The Antichrist might use the words of Scripture to deceive people as he “rises to power,” but once he reaches the summit of power, he will blaspheme God. We will consider a couple of scripture references that speak of his rise to power, and then we will look closely at references that teach us he will be filled with blasphemy against God once he is received by the masses as the False Christ.

When Jesus was here the Jews rejected Him as the Messiah/King. John 1:11 tells us, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (NKJV). Listen to what Jesus said to them in John 5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” The one who “comes in his own name” is the Antichrist. The Apostle John speaks of him in 1st John 2:18, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that THE ANTICHRIST IS COMING, even now many antichrists have come.” So the Jews have been warned of this man coming in his own name and pretending to the Christ (their Messiah/King) and yet they will still receive him. This is where his DECEPTION comes into play. He will no doubt speak very piously at first and may very well use Old Testament scriptures in an attempt to prove that he is the Christ. He will have charisma and the power of persuasion and the vast majority of Jews will crown him as their King. He, along with a powerful political leader who heads up the Revived Roman Empire, will persuade the Jewish nation to enter into a 7-year PEACE TREATY. This is brought out in Daniel 9:27a, “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week” (the “he” is the political leader and the “many” are the apostate Jews under the rule of their False Messiah). This treaty will be between the Jews and their Arab neighbors but the Roman Prince (the Head of the Roman Empire) will mediate the treaty and guarantee the Jews protection.

In the middle of the 7 years the peace treaty will be broken. “But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate” (Daniel 9:27b). The Lord Jesus spoke of this same time in Matthew 24:15, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. The “rise to power” of both of these men (the Antichrist and the Roman Prince) will have been reached and they will then “take off their mask” (for they have simply been pretending to be men of peace and honoring God) and their “reign of terror will begin.” Their first act of blasphemy will be the defiling of the Temple in Jerusalem, for they will end the sacrifices outlined in the Old Testament under the Mosiac Law and they will replace them with an image of a man. The Antichrist will perform miracles at this time as well. We see this in Revelation 13:13-15, “And he (the Antichrist) performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast (the Roman Prince), telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”  This will be the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel and the Lord Jesus.

Now let’s consider what the Antichrist will SAY and we shall see that they will be words of BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and THE MAN OF SIN (the Antichrist) is revealed, the son of perdition, who OPPOSES AND EXALTS HIMSELF ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD OR THAT IS WORSHIPED, so that HE SITS AS GOD IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, SHOWING HIMSELF THAT HE IS GOD.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). This will be the greatest act of idolatry and blasphemy ever committed, for the Antichrist will DECLARE THAT HE IS GOD! This man, who will be energized and possibly possessed by Satan, will not be using Scripture to deceive at this point; he is blatantly seeking to “dethrone God and enthrone himself.” You may be thinking, “But we just read in Revelation 13: 13-15 that he will cause the world to worship the BEAST (the Roman Prince). Yes, that is true, but he will also demand worship for himself. The fact is there will be a “trinity of evil” at that time who opposes the “holy Trinity.” They are the Dragon (which is Satan), the Beast out of the sea (which is the Roman Prince) and the Beast out of the land (which is the Antichrist). See Revelation13:1-12 to see the “unholy trinity.”

Let’s read one more passage about the Antichrist to get a better picture of him and his alliance with the Roman Prince. In doing so we will see that this passage lines up perfectly with everything we have seen thus far. Daniel 11:36-38 says, “Then the king (the Antichrist) shall do according to his own will; he shall EXALT and MAGNIFY HIMSELF above every god, shall SPEAK BLASPHEMIES AGAINST THE GOD of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for HE SHALL EXALT HIMSELF ABOVE THEM ALL. But in their place HE SHALL HONOR A GOD OF FORTRESSES; a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.” This passage corresponds perfectly with the scriptures we have already seen, for he will be “the king” (the False Messiah that the Jews will receive); he will demand worship for himself; and he shall honor (worship) the “god of fortresses,” which refers to the Roman Prince who will offer him military protection from Israel’s enemies. This honoring of the Roman Prince is what we saw in Revelation 13:13-15 when he erects an image of the Beast and causes the world to worship it.  (433.5)  (DO)