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The coming of the antichrist

The woman of Revelation 17 sits on many waters, which are many nations. But the immediate location of her seat is on a monstrous animal, which was first introduced to John’s readers in chapter 13. We should go there if we want to understand the seven heads and ten horns of this beast.

John first sees the beast coming out of the sea. From John’s perspective in the first century Roman Empire, this can only be the Mediterranean Sea. From the midst of a configuration of nations that surround the Mediterranean Sea, one emerges that in some way represents all the evil empires of all time, all those who have come against God and his people.

To make sure we’re on the right track here, several animals are mentioned as part of their description. The animals are the same as those mentioned in Daniel 7! These were the representations of the four kingdoms that would appear in the days of Daniel and later.

Seven heads are seven kings and their kingdoms, which we will see in chapter 17. But before that, verse 8, is a serious key to open a mystery for us. This animal, the beast that many evangelical scholars see as the antichrist, lived once before. He is not alive on earth now. But he will get up from his detention place, do his cowardly deeds and then go to eternal perdition.

Listen to it again. The antichrist – if we can assume that the beast is the antichrist – was already living on Planet Earth, he was a historical figure, in the days of John. Also in the days of John, he was not alive on Earth. But he was alive somewhere. As we know? Because that same person is going to reappear on Earth in the last days announced here in Revelation 17.

A Risen Emperor!

He will come out of the “abyss”. The hole. How does this work? Revelation chapter 9 makes that clear. Whether speaking in symbolic or literal language, the message for us there is that the bottomless pit contains evil forces that, when the pit is “opened” in some way, are unleashed upon the earth. In chapter 9 it is a horde of locusts. In our 17th chapter, it will be the antichrist.

But as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians: “He who hinders will hinder until he is taken out of the way.”

Has he been preserved from death? Maybe. Or he rises from the dead, imitating Christ, the One the antichrist hates so much.

His body will be resurrected, will join his spirit in the “Pit”, and will then be filled with the spirit of Satan, says Revelation 13:2, “…and the dragon [ the devil] gave [the beast] his power and his throne and great authority.”

This prophecy is not child’s play. The angel tells us that to understand this word, God’s wisdom is needed. This is my understanding of what John was told:

Based on the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7, we know of five of the seven mountains or kingdoms that have risen historically. Daniel was able to define Neo-Babylon, that is, the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, then Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. He also saw a consequence of that Roman Empire in the last days.

Where are the other two?

Before Neo-Babylon there was Assyria. And before that, ancient Babylon, based on the original city of Babylon, started by Nimrod from the book of Genesis. These kingdoms form the backdrop for the entire biblical story! In each generation, in each empire of men, the antichrist, the anti-God, has tried to frustrate the Creator’s plans to have a kingdom of his own.

That kingdom will come, and “Jesus will reign wherever the sun makes its successive journeys, His kingdom will stretch from coast to coast, until the moons wax and wane.”

But there is another kingdom or two before that.

Before we continue, we should note that the angel said “kings,” not “kingdoms.” Is there a man who stands out as the worst of men in each of these empires?

Babylon: Nimrod himself? A rebel against God, says Josephus. He is the one who caused a tower to be erected that would reach Heaven. A mighty hunter “against” the Lord.

Assyria: Sennacherib? Killed by the sword, as hinted at for the death of the antichrist.

Neo-Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar? Did he ever fully regret it?

Medo-Persia: Was it Xerxes?

Greece: Antiochus Epiphanes is a sure candidate in the prophecy of Daniel, chapters 11-12. One minute the prophecy is talking about Antiochus, and the next it’s describing the end-time king, or antichrist. Daniel 11 is fascinating and many point to this man as the one who will return.

Rome: If there is one man in the Roman Empire who embodied evil against the church, it would have to be Nero.

But Nero can’t be, because of verse 10. The angel there tells us that “five have fallen.” That is, Babylon, Assyria, Neo-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece. And he says that “one is”. Rome, of course. But Nero was not alive when John received this message. Trajan would be the man…

…if it weren’t for verse 8: the beast “was and IS NOT…” We are left with the top five candidates.

It is not my purpose here to further limit the search for the antichrist. I have published papers on this topic elsewhere. I am trying now to establish the state of the final condition of the world when everything is ready for the end. One of these men will return. Revelation chapter 13 verse 3 tells us that one of the heads of the beast was mortally wounded, but it healed. That is resurrection.

I should mention in passing the distraction known today as the mandate of the seven mountains. According to its founders, and there are several competing voices as to who that might be, there are seven spheres of influence that Christians must conquer before Jesus comes.

I call it a distraction because it takes people’s attention away from the real setting of the seven mountains of Revelation. In each of those mountains reigns one who hates the believers and will do anything to stop them. The sad truth is that Christians will not conquer any of those mountains, but will be sacrificed and sent to Heaven.

This is where the angel is extremely specific about what is coming, what the world will be like at the end of days. Listen carefully.

After telling us that five mountains have fallen, and one, namely Rome, exists today, in the days of John, he says that there is one that has not yet come. And as I write, it still hasn’t arrived. But he will come. And he will stay only a short time. The number three and a half is mentioned several times in different ways in Revelation. Most believe that this “short time” of the seventh kingdom will be three and a half years, or the first half of what is commonly called the Tribulation, but should biblically be known as the “seventieth week” of Daniel.

Wait now. More details. That is not the last kingdom and king to look for. There is an eighth. The eighth (are you listening?) is one of the seven. Read them!

That sounds like a new piece of information, but it’s what I’ve been saying. The Antichrist is a risen Emperor. He is one of the seven kings and his kingdom is one of the seven kingdoms.

Antiochus Epiphanes was on his way to defy Rome when his world and his very life came crashing down. Will he come back to finish what he started?

I quote now from my book Daniel’s last message, the part that predicts how a rising Rome interrupts the rise of Antiochus himself [Daniel 11:29-30]:

11:29am “At the appointed time he will return and go south”

in 168 [B.C.] It is the third invasion of the Sixth War. some say the [Antiochus Epiphanes] had actually placed the crown on the head of Euergetes [Egyptian monarch] in the last campaign and this time ostensibly comes to correct that matter by crowning the legitimate heir. Now, the rulers of Egypt have already devised a plan for the joint regency of the two brothers plus the mother. But Antiochus needs a reason. He comes back to fix things and works on it until winter stops him.

In the spring he raises a siege of Alexandria and marches on Memphis. [in Egypt]. philometer [brother of Euergetes] is properly installed as king. But when Antiochus leaves, the brothers talk again and decide with Mom that they don’t need Antiochus to tell them who will rule. The joint regency is restored.

Antiochus, used to his way, like his father, is not at all happy. He attacks Memphis, then Alexandria, and has decided to crush this little satrapy in one fell swoop, when he is interrupted, proving what God said, that

11:29b “it will not be like the first or the second.”

Not like the ancient conquests of Egypt, not even like the last time he was here. Rome is back on the scene. The nemesis who had screwed up her father’s ambitions is ready to crush hers as well.

11:30a “For ships from Cyprus will come against him;”

Between these two trips, Egypt has cemented its ties with Rome. When the Egyptian triumvirate hears that Antiochus is on his way, he receives a message for Big Brother from him. [Rome]. Ships leaving Cyprus carry a Roman embassy less than a mile from Alexandria, where they await the approaching Epiphanes. Livy [Roman historian, 64 B.C. to A.D. 12] says that when Antiochus approaches he greets them and extends his right hand to Popilius [consul of the Roman Republic], but in that hand Popilius delivers to Antiochus the decree of the Senate: Back! Go home! But!

Popilius draws a circle where Antiochus stands and says: “Now choose, before leaving this circle, whether you will evacuate Egypt or attack it.”

It was an easy decision. Even a madman will not dare stand against the growing might of Rome.

Antiochus immediately takes his anger out on Israel, an easier target. But his passion against Rome remained. Will he again breathe his wrath on both entities?

Let’s go back to Revelation 17 verse 11. What about the ten horns? The beast has seven heads but ten horns. All seven deal with the past. All ten deal with the future. There will be ten kings and kingdoms that will join with the antichrist to take over the world.

The ten toes on the statue and the ten horns in the vision of Daniel and John are all the same. A confederation of ten nations will arise, coming out of the “legs” part of the statue in Daniel 2. That is, coming out of Rome.

Thus, in the seventy-week prophecy of Daniel 9, it is said that the “people of the prince who is to come” will destroy the sanctuary and the city, etc.

It was the Romans who did that destruction in AD 70. The prince who is to come will be the ruler over a revived Roman Empire.

So it will be in the last days. Europe will rise. Not Chinese. Not Russia. Europe. Not Islam. Not even America.

But read on.

A seventh kingdom will emerge from Rome’s old territory, but it will last only a short time before the antichrist comes by a miraculous entrance, says Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2, and takes over the kingdom.

Ten European/North African nations will unite and give their power to the beast/antichrist (vv. 12-13). They will also turn against the woman, Babylon. All religion will be banned as the beast claims the right to be worshipped. Here then the prophecy of Babylon’s destruction is finally fulfilled (v. 16).

Soon Christ returns, and all the kingdoms of men become His kingdoms (v. 14).

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