In the thirteenth chapter of
Revelation two Beasts are there described. The first is the
final Head of the last great Empire before the establishment
of the millennial kingdom of our Lord. The second Beast is
denominated, in other passages, "the False
Prophet". There is a difference of opinion as to which
of these Beasts represents the Antichrist. In the Appendix to
our book "The Redeemer's Return", where this
subject is discussed and from which we shall here freely
transcribe, we have stated that opinion is about equally
divided. But during the last five years we have made a much
wider investigation, and as the result we have found that the
great majority of those who have written on the subject
regard the first Beast as the Antichrist, and that only a
comparative few - nearly all of whom belong to a particular
school - favor the alternative view. However, the writings of
the few have had a wide circulation and have exerted a
considerable influence on students of prophecy, and therefore
these papers on the Antichrist would lack completeness, and
probably some of our readers would be disappointed, if we
said nothing on the subject. It is in no spirit of
controversy that we now present our own reasons for believing
it is the first Beast of Rev. 13 who is the Antichrist.
The book of Revelation makes
known the fact that there is a Trinity of Evil. Each of these
three evil persons comes into view in Rev. 13. First, there
is "the Beast" (v. 2). Second, there is "the
Dragon" (v. 2). Third, there is "another
Beast" (v. 11). The fact that of this third Beast it is
said "He spake as a dragon" (v. 11) at once
intimates his satanic nature and character, for the speech
corresponds to the heart. The demoniacal nature of each of
these evil persons comes out clearly in Rev. 16:13,14, where
we read, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of
the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet. For
they are the spirits of demons, working miracles".
Finally, in Rev. 19:19,20 we are told, "And the Beast
was taken, and with him the False Prophet...these both were
cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone", and then in 20:10 we read, "And the
Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the Beast and the False Prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever".
The above scriptures clearly
establish the fact that there is a Trinity of Evil. Now it
surely needs no argument to prove that these three evil
persons are opposed to and are the antithesis of the three
Persons in the Godhead. The Devil stands opposed to God the
Father - "Ye are of your father, the Devil", John
8:40, etc. The Antichrist stands opposed to God the Son - his
very name shows this. The remaining evil person stands
opposed to God the Spirit. If this be the case, then our
present task is greatly simplified: it is merely a matter of
noting what is separately predicted of the two Beasts in Rev.
13 so as to ascertain which of them stands opposed to Christ
and which to the Holy Spirit.
Now there are only two
arguments of any plausibility which have been advanced to
support the view that it is the second Beast of Rev. 13 which
is the Antichrist, but so far as we are aware no one has
endeavored to show that the first Beast represents the third
Person in the Trinity of Evil! Yet he must be so if the
second is the Antichrist! This is unmistakably clear from
Rev. 16:13,14 and 19:19,20. The first argument used is drawn
from the language of 13:11, where of the second Beast it is
said, "He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a
dragon". This, we are told, indicates that it is the
Antichrist who is here in view, aping the Lamb of God.
Personally, we are amazed that such an assertion should have
been made in soberness. It is difficult to imagine anything
more wide of the mark, seeing that not only is it not said
this beast with the two horns was "like the lamb"
but in this same book "the Lamb" is pictured with
"seven horns" (see. 5:6). But if this second Beast,
the False Prophet, be the opponent of God the Spirit, then
the two horns have a pertinent significance, for two is the
number of witness, and just as Christ declared the Spirit of
God should "testify (lit., bear witness) of Me"
(John 15:26), so the third person in the Trinity of Evil
bears witness to the first Beast - see 13:12,14,16. In the
second place, it is said that the first Beast of Rev. 13 is
presented as the political Head, while it is the second who
is viewed as the religious Head. But if this is not a bad
mistake, it certainly needs to be modified. It is the first
Beast, not the second, who is worshipped (v. 12)!
Having thus noticed briefly the two leading objections which
have been brought against the position we are about to define
and defend, we shall now present some of the many arguments
on the other side.
In the first place, to regard
the Antichrist as limited to the religious realm and divorced
from the political, seems to us, to leave out entirely an
essential and fundamental element of his character and
career. The Antichrist will claim to be the true Christ, the
Christ of God. Hence, it would seem that he will present
himself to the Jews as their long-expected Messiah - the One
foretold by the Old Testament prophets - and that before
apostate Christendom, given over by God to believe the Lie,
he will pose as the returned Christ. Therefore, must we not
predict, as an inevitable corollary, that the pseudo christ,
will usher in a false millennium, and rule over a mock
messianic kingdom? That this conclusion is fully borne out by
Scripture we shall show in a moment.
Why was it (from the human
side) that, when out Lord tabernacled among men, the Jews
rejected Him as their Messiah? Was it not because He failed
to fulfill their expectations that he would take the
government upon His shoulder and wield the royal sceptre as
soon as He presented Himself to them? Was it not because they
looked for Him to restore the Kingdom to Israel there and
then? Is it not therefore reasonable to suppose that when the
Antichrist presents himself to them, that he will wield great
temporal power, and rule over a vast earthly empire? It would
certainly seem so. Happily we are not left to logical
deductions and conclusions. We have a "thus saith the
Lord" to rest upon. In Dan. 11:36 - a scripture upon
which all are agreed concerning its application - the
Antichrist is expressly termed "The King" (which)
shall do according to his will". Here then is
unequivocal proof that Antichrist will exercise political or
governmental power. He will be a king - "the king"
- and if a king he must be at the head of a kingdom.
In the second place, if the
Antichrist is to be a perfect counterfeit of the true Christ,
if he is to ape the millennial Christ as set forth in Old
Testament prophecy - for, of course, he will not mimic the
"suffering" Christ of the first advent - then it
necessarily follows that he will fill the role of king, yea,
that he will reign as a King of kings, as Satan's parody
of the Son of man seated upon "the throne of His
glory". That the Antichrist will also be at the head of
the religious world, that he will demand and receive Divine
honors, is equally true. Just as in the Millennium the Lord
Jesus will "be a Priest upon His Throne"
(Zech. 6:13), so the Antichrist will combine in his person
the headships of both the political and the religious realms
- see our notes on Ezek. 21:25,26 in Chapter 9. And just as
the Son of Man will be the Head of the fifth world-empire
(Dan. 2:44) so, the Man of Sin will be the head of the
revived fourth world-empire (Dan. 2:40).
In the third place, to make
the Antichrist and "the False Prophet" one and the
same person is to involve us in a difficulty for which there
seems to be no solution. In Rev. 19:20 we read, "And the
Beast was taken, and with him the False Prophet that wrought
miracles before him....These both were cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone". Now, if the False
Prophet be the Antichrist, then who is "the Beast"
that is cast with him into the Lake of Fire? The Beast here
cannot be the Roman Empire (the people in it), for no member
of the human race (as such) is cast into the Lake of Fire
until after the Millennium (see Rev. 20). That
"the Beast" is a separate entity, another
individual than the False Prophet is also clear from Rev.
20:10 - "And the Devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the Beast and the False
Prophet are". In this last quoted scripture, each of the
three persons in the Trinity of Evil is specifically
mentioned, and if "the Beast" is not the
Antichrist, the Son of Perdition, the second person in the
Trinity of Evil, who is he?
In the fourth place, what is
predicted of the first Beast in Rev. 13 comports much better
with what is elsewhere revealed concerning the Antichrist,
than what is here said of the second Beast. In proof of our
assertion we submit the following:
Points of resemblance
between the first Beast of Rev. 13 and the Man of Sin of 2
Thess. 2: -
1. The first Beast receives
his power, seat, and great authority from the Dragon, Rev.
13:2. Cf. 2 Thess. 2:9 - "Him, whose coming is after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders".
2. :All the world"
wonders after the first Beast, Rev. 13:2. Cf. 2 Thess.
2:11,12 - "And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe the Lie; that they all
might be damned", etc.
3. The first Beast is
"worshipped", Rev. 13:4. Cf. 2 Thess. 2:4 -
"He as God sitteth in the temple of God".
4. The first Beast has a mouth
"speaking great things", Rev. 13:5. Cf. 2 Thess.
2:4 - "Who...exalteth himself above all that is called
God". Note also that in Rev. 13:5 it is said of the
first Beast, he "has a mouth speaking great things and
blasphemies". Is not this one of the chief
characteristic marks of the Antichrist?
5. The first Beast makes war
on the saints, Rev. 13:7. Cf 2 Thess. 2:4 - "Who
opposeth...all that is called God", that is, he will
seek to exterminate and obliterate everything on earth which
bears God's name.
From these points of analogy
it is evident that the first Beast of Rev. 13 and the Man of
Sin of 2 Thess. 2 are one and the same person.
In the fifth place, that the
second Beast is not the Man of Sin appears from the fact that
the second Beast causeth the earth to worship the first Beast
(Rev. 13:12), whereas the Man of Sin exalteth himself (2
Thess. 2:4), and compare Dan. 11:36: "And he exalteth
himself". As already intimated, there are several things
which show plainly that the second Beast is the third person
in the Trinity of Evil, that is, the one who is the satanic
parody of the Holy Spirit. The point now before us supplies
further confirmation. There is nothing in Rev. 13, nor
elsewhere, to show that this second Beast is worshipped,
rather does he direct worship away from himself, to the first
Beast. Therefore, he cannot be the pseudo christ, for the
Lord Jesus did, again and again, receive worship (see
particularly Matthew's Gospel), and will be worshipped on
His return. But this second Beast, who directs worship away
from himself, accurately imitates the Holy Spirit in this
respect, for nowhere in the New Testament is the third Person
of the Holy Trinity presented as a distinct Object of
worship; instead, He is to "glorify" Christ (John
16:14) by drawing out our hearts unto that blessed One who
loved us and gave Himself for us.
Again; it has been generally
recognized by prophetic students that our Lord referred to
the Antichrist when He said, "I am come in My
Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43).
If the one here mentioned as coming "in his own
name" is the Antichrist, then it is certain that the
second Beast of Rev. 13 cannot be the Antichrist, for he does
not come "in his own name". On the contrary, the
second Beast comes in the name of the first Beast as is clear
from Rev. 13:12-15. Just as the Holy Spirit - the third
Person in the Holy Trinity speaks "not of Himself"
(John 16:13), but is here to glorify Christ, so the second
Beast - the third person in the Evil Trinity seeks to glorify
the first Beast, the Antichrist.
If it should be objected that
the second Beast is represented as working miracles (Rev.
13:13,14) and, that as the Man of Sin is also said to come
"after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2:9), therefore, the second
Beast must be the Antichrist, the answer is, This by no means
follows. The power to work miracles is common to each person
in the Trinity of evil. Just as God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, each perform miracles, so does the
Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet (see Rev. 16:13,14
for proof). Three things are said in connection with the
second Beast which correspond closely with the work of the
Holy Spirit. First, "he maketh fire come down from
heaven" (Rev. 13:13), cf Acts 2:1-4. Second, "he
had power to give life unto the image of the Beast"
(Rev. 13:15), cf John 3:6 - "born of the Spirit".
Third, "he causeth all, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand,
or in their foreheads" (Rev. 13:16), cf Eph. 4:30 -
"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption".
Finally; the second Beast is
clearly subordinate to the first Beast. But would the Jews
receive as their Messiah and King one who was himself the
vassal of a Roman? Was not this the very reason why the Jews
of old rejected the Lord Jesus, i.e., because He was subject
to Caesar, and because He refused to deliver the Jews from
the Romans!
In the sixth place, as we have
seen, in Dan. 11:36 the Antichrist is termed "the
King", and if a king he must posses a kingdom, and can
there be any doubt as to the identity of this kingdom? Will
not Antichrist's kingdom be the very one which Satan
offered in vain to Christ? namely, "all the kingdoms of
the world, and the glory of them" (Matt. 4:8). That the
kingdom of the Antichrist will be much wider than Palestine
appears from Dan. 11:40-42 - "And at the time of the end
shall the king of the South push at him (the Antichrist): and
the king of the North (the Antichrist, as King of Babylon)
shall come against him (the King of the South) like a
whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many
ships: and he (the Antichrist) shall enter into the
countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He (the
Antichrist) shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out
of his (the Antichrist's) hand, even Edom and Moab, and
the chief of the children of Ammon. He (the Antichrist) shall
stretch forth his hand upon the countries: and the land of
Egypt shall not escape". From this scripture it is also
clear that the Antichrist will be at the head of a great army
and therefore must be a political ruler as well as a
religious chief.
In the seventh place, it is
generally agreed among those students of prophecy who belong
to the Futurist school, that the rider upon the four horses
in Rev. 6 is the Antichrist. If this be the case, then we
have further proof that the Antichrist and the Head of the
revived Roman Empire is one and the same person. This may be
seen by comparing three scriptures. In Rev. 6:8, of the rider
on "the pale horse", we read, "His name that
sat on him was Death and Hell followed with him". In
Isa. 28:18, those who will be in Jerusalem during the
Tribulation period are addressed by Jehovah as follows:
"And your covenant with Death shall be disannulled, and
your agreement with Hell shall not stand". What
"covenant" can this be, except the one mentioned in
Dan. 9:27, where we read of the Roman Prince (the Head of the
revived Roman Empire) confirming the covenant with the many
for seven years? Now reverse the order of these three
passages, and what do we learn? In Dan. 9:27 we learn that
the Head of the Roman Empire makes a covenant with the Jews.
In Isa. 28:18 this covenant is said to have been made with
Death and Hell". While in Rev. 6:8 the rider on the pale
horse (whom it is generally admitted is the Antichrist) is
named "Death and Hell". Hence, from whatever angle
we approach the subject it is seen that the Antichrist is the
Head of the fourth world-kingdom.