Antichrist
Will the Antichrist be visible before the Rapture?
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
This passage tells about He who restrains being taken out of the way, before the lawless one is revealed. Whether it's a reference to the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit or followers of the Jesus, through whom the Holy Spirit works and restrains, this removal event logically corresponds to the Rapture. These verses provide strong support for a pre-trib Rapture and reinforce the understanding that Rapture will precede the mystery of lawlessness and the global empire of the Antichrist. There are several verses which do appear to indicate followers of Jesus will have some understanding of the identity of the Antichrist just prior to the Rapture.
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
The Holy Spirit tells true believers that we will clearly know when the Day of the Lord is approaching; it won't take us by surprise, like a thief.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition
Why would the Holy Spirit include the revealing of the man of sin as a sign leading to the Rapture and the Day of the Lord if there can be no recognition of the man of sin before the Rapture? Part of what Jesus explains to the disciples in Matthew 24 may be directed to Jews who will be left behind after the Rapture, but the Holy Spirit's message to the Thessalonians is clearly directed to followers of Jesus, those who will be taken in the Rapture: "But you, brethren, are not in darkness...".
Some Bible teachers, whom I respect, teach that the falling away is the Rapture. I'm not sure that view is entirely correct, since the word apostasia is used only one other place (Acts 21:21) and the meaning seems closer to not enduring sound doctrine than a description of the Rapture. On a side note, a wise man (OK, the leader of our weekly Bible study) once told me he believes the falling away has a double meaning, and he may be exactly right.
One thing we know with certainty is that the time of the end, leading to the Day of the Lord, will be a time when people turn away from the Truth (Luke 18:8, 1 Timothy 4, 2 Timothy 3, Jude 1, 2 Peter 3). With this in mind, I believe the falling away does primarily refer to a falling away from the Truth. The technical term "unless" strongly places falling away before the beginning of the Day of the Lord, but the revealing of the man of sin is associated more passively through a trailing "and". This leads me to interpret the revealing of the man of sin has less definite timing. We can make the case that the revealing of the man of sin must start before the Rapture, because it's mentioned as a sign, and the only time believers need earthly signs is before the Rapture; after that we're Home, with the Lord! I personally think followers of Jesus will begin to recognize the identity of the Antichrist just before the Rapture, but his identity will be absolutely certain at the signing of the 7-year pact, after the Rapture. If any doubt remains, the requirement of the Mark, which can optionally be the name of the beast, will make the Antichrist's identity clear. So if we see a little horn emerging, get ready, the Rapture is coming soon!
In conclusion, the Rapture is not dependent or predicated on the emergence of the Antichrist. But if we do happen to see the initial stages of the Antichrist emerging, then the Rapture is imminent! In fact, we are now observing the assembling of the global government and maybe even the Antichrist himself. So get ready, Jesus is coming back very soon!
Have there always been Antichrist candidates?
Identity template in the Bible:
Assyrian
It's likely the the Antichrist will be Assyrian, based on multiple passages throughout the Bible that appear to point to that individual. The whole chapter of Micah 5 appears to be a timeline of Israel, from the first coming of the Messiah to His second coming and final judgement. The reference to the Assyrian appears to be a reference to the one we would call the Antichrist.
Mic 5:5 ...When the Assyrian comes into our land...
Zelensky
Is Zelensky Assyrian? To most of the world he is Ukrainian (whatever that means); to the Jews he is Jewish, but in fact he may be something else. Significant Assyrian populations are present throughout Ukraine, including Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
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| Assyrian man | Zelensky |
In stark contrast to his Jewish background, he has the unlikely endorsement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tentative endorsement of the Arab League, and gives particular interest to participating in iftar with Muslims. Additionally, he has always enjoyed a strong backing from the Pope.
He's survived an uncanny number of assassination attempts.
Seems to be a goal of most current world leaders to pay their respects:
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USA |
Congress, Joe Biden, President Trump, Lindsay Graham, Janet Yellen, Mitch McConnell, George W. Bush, William Burns |
| UK |
Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, James Cleverly |
| Italy | |
| France | |
| Germany |
Stolz & Macron, Annalena Baerbock |
| Saudi Arabia | |
| EU |
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| UN |
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Headlining G-something summits:
Meetings with non-government entities:
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TIME Magazine articles...
This is uncanny...
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