IS THE ANTICHRIST, THE BEAST?

The most common name used for the Beast of Revelation 13:1-10, is "the Antichrist."  But, I have a serious doubt that the two are the same individual.  The word "Antichrist" appears four times in the Scriptures, all of which are in the epistles of John.  The word is a transliteration of the Greek ἀντίχριστος (antichristos), and in the Greek, the ἀντί (anti) can mean either "opposed to," or "in place of," depending upon its context.  The man described in John's letters, although pretending to be a Christian, eventually reveals his "true colors," and is clearly is "opposed to" Jesus:

*  1 John 2:18-19 - First, he is an individual who was prophesied to come in the end times.  He, and those like him, will have been a part of the Church, but will break fellowship from us.
*  1 John 2:22-23 - Not only will he, and those like him, leave the fellowship of the Church, but they will deny that Jesus was Israel's Messiah.  In addition, they will deny there is a Father/Son relationship between Almighty God and Jesus.
*  1 John 4:2-3 - The individual known as the Antichrist, will deny the Incarnation:  that Jesus was God come in the flesh.
*  2 John 1:7 - Again, John emphasizes that all those who deny the Incarnation of Jesus, have the spirit of Antichrist.

However, the Beast of Revelation 13:1-10 appears to offer himself "in place of" Israel's Messiah.  In order for Israel to be fooled into believing he is their Messiah, he will have to be a Jew, the son of David.  Jesus taught His disciples that there would come a time when a false Christ would come and deceive many.  Matthew 24:4-5 and 23-24 mentions those who will come pretending to be the Him.  In Revelation 6:1-2, the "false Christ" comes riding on a white horse, just as Jesus will do when He returns (Rev. 19:11).  He comes peaceably to Israel, and does not reveal himself to them until half way through the seven year covenant he confirms with them (Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:5-28; Rev. 6 - 11).

I believe, while the two individuals definitely have the spirit of Antichrist, one is an apostate from the Church, and the other pretends to be Israel's Messiah.  I suppose both identities could be of a single man, if he began by pretending he was a Christian, and then revealing he had been a Jew, of the lineage of David, all along.  But that doesn't seem very likely.

 

The one thing both have in common is they are of their father, Satan, father of lies!