The Bible is clear. Life on earth will be better than we can possibly hope or imagine, but not before it gets far worse than ever before. Nearly every living thing on earth will die. People, plants, and animals will die in unimaginable numbers. Blow after blow will rain down on the planet killing almost everything. Then, just as it teeters on the edge of complete lifelessness, the earth will be reborn. Wastelands and deserts will thrive, the ruined places will be rebuilt and earth will know its golden age.
But why will things become so horrible? What will make God so angry that he destroys almost all life? The rapid near extinction will be God’s judgment on a world at war with him and his followers. It is his response to those who will be rejecting him, worshiping another, and killing his own. The world will be worshiping a man who believes he is god. While he has many names in the Bible, we will call him the Antichrist. [ 3 ]
Although initially blocked by those already holding power, the Antichrist’s incredible display of supernatural ability will dissolve their opposition allowing him to eventually become the most powerful ruler on earth. He will be heralded as the long-awaited savior, come to usher in a new era of self-discovery, enlightenment and peace.
The changes he brings, however, must be accepted by everyone. Those who reject his message will be regarded as the ‘unbelievers.’ Their continued resistance will be a barrier to the fulfillment he promises. The Antichrist will institute specific measures on a global scale to identify, marginalize and eliminate this group.
The Antichrist and his followers will wipe out nearly everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. However, God will ultimately demonstrate the absurdity of the Antichrist’s divine claims as he brings crushing devastation that this false god will be powerless to prevent. The anticipation and hopes of God’s followers will then be realized. The long-promised age of harmony, peace and righteousness will truly begin when Jesus Christ finally begins his reign on the earth.
Our goal in this book is to expose the Antichrist and our strategy has two parts. First, we will look at the specific actions and events he will fulfill as found in the Bible’s prophecies. Second, we seek to begin a discussion among those committed to the authority of the Bible about our interpretation of these prophetic texts. To do this we will spend some time examining the method used to find such specific future events in the prophecies of these times. If successful, this discussion will add these findings to the collection of biblical teaching that our generation will seek to pass along to others.
By doing this we hope to both warn and encourage humanity during the future reign of terror. Those who may be tempted to avoid the terrible cost of remaining faithful to Jesus need to consider that the Bible promises an even worse fate for those who pledge themselves to obey and worship the Antichrist. In the time of the Antichrist, truth will be unwelcomed and punished. Deception, false signs, and wonders will accompany the lies of the Antichrist. Prophecies about these times will warn those tempted to take part in that deceit and encourage those who have determined to worship none other than the true God. Those who remain faithful to Jesus the Messiah will be called upon to demonstrate that commitment under severe trials. Those committed to Jesus during the worst time the world will ever know, have a bright and wonderful future that cannot be taken from them, if they remain faithful to the end.
The prophecies about this future time are remarkably specific and startling. God gives detailed prophecies about the future to demonstrate his absolute control over the course and destiny of history. Nothing can prevent the awful things the Antichrist will do and what will happen as a result. Since he will seem to be god in human form there may be some who will pledge themselves to the Antichrist and his wonderful sounding message without realizing that he actually is the enemy of God. We seek to warn them before they make a decision they cannot undo, one that forever keeps them from Christ.
To this end, a proposed scenario of events is offered to the reader. This scenario is composed of seven paragraphs. Each paragraph can be found immediately before the chapters that support them. Taken together, they present the key events and conditions involving the Antichrist’s rise to power.
Some may think this is strange, writing a book that is not practical now but hopefully will be at some future time, for people who may not be currently listening. However, the church has always had two primary responsibilities regarding the Bible’s message. The first is to understand its message as accurately as possible, even those portions that do not seem to involve us. The second is to pass our understanding of the Bible along to those generations that will come. Since we do not know whether these terrible events will occur very soon or in the far distant future, there might be people alive today who will find themselves living through these times. The Bible’s message will be their only reliable guide as they experience the rise of the Antichrist.