This question as to whether Donald Trump is the Antichrist has been debated on the Internet for quite some time. In the past, many claimed that former President Barack Obama was or is the Antichrist. Some are convinced now that Donald Trump is the Antichrist, basing their conclusion on his personality or his actions.

Let us see what the Bible says about the Antichrist. This word is mentioned four times in the Holy Scriptures, and the term “antichrists” is mentioned once.

• 1 John 2:18 says:

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

We already alluded to the fact that the man of sin will sit as God in the Temple of God, pretending to be God Himself (2 Thessalonians 2:4). We also saw that this will happen just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. This means, a Third Temple will be built in Jerusalem so that the man of sin can occupy it. When we see that that Temple will be built, we will know that Christ’s return is imminent.

A further question is as to why a Temple would be built in the first place. One answer is: To fulfill the desire of the Jews to bring daily sacrifices at the Temple Mount. And even though it is true that sacrifices can be brought before the foundation of the Temple has been laid and the erection of the Temple has been completed (compare Ezra 3:6, 11), it is also true that the Jews would not bring daily animal sacrifices unless the preparation of the Temple is underway (compare Ezra 3:8-10).

In this installment, we will address the end-time manifestation of a powerful religious leader and the tragedy that in light of religious persecution and other reasons, true Christians will fall away from the Truth and return to the world. The prophesied “falling away” from the Truth is to occur, in its fullest and most grievous extent, just prior to and during the Great Tribulation. We will know that Christ’s return is eminent when these and other events happen at approximately the same time.

True Church members will fall away from the Truth because they did not receive the love of the Truth and did not believe the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12). Because of lawlessness, the love within them will grow cold (Matthew 24:12; “love” in Greek is agape, describing the love of God which only true Christians have; compare Romans 5:5). The New International Version says: “They refused to love the truth.”

In the first installment, we discussed the SIGN of Christ’s coming—the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness among all nations. We also saw that Christ referred to several events, which are prophesied to accompany that particular sign.

The event, which we will focus on in this installment, is commonly referred to as the “Great Tribulation.” We already noticed that those coming days would be so devastating that, unless those days were cut short, no one would survive and all would perish (Matthew 24:21-22; Mark 13:19; Daniel 12:1-2). The very physical survival of mankind will be at stake. But it has already been determined that those days will be shortened. Mark 13:20 reads, in the New International Version: “If the Lord had not cut short these days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.”

It seems that Christians always believed that Christ would return during their lifetime. The early New Testament apostles believed this, until it became clear to them that His return would not occur that quickly. The Worldwide Church of God under its late human leader, Herbert W. Armstrong, believed for a while that Christ might return in the 1970s or even earlier. They understood numerous prophecies that seemed to indicate convincingly that the Day was near—but they then had to realize that some end-time prophecies did not find their fulfillment then.

Based on the upheaval at his time, Martin Luther believed that Christ would return soon… and so did those who were plagued by the devastating Black Death. Strong earthquakes, heavenly occurrences, devastating natural disasters, famine, pestilences and great wars prompted many to believe that they would experience the soon-coming return of Christ. They all looked at certain signs and predictions, which were startling and frightening, but they did not look at the entire picture.

The word “thanksgiving” is mentioned several times throughout the Bible. Depending on which Bible translation is being used, in the Authorized Version or the King James Version, it is mentioned 30 times; 32 times in the NIV (New International Version); and 38 times in the ESV (English Standard Version), just to give a few examples. Of course, there are many more Scriptures throughout the Bible where the theme of “giving thanks” or “thankfulness” is mentioned. 

The history of the American Thanksgiving Day is quite interesting as it contains origins of religious traditions, similar in ways to what the Bible alludes when referring to God’s annual Fall Holy Days. According to Wikipedia, “Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in Canada, the United States, some of the Caribbean islands and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan [as well as other countries like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and the Philippines].”

In the first installment of this two-part series, we saw that God may make His Will absolutely clear to us to the effect that He will not intervene in the way we hope or wish, and if that is the case, prayers to God to change His Will would be superfluous and futile.

We might not always be able to understand God’s decision not to intervene or fulfill our specific request in a particular matter, because we might not always see what God’s Will or plan might be. We must recognize, however, that His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Psalm 92:5-6 says:

“O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.”

God declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Man cannot do anything against His plan.

This might be a strange question to ask, but the answer to this question has tremendous practical applications. Is there ever a time when we should cease asking God for His intervention in a particular matter? If so, how do we know that the time has come to stop asking?

In this installment, we will look at several examples where God made it very clear that no further requests or pleas should be made in a particular matter. In the next installment, we will discuss situations where prayers should continue to be made.

Due to Saul’s disobedience and rebellion, God rejected him and asked Samuel to anoint David instead as king. We read in 1 Samuel 15:35; 16:1: “And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. Now the LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”

In the 33rd chapter in the book of Job, beginning with verse 14, Elihu makes some stunning comments about God’s dealings with humans:

“For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.

“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones, So that his life abhors bread, And his soul succulent food. His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones stick out which once were not seen. Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners.