For many years I have heard ministers and lay people speculate on who the future Antichrist will be. But why speculate when the Bible answers the question. Let’s compare Scripture with Scripture and see if the question is clearly answered.
Let’s take a look at Paul’s Foreview of the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12: 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, 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, (the rebuilt Temple of Jerusalem), displaying himself as being God…7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; (in Paul’s day) only he (the Holy Spirit) who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.
In these verses Paul calls the coming Antichrist by three different names; “the man of lawlessness,” “the son of destruction” (perdition) “that lawless one.”
The name “son of destruction” (perdition) is very significant, as it may help us to locate the origin of the Antichrist. The name is used twice in Scripture. It is first used by Jesus with reference to Judas Iscariot in John 17:12 where He states; “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. And in reference to Antichrist. In Genesis 3:15 God said to the “Serpent” (Satan); “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed'” We know the woman’s seed was Jesus, then the serpent’s seed must be Antichrist. As Christ was born of a “virgin” by the Holy Spirit, so Antichrist would be born of a “woman” (not necessarily a virgin) by Satan. This is not a new view, and has been held by many Christians since the days of the Apostle John. They had been looking for a man to be born among men who would be a spirit man, upon whose mother Satan would have descended in human form and impregnated through sexual intercourse, so that her offspring would be totally depraved. If the Sons of God (Angels) could take on the form of men and have sexual relations with the daughters of men in the days just before the flood, with the offspring of those unions being men of Satanic character whose wickedness brought on the flood (Gen 6:1-8), then why can’t Satan (a fallen angel) assume the form of a man and be the father, by some woman, of the Antichrist? Such a person could properly be called the son of destruction (perdition) or son of Satan? Judas and Antichrist are both called the “son of perdition” in a special sense, as they are the son of the author of Perdition—Satan.
In John 6:70-71, we read that Jesus said: “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” In no other passage than this is the word “devil” applied to anyone but to Satan himself. Here the word is “diabolus.” The definite article is employed, and it should read—”and one of you is the devil.” This would make Judas the devil incarnate, and explains why Jesus called him the “son of perdition.” It would not be correct to say that in the text he is called “the son of Simon,” for the words “the son” are not in the original, and the name “Simon” is given because he was the reputed father of Judas.
The next question that arises is, if Judas and the Antichrist are both called the “son of perdition,” are they one and the same, or are there two “sons of perdition?” In Revelation 11:7, we read that the Beast that slays the two witnesses ascends out of the abyss (bottomless pit), and that beast is the Antichrist. Now how did he get into the abyss? Well, if there is only one son of perdition, and Judas and Antichrist are one and the same, then he got in the abyss when Judas went to his “own place” (the abyss). Acts 1:25. It is not said of any other person anywhere in the Scriptures that he went “to his own place.” Again in Rev 17:8 we read: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction.” As this “Beast” is the same that slays the “Two Witnesses” he is the Antichrist. Now there are four things said of him. First, he “was.” Second, he “is not.” Third, he “is about to come up out of the abyss.” Fourth, he will “go to destruction “(perdition.) From this we learn that in John’s day the Beast was not, but that he had been on the earth before, and was to come again, that is he was to ascend from the abyss. This is positive proof that the Antichrist has been on the earth before, and that when he comes in the future he will come from the abyss.
The question then arises, when was Antichrist on the earth before? If Judas and Antichrist are one and the same the enigma is solved. When Judas was on the earth, he was; when Judas went to his “own place” he is not; when Judas comes back from the abyss he will be the Antichrist. With an open mind I accept it, because it seems to be the only logical solution of both Judas and Antichrist being called the “son of perdition.” Additionally, as a Christian counselor I have counseled those who are the offspring of unions between human women and fallen angels in human form. So this corresponds to what is happening even today. As Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and a human being (Mary) so the Antichrist was conceived by an evil spirit (Satan) in human form and a human woman. And recall that Jesus stated while on this earth that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be before the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus’ 2nd coming is growing closer each day.
The Apostle Paul also calls the Antichrist the man of sin. That is, all sin will head up in him. The apostasy will be not merely a corruption of Christianity, but a renunciation of it. It will be a denial of the Father and the Son. It will be the embodiment of all lawlessness. The Mystery of Iniquity (lawlessness) was secretly working in Paul’s day. The Antichrist will not be the cause of lawlessness, he will be the fruit of it. He will arise out of the seething cauldron of lawlessness that is now becoming so pronounced and manifest in the world, and in him will be the consummation of all lawlessness.