We may not fully know who the Anti-Messiah is just yet but we are given plenty of clues that we can use to eventually identify this person and do so without a doubt. Multiple candidates are currently being watched and measured against these clues.
These clues are within a number of prophecies about the end times that specifically pertain to the activities of the anti-Messiah.
It is these activities that lead us to the clues within the scriptures which in turn will help us know the other names of this individual.
Yeshua spoke about those who would come in His name and say they are the Messiah. Yeshua told us to not believe them.
Matthew 24:23-24 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”
John used the phrase ‘anti-Messiah’ as he wrote his messages, calling on all those who read his words to learn and be watchful against this person.
1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”
1 John 2:22 “Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.”
1 John 4:3 “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.”
2 John 1:7 “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.”
These scriptures listed above are the standard scriptures scholars and eschatology students have used to determine the identity of this individual. John explains within these four verses what the actions will be of this anti-Messiah.
The actions of the anti-Messiah clearly show this individual is a man of lawlessness. This means he does not abide by the laws of our Elohim, for he denies Abba and the Son and counsels others to deny Yeshua as the Messiah. He does all this for the purpose of exalting himself as the ‘messiah’.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
Yet there are other scriptures that can give us the names of the anti-Messiah, so we are even more aware of whom this person will be. These additional scriptures will enable us to accurately measure those we are watching and thus be more certain about who will be the anti-Messiah. So, we must ask the question; where else in scriptures do we find descriptions of someone taking his seat in the temple of God and displaying his self as being God? These are the scriptures that give us his other names – and which we can use to measure the candidates we are watching.
1 - Before we know him as the anti-Messiah, we will know him as the little horn:
Daniel 7:7-8 “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 While I was thinking about the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the previous horns were plucked out before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like human eyes, and a mouth uttering great boasts.
Daniel 7:11 “O beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn [beast] spake: I beheld even till the beast [horn] was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”
Daniel 7:19-21 “Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of the horns fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates. 21 I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and prevailing against them, …”
Daniel 7:23-25 “This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth and trample it down and crush it. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will humble three kings. 25 And he will speak against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time.”
There is a lot of information about this little horn that is described in Daniel chapter 7. This horn that arises after the 10 horns is charismatic and dominant, because of his actions and words. Verse 11 reveals to us that this horn grows to such stature that he becomes the prophetic beast (Revelation 13) of whose eventual outcome we know (Revelation 18, 19, 20). In this capacity, he uproots (takes the power of) three kings. He is also exceedingly boastful and speaks against the Most High. He exalts himself by waging war on the people (saints) of the Most High – which is a true act of aggression and attempted exaltation as though he is saying he is equal to or better than the Most High. We know this is his attitude because he also will speak against the Most High.
There is no mention of stopping sacrifices and offerings as outlined in the next two segments, but it can be presumed to take place within the context of ‘waging war with the saints and prevailing against them,’ (Daniel 7:21).
However, another scripture, namely Daniel 8:9-14 clearly connects the little horn doing exactly that - that "by him the daily sacrifice was taken away" (verse 11). But verse 11 goes even further to connect the little horn by identifying him with another of the names of the anti-messiah...the prince of the people.
Daniel 8:11 says, "Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down."
This little horn in Daniel 8 magnified himself as the prince of the people and then took away the daily sacrifice, just as it is also described in Daniel 9.
The descriptions about the little horn are clear identifications of the anti-Messiah.
2 - Before we know him as the anti-Messiah we will know him as the prince of the people:
Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”
Two princes are mentioned in this section of scripture. One refers to Messiah the Prince. The other refers to the prince who is to come and whose people will destroy Jerusalem and the sanctuary (Holy Place). Did you notice that one is using upper case letters while the other does not? Even though the Hebrew words are the same, the reason for the upper case usage of the one referred to as ‘Messiah the Prince’ is due to the context of the verse. It is a clear reference to the second coming of the true Messiah. Meanwhile, the lower case usage of ‘prince who is to come’ is connected to the context of not the true Messiah because his people will be destroying Jerusalem and the sanctuary. For the sake of this article, he will be referred to as the prince of the people.
Many people get confused with the pronouns of “he” used in verse 27. Does this pronoun refer to the true Messiah or the prince of the people? The answer is that is refers to the prince of the people. How is this? Daniel chapter 9 uses two pronoun designations, one being “he” with a lower case h and the other being “He” with a capital H. Again, this is due to the context of the verse which the pronoun is used.
Therefore, when we see the lower case pronoun “he”, this is referring to the prince of the people. So when “he” confirms a covenant with the many for one week, this is referring to the prince of the people.
How is the prince of the people related to the anti-Messiah?
The point of the anti-Messiah is to appear to be the true Messiah in action and in words (but in a twisted manner). The prince of the people takes control of the altar as authentication to the world that he is the Messiah. He puts a stop to sacrifice and grain offerings AND exalts himself as God with the setting up of the abominations – all these are acts of the anti-Messiah.
3 - Before we know him as the anti-Messiah, we will know him by the name of the King of the North:
Daniel 11:29-32 “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32 And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.”
Two kings are mentioned in this chapter. One is the King of the North. The other is the King of the South. The “he” that is mentioned in verse 29 refers to the King of the North because he is coming INTO the South with intent to battle. All the pronouns of “he” and “him” used in verses 29-32 refer to the King of the North.
Upon winning the battle against the King of the South; the triumphant King of the North now ‘pays attention to those who abandon the holy covenant’ which is a reference to those in the land of Israel. Just as the described in Daniel 9 with the prince of the people taking control of the altar as a way to prove his authentication as the Messiah, so too does the King of the North for he also is described as shutting down the altar and setting up the abomination – which exalts the King of the North as God.
Thus, the King of the North is clearly associated by these acts as being the anti-Messiah.
4 - When he is the anti-Messiah, he will also be known as the Revelation 13 leopard beast from the sea with 7 heads and 10 crowned horns.
Think back to the little horn prophecy of Daniel 7. Ten horns are on the head of the dreadful iron beast. Then the little horn rises up and uproots three of those horns – effectively taking their power and authority. The scripture seems to indicate that the remaining seven horns work with this little horn, which now has grown exceedingly great. With this image in mind, fast forward to John’s account in the book of Revelation to see the connection between the little horn and the Revelation 13 beast from the sea.
Revelation 13:1-6 “And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 A mouth was given to him speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven."
The seven horns from the dreadful beast of Daniel 7 are now described by John in the book of Revelation as the seven heads of the leopard/bear/lion beast from the sea. These heads work with the beast. The beast is the little horn. Upon these seven heads are now 10 new horns with crowns. This is necessary to understand the connection of the Revelation 13 beast from the sea with the Revelation 17 scarlet beast.
He grows exalted because the people of the whole earth worship him. And clearly, this leopard beast from the sea manifests the attitude of the anti-Messiah with blasphemies against God.
To understand this is greater detail please read the article “Understanding the Prophetic Beasts”.
5 - When he is the anti-Messiah, he will be part of the Revelation 17 scarlet beast
With the understanding that the Revelation 13 beast from the sea is an identifier of the anti-Messiah, can the scarlet beast of Revelation 17 also be a description of the anti-Messiah?
The short and simple answer is, yes.
Here is the connection:
The Revelation 13 beast from the sea has 7 heads and 10 horns. The crowns are on the horns (10 crowns)
The Revelation 17 scarlet beast has 7 heads and 10 horns and no crowns
The Revelation 12 red dragon has 7 heads and 10 horns. The crowns are on the heads (7 crowns)
What transpires with these three entities is a merger of the red dragon (Rev. 12) with the beast from the sea (Rev. 13) who then manifests as the joined entity of the scarlet beast which the city of Babylon harlot sits upon (Rev. 17). All three entities have 7 heads and 10 horns.
The beast from the sea is the anti-Messiah. The red dragon is hasatan. These two entities merge and become the scarlet beast of Revelation 17. This is describing hasatan entering the beast from the sea and possessing him.
The red dragon of Rev. 12 / the beast from the sea of Rev. 13 / becoming the scarlet beast with the harlot of Rev. 17
There is a great deal of information that explains this understanding. The placement of the crowns on the dragon and on the Revelation 13 beast from the sea (whether upon the heads or upon the horns) are a significant point in this determination of the two entities merging. It is all described in the article “Understanding the Prophetic Beasts”.
To summarize:
The anti-Messiah is the little horn, the prince of the people, the King of the North the Rev. 13 leopard beast and part of the Rev. 17 scarlet beast all rolled into one. These descriptions give us a much clearer understanding of who this individual is.
And more importantly, we now have a clear understanding of WHEN this individual will appear on the world stage.
The anti-Messiah will appear firstly as the little horn with the attitude of being a prince of the people. He will appear to be ‘for the people’ but in reality he is using people to forward his personal agenda – world domination. Uprooting three kings could be done as an action ‘for the people’ but those of us who have the words of Elohim will know better. It is for him to gain power and authority.
As the little horn/prince of the people, he will turn his attention to the King of the South, who has challenged his authority. Now he becomes the final version of the King of the North and in the capacity as the little horn and the prince of the people, he wages war and prevails against the King of the South. This is considered to be a moment of authentication to the people of the world that he is the savior and thus he is promoted as the Messiah (though he is not). With this new sense of power, he exalts himself as God and takes control of the altar, shutting it down and setting up abominations which make the Holy Place desolate.
When the sacrifices are stopped this signals start of the tribulation, a period of time when the saints of the Most High either flee from Judea or take part in the greater exodus. This is the same signal that Yeshua uses to implement His Battle Plan against this anti-Messiah and his kingdom. How dare someone usurp His authority over His altar – for this is His meeting place and His table to fellowship with His people. Without a place to fellowship with His people is what is meant in Daniel 9:26 about the Messiah being cut off and having no one.
From there the little horn/King of the North is identified by John as being the Revelation 13 leopard/bear/lion beast from the sea who is given power by the dragon to rule the world for 42 months. This is when we see the full and open manifestation of the kingdom of hasatan – which culminates with him as the red dragon merging with the anti-Messiah (the Rev. 13 beast from the sea) and becoming the scarlet beast.
This merging is done to shore up the supposed strength of hasatan as Yeshua’s Battle Plan comes against him with full force.
This may be alarming information to know, but Daniel 7 and Daniel 9 as well as the end chapters of the book of Revelation and many other scriptures explain what happens in the end. These scriptures clearly state that the beast from the sea and the other Rev 13 beast from the land (aka the False Prophet) are captured and thrown into the lake of fire. Just before the beasts’ capture, hasatan has dispossessed the beast, but that does not avail him much for he too is captured and thrown into the bottomless pit for one thousand years. Yeshua wins and He reigns upon this earth with justice and righteousness and mercy and compassion.
His saints (us) are able to finally and truly be well, go well and live well…as Moses admonishes us as His Bride and as His people Israel.
The graphic below explains the progressive transition of the anti-messiah from his emergence as the little horn onwards.
Let this mind be in you that is in Messiah Yeshua.
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