Trump, that is. Last night, news reports came out that he ordered an assassination of one of the top figures in Iran https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iran-tensions-latest-updates-200103022407743.html

A Facebook friend of mine named Cecile posted something very shortly after the killing, a brief, in depth analysis of who Soleimani was, and what his death might mean for the US, Iran, Iraq and the world. It’s clear that he was more than just another general or military target, and the way in which the strike was carried out is being viewed almost universally as an assassination. He, Trump, gave the Muslims something that is very, very dangerous indeed : a beloved, high profile martyr. And many people are saying this could very well be the trigger to a 3rd world war. In fact, Franz Ferdinand – the historical figure, not the band – has been trending in searches, as has WWIII https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-50982073

Of course I have thought since the day he was elected that he was the antichrist just based on the fact that he exemplifies everything one could imagine in a person who is the exact opposite of Christ-like. In fact, shortly after he became president, I started thinking about some of the prophecies in the Bible, and this one in particular stood out to me, from 2 Timothy 3:

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Now of course his rabid supporters would say that Trump is nothing like that at all. And in fact, evangelical Christians have been one of his strongest voting blocks. He carried over 80% of their votes in the 2016 election. Many people, myself included, can’t quite square how anyone claiming to be a true Christian could support a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star, then tried to cover it up; was caught on camera talking about grabbing women “by the pussy”; has repeatedly mocked and made fun of all kinds of people, including the disabled; and on and on and on. Their defense is that sometimes God uses flawed people to accomplish great feats. Mmm hmmm…. Ok.

Personally, I think he is the Great Deceiver. He ran on a promise to “make America Great Again,” as if it wasn’t great already. He ran on the idea of getting America out of all the wars, and focusing on a policy of “America First.” He promised to build a wall to keep all the immigrants out. Really, what he ran on, and what his supporters love is “white male Americans first.” And everyone who has any kind of rational thought abilities knows that. And I posit that those who support him so fervently have latent racist and xenophobic tendencies that they are unwilling to admit to themselves. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say he has deceived a LARGE number of people into thinking he is “the chosen one,” and in fact, has even referred to himself as such – which, he said was in jest. What was even more scary was other people stating their belief that he is “ordained by God” https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/12/20/danger-nikki-haley-rick-perry-trumps-presidency-ordained-god-column/2667947001/

Now I know that Biblical scholars would point out that there are several supposed traits of the Antichrist that Trump doesn’t match up with. And I don’t disagree – at least according to canon. However, purely etymologically and grammatically speaking, he would certainly seem to be the antithesis to Christ – and in fact, one can find any number of memes that point this out – from his worship of mammon, to his lustful adulterous ways, to his harsh treatment of refugees, etc – it’s pretty clear he is the yang to Christ’s yin. And the one aspect of the Antichrist that I think is most important, the starting of the war to end all wars – well, it’s starting to look like he might just be fulfilling that role.

Of course, this could all add up to nothing. Lord knows, there have been several moments over the last 3 years when I though things were going to kick off – especially when he started mocking Kim Jong Un, calling him “little rocket man.” And as we know, nothing really came of that. But something feels different about this. In fact, shortly after finding out last night, I had a brief but noticeable period where my chest got really tight and I felt slightly nauseous – not a good sign for this seer. It is going to be interesting, if not somewhat scary, to see what happens in the coming days and months. I know one thing – I’m really, REALLY wishing we would win the lottery or something so we could get out of the city and get a piece of land up north. I’ve never forgotten words that I thought applied back in ’94, but seem even more timely today:

¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’^[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.