Unleashing the Beast

20 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

Just as the future land of conflict will be Israel and the future city of conflict Jerusalem, so the future spiritual conflict will arise over the person of Jesus Christ. Was He just a man? Was He merely a prophet? Or was He the Son of God? To the religious Jew, Jesus Christ was simply a man of history who formed a new religion. To the Muslims, Jesus Christ was one of the prophets of Allah. But to the true Christian, Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God (see Matthew 14:33, 27:53, Romans 1:4). Further evidence that the Antichrist is a mortal man and not just an evil spirit can be viewed in light of other New Testament passages that make use of personal pronouns. Evangelical scholars point to the following passages that reveal important details about this future world dictator. In each case, he is identified with the use of a masculine pronoun:  The Antichrist is called "the man of sin," "the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3).  "He as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (v. 4).  He will "be revealed in his time" (v. 6).  The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority (Revelation 13:2).  Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (vv. 4, 5).