The Principality of Antichrist

The principality of antichrist is the second principality of Satan. The objective of this principality of Satan is to cause mankind to believe that they are gods, and the ruler (power) of this principality is the spirit of antichrist. This prince has at his disposal one captain—entrepreneurship—and all lower ranking principalities and powers like covetousness, witchcraft, hypocrisy, rebellion, sedition, idolatry, tradition, lying, disobedience, capitalism, lust, sorcery, confusion, emulation, judgment, hate, bitterness, haughtiness, etc. to use to fulfill his mission. "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (1 John 2:18-19). The word "anti" means opposed; thus, an antichrist is one who is opposed to Christ. All who are not in Christ are inherently opposed to Christ and there is no need for the spirit of antichrist to focus on them. Rather, the spirit of antichrist works to inhabit those that are in Christ. Notice in the verses above that persons possessed with this spirit were once part of a Christian fellowship: "they went out from us." The Antichrist himself will begin as a Christian and more specifically he will be a minister of Jesus Christ in the office of a pastor: "he as God sitteth in the temple of God." Of course, under the New Covenant "the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 7:48). But like Judas, the son of perdition (John 17:12) will betray Christ.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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. 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; 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. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

What's more, the Antichrist will be a very smart entrepreneur who has prospered in the world and loves the riches of the world. His prosperity fueled by entrepreneurship and covetousness will cause him to be puffed up (1 Corinthians 8:1): "to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" (Romans 12:3).

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches (Ezekiel 28:1-5)

This set of scriptures helps us understand how this wicked spirit operates: it attempts to exalt itself to God's throne. With a haughty heart, the spirit will drive people to become like itself. The person will be lifted up by reason of his or her ability to get riches. The principality of antichrist rides on the coattails of the principality of covetousness: "for the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). A person given over to covetousness has already left the Lord, they "cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Hebrews 6:4-6). Their successful entrepreneurship has blinded them; they have forgotten God and they have become corrupted. It has been said, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Ernest Mandel puts it this way: "Power corrupts. A lot of power begets a lot of corruption. In the epoch of capitalism, no power can be absolute, because in the last analysis money and wealth rule. Big wealth corrupts as much as, if not more than, big power. Huge sums of money beget huge power and therefore corrupt absolutely."¹⁸ The Lord warned us about worldly success causing us to forget him and to believe, rather, that it is our entrepreneurship—our power and might—which has gotten us prosperity.

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:11-17)

Let us examine an example from scripture of someone who portrays the spirit of antichrist. One of the kings of Judah, Uzziah (a.k.a.; Azariah), followed the Lord during the early stages of his reign and prospered greatly. With cunning inventions and the favor of the Lord, "his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong."

Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper. ...And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem ... Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle ... husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry. Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands ... The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred. And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong. (2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 7-15)

Uzziah's entrepreneurship and covetousness, however, which led to his great fame and fortune, got the best of him: "when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction" (2 Chronicles 26:16). Uzziah now attempts to usurp God's authority by burning incense in the temple of the Lord: a task reserved for the priests only (Exodus 30:1-9; Leviticus 10:1-2; 1 Chronicles 6:49).

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)

The Antichrist, who comes to power via a minority group (Daniel 11:23), will also commit abominations against the Lord including speaking blasphemies against God (Daniel 11:36; Revelation 13:6), making war with Christians (Daniel 11:31; Revelation 13:7), killing Christians (Ezekiel 35:2-7; Daniel 11:33-35; Joel 3:19; Revelation 13:15), idolatry (Daniel 11:36-39; Revelation 13:4, 8, 12), placing "the abomination that maketh desolate" in Jerusalem (Daniel 3:1; Daniel 11:31; Revelation 13:14-15), defiling the temple of God: fornication, lasciviousness, and receiving the mark of the beast (Leviticus 19:26-28; Jeremiah 7:8-11; Ezekiel 33:24-29; Daniel 11:31; Revelation 13:16-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17), and taking "away the daily sacrifice": making prayer to God illegal (Daniel 6:7-9; Daniel 8:11-13; Daniel 11:31) which will coincide with the destruction of the "Wailing Wall" (the Western Wall of the temple) to complete Jesus' prophecy about the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 19:41-44; Luke 21:6). The Antichrist will use the prosperity of the world to destroy many:

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:23-25)

Notice, the Antichrist "shall destroy the mighty and the holy people ... by peace shall destroy many." The word "peace" is derived from the Hebrew word shalvah, which means prosperity; thus, the scripture reads, "by prosperity shall destroy many." "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Revelation 13:16-17). "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" (Proverbs 1:32). But "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits" (Daniel 11:32).

What's more, many of these abominations will be committed with the help and consent of Christians (Daniel 11:30, 32). Those Christians that aid the Antichrist, that kill others Christians, that worship "the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy" (Ezekiel 8:3), and that defile their bodies will be killed (Revelation 19:21) and made desolate: forfeit the Holy Ghost and be cast out from the presence of the Lord (Psalm 51:11; Jeremiah 6:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 4:12). Even before the Antichrist—the son of perdition—is revealed, the principality of antichrist is already at work causing many Christians to commit abominations against the Lord. For instance, one of the popular traditions of the world (see "The Principality of Tradition") is also becoming entrenched in many churches: tattooing. Satan is already training people to receive a mark on their bodies. What's more, advances in technology have allowed the development of a chipless RFID (radio frequency identification) ink that can be applied as a tattoo and can be electronically detected from 4 feet away. And although this ink is intended for animals, it is already being touted for use on humans. One of the executives of a company which has developed this technology stated, "The ink also could be used to track and rescue soldiers ... It could help identify friends or foes, prevent friendly fire, and help save soldiers' lives ... It's a very scary proposition when you're dealing with humans, but with military personnel, we're talking about saving soldiers' lives and it may be something worthwhile."¹⁹ In light of the coming "mark of the beast," Christians more than ever must "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing" (2 Corinthians 6:17). Only those Christians "that do know their God shall be strong"; "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

The principality of antichrist entrenched as a strong hold works to cause the infected person to believe that they are a god. Antichrist also begets a strong hold for the spirit of entrepreneurship by which the infected person learns to accomplish their enterprise by their own power and might and not by the Spirit of God. A Christian possessed with the spirit of antichrist is haughty, covetous, a false prophet, hypocritical, rebellious, seditious, entrepreneurial, idolatrous, steeped in tradition, deceptive, and does according to their own rules not the commandments of the Lord. "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (2 John 1:7). We already have many popular Christian pastors—false prophets—that are possessed with the spirit of antichrist; they deny the incarnate God: they confess not that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is come in the flesh (see "The spirit of Error"). As such, Christians must mature in their ability to discern between good and evil: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world ... And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:1, 3). Those ensnared by the spirit of antichrist who do not repent are assured of one thing: they stand opposed to God and will die in their sin.

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