Q2. Characteristics of the Antichrist

[JoanG]

He will be above al the laws of God and of man. He will take on a holiness all to himself. He will sit on the throne of God in the temple. He will go against all gods and all religions. He will create a religion to praise himself. He will be in control of the earth for a short period of time.

[Damary Alembi]

Q2. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5; Revelation 13:5-8) What are the characteristics of the Antichrist that Paul gives in this passage? The Antichrist exhibits the following characteristics: Lawless, Rebels, Opposes, Exalts himself, Takes his seat in the temple as God and Proclaim himself to be divine.

What does Revelation 13:5-8 add to our basic understanding? Revelation 13:5-8 states that “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast --- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” The Antichrist initiates a huge persecution against the church, since he is “allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them”.

[Reuben]

 

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Q2. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5; Revelation 13:5-8) What are the characteristics of the Antichrist that Paul gives in this passage? What does Revelation 13:5-8 add to our basic understanding?

The Antichrist has all the characteristics that are against what God wants us to be like. The Antichrist exalts himself, proclaiming to be God himself, and wants to take the place of God. He is against those that follow the true God, and makes "war" against them because he knows they know the Truth. He is lawless, so he will make rules and new laws and change the biblical laws to suit his own agenda and promote his power, by increasing his followers that worship him.

He will reign for 42 months and it will feel like 42 years for the saints because they will be persecuted , and he will speak blasphemes against God as he proclaims to be God, and he will be powerful in that he will lay down the rules for all the nations, and he will "unite", and lay down the rules for all the religions, claiming to be the only authority. All will worship him because they will think he is the ultimate solution, and problem solver for this world and its future, but the saints, the true Christians will see him for what he is and NOT bow down to him, and this he will hate.

[Jonathan Edwards]

The Antichrist will be a man of sin, the embodiment of of lawlessness,and leader of the great apostasy. The son of perdition due to the fact of being destined to destruction by his rebellion like Judas.  He will set himself as God, above God and be worshipped in the future temple in Jerusalem.  He will be killed by Christ when Christ returns at Armageddon.

Revelation 13: he will have miraculous powers given to him by Satan; a deceiver and Satan's agent to be dictator.

[Krissi]

The antichrist will be proud -- intense and excessive pride is his distinguishing characteristic.

• He is too proud to submit to law -- he exalts himself above all.
• He is too proud to submit to God, in fact he puts himself in the place of God, pretending to be God, fooling some people, though ultimately he is only fooling himself.

Most Christians assume that the antichrist will be a political leader. Pastor Ralph, in contrast, emphasized the antichrist's religious fantasies: the Revelation passage states that the antichrist makes war against christians to conquer the church. He is a one-world leader with authority/power over every single nation and people-group. And most people, even Christians, apparently, will not push back -- all but the most true Christians will worship the antichrist. The antichrist is a person, a flesh-and-blood man, not an socio-economic or political system. He will have a name.

The antichrist, then, will usher in a 42-month period of intense political persecution of Christian as he tries to consolidate power under himself. I can see how such political persecution separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, in the church. Weaker Christians and those of false or unformed faith will fall away unless protected and shepherded by those with stronger faith. I'm repressing the urge to speculate who it could be, if the antichrist is alive today. It seems only logical that he would come from one of the organizations with globalist pretensions (WHO, UN, EU) or from a powerful state with globalist pretensions (China, USA).