Comparisons between Christ and the Antichrist Contrasts between Christ and
the Antichrist.
The Genius of the Antichrist
Comparisons between Christ and the Antichrist.
Satan is the master-counterfeiter, and in nothing will this appear more
conspicuously than in his next great move. He is now preparing the stage
for his climactic production, which will issue in a blasphemous imitation
of the Divine incarnation. When the Son of Perdition appears he will pose
as the Christ of God, and so perfect will be his disguise, the very elect
would be deceived, were it not that God will grant them special
illumination. It is this disguise, this simulation of the true Christ which
we shall now examine, pointing out the various parallelisms which Scripture
furnishes:
1. Christ was the subject of Old Testament prophecy: so also is the
Antichrist; many are the predictions which describe this coming one, see
especially Dan. 11:21-45.
2. The Lord Jesus was typified by many Old Testament characters such as
Abel, Joseph, Moses, David, etc. So also will the Antichrist be: such
characters as Cain, Pharaoh, Absolom, Saul, etc., foreshadow the Man of
Sin. We shall devote a separate chapter to this most fascinating and
totally neglected branch of our subject.
3. Christ was revealed only at God's appointed time: such will also be the
case with the Antichrist. Of the one we read, "But when the fulness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4); of the other it is said, "And
now we know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time" (2
Thess. 2:6).
4. Christ was a Man, a real Man, "the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5); so
also will the Antichrist be - "that Man of Sin" (2 Thess. 2:3).
5. But Christ was more than a man; He was the God-Man; so also will the
Antichrist be more than a man: the Super-man.
6. Christ was, according to the flesh, a Jew (Rom. 1:3); so also will the
Antichrist be - for proofs see chapter three, section one.
6b- Christ came from Israel, the People of God; so the Antichrist will come
from the New Israel, from the true Church of Christ (1Jn.2:19). (mine)
7. Christ will make a covenant with Israel (Heb. 8:8); so also will the
Antichrist (Dan. 9:27).
8. Christ is our "Great High Priest"; so Antichrist will yet be Israel's
great high priest (Ezek. 21:26).
9. Christ was and will be the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1); so also will
the Antichrist be (Dan. 11:36).
10. Christ will be the King of kings (Rev. 17:14); so also will the
Antichrist be (Rev. 17:12,13).
11. Christ wrought miracles: of Him it is said "approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs" (Acts 2:22); so also will the
Antichrist, concerning whom it is written, "whose coming is after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thess.
2:9).
12. Christ's public ministry was limited to three years and a half; so also
will the Antichrist's final ministry be (Rev. 13:5).
13. Christ is shown to us riding a "white horse" (Rev. 19:11); so also is
the Antichrist (Rev. 6:2).
14. Christ will return to the earth as Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6,7); so
also will the Antichrist introduce an era of peace (Dan. 11:21); it is to
this that 1 Thess. 5:3 directly refers.
15. Christ is entitled "the Morning Star" (Rev. 22:16); so also is the
Antichrist (Isa. 14:12).
16. Christ is referred to as Him "which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev.
4:8); the Antichrist is referred to as him that "was, and is not; and shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit" (Rev. 17:8).
17. Christ died and rose again; so also will the Antichrist (Rev. 13:3).
18. Christ will be the object of universal worship (Phil. 2:10); so also
will the Antichrist (Rev. 13:4).
19. The followers of the Lamb will be sealed in their foreheads (Rev. 7:3;
14:1); so also will the followers of the Beast (Rev. 13:16,17).
20. Christ has been followed by the Holy Spirit who causes men to worship
Him; so the Antichrist will be followed by the Anti-spirit - the False
Prophet - who will cause men to worship the Beast (Rev. 13:12).
There is no need for us to make any comments on these striking
correspondences: they speak for themselves. They show the incredible
lengths to which God will permit Satan to go in mimicking the Lord Jesus.
We turn now to consider:
Contrasts between Christ and the Antichrist.
I. In their respective Designations.
1. One is called the Christ (Matt. 16:16); the other the Antichrist (1 John
4:3).
2. One is called the Man of Sorrows (Isa. 53:3); the other the Man of Sin
(2 Thess. 2:3).
3. One is called the Son of God (John 1:34); the other the Son of Perdition
(2 Thess. 2:3).
4. One is called the Seed of woman (Gen. 3:15); the other the seed of the
Serpent (Gen. 3:15).
5. One is called the Lamb (Isa. 53:7); the other the Beast (Rev. 11:7).
6. One is called the Holy One (Mark 1:24); the other the Wicked One (2
Thess. 2:8).
7. One is called the Truth (John 14:6); the other the Lie (John 8:44).
8. One is called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6); the other the wicked,
profane Prince (Ezek. 21:25).
9. One is called the glorious Branch (Isa. 4:2); the other the abominable
Branch (Isa. 14:19).
10. One is called the Mighty Angel (Rev. 10:1); the other is called the
Angel of the Bottomless Pit (Rev. 9:11).
11. One is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11); the other is called the
Idol Shepherd (Zech. 11:17).
12. One has for the number of His name (the gematria of "Jesus") 888; the
other has for the number of his name 666 (Rev. 13:18).
II. In their respective Careers.
1. Christ came down from heaven (John 3:13); Antichrist comes up out of the
bottomless pit (Rev. 11:7).
2. Christ came in Another's Name (John 5:43); Antichrist will come in his
own name (John 5:43).
3. Christ came to do the Father's will (John 6:38); Antichrist will do his
own will (Dan. 11:36).
4. Christ was energized by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14); Antichrist will be
energized by Satan (Rev. 13:4).
5. Christ submitted Himself to God (John 5:30); Antichrist defies God (2
Thess. 2:4).
6. Christ humbled Himself (Phil. 2:8); Antichrist exalts himself (Dan.
11:37).
7. Christ honored the God of His fathers (Luke 4:16); Antichrist refuses to
(Dan 11:37).
8. Christ cleansed the temple (John 2:14,16); the Antichrist defiles the
temple (Matt. 24:15).
9. Christ ministered to the needy (Isa. 53:7); Antichrist robs the poor
(Psa. 10:8,9).
10. Christ was rejected of men (Isa. 53:7); Antichrist will be accepted by
men (Rev. 13:4).
11. Christ leadeth the flock (John 10:3); Antichrist leaveth the flock
(Zech. 11:17).
12. Christ was slain for the people (John 11:51); Antichrist slays the
people (Isa. 14:20).
13. Christ glorified God on earth (John 17:4), Antichrist blasphemes the
name of God in heaven (Rev. 13:6).
14. Christ was received up into heaven (Luke 24:51); Antichrist goes down
into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20).
THE GENIUS OF THE ANTICHRIST.
For six thousand years Satan has had full opportunity afforded him to study
fallen human nature to discover its weakest points and to learn how best to
make men do his bidding. The Devil knows full well how to dazzle men by the
attraction of power, and how to make them quail before its terrors. He
knows how to gratify the craving for knowledge and how to satisfy the taste
for refinement and culture, he can delight the ear with melodious music and
the eye with entrancing beauty. If he could transport the Saviour from the
wilderness to a mountain, in a moment of time, and show Him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory, he is no novice in the art of
presenting alluring objects before his victims today. He knows how to
stimulate energy and direct inquiry, and how to appease the craving for the
occult. He knows how to exalt men to dizzy heights of worldly greatness and
fame, and how to control that greatness when attained, so that it may be
employed against God and his people.
It is true that up to now Satan's power has been restrained, and his
activities have been checked and often counteracted by the Spirit of God.
The brightest fires of the Devil's kindling can burn but dimly whilever God
sheds around them the power of heavenly light. They require the full
darkness of night in order to shine in the full strength of their deceiving
brightness; and that time is coming. The Word of God reveals the fact that
a day is not far distant when Divine restraint will be removed; the light
of God will be withdrawn; and then shall "darkness cover the earth and
gross darkness the people" (Isa. 60:2). Not only will that which has
hindered the full development of the Mystery of Iniquity be removed, but
God will "send them strong delusion that they should believe the Lie" (2
Thess. 2:13), and Satan will take advantage of this; he will then make full
use of all the knowledge which he has acquired during the last six thousand
years.
Satan will become incarnate and appear on earth in human form. As we have
shown in previous chapters, the Antichrist will not only be the Man of Sin,
but also "the Son of Perdition", the Seed of the Serpent. The Antichrist
will be the Devil's masterpiece. In him shall dwell all the fulness of the
Devil bodily. He will be the culmination and consummation of Satan's
workings. The world is now talking of and looking for the Superman; and the
Devil is soon to supply him. The Antichrist will be no ordinary person, but
one possessed of extraordinary talents. He will be endowed with superhuman
powers. With the one exception of the God-man he will be the most
remarkable personage who has ever appeared upon the stage of human history.
But to particularize:
1. He will be an intellectual genius.
He will be possessed of extraordinary intelligence. He will be the Devil's
imitation of that blessed One "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). This Son of Perdition will surpass Solomon in
wisdom. In Dan. 7:20 he is represented as "A horn that had eyes". It is a
double symbol. The "horn" prefigures strength; "eyes" speak of
intelligence. Again, in Dan. 8:23 he is referred to as "A King of fierce
countenance". who shall "understand dark sentences". That which baffles
others shall be simple to him. The Hebrew word here translated "dark
sentences" is the same as the one rendered "hard questions" in 1 Kings
10:1, where we read of the Queen of Sheba coming to Solomon with her "hard
questions" in order to test his wisdom. It is also the word that is used in
Samson's riddle in Judges 14. It indicates that the Antichrist will be
master of all the secrets of occult science. Ezek. 28:3 declares of him
"Beholding, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can
hide from thee". This will be one of his most alluring attractions. His
master mind will captivate the educated world. His marvelous store of
knowledge, his acquaintance with the secrets of nature, his superhuman
powers of perception, will stamp him as an intellectual genius of the first
magnitude.
2. He will be an oratorical genius.
In Dan. 7:20 we are told that he has "a mouth that spake very great
things". As a wizard of words he will surpass Demosthenes. Here also will
the Devil imitate that One "who spake as never man spake". The people were
"astonished" at Christ's doctrine (Matt. 7:28), and said "Whence hath this
man this wisdom?" (Matt. 13:54). So will it be with this daring
counterfeiter: he will have a mouth speaking very great things. He will
have a perfect command and flow of language. His oratory will not only gain
attention but command respect. Rev. 13:2 declares that his mouth is "as the
mouth of a lion" which is a symbolic expression telling of the majesty and
awe producing effects of his voice. The voice of the lion excels that of
any other beast. So the Antichrist will out rival orators ancient and
modern.
3. He will be a political genius.
He will emerge from obscurity, but by dint of his diplomatic skill he will
win the admiration and compel the cooperation of the political world. In
the early stages of his career he appears as "a little horn" (or power),
but it is not long before he climbs the ladder of fame, and by means of
brilliant statesmanship, ascends its topmost rung. Like the majority of
politicians, he will not scruple to employ questionable methods; in fact it
will be by diplomatic chicanery and intrigue that he will win his early
successes. Dan. 11:21 tells us that at first they will not give to him the
honor of the kingdom, but "he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the
kingdom by flatteries". Once he gains the ascendancy none will dare to
challenge his authority. Kings will be his pawns and princes his
playthings.
4. He will be a commercial genius.
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand"
(Dan. 8:25). Under his regime everything will be nationalized, and none
will be able to buy or sell without his permission (Rev. 13:17). All
commerce will be under his personal control, and this will be used for his
own aggrandizement. The wealth of the world will be at his disposal. There
are several scriptures which call attention to this. For example in Psa.
52:7 we read, "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but
trusted in the abundance of his riches; and strengthened himself in his
substance". Again, in Dan. 11:38 we are told, "But in his estate shall he
honor the god of forces (Satan): and a god whom his fathers knew not shall
be honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant
things". Even plainer is Dan. 11:43, "But he shall have power over the
treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt".
In the last verse of Dan. 11 mention is made of his "palace". He will be
wealthier than Croesus. Ezak. 28:4,5 speaks of him thus, "With thy wisdom
and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten
gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic
hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy
riches". Thus will he be able to wield the sceptre of financial power and
outdo Solomon in all his glory.
5. He will be a military genius.
He will be endowed with the most extraordinary powers, so that "he shall
destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the
mighty and the holy people" (Dan. 8:24). Before his exploits the fame of
Alexander and Napoleon will be forgotten. None will be able to stand before
him. He will go "forth conquering and to conquer" (Rev. 6:2). He will sweep
everything before him so that the world will exclaim, "Who is like unto the
Beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:4). His military
exploits will not be confined to a corner, but carried out on a vast scale.
He is spoken of as the man who will "shake kingdoms" and "make the earth to
tremble" (Isa. 14:16).
6. He will be a governmental genius.
He will weld together opposing forces. He will unify conflicting agencies.
Under the compelling power of his skill the world Powers will be united.
The dream of a League of Nations will then be realized. The Orient and the
Occident shall no longer be divided. A marvelous symbolic picture of this
is given us in Rev. 13:1,2: "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. And 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". Here we find the forces of the
Roman, the Grecian, the Medo-Persian, and the Babylonian empires coalesced.
He will be the personal embodiment of the world's political authority in
its final form. So completely will the world be swayed by the hypnotic
spell cast over it by the Beast that the ten kings of the Roman empire in
its ultimate form shall "give their kingdoms unto him" (Rev. 17:17). He
will be the last great Caesar.
7. He will be a religious genius.
He will proclaim himself God, demanding that Divine honors should be
rendered to him and sitting in the Temple shall show himself forth that he
is God (2 Thess. 2:4). Such wonders will he perform, such prodigious
marvels will he work, the very elect would be deceived by him did not God
directly protect them. The Man of Sin will combine in himself all the
varied genius of the human race, and what is more, he will be invested with
all the wisdom and power of Satan. He will be a master of science,
acquainted with all of nature's forces, compelling her to give up for him
her long held secrets. "In this master-piece of Satan", says one, "will be
concentrated intellectual greatness, sovereign power and human glory,
combined with every species of iniquity, pride, tyranny, wilfulness,
deceit, and blasphemy, such as Antiochus Epiphanes, Mohammed, the whole
line of popes, atheists, and deists of every age of the world have failed
to unite in any individual person".
"All the world wondered after the Beast" (Rev. 13:3). His final triumph
shall be that, wounded by a sword, he shall live again (Rev. 13:3). He
shall raise himself from the dead, and so wonder-struck will men be at this
stupendous marvel they will readily pay him Divine homage, yea, so great
will be his dazzling power over men, they will worship his very image (Rev.
13:14,15).
Having contemplated something of the genius of Satan's prodigy, let us now
consider his character. In doing so we shall view him in the light of the
Character of the Lord Jesus. Christ is the Divine plumb-line and standard
of measurement by which all character must be tested.