Is "the Assyrian," mentioned by Isaiah and Micah, the Antichrist?

Ted's Response:

I also have read some of that before, from other sources. The history of the Hashemite kingdom in Jordan is very interesting.

I notice that Van Koevering indicates these two things in what he wrote:

I realize that a common view, held by many Christians, is that "the Assyrian" is a designation, by the ancient prophets, of the Antichrist. As such, they believe that this future man of sin, necessarily, must emerge from somewhere in the region in or around present-day Syria. However, these assumptions are not so obvious to me, for many reasons. I will give four below.

1) Isaiah 10:5,6, the Assyrian is seen to be the rod of God's anger, the club of His wrath, who will be sent against a godless nation, against a people who anger God. The ones against whom the Lord will use the Assyrian as His "rod" or "club" are those in Jerusalem (10:12a). Once this has been done, then the Lord will punish the king of Assyria (that is, "the Assyrian"), due to his willful pride and haughty look (10:12b).

Someone who is described, by another prophet, to come against the land of Israel is Gog (Ezekiel 38:16). Ezekiel even wrote how former prophets had prophesied how God would bring Gog against Israel (38:17). Presumably, two of these prophets were Isaiah, who probably were referring to Gog when they wrote about "the Assyrian" invading the land of Israel (Isaiah 10:5,6; Micah 5:5,6).

2) The Assyrian will be crushed on the mountains of God's land, which is Israel (Isaiah 14:25). Similarly, Gog also will fall on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39:4), and Gog and his hordes will be buried in Israel (39:11). On the contrary, the beast (Antichrist), along with the false prophet, will be thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur (Revelation 19:20).

If Gog's fate were to be tossed into the lake of fire, at the beginning of the the Millennium, it would be impossible for him to return again, at the end of the Millennium (20:7,8), to be part of the final insurgency against Jesus/God. In case you are wondering how Gog could return later, if he will be dead and buried, keep reading.

3) Gog and his hordes will invade and come specifically against Israel (Ezekiel 38:16), and the Assyrian will do the same (Isaiah 10:5,6; Micah 5:5,6). Yet, John wrote how the beast (Antichrist), and the ten kings who follow him, will come specifically against the Lamb (Revelation 17:12-14)—that is, Jesus.

Some believe that Gog and the Antichrist are the same person. As such, they feel that the destruction of the armies of Gog will be the same event as the Battle of Armageddon, during which the Antichrist and his armies will be defeated. This simply is not the case, and several scriptural comparisons in my commentary, The Final Battles, demonstrate this.

In fact, the destruction of the hordes of Gog, attacking Israel, will take place on the day Jesus returns, 1,260 days (Revelation 11:3, 12:6) following the setting up of the "abomination that causes desolation" at the midpoint of the 70th Week. Then, 30 days later, in fulfillment of Daniel 12:11, the Antichrist and his armies will gather at Armageddon, planning to attack Jesus, the Lamb (as Psalm 2:1-12 describes); however, He will defeat them instead.

4) In Revelation 13:1, the "dragon" (Satan) is seen watching the first beast or Antichrist rising up "out of the sea" (with "sea" probably representing multitudes of people). This will take place at the midpoint of the 70th Week. Many believe that Satan will possess or inhabit the Antichrist/beast. Perhaps so; but at a minimum, Satan will be directing and guiding this man for the next 3˝ years.

Now, in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, there is a reference to Gog, indicating that he will be the king of a "swarm of locusts":

Thus the Lord showed me, and behold a swarm of locusts were coming, and, behold, one of the young devastating locusts was Gog, the King. (Amos 7:1)

Literal locust insects do not have a leader or "king" (Proverbs 30:27). So this very well may be referring to a demon host, indicating that Gog, leading the armies in the Ezekiel 38 & 39 prophecy, will be a demonic being or fallen angel. This seems credible, knowing also that Gog will return 1,000 years later, as seen in John’s vision (Revelation 20:7,8). Further, it is possible (I believe probable) that this demon, "Gog," will possess or inhabit two different men, over 1,000 years apart, to lead armies against Jerusalem. The first (human) leader will die and be buried (Ezekiel 39:11), while the second one will be devoured from fire coming down from heaven (Revelation 20:9).

A swarm of demonic locusts is seen to come out of the Abyss during the Fifth Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 9:1-3). The angel Abaddon (the Destroyer) is described as the king over them (9:11). Conceivably, then, Abaddon, the king angel of the Abyss, could be Gog (or perhaps a fallen angel in command of Gog).

Considering all of this, I am not at all convinced that "the Assyrian," as written about by the ancient prophets, is the same person as the end-time Antichrist. Thus, by no means am I convinced that the Antichrist must emerge from the Middle East, specifically from the region in and around Syria.

Near the end of the 70th Week, then, it seems plausible that a future leader will become possessed by the demonic spirit, Gog, and will head a conglomerate of demonic and Islamic armies. The armies of many other nations will join the armies of Gog and Magog, and altogether they will come, from the north, to invade Israel (Ezekiel 38:15,16). And God will execute severe judgment on Gog and the armies with him (38:22) on the day that Jesus returns.

Now, Daniel showed how the "little horn" (who also is the eleventh horn: Antichrist) will arise from the fourth beast of Daniel's dream, amongst ten other horns (Daniel 7:7,8). The fourth beast was the Roman Empire, with the ten horns representing, I believe, the strongest ten nations within the (present-day) revival of the Roman Empire. These nations also were represented by the ten toes on the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar's statue in his dream (2:33,40-43), which symbolized both the western and the eastern portions of the Roman Empire.

However, I am convinced that it is speculative and tenuous, at best, to assume that the Antichrist must arise from the eastern "leg" of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, Gog (that is, "the Assyrian") almost certainly will. In fact, I feel that it is virtually certain that the forces of Antichrist and the forces of Assyrian/Gog—very likely consisting of two different factions of Islam—will engage in combat with each other over possession of Israel. This conflict will escalate during the second half of the 70th Week, and it probably will peak during the seventh year. If so, it would be an example of some important words spoken by Jesus:

Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? (Matthew 12:25,26)

More about the distinction between Gog and the Antichrist can be found in the Assyrian section of my Beasts commentary and in the Gog vs. Antichrist section of my Final Battles commentary. Also, you can read my email response to How do you know that Gog and the Antichrist will not be the same person?