The Topic

Is Donald Trump the Antichrist?

Notices that informations had been collected from multiple trusted site and web communities for this to be made possible.

2017 updated infos

Is it a sin to have a sexual dream?

Can angels die? Can angels be hurt?

What does Satan look like? What do demons look like?

It is common for people to seek to demonize those with whom they disagree politically. Calling a person the Antichrist is essentially declaring him/her to be Satan incarnate. Some on the far right were, and still are, convinced that former President Barack Obama was or is the Antichrist. Some who hold to far left political views were convinced that President George Bush was the Antichrist. Now those who disagree with the political views of President Donald Trump are throwing the Antichrist label at him as well. This political demonization is ridiculous, as the biblical indicators of who is the Antichrist have nothing to do with conservative or progressive politics. Second, Christians in the United States tend to forget that the end times revolve around the nation of Israel, not the United States. The Bible nowhere explicitly prophesies the existence of the United States. While the United States may have a role in the end times or be somehow associated with the Antichrist, it is also possible that the United States will not even exist in the end times. The “Americanization” of Bible prophecy is unwarranted. Distractions and misinformation aside, we still have the question—is it possible that Donald Trump is the Antichrist? There are a few things that argue against Donald Trump’s being the Antichrist. Bible prophecy experts still debate the ethnicity of the Antichrist. Some believe that the Antichrist will be of Jewish descent, as he would have to be a Jew in order for Jews to consider him the Messiah. Others believe that the Antichrist will come from a revived Roman Empire (the ten horns of the beast in Revelation 17:3), most likely associated with modern-day Europe. Donald Trump is not European (unless you consider the USA part of Europe in terms of biblical prophecy) and not ethnically or religiously Jewish. Also, Donald Trump claims to have faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. While anyone can make such claims, it seems unlikely that the Antichrist would even pretend to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There are a few characteristics the Bible ascribes to the Antichrist that are similar to traits possessed by Donald Trump. Donald Trump is undeniably a charismatic, intelligent, and determined individual. Often, thousands of people attend events when Trump speaks. Donald Trump has the ability to inspire millions of people. The Antichrist, who will be the leader of a one-world governmental system in the end times, would also have to possess charisma, intelligence, and determination. It will take such a person to deceive the entire world in the end times (2 Thessalonians 2:11). Probably the most important factor in identifying the Antichrist is a relationship with the nation of Israel. The Bible teaches that the Antichrist will forge a 7-year peace covenant with Israel but then break the covenant after 3.5 years (Daniel 9:27). The Antichrist will then essentially attempt a second Holocaust, the annihilation of the nation of Israel and Jews around the world. Donald Trump has stated his strong support for the nation of Israel. Trump claims that he will come to Israel’s defense should it be attacked. Interestingly, Trump has described negotiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians as the “ultimate deal.” It is possible that some form of agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be part of the end-times’ 7-year peace covenant. So, is Donald Trump the Antichrist? While Trump does possess some traits that are similar to the Bible’s description of the Antichrist, the same could be said of many world leaders. Further, there are serious questions regarding whether it is possible that the Antichrist could be a non-Jewish / non-Semitic person. In our evaluation, it is highly unlikely that Donald Trump is the Antichrist. Ultimately, though, the answer to the question has to be “wait and see.” Insert any other name into that question, and the answer remains the same. Second Thessalonians 2:3 states that the Antichrist, “the man of lawlessness,” will be revealed when “the rebellion occurs”—it will be abundantly clear who he is when the time comes. Rather than speculating about various scenarios and demonizing people with whom we disagree, our responsibility is to be wise and discerning, based on what the Bible says about the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4; Revelation 13:1–4).

Dreams are fascinating adventures of the mind that occur while we sleep. In the Bible, dreams had great significance and were sometimes used by God to reveal truth to people (Genesis 40:8; Daniel 7:1; Matthew 2:19). The Bible refers to dreams and visions interchangeably, and often the people themselves were not sure if they were living in reality or in a dream (see Acts 12:9). However, most dreams are not God-inspired and can even involve sin and horrors of all kinds. Is it wrong to dream about sinning? Is it sin to dream about sexual things? Sleep experts can give us physical details about our brains when we dream, but there is no reliable consensus on why we dream the way we do or what triggers certain subjects. Dreams are the brain’s way of processing data and events, but it often does so in random and ridiculous ways. Like a balls in a bingo cage, scenes, people, colors, and emotions bounce together to form detailed stories that make little sense upon awakening. Some of those stories involve sexual acts that the dreamer would never indulge in while awake. Those kinds of dreams can bring feelings of guilt and shame, even though no action was taken. While it is true that we tend to dream more about those things that occupy our waking minds, this is not an ironclad fact. Anyone who has ever dreamed of doing something they find morally repulsive understands this. Someone who dreams about watching her third-grade teacher play tennis with a raccoon does not need to be admitted to a psychiatric unit. It was just a crazy dream. Likewise, a young man who is striving to live purely but dreams about having sex with a string of women does not need to repent. It was just a crazy dream. However, if those sexual dreams were products of lustful daytime thoughts, then repentance may be in order. If sexual dreams become enjoyable and sought after, then it is time to revisit Jesus’ words on lust (Matthew 5:28). Upon awakening, if we feel badly about what we were dreaming, it is always appropriate to ask God’s forgiveness and request that God would purify our thoughts. Praying Psalm 19:14 upon arising can erase feelings of guilt and also readjust our thinking so that we don’t continue to dwell on sexually sinful thoughts and images. Dreams can also reflect unmet needs and longings, so, if a pattern emerges, it can be a sign that there is an area we need to address with the Lord. We aren’t hiding anything from Him; He knows about the dreams (Psalm 139:2; 1 Chronicles 29:17). So being honest about our needs and desires and asking Him to meet them in righteous ways can turn even sexual dreams into avenues of spiritual growth and surrender.

We have many more questions about angels and demons than we have answers. Many times we have to make guesses and assumptions based on a few biblical facts. Frank Peretti’s popular novel This Present Darkness had angelic beings crossing swords and demons disappearing in puffs of red smoke when they were slashed in two. It made for a fun read, but there was more imagination than biblical precision in Peretti’s pages. Angels are essentially spiritual beings without bodies. Hebrews 1:14 calls them ministering spirits. When they appear to people, they normally are seen with bodies. Sometimes they appear as ordinary men (Hebrews 13:2) or incredibly glorious men (Daniel 10:16) and sometimes as fantastic creatures (Isaiah 6:2; Ezekiel 1:4–14). However, since angels do not have bodies, these forms are only manifestations in material/visible form. They do not represent what the angel actually “looks like” because a spirit is essentially invisible, at least to the physical eye. Angels sometimes appear with wings in Scripture and are often depicted with wings in art, but physical wings are used to move physical bodies through physical air, and again, angels are spirit beings. Since angels do not have physical bodies, they cannot be hurt in the sense of suffering physical harm in the same way a human being with a body could be hurt. Likewise, angels cannot die in that sense, either. Physical death is something that humans experience when their bodies cease working and their spirits depart from their bodies. Since angels do not have physical bodies, they cannot experience physical death. It is possible that angels do encounter some perils in the spiritual world, perils that are beyond our normal experience or comprehension. An angel was sent with an answer to Daniel’s prayer but was detained by “the Prince of Persia” (a fallen angel/demon) and prevented from coming to Daniel for 21 days (Daniel 10:12–13). How was the angel detained? We are not told. Even though they are spirits, angels are not omnipresent, so they do have some kind of localized existence that apparently can be contained. When angels “fight” with demons, do they get injured by each other? Perhaps, but we are simply not told what this type of fighting entails. When we are in battle with spiritual forces, we do not use physical weapons but the armor of God detailed in Ephesians 6:10–18. If demons are fallen angels, then we know that angels can suffer. When Jesus cast demons out, they sometimes feared that Jesus was going to torture or torment them (see Matthew 8:29; Luke 8:28). Legion begged Jesus not to send them into the Abyss, a holding place for fallen angels/demons (Luke 8:21). If they feared going there, they must be able to suffer in some way. At the final judgment, all of the fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire (Matthew 24:41), which is the “second death” (Revelation 20:14). There, fallen angels will experience spiritual death, which is defined as separation from God. How can a spiritual being be tormented by flames of fire? We don’t know. As spiritual beings who were meant to enjoy fellowship with God, isolation from God will result in the worst kind of torture. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we have many more questions than answers. As beings bound by time and space, we have difficulty imagining the experience of spiritual beings.

The closest the Bible comes to describing what Satan and the demons look like is in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” The surrounding verses refer to Satan’s human servants disguising themselves as “apostles of Christ” and “servants of righteousness.” In context, these descriptions are referring to false teachers. But the principle surely applies to demons as well. One problem—and it’s a big one—with trying to describe what Satan and demons look like is that they are spirits. Spirits are, by definition, non-physical, and it is impossible to assign physical features to a non-physical entity. As spirit beings, demons do not have noses, eyes, hands, feet, tails, or anything else that we might look for in drafting a description. That’s one reason why the Bible never describes Satan’s appearance. Even the “angel of light” description in 2 Corinthians 11:14 is not meant as a sketch of his appearance; rather, it means to emphasize the deceitful nature of Satan. The devil wants us to believe he is truth when in reality he is falsehood. Now that we’ve established that Satan is an angel, a spirit being, having no physical likeness that can be grasped by our senses, we can do some surmising. Should Satan decide to make a physical appearance—if he manifested himself to us visibly—he would do so in a deceptive manner. The common, pop culture portrayal of Satan as a scary-looking, goat-like beast with horns is not found in the Bible. Prior to his rebellion against God, Satan was a beautiful, glorious being (see Ezekiel 28:12–15). What Satan “looks like” now is a mystery. Based on 2 Corinthians 11:14, though, we can know one thing for certain: Satan deceives people into thinking he is an angel of light. For Satan to reveal himself as the evil, murderous being that he is would be counterproductive. Most people would not follow the hateful, malicious maniac of conventional portrayals. Just as sin often looks attractive at first—only later revealing that it leads to death—so Satan would seek to deceive us by appearing as something other than evil. The same is likely true of the demons. What do demons look like? No one in the Bible ever saw one outside of Micaiah’s and John’s divine visions; Micaiah did not provide visual details, and John, using apocalyptic symbolism, wrote of spirits “like frogs” (see 1 Kings 22:21–22 and Revelation 16:13). If demons were to take visible form, they would choose whatever would further their deception. As fallen angels, the demons are intelligent and powerful beings. And they are led by perhaps the most powerful created being (Jude 9), Satan, whose example they follow. The demons appearing as the evil beings they really are would hinder their mission of deception and temptation. What does Satan look like? What do demons look like? There is no way to know for certain. If they did appear, they would put on a masquerade. Deception always wears a mask. Satan and the demons attempt to portray themselves as servants, guides, and “light” for people. But, make no mistake, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). No matter what Satan would like us to think about himself, we know the truth: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And we know his end: “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9).