Revelation 13 introduces us to one of the main characters on the stage during the Great Tribulation. We usually call him the Antichrist. Now, when some people hear of the Antichrist, they tend to snicker and grin in a condescending way, as if to say, “Oh, how hopelessly naïve!” They put him on par with Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But make no mistake: This sinister, dark, evil person will come on the scene, and people will say of him, “Our savior!” He will deceive and destroy the world.
Six characteristics will mark this future world leader. The first is wickedness. In verse 1, he is called “a beast.” As John stands on a beach, he sees rising from the sea a monstrous, weird creature with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns. This creature is a hideous combination of three animals: a leopard, a bear, and a lion. This is how God sees the Antichrist—just as he saw Satan as a dragon rather than an angel of light. God is able to peel away the veneer of supposed reputation and reveal the fabric of one’s character.
The Greek term for “beast” is therion, which speaks of a wild, venomous beast, a monster. Paul calls this character “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” and “the lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 8). The Antichrist will come on the world scene much like the angels at Christmas, saying, “Peace on earth” and offering a plan for world tranquility. But this will not last long. Midway through the Tribulation, he will commit what both Daniel and Jesus called “the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15), thus revealing his true character. This beast, the Antichrist, will serve Satan and will receive both power and authority directly from the father of lies, the head of this counterfeit trinity.
The second characteristic is world dominance. Verse 1 says the Antichrist will have seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns; verse 2 declares that the devil will give him his power, his throne, and great authority. This man will be granted power to “make war with the saints and to overcome them” and will be given authority over “every tribe, tongue, and nation” (v. 7). This recalls the vision in Daniel 7 of four beasts representing four distinct world powers: a lion (Babylon), a bear (Medo-Persia), a leopard (Greece), and a grotesque and terrifying creature (Rome). Here, John sees a single beast possessing all of the characteristics of the four creatures in Daniel 7. And this final kingdom will have seven heads and ten horns, representing separate governments that at the time of the end will come together in a confederacy.
This ruler will impose a new kind of world order on the planet—a world order with unprecedented influence. Daniel 7:23 says the Antichrist will devour the whole earth, trampling it and breaking it into pieces. If he is to deliver world peace, then he will need a global influence.
As world conditions decline—and the world will get progressively worse as we approach the rapture—there will grow such a cry for peace that any solution, any confederation that can promise peace on earth, will gain global support. By promising exactly this, the Antichrist will achieve global dominion.
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