Since preaching on the Antichrist last weekend I’ve been inundated with comments and input. Some of it is serious, and some intentionally silly. But this whole discussion sure hits a nerve in people! One friend suggested that he suspicions it might be Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose face graces the cover of the current U.S. News and World Report. Another suggested Hilary Clinton. Another, a popular American pastor. People’s guesses keep coming in!
This kind of speculation about Antichrist’s identity is nothing new. The list of persons once confidently declared to be the Antichrist stretches back at least 1900 years. Michael Holmes, a commentator on 2 Thessalonians, says the list includes, “…various Roman emperors, the leader of the Vandal invaders who sacked Rome, Mohammed, various popes, the papacy itself, Emperor Frederick 11 and Pope Gregory IX (each of whom viewed the other as the Antichrist), Martin Luther, King George II of England, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, each side in the American Civil War, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, the League of Nations, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the United Nations, Khruschev, the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev (the birth mark on his forehead allegedly being the mark of the beast), King Juan Carlos of Spain, Pope John Paul 11, Anwar Sadat, the Ayatollah Khomeini, Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein, the New Age Movement, theologian Matthew Fox, Henry Kissenger, and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Wilson Reagan (six letters in each name = 666 [cf. Rev. 13:18], and Reagan recovered from a serious wound [13:3]).” Are you tired yet? I am.
What can we learn from this? I’ll suggest three things for you to ponder, and possibly dialogue about among yourselves.
- 1. Our candidate for Antichrist probably suggests more about us (our fears, jealousies, and biases) than about him/her.
- 2. There will continue to be interesting and/or evil people who approximate some of Antichrist’s characteristics before the real one is revealed.
- 3. It is highly unlikely that the Master of Deception (Satan) would make it obvious enough for us to figure out.
Yet, knowing human nature, we will go on guessing.
here’s a little food for thought… http://www.worldslastchance.com/next_and_last_pope.php it gets real deep…
Wow, Mike ! I wonder what you call a “full course meal” …Dd
Tired? Me too. All the guessing makes me feel the heat of all the Apocalyptic Fever that is present in the world today.
Flippant and specious attempts to name an Antichrist aside, many people feel strongly they “know” who the Antichrist is (or will be), yet their logic is only grounded on one or two valid points, and then their theories generally fall to pieces, though they refuse to see it. A true knowledge would conceal itself and let things happen on their own.
Impatience seems one of the serious symptoms of AF (Apocalyptic Fever).
I recollect that the Anit-Christ is mentioned in Revelation as He as in the male gender. and that he is not a man associated with women and is a Great Military Minded Man. He is known as the Man of Sin.
i hope you take a look at my research, i know, i know, there are so many, and many reasons for so many people. but it seems to me the woman that rides the scarlet beast would be harder to hide, than who the anti-christ is, so i hope you read my research, found here:
http://meccasevenmountains.blogspot.com/