"And then shall be revealed the Lawless One, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming" (2 Thess. 2:8 R. V.). This is another name of the Antichrist which makes manifest his awful character. Each of his names exhibits him as the antithesis of the true Christ. The Lord Jesus was the Righteous One; the Man of Sin will be the Lawless One. The Lord Jesus was "made under the law" (Gal. 4:4); the Antichrist will oppose all law, being a law unto himself. When the Saviour entered this world, He came saying, "Lo I come to do Thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:9); but of the Antichrist it is written "And the king shall do according to his will" (Dan. 11:36). The Antichrist will set himself up in direct opposition to all authority, both Divine and human.
"And when they shall have finished their testimony the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them" (Rev. 11:7). This is another name which reveals the terrible nature and character of the Antichrist and which places him in sharp antithesis from the true Christ. "The Beast" is the title by which he is most frequently designated in the Revelation: there are at least thirty references to him under this name in the last book of the Bible. The Greek word signifies a wild beast. This name "the Beast" contrasts the Antichrist from the true Christ as "the Lamb;" and it is a significant fact that by far the great majority of passages where the Lord Jesus is so designated are also found here in the Apocalypse. The "Lamb" is the Saviour of sinners; the "Beast" is the persecutor and slayer of the saints. The "Lamb" calls attention to the gentleness of Christ; the "Beast" tells of the ferocity of the Antichrist. The "Lamb" reveals Christ as the "harmless" One (Heb. 7:26); the "Beast" manifests the Antichrist as the cruel and heartless one. Under the Law lambs were ceremonially clean and used in sacrifice, but beasts were unclean and unfit for sacrifices.
It is a point of interest to note that there is one other very striking contrast between the persons in the Holy Trinity, and the persons in the trinity of evil. At our Lord's baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and the first mention of the Holy Spirit in Scripture represents Him as "brooding" like a dove over the waters which covered the pre-Adamic earth (Gen. 1:2). How remarkable are those symbols -- a "Lamb" and a "Dove!" A Dove, not a hawk or an eagle. The gentle, harmless, cooing "dove." Over against this the Devil is termed "the Dragon." What a contrast -- the Dove and the Lamb, the Dragon and the Beast!