The brief prophecy, “antichrist shall come,” 1 John 2:18, has taken hold of the imagination of so many that the name antichrist is more widely known than other Bible names given to a wicked being who darkens the horizon in the end time.
These include such expressions as the man of sin, the son of perdition, and that wicked one, 2 Thess. 2:3-8; the wicked king, Dan. 7:24, 25; the king of fierce countenance, Dan. 8:23-25; and the beast from the sea, Rev. 13:1-10.
If the word antichrist is taken to mean one who is against Christ, these names belong to him, but if the word means a false Christ, then it properly applies to the beast from the earth or the land, Rev. 13:11-18, who is the false prophet of Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.
The personal antichrist must be distinguished from the many antichrists of 1 John 2:18; 2 John 7; from those who have the spirit of antichrist, 1 John 4:3, and from the false Christs who are to deceive the people of Israel in the latter days, Matt. 24:24; John 5:43.
A considerable body of Scripture is devoted to this evil being. The beast king is given power over all nations for only three and a half years, Rev. 13:5. He will perish in the lake of fire, Rev. 19:20; 20:10.
William Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible, (Chicago: Bible Institute Colportage Assoc., 1912), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 277-278.