Introduction

There are 2 main characters in the Tribulation period- the Antichrist and the False Prophet. In this lesson, we are just going to give a brief overview of who they are and what they do.

I. Antichrist

a. The Antichrist is the political representative of Satan.

b. What Scripture calls him (II Thessalonians 2:3- “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”)

i. “man of sin”

ii. “son of perdition”

1. perdition = ruin; loss; destruction

c. Will eventually claim the power and right to be worshipped that belongs to Christ alone (II Thessalonians 2:4- “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”)

d. His identity will not be revealed until the Christians (the church) are raptured out of this world. (II Thessalonians 2:7-8 – “⁷For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. ⁸And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”)

i. Let = hinder

ii. These verses are saying that the Holy Spirit is hindering (holding back) the revelation of the Antichrist until after the Rapture.

e. It seems that he will come from a Gentile nation- he will NOT be a Jew. (Revelation 13:1- “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”)

i. “the sea” refers to the Mediterranean region- a Gentile area.

f. He gets his power from Satan. (Revelation 13:2, 4 – “²And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority…… ⁴And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”)

i. “the dragon” = Satan (Revelation 12:9- “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”)

g. He will speak blasphemies and be uncontested in his power. (Revelation 13:5-6 – “⁵And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”)

h. He will war against God’s saints. (Revelation 13:7- “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”) (Daniel 7:21- “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”)

i. This beast has 7 heads and 10 horns (Revelation 13:1- “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”)

i. We believe the 7 head to represent Rome. (Revelation 17:9-10 – “⁹And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. ¹⁰And 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.”)

1. Revelation 17:9 refers to “seven mountains”. Rome is known as “The City Of Seven Mountains (or Hills)”

2. Revelation 17:10 refers to the worldwide empires throughout history.

a. “five are fallen”- Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece

b. “one is”- John was referring to the current empire that he lived under (the Roman Empire)

c. “the other is not yet come”- there is one more worldwide empire coming (the revived Roman Empire)

ii. The 10 horns are the 10 nations that will come together under the Antichrist to form the revived Roman Empire. (Revelation 17:12-13- “¹²And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. ¹³These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”)

II. False Prophet

a. The False Prophet is the religious spokesmen of Satan. He stands for the false religion that will spread throughout the earth during the Tribulation. (Revelation 16:13- “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”)

b. Scripture refers to him as the beast who will come “out of the earth”. (Revelation 13:11- “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”)

i. Notice that he has the features of a lamb as well as a dragon. Again, Revelation 12:9 reveals the dragon to be Satan. In all of Scripture, the one Person named as “the Lamb” is Christ. So, this beast will be espousing a false religion.

ii. You might call him a “dragon in sheep’s clothing” J

c. The false religion that he will be teaching is that everyone is to worship the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:12-15 – “¹²And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, ¹⁴And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. ¹⁵And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”)

i. He will create an image of the Antichrist for all to worship.

ii. He will be involved in doing “miracles” (in Satan’s power) to convince people to worship the Antichrist.

iii. He will oversee the “mark of the beast”. Everyone is to receive this mark as a sign of loyalty to and worship of the Antichrist. Without it, they can do nothing. (Revelation 13:16-17 – “¹⁶And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”)

iv. Even after the church is taken out of the world at the Rapture, there will still be “religion” on earth. People will want to worship something. The false prophet will help draw all other “religions”- including cults, paganism, etc.- under one ecumenical umbrella. Then, they will be supplanted by a one-world religion- the worship of the Antichrist.

d. Some people think that this represents the Roman Catholic Church:

i. because of the earlier-mentioned belief that the 7 heads of the first beast represent Rome

ii. because this beast works closely with the first beast

iii. because of the Roman Catholic Church’s current philosophy that their religion and the other religions of the world all help you find your way to Heaven (This is the definition of the term ecumenical.)

Conclusion

Note that the ultimate end of each of these characters- along with Satan himself- is eternal punishment and damnation in the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 19:20- “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”) (Revelation 20:10- “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”)

In the next lesson, we’ll be taking a look at the Battle of Armageddon and a few other things.