Standing Against Jesus

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 - Standing Against Jesus

The Antichrist will oppose the true Christ. He will stand against and he will stand “in place of” Jesus. First the Antichrist will pretend to be the Messiah, but then he will attack Jesus and His followers.

Let’s look at a few passages other than this one. In Daniel 7:8, the Antichrist is called “the little horn” who will form a confederation of nations. With what is happening in our world today, it wouldn’t surprise me if this were an Islamic caliphate. His desire will be to rule the world – sound familiar? In Revelation 13:1-10, a beast will rise out of the sea, the Antichrist, who will blaspheme God, make war against God’s people, and rule over many nations. Can anyone say ISIS? I know that there are people who downplay the abilities of this organization, but unless some nation takes a major stand against them, they will continue to grow stronger and gather followers. Look at the number of people being drawn from the United States and around the world. Even though the Antichrist has not been revealed, the spirit of antichrist is running rampant as these radical Muslims continue to slaughter innocent Christians and Jews. Whether ISIS is still in play at the end of days or not, the situation will be not similar but far worse in our world.

Literally, this man, Antichrist, will become the dominant leader on the world stage. Who wouldn’t follow someone who could broker true peace in the Middle East? And for 3 ½ years, Israel will have peace. Perhaps following the war of God and Magog as described in Ezekiel 38-39, when Israel is supernaturally protected by God, the Antichrist will step in and establish peace for 7 years. Either prior to this period or during this period, a new temple will be built in Jerusalem because at the mid-point of the seven years, the Antichrist will set up an image of himself in the Temple and demand that Israel and the rest of the world worship him as a god (Rev. 13). And the people will. Why? Because as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, he will perform miracles and God will send a spirit of strong delusion. They will believe the lies because their cup of iniquity is full. Because they have rejected the Truth, and they will be condemned.

These last 3 ½ years will be known as the Great Tribulation and will feature apocalyptic battles between good and evil, between God and Satan over the souls of men. Satan will use every weapon at his disposal to deceive, and many will take his mark (Rev. 13:17-18) and be condemned forever. But take heart. God is not done. He will send 2 great witnesses and 144,000 Jewish men who become believers in Yeshua (Jesus) and will lead “a great multitude which no one could number” to faith in Christ (Rev. 7:9). Thank you, Jesus, for never-ending love!