Bible Verses That Freak Me Out #13 - The Antichrist(s) -

For the 13th edition of "Bible Verses that Freak Me Out", let's take a look at the Anti-Christ!

First, take a minute and think about all the things we've heard about the Anti-Christ. If the movies are to be believed, he's the son of the devil. He'll establish some sort of world government. He might be Jewish, or the Pope, or Oprah. Perhaps you have received an email claiming the book of Revelations describes a person like Barack Obama as the Anti-Christ (I have received such).

And here's the part that freaks me out. None of the above has anything to do with what the Bible says about the term "antichrist." The word "antichrist"doesn't even appear in Revelation, which, by the way, does not have an "s" on the end.

There are a total of 4 verses in the Bible which talk about "antichrist," and they are all in 1 and 2 John. Here they are:

"Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that this is the last hour." 1 John 2:18

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son." - 1 John 2:22

"Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that is coming, and now is already in the world." - 1 John 4:3

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." - 2 John 7

In case you missed it, John describes plural antichrists as already present in the world in his day. He also helpfully defines the term - one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and that Jesus has come in the flesh. And. That's. It.

So, now you can rest at ease. Neither Barack Obama, Oprah, or any of the Popes of the past two centuries claimed that Jesus was not the Christ, or that He did not come in the flesh. They all fail the Biblical definition of antichrist. There. Isn't that a relief?

All the other stuff generally associated with antichrist comes from mish-mashing together all the various apocalyptic material of the Bible, John Hagee or Jerry Falwell-style. It combines elements of the Beast from Revelation, the beast from Daniel, Paul's reference in 2 Thessalonians to a "man of lawlessness," and Jesus' warning in Matthew 24 that many would claim to be Christ (which literally happened both before Jesus' time and just after Him in ancient Israel). There's also a healthy dose of later tradition from folks like Hippolytus of Rome (A.D. 107-236), who said the Anti-Christ would be a Jew. Apparently he just made that up off the top of his head, which should serve as a warning for all of us who teach the Bible to at least have healthy skepticism for stuff we make up off the top of our heads.

Interestingly, several the earliest church fathers (except for Hippolytus) seemed to have a much better grasp of this whole concept. Polycarp (69-155 A.D.) said the term essentially meant anyone who deceives people about Jesus. John Chrysostum (347-407A.D.) said it wasn't something to worry about - that we should focus instead on doing what we know to do, and believing the truth.

And that's a theme that runs through the letters of John, the letters of Paul, the book of Revelation, and the gospels. Jesus Christ is the one who tells us the Truth, and to deceive about who He really is = anti-Christ.

So, since he brought the topic up, we'll let John have the last word:
"As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father." - 1 John 2:24