What Could It Be?

I may be overthinking it, but one thing that I have always wondered about in Scripture is what will happen to unite the world behind one man.

Look at the world today.

Some wish to wipe Israel off the map. The Bible even speaks of this sentiment. In Psalm 83:4, while speaking of a yet-to-come battle, it reads, “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation: that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.”

There is the ongoing war in Ukraine. Most see Russia as the aggressor, but Russia sees this as a land dispute that has been going on for centuries.

In America, the political climate is such that both sides claim that freedom has seen its last days if the other side is victorious. There is no ability to compromise or spirit of unity.

We hear about these problems daily, as they are the ones the Western press discusses.

Also around the world, war rages in Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere. There are also non-shooting battles in every nation, as ideologies class on the political front.

It seems impossible for the world to agree one hundred percent on anything. Yet, sometime in the future, the world will unite behind one man. Revelation 13:7-8 states, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

He will hold this power for three and a half years (Revelation 13:5), which coincides with the last half of the seven-year tribulation.

What happens? There must be some event that causes all the world’s nations to allow one person to dictate to them.

Here are some possibilities of what could bring about the power shift.

The rapture is a coming event (possibly soon) in which all the true believers who have died since Christ’s resurrection are resurrected. Also included in this resurrection are the believers alive at the time (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). People will vanish. How large an impact will the rapture have on those left behind? It makes sense that the more people leave at the rapture, the more confusion and chaos will occur. However, the rapture may be a smaller event than Christians think it will be. Luke 18:8, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

It takes saving faith to go up at the rapture; therefore, if there is not much faith, there are few saved, and thus, fewer people will leave.

The start of the tribulation period itself could catapult the Antichrist into power. The tribulation will start either simultaneously with the rapture or, most likely, a few weeks after the rapture.

The Bible tells us that the seven-year tribulation will start with the Antichrist signing a treaty with “many” (Daniel 9:27). This treaty is considered a miracle and concerns Israel and Jerusalem. The Antichrist is a relative unknown before the world witnesses his exceptional diplomatic skills. We know this because the first action during the tribulation is the Antichrist riding in on his white horse. Not everyone will be on board with the seven-year covenant orchestrated by the Antichrist, as the world will witness his military skills on his way to ruling the world (Revelation 6:1-2). Could this man’s massive charisma, diplomatic skills, and command on the battlefield be enough for the world to worship him?

Could the judgments of God be the reason people will unite behind the Antichrist?

God names twenty-one judgments throughout the tribulation. There are seven each of seals, trumpets, and vials. The last of the seven judgments are so severe that it would appear that the vials happen in only a matter of a few weeks at the tail end of the tribulation. If spread out any longer, the world would be void of population. The last seven will occur after the Antichrist has taken power.

It makes sense that the first four judgments will happen within the first three and a half years, but are they enough to have the world fall in lockstep behind one man? The first four judgments are the rise of the Antichrist, war, famine, and death.

The fifth seal happens in heaven, but the sixth seal is something the world has never seen. A worldwide earthquake, the sun goes dark, the moon looks like blood, multiple meteors fall to earth, the sky splits open, every mountain and island on the planet moves “out of their places,” and everyone hides in the rocks and caves and pleads to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17).

Common foes have often brought together unlikely allies. Could the world uniting behind and worshiping the Antichrist result from humanity uniting against a common enemy – God Almighty?

There is the possibility that none of the above or some combination of these events unites the world behind the Son of Perdition. It could be an event the Bible does not mention. But the truth is that one day, it will happen regardless of how impossible it may seem now.