There was once a Christian who tended his Sheep on a YouTube channel from a basement near a desert wilderness. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He made a 3 hour and 42 minute video calling out “Antichrist! Antichrist!” and the Flock came to watch, and some of them commented with him for a considerable time. This pleased the Christian so much that a couple weeks afterwards he made another considerably long video calling out “Antichrist! Antichrist!” because the news cycle had changed, and again the Flock came to watch and comment. But shortly after this the Antichrist actually did come out from the desert wilderness, and began to persecute some of the Sheep, and the Christian of course went live and cried out “Antichrist! Antichrist!” still louder than before. He even used three pointing emojis, a yellow warning sign, and four red exclamation points in the title! But this time the Sheep, and also the Lost, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody paid attention and nobody turned to Christ. So the Antichrist made a good meal off the Christian’s Flock, and when the Christian complained, the Lord commented on his YouTube channel and said:

“A truthful witness rescues lives, but the one who breathes lies brings deception.”

Proverbs 14:25 NET

THE WITnESS OF THE CHURCH HAS SUFFERED GREATLY FROM THE CHRISTIAN WHO CRIED ANTICHRIST

How many times throughout Church history has someone cried “Antichrist!” and how many times has he shown up? Has it ever been correct?

I lament. It seems we cannot resist pointing fingers at someone and making this claim without any shadow of a doubt. Did you know that people on the outside looking in make fun of us for this? I know because I have an unbelieving friend who has done this very thing. When Obama’s name was being tossed around, even though I did none of the tossing, it didn’t matter. My friend made fun of me for it. We haven’t spoken since. Just this one activity alone is causing great damage to the Church’s credibility, reputation, and witness. How much more all the other unbiblical speculation that goes along with it?

If you’ve spent any time in end-time social media circles, lately, you’ve probably seen the numerous claims that the newly crowned King Charles is the Antichrist. It would seem for some the Beast from the Sea likes sipping his darjeeling with honey and milk. Who knew? I would ask by what biblical criteria would an elderly Englishman from a defunct line of kings be considered as the most evil man there will ever be in history, the Son of Perdition? And what of the newly released reports about King Charles’ cancer? Would the Antichrist be diagnosed with some sort of cancer betraying a weakness for all the world to know? Absurd. Even beyond all of this, and most importantly, it quite literally says the Antichrist will not be from royalty in the Book of Daniel. 

“Then there will arise in his place a despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

Daniel 11:21 NET

Now that you’ve seen this, if you’re one who has been spreading this gossip around, will you stop and post this verse on your social media account and say you were wrong? Your decision will speak volumes.

King Charles is just one in a long list of candidates which reads like, well, a who’s-who of Antichrist candidates. This list has included such esteemed world personalities as Hitler, Vlad “the Impaler” Putin, Donald Trump (originally for promoting a Middle East peace deal), Jared Kushner (for helping him), John Kerry (for promoting a Middle East peace deal), Obama (for being Obama), Alexi Tsipras (only nerds of eschatology, of which I am one, may remember this one—good times!), and even way back before this, Mikhail Gorbachev. There have been many others in between.

The Pope has been a long-running candidate, though people just can’t seem to figure out whether he is the Antichrist or the False Prophet. Rather, it’s the seat of the Pope because when one such named individual leaves the position after not fulfilling the criteria, fingers point to the new guy as the one the Bible is actually talking about. Hey, do you remember when the Pope stumbled and fell over during Mass? Honestly now, would the Antichrist or False Prophet be embarrassed like this in public? Again, absurd.

Then there’s Elon Musk whom it seems will be giving the Pope a run for his wealth for years to come. Right now, he’s being paired up with Donald Trump as his immediate subordinate.

Oh, the imaginations of men!

Now that I think about it, I believe I remember hearing something about Dubya back in the day as well. In fact, would you be surprised to know that nearly every modern American President has been on the list? It might be better to just ask who hasn’t been on the list. This fact should be seen as an indictment of Western Bible prophecy interpretation prompting self-examination and exegetical reflection leading to the responsible handling of the Word. But, sadly, there’s no indication that it will be.

Alas, Women’s Rights advocates must be quite upset that all of the candidates being considered for the most powerful leadership position in worldly history are men!

End-time Bible prophecy can be a powerful evangelistic tool to reach the lost, but we need to get it right. After crying “Antichrist!” about 162 times, what do you think is going to happen the 163rd time when he actually shows up? Just like the Shepherd Boy in The Boy Who Cried Wolf, no one is going to listen, and great blame and fault will be at the feet of those who participate in this activity. We will never know the true cost of this obsessive behavior. Perhaps it’s time to re-examine the biblical criteria with which we are trying to identify him?

That’s rhetorical. It is time.

The Biblical Details Matter

It seems anytime some world leader or someone in a position of authority on the world stage acts in a tyrannical way, you can find him at the top of someone’s list. Thankfully, recognizing tyrannical tendencies in someone is not the deciding factor for Antichrist candidacy. If that were the case, we’d all be on someone’s list as it is the desire of fallen Man to rule the world around him. The person who will fulfill this prophecy will not just be a certain way. He has to do certain things, specific things, in a specific area of the world from which he comes. Merely being famous for holding a leadership position of some sort and uttering a few NWO buzzwords in a favorable manner falls woefully short of the mark.

Presently, we cannot know who he is because there are things that must happen before anyone can be recognized as fulfilling this role. Some of those things can be found in Daniel 7 and 11. Daniel 7:24 is an important verse in determining when he will be revealed to us as Christians. The angel interprets Daniel’s vision.

The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings.

Daniel 7:24 NET (see also 7:8)

Before his arrival on the scene, this end-time, ten-king kingdom must already exist. He does not rise to power over this kingdom until “after them”, more specifically after “humiliating” or “subduing” three of the ten kings who are in power. This ten-king kingdom does not yet exist.

He must be king of the north (Dan 11), which means this north kingdom must already exist. Daniel 11:21 is about his ascension to the throne of this kingdom, which will be in the same area as the old Seleucid Empire, the trial fulfillment of this prophecy—Turkey/Iran/Iraq/Syria. He’s called “king of the north” for this reason. It’s about the prophetic geography in the text.

“Then there will arise in his place a despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

Daniel 11:21 NET

This north kingdom does not yet exist.

Here’s what the order of events from the Book of Daniel looks like:

1. A ten-king kingdom must exist (Dan 7:8, 7:24).
2. Daniel’s north kingdom must exist (Dan 11).
3. He must rise to power in this north kingdom (Dan 7:24, 11:21-23).

Even though there are other things I believe must happen before this, the point is if you don’t see a ten-king kingdom on the earth next to Israel (Joel 3:11-12; Zech 12:2, 14:14) with this north kingdom as part of it, the Antichrist isn’t going to be revealed.

If you need something simpler, it’s this: No ten-king kingdom in the Middle East, no Antichrist.

Read the following verse again. What happens first?

The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings.

Daniel 7:24 NET

How is it we’re going to read through these things containing Middle Eastern geography and a sequential order of events and still claim that New York City is Babylon, or stake out some old guys in America or Italy, or obsess over a particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland? I must ask, are we even reading at all?

Do Not Go Beyond the Biblical Borders of the Prophetic Text

Something else we need to consider is that certain biblical phrases don’t mean what our Western minds think they mean. Below is just one among many which have yet to be diligently explored by students of end-time Bible prophecy.

People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the LORD, but they will not find any.

Amos 8:12 NET

We have the phrase “sea to sea”, which minds outside the Middle Eastern biblical world take to mean the whole world, whereas the people who live in the area to whom this was written take to mean the whole land, literally from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea.

 Who is correct?

 Why don’t we let the Bible tell us? This is one example of a figure of speech defined by the geography of the biblical world where all the action has always taken place. In this way, we shouldn’t go beyond the borders of the prophetic text in our interpretation of end-times events. 

So when Revelation 13:3, one of the verses people like to use to teach the Antichrist will rule a one-world government, says “the whole world” followed the beast, is it really the whole world? Or is it describing the whole biblical world, the physical boundaries having already been defined for us by the Old Testament Prophets when they gave us the names of the nations comprising the end-time, ten-king kingdom? Do you see?

These things deserve further examination, especially in light of passages in Daniel 11 which chronicles the constant wars the Antichrist is involved in throughout his reign, and specifically verse 30 that says “the ships of Kittim” (western forces, look it up) will come against him. So, two very reasonable questions for us would be:

1. If the Antichrist is ruling a one-world government, how do these other nations exist to wage war with him?
2. If the Antichrist is from the West, why is the West coming against him? 

The point is, if you take such phrases to mean the Antichrist will rule the whole world, then what do you do with Daniel 11? If you take Daniel 11 to mean he will not rule the whole world because he’s warring with other nations, then what do you do with phrases that appear in Revelation 13:3, Daniel 2:38, Isaiah 5:26, Amos 8:12, etc? These ideas both can’t be correct. It’s time for all of us to slow down and examine these things.

There are several other passages and phrases, some of which I’ve written about, and some of which I hope to write about in the future, that need to be further examined. And just so you know, I’m not the only teacher of end-time Bible prophecy drawing attention to these things.

It’s here where I must state that I am not teaching the Antichrist’s kingdom won’t affect the whole world. From Scripture such as Daniel 11 describing his warring with other world nations, and Revelation 18 describing his kingdom as a world economic superpower, and from the massive amount of Islamic migration out of the Middle East to all parts of the world, we see that it will. I am simply teaching it won’t rule the whole world.

Regarding the False Prophet and the Mark

The False Prophet

If we take the order of revealings in Revelation 13:1-11 to be representative of how they actually happen, then we must conclude the False Prophet shows up after the Antichrist. First one beast, “then” the other as it says in Revelation 13:11.

Some would argue, maybe even myself, that this order may just be representative of their hierarchical importance—first, second. If the False Prophet does show up before the Antichrist, for whatever reason, it will at least be around the same time—within the bounds of a human lifespan because they work together. Either way, there must be a ten-king kingdom in existence prior which the Antichrist seizes as we saw above.

Also, consider the False Prophet will be pointing the way to the Antichrist, not himself (Rev 13:11-18). He will be performing as an actual prophet, a false type of John the Baptist, more specifically a false Jesus. This means if the person you’re pointing a finger at as fulfilling the role of the False Prophet does not promote the worship of “the one who is coming” (using some such language) then he’s probably not him, and “probably” doesn’t cut it in the unblemished track record of biblical prophetic accuracy. In other words, the False Prophet promotes the worship of the Antichrist not himself (Rev 13:12).

It’s also important to note he will come from the same area as the Antichrist because they’re borne from the same antisemitic religion, the one “sitting” on this area even now (Rev 17:3). What reason does he have to promote the worship of his superior if they’re not of the same religion? This means if the religion you’re watching isn’t antisemitic and based in the Middle East, you’re watching the wrong religion.

For a more detailed look at this biblical figure, see Brief Exposé of the Biblical False Prophet.

The Mark of the Beast

We won’t know what the mark of the beast actually is until the False Prophet enforces it (Rev 13:16-17). Again, we can speculate about what it is, but speculation must be labeled as such and not taught as truth. This kind of sensational, knee-jerk guesstimating includes entitling blog posts and videos with a near-endless array of punctuation marks asking such things as “Is the CBDC the Mark of the Beast????!!” only to then proceed teaching as though it is, while at the end saying some thing like, “Well, even if it isn’t, we’re getting close!” Like that’s supposed to let you off the hook and make it all better (James 3:1-12). 

If you do these kinds of things, your actions betray what you’re really after—attention in the form of clicks and likes likely due to social media monetization. These kinds of things cause me to wonder if you really do care at all, or if you’re being deceptive on purpose. This is severely irresponsible, and that is severely an understatement.  Frankly, they just make you look silly both to Christians and the lost.

Just recently, with antisemitism burgeoning around the world, we’ve seen several instances of people marking Jews with what could quite literally be an actual marker. Here’s one example in this photo.

But for some reason, we’re stuck on computer chips as the mark of the beast. It couldn’t possibly be something written on the hand, or wrapped around the head showing allegiance to an antisemitic religion, so says the Western Church.

In any courtroom, these possibilities are sufficient evidence to cause reasonable doubt and acquit microchips, and the like, precisely because we don’t know with certainty what it is.

Furthermore, did you know that all Scripture says about the mark of the beast with regard to its economic function is that you will need it to buy or sell?

Revelation 13:16-17 (NET) He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave ) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. [17] Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast — that is, his name or his number.

It says nothing about a cashless society. That’s a man-made invention that has to be read into the text. These verses are quite silent on the medium of exchange.

Additionally, Scripture says those who take the mark do so because they first worship the beast and his image. They worship the beast and then receive the mark. The decision of the heart to worship the beast precedes the marking.

A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand,

Revelation 14:9 NET

Is the image here yet? Does someone who goes to get a vaccine pledge their heart to an antisemitic religion before doing so?

Again, please, everyone slow down. We won’t know who the False Prophet is until around the same time or after the Antichrist shows up, definitely after the ten-king kingdom exists. We won’t know what the mark actually is until the False Prophet enforces it.

Other Things We Cannot Know

In addition to the above, there are other things we cannot know. We cannot know how long “that kingdom” will be in existence before these ten kings rule it. The language in the text suggests it will be around in some form previous to them when it says these kings “will arise from that kingdom.”

Daniel 7:23-24 NET “This is what he told me: ‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it. [24] The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings.

We also cannot know how long the ten kings will rule when they finally do “arise.” This ten-king kingdom will be in power before the Antichrist “arise[s] after them” and seizes it (also 7:8).

We also cannot know how long he will be ruling the ten-king kingdom before he makes the covenant of death setting off the final seven years (Dan 9:27; Isa 28:18-19).

All this to say take a deep breath, relax, remain calm, and watch carefully and responsibly by prayerfully being in the prophetic text. When these things actually happen, we won’t have to guess about them.

Divorcing Bible Prophecy from the Geography Upon Which It Sits Leads to All Manner of Wild Speculation

Hear me. Divorcing end-time Bible prophecy from the geography upon which it sits allows us to come to any conclusion we want anywhere in the world. As a consequence of doing this, we’ve been trying to determine the correct area of the world to watch through gleaned personality traits and tyrannical ambitions rather than the actual geography written down for us in the text. On the one hand, we have the personality traits and ambitions all tyrannical leaders share. On the other hand, we have the prophetic geography the Old Testament Prophets gave us telling us where the Antichrist’s kingdom will actually reside. Ask yourself, honestly. Which do you think we should be relying on? This applies also to the mark. If it’s not coming out of the area of the world prophetic geography says it will, it’s not it.

The Handy-Dandy Guide

Read Daniel 7:24. What happens first?

The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings.

Daniel 7:24 NET

1. We cannot know how long “that kingdom” will be in existence before these ten kings rule it (Daniel 7:23-24).

2. We cannot know how long the ten kings will rule when they finally do “arise” (Daniel 7:8, 7:24).

3. The ten-king kingdom must exist (Daniel 7:8, 7:24).

4. Daniel’s north kingdom must exist (Daniel 11).

5. He must rise to power in this north kingdom (Daniel 7:24, 11:21-23).

Simpler: No ten-king kingdom in the Middle East, no Antichrist.

6. We cannot know how long he will be ruling the ten-king kingdom before he makes the covenant of death setting off the final seven years (Daniel 9:27; Isaiah 28:18-19).

7. Prophetic geography places his origin in the Middle East (Daniel 11). If you don’t see a ten-king kingdom on the earth next to Israel (Joel 3:11-12; Zechariah 12:2, 14:14) with this north kingdom as part of it, the Antichrist isn’t going to be revealed.

8. The False Prophet shows up after (or around the same time as) the Antichrist, after the ten-king kingdom exists (Revelation 13:11).

9. He comes from the same area because they’re both born from the same antisemitic religion “sitting” there now (Revelation 17:3).

10. He promotes the worship of the Antichrist not himself (Revelation 13:12).

11. We won’t know what the mark of the beast actually is until the False Prophet enforces it (Revelation 13:16-17).

12. The text about the mark says nothing about a cashless society (Revelation 13:16-18). That’s a man-made invention that has to be read into it. It’s silent on the medium of exchange.

13. Those who take the mark do so because they first worship the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9). They first worship the beast then receive the mark. The decision of the heart to worship the beast precedes the marking.

14. Bonus: the Old Testament Prophets name nations, specifically, that God will judge at Christ’s return. They are all located in the Middle East and North Africa. Any nation not named in Bible prophecy is not part of the ten-king kingdom at the end, and so the Bible doesn’t speak of them. Since the Bible doesn’t speak of them, neither should we. That’s it. It’s not more complicated than that. And so while all peoples and nations will be judged (Isa 13:11; Rev 20:11-15), the final ten-king kingdom is only comprised of those nations named in Scripture. Therefore, get grounded in the prophetic geography the OT Prophets gave us and do not go beyond the borders of the biblical, prophetic texts in your interpretation of end-time events.

Copy/paste this and keep it with you.

Prophecy is knowable. Stick to Scripture. Let the geography tell you its story. You’ll find you will no longer be overwhelmed trying to track things in areas of the world that have nothing to do with Bible prophecy like a juggler with too many objects to juggle. The geography helps bring focus and you will actually begin to see the things you’ve been longing to see. It will cut away all the peripheral, unbiblical mind-clutter, and you won’t feel like a very small hamster on a very large wheel anymore. Been there, done that. Over.

Watchmen on the Wall

There are a couple of other things I want you to consider. As students of end-time Bible prophecy, we often consider ourselves “watchmen on the wall.” If we are watchmen, God is talking about us here:

“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

Ezekiel 33:2-6 NET

We should be taking this seriously. How many of us even knew this was in the Bible?

Blowing the Trumpet

God says if we who are watchmen do not blow the trumpet when we see the sword coming, the blood of the people who suffer as a result will be on us. But how can the watcher on the wall blow the trumpet to warn the people if he doesn’t know what he should be warning them about? It’s possible he could see the sword coming and never know it because he doesn’t know what to look for. 

If this is truly our calling, God just doesn’t give us this charge so that we can do whatever we like with the prophetic texts, or come to any conclusion that we want. A watchman is to be vigilant at his post, which for us includes carefully and prayerfully reading and studying like the Bereans before us (Acts 17:10-11). We are not to be lazy, nor reckless, nor accepting of everything we see and hear unable to filter out the ridiculous and the absurd. If we’re ever unable to filter out the ridiculous and the absurd, perhaps we need to climb down from the wall?

We are not to sit with our backs to the wall relying on old reports saying everything is okay, or there’s trouble coming when there isn’t. It’s our job to recognize it.

And why not ask the watchman next to you whether he sees what you see in the distance (Pro 27:17)? Discuss it with other sharp watchers who are humbly and earnestly studying.

What are Your Spiritual Gifts? Should You Be Teaching?

We must also recognize, and this is so important, that not everyone has the gift of teaching. It’s so easy to set up a social media channel and give yourself a voice and start teaching the Bible even though you may not have been equipped, or even called, to do so. What are your spiritual gifts? We’re not all given the same ones. 

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NET) It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, [12] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God — a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. [14] So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. [15] But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. [16] From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

With our gifts, we are to build up the body of Christ in the knowledge Christ making sure we don’t become the children, or the wind and waves tossing them about.

One practical way you might identify your gifts is to become involved in various ministries at your church. Some will be for you. Some won’t. The pastoral leadership at my church encourages this for this reason. There are also tests you can take much like personality or career tests. Ask your pastor about this.

James, the brother of Jesus, opens his treatise of our inability to control our tongues by telling us not all of us should become Bible teachers. We should be taking this seriously as well.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

James 3:1 NET

Teachers are judged more strictly because we are supposed to get it right, or at least humbly seek to get it right, and not teach speculation as truth but label it as such. A wise man once told me to hold everything with an open hand. This is good advice for all areas of our walk with Christ. For our purposes here, the implication is this: Don’t grasp something so firmly that when you find out it’s wrong you hold onto it pridefully and can’t let go.

A Serious Closing Question

Dear Christian,

There is a very spiritually unhealthy race to be the first, the one who identifies prophetic things, the consequences of which are causing great harm and destruction. Please, resist this temptation and stay away from these kinds of teachers. Say no to having your ears tickled and your heart blown about by sensational fiction, both ridiculous and absurd, and get into the Word yourself (2 Tim 4:3; Eph 4:14). You will be glad you did. 

But if, after you have been exposed to the things in this article, you’re going to ignore them and still point fingers at world leaders and cry “Antichrist!”, I have a serious question for you to consider. Will you also be the one who cries “Christ!” while leading people out into the wilderness or into the inner rooms because you’re not paying attention to the details?

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Remember, I have told you ahead of time. So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Matthew 24:23-28 NET

A brother, sincerely.

• End-Time Globalism and Holy Hyperbole
• Permanently Un-Babeled by Divine Judgment