Antichrist: The Signs Preceding the Second Coming of Christ #

Our Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to deliver the human race from corruption and death, in order to restore fallen man to his former blessedness. He brought to earth His teaching, which contains everything necessary for the salvation of the human soul. If the mark of the Antichrist were more dangerous than the Antichrist himself, we believe the Lord Himself would have spoken of it in the Holy Gospel. But nothing of the sort is said. Instead, it is written: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:4–5). In the last times, many deceivers will appear in the world—false prophets and false Christs. In accepting them, mankind will easily be led to accept the final Antichrist as well.

All the apostles and holy fathers, when speaking of the last days, focus our attention on the final trial for those who believe in the Savior: the coming of Christ’s adversary—the Antichrist. “Who then is he? Is he Satan himself? By no means: rather, a man who fully accepts the works of Satan,” says St. John Chrysostom. And St. Ephraim the Syrian writes in Homily 105: “He will truly be born of a woman, a vessel of defilement for the devil. It will not be Satan himself who is born, but one who will come in his image, loathsome, like a thief.”

The Apostle Paul warns: “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, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:3–4). Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains: “Some deceivers were saying that the coming of the Lord was at hand—and what was worse, they fabricated words supposedly spoken by Paul and letters supposedly written by him. This was the devil’s scheme to shake the faith of believers. Since the faithful found great consolation in the hope of the resurrection—expecting that they would be rewarded for their virtue, and would see their persecutors justly punished—the devil sent his servants to proclaim that Christ’s coming and the Judgment were already at hand. The aim was to deny any future recompense, judgment, or punishment, thereby destroying the hopes of the saints and emboldening the enemies of the Gospel. They even accused Christ Himself of falsehood, who had said that certain signs would precede His coming: and if those signs had not occurred, but the resurrection (as they falsely claimed) already had, then Christ would be shown to be a liar. This is why Paul writes this epistle—not to declare the time of the Lord’s coming, but to indicate a sign of that time: the Antichrist.”

The Apostle’s words instill in us confidence: we must not be deceived by various means of control, electronic documents, cards, and the like, so long as the great falling away has not come and the man of sin—the Antichrist—has not been revealed. “By ‘falling away,’” says St. John Chrysostom in his Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, “he refers to the Antichrist himself, for he will destroy many and lead them into apostasy: ‘so as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect’ (Matt. 24:24). He also calls him the man of sin, for he will commit thousands of iniquities and prepare others to do the same. And he calls him the son of perdition, because he himself too will perish.”

The holy Fathers of the Church described those events (signs) that will precede the appearance of the Antichrist, and then the second coming to earth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us examine them in order, relying on the book of Saint Arseny of the Urals, On the Antichrist and Other Deeds Which Shall Be at His Time:

1. The fall of the Roman Empire and the desolation of the city of Rome itself.

2. The rising up of false Christs and false prophets. In imitation of St. John the Baptist, a certain forerunner of the Antichrist will appear, who by sorcery and deception will do all in his power to delude people so that they will believe the Antichrist to be God.

3. Before the enthronement of the Antichrist, in order to strengthen the faithful, the Lord will send to earth the holy prophets Elijah and Enoch. “In those days, there shall be great distress caused by the serpent—fear and earthquakes, the roaring of the sea, hunger and thirst, and attacks by wild beasts. And all who have received the mark of the Antichrist and worshipped him as the good god will have no share in the kingdom of Christ, but together with the serpent shall be cast into Gehenna. Blessed is he who proves himself wholly holy and faithful, whose heart is steadfastly given over to God, for he shall fearlessly reject all the serpent’s offers, scorning both his tortures and illusions. But before all this comes to pass, the Lord, in His mercy, will send Elijah the Tishbite and Enoch, so that they may proclaim piety to mankind, boldly preach the glad tidings to all, and teach men not to believe the tormentor out of fear, crying aloud and saying: ‘This is deception, O men! Let no one believe it in the least, let none obey the God-fighter; let none of you be afraid, for he shall soon be brought to nothing. Behold, the Holy Lord cometh from heaven to judge all who believed his signs’” (St. Ephraim the Syrian, Homily on the Coming of the Lord, on the End of the World, and the Coming of the Antichrist).

“O wondrous grace of God! For it provides a remedy equal to the wound. The Antichrist, through the working of the devil, shall surpass all magicians and deceivers in his false signs and wonders; but God will also arm His holy ones with the power of true signs and miracles, so that by light and truth they may dispel darkness and falsehood, turning the deceived back to the path of righteousness by words of admonition or by punishments—drought, fire, alterations of nature, and suchlike—and they shall expose the deceiver himself, without suffering harm from him until the completion of their preaching” (St. Andrew of Caesarea). Until these prophets come, the Antichrist shall not be enthroned.

4. The conversion of a portion of the Jews to faith in Christ.** Another portion will believe in and worship the Antichrist, whom they await as the Messiah. Elijah the Tishbite will seek to persuade the Jews to believe in Christ, so that when Christ comes again, not all of them will perish utterly. “Thus Christ, recalling this to them, said: ‘He shall restore all things,’ that is, He will correct the unbelief of the Jews of that time. Therefore the prophet spoke precisely; he did not say, ‘he will turn the heart of the son to the father,’ but ‘the heart of the father to the son.’ Since the fathers of the apostles were Jews, it is said: he will turn the hearts of the fathers, that is, the disposition of the Jewish people, to the teaching of the sons, that is, the apostles” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew).

5. Enoch and Elijah shall perform miracles and signs of God’s judgment. “These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” (Rev. 11:4–6).

6. The Antichrist will be called and appear to be a god. St. John Chrysostom says: “He (the Antichrist) will not lead people to idolatry, but will be a God-fighter, rejecting all gods and commanding that worship be given to himself instead of God, and he will sit in the temple of God—not only in the temple at Jerusalem, but throughout all churches—claiming to be God. He does not say that he will call himself God, but that he will seek to show himself to be God. He will perform great deeds and show marvelous signs. You see, the Antichrist will be a king, and not only a king, but will also be proclaimed a god and will perform great signs” (Homily 3 on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians).
   
   “By the allowance of the Holy God, he [the Antichrist] shall receive power to deceive the world, for the world’s iniquity is fulfilled, and all kinds of horrors are being committed everywhere. Therefore, the Most Pure Lord, because of the unrighteousness of men, has permitted the world to be tempted by the spirit of deception, since mankind has chosen to turn away from God and to love the evil one… The shameless one, having then received power, will send out demons to all corners [of the earth], boldly proclaiming: ‘The great king has appeared in glory—come and see him…’” (St. Ephraim the Syrian, Homily on the Coming of the Lord).

7. The throne of the Antichrist will be in Jerusalem. In that city, the Antichrist will establish his kingdom and royal throne in imitation of King David, of whose fleshly lineage Christ, our true God, was born. In doing so, he will strive to present himself as the Christ, fulfilling the prophecy: “I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof” (Amos 9:11)—a prophecy which the Jews, in their delusion, apply to the coming of the Antichrist (St. Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse). And St. Ephraim the Syrian writes: “The accursed Jews will begin to reverence him greatly and rejoice in his kingdom, for the Antichrist will show honor both to their place and their synagogue” (Homily 105).

8. Elijah and Enoch will be killed by the Antichrist and then rise again (Rev. 11:3): “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:7–8). “And after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud” (Rev. 11:11–12).

9. The abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:15–16). “He (the Antichrist) deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles… saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast… And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Rev. 13:14–15). St. Andrew of Caesarea explains: “The forerunner and servant of the Antichrist, by the help of demons, will fashion an image of the beast and falsely present it as speaking, and will command the killing of all who do not worship it.”

10. The imposition of the Antichrist’s mark after his enthronement. “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” (Rev. 13:16–17). “The forerunner and servant of the Antichrist […] will seek to impose upon all the mark of the accursed name of the apostate and deceiver—upon the right hands, in order to take away strength for doing good works, and upon the foreheads, to render the deceived bold in delusion and darkness. But those whose faces are sealed with the Divine light will not accept it. And he will spread the beast’s seal everywhere—in buying and selling—so that those who refuse it will die by violent death from the lack of what is necessary for sustaining life.” Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (Rev. 13:18). “A careful investigation of the number of the mark, and of all else written about it, will reveal the time of temptation to those who are watchful and sober-minded. If it were necessary to know his name, then—as some teachers have said—the seer would have revealed it. But the grace of God did not permit this destructive name to be written in the Divine Book” (St. Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse).

This imposition of the mark will not be done forcibly, against a person’s will, but voluntarily, according to St. Andrew of Caesarea’s commentary on the Apocalypse: “If anyone submits to the beast-like Antichrist and partakes in the lawless life which images him, and by word or deed proclaims him to be God (for this may be what the mark on the forehead and hand signifies), then that one shall also share in drinking the cup of punishments with him.” St. Hippolytus of Rome, in his Homily on the Antichrist, writes: “And because of the pressure of food scarcity, all will come to him and worship him. And he will give them a sign on the right hand and on the forehead.” The same saint also writes: “That mark will declare: ‘I renounce the Creator of heaven and earth; I renounce baptism; I renounce my service to God and join myself to you, and I believe in you.’”

St. John Chrysostom speaks thus about man’s conscious choice in following the Antichrist: “Why,” you may ask, “did God allow all this to happen? And what is His purpose? What benefit can come from the coming of the Antichrist, if it is to lead to our ruin?” Do not be afraid, beloved, but listen to what the Apostle says: the Antichrist will prevail only over those who are perishing—those who, even if he had not come, still would not have believed. What benefit comes from this, you ask? That the mouths of those condemned to perdition may be shut. How so? They would not have believed in Christ even had the Antichrist not come; but he comes in order to expose them.” (On the Antichrist).

It is instructive to recall the lives of the holy confessors Theophanes and Theodore the Branded—Palestinian monks from Jerusalem, known church hymnographers and disciples of Michael Syncellus. Together with their teacher, they came to Constantinople in 813, where they were persecuted for their devotion to the veneration of icons under the reigns of the iconoclast emperors Leo V (813–820) and Theophilus (821–842). They were repeatedly exiled from the capital, tortured, and imprisoned. The brothers successfully defended the holy icons in debate with Emperor Theophilus, for which they were beaten with twenty blows of rods by his order. Upon their foreheads were branded, against their will, mocking “iambic” verses composed by the emperor himself. Is this not akin to the mark of the Antichrist? Yet the brothers answered the emperor: “Write, write, O king, whatever thou willest; it shall be read before the righteous and fearful Judge.” And the Holy Church glorified them among the saints and confessors. They were not defiled by the heretical inscriptions impressed upon them against their will. So too in our own time—should someone receive certain “iambs” (heretical inscriptions or a mark) against his will, it shall in no wise harm him, for he did not accept it of his own accord, and shall not be condemned, according to the lives of the holy confessors.

A separate mention must be made of the false prophecies concerning “cards” and passports. Already in the 19th century there circulated a supposed prophecy attributed to one “Zinovii the Monk,” said to have lived in the 16th century and been a disciple of the venerable Maximus the Greek. In these writings—unknown prior to the 19th century—there is a claim that “the Antichrist will give out cards, upon which his name shall be secretly written as 666. And with those cards, whosoever bears them shall pass unharmed.” (Quoted in: Bishop Arseny of the Urals, The Book on the Antichrist and Other Deeds Which Shall Be at His Time, Moscow: Panagia / Languages of Slavic Culture, 2005, p. 130). Commenting on these words attributed to “Zinovii the Monk,” our great church scholar and hierarch, St. Arseny of the Urals, writes that the book of Zinovii the Monk does indeed exist, but Zinovii primarily wrote against the Protestant Lutherans and their heresies. He wrote chiefly that these heretics do not venerate the holy icons. “But as for the Antichrist and his mark, he wrote nothing whatsoever, nor mentioned it anywhere; and this alleged prophecy is falsely written only in extracts, and it is not proper to believe it.” (ibid., p. 130). It is also evident that the word “cards” (kartochki) is not Church Slavonic at all, but a later, modern Russian word. Such terminology is found nowhere in 16th- or 17th-century Russian literature. Rightly did St. Arseny write that such writings are not to be believed.

Likewise, one should not trust the “prophecies” of modern elders when they contradict the patristic teaching on this subject. It is appropriate here to remember the words of St. Gregory Palamas: “And how shall it be shown that we believe rightly in God—that is, beautifully, firmly, and piously concerning Him? It shall be shown by this: that we are of one soul, one mind, and one confession with our God-bearing Fathers. Right belief in God is manifested not only in resisting fleshly passions and the devil’s snares, but also in resisting men enslaved by passions who seduce others into base pleasures; likewise, Orthodox faith in the one true God is revealed not only by resisting ignorance and the enemy’s whisperings, but by resisting impious men who secretly deceive and lead others into their own perdition.” (Homily VIII: On the Faith and the Exposition of the Orthodox Confession).

Thus, according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, the imposition of the mark of the Antichrist—of which the Apocalypse speaks—shall occur only after his visible enthronement over the entire earth. Before that time, it is utterly unfounded to fear the state’s assignment of numbers to its citizens. Yet such fears have existed even in past centuries. For example, in the 18th century, the beguny-stranniki (celibate priestless Old Believers who separated from the Philipite concord) protested against the use of government-issued numbers. They fled to the forests, believing the Russian tsar and his government to be the Antichrist. The beguny cut themselves off from civil society: they refused to be recorded in any census, paid no taxes to the state, owned no real estate, carried no passports, and had no permanent residence.

Those who now speak of a so-called “pre-mark” of the Antichrist (such as taxpayer IDs, biometric passports, etc.), or who claim there is danger in receiving a number from the government, or that Christians might unknowingly receive the mark against their will—such persons fall into error. They express a heretical idea and fall under the condemnation of the 19th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which commands that the Scriptures be interpreted “only as set forth by the lights and teachers of the Church in their writings.” They are also condemned by the definition of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which declares: “Those who add anything to the teaching of the Conciliar Church, or subtract from it, we anathematize.” (Seventh Session).

11. The Antichrist will raise up a great persecution and tribulation such as has not been since the foundation of the world. “The Antichrist will come for the ruin of mankind, to bring harm to men. Truly, what will he not do in that time? He will bring everything into confusion and turmoil, both through his decrees and through fear. He will be terrifying in every respect—by his power, his cruelty, and his lawless commands.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles to the Thessalonians).

“Then the Antichrist will command his demons, as if they were angels, to carry out his orders with great fear and trembling. Then he will send demonic hosts into the mountains, the caves, and the abysses of the earth to seek out and find those who have hidden themselves from his sight, and will bring them to worship him. Those who submit to him will be marked with his seal. But those who refuse to obey will be worn down by torments and countless fierce tortures and schemes, the like of which have never been heard by human ears nor seen by human eyes.” (St. Hippolytus, Pope of Rome).

Yet even in the most dreadful persecutions, the Lord will not forsake those who place their hope in Him. St. Ephraim the Syrian writes: “Many saints (faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ), as many as shall be found in those times… shall flee with great diligence into the wilderness… and help shall be given them from God, and He shall guide them into specially prepared places, and they shall be saved, hiding in caves and ravines.”

12. The Antichrist will reign for three and a half years, after which his godless kingdom shall come to an end, and our Lord and God Jesus Christ shall come in glory to judge the righteous and the wicked. “Daniel (the prophet), speaking of the end of the final kingdom—that is, of the last ten kings among whom their kingdom shall be divided and upon whom the son of perdition shall come—says that a beast shall have ten horns, and among them another little horn shall arise, and three of the first horns shall be plucked up before it. He says: ‘And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. And his appearance was greater than the others. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom’” (Dan. 7:8, 20–22, 23–25). Then, in the interpretation of the vision, it was told him: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and crush it. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and after them shall arise another who shall be more wicked than all before him, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High and wear out the saints of the Most High, and he shall intend to change times and laws; and all shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time”—that is, for three years and six months, during which he shall reign upon the earth. (St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies).

“And the Lord shall come down from heaven in the same manner as the holy apostles saw Him ascending into heaven” (Acts 1:11), “that is, He shall come as perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and shall destroy the man of sin, the son of perdition, with the breath of His mouth” (2 Thess. 2:8). “Therefore let no one expect the Lord from the earth, but let every man await Him from heaven, as He Himself has confirmed.” (St. John of Damascus, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith).

“Therefore be vigilant, O man. You know the signs of the Antichrist; do not keep them to yourself, but share them freely with everyone. If you have children according to the flesh, instruct them; and if you have brought someone to the faith through catechesis, warn him too, that he not take the false for the true. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work (2 Thess. 2:7). I am troubled by wars among the nations; I am troubled by schisms within the Church; I am troubled by mutual hatred among brethren. O, even though these things have been foretold, may God in His mercy prevent them from being fulfilled in our time! At the very least, let us be watchful. And this shall suffice for now concerning the Antichrist.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture on the Second Coming of Christ).

Prepared by Deacon Vasily Andronikov.

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