vs 18 Little children, it is the last
hour; and as you had heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now
many antichrists have come, by which we generally know that it is
the last hour.
ANTICHRIST
Just as the Bible contains examples of Christ-types, like
Melchizedek, yet speaks of THE one Christ, Jesus Christ, so also
there are Anti-Christs, and there is THE Anti-Christ. Here I'm using
"THE" in its semantic form known as "Par Excellence". Wallace (Greek
Grammar Beyond the Basics) notes of this usage as such:
The article is frequently used to point out a substantive that
is, in a sense, "in a class by itself." It is the only one
deserving of the name. For example, if in late January someone
were to say to you, "Did you see the game?" you might
reply, "Which game?" They might then reply, "The game!
The only game worth watching! The BIG game! You know, the Super
Bowl!" This is the article used in a par excellence way.
John 1:21 Are you the prophet?
AntiChrists are false versions of Christ. Indeed when THE AntiChrist
shows up, he'll likely claim himself to be Christ. Interestingly
enough there's a sect of Islam which is geared up for that very
scenario, who claim that Christ will return and fight against the
people of the cross. And in Islam, given its recent history
characterized by violence and the committing of atrocities, its
ongoing persecution of Christians and Jews, that religion fits very
well into the apocalyptic scenario we hear in the Bible concerning
the end times. Furthermore it has an alternate version of scripture
in which Jesus is declared not to be the Son of God, and not to have
died on the cross. Muslims claim their origin from Ishmael rather
than Isaac. And yet we find in the Bible that Isaac is associated
with the righteous, while of Ishmael it is written in Galatians 4:29,30 in the New
Testament that, "At that time
the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the
power of the Spirit. It is the same now. Get rid of the slave
woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in
the inheritance with the free woman’s son." And there is
much more to say of Islam's potential link the coming of the
antiChrist.
But as for antiChrists, Jesus himself said, "False Christs and false prophets will appear and
perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect— if that were
possible. So be on your guard."Mark 13:22-23a But then also, as in the case of the
Koran, people will make claims of the historic Jesus which are
false, and thus they speak of a "Jesus" but in a much different
sense than the Bible does. They present an alternate Jesus, and
antiChrist.
Now by "antiChrists", given that John goes on to speak of them going
out from among them, it seems he may also be referring to false
Christians, pretenders to the faith turned apostate. For just as
Christians are to reflect Christ, so also these apostates reflect
a version of an antiChrist. 1John
2:22 "Who is
the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such
a man is the antichrist— he denies the Father and the Son."
And likewise "every spirit
that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the
spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even
now is already in the world."1John 4:3 Yet
"many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in
the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the
deceiver and the antichrist."2John 1:7
But as for THE AntiChrist, I'll mention a few scriptures where he is
alluded to.
2Thess
2:1-4"Concerning the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some
prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying
that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone
deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the
rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man
doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself
over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he
sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
2Thess 2:8-10"Then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of
his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming
of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are
perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth
and so be saved."
Rev
13:12-18 "He
exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf,
and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast,
whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and
miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to
earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given
power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the
inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in
honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
He was given power to give breath to the image of the first
beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to
worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small
and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on
his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or
sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or
the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has
insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is
man’s number. His number is 666."