WHO IS THE
ANTICHRIST?
PART 4
by Steve
Ashburn
In Part 3 of this
series, we saw how the Antichrist became the leader of
the one-world government of the tribulation. He
apparently got his start as a young professional
[engineer or financial type] in charge of reconstructing
Iraq (in part) after the US and its allies virtually
obliterated the country, in retaliation for Iraq’s
complicity in instigating an Arab invasion of Israel.
This invasion, in my opinion, and according to Ezekiel
29, began the forty-year period known as the end times.
As part of the
reconstruction of Iraq, the Antichrist will build a new
international city for the distribution of spoils of war
to coalition member nations, again, in my opinion, and
according to Isaiah 23:13: which city “was not, till the
Assyrian [the Antichrist] founded it for them that dwell
in the wilderness [vacant part of Iraq].” The context of
Isaiah 23 is an end-times judgment upon Lebanon, which
shall be “laid waste”; verse 13 is inserted to describe
a special city in Chaldea [Iraq] built afterwards by
“the Assyrian.”
Since the
Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets almost certainly will
melt during the tribulation (raising sea level by more
than 200 feet), this city will need to be located at a
higher elevation than lower Mesopotamia, in what is now
northern Iraq or extreme eastern Syria (ancient
Assyria).
[The earth’s great
winds will cease during the tribulation, being held back
by “four angels standing on the four corners of the
earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the
wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor
on any tree” (Revelation 7:1), resulting in extreme
polar temperatures. In addition, Isaiah 30:26 indicates
the sun’s output will be increased “sevenfold” during
this time. Thus, the site of ancient Babylon, having an
elevation of about 8o ft, will be covered by “waves”
during the tribulation—just as Jeremiah 51:42 predicts.]
It is this new
city—destined to become the commercial and financial hub
of the world—that the Bible refers to as end-times
“Babylon.”
We saw in Parts
1-2 of this series how the Antichrist likely would build
this city in the vicinity of present-day Mosul, Iraq
(ancient Nineveh), and that he also would be a native of
Mosul. I suppose he also will reconstruct the Mosul
Dam—properly this time!
The Antichrist,
being a cunning and deceitful politician, who “by peace
shall destroy many” (Daniel 8:25), will have ingratiated
himself to become the head of world government by the
time the tribulation begins. This, of course, implies a
power vacuum of global proportions caused first by the
evacuation of the church at the rapture and the
subsequent Russian invasion of North America (which I
believe is described in Isaiah 18 and Daniel 7:4-5); and
then by the Ezekiel 38-39 Russian defeat (by divine
intervention) as they and their allies attempt to invade
Israel. Not to let a good crisis go to waste, the
Antichrist confirms the Abrahamic covenant with Israel
for a period of seven years. This event begins the
tribulation.
The
Antichrist—apparently not the most popular guy on earth
after 3½ years of agonizing divine judgments—is killed
by a sword at the midpoint of the tribulation, but then
ascends out of the bottomless pit. Habakkuk 3 describes
his head wound, and Revelation 17 his ascending up from
hell:
Thou wentest forth
for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with
thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house
of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the
neck. Selah. (Habakkuk 3:13)
The beast that
thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that
dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not
written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not,
and yet is. (Revelation 17:8)
The “foundation
unto the neck” is the base of the skull, where the
spinal cord emerges from the foramen magnum; this
means someone will almost cut the Antichrist’s head off.
Thinking more
about this, I suppose Scripture would support the idea
that he’s actually decapitated. Now that would
explain, without question, why “all the world wondered
after the beast” (Revelation 13:3)!
The Antichrist’s
descent into hell is recorded in Isaiah 14. The specific
part of hell he is taken to is “the stones of the pit,”
where he is met by previous kings, “even all the chief
ones of the earth.”
Hell from beneath
is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it
stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones
of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all
the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say
unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou
become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the
grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread
under thee, and the worms cover thee. . . .
They that see thee
shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee,
saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a
wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that
opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of
the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one
in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave
like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those
that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go
down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden
under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in
burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain
thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be
renowned. (Isaiah 14:9–11, 16–20)
[Although verses
12-15 of this chapter clearly describe Satan and his
fall from heaven, this passage parenthetically was
inserted into a general description of the Millennium
and end times; verse 16 clearly defines the subject of
our text passage to be a “man,” who in verse 25 also is
called, “the Assyrian.” The weight of scriptural
evidence therefore leans toward identifying this man as
the Antichrist.]
All the kings of
earlier nations who are in hell welcome the Antichrist:
He has become weak, and his pomp and majesty and praises
are brought down to hell, where worms cover him. He is
described as the man who wasted the world, destroyed its
cities, and refused to release his prisoners. He is
covered with blood, abominable and cast out of his
grave, slain with the sword, and as a trampled carcass.
Revelation and Habakkuk say that he will be slain by the
sword, and that he will be captured at the end of the
tribulation and thrown directly into the lake of fire,
and therefore not have a grave.
The beast is
allowed by God to ascend out of the bottomless pit—only
God can allow this—and enter the body of the Antichrist.
Since he is described as “the beast that was, and is
not, and yet is,” this brings up the intriguing
possibility that another spirit—the one that ascends out
of the bottomless pit—takes the Antichrist’s place, with
the original Antichrist remaining in hell. Only two men
in the Bible are called “the son of perdition”: The
Antichrist and Judas Iscariot (John 17:12; 2
Thessalonians 2:3). Judas is said to have gone “to his
own place” (Acts 1:25)—something said of no one else in
Scripture. He was also possessed by Satan, as the
Antichrist will be.
It’s interesting
to speculate that since Judas Iscariot probably was
redheaded (the name “Iscariot” derives from an Aramaic
word meaning “red-colored”), the Antichrist also might
have red hair. As an example, a current prominent Iraqi
leader is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (born July 1, 1942),
who has bright red hair and is from a Christian family
from Tikrit, in northern Iraq (formerly Assyria). He was
voted head of the banned Baath party in 2007 following
Saddam Hussein’s execution in 2006. He is pictured
below:
Of course this is
all speculation, but it illustrates the point that
prominent red-haired Iraqis from Christian families in
former Assyria do exist—and it’s possible that al-Douri’s
family or relatives might be the family of the
Antichrist. Al-Douri himself is too old to be the
Antichrist, and Daniel 11:37 says that the Antichrist
will not regard “the God of his fathers,” which implies
that his fathers are Christians; therefore al-Douri
genuinely may be a Christian, if he is related to the
future Antichrist.
Interestingly, al-Douri
also is left-handed. Some research on left-handedness
turned up a few interesting facts. Left-handedness is
slightly heriditary and is present in about ten percent
of the population. However, for some reason five out of
the last seven US presidents have been left-handed:
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald
Reagan (ambidextrous), and Gerald Ford. In addition, six
presidential candidates also have been left-handed: John
McCain, John Kerry, John Edwards, Al Gore, Bob Dole, and
H. Ross Perot. The last time a presidential election
featured no left-handed candidate from a major party was
1972. Why are so many political leaders left-handed? We
have no idea, but this suggests (and again this is only
speculation) that the Antichrist may be left-handed.
The beast is
described in Revelation 17. He is the eighth king
following seven world rulers and their nations.
And here is the
mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are
seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other
is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a
short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he
is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into
perdition. (Revelation 17:9–11)
The seven kings
are seven rulers of world kingdoms (“seven mountains”)
from ancient history to the tribulation from the apostle
John’s perspective; five were fallen: Babylon, Assyria,
Egypt, Medo-Persia, and Greece. One is: the Roman empire
of John’s time. The other is “not yet come”: the kingdom
of the Antichrist. The beast is the eighth king. This
could mean that the beast takes control of the one-world
government of the tribulation, which is the seventh
kingdom (described as “he must continue a short
space”—note carefully the personal pronoun “he” which
indicates a person, the Antichrist)—or more probably it
could mean that another spirit enters the Antichrist’s
body, and thereby becomes the eighth king.
Since Isaiah
describes the Antichrist’s descent into hell, it would
seem unreasonable for him to suddenly leave that awful
place and come back into his original body; therefore,
we favor the explanation that the eighth king is some
other spirit which becomes the beast of the great
tribulation.
We’ll discuss more
about the Antichrist in Part 5 of this series,
especially his worldwide rule during the second half of
the tribulation; his war against the remnant of Israel
and their special protection in “the wilderness”
(Revelation 12:14) during this time; and his ultimate
destiny in the lake of fire. So stay tuned for Part 5!
I provide more
details of this and many other end-times prophecies in
my recently published book, END TIME DAWNING:
Get Ready! (available from
www.endtimesrecord.com). Please read it! Also if you
would, please leave a book review on Amazon!
Yours in Christ,
Steve Ashburn