AntiChrist - Jew or Gentile?

One of the most asked and debated questions concerning the end times is about the Antichrist.

Anti means "opposed to". Antichrist then is someone who will be in opposition to Christ. If Antichrist means someone "opposed to" than he will probably be a Gentile. If anti means "in place of" Christ as a false Messiah, then he might be a Jew.

To back up the last definition, we can go to Daniel 11:37 which states, "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers." God of his fathers meaning being a Hebrews.

However, this statement could equally apply to a Gentile whose parents were followers of Christianity, or Buddhism or Islam or anything else.

Daniel 11:37 simply states that the Antichrist will totally reject whatever religion his ancestors practiced. In fact, most of the more recent translations use the word gods instead of God. Ironically enough, the New Living Translation translates the verse correctly, "He will have no regard for the gods of his ancestors."

Why then will he be a Gentile?

1. The type of the Antichrist is a Gentile. Many Bible scholars believe that the "little horn" of Daniel 8 is a reference to the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. If that is correct, he is the only historical person who is specifically identified in the Bible as a "type" of the Antichrist.

2. Revelation 13:1 tells us, "Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea." The words sea when used symbolically in Scripture always stands for the Gentile nations. Read Revelation 17:15.

3. The Antichrist is shown in the Bible as the final ruler of the Gentile world power. He will sit on the throne over the final world empire that will raise its fist in the face of God.

4. One of the primary works of the Antichrist will be his persecution of the Jews. He will come against the Jews, invade Israel and desecrate the rebuilt Jewish Temple. Don't you think it is unlikely that he would persecute his own people? Read Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 11:41,45; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 11;2; 12:6; 13:7.

Just some thoughts.