As I said at the end of the last lesson, the extent of antichrist’s kingdom or power is not worldwide as many suppose. To understand this we should first look at Revelation 13 where we find “and power was given him over all kindreds, tongues and nations” (verse 7), “and all that dwell upon the earth will worship him” (verse 8), “and he compels all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark” (verse 16) and “no man can buy or sell unless he had that mark” (verse 17). On the surface these statements seem to indicate a worldwide influence. However, in this case, as in hundreds of other places in Scripture, these are figures of speech when the whole is used to describe a part.
For example, in Matthew 3:5-6 we find “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country round about the Jordan went out to him; and they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.” If you take this literally, then you would have to assume that every person (man, woman and child) in the area mentioned went to John to be baptized. But we know that John made enemies of both the religious and the secular leaders, who eventually succeeded in having him killed.
Here’s an Old Testament example. In Joshua 6:21-25 we see, “Then they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, man and woman, both young and old” (verse 21). But as you read the rest of the passage (22-25), you’ll see that not all were destroyed. Rahab and her family and everyone in the city that was related to her were spared.
This same principle of the whole being used to describe a part is found in passages referring to past rulers or kingdoms. For instance, Daniel 2:38 makes reference to Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire. It reads, “And wherever the children of men dwell, and the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens – He has given them into your hand and has made you to rule over them all.” This is a very inclusive statement made by Daniel, yet we know that the Babylonian empire was relatively small and included only the areas of Judea, Syria, Iraq and the eastern half of Turkey. In the next verse (39) a third kingdom is mentioned, which (when you study the history of this time and what followed the Babylonian empire) is the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great. This is how Daniel describes it. “And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you (the Persian empire), and still a third kingdom of bronze (Greece) which shall bear rule over all the earth.” But we know that the Grecian empire included what was the old Babylonian empire, plus Iran, the rest of Turkey, Greece, and just the northern edge of both Arabia and Egypt, certainly not all the earth.
So, when we look at the tribulation period and the activities related to the antichrist, we should put them in proper context. Both Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24) and John’s (Revelation 13:1, 17:8-17) limit the antichrist’s dominion to 10 kingdoms. Therefore, when we see the antichrist waging war against God’s people and exercising authority over all nations (Revelation 13:7), forcing all people to worship him (Revelation 13:8), forcing all of them to receive his mark (Revelation 13:16) and no one being able to buy or sell without that mark (Revelation 13:17) we know that it is only within these ten kingdoms.
Now the question is, where are these 10 kingdoms? The fourth kingdom mentioned in Daniel’s prophecy of Daniel 7:17 is the Roman empire and the ten horns of Daniel 7:24 are ten kingdoms that come out of it. Then in Revelation 13:1 and 17:12 these same ten horns or kingdoms are associated with the antichrist and the revival of this old Roman empire. So, where was the Roman empire? It was basically the area described earlier as the Grecian empire plus Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and the northern edge of Libya and Algeria. To make it easier to visualize, it is the countries that comprise western Europe, eastern Europe, the Middle east and northern Africa, or all the countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea. They are, in fact, all the countries that are then dominated by Muslims. And if you know the current trend of what is happening in western Europe today, you know that the Muslim population in those countries is exploding. To make a long story short (and some of this will be explained in a little more detail as we work our way through the Book of Revelation and the tribulation period in later lessons), during the first half of the 7-year tribulation period the antichrist will solidify his kingdom through negotiation, intimidation and war. It will include the area described above and out of this ten kingdoms will be formed (Daniel 7:24).
There are other passages that tell us antichrist’s kingdom is limited. For instance in Daniel 11 we see the antichrist waging war against those outside his kingdom, but with limited success. In verse 41 we see Edom and Moab (present day Jordan) and most of Ammon (Saudi Arabia) resist him. And in verse 42 Egypt does not escape him. Then in verse 44 other countries to the east and north threaten the antichrist and force him to go to war with them. So, it’s clear that he does not rule them. In Revelation 12:6, 13-16 Israel is protected by God and preserved. So, it is evident that they are not ruled by antichrist.
We find an interesting question in Revelation 13:4 regarding the antichrist (here, he’s called the beast), “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” If the antichrist rules the whole world, this question would not be asked because he would have already conquered the whole world. I have a suspicion that at this point in time there would be several countries capable of going to war against him (maybe the United States, Russia or China), but they won’t do it because by then they will have wearied themselves fighting wars against Muslims and will relish the spectacle of Muslims fighting and killing other Muslims – which is what will have to happen as the antichrist solidifies his kingdom during those first three and one-half years of the tribulation period.
Then finally, towards the end of the tribulation period in Revelation 16:13-16 we see demon spirits under the control of Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet are sent to the leaders other nations in an attempt to persuade them to fight with the antichrist at Armageddon. It’s evident the antichrist doesn’t rule these other nations if he has to try to persuade them to fight with him.
In the next lesson we will begin looking at the sequence of events described in the Book of Revelation regarding the tribulation period starting with the Seal judgments.