The antichrist, what is he like, and what will he do?

By JOHN CHOPORES

 

Daniel 7:8  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The "horn" is used as a symbol of power, in the Bible many times. Cf. 2 Samuel 22:3  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. Psalms 89:17  For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

 

He has the eyes of a man, because he sees things as a man would, not as God does! Cf. Rev. 13: 18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. [Many believe that 6 is the number of Man, and 7 is the number of God].

Isaiah 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

 Isaiah 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Like many men he always want more for himself! Cf. Proverbs 27:20 ¶ Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

" he is a "horn", possessed of power, strength, authority, and dominion, of which the horn is an emblem; a "little" one, which rose from small beginnings," [JOHN GILL].

“(little horn)

 

   The vision is of the end of Gentile world-dominion.  The former Roman empire (the iron kingdom of #Da 2:33-35,40-44 7:7 will have ten horns (i.e. kings, #Re 17:12 corresponding to the ten toes of the image. As Daniel considers this vision of the ten kings, there rises up amongst them a "little horn" (king), who subdues three of the ten kings so completely that the separate identity of their kingdoms is destroyed.  Seven kings of the ten are left, and the "little horn."  He is the "king of fierce countenance" typified by that other "king of fierce countenance," Antiochus Epiphanes, #Da 8:23-25 the "prince that shall come" of #Da 9:26,27 the "king" of #Da 11:36-45 the "abomination" of #Da 12:11 Mt 24:15 the "man of sin" of #2Th 2:4-8 and the "Beast" of #Re 13:4-10.” [Scofield].

 

 

Dan. 11:21 ¶ And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

The Hebrew word for "vile" is" hzb bazah   " . It means " to be despised, to be despicable, to be vile, worthless".  From this, it would seem that the antichrist, is hated my many. From Rev. 13, we that he is also feared, followed, and loved by many.  Cf. Rev.13: 3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

The Hebrew word for "flatteries" is "hqlqlx chalaqlaqqah" it means "flattery, slipperiness, fine promises, smoothness". So we can see that the AntiChrist will be a fine talker and hard to pin down!

 

 

Dan. 11:22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

The Hebrew word for "overflown" is " " it means " to be swept away".

 

 

Dan. 11:23.And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.

" 23. TREGELLES notes three divisions in the history of the "vile person," which is continued to the end of the chapter: (1) His rise (#Da 11:21,22). (2) The time from his making the covenant to the taking away of the daily sacrifice and setting up of the abomination of desolation(#Da 11:23-31). (3) His career of blasphemy, to his destruction(#Da 11:32-45); the latter two periods answering to the "week" of years of his "covenant with many" (namely, in Israel) (#Da 9:27), and the last being the closing half week of the ninth chapter." [JFB].

 

 

Dan. 11:24.He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

The Hebrew word for "peaceably" means " quietness, ease, prosperity".  Many times when there is lots of money and fun times, people will accept anyone who will help keep the "good times" to keep going! Cf. Proverbs 28:21 ¶ To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.

   Job 2:4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

   Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

 

 Dan. 11:25  And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.

 26  Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.

 27  And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.

 28  Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.

 29  At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.

30.For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

" 30. ships of Chittim -- …Chittim, properly Cyprian, so called from a Phoenician colony in Cyprus; then the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean in general." [JFB].

"Macedonia is called the land of Cittim, in the Apocrypha:

 

 ``And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,'' (1 Maccabees 1:1)

 

 ``Beside this, how they had discomfited in battle Philip, and Perseus, king of the Citims, with others that lifted up themselves against them, and had overcome them:'' (1 Maccabees 8:5)" [JOHN GILL].

 

 

Dan. 11: 31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

32.And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

The Hebrew word for "flatteries" is "hqlx chalaqqah" it means "flattery, smoothness, fine promises".

" corrupt --seduce to apostasy.

 

 by flatteries --promises of favor." [JFB].

 

 

 33  And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.

 34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.

 35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

 36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

 37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

 38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

 39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

 40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

 41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

 42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

 43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

 44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

 45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Dan. 12: 1 ¶ And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

The phase "at that time" shows that everything from Dan. 11:21 through 12:4, are at the "time of the end".

 

 

2 Thess. 2: 3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

" {Except the falling away come first} (ean mh elqh h apostasia prwton). Negative condition of the third class, undetermined with prospect of determination and the aorist subjunctive. apostasia is the late form of apostasij and is our word apostasy. Plutarch uses it of political revolt and it occurs in I Macc. 2:15 about Antiochus Epiphanes who was enforcing the apostasy from Judaism to Hellenism. In#Jos 22:22 it occurs for rebellion against the Lord. It seems clear that the word here means a religious revolt and the use of the definite article (h) seems to mean that Paul had spoken to the Thessalonians about it. The only other New Testament use of the word is in#Ac 21:21 where it means apostasy from Moses. It is not clear whether Paul means revolt of the Jews from God, of Gentiles from God, of Christians from God, or of the apostasy that includes all classes within and without the body of Christians.

… {And the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition} (kai)~ apokalufqh o anqrwpoj thj anomiajà o uioj thja~ apwleiaj).

… The use of this verb apokaluptw, like apokaluyin of the second coming in#1:7, seems to note the superhuman character (Milligan) of the event and the same verb is repeated in verses#6,8. The implication is that {the man of sin} is hidden somewhere who will be suddenly manifested just as false apostles pose as angels of light(#2Co 11:13), whether the crowning event of the apostasy or another name for the same event. Lightfoot notes the parallel between the man of sin, of whom sin is the special characteristic (genitive case, a Hebraism for the lawless one in verse#8) and Christ. Both Christ and the adversary of Christ are revealed, there is mystery about each, both make divine claims (verse#4). He seems to be the Antichrist of #1Jo 2:18. The terrible phrase, the son of perdition, is applied to Judas in#Joh 17:12 (like Judas doomed to perdition), but here to the lawless one (o anomoj, verse #8), who is not Satan, but some one definite person who is doing the work of Satan. Note the definite article each time.  " [RWP].

“--  except there come a falling away first, The Apostle here assures the Thessalonians, that other memorable events will take place before the coming of the Lord. The day of Christ shall not come, 'except there come the apostasy first.' The apostasy here described, is plainly of a religious nature; a defection from the true religion and worship, "a departing from the faith," 1Ti 4:1; "a departing from the living God," Heb 3:12; as the word is used by the Apostle in other places. In the original it is 'the apostasy,' with an article to give it emphasis: the article being added, as Erasmus remarks, signifies that famous and before predicted apostasy, which Daniel had described, Da 7:25; 11:36.” [BFB].

" that man of sin be revealed --The Greek order is, "And there have been revealed the man of sin." As Christ was first in mystery, and afterwards revealed (#1Ti 3:16), so Antichrist (the term used #1Jo 2:18 4:3) is first in mystery, and afterwards shall be developed and revealed(#2Th 2:7 -9). As righteousness found its embodiment in Christ, "the Lord our righteousness," so "sin" shall have its embodiment in "the man of sin." The hindering power meanwhile restrains its manifestation; when that shall be removed, then this manifestation shall take place. The articles, "the apostasy," and "the man of sin," may also refer to their being well known as foretold

… the son of perdition --a title applied besides to Judas (the traitor, #Joh 17:12), and to none else. Antichrist (the second "beast" coming up out of the earth); therefore he shall at first be "like a lamb, while he speaks as a dragon" (#Re 13:11); "coming in peaceably and by flatteries," "working deceitfully," but "his heart shall be against the holy covenant" (#Da 11:21,23,28,30). Contrast the King of Zion's coming as JESUS: (1) righteous or just; (2) having salvation; (3) lowly; whereas Antichrist is: (1) "the man of (the embodiment of) sin; (2) the son of perdition; (3) exalting himself above all that is worshipped. He is the son of perdition, as consigning many to it, and finally doomed to it himself(#Re 17:18,11). "He whose essence and inheritance is perdition" [ALFORD]. AS "the kingdom of heaven" is first brought before us in the abstract, then in the concrete, the King, the Lord Jesus; so here, first we have(#2Th 2:7) "the mystery of iniquity," then "the iniquitous one" (#2Th 2:8)." [JFB].

"Verse 3. Except there come a falling away first— We have the original word apostasia in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth.

…That man of sin— Æo anqrwpov thv amartiav? The same as the Hebrew expresses by wa �ya ish aven, and l[ylb �ya ish beliyaal; the perverse, obstinate, and iniquitous man. It is worthy of remark that, among the rabbins, Samael, or the devil, is called wa �yaw l[ylb �ya ish beliyaal

veish aven, the man of Belial, and the man of iniquity; and that these titles are given to Adam after his fall.

The son of perdition— Æo uiov thv apwleiav? The son of destruction; the same epithet that is given to Judas Iscariot, John 17:12, where see the note. The son of perdition, and the man of sin, or, as some excellent MSS. and versions, with several of the fathers, read, anqrwpov thv

anomiav, the lawless man, see 2 Thessalonians 2:8, must mean the same person or thing. It is also remarkable that the wicked Jews are styled by Isaiah, Isaiah 1:4, mytyj�m µynb benim mashchithim, “children of perdition;” persons who destroy themselves and destroy others." [ADAM CLARKE].

“

Note, 4. This man of sin is also styled the son of perdition.

 

(1.) Actively, a destroying son, one that brings others to destruction.

 

(2.) Passively, a son that shall be destroyed; Antichrist and all his adherents shall be destroyed, utterly destroyed, by Jesus Christ, and his kingdom shall perish without any hope of recovery; first destroying, and at last destroyed.” [Burkitt].

“The son of perdition; another Hebraism, where sometimes that which any way proceeds from another, as its cause, is called its son, as sparks the sons of the coal, Job 5:7, and branches sons of the tree, Ge 49:22, and the learner the son of the teacher, Pr 3:1; and sometimes that which a man is addicted to, as a wicked man is the son of wickedness, Ps 89:22. Again, that which gives forth what it hath in itself, as the branches of the olive trees giving oil are called the sons of oil, Zec 4:14; and in the text, the man of sin is the son of perdition, as Judas is called, Joh 17:12: and he is so either actively, as he brings others to destruction, and so may... or rather passively, as devoted to perdition; as Re 19:20, the beast and false prophet are both cast into the lake of fire and brimstone; and the beast that was, and is not, is said to go into perdition, Re 17:11. The destroyer of others both in soul and body will be destroyed himself: first, morally, by the word and Spirit, as 2Th 2:8; and then judicially, by God's revenging justice in this world, and that to come. The apostle, at the very first mentioning him, declares his destiny; at his first rising and revealing, mentions his fall and ruin.” [Poole].

 

 

 

2 Thess. 2: 4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

"{He that opposeth and exalteth himself} (o antikeimenojw~ kai uperairomeno). Like John's Antichrist this one opposes (antiÄ)Christ and exalts himself (direct middle of uperairw, old verb to lift oneself up {above} others, only here and#2Co 12:7 in N.T.), but not Satan, but an agent of Satan. This participial clause is in apposition with the two preceding phrases, the man of sin, the son of perdition. Note#1Co 8:5 about one called God and #Ac 17:23 for sebasma (from sebazomai), object of worship, late word, in N.T. only in these two passages." [RWP].

"he fourth and last world kingdom, under which we now live, shall have one final head, the concentrated embodiment of all the sin and lawless iniquity which have been in pagan …Rome.

…Who opposeth and exalteth himself --There is but one Greek article to both participles, implying that the reason why he opposeth himself is in order that he may exalt himself above, etc. ALFORD takes the former clause absolutely, "He that withstands (CHRIST)," that is, Antichrist(#1Jo 2:18).  " [JFB].

“As Satan entered into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition, so does he

take possession of the man of sin. And exalteth himself above; or rather, against, in a hostile manner. All that is called God; not only against all the false gods of the heathen, but also against the true God (comp. Daniel 7:25; 11:36). Or that is worshipped; that is an object of worship. The same word that is used in Acts 17:23, “As I passed by and beheld your devotions” — the objects of your worship. So that he as God. The words “as God” are to be omitted, as not found in the best manuscripts. Sitteth in the temple of God. According to some, the temple of Jerusalem (De Wette, Lunemann, Eadie), either as it then existed or as restored according to the prophecy of Ezekiel But it appears more correct to refer the expression metaphorically to the Christian Church. It is a favourite metaphor of Paul to compare believers in particular, or the Church in general, to the temple of God (comp. 1 Corinthians 3:17;.6:19; Ephesians 2:20-22).” [Pulpit Commentary].

 

 

I will (if it is the Will of God) be adding more soon!