The most frequently asked question at prophecy conferences and in Bible prophecy classes–at least in my experience—is: “Is America in Bible prophecy?” The second most asked is: “Do you think Antichrist is alive on earth today?”
These questions are for the most part posed by people in the audiences or classes in general. However, more and more frequently I find these questions being asked by journalists, both print and broadcast. It is interesting to me that I rarely hear a skeptical or scoffing tone in the voices of the media representatives who interview me. There seems a sense, even among secular journalists, that perhaps there’s something to this Bible prophecy stuff after all.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not sensing a sudden turning to God, or to His Word. However, there is a halting uncertainty there. Like, “Well, maybe I had better be just a bit more serious about the subject, since there is such angst over these strange economic conditions.”
Economic Conditions
There is a sense that strange, unexplainable things are happening, and even secular newshounds seem to viscerally understand that Bible prophecy has something to do with the increasingly troubling issues and events of our time. U.S. leaders–I use that term loosely—have seemingly thrown caution to the wind. It’s like, as I heard one Bible prophecy broadcaster say the other day—those who are supposed to be trying to fix the melting financial structure of America have placed the whole shebang on 17 black, and have given the roulette wheel a hope-filled turn. Actually, it is more like they have written trillions in IOUs and put them on 17 black, and have given the wheel a turn.
If the little ball ends up on any number other than 17 black, what then? That is the crux of the crucial nature of this insanity surrounding the American economy as the end of the age approaches. Craziness rules--like when the Federal Reserve reached in its right pocket and transferred more than a trillion dollars IOU to its left pocket to keep the American financial system afloat.
“Just last Wednesday the Fed said it would flood the teetering financial system with an additional $1.2 trillion. The money will be used, the Fed said, to buy government bonds and mortgage-related securities in hopes of lowering the borrowing costs for home mortgages and other types of loans, thereby stimulating economic activity. In other words, the central bank will print more money to pay for the purchases. What the Fed does not explain publicly is how those kinds of infusions of money out of thin air, with nothing to back it, reduce the purchasing power and assets of all Americans by devaluing the dollar.
The $1.2 trillion is in addition to hundreds of billions already added to the system since the beginning of the year and dwarfs even the biggest government
bailouts to date…” (“Fed's secrecy policy 3 years old,” WorldNetDaily MoneyNetDaily, 3/22/09).
Keep in mind that the Federal Reserve is a non-government agency. Congress designated this monetary governing body to control the nation's money supply. The
Fed’s actions directly impact the value of the dollar. This body, manned by the non-elected financial elite, holds sway over every investment held by Americans.
Actions like those taken by the Federal Reserve in the case of creating out of nothingness the trillion-plus dollars, then putting that massive IOU into the system with a blind faith that that unbacked infusion will beat the odds of failure, will, if nothing else is done, put not only America’s economy, but the economies of the nation-states of the world into the final stages of collapse.
The following excerpt tells of just how surreptitious are the actions against the taxpayers and their offspring, who are expected to shoulder the burden of funding the globalists elite’s grandiose plans to build their new world order.
“WASHINGTON – As America's economy continues in freefall, tomorrow marks an auspicious three-year anniversary – the day the Federal Reserve announced, with little fanfare, its decision to stop reporting to the public the M3 money supply, the broadest measure of three standards of measurement…Since 2006, Americans have seen their investments plummet in value and witnessed the shrinking buying power of their earnings. Why did the Fed make that decision three years ago? What was its rationale? The justification for the secrecy by the organization that prints money was cost. By not producing those numbers for the public, the Fed would save about $1.5 million annually…” (ibid.).
The Craziness Proliferates!
It should be astonishing to think that the media, so obsessed with nefarious financial dealings by civilian monetary elite–e.g., the AIG executive bonuses, would let civilians with the power of the Fed go without being punished for perpetrating such surreptitiousness on American taxpayers. There seems to be, however, not the slightest notice.
The $1.5 million savings by the Fed in not reporting to the public the M3 money supply amounted to 0.00000699 percent of its annual net income of last year. This savings was highlighted as sufficient reason to keep vital information from the public. Just to point out the deceptive nature of this piddling savings being reported in order to justify keeping taxpayers in the dark, remember that the same media went all out in diverting the publics’ attention from the enormous bailouts by focusing on–by contrast to the prodigious bail-out dollar amount— the infinitesimal bonuses paid to AIG executives. Remember, too,
that the bonuses were given to the AIG executives through contractually mandated arrangements.
The sleight of hand by the Fed in transferring the massive IOU from one pocket to the other to keep the country’s economic ship afloat was done under the knowing eyes of the Obama administration and Congress. An uninformed American public was, and is for the most part, kept in ignorance by news media not fully disclosing the scope of the thievery of the economic well-being of this and future generations.
What About Antichrist?
This essay’s title is “Antichrist: Where Is He?” So, where, if anywhere in this present hour, is this future evil Bible character in all of the foregoing? Can he be on the scene today?
Jesus forewarned that false christs will come on the scene in the latter times. The definition of antichrist is most often given as the one who will present himself in place of (imitate) Jesus Christ, and will at the same time oppose Jesus Christ. The “beast” is prophesied to be the world’s worst tyrant of human history. The prophet Daniel was given the following about this person who is called “son of perdition,” “man of sin,” and many other names.
“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall
stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy
the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and
by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand “ (Dan. 8:24-25).
We will examine this man who is of legendary proportions, yet who transcends by far any legend. He is not an imaginary monster such as Dracula in the Stoker novel, or Darth Vader as in Lucas' fictional wars among the stars. Antichrist, when he is revealed, will be a real monster, and a most treacherous one, because he will through supernatural deceit appear as a geopolitical and socioeconomic savior of mankind. Be sure, the beast of Revelation 13 is about to step into the spotlight of history’s final act.
The question “Where is Antichrist?” is appropriate for this “time of the signs,” as my friend Chuck Missler has phrased his description of these strange days. So many signals are on today’s prophetic horizon that one must ask, if he or she knows much about Bible prophecy, “Is Antichrist alive today?”
Those who have looked at the world’s issues and events through the prism of God’s prophetic Word throughout preceding decades of America’s history have heard questions about the leaders of the times. Are presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or non-presidents like Henry Kissinger and others the Antichrist? Now the question is pointed at President Barack Hussein Obama: “Is he the Antichrist?”
This hour is more prolific with end-times signs than any in history. Obama’s watch as president marks one particular characteristic that adds, peripherally, to the more substantial signals pervading the news at present. I refer to conditions like Israel’s being back in its land and the center of world attention, the Roman Empire seeming to revive in the form of the European Union (EU), and the Gog-Magog coalition of Ezekiel 38-39 forming right before our eyes.
The peripheral matter of concern in this case is the deceit with which this administration is trying to steer the American ship of state. Mr. Obama’s campaign claim was that he would have “transparency” in all of his dealing with the business of the American people. Yet his administration, with the continuing ramrod tactics of his political party, has gone against the will of the American public and is in the process of running up trillions of dollars in debt, an action that even the most “progressive” economists have declared to be beyond any semblance of fiscal sanity.
One such expert comes across as almost fearful of Obama’s plan as put forward by his controversial secretary of treasury, Timothy Geithner.
“HONG KONG (Reuters) The U.S. government plan to rid banks of toxic assets will rob American taxpayers by exposing them to too much risk and is unlikely to work as long as the economy remains weak, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Tuesday… U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to wipe up to US $1 trillion in bad debt off banks' balance sheets, unveiled on Monday, offered ‘perverse incentives,’ Stiglitz said.
The U.S. government is basically using the taxpayer to guarantee against downside risk on the value of these assets, while giving the upside, or potential profits, to private investors, he said…” (“Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers,” Susan Fenton and Deborah Kan, Reuters, 3/24/09).
The economic expert expressed his concern.
"Quite frankly, this amounts to robbery of the American people. I don't think it's going to work because I think there'll be a lot of anger about putting the losses so much on the shoulder of the American taxpayer" (ibid.).
Time and time again in this fledgling administration, Obama’s regime demonstrates a level of non-transparency that borders on treachery, in my view. To strap an entire nation’s citizenry with debt they don’t want, going against their will, expressed through legitimate polling methods, is beyond taxation without representation. This administration is taking liberty from Americans in a way that does so by deception and force by fiat, not constitutional vote. Such tyranny will enslave citizens and their offspring for generations–possibly into perpetuity—and is among the most despicable forms of deception and deceit.
Does all of this criticism mean I view President Obama as a prime candidate for the one who will be Antichrist? No. In no way do I mean to express that Mr. Obama is the biblically prophesied man of sin. However, the way things are being done in Washington D.C. during these strange times should make the observer of issues and events from a biblically prophetic perspective sit up and take notice. They should know from their observations that this generation is seeing governmental razzle-dazzle not unlike the machinations that will mark the ultimate deceiver’s regime. Antichrist’s most tyrannical dictatorship will be one of ultimate enslavement to the 666 marks and numbers system of Revelation 13:16-18.
There is a peaceful revolution going on, about which most of us have at least heard–the neo-Tea Party to protest the forcing of trillions of dollars of debt on American taxpayers, their offspring, and their progeny yet unborn. People are putting tea bags in envelopes and mailing them to the appropriate address in Washington, D.C. At least, the White House kitchen help should, through all of the submitted tea bags, be able to–through having copious amounts of tea on hand, sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. by irate citizens—save a few of the dollars that are coming off the presses like toilet paper off the roll. (Be aware, you Tea Partiers, however. Word is that the envelopes containing the bags--a powdery substance--are being summarily disposed of because of possible harmful substances they might contained. Best, I’m told, just to send the tags with the attached strings.)
Something Rotten in Denmark–And Everywhere Else
The smell permeates almost every corner of America and the world. It is an odor of things to come.
Beyond the political exigencies of this troubling hour is the spiritual atmosphere that has the stench of Antichrist and his father, the devil. The scent was prevalent 2,000 years ago, and the Bible prophet John forewarned about its cankering, corrosive qualities, as well as defined it:
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time… Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 1:18, 4:1-3).
Denial of Jesus Christ and God’s prescription for living godly lives on Planet Earth saturate this generation. The antithesis of Christ’s words is not only carried out in the sinful lives of earth-dwellers; the opposition to the Lord is set in the hardened rebellion of manmade law.
The denial that Christ came to teach God’s standards for living on the planet He created is almost imperceptible. Most–even leaders of every conceivable religious sort--often agree that Jesus was a great teacher of good. But when Jesus is held up as the only Way to God the Father (John 14:6), the shrieks emanating from the spirit of Antichrist come from every dark direction of this fallen sphere.
During the present hour, there are even claims that Jesus taught that it is the mother’s right to choose whether her baby lives or dies. It is held among a growing number of clergy that Jesus himself gave blessing to those who chose homosexuality over heterosexuality. Most worrisome of all, the world is more and more embracing the lie that Jesus only represented the Christ spirit during His time on earth. He didn’t die for the sin of man. He didn’t resurrect from the dead because He didn’t really die at the crucifixion, but feigned death on the cross. He didn’t ascend to on high to sit at the right hand of God. He is, therefore, not coming back to rule and reign.
Jesus, the majority of the world–including many in our government as it is presently constituted, deny that Jesus is God–the second Person of the Godhead, the Trinity.
Just a cursory examination of the earliest phase of the new presidential administration tells the story of this time of the growing Antichrist spirit. The first months following the inauguration have brought changes by presidential edict that are diametrically opposite God’s will as given in His Word, the Bible. For example, the president ordered that money of the American taxpayers now be used to help with abortion practices in foreign nations, reversing former President George W. Bush’s presidential order that no such use of taxpayer money be made. This Obama did, despite the protestation of more than half of the American public.
The United States is being channeled and forced into a mold that looks like the biblically foretold one world order that will be ruled with a deadly iron fist by the one who is called “the beast.” With the stage of history’s last act set, for all practical purposes, it is perhaps not far-fetched to suspect that Antichrist is among us even now. He is here in spirit, for sure.
