The Lord and the Apostles had spoken of an extremely powerful enemy of the Faith, who would appear shortly before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This enemy is known by Christians as “Beast” or “Antichrist”.

For a long time, a multitude of Christian commentators and prophets have claimed that this lawless individual would come from the Hebrew tribe of Dan; in this study, we will take a look at some of the prophecies in the Holy Bible, which reveal that the Antichrist’s origin is indeed from this tribe.

 

1. The “seed” of the Serpent

One of the first prophecies in the Holy Bible refers to the enmity that Satan and his “seed” would have towards the Church and Her “seed”. These are the words that God had said to the “serpent” (the Devil, according to Revelation 20:2), after the sin of the two first-fashioned people in the Garden of Eden:  “And I shall place enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He* will stand above your head, and you will stand by His heel '. (Genesis 3:15).

Just as the Church was to have “seed” of Her own, likewise the serpent was to have his own “seed”, for his unflagging struggle against the Church. And, just as the Church of Israel was to give birth to Christ, likewise the serpent was to bring the Antichrist into existence.

The apostle Paul gives us the key to comprehending this, when explaining that the prophecies that mentioned “seed” were mainly in reference to the Person of Jesus Christ*, whereas all others who were referred to as the “seed of Abraham”, would be the “seed” of Christ by extension, because of their faith in Him: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. It does not say “and his seeds” -as if they are many- but as one: ‘and to your seed’ - who is Christ. [...] for you are all one, in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed...”  (Galatians 3:16,28,29).

The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as “seed” in the singular – one “seed” - and yet, many are they who become the “seed of Abraham”, when they don Christ. In the same way, when the Bible speaks in Genesis of the “seed of the Serpent”, it is in the singular, “as if for one seed” - and is none other than the Antichrist, as we shall see further along.  In the same manner that they who have the “Spirit of Christ” become “seed of Abraham”, they who have the spirit of the Antichrist become the “seed of the Serpent”. The former have "put on" Christ, whereas the latter have "put on" the Antichrist. (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 2:2).

And, just as Christians strive to become Christ-like, the "seeds" of the Serpent become like the Dragon, Satan.  This can be seen, in Revelation 12:3, and 13:1, where we observe that the Dragon - Satan, has characteristics similar to the Beast – Antichrist: they both (prophetically speaking) have 7 heads and 10 horns.

 

2. Dan, Serpent, Dragon and Lion

After mentioning the Antichrist as a likeness of Satan at the beginning of chapter 14, Isaiah says the following in verse 29: “Do not rejoice, all of Philistine, that the rod which struck you was crushed; for, out of the serpent’s root will come forth a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent”. 

“Serpent” – however – is how Jacob had prophetically referred to the Tribe of Dan, linking it to various other prophecies; i.e., that from this Tribe a leader (“judge”) will come forth, who will “attack the heel” (remember the mention of heel in Eden, with God’s curse on the serpent); also of the rider being thrown off the horse backwards (that is, in the opposite direction of the straight path,) and finally, the anticipation of salvation by the Lord:  “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent on the road - a viper on the path, biting the heels of the horse, so that its rider shall fall backward.  I have waited for Your salvation, o Lord! (Genesis 49:16,17)

But Jeremiah also links the “seed” to the Tribe of Dan during the time of the Antichrist – who will be promising “peace and healing”.  We notice here that he indicates very subtly the origin of the Antichrist – in fact, he uses the same words of Isaiah’s prophecy (14:29) mentioned above, with “serpents and vipers”: “We were anticipating peace, but nothing was good; and a time of healing, but behold: turmoil! The snorting of his horses was heard coming from Dan. All the land shook at the sound of the neighing of His strong ones (horses); because they came, and they devoured the land and all upon it: the city, and those dwelling in it. For behold, I will send serpents to you: vipers, which will not be charmed, but shall bite you, says the Lord.”   (Jeremiah 8:15-17)

 Let’s take a look at Isaiah’s prophecy in 30:6, according to the Septuagint translation:  “In their sorrow and anguish, there will be lion and lion cub there; and vipers and flying offspring of vipers, for those who carried their riches on donkeys and camels, to a nation that will not benefit them.”

In his reference to the “great sorrow” during the time of the Antichrist, the prophet here links the “serpents” and their “seeds” – the “offspring of vipers” – to the “lion” and to the “lion cub” – its own “seed”.

This link between serpents and lions is not a chance one. It points us to yet another prophecy on the Tribe of Dan.  It is in Deuteronomy, 33:22: “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap out of Bashan.”

But why is Dan referred to as a lion?  Let’s recall the words of the Holy Bible, where Satan is referred to “...as a lion, seeking to devour...”  (1 Peter 5:8).  Well, Satan’s “seed” -the Antichrist of the Tribe of Dan – will be the same as his “father”...

However, there is another – different – reason the Antichrist is likened to a lion: he will be mimicking Jesus Christ, by presenting himself as the omnipotent promised Messiah; he is being referred to as “lion”, the way that Jesus Christ is referred to as “a lion, of the Tribe of Judah”, in Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:9: “Judah is a lion’s whelp; as a shoot you shall rise from it, my son. Having lain down you slept as a lion and as a whelp...” 

(See also:  “But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah - the Root of David - has prevailed, for opening the scroll and loosening its seven seals...” -- Revelation 5:5).

Another prophecy, which links the “lion” to the “dragon”, is in Ezekiel, where God says to him the following, by likening the Pharaoh to the Antichrist:  “Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and you will say to him: ‘As a young lion among the nations, you too resemble a dragon in the sea, and you have swollen your rivers and disturbed the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.” (Ezekiel 32:2) 

Although the Pharaoh here is referred to as a “lion”, he is likened to a “dragon” (= the “seed” of his father, the “dragon, the devil”): “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years...”.  (Revelation 20:2).

Ezekiel similarly prophesies the following: “Son of man [...] Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against Pharaoh the king of Egypt, the huge dragon who is seated in the midst of his rivers...”.  (Ezekiel 29:3-5) 

And Isaiah also says:  “On that day, God shall wield the holy and mighty sword upon the fleeing serpent Leviathan - the twisted serpent Leviathan - and slays the dragon in the sea...”   (Isaiah 27:1)

Now let’s take a look in the Book of Psalms:  “You divided by Your strength the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters. You shattered into pieces the heads of Leviathan...”  (Psalms 74:13,14).  Of interest here is to recall how the Dragon and the Beast in the Book of Revelations are described with multiple heads!

 

3. The apostasy of the Tribe of Dan

From the above, therefore, it becomes obvious that there was a constant battle between God’s people and Satan’s people (who are likened to “serpents” or “dragons”).  Such people – for example the Pharaoh or the various other enemies of (the then faithful) Israel – were used in the prophecies of the Holy Bible, as foreshadowings of the actual Antichrist – the par excellence “seed of the Serpent” – who will come from the tribe of Dan.

There is a reason the Tribe of Dan is not mentioned among the saved Tribes of Israel in the Book of Revelations (Chapter 7:1-8). In there is described the remnant of the total faithful Israelites during the time of the Antichrist, symbolically numbering 144.000.  The reason this Tribe is omitted is naturally because they will wholeheartedly follow their “compatriot” the Antichrist, and as a result, will not be leaving behind them a sufficient “remnant” of saved ones, as will the other Tribes. 

This is why they will not be acknowledged as “true Israelites”; instead of being regarded as the “seed of Abraham” they will have rendered themselves “seed of the devil” (Romans 2:29, Revelations 3:9, John 8:39-44).

The fall of the Tribe of Dan appears in an eschatological prophecy, in Amos: “Those who take an oath by the sin of Samaria, and those who say ‘As your God lives, Dan’ [...] shall fall and never rise again.”  (Amos 8:14)

One might ask: Why is this?  Obviously because Dan in this prophecy is not worshipping the true God – Christ – but a false one – the Antichrist.  And it is equally important to note that no other Tribe is mentioned as participating in this delusion.  Let’s also not forget that the Antichrist will aspire to be worshipped as God.  He is the one that the entire Tribe of Dan will be acknowledging as "God", hence leaving no “remnant” among them: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”. (2 Thess. 2:4). 

But, until then, many forerunners of the Antichrist will be making their appearance:

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” [...]

“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist - the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son, also has the Father.” [...] 

“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His “seed” remains in Him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.  in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother."

(1 John 2:18,22-23; 3:9-10)

 

                                                 

 

Related articles:  Parallels in Genesis and the Apocalypse; 

Translation :  A.N.