On Sunday morning I caught part of Meet the Press, in which moderator Chuck Todd was joined by Tom Brokaw (NBC Special Correspondent), Hugh Hewitt (host on Salem Radio Network), Sara Fagen (CNBC Correspondent and former Bush White House political aide) and Joy-Ann Reid (author).

During a conversation regarding the chaotic state of our nation and the lack of strong leadership, I caught a very intriguing statement by Sara Fagen that has yet to leave my mind.  Tom Brokaw had just remarked about being “unmoored” by the violence perpetrated by lone wolves, for which we seemingly have no answer.  Here is Sara Fagen’s response:

You’re right that the country has to come together, but how this impacts our politics, you’re right, is going to also be fascinating. And there are countless examples around the globe, when people are afraid, really afraid about their economics, about their safety, they look for the strong man.
~Meet the Press, 7/17/16 (quote appears in the segment following the 4th commercial break)  [Emphasis mine]

The strong man….

Though I seriously doubt she meant it to be, I wonder just how prophetic that statement is. Theologians much brighter than I am have identified the antichrist as the “strong man,” and we know from Scripture that the antichrist will appear as a unifying leader, able to rally people everywhere behind his cause…and he will promise peace.

We know that the antichrist will establish One World Government and One World Religion.  He will be a unifying character who seems to have the answers for the world’s problems.  Indeed, people around the world will clamor to follow the strong man who seems to achieve peace that has been so elusive for so long.  However, his reign is called the Tribulation, and at the midpoint he will stand in the center of the rebuilt Temple and will demand to be worshipped.  People will realize they have been thoroughly duped.

While I don’t believe the strong man has been revealed to our world just yet, I see the signs that will usher in his coming.  Could it be that even the secular world, without even realizing it, is beginning to identify elements of the end times?  After all, the apocalypse seems to be a popular movie theme, and now news personalities are “speaking the language!”

So, is the world indeed looking for a strong man to lead us out of chaos and into peace?  Indeed, I believe it is…just looking in the wrong place.  Yesterday we reflected on a world unraveling, and found that Jesus is preparing a place for those of us who will spend eternity with Him.  God the Father is still in control and will one day soon send His Son to bring us home.

At that point, those left on planet earth will certainly meet the strong man…the antichrist who will rule the Tribulational world, unleashing pure evil.  But those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ can rest in the truth that we are eternally safe and secure with Him!

Yes, perhaps the world anticipates the strong man…and he will come.  But we know One who is stronger than he, and that One lives within us!

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
~1 John 4:1-4

Time is short, my friends, and the spirit of the antichrist is already at work.  Know which strong man you follow!