Chapter - II

Antichrist & his Nation

The dream of Nebu Chad Nezzar:

The Babylonian king Nebu Chad Nezzar had a dream in which he saw a huge statue made up of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay through that God Almighty informed him of forthcoming kingdoms in the future world. He was revealed in the dream about the kingdom of Antichris t and its nature and about another kingdom going to be set by God Almighty that will last for ever which will cause the kingdom of Antichrist come to an end . This is the kingdom of God that will be the last one in this world. We see the prophet Daniel explains the dream to the king by the power of God in Daniel 2:31-35, “You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The interpretation of the dream:

Daniel interprets the dream to the Babylonian king Nebu Chad Nezzar in Daniel 2:38-45, “ 38 ….you are the head of gold. 39 After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom , strong as iron ; just as iron crushes and smashes everything, it shall crush and shatter all these. 41 As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom ; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed , nor shall this kingdom be left to another people . It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands , and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.”

Explanation:

Here in this interpretation of Daniel, we see a fourth kingdom as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters every thing it will shatter and crush all the earlier empire. It is USSR which was famous for its Iron Curtain, had broken the government of East European countries in that it was as strong as iron. It shattered the earlier governments and the churches there. Even though the USSR/Russia is militarily strong as iron, it is weak in its economic condition. We see it in Daniel 2:42 that says, “As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.” And also in Daniel 2:41 , it says, “As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom ; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay” We know that the USSR/Russia was a divided empire in which so many countries were made to bind together in which it was so strong as iron and the communism was imposed on them. In Daniel 2:43 , we see “As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. Here we can understand that, even though the trial was undergone to unite these divided empires they can not succeed in it, as the iron cannot mix with clay. We know during the period of USSR/Russian President Corbachev, the divided empire actually was divided into so many , as the iron cannot mix with clay. This division and the decline of communism during the period of President Corbachev were actually a mortal wound for the communistic USSR/Russia but however it was managed and now the old USSR is emerging in the form of Russia . The wound is gradually healing. Yes, the bad effect of the division is gradually vanishing.

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people . Yes it will be given to the people of God the Israel . The Kingdom of God shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; just as we saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. (Daniel 2:44-45)

Another vision of Daniel:

Prophet Daniel had another vision in Daniel 7:1–25. He saw four types of great beasts. Daniel 7:17-18 say, “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and posses the kingdom for ever – forever and ever.” These four types of beasts refer to four types of kingdoms also. Here in his vision we see a fourth beast, fourth kingdom that is waging war against the people of God and at last it is destroyed and thereby the holy ones receives the dominion over all the earth. Thus the Kingdom of God emerges. We have seen in Daniel 2:27 in the first vision that the Kingdom of God begins destroying the kingdom of Antichrist . In Daniel 7:1-25 we see the fourth kingdom is destroyed and then the kingdom of God begins. Yes, the kingdom of Antichrist in Daniel 2:27 and the fourth kingdom in Daniel 7:1-25 is one and the same that is the kingdom of Antichrist . Daniel 7:1–25 give a detail explanation about the kingdom of Antichrist .

The vision:

Prophet Daniel explains his vision in Daniel 7:7-8 , “After this I saw in the vision by night a fourth beast , terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns . I was considering the horns, when another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly.”

Prophet Daniel says in Daniel 7: 21–22 , “As I looked, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them, until the Ancient One came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High , and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.”

The interpretation of the vision:

The interpretation of the vision is described in Daniel 7:23-25: “This is what he said: “As for the fourth beast , there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth that shall be different from all the other kingdoms; it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. As for the ten horns , out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise another shall arise after them. This one shall be different from the former ones , and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time. ” That is 3 ½ years.

Explanation of vision:

The fourth beast – the fourth kingdom is the kingdom of Antichrist that is terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong in military that is USSR / Russia . It is different type of kingdom than the earlier kingdoms with its socialistic and communistic nature. We know communistic government is entirely different from other types of governments prevailed in the world. The iron teeth are the symbolic representation of iron curtain in which all types of hazards took place shattering the human value and human rights. It devoured the Christian faith and broke the churches and shattered them away. It devoured almost all the earth with its communism. It broke into pieces all the east European governments and devoured them. The holy verses say that there will be 10 horns – 10 kings - then there will be another one . We know that USSR/Russia had ten presidents so far. 1) Lenin 2) Stalin 3) Curucheve 4) Anter bow 5) Sernenco 6) Prasnev 7) Corbacheve 8) Poris Yelstin 9) Vladimir Putin 10) Dmitry Medvedev. After this 10 th president another one will come who is Antichrist.

The ‘Another Horn':

The ‘another horn' who comes after the 10 th president will be Antichrist. ‘The another' king/‘the another' president will put down 3 earlier kings/presidents with his new political policies. The first communistic policy maker among the presidents on the basis of Marxism was Lenin. And then, Stalin made some changes in the political policies. Then Corbachev changed their policies with his Proistorica Theory. However, ‘the another' president will pluck out all the three policies of earlier 3 presidents/kings and put forth new one that will support his arrogant actions. He will speak ill of God Almighty and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law of religion.

He obtains kingdom through intrigue:

Daniel 11:21-24 say about Antichrist and his predecessor: “In his place shall arise a contemptible person on whom royal majesty had not been conferred; he shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom through intrigue . Armies shall be utterly swept away and broken before him, and the prince of the covenant as well. And after an alliance is made with him, he shall act deceitfully and become strong with a small party. Without warning he shall come in to the richest parts of the province and do what none of his predecessors had ever done, lavishing blunder, spoil, and wealth on them. He shall device plans against strongholds, but only for a time…..”

Here we come to know that Antichrist obtains the Kingdom through intrigue and so royal majesty will not be conferred upon him. He acts deceitfully with a small party and become strong. The prince of covenant with whom he has made deceitful covenant will be swept away with his army by him. This reveals that he will make deceitful covenant with the rightful person of power and authority of the kingdom and then he will suppress him with his army and obtain the kingdom through intrigue . Richest part of provinces like the richest part of United States and other countries will be attacked by him.

Let us read Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood , before the great and terrible day of the L ORD comes.” Yes, before the day of the Lord begins, he will attack them by nuclear weapons so that the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood. When the nuclear weapon is dropped, the mountains and cliffs and cities were vaporized due to the enormous heat produced by these bombardments. These vapor and dust shall rise high and reach the sky as a dark thick fog that will prevent sun, moon and stars shining on the earth so that the attacked area in wide circle will be in utter darkness. Where ever it is dropped this darkening will be occurred in that area. Let us read Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood , before the great and terrible day of the L ORD comes.” Whenever the thick fog is lighter and reddish, the moonlight comes through this fog become red so that the moon turns to blood.

He invades Israel :

We know the rebellion against God has taken place in Russia and even now insult for God prevails there. In the vision of Prophet Daniel in Daniel 7: 21–25 we saw this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them. The God's people Israel will be given up in his hand for 3 ½ years that is 1 time + 2 times + a half time that we have read in chapter-I as 1/2 weak (3 ½ Years) in Daniel 9: 27 and forty two months ( 3 ½ Years ) in Revelation 11:2. He will be fallen at the specified time by the judgment of God Almighty the Ancient One that is immediately after 3 ½ years when Israel accepts Jesus as Messiah. Then the Israel will gain possession of the Kingdom of God as we read in Daniel 7: 22 that says, “until the Ancient One came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High , and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.  

The nation of Antichrist in Revelation:

Revelation 13:1-4 & 13:5-9 also describe the nation of Antichrist Russia as the 1 st beast . Here also ten horns refer to ten kings as ten diadems are seen in the horns. Seven heads and the terms like leopard, bear and lion reveal its might and strength. The dragon the Devil and Satan said in Revelation 12:9 is giving its power and authority to this nation . It speaks blasphemies against the Almighty God and made war against God's people. Let us read the verses Revelation 13:1-4 : “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems , and on its heads were blasphemous names. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority . One of its heads seemed to have received a death blow but its mortal wound had been heeled. In the amazement the whole earth followed the beast. They worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?' As we have seen, the decline of communism during the period of President Corbachev was actually a mortal wound for the communistic USSR/Russia but however it was managed and now the old USSR is emerging in the form of Russia . The wound is gradually healing. Yes, the bad effect of the division is gradually vanishing . 

Revelation 13:5-9 continue, “ The beast was given a mouth uttering a haughty and blasphemous words , and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months . It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God , blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also, it was allowed to make war and the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation , and all the inhabitants will worship, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered. Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”  

Antichrist in Revelation:

Revelation 13:11-18 give more description about Antichrist. The 2 nd Beast of Revelation, described in these verses is Antichrist who is described as ‘the another horn' in Daniel 7:8. Let us read Revelation 13:11-18: “Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; and by the signs that it allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let anyone understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person . Its number is six hundred sixty – six .” It is to remember that the 1 st Beast described in Revelation 13:1-9 is the Nation of Antichrist and the 2 nd Beast in Revelation 13:11-18 is Antichrist himself whose number is 666.  

‘666' is attributed to Antichrist:

In those days, words were written in numbers. We know that Muslims use a number ‘ 786 ' that reads as “Allah Akbar.” That means God is great. Like that, the number ‘666' reads as ‘Nero', who was a great cruel king of Rome who tortured early Christians. This means that Antichrist will be as cruel as the old Nero whose name is written in number 666. This number is attributed to Antichrist and so Antichrist is identified by the number 666. Since Antichrist is the ruler of Russia who comes after the 10 th horn/10 th president, he will project his nation to the extent of worshipping it. We read that his nation is the first beast of Revelation. Antichrist, the second beast of Revelation who is the ruler of Russia will exercise the power and authority of his nation the 1 st beast. It is said that the mortal wound that the division of empire USSR in the period of 7 th president Corbachev will be healed fully well in the time of Antichrist. An electronic device with very great artificial intelligence representing the Nation Russia the first beast may be invented and brought to the use. It may have control over everybody's transactions in the day to day life of its followers. Each and every body of its followers may be compelled to have its mark ‘666' on the right hand or the forehead of the people. This mark also may be a small electronic device that one can use it for identification and buying etc. However it is to be noted that those who have this mark on them are to be destroyed during the time of wrath of God in Chastisement period that we see latter in the following chapters.  

Messiah will overcome him:

Let us read Daniel 7:13-14 again: “I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.” The person to whom the dominion is given by God Almighty is the Messiah who will establish the Era of Peace the Kingdom of God destroying Antichrist. Thus the prophecy in Daniel 2:44 that says, “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people . It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever;” will become true. 

Was he in the world 2000 years ago?

Apostle John says in 1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come . From this we know that it is the last hour.” We see in the above verse that Antichrist who comes in the last time has come already . What does it mean? We can find out from the very same verse that there will be only one person who is Antichrist as the term ‘Antichrist is coming' denotes a single person. Then, how is it told that many Antichrists have come? Here in this context, Apostle John mentions about the persons who possess the spirit of Antichrist. He calls the persons who possess the spirit of Antichrist as Antichrists. The spirit of Antichrist is already in the world from the time of Apostle John. Let us read 1 John 4:3 : “every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist , of which you have heard that it is coming ; and now it is already in the world .”

As we have already seen, St Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-7, “we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God , declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” Here we see that Antichrist is only one person whose power and spirit is already present in the world.

Yet, Apostle John says whoever denies by the spirit that does not confess Jesus is Christ who came in flesh in the world are Antichrists. 1 John 5:20 says, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” This true God Jesus came in flesh but many deceivers are in the world who does not acknowledge this. That is why St. John says in 2 John 1:7, “ Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and Antichrist !” 1 John 2:22 says, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” Apostle John says in a generic term that the deniers of Jesus are Antichrists but it is different from the lawless one who is Antichrist ‘the another horn'/another ruler after 10 th horn/10 th president of Russia who will be revealed soon.