Origins & appearance of the Beast (Antichrist)

With the larger number of catastrophes and significant changes than usual going on in the world recently and in the past few years, I recently re-read some prophecies about where the Antichrist will originate from and under what conditions he would arise on the world stage.  Here are some things I discovered and I encourage you to double-check these scriptures and my conclusions: 

  ⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. ⁸I 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. [Daniel 7]

Daniel 7 covers the prophet’s vision of the final four great kingdoms that cover the earth.  These particular verses talk about the fourth and final kingdom, which is the Roman Empire.  The Roman Empire was the fiercest of the kingdoms and was known for its iron rule, and ironically enough, the empire made great advances in the use of metals, particularly iron.  When the empire fell, it divided into 10 kingdoms.  I’ll cover those in a separate post.  We see here that three of the 10 kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire are uprooted or conquered by one horn, who is the Antichrist.  His speaking great things shows that he will be a great orator, very persuasive, and very proud in his speech.

¹⁹Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;  ²⁰And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. …²³Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.  ²⁴And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [Daniel 7]

The Antichrist will be more fierce, bold, proud, valiant, and physically bulkier than his counterparts from the other kingdoms.

⁷And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. ⁸Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. ⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. ¹⁰And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. ¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. [Daniel 8]

Daniel’s vision here is the conquering of the Medo-Persian Empire (ram with two horns) by the Greek Empire, represented by the goat.  After the great horn (Alexander the Great) falls, in his place are the four horns that sprout from the Greek Empire–Egypt, Syria (parts of Turkey, Mesopotamia, and Persian territories), Pergamum (western Asia Minor, or modern day western Turkey), and Greece.  Out of one of these kingdoms comes a little horn, the Antichrist (Note: this little horn also referred to Antiochus Epiphanes IV, a type of the Antichrist).  He becomes very powerful and exercises his power toward the south (Egypt), toward the east (Mesopotamia), and toward the pleasant land.  The phrase “pleasant land” in scriptures always refers to the Promised Land. 

So the Antichrist will rise out of a kingdom that was part of the Roman Empire and that was also part of the Greek Empire, specifically the same empire as Antiochus Epiphanes IV of the Seleucid Empire.

Verse 10 shows us the spiritual side of what happens and parallels Revelation 12:4 where Satan is able to drag down some of the heavenly angels with him in his war against heaven.  This highlights that Satan is the spirit who empowers the Antichrist.  According to v. 11, Satan went so far as to magnify himself boastfully to the Lord Jesus, the prince of the host of heaven, before he was kicked out.  In the same way, the Antichrist will boast against God.

²¹And 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.²²And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. ²³And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.²⁴He 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. [Daniel 11]

Daniel 11 is a more detailed account of how the Greek Empire would be divided after Alexander, but it parallels how the Antichrist will rise in power.  The estate he rises from in v. 21 is the northern kingdom of the Greek Empire, the Seleucid Empire.  This empire was the largest of the four territories that split from the Greek Empire.  The map to the left is an approximation of how it looked at its height.  It covered from west central & south central Asia Minor (Turkey) to Syria and all the way east to modern day Iraq (Babylon), Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, and the Turkic regions (Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.).  At one time it also possessed Israel.

Instead of being given a kingdom through inheritance, he will gain his kingdom in a peaceful manner by flattering various people.  Could this mean he runs for office and is democratically elected based on his lofty promises?  Once he obtains this northern kingdom, he will double-cross people in powerful positions in this kingdom and break them somehow, including the main leader he makes an agreement with.

In spite of this agreement he makes, he will deceive people by not fulfilling his promises and will rise to power with a nation or tribe that is considered insignificant, which could mean it has a small population and/or not much power or influence.  He will visit the most prominent, wealthy places of this kingdom to accomplish things that even his ancestors couldn’t and will share his ill-gotten gains with people in his kingdom.  This to me sounds like socialism as he betrays the wealthy and powerful who had an agreement with him and re-distributes their wealth to the general population. 

Antichrist will also forecast his wicked schemes and carry them out against everything he considers a stronghold, or an organized resistance against his purposes.  The phrase “a time” in v. 24 is used throughout Daniel and usually means one year.  This is the amount of time designated for him to tear down the strongholds in his kingdom.

¹And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  ²And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.  ³And 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. [Revelation 13]

The isle of Patmos, where John saw this vision, is in the Aegean Sea.  The beast rising from the Aegean Sea could point to the origin of the Antichrist.  Greece, Crete, and Turkey border this sea.  Turkey happens to be the only nation that was in the Seleucid Empire, one of the four Greek Empires, that was one of the 10 kingdoms from the Roman Empire, and that borders the Aegean.  The 10 horns with their 10 crowns alludes to a revived Roman Empire.  Yet the beast also has vestiges of the Greek Empire (leopard), the Medo-Persian Empire (the bear, Iran), and the Babylonian Empire (the lion, Iraq).

The fact that the lion, bear, and leopard are still around is the fulfillment of Daniel 7:12–“As concerning the rest of the beasts [from Daniel 7:4-6], they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.”  All of them will play an active part in Armageddon, according to Ezekiel 38.

Next up: Scarlet harlot: aiding & abetting Antichrist

–posted by Harry A. Gaylord–