Transcription
All right, welcome to this installment of the wine press. This should be a pretty brief session. I wanted to take a few minutes to address a topic that is popping on social media today.
Now, for clarity, I am recording this just hours before the deadline that President Donald Trump gave to the Iranian regime in which he made a post, uh, I guess on Truth Social and X this morning talking about ending a civilization and this type of thing. Now, I want to make it very clear. I think that what he said was absolutely horrible. Uh, you should never talk about ending a civilization.
Now, probably what he was trying to do is act crazy and, uh, essentially try to scare the regime into forcing them to concede last minute. At least that's what I hope he was saying. Um, look, Trump trolls people on X every single day. He says things that he doesn't mean. This is what every 25-year-old rage baiter does today. They say things they don't mean for engagement, for attention, etc. And amazingly, this man who's pushing 80 years old seems to have picked up on the, uh, the style, if you will, of the young generation.
Okay, that said, many on the woke right are freaking out and going absolutely crazy today. Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Alex Jones all essentially implied that Donald Trump is the antichrist or operating in the spirit of the antichrist. And people go, "Mr. Fuetis, there's too many of them. What are we going to do?" I'm like, "We, I told you not to vote for Trump. The Antichrist was on the ballot." They practically said Antichrist 2024, Gog and Magog and Armageddon. Like, you voted for this. And here's Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes asking, "Is President Trump the Antichrist?"
I want to take a few minutes just to highlight how this is a fundamentally unbiblical idea. Now, let me just begin by saying I call this Antichrist pointing. Antichrist pointing is when you point to some individual who is either your political or theological enemy, uh, or what any type of enemy, uh, and claim that he is the antichrist. You know, it's one thing to say this guy is a jerk or I can't stand this guy or I disagree with this guy. It's another thing entirely to actually say he's the antichrist. It's essentially one-upping the idea of calling someone literally Hitler. Uh, but unfortunately, Christians have a long, horrible history of doing this. It's actually real funny. Um, if you do a real thorough study, I mean throughout the medieval period, like throughout all of Christian history, Christians did this. You would even have periods where, you know, some earl, you know, write a treatise on how this guy's the antichrist. Everyone sort of reads their little worldview into the pages of scripture and oftentimes we point to the latest political or theological boogeyman of the day and claim that he's the antichrist. We can point out all kinds of examples that most people know. Uh, when President Ronald Reagan was in office, a lot of people said this guy's the antichrist. If you calculate his name, it comes out to 666. And then of course Gorbachev because he was from Russia. And then Ayatollah Khomeini and on and on and on. So many different people have pointed to different political leaders or religious leaders and said they're the antichrist. So we shouldn't be surprised that people are doing this to Donald Trump. He is an incredibly polarizing, uh, and unusual figure. There's no question about that.
However, that said, with regard to the war in Iran, let's just be clear. There are a lot of people who strongly disagree with war. That's understandable. There's a lot of Americans who lean more toward an isolationist or more of a libertarian slant. They don't want to waste any money, any more money on war. They don't want to see any American lives sacrificed. That's all understandable. That's all understandable. It's another thing entirely to actually root for an evil regime to go so far as to say, not only am I opposed to the United States engaging the, uh, the Ayatollah, the regime, the IRGC in war, I actually hope they win. And that's actually where it's going. And so for many on the woke right who, yes, they're anti-war, etc., etc., etc., they're going so far as to actually call for the impeachment, uh, to remove President Trump from office. And as I said, going so far as to, uh, call him the antichrist.
So I want to just very briefly look at some passages that highlight why there is absolutely no way biblically speaking that President Donald Trump is the antichrist. Now, to be clear, the specific term, the antichrist, it's really only found in the scriptures in 1 John chapter 2, specifically where John the Apostle says that there are many antichrists, but there is one antichrist. Now, to be clear, what the Apostle John is doing is he is expounding upon previous passages. The idea of the antichrist, whereas it doesn't use that term, is found throughout the scriptures. There are many historical types of the antichrist, prophetic foreshadows of the antichrist. You have, for example, Pharaoh, he's a huge one. Goliath is a major type of the antichrist. Sisera back in the book of Judges. And then characters like Sennacherib the Assyrian or Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian, the king of Babylon, or Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek king, is a huge type, a historical prophetic type of the antichrist. All of them together are pointing to the final dictator at the end of the age that the scriptures do talk about and the Christians from the beginning have called him the antichrist. So whereas these are all different historical figures, they're all pointing toward one final, consummate seed of the serpent that will come against God's people at the end of the age.
However, that said, what do the scriptures say about the antichrist? Well, first of all, the scriptures are actually very clear in terms of the geography that he will come from. And this is very important. People will point to all sorts of exclusive passages in the Bible. They'll point to some, you know, passage in the book of Daniel or something again in First John or in the book of Revelation and they'll zero in on those passages while ignoring the full counsel of scripture, ignoring the larger, broader picture that the scriptures paint. We have to take all of scripture into consideration when talking about these things.
So, first of all, let's just address the geography of the antichrist because you can't get around this. The scriptures repeatedly and consistently point to the region from which the antichrist will come. And it points specifically to the region basically of modern-day Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, to the regions north of modern-day Israel. So, the first passage that highlights this is Ezekiel 38 and 39, a passage referred to as the battle of Gog and Magog. Now, the leader of this coalition, the antichrist in this passage is called Gog. Now, what's interesting in this passage is God says to Gog, he says, "Are you not the one that I have been speaking about through all of my prophets saying in the last days I'll bring you against my people Israel?" So he goes, "You're the guy that all of the other prophets are talking about." Now again, the prophets, they're talking about the Assyrian or Antiochus Epiphanes or all of these different figures, but all of them are prophesying through these historical types as they're pointing to Gog, the final bad guy. So Ezekiel 38:39 talks about this massive coalition of nations that will invade the land of Israel. Again, it highlights the regions of Anatolia, Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and Syria. It includes Persia. That's Iran. Okay. So rather than, you know, so many people today, especially among the woke right, they're pointing to Israel. The Antichrist is going to be a false Jewish Messiah. There is no scripture anywhere that supports that idea. The Antichrist and all of his historical biblical types are always hostile gentile neighbors of Israel, foreign dictators, emperors that invade the land of Israel, that come against the God of the Bible, that come against the worship of God, that come against God's people. So Ezekiel 38:39 highlights the regions of Gog of Magog. If we just use the historical grammatical method of interpreting Ezekiel 38:39, if you open up any Bible atlas, Magog is Turkey and Syria. Okay, this is very simple. That's not the United States. That's not Donald Trump.
Now, similarly, Daniel 11 is a huge passage that talks about the region from which the Antichrist will come. Now, Daniel 11 highlights this particular moment in history after the death of Alexander the Great. After he died, his empire was broken up into different dynasties. Eventually, they coalesced as two major regional powers or dynasties. One was called the Seleucid dynasty or empire, and that was in the region of modern-day Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq. The Ptolemies likewise were in the south in modern-day Egypt. And the antichrist figure in Daniel 11 is called the king of the north. He's actually given a geographic title. Once again, he's from the same region. He's from the region of Turkey and Syria.
Similarly, Micah 5, almost everyone knows Micah chapter 5. It's the passage that talks about the Bethlehem Messiah. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Bethlehem Ephratah. Though you are too small to be considered among the clans of Judah, out of you will come one from me who will be a ruler over all of Israel. He's his origins are from ancient times. And then it says he will deliver us from the Assyrian when the Assyrian invades our land and marches across our borders. So Jesus, the Bethlehem-born Messiah will deliver Israel from the antichrist that there is referred to using the historical figure of the Assyrian. The antichrist is called the Assyrian. And this was the common interpretation, by the way, among the early church, among the early church fathers. So numerous passages will point to the geography, the regions. They're all the same general regions. It's not the United States. You can hate Donald Trump, but he is not the biblical Antichrist. I'm sorry.
So, the Antichrist will lead a regional coalition against Israel. Again, Ezekiel 38 and 39 highlight that. Daniel 11. Similarly, Joel 3 verse 1 and 2, at that time the Lord says, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all of the nations, i.e., the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, that's Jerusalem. He says, "There I will sit to judge the surrounding Gentiles." Tsaphah is the Hebrew phrase, surrounding nations. The Gentiles roundabout. It's talking about the neighbors. The neighbors. The Antichrist will lead Israel's neighbors in an invasion and an occupation of Jerusalem. There's no getting around it.
Zechariah 12, similarly, the Lord says, "I'm going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes people to get incredibly drunk." Look at today, the insanity that the people are going crazy over Israel. Zionism. Zion. It's like it's like holy water on demons. You just say Zion, people start going crazy. He goes, I'm going to cause Jerusalem to become a cup that causes reeling and drunkenness to all of the surrounding peoples. The tsaphah, the peoples round about, and it will the siege, he says, will be against Judah, against Israel. The surrounding nations will invade Israel. He tells us where the antichrist is going to come from.
Let's look at, um, Ezekiel 30. Okay. The word of the Lord came to me, the son of man, that's Ezekiel, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God, Woe, alas, for the day, the day of the Lord is near." What is the context of this prophecy? The day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the New Testament consistently interprets as a singular time period that is connected to the return of Jesus. The New Testament interprets texts like this and it calls it the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is talking about the return of Jesus and the judgment of the nations. Woe for the day. The day is near. The day of the Lord is near. It will be a day of clouds. A time of doom for the Gentiles. Ready? A sword will come against. It lists the primary players. A sword will come against Egypt. Anguish will be in Kush. Kush is immediately south of Egypt. When the slain will fall in Egypt, uh, they will take away their wealth. Their foundations will be torn down. Kush, Put, Lud, that's Lydia, that's North Africa. All of Arabia, Libya, and the people of the land that are in league, they will fall by the sword. The Lord lists the nations that surround Israel, not the United States.
Further, the Antichrist will persecute, wear down the saints. Numerous passages speak of the Antichrist persecuting Christians. Daniel 7:2, he will speak out against the Most High. Now, look, Trump says some really absurd things, things that no born-again, educated Christian would ever say. I want to be clear. But he also tries at times. He tries to honor God in his Donald Trump way. He doesn't blaspheme. He doesn't speak out against God. He may say things that people might consider blasphemous. And I get that. But he doesn't try to put down God. He doesn't speak out against the Most High. And he certainly does not wear down the saints of the Highest One. And he will intend to make alterations in times and laws.
Look, the scriptures have many things that it says about the antichrist. He is hostile to God. He is hostile to Christians. He is hostile to Jews. He is hostile to Israel. That's not Donald Trump. So Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, anyone in the world, they can hate Trump all they want, but he is not the antichrist. You might dislike Trump, but biblically speaking, he's not the antichrist. If you think he is, sorry. You've just joined the long list of goofy Christians throughout history who have pointed their finger at someone that they don't like and called him the antichrist, but it's simply not biblical.
So, I do hope this was helpful. Um, this is the moment that we're living in. Uh, I look forward to seeing you next time. Until then, God bless and as always, Maranatha.