The Final Countdown

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.

US President Barack Obama has extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Opposite-sex partners of federal employees, without the benefit of marriage, will not see these new benefits.  The President also appointed gay rights activist Kevin Jennings, who wants to mandate pro-gay clubs in school, to the position of “Safe Schools Czar.”

The government sanctioning of the gay lifestyle, along with the systematic removal of Christianity (Jeremiah 50:11, 24, 29-32), is one of the reasons God sends His judgment upon nations. This will include the United States during the Tribulation, and might be described in Scripture (Jeremiah 50-51).

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).

The Obama administration, in a cost cutting measure, is moving to scale back some of the database creating measures of the Real ID Act.

The new plan keeps elements of Real ID, such as requiring a digital photograph, signature and machine-readable features such as a bar code. States also will still need to verify applicants’ identities and legal status by checking federal immigration, Social Security and State Department databases.

But it eliminates demands for new databases — linked through a national data hub — that would allow all states to store and cross-check such information, and a requirement that motor vehicle departments verify birth certificates with originating agencies, a bid to fight identity theft.

The monitoring of citizens on a worldwide scale is key to the creation of a global government and to the ability of the Antichrist to track humans across the globe (see Revelation 13 & 14). While the proposed changes to the Real ID Act seem to take a step back from building a global watchdog database that includes Americans, the newly planned Pentagon cybercommand does the opposite. When created, the cyberdefense initiative will have the ability to monitor and log e-mails, instant message conversations, and web browsing history. While presumably the privacy of American’s will be safe unless they are talking to suspected terrorists (even though earlier this week the NSA admitted to intercepting more calls and e-mails of Americans than previously thought), the infrastructure will be in place to monitor and log all Internet and telephone communications with the flip of a switch.

Lest you doubt the goals, they are already implementing these plans in Britain, where everything from e-mails to Facebook messages are to be cataloged. Further, a system that is able to monitor all forms of communication worldwide (including cell phone and satellite usage) is already in existence (do a search on ECHELON after reading this post).

Meanwhile, the US State Department is sponsoring a conference on globalization. It is coming, and it is coming soon.

In perhaps the greatest sign we’ve seen in years that proves the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announced Sunday that he is open to a sovereign Palestine. This is a dramatic shift in policy for Israel, and removes the greatest barrier to the signing of a peace contract in the Middle East, an event that marks the beginning of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27).

We have pointed out many times that seemingly the whole world is calling for a two-state solution. Even Netanyahu’s own Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has recently endorsed a Palestinian state. President Barack Obama has been heavily involved in pressuring Israel to yield to the idea of a sovereign Palestine. The US holds a lot of sway over Israel (esepcially concerning Iran), even to the point where King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said Obama should “impose a solution” to the Mideast conflict. Obama’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, says the US wants to see a ‘Palestinian state as soon as possible.’

(I will have much, much more to say about Barack Obama’s involvement in the peace process after Netanyahu’s speech early next week.)

The Tribulation begins when a world leader negotiates a seven year peace contract between Israel and the nations of the Middle East (Daniel 9:27). As we’ve said all along, this brokered peace deal will involve a Palestinian state (Joel 3:2, Zechariah 14:2).  This will be a temporary peace because the Jews and Palestinians will both want complete control over Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3).

Much more information on this topic to come next week.