Hi all,
This is a personal study I had little intention of sharing, but I’ve felt strongly prompted, so here goes. I hope it will provide insights into the spiritual forces at work around the world today, it has blessed me as I study these things.
The ways many of the governments have handled Covid are eerily similar to descriptions in the Bible of anti-Christ’s government. I began to study what scripture says of anti-Christ in terms of what kind of government (polity) he establishes, and was amazed at the similarities in spirit to how governments are handling covid, shots, and mask mandates in our day.
When I included the study of world history of that style of government scripture describes, it became clear that the anti-Christ spirit is involved. I didn’t say ‘the anti-Christ’ as a man, but the spirit of anti-Christ is involved. In I John 2: 18 and 4:3 we are told the spirit of anti-Christ is already in the world, and it denies Jesus Christ is Lord.
The direction much of the world is going, is in a word, fascism. I will define fascism, then list several descriptions of anti-Christ’s government seen in the Word, then bring in world history to give us an idea where we are headed.
Fascism – definition
The word comes from the Latin, ‘fasces’, meaning a bundle of sticks tied together as a unit. It was first used in Ancient Rome when judges would bundle sticks or axes and carry or display them as tokens of their life or death authority over the citizens before them. For instance, one stick would represent judicial, another the legislative, another the executive branches of Roman government, bound together as one. The judge was reminding the citizen that he ruled with the full weight of Rome and had the power of life and death. That combining of all government in the hands of one ruler is a characteristic of fascism.
Fascism involves the combining of government power together in the hands of one individual. Characteristics of fascism seen in history, Adolf Hitler for example, includes the fact that fascist leaders do not come into power by military force, but through political processes. Then once in power they forcefully consolidate power to themselves through illegal activity, yet what they do receives few solid objections within the government. They are bullies. They make treaties and then break them. Fascists rise to power as a result of economic crisis. They blame and persecute other peoples for the troubles of the nation. They are good speakers who demand allegiance and loyalty under penalty of death or imprisonment. They seek to combine government, economics, and religion under their authority.
We see all these elements and more predicted in scripture about anti-Christ’s government, and many of these things are going on in our day, around the world.
How scripture describes the government of the ‘man of sin’, who we call ‘anti-Christ’:
He rises to power from a subordinate position. Daniel 7:8
He uses political rather than military means to take power. Daniel 7:8, Revelation 17: 12-14
Once in power he maneuvers to centralize power to himself. Daniel 7:8
He makes all attention of the citizens directed towards him as supreme leader. Revelation 13: 16-18
He tries to unify politics, economics, and religion under him. Revelation 13: 16-18
He comes to power during economic and national crises. Revelation 13: 16-18
He demands absolute loyalty and pledges of allegiance under threat of death. Revelation 13: 8-10, 16-18
He is a good speaker, flamboyant, laying out a vision of what can be. Daniel 7:20
He blames and persecutes other groups for the misfortunes of society. Daniel 7:21, Revelation 13:7
He presents simple solutions to complex problems. Revelation 13: 4-10
He makes and then breaks treaty(s). Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15
Daniel 7:8: He rises to power from a subordinate position by political rather than military means:
“I considered the (10) horns, and, behold, there came up among (from beneath) them another little horn, before whom were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” and “these 10 kings…give their authority and power to the beast…” Revelation 17: 12-13
This small horn is not part of the original 10 rulers/regions. He has no position of authority, but rises from beneath to seize power from 3 of them. He ‘plucks 3 horns by the roots’ and takes their place. He speaks ‘great words.’ He has eyes like a man – showing hm to be a man of vision, able to speak ‘great things’, great vision and plans for the future. They give him their authority. The Hebrew carries with it the thought the words are arrogant or ‘high’, pompous.
Fascist Hitler was in the same spirit as the little horn.
Hitler gathered a small group of men around him, bullies and the disillusioned, but other than being a leader of thugs, he had no political power. In a February 1920 speech he put forth a 25 point platform for the National Socialist Democratic Party (Nazi). The title was ‘The common good before the individual good’. Sound familiar in our day? He made other speeches as well, several entitled ‘Why we are Anti-Semites’ and/or with that theme.
In Munich 1923 about 2,000 Nazis, most clothed in black, started attacking minorities and politically unwanted people, especially communists and Jews. They stormed the beer hall in an attempted coup. Hitler was arrested 2 days later and thrown in jail. While in jail he wrote his manifesto, ‘Mein Kampf’ (My Struggle).
That 2,000 person riot in Munich made Hitler known to the nation. When released, Hitler realized he would not be able to take over Germany by force; He would have to use the political process to gain power, and then once in power could rule as a king. He spent much of the 1920’s building a political organization, gaining as much as 6% of the vote in parliamentary elections. But he was still just a regional leader without much national impact.
After the stock market crashed in October of 1929 his fiery speeches caught the attention of a nation reeling from the depression. In 1930 he got 30% of the vote, then 37% in 1932. They called him ‘the drummer’ because he made the most noise, and thought they could control him by giving him a voice. In April 1933 the first laws urging citizens to boycott Jewish businesses were passed. The citizenry largely ignored the law, causing more laws to be passed through the years, and then escalated to vandalism and attacks on Jews and their businesses. Is that kind of thing happening against Christians, Jews, and conservatives in our day? (yes, in the US and elsewhere).
We can see how Daniel describes a future ‘little horn’ rising through the ranks of the 10, finally able to get to the point he can uproot 3 to take their place. That’s what Hitler did – same spirit therefore same process. Both Hitler and the former journalist Mussolini of Italy, started with very minor roles in government. They were good speakers, spoke of great promises and the vision for the nation, but once in power they subdued all resistance. Their common theme was the good (rights) of the many over the good (rights) of the individual.
How does this apply today?
If you start seeing groups paramilitary, people aggressively assaulting conservatives, Christians, and any who oppose their point of view; that is an anti-Christ spirit, fascism. Look for loud and vocal speakers who aren’t in positions of high authority, but making a name for themselves among smaller groups of followers acting as a sort of unofficial voice for a government party or philosophy. Look for people who offer simple solutions to complex problems, and who blame a people group for the things wrong, or that stand in the way of progress. Have you seen any of those elements in your government or society? Those are elements of fascism.
Characteristic to remember: History and scripture shows fascists don’t take over a government by military force. They do it by charismatic leaders who rise to power through a democratic process, then seize additional power by unlawful means.
I think many reading this part 1 can see some characteristics of the anti-Christ spirit in their government. That doesn’t mean a government is fully anti-Christ, but that we see that spirit at work in the nations. As I said at the start, this is a study I’ve done personally, not doctrinal statement. And it is a very brief study of my larger study, this is just a few points. Just a study so that I (we) can recognize when a spirit is attached to government policies, people we talk with, how we understand news headlines and events, and so on.
Next week we’ll start with what scripture says about the economic and societal crisis that allows the man of sin to rise to power, why they blame others, and so on. We will compare that to the Covid economic crisis and how governments handle it, and again look at history.
Until then, (I hope this proves interesting and thought provoking), blessings,
John Fenn
