Any time some new political figure comes on the scene, the prophecy pundits come out with their speculations on whether he might be the antichrist. Have these people learned nothing? The number of antichrist figures is legion.

The latest antichrist candidate is the new Greek Prime Minister Alexios Tsipras:

“Alexios Tsipras has been prime minister of Greece for just over a month and is already a candidate for another office, according to some Christian prophecy buffs – the office of ‘Antichrist.’

“Tsipras has ‘burst onto the scene,’ as one blogger describes it, at a time of great economic uncertainty in a country, Greece, that was the 10th member to join the European Union in 1981. And, of course, everyone knows that the Bible predicts the antichrist will arise from a 10-member confederation of nations, presumed by many to be the European Union, which is seen as the ‘revived Roman empire’ described in Daniel and Revelation.

“This Euro rock star has ‘appeared out of nowhere over the last couple of years, almost magically,’ writes one prophecy blogger with sights on Tsipras.”

Read more: “The Fiction of a Ten-Nation European Confederacy.”

There are numerous problems with prophecy writers whom claim that this guy or that guy is the antichrist. The only place where the antichrist is mentioned is in the Bible. One would think that these antichrist speculators would stick to what the Bible says about the antichrist and not go all prophetic on us.

There are only two books in the entire Bible where the word ‘antichrist’ is used. The author mentions some of their content when he writes, “the apostle John was declaring the ‘spirit of antichrist’ already present in the first century and ‘even now many antichrists have come.’”

Let’s take a look at the passages more closely.

Here’s what 1 John 2:18 says:

“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

This passage informs us that there were many antichrist’s in John’s day, not just one. He goes on to say that the appearance of these antichrists was evidence that it was “the last hour.” What’s the “last hour” that John is describing? Specifically, events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70.

A few verses later, John writes, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son” (v. 22). The biblical antichrist is someone who denies the relationship between the Father and Jesus. This is a religious assessment, not a political one.

Then there’s this from 1 John 4:2-3:

“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

Once again, the biblical antichrist is someone who opposes the person and work of Jesus Christ

By going to 2 John 7, we find a more precise definition of antichrist:

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Most likely the antichrists in John’s day were Jews who opposed the growing Christian church. The opposition began with Jesus Himself (John 8:59) and continued with Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:54-60), Paul (9:29; 13:50; 14:19; 18:12; 21:36; 22:22; 2 Cor. 11:24), and others (Rev. 2:13). John, a Jew himself, mentions those were most likely his antichrist candidates:

“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).

So let’s stick to what the Bible says and not confuse people about a topic that has led many people astray. The integrity of the Bible is at stake.