This brings us to another commonly held misconception.  Many of today’s prophecy students don’t believe Christians will be around to see the rise of the Antichrist.  This is mainly because they believe that the rapture will have to occur first.  They say the Antichrist can’t rise to power until after the restraining effect of the church has been removed.  So, there’s no point in Christians looking for signs they won’t be here to see.

 Although it may be true that we won’t see the Antichrist’s global power, we very well could be here to see his regional power.  These students don’t realize that the world’s stage must first be set before the end-times actors can appear on the scene.  And the world stage will take some time to be set.  It is a commonly held view that the tribulation period, the final seven-year period that precedes Christ’s return to earth, will begin when the Antichrist signs a security agreement with Israel.  Many students don’t stop to consider that – for the Antichrist to sign an agreement with Israel – the Antichrist and his kingdom must, to some degree, already be in place.

To set the world’s stage for the end-times events, Israel must first return as a nation.  Of course, this has already happened.  Then, after Israel has appeared, 10 nations in the geographic area of the old Roman Empire must unite in some kind of confederacy.  After these nations have united, then the Antichrist will come up from among them (Daniel 7:24).  He will rise to rule over a revived form of the Roman Empire through deceit and false programs of peace.  All these political events will take time to happen.  And after these events have all happened, then the Antichrist will go and make his seven-year agreement with Israel (Daniel 9:27).  In time, his kingdom will become global. 

In other words, there’s no good reason to think that Christians won’t at least see the beginning of the rise of the Antichrist and his kingdom.  We’ll just need to know where to look.  And the Bible points to the Mediterranean region.

It is a commonly accepted view the Antichrist will come from the Mediterranean area. Tim Lahaye, a scholar of Bible prophecy and co-author of the popular Left Behind series said, “One of the most frequently asked questions about the Antichrist concerns his nationality.  Revelation 13:1 indicates that he ‘rises up out of the sea, ‘ meaning the sea of people around the Mediterranean” (Tim Layhaye, Revelation: Illustrated and Made Plain (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975 Edition) 172).

 Jesus provided us with a few more details about the conditions that would spawn the Antichrist.  He said: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

So, we see that the Antichrist will rise from the restless sea of people surrounding the Mediterranean.  This chaotic and stormy condition in Europe and the Mediterranean area will set the stage for the rise of the Antichrist.  He will suddenly break on the scene with his ingenious solutions.  Through deceit and false programs of peace, he will take power before the people who could stop him notice (Daniel 8:25).