Today, after the return of those exiled to the Promised Land, we are in the most exciting and dangerous time in history.

      The fulfillment of the dreams of the  Jews is close at hand. The prophecies of a coming Messiah has comforted them and Christians that God will take back the earth from the curse of sin and suffering.

Through centuries of exile, the Jews want their Messiah to come and redeem the earth from the curse of sin and suffering.

      Those who wrote about their hopes and fears for this awesome times calls it the "birthpangs of the Messiah." The years before Jesus appears will be like the "birthpangs" of a woman.

There are numerous prophecies specifying God will send His Messiah to redeem mankind and establish His kingdom of righteousness at the end of this age.

     The Bible warns that a false messiah will rise up in the last days to push the world into a horrible crisis.

          All through history hundreds of prophecies have been fulfilled and especially in this century. God declared that these fulfilled prophecies would prove that He was working in the world's future, Isaiah 48:3.

This coming battle between Jesus and the antichrist will come to its conclusion after 3 1/2 years of "hell on earth" known as the Great Tribulation.

One of the prophecies about the man of sin was written by a prophet named Daniel.

     He warned: "He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself about them all", Daniel 11:37.

         This vision has puzzled many people but it would seem to prove that the antichrist will be a Jew since it states that he won't have regard for "the God of his Fathers." That quote is only used in the Bible concerning Jews. It also points out that he will have no regard or desire of women."

             If he was pagan, God would not point out his rejection of his fathers.

John warned that the 'spirit of antichrist' had already entered the world in his day.

     The widespread denial and ridicule of Jesus' return is another sign that the spirit of antichrist is being manifest right now.

The antichrist spirit that denies that Jesus came in the flesh two thousand years ago is the same spirit of unbelief that denies that He will literally come again in the flesh.

      There are many both in and out side the Church who deny the doctrine of the literal return of Jesus Christ. Some want to 'spiritualize' the prophecies or interpret them a just stories or fables.

           They often ridicule those who believe that there are still prophecies to be fulfilled as literally as those fulfilled in the past.

John also told us that "every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world", 1 John 4:3.

     This confirms the other scriptures that tell us that the Spirit of God reveals the truth to us as it did to Peter.

           If someone refuses to accept that Jesus came in the flesh, he is rejecting the Word of God.

John, the apostle, describes the nature of the spirit of antichrist: "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son," 1 John 2:22.

      The Bible states that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is denying the Father and the Son and has adopted the spirit of antichrist.

The antichrist is a liar because his father is satan, the "father of lies", John 8:44.

      His life from beginning to end will be marked by deceit and lies. Yet people will accept his lies because they love darkness rather than light.

The false prophet will most likely present himself as the prophet Elijah and will try to counterfeit his miracle of "bringing fire down from heaven."

     It's obvious that the false prophet must be a Jew to imitate Elijah.

Since prophecy tells us that the antichrist will present himself to Israel as the Messiah, many scholars conclude that he must be Jewish.

       No religious Jew would dream of accepting a Gentile as the Messiah of Israel. Jesus warned them of the false messiah being in the last days.

Jesus warned, "if another comes in his own name, him you will receive."

      The false messiah and his false prophet will establish the worst period of persecution in the history of the world, known as the "time of Jacob's trouble" or as also known as the Great Tribulation."

The tragic rejection of Jesus and His Gospel by both the Jews and the Gentiles led right to the Cross.

     This delayed the promise of the kingdom for Israel, which followed 2,000 years of exile.

          Jesus warned them that although they rejected Him who came in the name of His Father, that they, the Jews, would one day accept, for a while, the false claims of the antichrist as their Messiah.

Hundreds of specific prophecies point to Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah of the Jews.

            He fulfilled the prophecies to the letter, spoke with authority, performed numerous miracles including raising people from the dead. Yet, despite this evidence, many in Israel and other nations reject His claims as the Messiah/King.

"Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666", Revelation 13:18.

      This verse indicates that the Mark of the Beast, which will be used as a control to enforce people to worship the man of sin and will be connected with the name of the antichrist.

beast rising out of sea

In Revelation 13:1, the antichrist is called the first "beast" and is seen rising "out of the sea" representing the world of politics and possibly, the Mediterranean Sea.

     The "beast is a symbol of the antichrist in some passages and in other verses the symbol of the "beast" stands for the ten-nation kingdom with its leader.

John's vision, Revelation 6:2 reveals that the antichrist will present himself as a great peacemaker. He will deceive many people with a false peace.

      The first horseman on the white horse is a symbol of the antichrist coming in false peace. He holds a bow with no arrow representing disarmament and peace.

           He "went out conquering and to conquer" just as the prophets warned. He will make deceitful peace treaties and agreements to disarm his enemies

The False Prophet 'makes fire come down from heaven', Revelation 13:13, trying to fulfill the works of the prophet Elijah as the one coming before the Messiah/Jesus.

The antichrist will portray fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies of the Jewish expectations of the coming Messiah.

     Jesus Himself warned that many will come in His name saying that they are the Christ.

The name 'antichrist' is most commonly used to describe the last great enemy God and man.

      It suggests  his opposition to Jesus and his wicked attempt to counterfeit Him.

           The Bible indicates that he will imitate the true Messiah to deceive people about his true identity.

Children, it’s the end of time. You’ve heard that an antichrist is coming. Certainly, many antichrists are already here. That’s how we know it’s the end of time, 1 John 2:18.

     Who is a liar? Who else but the person who rejects Jesus as the Messiah? The person who rejects the Father and the Son is an antichrist, 1 John 2:22