Amid the online furor surrounding many Christians who expected the rapture a few weeks ago, I wrote a primer on biblical end-times theology. The return of Jesus Christ did not occur on schedule, and end-time prophecies are still in the news, so I’m back to discuss a few more details on an aspect of Christian eschatology that I didn’t discuss at all in the first installment.
In addition to the rapture, there has been a lot of speculation about the Antichrist over the past few weeks and years. Peter Thiel, one of Trump’s Silicon Valley supporters, has made recent headlines for his lecture series about the latter-day villain, and both Donald Trump and Barack Obama, as well as Elon Musk and a number of popes, have been suspected of being the Antichrist.
Image credit: “Modern allegory of the Antichrist,” created with OpenAI ChatGPT (GPT-5), October 2025.
In Thiel’s view, the Antichrist is a Luddite, an anti-technology figure. Believe it or not, Thiel even references Greta Thunberg as a possible suspect. On the other hand, many Christians take the opposite tack and cast suspicion on technology ranging from implanted microchips (although not when Elon Musk does it) to vaccines as tools of the Antichrist. So, who is right?
As I said in my first piece, I think we make a lot of assumptions and read our own suspicions and pet peeves into the text. It may well be that neither take is the correct one.
To find the facts of what we know about the Antichrist, it’s best to look to the primary source, the Bible. For starters, the Bible does not refer to the Antichrist. It refers to many antichrists. 1 John 2:18, written shortly after the time of Jesus, said, “Even now many antichrists have come.” The context of this passage appears to be believers who have left the early church and begun to teach heretical doctrines. This passage and other similar ones in 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7 refer to people who deny the divinity of Jesus as antichrists and deceivers. Jesus himself talked about false prophets and messiahs who would “appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
The Bible also talks about the singular, evil figure that we think of as the Antichrist, but this person is never referred to as “The Antichrist.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, the “man of lawlessness” is apparently the Antichrist, but this is only one of several labels for what may be the same person or entity.
The Book of Revelation is most closely associated with end-time prophecy, and the Antichrist figures prominently in the book. The description of the Beast from the Sea in Revelation 13:1-18 is where a lot of our knowledge about the Antichrist comes from. The Old Testament book of Daniel also contains clues about the Antichrist, especially in chapters 7-9. Much of the Daniel passage seems similar to the details in Revelation.
In Revelation, a book that contains a lot of symbolic language, the Apostle John describes a vision of a beast with seven heads and 10 crowns emerging from the sea (13:1) that was given power by the dragon, Satan (13:2), and people worship both the dragon and the beast (13:4, 8). The beast also survives an apparently fatal wound (13:3). The beast blasphemes God (13:6) and persecutes Christian believers (13:7), apparently taking control of the entire world (13:7), but only for 42 months (13:5), which works out to three and a half years.
John offers explanations for some of the symbolism in Revelation 17. An angel explains to John, “the seven heads are seven hills” (17:9), a possible reference to Rome, which was the dominant empire of the time.
The angel continues, “They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction” (17:10-11). There is speculation that the kings (or kingdoms) that have fallen are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece, while the one that “is” is Rome, the empire that existed in John’s day. The king that has “not yet come” is assumed to be the future kingdom of the Antichrist.
The angel then tells John, “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast” in 17:12.
The beast from the sea has a partner in another beast that comes out of the earth in Revelation 13:11. This beast is a false prophet that leads a literal religious movement of Antichrist worship (13:12) that is boosted by the performance of miracles (13:13). This beast creates an animated image of the first beast, perhaps a statue, that can speak, and the beast’s survival of a fatal would is mentioned again. (13:14) . People who refuse to worship the Antichrist are killed (13:15).
The second beast is also behind the infamous mark of the beast. This is described in 13:16-17 as “a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.” The mark will be received by people of all races and social classes.
The “number of his name” is further described as “Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666” (13:18). The meaning of this passage has been the subject of endless speculation.
In Daniel 7, the prophet Daniel is called to interpret the king’s dream of four strange beasts. These beasts are believed to represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires, none of which had existed at the time that Daniel is believed to have lived. The last beast has 10 horns like the beast from the sea in Revelation, as well as a little “horn that came up, before which three of them [the other horns] fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully” (7:20). This little horn was “waging war against the holy people and defeating them” until God intervenes (7:22).
Again, an angel appears to translate the dream. The angel tells Daniel, “The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them, another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws [relating to Jewish worship]. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times, and half a time” (7:23-25). The last sentence may reflect the same 3.5 years that were mentioned in Revelation.
Later, in chapter 9, Daniel delves into a different prophecy, the 70 Weeks Prophecy, which is an extremely interesting look at the timing of the arrival of Jesus as referenced by the restoration of Jerusalem. (Go here for a good article on this prophecy.) For our purposes, Daniel talks about a “week” or a “seven,” which scholars believe to be a reference to a seven-year period rather than a literal week. Daniel says the “people of the ruler who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” (9:26).
If the ruler who is to come is the same as the little horn and the beast from the sea, we have additional clues about the Antichrist. The people who destroyed the sanctuary and the city, the Jewish Temple and the city of Jerusalem, were the Romans, who destroyed both in AD 70. The Antichrist may be of Roman descent or from an area that was formerly a part of the Roman Empire.
The ruler will make a covenant or treaty with “many,” typically believed to be a reference to Israel, for “one seven,” but apparently breaks the treaty halfway through the seven, another reference to 3.5 years, “put[s] an end to sacrifice and offering” and sets up “an abomination that causes desolation” (9:27). Jesus also foretold the destruction of the Temple and mentioned the “abomination that causes desolation” in Matthew 24 (and parallel passages), another important eschatological passage that I discussed in the previous post.
The abomination that causes desolation is associated with Antiochus Epiphanes, a Seleucid king who sacked Jerusalem in 167 BC. Antiochus profaned the altar of the temple with idols and the sacrifice of a pig, considered unclean by the Jews. This incident occurred between the times of Daniel and Jesus, who used the history foretold by Daniel to give clues about some future king’s blasphemous behavior.
Daniel is also given more prophetic views of the future in chapter 11. The last few verses of the chapter (11:40-45) discuss a “king of the north” at the “time of the end” who conquers large swaths of territory. The king brings his army to the “beautiful holy mountain,” which almost certainly refers to Mount Zion near Jerusalem, where he meets his end.
This is another possible parallel to Revelation. In Revelation 16:16, the Antichrist and his kings gather at Armageddon (or Mount Megiddo), which is about 80 miles north of Jerusalem. For Daniel’s “king of the north,” Armageddon would be on the way to Jerusalem.
John finishes the story of the Antichrist by describing his army facing off against the armies of heaven led by Christ (Rev. 19:14-16). The Antichrist and his false prophet are captured and thrown alive into a lake of fire while the rest of his army is killed (19:20-21).
As you can see, the prophecies of the Antichrist are both vague and detailed. It can be difficult to draw the line between prophecies about kings of other empires and the latter-day kingdom of the Antichrist. As with the messianic prophecies of Jesus, we don’t have enough information to identify him before he takes the world stage, but as he acts, we will be able to look back and see prophecies fulfilled.
A lot of the uncertainty is filled in with imagination and assumptions. For instance, the assumption that the mark of the beast is related to implanted microchips and a single world currency, common staples of end-times speculation that have almost become doctrine, are entirely absent from the Bible. The assumption that MAGA hats are a mark of the beast because they are worn on the head is also different from what the text actually says.
You may wonder if I think that Donald Trump is the Antichrist. Trump’s corruption of a large part of the American church and personal characteristics that are in opposition to Christ’s teachings may mark him as one of many antichrists. Further, his almost hypnotic hold over millions of people and cult-like following may be demonically enabled, but I don’t think Trump is the Beast. This may surprise a lot of you, but I don’t see Trump as the conqueror or charismatic leader that the Antichrist seems to be. Even at his height of popularity, Trump was worshipped by far fewer than even the full population of the United States or even the Republican Party, much less the world. And he seems to be falling in popularity once again.
Further, Trump does not openly blaspheme God or demand literal worship. At least not yet. Trump seems spiritually ignorant and wandering rather than hostile to God. Despite being surrounded by evangelical politicos, Trump has sadly mused recently that he doesn’t think he will go to heaven. It isn’t clear whether God’s plan of salvation has not been explained to the president or if he didn’t pay attention, but this does not seem like the way the Antichrist would behave. Trump’s destruction of world norms and stability could be setting the stage for the arrival of the Beast, however.
Likewise, I don’t see any reason to seriously consider Greta Thunberg as the Antichrist. Peter Thiel may use a more figurative interpretation of the Bible to arrive at that theory. Personally, I can’t imagine Greta at the head of a great satanic army, and the term “man of lawlessness” might be an indication that the Beast will be male. Or it might be a generic term. Who knows?
It’s interesting to speculate about the Antichrist, but it isn’t something we should obsess over. The predominant theory is that Christians won’t be around for that part of history, having been raptured out before the tribulation period when the Antichrist arises. (See my earlier piece.)
If you aren’t a Christian, the good news for you and Donald Trump is that you can become one, avoiding both the possibility of enduring the Antichrist and being condemned to hell. The way to do this is to trust in Jesus for his forgiveness and then try to follow his commands, the greatest of which are (everyone should be able to say this together by now) to love God and love people. Don’t be confused by imitations and false prophets.
A NOTE ABOUT THE TITLE: “Building the Perfect Beast” was the title of a 1984 song and album by Don Henley. The song was pretty forgettable, but the album was packed with hits such as “The Boys Of Summer,” “All She Wants To Do Is Dance,” and “Sunset Grill.”
TRUMP TARIFFS CANADA…AGAIN Donald Trump slapped a 10-percent tariff on Canada after the government of Ontario ran an ad that featured Ronald Reagan speaking against tariffs. Contrary to what you may have heard, the clip was not taken out of context. Watch it here and see.
Others have pointed out that when the Supreme Court hears the case on tariff authority, it should consider that the law does not mention tariffs but does require a national emergency. The only national emergency here was the damage to Donald Trump’s pride.
Taxing imports from another country because they hurt your pride sounds like something (dare we say? yes, we dare!) a king would do.
As a footnote to that, I really miss Ronald Reagan.
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A couple mistakes were made in your column, but I appreciate the review.