Forced to worship him? Probably not. Deception will be his game plan. Most Bible prophecy/eschatology experts believe the Antichrist will be the ultimate embodiment of what it means to be against Christ. In the end times/last hour, a man will arise to oppose Christ and His followers more than anyone else in history. Likely claiming to be the true Messiah, the Antichrist will seek world domination and will attempt to destroy all followers of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel. The Antichrist will ascend to power accompanied by supernatural signs and miracles and will be accepted as a god in the flesh by most people on earth.
The only thing we know about the image of Christ is that he will appear in the eastern sky (I guess that means east of Jerusalem) and all the world will see him. I guess that means everybody outside of Jerusalem is dead, except that all Christians will meet him in the air, so maybe it's only the unbelievers who are left, and they are all in Jerusalem.
In any case, I don't have to worry about misidentification. Only one person can call me to meet him in the air. Everybody else is on their own.
Anti-christ, or man of lawlessness, an expression used by the apostle Paul at 2thessalonians 2:2,3 In warning of the great anti-christian apostasy that would develop before "the day of Jehovah." The Greek word for "apostasy" here used, apostasia, denotes more than a mere falling away, an indifferent sliding back. It means a defection, s revolt, a planned, deliberate rebellion. This anti-christ or "man" of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 is therefore, not an individual, but a composite "man," a collective group, as the foregoing scriptures show, and this "man" or anti-christ was to continue after the apostles' death and exist down until the time of the Lord's presence.
This post was edited by Autumnleaves at June 23, 2018 3:00 AM MDT
Nice answer. Most seem to think that there is one individual that will be the antichrist. (1 John 2:18, 19) Young children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from which fact we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of our sort; for if they had been of our sort, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it might be shown that not all are of our sort.
We believe it is a man because the Bible says it is a man. "Man of Sin", "Man of Lawlessness", "Son of Perdition", these are who people are talking about when most say Antichrist...not 1John (which is the only scripture which uses the term Antichrist) People are using that term instead of the Beast.
I'm a little confused. When you said 'we believe it is a man' aren't you talking about the antichrist? When you said 'not 1John' aren't you talking about the antichrist?
(1 John 2:18) Young children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from which fact we know that it is the last hour. (2 John 7) For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those not acknowledging Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
(1 John 2:22) Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 4:2, 3) This is how you know that the inspired statement is from God: Every inspired statement that acknowledges Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh originates with God. 3 But every inspired statement that does not acknowledge Jesus does not originate with God. Furthermore, this is the antichrist’s inspired statement that you have heard was coming, and now it is already in the world.
Wasn't 'the man of lawlessness' already at work in the first century? Who is 'the one' who was acting as a restraint in the first century?
(2 Thessalonians 2:3) Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. (2 Thessalonians 2:7) True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is right now acting as a restraint is out of the way.
My understanding is that the beast represent governments. Do you believe that the beast is the same as the antichrist?
Autumnleaves 