Is He the One?
The Bible plainly states that the illumination of the identity of the antichrist will not take place until after the Rapture of the church (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10). While we will never know for sure who the antichrist will be, it appears that there are several persons on earth at this moment who could be the one who is being groomed by Satan to be his superman.
One such person is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Just a few months ago, in August, the Crown Prince signaled that he wants Saudi Arabia to replace Jordan as the Islamic custodian of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He mentioned that Saudi Arabia already controls the two most holy sites in the religion of Islam – Mecca and Medina. Therefore, in his eyes, it is only fitting that it also controls the third most holy site of Islam, which is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Those who recognized this change believe that Mohammed bin Salman is positioning himself to strike a treaty of peace with Israel. According to the Bible, this is exactly what the antichrist will do (Daniel 9:27). It appears that the antichrist’s false peace agreement with Israel will include Israel’s right to build a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount.
Currently, there are only two groups that are passionately struggling for the right to control the holy mountain of Zion – Islam and Israel. Therefore, it appears that the stage is being set for the final war over the Temple Mount. It seems obvious to say that this war will be between Israel and Islam. When the antichrist breaks his false covenant with Israel at the mid-point of the Tribulation, he will make his move to take back his control over the Temple Mount (Daniel 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 11:1-2).
Before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, it appeared that a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia was about to take place. Since Israel began its war in Gaza to destroy Hamas, the Islamic world has voiced its opposition to and hatred of Israel. However, to many people’s surprise, Mohammed bin Salman has guarded his comments on Israel’s war with Hamas and is trying to keep the door open for a peace deal with Israel.
Haisam Hassanein, an Arab Associate Fellow at The Washington Institute, in Joel Rosenberg’s All Arab News, reports that some influential Arabs are saying that Saudi Arabia holds the key to bringing peace to the Middle East. This report states, “Direct Saudi Arabian involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely to be the shortest route to a stable peace in the Middle East. … Clearly, a new Washington-Jerusalem-Riyadh entente is the best path to stable peace. Will U.S., Israeli, and Saudi leaders seize the opportunity” (All Arab News, December 21, 2023)?
For quite some time it has been my conviction that the antichrist would be a Muslim leader in the Middle East who would have a face of peace, but a heart of war. We cannot be sure that Mohammed bin Salman is the antichrist. However, it is obvious that the events of October 7 and its aftermath of Israel’s war with Hamas have created the perfect storm in the Middle East and the entire world that could set the stage for the antichrist’s entrance and his deceptive peace deal with Israel.
The time appears to be right. It is very likely that the antichrist is making his bid to garner global attention as a rising global political star. This could be it!
This articles also appears in Mike’s January newsletter.