Will the world have a unified religion under the antichrist? Revelation 13:8.

 I listen to several prophecy teachers as they talk in an effort to inform us all of what they deem to be the truth about what is to come. Since most of what we see coming lies within the period of what many call the tribulation, the bulk of the people this conversation applies to will be those who do not go up in the church's rapture. That means the remaining people on earth will endure at least some of the events occurring during that time. 

After the catching away of the church, life on earth will take some drastic turns. 

• A horrendous attack on Israel could occur before the church is removed, if not before, then shortly after that. 

• Whether it takes minutes or weeks is unimportant, but the man we have been expecting, called the antichrist, will step onto the world stage, set forth a peace treaty "with many," and proclaim that he has everything under control. An older quote repeated during the last couple of years is this. 

  "We do not need another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he god or devil, we will receive him."—Paul Henri Spaak, the first president of the UN General Assembly, first president of the European Parliament, and onetime secretary general of NATO.

  Note that I said that the antichrist makes a peace treaty "with many," this is because far too many claim he will make a peace treaty with Israel. I am not saying it can't happen, but there is nothing in scripture that says he makes peace with Israel. Does it make sense that Israel would take advantage of this ceasefire and possible withdrawal of troops? Of course, it does, so the presumption is that the peace treaty is with Israel.

  I do not know if you have been paying attention, but Israel has very few friends right now, and the United States, one of the last countries I would have expected, has, under the "leadership" of Joe Biden, thrown Israel under the bus.

  What you do see, in terms of peace, particularly if this man can address the Muslim world, is that this man will be able to get the attacking parties to back off under the guise of a peace treaty. Consider where the major players, in terms of endless bombing, are coming from. They are coming from Muslim nations, and surprise, even Russia has a large Muslim population, and many have been fighting under the title of Chechen(s).

The prophecy teachers and those who mindlessly replicate what they say will tell you that the antichrist will bring about a one-world religion. Many of them back their claim by quoting this passage. 

"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." (Revelation 13:8 NASB)

I prefer the NASB because scholars say this version is the closest to the original in meaning, and I chose to believe them. But there is an immediate problem because it says, "all who dwell on the earth will worship him,' and far too many will stop here and not gain the context of verse eight. The passage goes on to say that these worshipers are ONLY those whose names are NOT written in the Lamb's book of life. Sitting here at my desk, I cannot tell you whose names are NOT in the book. To do otherwise is to be judgmental, which is NOT even close to our job description.

Another translation, which is worded in a manner that makes it almost impossible to misunderstand what God is trying to say, is the Williams New Testament.

“All the inhabitants of the earth whose names, from the foundation of the world, have not been written in the slaughtered Lamb's book of life, will worship him.”
(Revelation 13:8 Williams)

With a translation like the NASB, there is a presumption that the church is standing there watching all this happen, which is NOT the case. I am not trying to convey that only the lost will be worshiping this man, but there will be those whose names are written in the book, and this will happen throughout the time of wrath, and they will also resist the beast in every way possible, up to and including their deaths.

Let's discuss the word WORSHIP for a moment.

Worship is the Greek word proskuneō. The meanings go like this: To kiss the hand in a token of reverence. To do obeisance, show respect, fall or prostrate before. 

"It is also a salutation between persons of equal ranks was to kiss each other on the lips; when the difference of rank was slight, they kissed each other on the cheek; when one was much inferior, he fell upon his knees and touched his forehead to the ground or prostrated himself, throwing kisses at the same time toward the superior. It is this latter mode of salutation that Gr. writers express by proskunéō." (Word Study Dictionary)

While obeisance can be associated with worship, the dictionary definition reads like this. It is a courtesy or an act of reverence made by an inclination of the body or the knee.

Sadly, even animals will do this. For example, don't, as a rule, live in wolf packs where there is a pack leader and the other wolves “bow” to the alpha, mainly because the alpha will potentially kill the offender.

How do you turn this obeisance, the transliteration of which is written as worship, around and say there will be a one-world religion?

Having spent my life in the church, I have heard every possible suggestion as to who will be the next antichrist. Russia held the record for world leaders. Still, then it started transitioning as our American Presidents began saying things, like points of light, a new world order, or we need to level the playing field – meaning that "they" were going to bring America down to third-world status, which kind of explains this opposition to a wall that would work to restrain those that choose not come into the country through legal means.

On that note, I suspect that someone like Barack Obama will step forward, and he is an admitted and dominant Muslim that seemed to be a big player on the world scene. So many different people are being suggested, but WE will never know because he will NOT be revealed until the church is revealed.

Should you be unfortunate enough to be here, the thing you should realize is that we were right. Jesus will come to you if you turn to Him, but you will probably have to die by the sword though.