A charasmatic world leader, a call for a global society?

“he international financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say in a keynote foreign policy speech on Monday.

In his annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Brown — who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions — will say Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order.

“The alliance between Britain and the U.S. — and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. — can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order,” an excerpt from the speech says.

Brown and other leaders meet in Washington next weekend to discuss longer term solutions for dealing with economic issues following a series of coordinated moves on interest rates and to recapitalize banks in the wake of the financial crisis.

“Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world but for the resilience and optimism with which we faced the storm, endured it and prevailed,” Brown will say in his speech on Monday evening.

“…And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society.”

The unbelievable – and stopable ascension of Barack Obama to the Presidency, and now Brown’s call for a new world order should have Christians wondering if in fact we have reached the end times in the Bible.

Now before I get started I’ve never subscribed to Barack Obama being the Anti-Christ, simply because he’s so lame in so many ways. I’ve often said that if he were, then the Devil is screwed. Actually in the end the Devil is screwed, at least according to the Bible.

Over the next few weeks I will examine this in light of the Scripture. I hold a Degree in Theology, so I guess I’m as qualified as anyone to examine it. Feel free to chime in.

But we can’t help but acknowledge these happenings and how close they fulfill the prophesies of Scripture.

A while back the so-called debunking site Snopes investigated the “Is Obama the Anti-Christ?” question and found it couldn’t be so. But their actually hypothosis was flawed – as it is from theological amatures – from many angles.

Their conclusion:

“Nothing in the Bible – in Revelation or elsewhere – describes the anti-Christ as being a man, in his 40s, of Muslim descent. In fact, since the book of Revelation was complete by the end of the second century, but the religion of Islam wasn’t founded until about four hundred years later, the notion that Revelation would have mentioned a “Muslim” at all is rather far fetched. (And if it did, it couldn’t be construed as a reference to Barack Obama, since he isn’t a Muslim”.

This is one of the reasons Snopes isn’t a reliable source of what is fact and what is not. First, the Book of Revelation was completed on the Isle of Patmos by John the Apostle around 90AD. A fact most New Testament scholars agree on.

Second, if the Bible – as it claims – is the Word of God, I would think he would know of whether or not Islam would come around four-hundred years later. Indeed the entire book is of the future of earth and mankind.

While it’s true the term Anti-Christ doesn’t appear in the book of Revelation, it does in John’s later writings. However, the book of Revelation does describe a being, who would have the atributes of the Anti-Christ, and indeed describes him as a man.

“And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon. And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well. And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men. And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life. And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death. And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows; So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has knowledge let him get the number of the beast; because it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty-six.”

(Rev. 13:13-18)

From Robinson’s Word Pictures:

“A man’s number.” But what man and what name? Six hundred and sixty-six (exakosioi exhkonta ex).”

The text in the Greek – the original language – is very clear that this being will be a man (anthropos). So the real question isn’t whether the Anti-Christ is a man, but is that man Barack Obama.

Next: Part II: Examining the evidence.