The Battle between the Antichrist and Roman Catholics

A thousand days into his reign, the Antichrist devises a plan to finally destroy the opposition to his claim to be god by attacking the kingdom of the South, where dwells the most devout persons in the world, faithful Catholic Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This kingdom was the southernmost part of the great Catholic monarch’s kingdom in the 21st century, and it became the holiest region of the world from that time all the way to the time of the Antichrist’s reign. And they continue to refuse to worship the Antichrist, despite threats and despite many persons being put to death (martyred) by the Antichrist’s regime.

So he devises a plan to gather a vast fleet of ships (which are capable of land/sea/air movement equally well) to attack the kingdom of the South. This plan is not a war or a battle, since the devout of that region have few weapons and few if any ships or larger armaments. He is planning a massacre, not a battle. And he decides to televise the whole affair before the entire world. He calls for a holiday, so that no one is at work, and everyone is required to watch the battle, so that they can see what happens to anyone who refuses to worship the Antichrist.

I should also point out that, during the reign of the Antichrist, there will be great poverty throughout the world, and a famine as well as a severe drought. And the Antichrist is unable to solve any of these problems. So this is a testimony to his powerlessness and his lack of divinity. The one true Almighty God makes certain that the world suffers greatly under the reign of the Antichrist, so that everyone can see that he has no real power to save anyone. He can’t even feed his own worshippers, nor give them plenty of clean water during the drought. He can’t even see that they are given a decent days’ wage. So it should be clear to everyone who has the use of their faculty of reason that the Antichrist is not divine at all.

The book of Daniel describes this attack on the South, televised to the whole world, in which the Antichrist has a vast fleet of powerful ships and the faithful in the South have only prayer.

{11:29} At the appointed time, he will return, and he will approach the South, but the latter time will not be like the former.
{11:30} And the Greek warships and the Romans will come upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat, and will have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will act. And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
{11:31} And arms will take his side, and they will pollute the sanctuary of the strength, and they will take away the continual sacrifice and will replace it with the abomination of desolation.

The former refers to the war by which the Antichrist began his rise from being only one of the ten kings to defeating the three most powerful kings and then taking control over the world. That first war was a war of the North against the South. But this time (“the latter time”) is not like that war, which the Antichrist won.

Instead, out of nowhere, warships from another region of the world (Greek meaning foreign) manned by Roman Catholics intervene and attack the vast fleet of the Antichrist, before he can massacre the faithful in the South. They have a new weapon that can “pierce” the defenses of the Antichrist’s ships.

So the Antichrist is being attacked in full view of the whole planet, as he compelled the world to watch his planned massacre of the faithful in the South. But their prayers prove to be stronger than his fleet. The world watches as his ships go down around him, being struck again and again by this new weapon, by a much smaller fleet of ships. He is being humiliated in front of the whole world.

Now the Antichrist has a decision to make. He could turn and attack the smaller fleet, despite its new weapon, and he would certainly win the battle, as his ships far outnumber the other fleet, and they have no substantial defenses against his weapons. “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.” But no, he does not say that. He does not turn and attack. For he is afraid that his ship will be one of those destroyed. He is afraid of death. So he turns tail and runs away, despite having the larger fleet, in full view of the whole world: “And the Greek warships and the Romans will come upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat….”

The Antichrist retreats before the smaller fleet, with the new weapon, and the whole world is stupefied. Their supposed god was defeated in battle despite having the larger and more powerful fleet of ships. This rather strongly undermines his claim to be almighty god, or a divine person, or whatever he particularly claims from time to time.

“and will have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will act. And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.”

Then the Antichrist takes counsel. He discovers that the Greek warships were stolen by Roman Catholics. This enrages him against the Catholic Church. He returns to the North, and he consults those who hate faithful Catholics, the heretics, schismatics, and apostates “who have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.” One member of this group, one of their most prominent leaders, is the Jezebel of Revelation:

{2:20} But I have a few things against you. For you permit the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication and to eat the food of idolatry.
{2:21} And I gave her a time, so that she might do penance, but she is not willing to repent from her fornication.
{2:22} Behold, I will cast her onto a bed, and those who commit adultery with her shall be in a very great tribulation, unless they repent from their works.
{2:23} And I will put her sons to death….

She advises the Antichrist that he should set up a formal structure for his religion, reopen all the houses of worship of the world, create a system of worship for his false religion, a type of false Church, with elements taken from all the religions and past religions of the world, especially Catholicism. She advises him that he can defeat the Catholic Church by offering to the world a more enticing Church, in perverse imitation of the Catholic Church.

Since he can no longer force the world to worship him by threat of military force (as ships with the new weapon still exist), he attempts to force people to worship him by setting up his own formal religion, his own false Church with false sacraments. The Jezebel becomes the false prophet of the Antichrist, a woman, not a man (as so many have wrongly assumed). The false prophetess helps the Antichrist devise this false Church, and she becomes its head, a type of antipope, but over the false Church of the Antichrist, not over the true Church. Those who worship are rewarded, and those who refuse are punished with laws and with deprivation of participation in society and commerce.

She devises the Mark of the Beast, which is the name or number of the Antichrist placed on the hand or the forehead. To receive that Mark, one must swear an oath of worship to the Antichrist, thereby committing an exceedingly grave sin. Otherwise, one is not permitted to buy or sell anything, not even food or water.

So begins the second part of the Antichrist’s reign, the three and one half years of the Church’s greatest sufferings. During that time, Enoch and Elijah suddenly appear on earth, preaching against the Antichrist and against the false prophetess. And the Antichrist is unable to silence them. They strike the world with a great drought, and the Antichrist is unable to provide water or food for his worshippers. It becomes obvious that Antichrist is not a god; it was truly always obvious that he is not a god. Most of his worshippers are merely pretending to believe he is divine.