The Final Countdown

At the midpoint of the Tribulation the Antichrist will claim to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 11:36; Revelation 13:5-6), and with the help of the False Prophet unsaved people will believe him (Revelation 13:12-17). The Antichrist will then make it his mission to kill the Jews and Christians who are on earth during that time (Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 13:7, 12;13, 20:4; Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:9, 12-13; Luke 21:12-17; John 16:2).

Amazingly, people will turn in their own family members for being Christians and hand them over to be killed (Mark 13:9-13). With that in mind I am going to occasionally post some headlines showing that the natural love between family members is eroding quickly in our culture. It will be no surprise that millions of believers are given over to the executioner by “loved” ones.

• Woman left newborn in portable toilet
• Woman charged with poisoning daughter with methadone
• Parents selling children to Taliban to become suicide bombers
• Stillborn baby flushed down toilet
• Mother slits throats of her three children
• Three accused of letting rats chew toes off Ohio infant
• Louisiana baby with rodent bites bleeds to death
• Father confesses to strangling 3-year-old daughter to death
• Two children shot by siblings in separate attacks
• Woman beheads, dismembers her newborn
• Dad kills daughter, self
• Toddler found alive in trash can
• Dad threw girl off cliff to avoid child support
• School children wearing diapers after parents “too busy to potty train”
• Mom in Minnesota starves disabled daughter to death
• Jerusalem mother starves, deliberately injures son
• Father stabs teenage daughter to death
• Dad beats, strangles 7 year-old son to death while fiancee watches
• Oklahoma kids found locked in bedroom, covered in feces and blood

I reiterate that we do not believe Barack Obama fulfills the profile for the coming Antichrist, even though we chronicled many ways that the President meets the Biblical description of the coming world dictator. He very well could be a type of the wicked one who is to come. Given that, a headline from World Net Daily jumps off the page; it reads, Obama ‘like Romans who destroyed Jewish Temples.’ The article recounted Lamentations that were being read in front of the US consulate in Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:26 says, “The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was done by Roman generals Vespasian and Titus in 70 AD, and is one of the reasons we know the Antichrist will come from the Revived Roman Empire.

News from the last week shows the world is continuing to move towards globalization at a rapid pace:

• Obama to establish new financial agency with broad powers
• Obama plan to call for supervision of global financial firms
• China calls for new global currency
• Obama plans to divide oceans into ‘zones’
• Treaty to strengthen EU gets another chance

These five headlines are closely connected. The coming global government will begin in the EU and will include dividing the world into 10 ‘zones’ (Daniel 2:44; 7:7, 20, 23; 11:39; Revelation 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 7, 12, 16). Once worldwide, this government will give its leadership over to the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8, 20, 24; 9:26; Revelation 13:1), who will attempt to use a global currency system to keep tabs on every human being (Revelation 13:16-18), plotting to kill those who refuse to use it (Revelation 20:4).

Before I begin, let me make it perfectly, undeniably clear that I am not asserting that President Barrack Obama is the Antichrist. I do not believe he is, for reasons I will get into at the end of this post. And even if he were the Antichrist (and for the third time, I don’t think he is!), we Christians wouldn’t know it, for the Antichrist is not revealed to the world until we are off the scene (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). As a Christian, it is my duty to honor, respect, and submit to those in authority over me (Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 2:13-18) unless that causes me to contradict a direct commandment of our Lord (Acts 5:28-29).

For these reasons, I want to be very careful not to imply anything, nor should you infer assertions I’m not conveying. That said, the Bible’s description of the Antichrist is strikingly in tune with who President Obama is, and even though I do not believe Obama is the terrible one who is to come, it provides a good opportunity to illustrate how the Antichrist will rise to prominence and how he will attain his great power.

There are dozens of ways that Obama mirrors what the Antichrist will be. Here are a few characteristics of President Obama that also are used in Scripture to describe the Antichrist:

• Focused on bringing peace to the Middle East (Daniel 9:27): As I’ve mentioned many times, Obama is seen by both the Arabs and Israelis as being the key to peace in the region.
• Arrives on a peace platform (Daniel 8:25, 11:21; Revelation 6:1): Obama first gained prominence as a presidential candidate by calling himself the “true anti-war” candidate (the only one to vote against it) and by promising to end the war in Iraq.
• …But loves to use the military (Daniel 11:38): This administration has already upped the US military presence in parts of the world. Look for Obama to deploy armed forces somewhere in the Middle East or Africa before 2012.
• Is a Gentile or Arab (Revelation 13:1)
• Consolidates power by rapidly changing laws (Daniel 7:25): In less than 5 months, scores of laws have been enacted and proposed to give the Federal government more power, with the promise of much more to come. Mark my words–soon this President will defy court orders and ignore the Constitution as if it doesn’t exist.
• Uses socialism to gain power and curry favor (Daniel 11:24): Even the Russians are stunned at how fast President Obama is implementing a socialist agenda.
• Is loved the world over (Revelation 17:13): Obama has been cheered wildly by crowds all over the world, even during the election campaign.
• Uses his eloquence and charm to get support of the populace (Daniel 11:21, 36): The word often translated as intrigue in Daniel 11:21 is more accurately translated as flattery. Polling data following the election showed that most Obama voters were more enthralled with how he spoke than with what he said during the campaign.
• Is seen as the new savior: The prefix anti- can mean against or instead of. That is why many things that the Antichrist does are imitations of what Jesus did (more detail on that during the Antichrist series later on). Obama has never claimed to be a savior, but many of his followers have, and some have even publicly proclaimed him to be “the savior”
• Is seen as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4): Likewise, Obama does not claim to be God, unlike the true Antichrist. However, others are calling him a god (most recently Evan Thomas of Newsweek)
• Wants to remove the True God from society (Daniel 7:25): The White House has done everything from covering “the name of Jesus” during a speech, to shunning the National Day of Prayer, to announcing that America is no longer a Christian nation.
• Is seen as the leader of a global movement (Revelation 13:7; Daniel 7:23): There have been multiple calls for President Obama to be the man to usher in the New World Order, most notably by Henry Kissinger (see the video on YouTube). Several globalist organizations have said that they want Obama to lead a new world-wide government.
• Claims to be Christian, but denies the claims of Christ: The Antichrist might have a varied background, but he uses Christianity to promote his agenda and take power through the work of the False Prophet, who will come in the name of Christianity but be under the control of demons (Revelation 13:11). While Obama calls himself a Christian, he is quick to point out that Jesus isn’t the only way to heaven and says that he rejects the epistles and any idea of hell.
• Is very proud and full of arrogance (Daniel 7:20): Aside from taking the stance that the American population doesn’t know what is good for them, Obama is notorious for degrading his fellow politicians, often publicly.

There are many more attributes I could list, but this gives you a little idea of how Obama is foreshadowing the coming world ruler. I am confident that Obama is not the Antichrist, but he does provide a good picture of how the Antichrist will arise to power, and the world’s reaction to him is worthy of study.

I do not buy into the “Obama as the Antichrist” line of thinking for three primary reasons. First, I believe the Antichrist will likely come from the area of the European Union or from one of the Arab states that was a part of the Eastern Roman Empire (based on the two legs of Iron in Daniel 2 and reference in Revelation 13:1). While there is a theory among some that Obama is really from that part of the world (you can decide for yourself if you believe that), even if that were true he wouldn’t arise to power from there.

Secondly, the Antichrist doesn’t come to power until the world is divided into 10 regions (a movement that globalist groups such as the Bilderbergers and Club of Rome already have a plan for). After that division into 10 regions, the Antichrist will rise, but I do not believe he will be one of the original 10 leaders (Daniel 7:8, 20, 24; 9:26; Revelation 13:1). Given Obama’s role as President of the United States, he would without a doubt be one of the original 10, so the Antichrist would have to be someone else.

Finally, the Antichrist will remain wildly revered. Obama’s popularity has been declining rapidly, and I believe it will continue to fall as more of his agenda and traits are exposed.

As we alluded to last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally endorsed a sovereign Palestine, albeit with a host of conditions. The Palestinian state would have to agree to be demilitarized, cede control of its airspace, and the Palestinians would have to officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state.  Most importantly, Netanyahu said dividing Jerusalem is out of the question. Predictably, the last two conditions were met with disdain by Arab leaders, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas saying Netanyahu had killed the peace process and ensured “another round of violence and bloodshed.” A Palestinian official asserted that Netanyahu wanted to “kill off any chance of peace,” while the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, characterized the Israeli PM as a “war criminal” for rejecting President Obama’s policies.

One of the more fascinating aspects of this is the involvement of the Obama Administration.

The United States remains heavily involved in the burgeoning peace process.  In addition to the above references to President Obama’s plans, a senior adviser to Abbas had this to say, courtesy of WorldNetDaily:

Nimer Hamad, senior political adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, also said the PA is not concerned about Netanyahu’s policies since Abbas relies on American support for key Palestinian demands.

During Netanyahu’s speech Sunday, the Israeli leader called for a demilitarized Palestinian state and said Jerusalem would always be united under Jewish sovereignty.

Hamad countered: “No matter what is the position of the Israeli government and no matter what are the statements of Netanyahu, what counts is what was promised to us by Obama, which is totally the opposite [of Netanyahu's positions].”

“We received encouraging signs from the Americans that we should not take seriously into consideration Netanyahu’s speech,” Hamad said.

Hamad said the Obama administration holds views that strongly differ from Netanyahu’s.

The new Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, made an intriguing assertion as well, saying that he felt any deals concerning Jewish settlements would first come between Israel and the US, not Israel and Palestine. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is in the US right now discussing the whole process.

Tomorrow I will address this topic in detail. I don’t want to be misunderstood so I will be making it into a stand alone post. Be sure to check back tomorrow afternoon, or subscribe to the RSS or e-mail feed in the upper right corner, beneath the search box.

While the Arabs are claiming that this ended any chance of peace between Israel and the rest of the nations of the Middle East,  in truth is has laid the groundwork for a coming peace agreement, forged by the Antichrist himself (Daniel 9:27). Israel will think she is finally at peace, but it will be a false peace (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:3), because Israel will have entered into a contract with “death and hell” (Isaiah 28:15). This peace deal will include a Palestinian state (Joel 3:2; Zechariah 14:2) but intense strife will remain over Jerusalem, for the Jews and Palestinians both want it all to themselves (Zechariah 12:2-3). War will break out when Russia and an Arab confederation (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:15) attack Israel (Ezekiel 38 & 39; Jeremiah 1:13; 10:22). Israel will use a sophisticated air defense (fighter planes & missiles) to defend herself (Isaiah 31:5; 60:8).