This assumption is based on a statement in Revelation 13:1-3 where John describes the Antichrist as a beast with seven heads. Many argue that he will be a person resurrected from the dead - most likely Nero or Judas Iscariot. There is one other issue concerning the origin of the Antichrist that we need to consider. Religiously, he will be an apostate Jew who will head up the One World Religion of the Antichrist. It only means that he will be of Jewish heritage. This does not mean the False Prophet will be an Orthodox Jew. ” Just as the sea is used symbolically in prophecy to refer to the Gentile nations, the land (or earth) is used to refer to Israel. This is revealed in Revelation 13:11 where it says that John saw “another beast coming up out of the earth. In Revelation 13:1 he is portrayed as a “beast coming up out of the sea.” The sea is used consistently throughout the prophetic scriptures as a symbol of the Gentile nations (Daniel 7:3 Luke 21:25 and Revelation 17:1).īy contrast, the Antichrist’s right hand man, the False Prophet, who will serve as his religious leader, will be a Jew. And, in fact, the Bible makes it clear that he will be a Gentile. The Antichrist does not have to be a Jew. They will reject him as Messiah, and he will respond in fury by attempting to annihilate them. It teaches they will accept him as a great political leader and diplomat and that they will put their trust in him as the guarantor of peace in the Middle East.īut the moment he reveals himself as the Antichrist by desecrating the Jew’s rebuilt Temple and blaspheming God, the Jewish people will revolt. Based on this statement, people ask, “How could the Jews possibly receive a Gentile as their Messiah?”īut the Bible does not teach that the Jews will receive the Antichrist as their Messiah. Will he be a Jew? Many assume he will be because Jesus said, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:43). Therefore, according to Daniel, the Antichrist must be of Roman heritage. We know from history that both Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. In that passage the Antichrist is referred to as “the prince who is to come,” and he is identified as being from the people who “will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This conclusion is based upon a statement in Daniel 9:26. It is much more likely that he will rise out of the heartland of the old Roman Empire and that he will be of Italian descent. Could he therefore be a Greek? It is not likely. But Antiochus was actually of Greek heritage. Where will this sinister person come from? Some have speculated that he will come out of Syria since one of his prophetic types in history - Antiochus Epiphanes (215-164 BC) - was a Syrian tyrant. For this reason, he is identified in scripture as the Antichrist (1 John 2:18), for he will stand against God and His anointed one, Jesus Christ. He will emerge as a Satan possessed and empowered person who hates God and is determined to annihilate both Christianity and Judaism. But as he consolidates his power, his true nature will be revealed. He will appear to be the savior of the world. He will begin his rise to power as a dynamic, charismatic, insightful, visionary leader who will astound the world with the cleverness of his solutions to world problems. His empire will be the most extensive in all of history, encompassing the entire world, and his rule will be the most demonic the world has ever experienced. After taking over that area by diplomatic cunning and deceit, he will launch a military campaign that will result in his acquiring “authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (Revelation 13:7). The Bible teaches that in the end times, right before the return of Jesus, the greatest political leader in the history of Mankind will emerge from Europe.