In part 1 of this series, we considered three reasons why Donald Trump could be the Antichrist: because he has a Messianic identity and Messianic ambitions, he speaks proud words and blasphemies, and his character is the opposite to that of Christ. In part 2, we looked at several considerations or events that would need to happen if he is to become the Antichrist: he would need to stay in office beyond his second term, he would continue to threaten and take over more countries, he would likely have a role in bringing about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, and he would recover from a fatal (or apparently fatal) wound.
We are now ready to take up the final sign, which if fulfilled by Mr. Trump would unequivocally identify him as the Antichrist, and that is desecrating the temple, setting up an image of himself and demanding to be worshipped. This event is prophesied multiple times in Scripture as a pivotal event of the end-times scenario, as the event which openly reveals who the Antichrist is and simultaneously serves as the marker that begins the 42 months of Great Tribulation. Jesus spoke about it in the Olivet Discourse when he said, “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet … then let those in Judea flee into the mountains … for then there will be great distress [KJV great tribulation], unequaled from the beginning of the world until now” (Matt. 24:1-16, 21). The words of Daniel the prophet that he refers to are from the prophecy of the 70 weeks: “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’ [KJV week] and in the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation …” (Dan 9:27). Although the prophecy of the 70 weeks has many interpretations, the most common among those who believe in a future Great Tribulation with a literal future Antichrist is that “he” refers to the Antichrist, who establishes a peace treaty (confirms a covenant) with Israel and her neighbors, quite possibly allowing for the rebuilding of the temple (third sign above). When the temple is rebuilt, sacrifices will be offered on the altar, as in the Old Testament, but in the middle of the week the Antichrist will put an end to the sacrifices and set up the abomination of desolation. What is this? I believe the answer is in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, which says of the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist): “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” Setting himself up in God’s temple seems to correlate with Revelation 13:14-15, which says that the second beast (commonly called the false prophet, the right-hand man of the Antichrist) “ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed” (perhaps an AI robot look-alike of the Antichrist?). This action and event will mark a bold advance to a next stage in which the Antichrist breaks his former alliances with the Jews and Christian Nationalists, reckoning that he is now powerful enough that he no longer needs them and can elevate himself to the status of god.
This scenario fits well with a common interpretation of the Babylon theme in the book of Revelation. In chapter 14, there are three angelic pronouncements. The first is for the worldwide spread of the gospel (14:6-7) and the second relates to Babylon: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” Since the worldwide spread of the gospel seems to precede the beginning of the Great Tribulation (see Matthew 24:14 in its larger context of 24:3-21, where the worldwide proclamation of the gospel is the last of the signs which precedes the Great Tribulation) and since the message of the third angel (Rev 14:9-12) relates to the Great Tribulation itself (people receiving the mark of the beast which dooms them to judgment and saints who are called to persevere through a difficult time), it seems reasonable to conclude that the fall of Babylon announced by the second angel coincides with the beginning of the Great Tribulation. However, later in Revelation the fall of Babylon is portrayed as being at the very end of the Great Tribulation. In connection with the 7th bowl judgement, which is the last of seven judgments in the last of three series of judgements (seals, trumpets, bowls) during the Great Tribulation, it is said, “The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath” (Rev 16:19). The verse preceding this section sets the scene as Armageddon: “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (16:16). This chronology correlates with the sequence we see in Revelation 19, which begins with the fall of Babylon (the great prostitute, 19:4, compare to 18:5), followed by the return of Christ to fight against the beast (Antichrist) and his armies (which is the Battle of Armageddon, 19:11-21). How do we resolve this apparent discrepancy about when the fall of Babylon occurs, for it seems like there is a fall of Babylon at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and at the end? A common interpretation among those who hold to a future Great Tribulation with a literal Antichrist is the two-Babylon view, in which there is a spiritual Babylon and a political Babylon. Spiritual Babylon is a false church or religious system that rides to power with the Antichrist in a mutually beneficial relationship. The false church provides the core support for the soon-to-be-Antichrist, apart from which he would not gain the power that he does. On the other hand, in this transactional relationship, the Antichrist gives the false church access to power it would not otherwise have. But by the time this person reveals himself as the Antichrist at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, he will have gained enough power that he feels he no longer needs their support, so he is emboldened to take his self-promotion to the next level by setting up an image of himself in the temple—an action that will alienate two key allies: Israel and his Christian support base. This is quite possibly referred to in Revelation 17:16, which says, “The beast [Antichrist] and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute [Babylon, see verse 5]. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” Political Babylon, then, would be the political worldwide kingdom that Antichrist rules over during the Great Tribulation (or more specifically, perhaps, the capital city of this kingdom) which will be destroyed by Christ in connection with his second coming.
As we have seen, there is still a lot that needs to happen before we could say definitively that Donald Trump is the Antichrist. Each of these signs will involve a major development that is almost unthinkable. This last sign in particular involves a brazen, bold act of self-promotion and blasphemy that is hard to imagine. Yet at the same time these events, including the last one, are not out of character for the type of person that Mr. Trump has shown himself to be—loyal only to himself, and unabashedly self-promoting and prone to do or say things that were previously unthinkable.
So, what are we to do? We should not jump to conclusions. It is probably still more likely that Donald Trump is not the Antichrist than that he is. But we need to be watchful and must not allow ourselves to be deceived by him or by whoever turns out to be the Antichrist. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
American Christians for Truth and Justice 