The Beast out of the Sea: And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspmeme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear (Rev. 13:1-9 NIV).
The dragon (satan) will give his authority, power and his seat, to a man (the anti-christ) to take control of the earth. This has never been done before. It was also given to the antichrist to make war with the holy ones, and a mouth that spoke proud words against God. He will kill a lot of people. He will change times and laws, laws related to religion and change the calendar. He will be a great military leader. He will invade Jerusalem and seek to kill Jews. He will appear to take a military defeat and then come back. He will come from the Mediterranean (great) Sea area. He will be Islamic. There has always been a spirit of antichrist. This will be a man who will be the final antichrist of prophecy. This man will make a treaty with Israel for seven years. He will break the treaty and invade Israel in the middle of the seven years. There will be ten kings and they will give over their kingdoms to the antichrist for forty-two months or 3 and 1/2 years. The beast (antichrist) will be over the 8th kingdom of prophecy, which is a revived Babylonian empire. He will resurrect an ancient empire. It will be a time such as never was before or ever shall be hereafter. A time of great trouble and wrath on the earth. The antichrist will behead those who are not following him. Beheading is a practice in Islam and is encouraged in the Koran against infidels and blasphemers (that is, anybody who practices another religion, speaks against Islam, or converts from Islam to another religion). The Islamic confession of faith states: "I bear witness that there is no deity (god) other than Allah and that Mohammad is his servant and messenger." The antichrist will come from the area of Iraq which sits between Syria and Persia. His strength will be prevalent in the Middle East.
Comments
The antichrist will enter the new Jewish Temple and stp the dedication offering (Dan. 9:27). He will become an Islamic hero and he divides the city of Jerusalem in half (pre 1967 borders). The antichrist will move his headquarters from the Babylonian region (Syria-Iraq) to Jerusalem. The antichrist will make war with the saints (the Jewish remnant). The church is not mentioned again in Revelation by name after Revelation chapters 2&3. In Rev. 11:18, the judgment for the saints is occuring in heaven at the mid-tribulation point. In Rev. 7:14, the tribulation "saints" who "made their robes white" are in heaven. In Dan. 7:24-25 Daniel calls the Jews the "saints," and these saints are the Jewish remnant. The antichrist will arise from the Middle East, be a muslim, and come from the Babylonian region. Thus making this region a key region in the future.