The AntiChrist in Bible Prophecy

Just ask yourself one question. What religious power has existed and ruled from the fall of the Roman Empire to today, while it persecuted and forced its tradition through the empire and beyond, and become even more powerful and influential in the world as unquestionably the Pope now is seen as the preeminent religious leader in the world. We look in history and find that the Pope and the religious system of the Papacy came out of the Roman Empire, and was a supreme religious power throughout the centuries. Here is history on this...

"They may say, indeed, that for the first three hundred years there was no Pope seated at Rome. But, then, for twelve hundred years there had been; and, during that period, all the nations of Europe, and some part of America, had become Christian, and all acknowledged the Pope as their head in religious matters; and, in short, there was no other Christian Church known in the world, nor had any other ever been thought of. Can we believe, then, that Christ, who died to save sinners, who sent forth his gospel as the means of their salvation, would have suffered a false Christian religion, and no other than a false Christian religion, to be known amongst men all this while? Will these modest assailants of the faith of their and our ancestors assert to our faces, that, for twelve hundred years at least, there were no true Christians in the world? Will they tell us, that Christ, who promised to be with the teachers of his word to the end of the world, wholly left them, and gave up hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people to be led in darkness to their eternal perdition, by one whom his inspired followers had denominated the "man of sin, and the scarlet whore"? Will they, indeed, dare to tell us, that Christ gave up the world wholly to "Antichrist" for twelve hundred years?

Source: History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland, Showing How That Event Has Impoverished and Degraded the Main Body of the People in Those Countries, by William Cobbett, published in 1832 in New York by John Doyle, 12 Liberty-street; and Thomas Doyle, Market-street, Providence R.I., pages 6 and 7.

And they admit it...
Rome has been a government under the Popes for some twelve hundred years." Source: Complete Works of the Most Rev. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, 1866, Volume 2. pg. 778"

... the right to her Temporal Sovereignty is an integral right of the Church as constituted by her Divine Founder. It has prevailed de facto for more than twelve hundred years, and has been possessed de jure by Divine Natural Law from the beginning of Christianity, ... Source: The Victories of Rome and the Temporal Monarchy of the Church, 5th edition, By Kenelm Digby Best, London, 1906, pg. xii.

If only those who claim they are Christians when it comes to biblical prophecy would look at the plain Word of God, they would see what even a simple plowboy could tell them, it shows a straight path of this antichrist power through history to our time and it tells us it will go to the end times

Here is a good study on this.."Through the books of Revelation and Daniel God gives us a thorough description of the antichrist of Bible prophecy. It is important to identify the antichrist because from it will come the sign, or "mark", of it's authority. Against this mark, "the mark of the beast", or the mark of the authority of the antichrist, comes one of the Bible's strongest prohibitions. "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:" Revelation 14:9-10

The details of the visions of the little horn of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13 reveal the antichrist of Bible prophecy..."
The Anti-christ - Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 | Bible Universe.

 

And they try to hide what is revealed in Gods Word...."
The decree set forth in the year 1229 A.D. by the Council of Valencia... places Bible on The Index of Forbidden Books. The doctrine withholds "it is forbidden for laymen (common man) to read the Old and New Testaments. - We forbid them most severely to have the above books in the popular vernacular. The lords of the districts shall carefully seek out the heretics in dwellings, hovels, and forests, and even their underground retreats shall be entirely wiped out." (Council Tolosanum, Pope Gregory IX, Anno. Chr. 1229)

"The very nature of the Bible ought to prove to any thinking man the impossibility of its being the one safe method to find out what the Savior taught." (Ibid., p. 67)

"The Scriptures indeed is a divine book but it is a dead letter, which has to be explained, and cannot exercise the action which the preacher can obtain." (Our Priesthood, p. 155)

"The simple fact is that the Bible, like all dead letters, calls for a living interpreter." (The Faith of Millions, p. 155)

"The Bible was not intended to be a textbook of Christian religion." (Catholic Facts, p. 50)

"The belief in the Bible as the sole source of faith is unhistorical, illogical, fatal to the virtue of faith, and destructive of unity." (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII, Protestantism, Section III A - Sola Scriptura ("Bible Alone"), Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912 by Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor, Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York)

 

Who the Antichrist is, has been hidden by the very ones who support the forces of the Papacy since the scripture shows it comes from the time of the Roman Empire and continues to the end of time when it will finally be destroyed. So how do we understand who it is, we must look at the meaning of the words, here is a explanation by my friend Doc. 'The fact is that before we can understand biblical topics, or explain them to others, we need to first grasp correct biblical concepts. Once we understand the concepts we can then draw from those concepts the biblical principals involved. Once we have an understanding of the correct biblical concepts and the principals involved we can then apply those principals to our lives in both thought and action. The same is true of whomever we may discuss the Bible and it's teachings with. They need to first grasp the concept from which they can draw the principal to understand what the Bible is saying.
what/who is the Antichrist? The identification of the Antichrist starts with analyzing the original Greek text.

Thoughts on the Biblical Term Antichrist

In I John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3, and II John 7 we find the term antichrist used, which has generally been understood to mean opposed to Christ, or against Christ, with the assumption that the Greek prefix anti means essentially what the English anti means. In English anti-war would rightfully be understood to mean against war, or
opposed to war. However, the question must be asked, What is the primary meaning of the GREEK word anti, and how does this amplify our understanding of the biblical term antichrist?

Fortunately, there are numerous examples of the Greek term anti found in the Scripture, and an examination of them will prove helpful. There at least 16 occurences of the term anti found in the New Testament, with 15 of them being translated for in the King James Bible, while one time it is translated by the phrase in the room of. Let us look at the usage first of all, which is found in Matt.2:22. "But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room ofhis father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into parts of Galilee". One of the many times anti is translated for is Matt.20:28, a passage which reads "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." Another is the familiar Luke 2:2: "If a son shall ask bread of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent?" One more example is Heb.12:16, speaking of Esau who traded his birthright: "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."*

It is clear from these usages of anti the primary meaning of the term is instead of, or in place of, consistent with the word for. If one attempts to read any of the foregoing text and in the place of for substitute against, or opposed,the logic is lost. The Son of man did give His life against many, but as a substitute for many, or in the place of many.

Without argument, many times one who takes the place of another does so as an antagonist, or in opposition to him, and so these words which employ the prefix anti which have the meaning of opponent as their primary meaning. An example of this would be the word antidikos[adversary] in texts such as I Peter 5:8: "Be sober, vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."**

But, because the bare term anti clearly utilizes the concept of substitution, it would be a mistake to examine the word antichrist without this in mind. Taking this approach, the antichrist is first of all one who seeks to take the place of Christ, to exercise authority instead of Christ. This is a concept with which the rest of the New Testament is entirely familiar, demonstrated by texts such as II Thess. 2:3,4: "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; 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." The man of sin is described as usurping authority not rightfully belonging to him, attempting to masquerade as God, sitting in the seat of God. It is interesting to note that the word translated oppose in verse 4 is again a compound word, antikeima, meaning one who lies in the place of, or one who lies against. In Rev. 13, the beast power seeks to take the place of God by exhorting worship, something which rightfully belongs only to God, fulfilling the age-old designs of the arch-enemy, whose ambitious aspirations are recorded by the prophet Isaiah "Thou {Lucifer) hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High."(Isaiah 14:13,14)

Since Seventh-day Adventists have generally found the fulfillment of these prophetic symbols in the historical papacy, it is interesting to see how this understanding impacts our interpretation. Without question, the papal power has attempted to take the place of Christ by title, by pronouncement, and by practice. The term vicar of Christ is instructive to compare the context. Vicar is of Latin origin, and meansone who takes the place of, or one who acts instead of. We use the adjective vicarious to describe Christ's substitutionary sacrifice. Thus, when the pope identifies himself as the vicar of Christ, to operate in His stead, as His substitute, take note of this strange irony, then. Since both anti and vicar mean the same thing, namely substitute or one who takes the place of, the one from Greek and the other from the Latin, when the pope accepts the title vicar of Christ, he is thereby also accepting the title of anti Christ. Unfortunatly, since most assume that the anti of antichrist means only against, or in opposition to, they are looking for a fulfillment of this prophetic symbol outside the church, while the Bible clearly identifies this power as coming from within. He sits "in the temple of God (II Thess.2:4)." Paul warned the Ephesian elders "of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them
(Acts 20:30)." John saw in vision Babylon typified as a woman
(a church) which sat on a beast.

There is no question that the antichrist of the
New Testament is an opponent of the true Christ, whose work is against that of Christ. But it would be a mistake of large proportions, when discussing the term antichrist to not include the concept of substitution, which the prefix anti clearly employs, which clarifies and amplifies the mission and identity of this important prophetic symbol.

*The other usages of anti in the New Testament are as follows:
Matt. 5:38 "an eye for an eye, and a tooth
for a tooth
Matt. 17:27 "take, and give unto them for me and thee
Mark 10:45 "and to give His life a ransom for many
John 1:16 "have all received, and grace for grace
Rom. 12:17 "recompense to man evil for evil
I Cor. 11:15 "for (her) hair is given her for a covering I Thess. 5:15 "See that none render evil for evil
Heb. 12:2 "Who for the joy that was set before Him
James 4:15" for that ye ought to say, If the Lord
I Peter 3:9 "Not rendering evil for evil"...

Strong's Number G473 Greek ἀντί (anti),occurs 22 times in 20 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV...
G473 - anti - Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)