Signs in Our Times?
Part 4: A Red Carpet for the Antichrist
But don’t be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear. He will brag and oppose everything holy or sacred. He will even sit in God’s temple and claim to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (ESV)
Wicked one, lawless one, man of sin, son of perdition, little horn, the beast, worthless shepherd – all of these are different names for the same person – the one best known as the Antichrist. Antichrist is a man, empowered by Satan, who will rise to leadership during the seven-year tribulation. He will appear as a savior to the world, but he will bring doom and destruction on all who follow him.
Today, we continue our exploration of signs in our times that point to the strong possibility that we could be living in the final days before the rapture of the church, the tribulation, and the glorious return of Christ. (For an in-depth discussion of the rapture and tribulation period, please see the articles “Vanishing People” and “How Will the World End”)
The Antichrist will arrive on the scene at the beginning of the tribulation period, shortly after the rapture of the church. He will take power very quickly and rule over the entire world with little to no opposition, but he will only have seven years in power. As such, if we are living in the last days, we should expect there to be existing elements that would allow this person to achieve his satanic goals very quickly.
In this article, we will look at the various attributes and actions of Antichrist and see what geopolitical, cultural, and technological pieces we already have in place for the world to, in essence, roll out the red carpet for him.
Antichrist is a deceiver who will perform miraculous signs
“At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.”
Daniel 8:23-25 (NLT)
This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NLT)
Deception has become the norm on the geopolitical landscape. Politicians make promises they have no intention of keeping, lie to cover up indiscretions, and create “word salads” to obfuscate the truth. This happens regardless of the political party in power. The media used to be a source of checks and balances by exposing deception and holding politicians accountable. Unfortunately, they have now succumbed to the pressures of whatever party “owns” them and are just as implicit in the deception through unverified stories, lies of omission, and opinions presented as fact.
Adding to the problem is that most people willingly accept the word of their own political party as gospel truth without stopping to check things out. If they do check the facts, they are likely to go to one of the prominent “fact checkers” – ALL of which are affiliated with and influenced by one party or the other. I personally fact checked some of the “fact checkers” by going directly to the statistics and found not only extreme bias but also outright lies. And people both sides of the political spectrum believe that the people on the other side are deceived!
“Deception, Delusion, and Division in American Politics: Fruits of the Contact Zone”
“Political Polarization in the American Public”
Government deception and corruption does not simply affect the United States – it is a world-wide problem. Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, reports that on a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 being very clean and 0 being very corrupt, the global average is 38. The coalition noted in their most recent update that the pandemic has influenced corruption.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has also been used in many countries as an excuse to curtail basic freedoms and side-step important checks and balances.
Transparency International, 2021 “Corruption Perceptions Index”
It is this geopolitical culture that will allow the very charismatic and cunning Antichrist to worm his way into power. And as Christians, we need to be ever vigilant in testing everything we see and hear.
They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them.
1 John 4:5 (AMP)
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.
Colossians 2:8 (AMP)
He will have global authority
“The next to come to power will be a despicable man who is not in line for royal succession. He will slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue.”
Daniel 11:21 (NLT)
And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.
Revelation 13:7b (NLT)
Years ago, it would have seemed highly improbable that individual nations would allow themselves to be governed by one international figure. All of that has changed dramatically in the last decade. Covid and climate change have been two “hot topics” that suggest the need for international solutions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine added more fuel to the fire as the world seeks to prevent WWIII.
Today, there are multiple international organizations comprised of unelected officials that create rules designed to impact the whole world. The United Nations, World Health Organization, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Trade Administration, International Criminal Court, and the World Economic Forum are a few examples.
“Now is the time for a ‘great reset’”
“Ukraine accelerates the Great Reset”
When the church is raptured, millions will disappear from the earth causing chaos that will far exceed Covid and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Since the world is already primed for global leadership, the way is paved for Antichrist to take power. As for the countries that do not accept him, Antichrist will quickly subdue them.
He will sign a seven-year peace treaty with Israel
“And he will enter into a binding and irrevocable covenant with the many for one week (seven years), but in the middle of the week he will stop the sacrifice and grain offering [for the remaining three and one-half years]”
Daniel 9:27a (AMP)
The book of Daniel discusses the future of the Jewish people. In the verse above, “the many” refers to Israel. Because of the context here, it is likely that this is a peace treaty that allows the Jews to rebuild their temple and restart their sacrificial system. In the middle of the treaty, however, Antichrist will break the treaty and put an end to their sacrifices.
As noted in earlier articles, ever since Israel became a nation in 1948, there has been conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbors. The Madrid Conference, Oslo Accords, Camp David Summit, and Abraham Accords are a few of the attempts at reconciliation, but none of them have brought lasting peace or allowed Israel to rebuild their temple.
Antichrist will accomplish something that no one else has been able to do. He will find a way to allow the Jews to rebuild their temple, quite possibly next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. There are many who believe that the original temple is not where the mosque is located but in an empty space near it. This would correlate with the passage in Revelation 11:1-2 where John was asked to measure the temple. He was told to exclude the outer court, because it was given to the Gentiles to trample. The location of the outer court would be the current location of the mosque.
But would the Muslims even allow a Jewish temple near their mosque? The answer is yes. Muslims are currently awaiting their own messiah called Mahdi. Their description of Mahdi is remarkably similar to the description of the Antichrist of the Bible. Consider this quote:
Sheikh Abdulla Nimar Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said it was pointless to talk about what would happen when the mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of the messiah, would reveal himself… “The mahdi will decide whether or not to rebuild the Temple. If he decides that it should be rebuilt, I will go out to the Temple Mount and help carry the rocks.”
Matthew Wagner, Jerusalem Post, June 21, 2009
Achieving such a remarkable “peace” will not only give Antichrist international notoriety, but it will put Israel at the center of his sights. And as for the temple, The Temple Institute has been collecting everything they need to quickly build it once they have permission to do so.
“Amid rise in terror, Arab Israeli minister says Abraham Accords can spark peace with Palestinians”
“Update on the Building of the Third Temple”
“Can Third Temple be built without destroying Dome of the Rock?”
“On The Location of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem”
To be continued…
Resources
“Prophecy Update October 2021” – A discussion of Antichrist with Pastor Brett Meador
Songs of Victory
The links and articles referenced in this piece are for reference only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of this writer or the Song of Victory website.
Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV®Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
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