Mark Hitchcock - Who Is the Antichrist?: Answering the Question Everyone Is Asking

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?

Copyright 2011 by Mark Hitchcock
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hitchcock, Mark.

Who is the Antichrist? / Mark Hitchcock.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-3995-9 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4204-1 (eBook)

1. Antichrist. I. Title.

BT985.H59 2011

236dc22

2010046907

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LB-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Jay Risner,
a faithful friend and colaborer for Christ.

Thanks for your godly example and influence
on my sons and for your heart for
our Lord and His church.

Who Is the Antichrist?

Answering the Question Everyone Is Asking

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness,
he offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world
if He would bow down and worship him.
Of course, Jesus refused his offer. But in the future
there is coming a man who will take Satan up on
the offer, and whom Satan will indwell,
giving his power, throne, and all his authority
into the hands of this one man.

D ONALD G REY B ARNHOUSE

Many people believe the great millennial end-game
has already begun. As civilization speeds toward
its final destiny, the appearance of a powerful
world ruler is inevitable. The ultimate question
facing our generation is whether he is already
alive and well and moving into power.

E D H INDSON , I S THE A NTICHRIST A LIVE AND W ELL ?

I heard a story a while back about two Jehovahs Witnesses who were going door-to-door and hoping for the opportunity to talk to people about their views. They came to the door of a man who invited them in and asked them to take a seat in the living room while he took care of something in the back room. After a few minutes the man returned to the living room and said, Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about? Surprised, the two Jehovahs Witnesses looked at each other. Then one of them said, We dont know. Weve never been this far before.

Thats an accurate illustration of where people find themselves today with regard to the future: Weve never been this far before. In Romans 13:11-12 we read, Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near.

It is becoming increasingly clear to many that this world is drawing nearer to closing time, and people are asking questions about the future like never before. Many are fearful, anxious, and uncertain. Theres a growing fascination with what might happen next. People are more and more focused on what tomorrow might hold. Economic meltdowns, the menace of pandemic plagues, cataclysmic natural disasters, and the dreaded threat of nuclear terror are all converging to make the world a more dangerous place than at any other time in human history.

At the same time, theres growing talk among world leaders about efforts toward global unity. For example, there have been high-profile economic and climate conferences at which government representatives have tried to get multiple countries to work together toward certain goals. And there are other ways that various governments have called for global cooperation with regard to specific problems and issues. More and more we are seeing efforts toward a centralization of power that is leading many to wonder if the time of the Antichrist is hereif the final world ruler and his one-world government is about to make his debut on the world stage. The world is longing for someone who can bring hope and provide answers for the worlds mounting crises. Could the Antichrists arrival be soonvery soon? Could he be alive now and present somewhere on earth, waiting in the wings for his time to come?

People are talking about the Antichrist more and more these days. In some ways this is not surprising because people have always had a fascination with the human personification of evil, and theyve had a heyday trying to figure out who the Antichrist is. The identity of the Antichrist has intrigued people for 2000 years, and many have found the temptation to identify him irresistible. Through the centuries, theyve suggested numerous possibilities, and one consistent candidate has been the various popes. Martin Luther, the great reformer, is reported to have said, I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.

Among the more prominent candidates that have been suggested are Emperor Frederick II, Pope Innocent IV, Muhammad, the Turks, Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. In more recent times theres been no shortage of names:

President John F. KennedyHe was a Catholic who was assassinated by a head wound. Some people associated this with the mortal wound the Antichrist will one day receive (see Revelation 13:3) and expected Kennedy to come back to life.

Henry KissingerHe is a Jewish person whose name, according to some calculations, equals 666. A key reason some people suggested he might be the Antichrist was his former renown as a great diplomat and peacemaker.