To identify the Antichrist, we must depend on what the relevant scriptures say about him, his methods, and his agendas.
The subject of the “Antichrist” raises understandable questions. Who is he? When will he appear? How will we recognize him? What is his “mark” or “number”? In popular preaching, he is a global political leader who uses military might to coerce other nations. But if Satan is truly clever and cunning, why would he do the very things that so many of us expect?
The Rider on the White Horse destroyed the “Beast from the sea” along with the “False Prophet,” the “Beast from the earth” – Revelation 19:17-21.
Next, John saw the destruction of the “beast from the sea” and the “False Prophet” at the final battle when the “rider on the white horse” overthrew the forces of “Gog and Magog.” The passage does not state where this occurred, other than on the earth. In focus is the destruction of the “Beast” and its vassals, and their consignment to the “Lake of Fire.”
The Lamb overcomes the Beast and Babylon because he is the “Lord of lords, and King of kings” – Revelation 17:14-18.
Next, John was provided with the interpretation of what he saw – “Babylon” is the “great city” that sways the political powers of the earth in alliance with the “beast,” and her persecution of the “saints” is an extension of the Dragon’s “war” against them. But Jesus overcomes the “beast” and “Babylon,” though he does so in unexpected and paradoxical ways.
Babylon, the “Great Harlot,” rides the Beast from the Sea with its seven heads and ten horns – Revelation 17:7-13.
“Babylon” sits on the same malignant creature seen earlier “ascending from the sea.” It was an amalgamation of the four “beasts from the sea” from Daniel. Now, we discover the “lineage” of the “beast” and preview its destruction, all described with language from Daniel’s vision of the “fourth beast” and its “little horn.”
The first four “bowls” destroyed the economic structure of Babylon. The next “bowl” targets its political sphere – Revelation 16:10-11.
The first “four bowls of wrath” attacked the economic infrastructure of the empire used to dominate the “inhabitants of the earth” and to wage war on the “saints,” leaving the global commerce on which the “beast” depended destroyed. Now, the “fifth bowl” targets its political power and prestige.
The beast from the earth mimics the Lamb. It is the mouthpiece of the Dragon and the propagandist for the first beast.
The “great voice in heaven” pronounced “woe” on the “inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, because the Devil descended to you, having great wrath.” He then launched his war against the “seed of the woman” by summoning his own “seed” – the “beast from the sea,” and now, the “beast from the earth.”
Disciples Global Network 