The AntiChrist comes before Jesus takes dominion

It is possible to waste a lot of time speculating about End Time Prophecy. Even more dangerous is to be wedded to a view which will leave you unprepared for what is coming.

Some Bible teachers, especially those aligned with the so-called “New Apostolic Reformation” are teaching – mostly on the basis of special visions/revelations they claim set them apart as special messengers of God – that the church must “take dominion” in 7 spheres of life as soon as possible so that Jesus can come back. These spheres are the Religion, Government, Business, Education, the Media, Family, Entertainment. Now I can agree that Christians ought to be active in all these seven spheres so that we can have godly influence and effect change in a nation. I myself have been very active in the media, as the founder of two Christian cable TV channels. However, the Bible does not teach that Christians will hold sway in these things in the period immediately preceding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I could wish we would. I hate seeing the devil having so much power in the affairs of men. But it seems that in God’s sovereign plan, evil has to come to an ultimate expression before Jesus Christ personally judges it and destroys its power over men and human culture. In this article I will attempt to show that regardless of what we may wish for, this is what the Bible teaches.

What will Jesus do when He returns?

The Book of Daniel, chapter 7 reveals this:

“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14)

Jesus frequently identified Himself during His earthly ministry as “The Son of Man” (for example, Matthew 20:28; Matthew 8:20, 9:16, 11:19, 16:13, 18:11). The “coming of the Son of Man” is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:27 and Mark 14:62. This can only be a reference to Daniel’s prophecy above, which many Jews would have been aware of. So this “Son of Man” is Jesus. According to verse 14, it is THEN that He is given dominion, glory and a kingdom on earth. Please note: it is not given to Jesus in the same way before this “Coming of the Son of Man”.

The ultimate manifestation of the eternal Kingdom of God comes ONLY when Jesus gets the signal from the Father that it is time to personally return. But, is it possible that things have been getting better and better through an ongoing growth of the Kingdom of God on earth until Jesus returns? When you look at the prophecies in the Book of Daniel it certainly doesn’t look like it. Daniel 7:21,22 says

 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21,22)

If this “little horn” is prevailing against the saints, it means that he is getting victory for a while. And it is going to hurt. Sorry about that.

This little horn is actually what is commonly referred to as “the Antichrist” – the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Its sad but true that there will be a season in which the Antichrist will defeat the people of God as far as the affairs of the earth are concerned. God’s people will not have dominion and sway during this season. It will be a time of intense persecution. Jesus also referred to this time in Matthew 24. Paul referred to it in 2 Thessolonians 2:1-4.

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, …  let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,” (2 Thessalonians 2:1,3)

We have to be patient and faithfully endure suffering for Jesus in the period immediately preceding His return as prophesied in the Bible. It will be a time of “falling away” from the faith, as will the time that precedes it. I know that the popular teaching is that we always win and we won’t suffer – because we will be raptured out before the Antichrist takes dominion. It is possible perhaps, but honestly I don’t see a strong case for it in Scripture. In any case, that issue is not the major focus of this article. What I am seeking to establish here is that we are not going to bring in the eternal kingdom of God through our efforts at infiltrating the “seven mountains” of authority. The best we can do at this time is bring a measure of glory to God in these fields, and give a strong testimony for the Lord. The time is not yet for the saints of the Most High to be given dominion. Daniel 7:22 above makes it clear that THAT time is only after the Son of Man publicly returns.

When we look at the context of the Book of Daniel chapter 7 we see that immediately before Jesus returns a lot of bad stuff is going down on earth.

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. ⁸ I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.

In the Bible, “beasts” are metaphors for earthly empires. The beast has some horns. The beast is not the horns. In this passage, the antichrist is the little horn – it has the eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking pompous words. This “little horn” (the antichrist or Man of Sin) is the central part of the final “Beast” – which is some kind of Last Days Worldwide Empire – perhaps the so-called “New World Order” that bankers and Luciferians have been working on for centuries. In any case, the “Beast” is not the Antichrist, but the system which the Antichrist rules.

Jesus revealed in Matthew 24 something not everyone today is seeing clearly, or giving importance to:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31).

Its amazing how the truth about the timing of the Lord can be revealed so clearly and yet many in the church don’t believe it. They rather believe that the angels, the trumpet and the gathering of the elect (vs 31) will happen BEFORE and not AFTER the tribulation. The tribulation is due, of course, to the waging of war on the saints by the Man of Sin.

Paul wrote that something is restraining the revealing of this Man of Sin. I personally believe that is the Archangel Michael (Daniel 12:1) – when Michael stands up, he is actually taken out of the way for a while. In any case, after the removal of this restrainer, “then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Notice that Jesus Christ will personally destroy the Antichrist. This has to happen. For it to happen, the Antichrist or Man of Sin has to be established over the kingdoms of the earth BEFORE Jesus returns. So we, the saints, can’t have political dominion before Jesus returns. 

If we can’t have political dominion before Jesus returns, why do Christians work so hard to try to obtain it? We have another job to do, one which is much humbler. That job is to be the agents through whom God proclaims the message of the gospel, and to be the agents who teach those who want to follow Jesus how to do so. We won’t be the majority. Our influence may wax and wane, and as we approach the final days of this age, it will wane. So when it happens, if you live to see it, do not be disappointed with God. He warned us it would be this way.

The Good News is that Jesus will return and reward us according to our works, our faithfulness and according to His great generosity. At that time we will rule and reign with Christ in the affairs of earth. Not before. Don’t set your heart on earthly power and authority NOW. Even if you get some, you probably won’t keep it. Just be faithful with whatever God gives, and major on what the Bible says to major on, which is spiritual communion with Jesus, loving obedience to God, spreading the gospel and teaching people to obey His Commandments. Be ready to suffer along the way. We will all need lots of grace in the days ahead.