Let me expose first the erroneous teaching that the Antichrist will originate in Russia. The idea obviously is derived from a misunderstanding of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Those two chapters indeed reveal that the Antichrist will descend from the north of Israel. So he will come down from Russia. However, neither those chapters nor any other Scripture passage teaches that Russia will be the birthplace of the Antichrist, or that he will be of Russian nationality. So never take a passage out of context and start speculating (either adding to it or taking away from it), thereby building a doctrine founded on speculation rather than on the Word of God. The Bible actually identifies what part of the planet the Antichrist will come from. It will be one of the Middle-Eastern nations. How do I know so? By studying Scripture rather than speculating from newspaper clippings! Look at Daniel 2:31-45. Is that too many verses to read to gain Bible end-time truth? Learning Bible truth requires study.
The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream a giant humanlike statue made of various metals; and in the end-times, clay mixed with iron. That metal statue represented human history from Daniel’s day to the end of this evil age, when God will set up the eternal form of His Kingdom.
Those various metals represented four great empires that would rule the earth from Daniel’s day to the end of this age: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The iron legs pictured the Roman Empire and its influence in man’s history to the end. The legs represented the splitting of the Roman Empire into its Eastern and Western divisions, whose influence will reach beyond our days. Now think! Two legs. Two feet. Five toes on each foot. History reveals that Rome was divided into two conflicting regions. Five toes will be on the foot of one leg, and five toes on the foot of the other. And by the way: Russia was never part of the Roman Empire. The Antichrist will come from either the Western division of the Old Roman Empire, or the Eastern division. Not Russia. And Daniel tells us which division the Antichrist comes from. More Scripture. Whew! More reading! Daniel chapter eight narrows down the vision to two of those beast-kingdoms, which are identified as Persia and Greece.
The first Grecian king would have to be Alexander the Great, who history tells us died in his 30s. He was the horn of the he-goat in Daniel chapter eight. At his death, his kingdom was divided into four smaller ones, and Daniel tells us that out of one of those four divisions will come a little horn—the Antichrist. Daniel 8:20-26 tells us that Daniel’s vision refers to the time of the end, when a man from one of the four divisions of the Grecian Empire will fulfill those Antichrist prophecies. Chapter eleven narrows it down even more to the king of the North (the Antichrist) and the king of the South, which must be Egypt—the southernmost of those four empire divisions. From the northern division of Alexander’s empire will come the Antichrist.
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com.)
