Antichrist, by taking features from almost every bad guy in scripture—including "the Assyrian" (in certain Old Testament prophecies), "the prince that is to come" (in Daniel 9), Judas Iscariot and Nero—and rolling them all up into one amalgam.
It should first be observed, that none of these characters is ever referred to by the title "Antichrist." The only places in the Bible where that word can be found are in John's epistles. First John 2:18, 22; 4:3 and Second John 7 define "antichrist" as whoever "denies that Jesus is the Christ" and that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." Thus John says that, even in his own day, there were "many antichrists" (1 John 2:18).
Neither he nor any biblical writer speaks of any particular individual as "The Antichrist," with the exception of John saying, "as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour" (1 John 2:18 NKJV). John's readers had heard somewhere (though we have not, elsewhere in scripture) to expect the advent of "the Antichrist," but it seems to have been a misconception that John corrects by saying, many antichrists had already come, thus heralding that John and his readers were already living in the "last hour." John did not encourage them to look forward to any antichrist other than those that had already shown-up.
As I said, I do think that the little horn of Daniel 7 is the same as the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians. Apart from these two (which could speak of the papacy), I do not see any reason exegetically to identify any of the cryptic bad guys mentioned in these passages with any of the others. The little horn of Daniel 8 is doubtless Antiochus Epiphanes. The "prince that is to come" (Dan.9:26), who was to destroy Jerusalem and the temple after the Messiah's death, is easily identified with the Roman general Titus, who pulled that project off. Judas is merely Judas, "the Assyrian" is Sennacherib or Sargon II,and Nero is Nero. The latter might also be the beast in Revelation, or that beast might be the Roman Empire (which might also be the "king" in Daniel 11:36ff). Might be, might be. Who can say?
I would not be surprised to see, someday, a global, anti-Christian government. It would not surprise me if such a government had one leader who was its chancellor or prime minister. Political developments might conceivably go this way—or not. There is no clear teaching in any passage of scripture, however, to give us this idea.
There is no reference in any verse of scripture to anyone setting up an image of himself in any Jerusalem temple. This idea comes from the confusion of the activities of "the man of sin" (2 Thess.2:4) with those of "the beast" (Rev.13:14-15)—the former actually sits in the temple of God, and the latter has an image of himself made as an object of worship, though there is no reason to associate it with any temple, nor Jerusalem. This popular notion also misidentifies "the temple of God" as the Jewish temple (to see what Paul views as "the temple of God," see 1 Cor.3:16; 6:19/ 2 Cor.6:16).
If one wishes to know whether antichrist is in the world today, the best answer we can give is the same as that which John gave: "There are many antichrists."