Current Prophetic Events: Ending in Israel

By Nathan Jones

Will all believers in Christ end up in Israel one day?

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, I was interviewed by host August Rosado of the BlogTalkRadio show Signs of the Times. August is a Bible prophecy teacher and preacher and founder of a ministry called Today in Bible Prophecy. He has and continues to be a personable guest on our television program Christ in Prophecy. He and I spent some time discussing prophetic trends and events that we are seeing occurring today.

Ending in Israel

August Rosado: Brother, it's so good to have you back on the show! I've been looking forward to this for a while now. How's everything going there at Lamb & Lion Ministries?

Nathan Jones: Ministry has been really busy, for as you know, so many people have been getting interested in what's going on in the world. Even people who are not really knowledgeable about the Bible see and understand that something big is moving in the world and they want to know where it's all going.

We are so fortunate as believers in Christ to have the Bible, and 31% of the Bible is God's prophetic word. God wants us to know what the future holds, more or less not in extreme detail, but as much as God wants us to know. It's just great to share the Gospel with people as we proclaim God's prophetic word and hope-giving message of the soon return of Jesus Christ.

August Rosado: Amen, Brother! That's what Bible prophecy is all about — sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. And, yes indeed, something big is happening in the world right now, and it's telling me that Jesus Christ is coming sooner rather than later. There's so much going on right now that the one hour we have together just doesn't do our conversation justice. We could go on for the next three hours and still talk about what's going on in the world right now, especially in Israel, the Middle East, and even in our very own backyard. I believe current events are setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Now, tell me, Lamb & Lion's Senior Evangelist, Dr. David Reagan, just came back from Israel, right? He lead a tour and also went there to shoot some "Christ in Prophecy" programs?

Nathan Jones: Yes, he did. Dr. Reagan leads tours to Israel one or two times every year depending on conditions. We'll have another tour in or around March 2014, and we are also going to have another tour of Israel near the end of October and beginning of November of 2013. It is still tentative right now, but if people want to come and join that tour, they can go to our website at lamblion.com and at least get on the waiting list as we get more information together.

August, when you said that your ministry will host a tour of Israel in March 2014, it might be a whole different-looking Israel by 2014.

August Rosado: Yes, that's right, taking into consideration what's going on over in Israel right now, anything could happen. After all, it is the Middle East!

Today in Bible Prophecy just got back from Israel this past March and we just had a wonderful, wonderful time. We had a great group of people join us on the tour. Like I say, there's nothing like teaching Bible prophecy on location, where it was all written and where it is all going to come down. We just had a wonderful time with this group. I look forward to going back there again, unless the Lord takes us home, that is.

Nathan Jones: Amen, Brother! And then, we will all still end up in Israel one day, right?

August Rosado: We will end up in Israel. I told people in our tour that if we get raptured in Israel it's only going to be a domestic flight. I tell people that all the time.

In the second segment of August Rosado's and my discussion of current prophetic trends and events, we will get to it and lament the Boston Marathon bombing, as well as see if terrorism in these last days was prophesied in the Bible.

The Man of Lawlessness: God and America

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

Too Late For America

Jan Markell: Do you think it is too late for America? Has God turned his back on America?

Dr. Reagan: I do. I have written what is called A Prophetic Manifesto. In that Prophetic Manifesto, I asked this question: "Is there any hope for America?" I also answered and said, "No, our only hope is Jesus, and thus we have no hope, for we have rejected Him. We have turned our back on the very God who made us great and showered us with blessings. We have forgotten that God's Word teaches that to those whom much is given, much is expected." Yes, as long as we've got our eyes on Jesus, there is hope. But, we've reached the point where people could just care less.

Get on the Internet these days and you will see virulent hatred expressed on the Internet against anything Christian, even against Christians themselves. It's scary the attitudes that exist out there, because when you get right to it, the only religions in the world that requires anything of anybody morally really are Islam and Christianity which requires morality, and people don't like that. They don't want a religion that requires anything of them morally.

Jan Markell: There's a story out in your neck of the woods down in Texas very recently about some students I think being forced to dress up in women's burkas. I was interviewed about it. It just shows you how the tide of our times has changed so dramatically here in the last 10 to 15 years.

Dr. Reagan: That's right, and if the teacher had done anything at all related to the Christian religion, he would have been fired.

Jan Markell: Exactly!

Dr. Reagan: Jan, one thing that I would like to touch on is the fact that this book of mine, The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, has a whole section in it where I get the opinions of 22 different Bible prophecy experts on five questions. I think that's probably the most interesting part of the book.

Jan Markell: I appreciated that. David, has the opinion of a number of people from Gary Fisher to Gary Frasier to Arnold Fruchtenbaum to Phillip Goodman, Ed Hindson, Mark Hitchcock, David Hocking, Dave Hunt, Noah Hutchings, Terri James, Nathan Jones, Tim LaHaye and others who are weighing in to the book here, as well as Chuck Missler, Ron Rhodes, and many more. I do recommend this book. If the topic of the Antichrist intrigues you, there is a lot of information on end times in this book.

Tribulation Second Chance

I want to ask you one last question, David. Do you believe that there is a second chance during the Tribulation if you've heard the Gospel and rejected it today? Will people get a second chance in the Tribulation?

Dr. Reagan: That's a good question! When I interviewed those 25 people on that question at the Pre-Trib Conference, half of them said "yes" and the other half said "no." Disagreement over this point is just one of those things. I think that anybody who thinks they'll just put off accepting the Lord because they believe they'll have a chance during the Tribulation better be careful.

Jan Markell: Let me close by saying that we are living in one of the most significant days in history that the world has ever known. We are living in the days by which the Bible referred to more than any other time frame — the Last Days. It's both a privilege and a challenge to be born for such a time as this.

We've been talking about events at the end of the age, and the Bible says in Luke 21 that when you see some of these things begin to come to pass, then lift up your heads and know your Redeemer draws near. When these end times signs begin to come to pass, then we are to look for His return.

The Bible is unique. It's the only book that dares to place its entire credence that it can tell in advance concerning what will take place. The Bible says what events are going to take place, and they actually do come to pass. So, the Bible is a very unique book. It's the road map for getting through what's called today the "last of the last days."

The Man of Lawlessness: Decline of Society

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

Decline of Society

Jan Markell: David, I'm looking at your March-April Lamplighter magazine. People can go to your website at lamblion.com to sign up for a hard copy, or to read it online. I happen to read it online. You've got an article in there under the headline of school shootings where you say, "After the recent school shooting tragedy in Connecticut, I noticed that the TV news programs focused on interviewing psychologists and psychiatrists as they sought an explanation for the senseless rampage. Most of what I heard in response to their questions was what I would call psychobabble. But, their questions got me thinking. It occurred to me that during the time that I was in public school from the first grade in 1945 to my senior year in 1956, there were no such massacres, and that caused me to wonder, 'What has changed?'."

David, you went on in this article to list some of the things that have changed. I think it would be a great perspective to hear your perception of how things have changed.

Dr. Reagan: Society has changed very radically, and it's changed very fast. The pace is just breath-taking.

One of society's dramatic changes is the way in which the court has reinterpreted the First Amendment. The First Amendment never put up a barrier between the State and religion. All it did was put up a barrier between the State creating, supporting, or establishing a church. People in recent years have taken the First Amendment and said, "Oh, what that really means is a separation of the State and religion, and we can't have any type of religious influence." That is not what our Constitution says!

When I was going to school, we had Easter plays. We had Christmas plays. We had Bible readings every day. We had prayer every day. Our English readers were made up of Bible stories with a moral at the end. This was true throughout American history. It's been true since the very beginning. And then, suddenly, it all began to change in 1962 when the court outlawed prayer in the public schools, and again in 1980 when the courts outlawed even the 10 Commandments being shown on the wall behind the Supreme Court justices. Detractors say, "Oh, no, we can't have the 10 Commandments seen."

Another dramatic change to society was the closing of the Evolution debate. When I was growing up, we heard both sides in class. The Evolutionists then said, "All we want is equal time." Today they say, "No, we want all the time. We don't even want people to be introduced to the very concept that there could be a Creator God." We are teaching our children that they are simply evolved from some sort of primeval mud and that they are on the same level as an animal. Then we wonder why they act like animals!

Next would be the transformation of the entertainment industry, which has probably been one of the greatest factors of them all. When I was growing up, entertainment was the movies, and movies had a right and wrong; they had a moral to them. They did not have filthy language. They were wholesome and they always talked about good triumphing over evil. Today, when you go to see a movie, you can't tell who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. The bad guys usually end up winning one way or the other.

Of course, I didn't have TV when I was growing up. I didn't see my first television until 1952, and television started off very wholesome. We watched programs like The Life of Riley, I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best, the Nelson Family. They were wonderful programs. Today, if you put the Nelson family on, people would die laughing. Our model today in the Osbourne family, a totally dysfunctional family.

Then there's the computer revolution. Today, a little child can get on the computer and type a few keys, and low and behold, they are watching pornography. It happened to my wife who was a first grade teacher. She asked her first graders to write an essay about an animal. One boy picked the cheetah. So, he goes to the computer and types in "cheetah" and the first thing that pops up is a topless woman who goes by the name of Cheetah. He's on a porn site — just unbelievable!

Then there's the evolution of the Church. When I was a kid, we went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Vacation Bible School, and Gospel meetings. Today, most people go to church once a week on Sunday morning, and their kids are exposed to the Word of God for one hour. Then, the rest of the week, they are in a classroom where they are exposed to pagan ideas. It's no wonder that we have the problems that we have!

To give you a drastic contrast, when I graduated from High School in 1956, our parking lot always had about 100 pick-up trucks every day. In those pick-up trucks were gun racks, and on those gun racks were a deer rifle, a .22, and a shotgun. Often they had a pistol in the glove compartment, and nobody worried about those guns. Nobody was concerned about them, because we had grown up with Christian morality. Today, we have a whole generation who doesn't even know what Christian morality is. As I end the article I say, "The answer to why there is so much violence today is that we have put the guns in the hands of moral pigmies — people who simply don't know what morality is all about."

In the sixth and last segment of Jan Markell's interview of Dr. David Reagan about his book The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, they will ponder whether it is too late for America morally to turn around.

The Man of Lawlessness: Famine of Interest

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

Famine of Interest

Jan Markell: With all the intriguing issues related to the end of the age that are prevalent today, Bible prophecy ought to be very intriguing to everybody. David, you have been in the realm of eschatology longer than I have, and I'm sure things have changed enormously since you first went into ministry, but I have a question that I realize there is no answer to. Will we ever, ever get the Church interested in these topics? Or, should I say, get re-interested? They was a revival of interest in Bible prophecy some 25 years ago. What do you think happened? And, will we ever get people to have any kind of that same interest again?

Dr. Reagan: You bring up a very sad topic for me, because I've been preaching the soon return of Jesus Christ now for almost 35 years. I've seen the churches' interest in prophecy wane rather than grow. That's really disappointing to me, because it seems to me that the signs of the times are literally shouting from the heavens that Jesus is about to return. And yet, here the Church is simple ignoring it and they are not preaching about it. They are not teaching about Jesus coming back. They are not telling people how to get ready for the Lord's return. They are not teaching the hope of the Lord's return.

It seems that most churches today are primarily concerned about one thing — what can we do to increase attendance? Many unfortunately are going to entertainment, or they are going to a sort of seeker-friendly type of sermon where you never mention sin, repentance, or the blood of Christ. Churches today are preaching a water downed Gospel and certainly are not really preaching Bible prophecy.

Jan, when I talk to pastors about why they leave out the third of the Bible that's God's prophetic word, I ask them, "Why don't you ever preach about Bible prophecy?" Usually what they say to me is, "Well, prophecy is just kind of pie-in-the-sky. I have a congregation full of people who have all sorts of serious problems. I have dope addicts. I've got alcoholics. I have people involved in extra-marital affairs. I then have got to preach sermons that are down to earth and have to do with the problems people are facing now.

My response to that is, "I understand exactly what you are saying and where you are coming from, but you don't understand the message of Bible prophecy." I then point out to them that if you can ever convince people of two things concerning Bible prophecy you will change their lives. If you can convince them that one, Jesus really is coming back. Sure, most Christians believe that in their minds, but they don't believe it in their heart that He is really is coming back. And then, two, that Jesus' return is an event that could occur at any moment. If you convince people of those two things, you will motivate them to holy living and evangelism. I don't know what could be more practical than a message that motivates people to evangelism and holy living.

Jan Markell: I totally agree! I don't understand, like a hand fitting in a glove, the topics of end times and evangelism naturally go together.

Dr. Reagan: I also think, too, that a lot of pastors identify Bible prophecy as total sensationalism. They are convinced Bible prophecy has to do with people setting dates all the times, and making sensational claims. Sadly, those things do happen. There are times when I'm embarrassed to be a Bible prophecy teacher because of the wackos who are setting dates. I remember when Y2K was coming around, and some people thought the world would be coming to an end. They believed American society would cease to exist! It's a really sad situation.

Jan Markell: There's a Lutheran pastor in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area about seven or eight years ago now, who I knew well. It was a fairly solid Lutheran church, and it still is for that matter. This Lutheran pastor put on a series on eschatology in his particular Lutheran church. He did a very fine job. I happened to watch online, and I commend him for it. One of his church members came up to him afterwards, and he later told this story from the pulpit. The church member said, "My life is so filled with problems and with conflict and heartaches, and yet you want to sit here and preach about these end times. You want to talk about this nation of Israel. How is that possibly healing the hurts in my life?" This pastor replied to the gentleman, "If you would first of all bless Israel, some of the issues in your life might turn around." He actually gave that illustration! Other people in this particular Lutheran church were also bucking the series of messages on end times from this very strong Lutheran church in our area. I found that to be an interesting story.

In the fifth segment of Jan Markell's interview of Dr. David Reagan about his book The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, they will point out events that have radically changed modern society in preparation for the coming of the Antichrist.

The Man of Lawlessness: Antichrist and False Prophet

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

Heritage

Jan Markell: Concerning the Antichrist's heritage, David, you believe he will be a Gentile? That comes heavily out of a verse in Revelation 13 about the beast coming out of the sea, right? How do you conclude therefore that the Antichrist will likely be a Gentile, not a Jew, nor a Muslim, but a Gentile?

Dr. Reagan: The verse in Revelation 13 that you just described is a good reference. This passage talks about the Beast coming out of the sea. The sea is used as a symbol in prophecy for the foreign nations of the world. The reference to land is usually a reference to Israel and a Jew.

The real key prophecy is the one over in Daniel 9 where it says that the Antichrist will rise out of the people who destroyed the Temple. The people who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD were the Romans. Therefore, the Antichrist will be a person of Roman heritage who will come out of Europe, as stated in Daniel 9:26.

Consciousness

Jan Markell: Do not believe that the Antichrist already knows his role? If he is alive today, and I think it might be a good guess that he is alive today, do you feel he does or does not know his role even as we speak? Or, is the conscious realization of his destiny going to have to happen at a later time?

Dr. Reagan: Jan, you raise two issues there, so let me speak about both of them for just a moment. First of all, you mentioned several times that you think that he is probably alive today. I think so, too. But, he has always been alive in a sense. Satan knows Bible prophecy, but he doesn't know the timing of it. Satan has always had an Antichrist candidate in the wings. There has always been someone alive at any point in history that could be Satan's candidate to be the Antichrist. The moment that God makes his move, Satan would then make his counter move and he would have his candidate ready. He has a candidate ready today. But, I don't think that candidate has the slightest idea that he is really the candidate to be the Antichrist, but I think Satan still has that candidate.

Jan Markell: I totally agree with you, David. I've said that many, many times. We can look back on history and see that there were obviously some very likely candidates, particularly in recent history. Even really going all the way, way, way back. Even during Roman times, the people were very, very evil people.

False Prophet

Jan Markell: The Antichrist goes by many names in the Bible: the Beast, the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Perdition, and all sorts of other names in the Bible. The Antichrist also has a partner whom he hangs out with, and the Bible identifies him as the False Prophet. David, do you believe the False Prophet will have a Jewish heritage, and if so, how come?

Dr. Reagan: There is a strong possibility that the False Prophet will be Jewish, because in Revelation 13 it talks about the rise of the Antichrist as the beast coming up out of the sea, which is used in Bible prophecy as a euphemism for the nations. It says further down in the chapter in verse 11 about another beast coming up, but this one comes up out of the earth, or out of the land, with the original word there translated either way. Usually when there is a reference to the earth or the land in this kind of context, it is referring to Israel. So, there is a strong possibility that the False Prophet might be a person who has a Jewish Heritage.

There is likely not going to be a religious leader for the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation. The indication in Scripture is that during the first half of the Tribulation the Antichrist is probably going to take some religious world leader who is already on the scene, and he will rally the world behind him to basically form a world religion that will be a confederation of many different religions. This particular individual will have been already on the world scene.

The other indication in Scripture is that the Antichrist will become fed up with this one-world religious person, possibly because he begins to tell the Antichrist what to do. The Antichrist will turn on this man, this Harlot or Mystery Babylon, and gets rid of him. He then puts in his place this right hand guy called the False Prophet who then begins to organize really a whole new system of worship that is focused just on the Antichrist. The False Prophet is sort of the John the Baptist of the Antichrist; promoting him and getting people to worship him. I think initially the Antichrist is going to select some already known world leader and religion to head up the first church that he has during the first 3 1/2 years.

The Pope

Jan Markell: We have seen a lot of religious-related events occur in 2013, especially concerning the focus on the Pope of Catholicism. We have seen Pope Benedict XVI step down. He is one of the few Pope's in the last 2,000 years who didn't die in office, which is usually the case. There has often been the case made that a Pope could fit a role of the False Prophet. Do you believe that is a possibility?

Dr. Reagan: It is a possibility. I wouldn't say for certain that is the case, but it certainly could be a possibility. There are after all Christians who are Jews, we call them Messianic Jews, and even among the leaders of the Catholic Church there are those who have a Jewish background. So, that could very well be. I'm not going to say for certain that is the situation, but it could be.

People have been saying that Pope Francis I is the last Pope and that he definitely will be the Antichrist, or at least he is going to be the False Prophet. I don't think that he will be the Antichrist. Whether he is the last Pope or not is another question. He certainly could be, because the signs of the times point to the soon return of Jesus. They indicate that He is at the very gates of Heaven waiting for His Father to tell Him to step out onto a cloud.

I certainly don't believe Francis is the last Pope based upon the Malachy prophecies, the Irish Saint from back in the 1100's. I think that whole thing is a fraud. The so-called prophecies are on the level with Nostradamus' prophecies. They are just so obtuse that nobody can understand what they mean until after the fact. In fact, they are kind of funny. They are kind of little one-liners that say, "The next Pope will have something to do with a rose." And then, Malachy believers will look up to see what Pope that was, and they discover that that Pope's mother liked roses, so that is a fulfillment of the prophecy. Just silliness, really!

In the fourth segment of Jan Markell's interview of Dr. David Reagan about his book The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, they will address why there is such a famine of teaching God's prophetic word.

The Man of Lawlessness: America in the Antichrist's Kingdom

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

America

Jan Markell: Where do you think America fits into the Antichrist's kingdom? I talked to Mark Hitchcock about this awhile back. Where do you think America fits into this scenario? Will it be that the United States will have just declined and therefore had to move into the European Union?

Dr. Reagan: It could very well be that the United States will be absorbed into the EU. I think that we are going to see a great decline of the United States. I have said that for many years, and Terry James and other Bible prophecy teachers agree with that. We are going to continue to decline because we are just not a major player in the end times. No mention of America is one of the great mysteries of Scripture.

We are so close to the end with the signs of the times that so clearly reveal that we are living on borrowed time, and yet at this moment the United States is still the major world power. Something has to happen that is going to remove us from that position. We could run scenarios all day long, like an atomic weapon attack, or a terrorist attack that is so great like somebody gets on top of the Empire State building and opens a shoebox full of the white powder and people are dying right and left, or someone could just simply float a merchant ship into New York Harbor with an atomic bomb in it and blow the whole place up, and this nation would be in absolute chaos. There are a lot of scenarios. The one I think most likely is that the Rapture will occur and when that occurs we are going to lose more key leaders in business, government, and military than any other nation in the world would lose. I'm hoping that will be it, but who knows. It may even be a tremendous economic collapse.

Jan Markell: The Rapture is what Mark Hitchcock feels will be the real game changer.

One-World Government

Jan Markell: I think the decline of the United States is going to be is a combination of events, but one of the biggest elements in that is going to be the push for globalism, this one world system. America has to come in line with that one world system.

I have a short sound bite from Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, including even Chuck Missler, talking about this global system. David, I would like your take on it when it is completed.

According to the Bible in the last days, all of the world will be gathered together in sort of a global community. Ruled by this one man. Empowered by Satan. Known as the Beast, or the Antichrist, or the Man of Sin, or the Son of Perdition.

In Revelation 13 we read, "And all the world marveled and followed the Beast. So they worshipped the Dragon who gave authority to the Beast. And they worshipped the Beast saying, 'Who is like the Beast? Who is able to make war with him?'"

Now, the Bible has indicated that at the end times as it calls it there is going to be a global leader rising. He is going to be the most attractive guy the world has ever seen. The world is going to embrace him. Incidentally, he is a man of peace. He is a financial guy, not a military guy. He becomes very militarily powerful so, "Who can make war with him?" is the cry.

In 1995, hundreds of political, business, and religious leaders joined together in San Francisco for the first annual State of the World Forum. Their mission statement is to build the first global civilization. Proposals included creating a common language, creating a single currency, and uniting and accepting all religions. One of the religious leaders said, "The universe is seeking to fulfill itself through us." As we study world events, we must conclude that the world is working towards a new world order.

It is interesting as you examine what is going on in each country, not just in American, but also in the major countries of Europe, there seems to be a hidden agenda being followed towards a global, socialists, and centralized government. We see that trend in this country. The Bush administration made that quiet clear. The current administration is also clearly marching to that agenda. We see in Britain, France, and Germany the politicians are subverting their own national interests towards a dream of a one world government. There are lots of reasons for that. The idealists believe that it might be the best for the environment and the earth. Others point out, the real driving force probably is nuclear proliferation.

Now, the world is heading for a disaster, and as you grapple with these issues the conclusion you come to is the only answer — global supervision. Most of the leadership in the world is pursuing an agenda that presumes that there is going to have to be a single administration of the planet earth. And, the challenge before mankind is how do you get there non-violently?

Jan Markell: A global civilization is going to have quite a lot of problems to deal with. Your thoughts on this?

Dr. Reagan: I would agree with Chuck Smith and Chuck Missler's thesis that we are headed towards a world government. There are many, many trends in that direction, and also toward a world centralized religion I don't think that it is going to be achieved peacefully though. I don't believe that at all. The Antichrist may rise to power peacefully in Europe. He will be as I said a dynamic, charismatic leader who the Europeans will be fawning over.

But, when he starts trying to rule the world, the Bible says that in the first half of the Tribulation one-half of all of humanity will die. Revelation describes a conventional war that morphs into a nuclear war. Staggering that one-half of humanity is going to die during the first 3 1/2 years. The Bible says during the second half of the Tribulation, two-thirds of the Jews are going to die. He clearly is going to conquer the world militarily.

And so, I don't think that the Man of Lawlessness will be a man of peace, but only when he initially arises. Very quickly when he is crossed he will resort to military power. He will conquer the world and he will be successful.

Probably the ones who will respond most negatively to the Antichrist's rulership will be the Muslim world. I think they will really resent the idea of a European leader who wants to rule the whole world. I believe that God will work through the Antichrist to bring judgment upon the Muslim world. I also suspect most of those dying during that time are going to be from the Muslim world. Once he conquers the Muslim world, I think the whole world will then fawn over him, and the whole world will adore him. Now, whether it's sincere admiration or whether it's because they are afraid of their lives, I don't know. It's probably a combination of the two.

In the third segment of Jan Markell's interview of Dr. David Reagan about his book The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, they will address the Antichrist and False Prophet's heritage, and whether they are alive today or not.

The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation

By Dr. David R. Reagan

On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet. It is a great source of news and commentary-driven information.

Jan and I spent the one hour radio program discussing the characteristics and heritage of the Antichrist, called The Man of Lawlessness, and the False Prophet. We remind people that the catastrophic calamities happening today are setting the stage for the Tribulation when all this mystery unfolds.

Reason for Writing

Jan Markell: Today we are going to cover a familiar topic: Are we living in the Last Days? The answer is simply yes. You'll hear this topic very often on "Understanding the Times" in part because the Church is silent on the subject of the Last Days from a biblical perspective.

My guest, Dr. David Reagan of Lamb & Lion Ministries, has been a frequent conference speaker of mine going back to 2006. He is the author of several books and the host of the "Christ in Prophecy" TV program. His latest book is titled, The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, which we will be discussing. Dr. Reagan, welcome back to the program!

Dr. Reagan: I'm always delighted to be on your program, Jan. I want to congratulate you on the fact that "Understanding the Times" has greatly expanded in outreach recently. That's a wonderful blessing of the Lord. I just pray God will continue to magnify your voice.

Jan Markell: Well, thank you, David. Yes, it's been quite a journey over the last 13 years, for sure.

Concerning this Man of Lawlessness, I agree with you that we Christians should generally focus on Jesus Christ and not the Antichrist. So, why then write a book on the Antichrist, because you and I agree that this topic is dark and hardly edifying. And yet, the Antichrist will become a very prominent person in history. We don't know who he is. We don't even know if he is around right now. He probably is, but we don't know that. So, why write about this topic?

Dr. Reagan: In your remarks right there you mentioned one of the reasons why I wrote about the Antichrist. In the preface of my introduction I said I never in my wildest imagination ever figured I would spend the time writing a book about the Antichrist, because I like to focus on Jesus Christ. I've even written an entire book about why I believe Jesus is the divine Son of God. But, the reason why is because I began to run across so many books being put out by various Bible prophecy teachers in which they were trying to identify the Antichrist. One after another, after another! To me, it's just an exercise in silliness that people would try to identify who He is right now.

There have been so many books put out in recent years in which people have tried every which way in the world to identify specifically who the Antichrist is actually going to be. So, I devoted a whole chapter in the book entitled, "The Naming of the Antichrist," which starts off with telling a funny story.

My former colleague, Dennis Pollock, was with me for 11 years before he formed his own ministry. Back when we were on the radio, he asked me if he could spend a whole radio program just talking about the silliness of trying to name the Antichrist. I said, "Sure." So, he gets on the radio and he starts talking about a letter that he had received in which a person had tried to prove that the Antichrist was the popular purple dinosaur that was on the television at the time — Barney the dinosaur. So, Dennis gives through all his "facts" and showed how this guy had figured up the numerals, and they all added up to 666.

About a week later we get a letter from a guy who is outraged saying, "I heard your program and I can't believe that you were on the air trying to prove that Barney the purple dinosaur was the Antichrist!" He of course had tuned in to the middle of the program, so he didn't get the introduction. Poor Denise! He had to write back and explain that he really wasn't doing that.

Misconception

Jan Markell: You say that it is a misconception that the Antichrist will be one of the most brilliant, effective leaders in all the world, because first of all he's going to be one of the most evil leaders in the whole world?

Dr. Reagan: That's right.

Jan Markell: The Antichrist is going to use both diplomacy and military power to gain control? When I first think of the Antichrist, I look at the picture of somebody like on the cover of your book who is kind of a sinister looking guy, and he looks pretty evil. But, you say the Antichrist isn't going to be the most brilliant, effective leader in world history then, do you?

Dr. Reagan: How could he be if his kingdom only last a totally of 7 years? I mean, this is a guy who destroys himself. He spends the first 3 1/2 years conquering the world and becoming the world leader. Then during the last 3 1/2 years he become obsessed with one thing, and that is the destruction of the Jewish people from the face of the earth. He's going to pick up where Hitler left off and try to kill every Jew. During that time when He is totally obsessed and focused on the Jews, his whole kingdom just literally falls apart. The guy starts out brilliantly, but ends up a confused mess whose completely defeated with his kingdom gone.

Jan Markell: He does sound like some modern day politicians who have some of those characteristics.

Dr. Reagan: Isn't that true. The Antichrist is still going to be a smooth guy and slick. He will rise to power in Europe peacefully through the use of cunning. Furthermore, the Bible indicates that he's going to be possessed by Satan so that he will have great wisdom and be able to really deceive a lot of people.

Conqueror

Dr. Reagan: The Antichrist is going to have to conquer the world with military power because Africa, Asia, and Latin America have spent the last 250 years getting out from beneath European colonialism. After living under such rule, they are not going to suddenly turn around, bow down, and say, "Please come and rule us." I think that is why all these wars are described in the book Revelation, because he's going to go to war to conquer the rest of the world.

After the Antichrist conquers the world, once he does that, he's going to go to Jerusalem and declare himself to be God. After he does that, he's going to become obsessed with one thing, and that is the destruction of the Jewish people.

Jan Markell: David, lets back up just a little bit going back to the first part of the Tribulation, because in the first part of the Tribulation the Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel. He comes on the scene as a good guy, riding on a white horse. He's going to make a peace treaty with Israel. They buy into him hook, line, and sinker, correct?

Dr. Reagan: That's right. The Israelis will think the Antichrist is their savior. Not their spiritual savior, but Israel thinks that he is their political savior. They receive him with open arms, there is no doubt about that. Then, in the middle of the Tribulation when he goes to Jerusalem and enters the rebuilt temple and declares himself to be God, the Jews of course become horrified. That's when they turn against him, and that's when the Antichrist tries to destroy all the Jew.

Jan, you know this as well as I do, that Satan hates the Jewish people with a passion. He hates them because God gave the Bible through them. He hates them because God gave the Messiah through them. He hates them because they are the chosen people of God. And, he hates them because God has promised that in the end times a great remnant is going to be brought to salvation when they accept Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah. Satan is determined to kill every Jew on planet earth so that God cannot fulfill that promise to save a great remnant in the end. That's going to be the Antichrist's last hurrah right there during the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation as the Antichrist tries to destroy the Jewish people.

Jan Markell: Isn't it interesting that the Antichrist is going to be admired? Adolf Hitler was admired too by the Germans for a season, anyway.

Dr. Reagan: Right.

Jan Markell: Or, is the Antichrist going to be the kind of leader like in North Korea, where those people are forced to admire him? Will there be true admiration?

Dr. Reagan: I think that at least where he rises to power his base which I believe will be the European Union which is the coming together today of the Old Roman Empire, I believe that he will be greatly admired by them. He will likely be a man who they think has the answers to all of the world's problems. I think he'll be dynamic and charismatic and he will deceive a lot of people. I really believe that.

In the second segment of Jan Markell's interview of Dr. David Reagan about his book The Man of Lawlessness: The Antichrist in the Tribulation, they will address where America fits into the Antichrist's one-world kingdom.