The Antichrist (Beast) will initiate a "mark" throughout the planet to denote those who willingly choose to obey him. Those who refuse to accept the mark of the Beast will not only be unable to buy or sell goods, they will be hunted down and murdered for their disobedience (the majority of which are true Christians who obey God - Revelation 14:12 - 13) hunted down and slaughtered (Matthew 24:9, Revelation 6:11, 12:11, 17, 13:7).
The actual word "Antichrist" comes from the Greek antichristos (Strong's Concordance #G500) which means the opponent or adversary of the Messiah. It appears only five times in four Biblical verses, all of which occurs in books written by the Apostle John (1John 2:18, 22, 4:3 and 2John 1:7) between 63 and 64 A.D.
The Antichrist is also referred to by the Apostle Paul as the "man of sin," "the son of perdition," "the mystery of lawlessness" and "the lawless one" (2Thessalonians 2:3, 7 - 8). He is the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Jesus, as someone who will stand in a newly constructed temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14) and claim to be man's savior. The Antichrist will then demand the right to be worshipped (2Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13:4, 8).
The prophet Daniel states something interesting about this ruler. Although he will be male, he will be possessed by a spirit being who is sexless and has no natural desire to be with or please a woman. The Antichrist will be single-minded toward his goal to rule the earth as a (false) savior.
He will not regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women . . . for he shall magnify himself above all (Daniel 11:37, HBFV).
According to the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, during the period of the Renaissance, Italian astrologers commonly believed that a conjunction of the planet Jupiter with the moon would signal the rise of this Satan-possessed human.
The Catholic Encyclopedia also speculates that the person the Bible refers to as Antichrist might be a descendant of the Israelite tribe of Dan. This tribe is noticeable absent from the Revelation 7 list of Israelite tribes from which 144,000 people are converted during the End Time (see also Genesis 49:17, Jeremiah 8:16, Amos 8:14).
The numbers 13, 42, and 666 are closely associated with the Antichrist. The number thirteen symbolizes rebellious governments that are against God's ways, which will see its fullness in the end time one-world government that will oppose all that is good.
Satan's efforts to rule the world as a god will last only 42 months or 1,260 days (Revelation 11:1 - 2). The identifying number or mark of the beast (Revelation 13:8) or Antichrist, who will rule the earth, is 666.
The Antichrist, at the end of his forty-two month reign over the earth, will organize the largest military force the world has ever seen in order to fight against the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Revelation 17, 19:19). He will be utterly defeated and consumed, however, in a place called Armageddon (Valley of Megiddo), by "the brightness of His (Christ's) coming" (2Thessalonians 2:8).