bmerr said:
I believe the references in Revelation you mentioned spoke of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The phrase "the antichrist" is not found in the Bible, to my knowledge.
==That is interesting since others, who are preterists, hold that the antichrist was Nero. Which is it?
bmerr said:
The word "antichrist" is found only 4 or 5 times, all in 1st and 2nd John. It's always a term used for those who deny that Jesus is the Christ (1 Jn 3:22), and those who deny that Jesus is come inthe flesh (1 Jn 4:3; 2 Jn 7). The fact of these antichrists was an indication to the apostle John that he was in the last time (1 Jn 2:18).
==1John 2:18 references that John's readers have "heard that antichrist is coming". So while there were many antichrists in John's day, and while there are certainly many antichrists in our day, these are not antichrist. The antichrist, the one who is coming, is described in different ways. In Revelation he is described as a beast who gets his authority and power from the devil. In 2Thessalonians 2:1-12 the antichrist is known as "the man of lawlessness", and there are other descriptions of him in Scripture.
One reason I reject the idea that Nero (etc) was the antichrist is the fact of how the antichrist dies...
"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" 2Thess 2:8
"And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against HIm who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he decieved those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image; these two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire which burns with brimstone" Rev 19:19-20
The antichrist will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. At that time he will be active on the earth, in fact he will probably be the main human ruler of the earth (Rev 13:7). Since Jesus did not return, the appearance of His coming, and thus bring an end to Nero or Diocletian they could not have been the antichrist.
bmerr said:
I would recommend you not worry about "the Antichrist", which the Bible does not speak of, and concentrate on faithful obedience to the NT. We are in the last says, just as John was.
==If a person belongs to Christ then I agree don't worry about the antichrist. Those who belong to the world will follow him and even worship him, but true believers will not be fooled.
Is the antichrist alive today? Maybe, maybe not.