#789

Will Europe Produce the Antichrist?

Still A Mystery

The Bible is still the bestselling book in the history of the world and in its pages lie a great deal of mysteries. For Bible prophecy aficionados like me we have more than a few questions for Jesus when we get to Heaven, like do we really get a mansion? Now for the general population even people who don’t know the first thing about Scripture know something about the mark of the beast and the Antichrist. And that infamous number 666. It is a good witnessing strategy to bring up end time prophecies and then connect them to current events. As for me, we live in a time when prophecy is being set up or fulfilled all the time. If you want to know where we are on the prophetic timeline the best barometer is what is happening in Israel. And that place is white hot right now. But we can’t forget the rest of the world because the Antichrist is going to rise from a revived Roman Empire, at least that’s my opinion. And just who the antichrist will be is fodder for a lot of prophetic discussions. Having grown up as a new believer in the early 1970s I was a keen reader of all things prophecy and just about everyone pointed to Europe for the place where the man of sin would hail from. Where will his headquarters be? Many say Rome and that’s a good guess. Others say he has to be Jewish but not be from Israel. I heard one Bible preacher say that he would be an Assyrian Jew. The names of actual people also abounded even to this day. US presidents always were fun to speculate about being the Antichrist. The most popular one is former President Barak Obama. Right now, it is still a mystery, but for how long?

An Interesting Concept

The reason I bring this up is because the elections in Germany were held recently and the man who will be the next Chancellor, Freidrich Merz, is talking about uniting all of Europe militarily in case the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) falls apart. Merz is talking about being able to handle affairs without the help of the United States. He says all this with the backdrop of US President Donald Trump taking a strong stance on the NATO nations not supporting it enough. Merz said this in a report from MSN.com:

Speaking on Friday, Mr Merz told the German broadcaster: “We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer uphold NATO’s mutual defense commitment unconditionally,”

“That is why, in my view, it is crucial that Europeans make the greatest possible efforts to ensure that we are at least capable of defending the European continent on our own.”

The likely German chancellor has long been a proponent of a ‘European army,’ a concept quickly gathering more support.

That means they will have their own army so they aren’t dependent upon America for help. If you are a believer that the Antichrist will come out of Europe this would fit right in with his predicted reign. And it wasn’t on anyone’s radar even 5 years ago. In recent world wars, one nation kept showing up: Germany. Could they be a pivotal part of the Antichrist’s evil rule? Well we do know some things about that guy right now.

Antichrist Basics: He Will Be A Politician

Commonly called the Antichrist, this person comes on the scene in the Tribulation and appears to have the magic touch diplomatically. He also brings calm to chaos after the Rapture because so many world leaders and members of society that allow it to function have been mysteriously taken away. He fills the gap so to speak and is honored for it. He will have excellent people skills as he has to navigate a lot of unrest among the peoples of the world. His entrance onto the global stage will be as one who can bring stability to a very unstable situation. While I can’t say for certain, common sense would tell us that he can answer questions about what just happened when billions of people simply disappeared in the blink of an eye. How will he explain this away? Like any accomplished official he knows how to placate a multitude of opinions and can somehow navigate them all and assuage the masses. He could simply say that it doesn’t matter where they all went and tell the world they can’t be bothered with that, because we have to deal with the pressing matters at hand. We won’t know exactly because the Bible doesn’t give us those answers, but we can use the wisdom we have now to hypothesize.

Antichrist Basics: “Be He God Or Devil”

A famous quote about this coming leader actually comes from a man who would help found the European Union, Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium who lived to serve in WWI and be a leader in WWII. He is quoted as saying this when opining on what the world needed:

“We do not need another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he god or devil, we will receive him.”

Although we are not totally certain the above quote from the 1930s is accurate, it definitely sounds like the way the world will be when this Beast arrives on the world scene. He will be welcomed by a world in need of a savior. A more current call for such a leader came from Jack Lang who was serving as president of the French National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee in 1997 at the time when he said that the EU “needs a single figure at the helm.” and that Europe needed a strong central government with a single “personality” in control. These two men could have been quoted for a category on Jeopardy titled “world leaders” with the answer being “who is the Antichrist?”.

Antichrist Basics: Will He Be European?

The word Antichrist can mean both against and instead of and we can learn something from these terms. While Satan wants his own messiah he also wants him to perform against God. And according to scripture, he gets his man. According to some theologians, he just might be European. We read this from the web site gotquestions.org:

Is the European Union linked to the ten toes of Daniel 2 or the ten-horned beast of Daniel 7? Some speculate that there is some connection. The precursor to the European Union was the European Economic Community, formalized with the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The current EU was organized in 1993, and some Bible scholars view the EU as potentially fulfilling the prophecies of the final kingdom of the world. One difficulty with this identification is that the revived Roman Empire of prophecy is a federation of ten kingdoms, whereas the current EU has nearly 30 members. But, given the common currency and shared sovereignty among member nations, the European Union could well be a model for the coming “super state” of the Antichrist in the end times. When the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8 emerges, it will come from a federation of nations much like the EU.

If according to Daniel 2 and 7, the Antichrist will come from somewhere in Europe we aren’t certain where. We do think he will not be known as a fierce opponent of God at first. He will be a little horn at the beginning. This is why we won’t know him in this role at first. It won’t be until the midpoint of the seven year Tribulation that his identity will be fully known when he desecrates the Jewish temple. At that point his play as deity won’t be a secret at all.

Antichrist Basics: His Personality, Plan, And Pride

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,(Rev 13:5, NKJV)

He will have a perfect command and flow of language. His oratory will not only gain attention but command respect. He will rival all the great orators of history which would fit considering what he wants to do. In the communication and information age, he will have the perfect platform to mesmerize the masses. As for his plan we read this:

Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule…(Dan 8:25, NKJV)

He shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.(Dan 11:21, NKJV)

The Antichrist will come on the scene as the 11th horn or leader of a nation and will with cleverness subdue three other horns to consolidate his power. So he will appear as a great politician to the world at first. Of course, he will then take over the remaining nations with force. As for his pride we see this:

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.(Rev 13:6, NKJV)

The Antichrist will rail against all religion, but take out his verbal rage specifically on Christianity and Judaism:

36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.(Dan 11:36-38, NKJV)

Antichrist Basics: His Persecutions And Power

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.(Rev 13:7, NKJV)

I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them…(Dan 7:21, NKJV)

Jesus, in His Olivet Discourse told his disciples that unless the time was cut short, no believer would survive. When he institutes his mark, he will no doubt drive many believers to starvation and many others to die of diseases from lack of medical care. And he will have power, a lot of power:

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, (2 Thess 2:9, NKJV)

Paul mentions power, signs and wonders which are all genuine miracles of Jesus, but he adds one word that makes all the difference: lying. This after all is Satan’s guy. And Satan is the father of lies, right? His show of power is seen in two key events. The key events to show the Antichrist’s power are the killing of the two witnesses and the “resurrection” of himself after a mortal head wound. Killing the witnesses is actually only God allowing them to be killed, but the world won’t see it that way. However, since Satan doesn’t have the power of the resurrection, the mortal wound is probably a trick one. How he will do it is not known, but technology is to a point now that it wouldn’t be hard to pull such a feat off. Why does the Antichrist come to an end? He actually thinks he can stop the return of the one he is pretending to be, Jesus Christ. Such an ambition never turns out well.

Do Not Be Troubled

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.(Matt 24:6, NKJV)

When we look around at all the horrible things in our time it can make us very troubled. Many are close to putting up their hands and giving up in the fight for spreading the gospel because the onslaught of evil looks like it cannot be stopped. Well, evil can if we let it.

Live Soberly

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.(Rom 13:11-14, NIV)

As believers, we must not let down our guard. Because we understand the times we live in, we should live as close to the standard God gave us and not get slack in our devotion just because the Rapture hasn’t happened yet. We should occupy until He comes by working harder to get the good news out to as many people as possible.