Courtesy of Wikipedia
The term “anti-Christ” is only found in the epistles of First and Second John. The apostle used this term in reference to the spirit that is against Jesus. Of course, that spirit is the spirit of the devil. This is also a fitting description of the person who, in the Last Days, will lead the world in rebellion against the Lord.
We refer to him as the anti-Christ, but he is never specifically named that in Scripture. Daniel calls him “the king of fierce countenance” and the “little horn.” Zechariah names him “the worthless shepherd.” The Apostle Paul calls him the “man of sin” and the “son of perdition.” In the Revelation he is called the Beast. This person will be a man, but empowered by the devil. The name “Beast” is given him because of the brutal, bestial nature of his character.
There has been a lot of speculation as to who will be the anti-Christ. While reading the Prophet Daniel, I was struck by a simple statement pointing to the identity of this person. In chapter eight, verses five through eight, the prophet was given a vision of a he-goat that grew very great. Almost every Bible student agrees that the “he-goat” was Alexander the Great.
Then in the vision, the great “horn,” or power, of the he-goat was broken and replaced by four notable horns. “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed (grew) exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land” (Daniel 8:9). Further, Daniel saw this “little horn” stop the daily sacrifice and overthrow the sanctuary. This prophecy was fulfilled by the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus persecuted the Jews and sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple of God. Antiochus is a clear foreshadow of the anti-Christ, who will cause sacrifice to cease and will commit the Abomination of Desolation (Daniel 9:27).
But Daniel’s vision continued. In the “latter time” a king of fierce countenance shall appear. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without (human) hand (Daniel 8:23-25). This portion of the vision is about the Last Days.
Daniel’s vision seems to indicate that the anti-Christ will come from one of the four kingdoms that descended from Alexander the Great. In the map below, the Seleucid Empire is shown in yellow. The remaining empires were Egypt, in blue, Macedonia, in green, and Thrace, in brown. Upon studying this map I realized that Turkey fits the description of the location of the “little horn” of Daniel 8:9
This anti-Christ will greatly grow and move toward the South, the East and the Holy Land. With the exception of Israel, all lands south and east of Turkey are Islamic, as is Turkey. To move north would require dealing with Russia and to move west would require fighting the European Union and any affiliates. Also, the practice of beheading Christians (Revelation 20:4) is clearly an Islamic practice, further indicating the nature of the anti-Christ.
Given the foreshadow of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the prophecy of Daniel, the origin of the anti-Christ appears to be from the region of Turkey. This would indicate that the anti-Christ will be Islamic. I believe this to be a good clue as to the identity of this person we call the anti-Christ.
Because of my personal belief that the Day of the Lord is near, this person is possibly alive today. His identity will be revealed at the time the Lord has chosen. As the Day draws nearer, we will be given more clues to the identity of the anti-Christ.