WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?

PART 2

by Steve Ashburn

 

In Part 1 of this series we saw how Babylon, the capital city of the Antichrist, most likely would be built in the vicinity of present-day Mosul, Iraq. This is the same city that Zephaniah 2 refers to as “Nineveh.” 

We also saw how Iraq (including Mosul) would be completely destroyed in the Psalm 83 war and subsequent third US-led coalition invasion, and left without an inhabitant (a “wilderness”). It is in this “wilderness” that the Antichrist will build his capital city, according to Isaiah 23:13. 

But there’s more: we find in Nahum 1 an intriguing prophecy about this future Nineveh. The context of this chapter is end times: it begins and ends with the judgments of the tribulation. Our Scripture text of interest is as follows: 

But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counseller. Thus saith the LORD: Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.  

And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. (Nahum 1:8-15) 

Our Scripture passage says that God will make “an utter end” of the site of Nineveh (“the place thereof”) with an “overrunning flood.” The original Hebrew implies an actual massive wall of water (ube-sheteph) passing over (abar), which scrapes the site of Nineveh clean—which has never happened before!  

The exact timeline here is indicated by: “while they be folden together as thorns [confident in their strength], and while they are drunken as drunkards [under the illusion of invincibility]…” which ties into Jeremiah 51:38-40: “They shall roar together like lions [overconfident]: they shall yell as lion's whelps. In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken [illusion of invincibility], that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.” This refers to Iraqis celebrating the Psalm 83 invasion of Israel which they instigated. Of course, this doesn’t last long: the next verse says, “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats”; which corresponds with our text passage in Nahum 1:10: “…they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.” 

This will mark the end of Iraq—the descendants of the Babylonians and Assyrians—and they will never bother Israel again (“affliction shall not rise up the second time”). In addition, the other nations that participated in this Psalm 83 invasion also will be destroyed (“and darkness shall pursue his enemies”). While some commentators believe this passage refers to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib in 701 BC, the context here is end times, and Israel certainly was “afflicted” after that: in the Babylonian invasion in 597 BC and in the Diaspora. 

But how would present-day Mosul be inundated with a massive flood? The answer lies 45 miles upstream: the Mosul Dam. 

Construction of this dam began in 1981 and the reservoir was filled in 1986. It is the fourth-largest dam in the Middle East and impounds about three cubic miles of water. Built on a karst foundation (soluble gypsum), the design engineers initially recommended stabilizing the foundation by thorough grouting. Instead, construction was rushed for political reasons, and today, the dam needs a constant infusion with cement and other additives to prevent it from collapsing.  

A 2006 report by the US Army Corps of Engineers noted, “In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world." The Corps of Engineers estimated that a collapse of the dam would send a 360-foot wall of water downstream, which would reach Mosul in two hours, flooding the city with over 65 feet of water, and killing 500,000 Iraqis (the population of Mosul is 660,000). 

In January 2016, US General Sean MacFarland warned that the dam might undergo a "catastrophic" collapse. He added, "What we do know is this—if this dam were in the United States, we would have drained the lake behind it." And in February 2016, the US Embassy in Iraq warned of a "serious and unprecedented" danger of the dam collapsing, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for citizens in Mosul to evacuate and move at least 3.5 miles away from the river. This includes almost all of present-day Mosul. 

A collapse of the Mosul dam therefore, would obliterate modern-day Mosul and its population and scrape the site of ancient Nineveh clean, down to the bedrock. Thus Nahum 1:8 will be fulfilled: “But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place [site] thereof…” If this occurs at the same time as the Psalm 83 war in the Middle East, Mosul indeed would be a “wilderness” and provide an excellent foundation for the Antichrist to build his capital city on. 

Our Scripture passage then makes an amazing prediction: “There is one come out of thee [Nineveh], that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counseller” (verse 11). Now who could that possibly be?  

The context of this chapter is end times, and the next three verses describe the forces of this man as afflicting Israel, but then the Lord delivering them from it: “…Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder” (v. 12-13). Although these forces are secure in their strength (“quiet”) and powerful (“likewise many”), the Lord will kill them (“thus shall they be cut down”) when he does battle against them (“when he shall pass through”). This, taken in proper context, is highly suggestive of the battle of Armageddon. 

Then, the Lord commands this man’s power and influence to be destroyed forever (“no more of thy name be sown”), his false religious system destroyed (“I cut off the graven image and the molten image”), and then this man cast into everlasting punishment (“I will make thy grave; for thou art vile”).  

In the next verse, the second coming of Christ is described: “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings…” This is accompanied by the declaration that “the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off”— probably referring to the man who was just destroyed in the preceding verses. 

Nahum 2:1-4 continues this end-times passage with an interesting description of the forces of the Antichrist doing battle with the Israeli military during the tribulation. During this time, Israel will be able to attack the Antichrist with impunity from their bases in Jordan (“the wilderness”). We’ll cover more about this later on in this series. The rest of this chapter then describes the historical overthrow of ancient Nineveh. 

Therefore, the “wicked counseller” in Nahum 1:11 who comes out of Nineveh (present-day Mosul) most likely is the Antichrist. This makes sense if he wants to build his capital there, because what better place to build an international city—which will become the center of world commerce and trade—than your own home town? 

Modern Mosul was once home to some 70,000 Assyrian Christians and many churches and monasteries dating back to the sixth century. However, when ISIS took over the city in 2014, they drove almost all of them out, who then fled for refuge to several European countries and to the United States. This most likely included the Antichrist’s family, since the end times are very near. Therefore, he’s probably living abroad now and likely is in school.  

The biblical account suggests that he will become successful in business, and therefore be selected to oversee construction of an international city near present-day Mosul, for the purpose of distribution of spoils of war to coalition members. This implies a background in business, finance, engineering or science. 

Daniel 8 also describes the Antichrist as a “little horn,” meaning in context that he will be descended from one of Alexander the Great’s four generals who divided his empire amongst themselves after his death. Since the Antichrist also will be an Assyrian, the general of interest would be Seleucus, who took Syria and Babylonia after Alexander’s death in 323 BC. Daniel 8:9 also describes the little horn “which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” This makes sense if the Antichrist is an Assyrian, because establishing a capital in northern Iraq would allow him to extend his influence south (toward the oilfields in southern Iraq), east (toward Iran), and west (toward Israel). 

Daniel 11:37 adds that he shall not “regard the God of his fathers.” This indicates that the Antichrist will come from a Christian family. Since the end times probably are no more than twenty years away at the time of this writing, the Antichrist likely already has been born into a Christian family in Mosul. It may be possible to identify him by obtaining birth records for all males born to Christian families in this area in the past twenty years; translating their names into Greek; and then adding up the number of their names according to the numerical value assigned to each Greek letter. Probably one of those names will add up to 666—that’s him, the Antichrist. On the other hand, many of Iraq’s 1.5 million Christians are underground, so it might not be that easy. In any case, the Antichrist quickly will rise to prominence after the beginning of the end times, allowing him to be identified by his background and name. 

We’ll discuss more about the Antichrist in Part 3 of this series, including his establishment of a world financial center, his support for industry, and his personal characteristics as an alcoholic and restless philanderer. So watch out for Part 3! 

I provide more details of this and many other end-times prophecies in my recently published book, END TIME DAWNING: Get Ready! (available from www.endtimesrecord.com). Please read it! Also if you would, please “like” my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/endtimesrecord!   

Yours in Christ, 

Steve Ashburn