“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” – 1 John 2:18
The Bible gives a very accurate and a clear description of the Antichrist that will rule the world for a seven-year period. In 1 John 4:3, the Bible states that there is a spirit of antichrist and explains that anyone that believes that Jesus is not God incarnate has this spirit. The majority of this world does not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, and since they have this antichrist spirit already in them, they will be easily deceived by the Antichrist. After the Rapture occurs and the world is in chaos, those left behind will be longing for a savior - the Antichrist becomes that for majority of the world.
How will he deceive the world? The same way that Adolf Hitler did. The Antichrist will not appear to be the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3), but will come across as a hero. Remember that Hitler was the 1938 Time Magazine Man of the Year. The Antichrist will astonish many with his charisma, intellect, politics, military genius, and religiousness (Daniel 8:23, 11:36, 11:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 6:2, 13:2, 13:8, 17:11-12).
The Antichrist will shock the world when he brings peace to the Middle East. In Daniel 9:27, the prophet states that this man will sign a 7-year peace treaty between Israel and her enemies, the Arab world and most likely Russia (Ezekiel 38 and 39). This treaty also allows for the Jews to begin sacrificing in their temple freely. Halfway through the agreement, he will break the treaty and spark a wave of antisemitism that has never been witnessed before. The Bible calls this the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21, Rev. 7:14) and the time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).
This wicked man that the Bible calls the son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3) which is the name given to him during the latter half of the Tribulation period, will control the world's economy. In Revelation 13:16-18, the Antichrist establishes a mark that all must take in order to partake in the economy. I personally believe that he will announce this on two platforms. The first is for those that worship him which is quite easy to see. If you look around you, you will find Christians that wear a cross as jewelry, Hindu women wear a bindi, etc. Since the Antichrist will perform great signs (2 Thess. 2:9), many will believe that he is the Christ and is a god or is God. The other platform will be safety. Think back to September 2017 when hackers obtained the personal information of 143 million Americans from the Equifax breach and tie that into billions of people disappearing in the Rapture and people that die due to suicide and the judgments upon the world. Imagine being told that if you take this mark (most likely a microchip) nobody can steal your identity. I believe that the Antichrist will also promote his mark as a means of protecting yourself from identity theft.
The peaceful means of taking his mark will not last long though. Look at Revelation 20 verse 4:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
The Antichrist will be assassinated around the time that he breaks the treaty with Israel. Revelation chapter 13 shows that he will die, be resurrected for all to see, Satan will dwell inside of him, and the world will worship him. How will he die? The Bible says in Revelation 13:14 that he is killed by a sword. I suspect that the order of events will play out like this:
The Antichrist declares himself God in the Jewish temple (Dan. 11:36-37)
He is assassinated by a Jew (speculation on my part).
The Antichrist is resurrected and the world worships him (Revelation 13)
He sits in the Jewish temple and demands the world to kill the Jews for they were the ones that betrayed him (Matt. 24:15)
Zechariah 11:17 states “Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”
I personally believe that although he is resurrected, he will not be fully healed. What this verse states is that the Antichrist will no longer have the use of his right arm (perhaps caused by nerve damage from the assassination) and will be permanently blinded in his right eye (perhaps he died when the sword or knife penetrated his eye).
Notice that this verse calls the Antichrist the "idol shepherd". The Antichrist will have an image dedicated to him that the people must worship. Given the current technology and that the Bible states that this image is able to speak, many theologians believe that this image will either be a clone or artificial intelligence. I lean towards the A.I. theory since this image knows who worships him. This could only happen effectively by knowing who took the mark of the beast (again, probably a microchip). If this idol is an A.I., then it would have access to the world government's databases and can see who has registered and taken the mark.
There are some Bible scholars that believe that the Antichrist will be a Muslim due to two particular passages found in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:25 and 11:37, the Bible talks about this man changing the set times (referring to the calendar) and the laws; it also talks about this man not having the desire of women.
In the Hebrew, this desire of women is more of a reference for having a regard for women meaning that this man will seek to oppress women. For centuries there have been Muslims that believe that they hold the true calendar as given to them by Mohammed and that Sharia Law must be intertwined with the government. If the Antichrist is a Muslim, he would in fact have the power to globalize Sharia Law which would fulfill those two verses. I am not dogmatically stating that the Antichrist will be a Muslim, but did want to point out the possibility.
The above Bible verses show that God did not want just one passage to describe the Antichrist. As you read through the Bible, you will notice that nothing is mentioned only once. Creation, salvation through Christ, the Tribulation period, Israel being God's holy nation, and every other topic you can think of is mentioned multiple times. The Bible also gives foreshadowing of individuals and events. For example, in Genesis 5:24 it states "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" which is a type of/foreshadowing of the Rapture. The Antichrist is no different. There are 18 men within the Bible that are shadows of the Antichrist. Notice the number 18 is 6+6+6. Nothing with God is a coincidence.
1) Genesis chapter 4 is the story of Cain which is the first example of an Antichrist figure in the Bible. Cain killed his brother Abel and was marked by God. This is sheer speculation on my part, but if the Antichrist is assassinated by a Jew in the manner as described in Zechariah 11:17, what if that is the mark that God gave to Cain? God marked Cain, a Jew being one of God's chosen people marks the Antichrist. The Antichrist is also a murderer and works directly with Satan. In John 8:44, Jesus said that the Devil was a murderer from the beginning. He was not referring to Lucifer's beginning because the Bible makes it clear that Satan was originally God's anointed cherub. The beginning that Jesus is referring to is mankind's beginning. Satan caused the fall of mankind introducing death into the world and Satan influenced Cain to kill his brother just as he will influence the Antichrist to kill the Jews.
2) Nimrod, found in Genesis 10 and 11, was the 13th from Adam. The Antichrist is described in Revelation 13. Nimrod, just as the Antichrist will do, unified the world to rebel against God and created the Tower of Babel where Babylon was formed. Revelation 17 shows that Babylon is the Antichrist's headquarters. The name Nimrod means "rebel". The Bible also describes Nimrod as a "mighty hunter". Whenever the Bible uses the term mighty it is referring to greatness in warfare which is a quality that the Antichrist has as well.
If you study ancient Babylon, you will find that those in power clothed themselves in leopard skins. Revelation 13:2 likens the Antichrist "unto a leopard..." Jeremiah 13:23 ties Ethiopians with leopard spots. Both are black. The earliest paintings and depictions of Nimrod have him with black skin. Perhaps the Bible is tying in not only the characteristics that are shared between Nimrod and the Antichrist, but showing us that the Antichrist will have black skin?
3) The early chapters in Exodus describe Pharaoh and his enslavement of the Jews. Pharaoh persecuted the Jews and attempted to commit genocide. During the judgments upon the earth in the Tribulation many of the plagues are the same as those that impacted Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites leave. Also, in Ezekiel 29:3, Pharaoh is called the "great dragon" which is a name that Satan shares as well (Rev. 12:9).
4) In Numbers 22 - 24, King Balak of Moab worked with the false prophet Baalam to destroy Israel. They used women to entice the Israelites into idol worship. Revelation 11 shows that the Antichrist does cause the Jews to fall into this practice. God refers to Jerusalem figuratively as Egypt (for idolatry) and Sodom (for homosexuality). Interestingly, Judas (number 18 on this list) is also a Moabite.
5) Judges chapters 4 and 5 talk about Sisera, Commander of the Canaanite army. Sisera was defeated at Megiddo by the Israelites. Armageddon means "hill of Megiddo" and is the site where Christ defeats the Antichrist and the armies of the world. Sisera was killed by a blow to the head just as the Antichrist will die from a mortal head wound.
6) Abimelech found in Judges 8 and 9 is also a foreshadow of the Antichrist. Abimelech was a usurper that attempted to take over Israel through deceit and murder. He, too, was also killed by a blow to the head.
7) Absalom, the son of King David, is found in 2 Samuel. Israel saw him as a man of peace, however, he obtained the throne through rebellion and flatteries. A monument was built for him.
8) King Saul from 1 Samuel, was a ruler that sought his own power and perverted the laws of God. The Bible says that he had an evil spirit (1 Sam. 16:14-16, 23; 18:10; 19:9). He was possessed just as the Antichrist will be possessed by Satan in the second half of the Tribulation.
9) Goliath of Gath (1 Sam. 17) was killed by a wound to the head and killed by David who was a foreshadow of Christ.
10) King Ahab. In 1 Kings, King Ahab and his wife Jezebel caused Israel to fall into idol worship, and in particular, Baal worship. He sent out false prophets to deceive the Jews. He erected a statue of Baal and set forth a decree mandating the worship of the statue. The name Baal eventually became Beezelbub. Matthew 9:34, 10:24-25, 12:23-28, and Mark 3:22 show that this is Satan.
11) Jeroboam, also found in 1 Kings, worshipped Baal and idols. In 1 Kings 14:9, the prophet Ahijah claimed him to be the most evil of the kings. He erected more shrines and offered more sacrifices to Baal/Satan than any other king and corrupted the lands of Israel. Additionally, the practice of kissing of the idols was greatly spread throughout Israel at this time. Jeroboam betrayed God with a kiss so-to-speak just as Judas would betray Jesus with a kiss.
12) Nabal in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal means "failure". He was a wealthy man that came to ruin through his treatment of David (again, a foreshadow of Christ). Nabal was a man of propaganda and questioned the lineage of David. The Antichrist will do much to dissuade the world from accepting Jesus as the Christ and God incarnate.
13) Sennacherib is the King of Assyria and attempted to lay siege to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32). He not only used his military prowess, but also propaganda to try and get the Jews to betray King Hezekiah.
14) Nebuchandenzzar, King of Babylon found in the book of Daniel. He is called a dragon and built an image to be worshipped. The Bible mentions six times that he built that image and the dimensions were 60x6x6. In Hebrew Gematria, 0s are removed which would make the image 666 in Gematria.
15) Haman from the book of Esther tried to use propaganda and laws to exterminate the Jews. In Ester 9:24, he is referred to as the adversary. Satan means "adversary".
16) King Solomon turned from God and led Israel into idol worship. 1 Kings 10:14 states that he received 666 talents of gold one year.
17) Herod the Great (Matthew 2). He was the self-proclaimed King of the Jews and issued the order to kill all male children under the age of two in order to kill the Christ. The Antichrist will attempt to kill Jesus at the battle of Armageddon.
18) Judas Iscariot. Like the Antichrist, he is also referred to as the son of perdition (John 17:12). He was a traitor that loved money. Judas was called a devil in John 6:70.
The Antichrist will rule the world for seven horrific years and billions of people will die. His reign will not last though. Jesus will return and defeat him! Revelation chapter 19:17-21 describes the battle of Armageddon. Jesus instantly casts the Antichrist and his False Prophet directly into the lake of fire. Hallelujah!