During the second half of the Tribulation the beast or the Antichrist (the little horn) will wage a relentless war against God and believers in Jesus Christ:
“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. ‘But the court [judgment] shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever” (Daniel 7:25-26).
The beast will speak out the most blasphemous words ever uttered by any man. He will also arrogantly boast about how great he is and goes so far as to claim that he is the only true God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He will suffer tremendous punishment in the Lake of Fire for his blasphemies. Only the devil himself and the fallen angles will suffer more.
The beast will murder millions of new believers who are saved during the Tribualation but some will escape and enter the Millennial Kingdom in mortal bodies. The favorite method of execution of believers during the reign of horror and terror of this beast─the Antichrist will be the guillotine (Revelation 20:4). Believers will not overcome him by force. Instead they will overcome him by the testimony (Revelation 6:9) voluntarily dying for their beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The war against believers starts at the mid-point of the Tribulation and continues for a total of three and a half years until Christ’s Second Coming. Although believers will be martyred during the first half of the seven-year Tribulation (Revelation 6:9) the Antichrist does not yet wage a full-fledged war against them.
The great martyrdom of the fifth seal is alleged vengeance against Tribulation saints for the war, famine and pestilence of the second, third and fourth seals (Revelation 6:3-). Even though the Antichrist is the cause of the war, famine and pestilence he blames the Christians. He blames then for all the world’s problems and rounds them up and has them executed as payback for death of the wicked who perish in the first four seals.
The best will also change the times and laws during his 42 month reign of terror as he will be the most evil, total dictator this world has ever known. It is very possible that he will change the calendar having year one begin with his birth or the first year of his reign removing all mention of B.C. and A.D. because of his extreme hatred of Jesus the Messiah. The beast will also change the laws and create many new ones to suit his wicked tyrannical agenda. He will nullify all laws that give an individual, freedoms and pass new laws that will give him absolute power over the population of the world.