Bible Questions Answered:
Will we come to know just who the Anti Christ is, before the rapture?
Cheryl/ Chicago, Illinois
Bible Answer:
No.
II Thessalonians 2:1-8 KJV
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what (who) with holdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:
II Thessalonians 2:1-4, 8 NLT
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet Him.
2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.
3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.
4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you?
6 And you know what (Who) is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.
7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.
8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of His mouth and destroy him by the splendor of His coming.
The Anti-Christ, cannot be known or his rebellion fully realized until the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has been taken out of this world.
Revelation 3:8,10 KJV (Christ's promise to the Philadelphia Church.)
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Today, God the Holy Spirit, holds this evil force back, but the day is coming when after the rapture of the church, He will no longer be a restraining force of evil in the world. This world, will become completely Godless, full of sin, lawless, with open rebellion.
“For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. (verse 7)”
If the Spirit of God, will be taken out of the way, then so too will the people of God, who have the Spirit of God, dwelling within them!
Romans 8:9 KJV
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
I Corinthians 3:16 KJV
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
After the Spirit of God, and the Church of Jesus Christ, have been taken out of the way, then the Anti-Christ is revealed.
II Thessalonians 2:8 NLT
“ Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed...”
After the rapture of the church, believers will know who the Anti-Christ is, but from the safety of heaven. Unbelievers will come to know him immediately on earth, appearing to them as a great and fearless leader.
A leader who will initially band together ten nations under his ruler ship, later he will over come three , to ultimately have a seven nation confederacy, with himself as it's head.
He will make a seven year peace treaty with Israel, they thinking him their long awaited Messiah, but he will break his promise in the middle of the pact, revealing to all, the devil that he really is.
II Corinthians 6:2 KJV
(For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
