Will the Antichrist rule the World? Most Bible prophecy teachers believe he will. Since the mid-20th Century and possibly even earlier than that by and large Bible prophecy teachers have all agreed to the idea of one man, indwelt by Satan, ruling over every nation on earth and being in control of the whole planet for the duration of the last three and a half years of this present age. The Left Behind franchise of books, movies and DVD’S have done much to foster this idea, but is this what scripture teaches?
We know that the Antichrist is coming but also that there have been many antichrists down through history to the present day and that they were around in the time of the Apostle John (1 John 2:18-19). The idea that the Antichrist will rule the whole world is based on the English text of Revelation Chapter 13. We read these statements “the whole world was astonished and followed the beast” (Vs.3b)…”And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast” (Vs.7b-8a)… “He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast” (Vs.12).
Will the Antichrist rule the world? Let’s look at this briefly…
Notice the words “world” and “earth” (underlined). In our English translations it seems it is speaking about every tribe, people, language and nation on the planet. However, we need to ask this question “In the light of history has God ever allowed any man to control the whole world?” Of course He hasn’t! Some might argue, “Well the Antichrist will be the exception and he will rule the whole of planet earth,” but is this really correct? While we know “that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one (Satan)” (1 John 5:19) it does not mean that he has total control over everything that happens on earth. In fact Scripture tells us that, “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” (Psalm 24:1-2). There are many more scriptures that tell us God is sovereign over all He has created and still has everything under control.
While Satan has power over the minds and hearts of the unsaved in this present world and through them works murder and mayhem and every evil conceivable, he does not have authority over God’s sovereignty or what He ordains on earth. Scripture confirms this (Colossians 1:16-17) (Isaiah 45:7-9) (Job 42:2) (Jeremiah 32:17) (1 Chronicles 16:31). In God’s Word we are told that God has set the boundaries for the nations. As the Apostle Paul writes; “And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man (Adam) He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:25-26).
So then we have established from God’s Word that He is sovereign over all of His creation including Satan, “the prince of the power of the air (atmosphere)” and “who roams through the earth and goes back and forth in it” (Ephesians 2:2) (Job 1:7; 2:2b). Having established from God’s Word His total sovereignty over all He has made we can now look at this question; “Will the Antichrist rule the world?” Now let’s review the texts related to the words “world” and “earth” we see in Revelation Chapter 13 in our English translations of the Bible.
In the Greek text these words are actually the same word and it means; “Arable land or the ground, the earth as a standing place, the main land as opposed to the sea or water, the earth as a whole, the earth as opposed to the heavens, the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals, a country or land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory or region.” In other words it does not automatically assume that the English words for “world” and “earth” means the entire planet.
I would suggest that the empire of the Antichrist will be a vast empire of global proportions like nothing ever seen in previous history. The people within the boundaries of the Antichrist’s Empire will be greater than the population of China. His armies will be like locusts that swarm over large geographical regions. The prophet Joel describes the armies of the Antichrist like locusts that devour everything in their path (Joel 1:4-6). I would further suggest it will be an Islamic empire. We see the Antichrist’s military campaign as well as his demise in Daniel 11:36-45. It is an Islamic army whose leaders are called “the Kings of the East” (Revelation 16:12).
So in light of God setting boundaries for nations it is reasonable to see that the whole world or earth does not automatically mean the whole globe but also a geographical region enclosed within fixed borders which makes sense in light of God’s sovereign rule over His creation and in light of the geographical boundaries of all empires in past history. Added to this, when one considers the phrase John uses concerning the Antichrist “And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation” it does not mean the whole world and all the nations in it. Rather it refers to all inhabitants of every tribe, people, language and nation living within the fixed boundaries of an empire.
In the prophet Daniel we read where Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon made a statue of gold and made a decree which commanded “peoples, nations and men of every language” to bow down and worship the image of the empire he ruled. In bowing to the image they were also bowing to him. In the Bible King Nebuchadnezzar is a major type of the Antichrist (Daniel 3:4, 7). It is clear that the mandate to worship the Babylonian king and the ideology of his empire represented in the golden image, was only within the boundaries of his empire which was vast. It did not include other nations such as Ancient China or Korea or Japan, but only those peoples, nations and men of every language within the fixed boundaries of the Babylonian Empire itself.
In Revelation Chapter 13 the apostle John also uses the same terminology to describe the Antichrist’s kingdom as the prophet Daniel used to describe the Babylonian Kingdom in Daniel Chapter 3. This will be the nature of the empire of Antichrist and he will go to war with other nations that will oppose him (Daniel 11:36-40). Islam is the fastest growing empire we know today. At present it is fragmented yet ensconced in virtually every nation in the world but when the Antichrist arises in the Middle-East he will have at his command a vast Islamic army unlike anything seen in previous history.
Can you imagine a 200 million strong demonically powered military force with terrible destructive firepower that is going to kill a third of mankind. This Islamic army will come across the dried up Euphrates River (Revelation 9:13-21). So when we read the text of Revelation Chapter 13 we need to keep in mind how the past empires of history have been all centred within their fixed geographical boundaries. In light of God setting the boundaries of nations we can answer the question; “Will the Antichrist rule the world?” and the answer I would suggest is no he won’t! God will not allow it. The Antichrist may proclaim Himself to be God when he sits in God’s Temple but God has said; “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another” (Isaiah 42:8a). So then, God will allow the Antichrist to sit in the temple of God and even to proclaim himself to be God, but God Himself will never allow Satan to rule the whole planet because He controls Satan and curtails his activities. Satan does not control God!
The Antichrist’s empire will be vast and its military might formidable to the mightiest nations in the world (Revelation 13:4b) but it will not be a global empire in which one man will control the whole planet. There will be boundaries to his empire that God will have sovereignly determined, and nations that God will raise up to resist Antichrist’s armies in battle on land and sea (Daniel 11:36-40) (Micah 5:5-6) (Ezekiel 28:6-10).
The only global kingdom with a global ruler who will rule the entire planet will be the Messiah our Lord Jesus when He returns to this planet at His Second Coming. After He has annihilated all opposition, He will then inaugurate His global kingdom on earth to rule the surviving nations with a Rod of Iron (Psalm 2:8-9). In that day we are told in God’s Word; “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
