We know the full genealogy of Messiah; we know because we have the line from Adam through Shem to Abraham in the Bible book of I Chronicles, Chapter One. This line is continued in the book of Matthew, Chapter One all the way from Abraham through David to Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus. A look at our Calendar will show, incidentally, that Noah and Shem were alive during the life-span of Abram / Abraham.

However, the Bible does not clearly state what the line of antichrist is; from whom does he [or she] descend? According to the Bible, all of humanity descends from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth - and Messiah descends from Shem. The name Shem means 'Name', also 'renown'; although its roots are uncertain, the word can imply 'fame' and 'glory'.

Japheth is taken to mean 'expansion' and derives from a root that means 'open, make roomy', but also 'deceive, be deceived, be enticed'. Gen 9:27 states: G·d shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Japheth is considered to have peopled the northern regions. We see that Japheth receives a blessing, while verse 25 [previous] says: Cursed be Canaan.

The reason that Canaan was cursed - and not Ham who saw his father's nakedness - is because Ham was the son of Noah, and too closely related for the curse not to reflect on the patriarch himself.

What was Ham's transgression? Gen 9:21 says that Noah was uncovered within his tent. The next verse says that Ham, the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father... The Hebrew for 'uncovered' is gâlâh 'to reveal, be stripped (as an exile)' and in the Arabic 'to become clear, display'. However, the Hebrew word for 'nakedness' is 'ervâh 'disgrace, nakedness (of the sexual organs)'. In other words, the first term has both positive [Gen 35:7] and negative [II Sam 6:20] connotations; the second term only denotes shame and indecency.

Genesis 6:8 states: Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD [the word for grace is chên [ChN], or the name of Noah backwards (NCh)]. In the Book of Acts, Chapter 10 verse 15, the Spirit speaks to Peter saying: What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common [or unclean]. In the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 3 verses 28-29, Jesus says: Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:  [29] But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation; verse 30 states: Because they said, He [Jesus] hath an unclean spirit.

G•d had declared Noah 'righteous' even though he could upon occasion reveal his fleshly side; Ham must have belittled his father in some fashion as: Behold the man of G·d lying in shame... Since the only sin that is without forgiveness is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit - that is, condemning that which G·d has declared righteous by attributing it to Satan - and since the offspring of Ham was condemned to be 'servants', Ham's transgression was blaspheming against the Holy Spirit or the Word of G·d. It was Ham's offspring that were stripped of the favor of G·d and exiled.

The conclusion seems inescapable that the line of antichrist must derive from the seed of Ham. Ham [ChM] means 'hot', and this son of Noah is considered to have peopled the southern regions, especially swarthy people. Ham's sons were Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. Cush is often translated 'Ethiopia'; Mizraim is 'Egypt'; Put is usually identified as Libya or generally as Africa; Canaan is the name of the non-Shemitic tribes of the 'Middle-east'.

The name Ham is from a root hâmam [ChMM] 'to be hot, enflame oneself [with idols: Is 57:5; the Hebrew letter Chêth is used for the letter -h-]'; in Aramaic it also means 'to kindle a fire in'. In Chaldean hema(h) [ChMH] means 'fury', related to Hebrew hêmâ(h) 'rage, poison'.

Ham's son Canaan ['to bring low'] gave rise to - among others - the Amorite and the Hamathite, both of which names appears to contain the name Ham. Hammath [ChMMTh] means 'hot springs'; however, our attention will be drawn to hamath [ChMTh] 'walled' and hammâh [ChMMH] the 'Sun'; hammân is a 'sun pillar', an 'idol, image'.

Israel was suppressed into bondage in Egypt. That Hamitic connection has already been elaborated. The Pharaoh, taken to be one of the Rameses by many scholars, hardened his heart and would not free the Israelites, thus keeping the line of Messiah under his control.

Rembrandt: Haman Begging Esther for Mercy
1655; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
Although the Persian minister Haman is spelled differently [HMN], it is considered to be of foreign origin. Scripture identifies him as an Agagite; Agag, a king-name of the Amalekites, means 'fiery one'. Amalek was a grandson of Esau; Esau married an Hittite, a descendant of Canaan - a Ham-ish connection. Indeed, when the Bible says that Esau lost his birthright, it also means that he lost his position in the line from Shem to Messiah. Thus by a quirk of attitude Esau becomes allied to the line of Ham, not Shem. Esau founded the nation of Edom, which is strictly the same word as Adam and means 'red', but is extended to adâmâh 'earth' [as red] or 'earthy'. Edom was also known as Seir, which means 'shaggy' but also 'devil'.

What we see here - in the action of Haman to exterminate the Jews in captivity in Persia - is the spirit of Esau and through him, Ham, to cut off the line of Messiah. This same lineage once again attempts to cut off the line of Messiah when Herod the Great - an Idumean [Edom] - kills all the male children of Bethlehem.

Indeed, the Herodian line was regularly involved with the line of Messiah; as stated, Herod the Great ordered the death of all the male children of Bethlehem; Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee, attempted to cut off Messiah by beheading John the Baptist and was involved with the trial of Jesus; Herod Agrippa persecuted the Christian sect, executed the apostle James and imprisoned Peter; Herod Agrippa II heard Paul's defense [Acts 25].

Before the Herodian line came to power in Palestine there was another attempt at cutting off the line of Messiah: by Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler of Cœlo-Syria. He oppressed the Jews so much - and corrupted their traditions with Hellenization - that he brought about the Maccabean revolt. The precipitous event was when Antiochus' troops were defeated by the Ptolemies of Egypt; his army fell back and sacked Jerusalem. Antiochus invaded the Temple precincts, sacrificed a pig on the altar [an abomination] and placed a statue of Jupiter Olympus in the Holy of Holies [the abomination that maketh desolate (Dan 11:31)].

The case could well be made that the action of Antiochus IV backfired in favor of Messiah; had it not been for the Maccabean revolt, there could well not have been a Jewish Temple for Jesus to visit 170 years later.

Antiochus IV chose the city of Hamath as his capitol. Josephus identifies the ancient city of Hamath as Amathus, ``which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants (although the Macedonians [Alexander the Great and his Seleucid generals] named it Epiphania) from one of his [Ham's]  posterity.´´

While it is certainly true that the Seleucids were Macedonian Greek [not derived from Ham], Antiochus I, founder of the dynasty, had a Persian mother and also called himself Soter 'Saviour'. Antiochus II took the name Theos 'god'.

Josephus says - in describing the offspring of Ham - that the name [Cham]  has undergone so many changes over time as to be unrecognizable in some cases; obviously since the time of the Roman / Jewish historian Josephus names have evolved even further, perhaps some resuming their original attribution, some becoming even less recognizable as to source. Therefore, any analysis of Hamitic name-derivation must be approached with a jaundiced eye.

For example, the name Aman [Jordan] is almost certainly derived from Ham, and has survived the  intervening centuries. On the other hand, the ancient city of Carchemish is less certain; still, a case can be made for the name having Ham-ish origin. The Egyptians wrote the name Karakamisha, and the Assyrians wrote Kargamish, later Gargamish; the meaning of the name is uncertain, but one interpretation is 'Fort of the god Chemosh', although the Assyrian-Babylonian form of Chemosh was not Kamish or Gamish, but Kammusu or Kammosu. However, 'fort' may be valid, since we have already seen an association of 'walled' with the name Ham, and Carchemish was known for it mammoth double-walled perimeter.

Likewise, the pagan god-name Chemosh is possibly related to Ham [Cham]. The name is associated with Baal-Peor and, by some, Moloch [Chemosh-melek (or Moloch)]. While the Hebrew renders the name Kemosh [or Kemish], the Septuagint [Greek Old Testament] renders the name Chamos [which translators of the English Bible transliterated into Latinized Chemosh]. This author believes that Peor and Moloch were essentially sun-gods; we have already pointed out that the name Ham is from a root hâmam 'to be hot', hammâh is the 'Sun', and hammân is a 'sun pillar'. [See the page Mystery of the Golden Calf]

By such examples it may be possible to identify threads in the line from Ham, especially the line of antichrist. It would not be proper to say that all names with -ham- in them are connected with antichrist, any more than it would be correct to say that a name must have -ham- in it to be connected with antichrist. Still, it can prove to be an indicator... a road sign.

For example, the Bible name Abraham contains the element -ham-; the Hebrew uses a different letter for -h- [Heh], however [-HM]. This suffixed -ham is from an unused root meaning 'multitude' - Abraham meaning 'Father of multitudes' or 'Father of nations'. Yet it appears associated with the word hâmâh [HMH] 'tumult, rage' [which also would appear to associate with hêmâ(h) (ChMH) 'rage, poison' (above)], and is used in the name Hamon-gog 'the Multitudes of Gog' [Ezk 39].

In the modern context we would want to consider the Palestinian group Hamas ['fury, zeal'], and perhaps even Mohammed. Although the name Hamas is an acronym for Arabic Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, the word nonetheless corresponds with the Hebrew word for 'violence' in Gen 6:11: châmâç [ChMÇ]; the word contains the element Ham [ChM]. Therefore, in this prophetic context, it would be suggestable to equate the Arabic Hamas with Hebrew Hamath - one of this author's identities for the antichrist.

With regards to Mohammed, it is interesting to note that, in Islamic prophecy, the end-times bring the Twelfth Imam; he will be discipled by Jesus who will recognize him as the Mahdi [true 'Messiah']. Thus, from the Islamic point of view the Christian antichrist would be the 'false' prophet [claiming to be Messiah], while from the Christian view the Imam would be the false prophet.

Islam could also work in the role of opposing Messiah [Jewish or Christian] in regards to a cemetery they reportedly have placed East of the supposed site of Solomon's Temple; the burial place would serve to prohibit the predicted return of the Jewish Messiah, since it is unlawful for a Holy Man to enter the Temple from a place of the dead.
Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat [Mt 7:13]. If we took the numerical equivalents for the Greek letters [see page on Numbers], 'for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction' would equal 276 × 23 - where 276 is the number of Satan's kinngdom. Perhaps more to the point, 'broad is the way that leadeth to destruction' equals 276 × 18 - where 18 is the number of 'the beast'. Finally, 'the broad way' equals 276 × 11 [a bit loosely].

The word for a broad way - a 'well-trodden path' - in Hebrew is derek; it also means 'to thresh' [Jer 51:33] or 'tread down' [Is 63:3]; it can be used for 'a course of life' [Jer 10:23, 23:12], also 'to bend'. This author believes that DEREK is one identity of the antichrist.

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Feigned Holiness [detail], ESCHATUS; Bruce Pennington,
Fireside Books; copyright © 1976-7
Speculations on the identity of antichrist have been legion. This practice began in the early Christian era, and continues well into today.

Some early church fathers [some say Irenaeus, some Hippolytus, some Victorinus] offer these four enigmatic names: Teitan, Lampetis, Antemos, Lateinos; these letters - in Greek - all equal 666 [see the page of Numbers]. To this author's knowledge these strange words have never been interpreted; to his eye they comprise 'portmanteaus' [e.g.: smoke + fog = smog], although such flights can become fanciful. Greek teirô means 'to suffer greatly, to wear away' and eita means 'and so then' - i.e. 'So then the Great Tribulation'. Greek lampe means 'a lamp' or 'light' and petis may refer to Greek peteinon 'a bird, fowl' = 'a bird of light' = Angel of Light = Lucifer. Greek anti is 'opposite, against' and emos means 'my own, of me' = 'against Me'. The Greek latreia means 'service of the gods, worship' and teinô means 'to bow (extremely)' or 'intense, anxious' = 'prostrate before a false god'.

It is difficult to see how such intelligence increases our knowledge of the identity of the antichrist. Perhaps there is some further cypher involved.

Oddly the Jewish literature following the Diaspora of the first centuries of the Common Era speaks of an 'anti-Messiah' [of course they don't identify Messiah as Christ.] Jewish scholars studying their Scriptures identifed two Messiahs: the suffering Messiah - Messiah ben Joseph - and the victorious Messiah - Messiah ben David. The military figure that rises up with the gentile nations to kill Messiah ben Joseph is called Armilus. He is eventually vanquished by Messiah ben David. The first mention of the name Armilus appears in a Targum of the seventh century; other early mentions render the name Armaglus or Armalgus. Generally he is said to issue from a union of Satan and a stone statue of a woman.

In Medieval writings such as various Midrashim, Armilus is identified with Gog and Magog of Ezekiel. Much has been written attempting to identify the name with a real person. One of the first proposals was Romulus, i.e.: Rome, since they destroyed Jerusalem and Israel as a nation. The name is approximated in the Latin armilla 'a bracelet (worn by men or women)'; apparently this has proved to be unsatisfactory. Of course the Latin immediately suggests arma 'weapons of war', considering the military character of this figure. On the other hand, Armilus could be considered an anagram for Suliman, pointing towards Islam and possibly the Turks.

Some modern eschatologists have suggested Hitler or Napoleon, or even Stalin. Although Stalin did persecute the church, and Jews somewhat, the same cannot really be said of Napoleon - no matter what lowly light in which one wishes to cast him. Hitler persecuted the Jews mercilessly, but not really the 'church' per se. Nor is there any evidence that these three 'defiled the Temple' or 'placed the abomination that maketh desolate.'

Some fanciful figurers identify Henry Kissinger via an arbitrary assignment of numbers to the letters; their empirical evidence is surely nonextant.