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Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Who Is The Antichrist? Is it Trump?

Having been on this planet for seven decades now, I have seen more than my share of world leaders of one type, or another being labeled THE antichrist. I could make a list of all the books that have been published and the multitude of men who have had this label applied to them. All of whom were falsely accused, at least to date. Not that they were good men very wrongly misunderstood, most were deserving of the title "AN antichrist," but the title "THE antichrist" is reserved for one person only. The one called the "son of perdition."(2 Thess. 2:3).  The only other person to have that name in the Bible was Judas, who betrayed Christ when Satan entered into him. (Luke 22:3, John 17:12).  

Judas was possessed by Satan, and some make the mistake of thinking that this is what will happen with the man called the antichrist, but that is not quite so. When we go to Revelation 16:13-14 we find the following:  "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."  These verses tell us that there is an unholy trinity, the dragon (aka Satan), the beast (aka the antichrist), and the false prophet. So, the antichrist is not someone indwelt by Satan. He is his own persona. Another verse that verifies this is Revelation 19:20 " And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."  The beast and false prophet are thrown in the lake of fire at the end of the 70th week of Daniel.  On the other hand, we find something else happening to Satan. Revelation 20:1-2 " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." 

So, we have now established that the antichrist is not a man possessed by Satan. What else are we told about him?  Revelation 11:7 "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them." Revelation 17:8 "The beast that thou sawest was and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." We are told that the beast is presently in the bottomless pit. What does that tell us? That he is not a human being. He is a demonic spirit. What helps us to make that distinction that he is not simply a dead human but a demonic spirit?  Revelation 17:10-11 " And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."

We are told that the beast of Revelation has seven heads. Each of those heads stands for a king, a king who had reigned in some way over each of the seven mountains that the woman Babylon had sat upon. This passage tells us that these seven kings were involved in the seven empires that were incorporated in Nebuchadnezzar's statue, as well as a couple other empires. Each of these empires had something in common. They were world empires controlled by the beast and Babylon, (occultic/pagan) and the empire persecuted the Jews. As John indicates that one is during his time, and that is Rome, we must go backwards to find the other five. The statue of metals in Daniel helps us with that. Going backwards, before Rome was Greece, and before Greece, Medo-Persia. Before that We had Babylon. Now we need two more. It doesn't take much Bible study to find that the two that fit the bill are Assyria, and before them Egypt. Now we look to the seventh who is future to John. The qualifications for this empire would be the same as the others, a world type empire, controlled by the occult and a persecutor of the Jews. Another very specific qualification is that this empire is very short-lived. While many point to the Ottoman Empire, the length of that empire totally disqualifies it as a contender. The one which fits like a glove is the Third Reich under Hitler. It was a beast-like dominating empire, it was occultic, it persecuted the Jews (and Christians) and it was only around for a very short space of time in comparison to the other empires. Just a matter of twelve years running from 1933-1945. 

In each of these empires, there seems to be one king or ruler of some sort who stands out as the perpetrator of these attempts to annihilate the people of Israel. When we look at Rev. 17:11, we see something else. The antichrist or eighth king yet to come, is "of" the seven. How could a mere human be of the seven? He couldn't unless he was brought back to life over and over and over. The only alternative is that he is a demonic spirit who possesses a human and takes control. If one reads about World War II, one finds in various stories how people who met or were close to Hitler said with no hesitation that he was possessed. And as he was a great proponent and follower of the occult, is that any surprise? Given the Biblical evidence, it is clear that the antichrist is not the human he may inhabit (I'm not sure he will take a human body as he may take on an AI body with the technology we have today). So, to label a human that is living, no matter how evil he is, how full of pride he is, how arrogant he is, etc. as THE antichrist is to break the ninth commandment. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Many are writing books saying unequivocally without any qualms, stipulations, or doubts that Trump is THE antichrist. They are completely positive and are spreading this false witness to as many as possible, getting them to join them in this sin. They cannot know anything in regard to whom the beast will possess. Whether Trump is or is not (I don't think he fits Scripture) the host for the beast is not the point. We will not know definitively who the antichrist is until he sits in the temple declaring himself God at the abomination of desolation. Only THEN can we say, with no worry about breaking this commandment and putting ourselves at risk of God's ire, that this person IS the antichrist. Until then we should watch and wait. One must remember that a demonic spirit does not need anything more than a willing body. So, the beast can take over anyone who turns themselves over to him and bring them to great heights in a matter of a short amount of time, such as occurred to Haman in Medo-Persia and Hitler in Germany. It does not require that the person chosen have the qualities that would cause one to label them as an evil person before they are possessed. In fact, because the antichrist rises to power with just a few people very quickly, literally in an hour if Revelation is to be believed, it would belie the idea that the antichrist is already someone with great power and a world leader. 

We read in Revelation 17:12 " And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." Daniel 11:21-23 "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people." These verses tell us that the antichrist will not be given the honor of being a legitimate representative of a country. That leaves Trump out of the running, right there. The antichrist comes to power through deceit, not elections. He will make some sort of agreement, after what appears to be a war, but it will all be lies, and then he will become strong with a small contingent of cronies. In particular, both Daniel and Revelation tell us that there will be ten of them. 

At this point, the Scriptures clearly point to the fact that no man in and of himself is the antichrist. At best, he is merely a shell of a body to be possessed by the antichrist. So, calling any human man the antichrist is a misnomer at the very least. His body may become the host for the antichrist, but that is not the man himself. It literally could be anybody's body, who makes it available to be possessed. The only thing that pointing fingers and saying without a shadow of a doubt that it is this person or that does, is put one in a place of sin before God. That does not leave one in a good place with what is coming for God' people, for the Bride of Christ is still going to be here when that man of sin comes to power, according to Scripture, regardless of what many people are teaching. And God is going to purge His people of their sins to make them white again, as the Church has made her garments filthy with all the doctrines of demons she has been entertaining.

Now that Trump, the man we know, has been Scripturally eliminated, for those who wish to know more, reasons to eliminate him and all others, read on. What more can we learn about the entity known as the beast? Let us not start at the obvious, with characteristics like pride and arrogance. Let us see if we can determine from where he might come.

The most common term applied within the Old Testament to the antichrist or beast, as he is called in some Scriptures, is "The Assyrian." Many times throughout various prophets, he is referred to in this way. It is true that the beast did possess or control one of the leaders of Assyria, for that empire was one of the heads or mountains of the beast. But it seems that the verses about this person also refer to the endtimes antichrist. Isaiah 10:3-7 " And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few."  Most prophecies seem to have a near and far fulfillment. Yes, Israel was overtaken by Assyria, but there are certain terms or things which help us to realize that this is also applicable to the future. The first is the term "day of visitation".  This term is another way of expressing the idea of the Day of the Lord. And the Day of the Lord still lies ahead of us, when God will pour out His wrath on the unbelieving world of the antichrist. The Assyrian is the rod of God's anger not only against the nation of Israel, but against many nations or "nations not a few". We know the antichrist will conquer many nations, and his reign will be worldwide.

Isaiah 14:25-26 " That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations."  In this passage, God is going to break the power of the Assyrian who is in Israel, breaking the yoke and burden from not only off Israel but the whole earth. God will stretch out His hand to all the nations. Clearly again, this is not speaking of the ancient Assyria, but of someone from the future who will bring the whole earth under his yoke.

Isaiah 30:25-26, 30-31 "And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.........And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod." Again, in Isaiah is painted a picture of the Day of the Lord. These verses tell us of some of the catastrophic events, but also, we know it is the Day of the Lord, for He heals the breach of His people and heals their wound, when they finally return to Him. This only occurs at Christ's return when they see Him whom they pierced and cry and mourn over Him. (Zech. 12:10, Rev. 1:7) At this time (of Christ's return) the Lord will through His voice (His Word who is Christ) beat down the Assyrian who smote the world with a rod. 

Isaiah 31:4b-5, 8 "so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.......Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited." This chapter is again, about the Day of the Lord, when Christ returns. The Assyrian will fall not by a mighty man with a sword, or a mean man, but by the Word of the Lord, Christ. 

Micah 5:2-5 "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men." This passage begins with the birth of Christ. It then jumps to Christ giving the Jews up, to create the Church and when the Church is complete, (which occurs at His return) then the remnant of Israel (the lost tribes) will return and join with the Jews and the Lord will be great to the ends of the earth. He will be their peace or protector when the Assyrian or antichrist comes into the land and treads it down. At that time God will raise up seven shepherds and eight principal men. Who these men are is a complete mystery to me, for there is no other reference to them.

So, we can see how the antichrist is identified in particular with the Assyrian, even though the beast possessed men from each of the various empires in the seven heads of the beast. I can hear the naysayers, who want to believe they know who the antichrist is say, "But there is a verse that talks about the king of Babylon. and America is Babylon" Yes, there is a verse and yes, I believe we are Babylon. But that doesn't mean the antichrist comes from America. He is referred to as the king of Babylon in that passage, because the beast was also the king of Babylon most likely at the time of the writing of this prophecy. Even though the passage is also a prophecy about ancient Babylon, which seems to be where the beast may be at that time, for the Assyria captivity had already taken place (part of the chapter is about Satan as well) the king is still called the Assyrian within the passage. that is significant. The preponderance of references is to the Assyrian, and we must take note of that. Does this indicate that the beast will rise up somewhere in the Middle East, in the area of where ancient Assyria was, or possibly Syria is? Daniel gives us a clue to this. 

Daniel 8:8-11, 19, 23-25 "Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down........ And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be....... And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."

The context of this passage is a dream Daniel had, initially concerning Medo-Persia and Greece. He sees a ram (Persia) who is conquered by a goat with a notable horn (Greece and Alexander the great). The goat becomes very great, but then his horn is broken off and, in its place, come up four horns toward the north, south, east, and west. Out of one of the horns comes another little horn which becomes great toward the south, east, and Israel. If one were to stop here, this of course is about Antiochus Epiphanes. But it does not stop there. It repeats that this horn which comes out of one of the horns, as did Antiochus Epiphanes. While that might leave it open to the beast coming from one of the other three empires, as he is repeatedly called The Assyrian, it indicates that it is the same empire or area from which Antiochus came.  He grows great even to the host of heaven. Now we are talking about the angels, the spiritual world. A mere, man cannot come up against the spiritual world, but a demon can. It even casts down some of the host and stars out of heaven, both references of host and stars meaning angels, and stamps them to the ground, or brings them under his control. He magnifies himself even above Christ. We know this happens at the abomination of desolation when he declares himself God. 2 Thess. 2:3b-4 "that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." Further, we are told that the angel tells Daniel this concerns the end of the indignation at the latter end of it all.  At that time a king of fierce countenance, one who practices witchcraft and occultism will come to power. His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. The beast no doubt has powers of his own, but Satan will give him even more and he comes to power through Satan's giving it to him, as prince and power of the air himself. This is not a human. He will destroy mightily nations and people, including God's people. Through his administration he will cause occultism and witchcraft to prosper. He will destroy many, ironically by peace. A false peace, making promises he will not fulfill, but he will destroy everyone who will not worship him.  He will even attempt to stand up against Christ, but Christ will destroy him. 

This passage clearly seems to indicate that the antichrist is going to arise out of the Middle East. In particular out of somewhere in that area that was ruled by the Seleucids. This would seem to indicate that he will arise out of the Islamic world. Are there other Scriptures that would also imply this? Yes, there are. Daniel has another dream.

Daniel 7:3-8, 19-21, 23-25 "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things..........Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them....... Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." 

This dream consists of four beasts. As I have talked about this elsewhere in my blog, I won't spend the time here doing that. It is the fourth beast that concerns us. It is dreadful, terrible, exceedingly strong, has great iron teeth which can devour and break into pieces anything in its way. It stamps down anything that would oppose it or be a problem. It is ruthless, evil, and terrifyingly violent. It also has ten horns. We see in Revelation that the beast rises to power with ten other leaders who hand over their power to him. This is the same group of ten and they have a little horn come out of them as well. What is important is to note that this beast is not like the other beasts. They were beasts as well, but this one is of a completely different nature. Why is that? The others are political empires who rule. This is a different kind of empire. Why? Because I believe it is not a secular empire but a religious one. I believe we are talking a revived Islamic caliphate. There have been attempts already to revive the caliphate. It only awaits a man that they could call their Mahdi (their Messiah) to bring them together. What is different about this is it would not necessarily be a conglomerate of Islamic nations, but a group of Imams or Islamic religious leaders who will have political power over the Muslims. Islam is known to be a religion that works off the ideas of fear and violence. That many Muslims do not ascribe to the radical side of it is not the question here. The Quran itself basically teaches worship Allah or die. If the Mahdi were to appear, they all will do as he bids. The radicals are ruthless to their enemies. No mercy. They stomp down everyone in their path. Islam has been slowly taking over the world, infiltrating every country with their people and even compounds. When the call comes to jihad, they will all answer the call on pain of their own death.

Another passage that leads to the conclusion that Islam is involved is the following:  Daniel 11:37-38 " Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things."

Beginning with the first verse, many people do not understand this verse in context. I have to admit when I first started studying the book of Daniel decades ago, I misunderstood it as well. It says that the antichrist will not have any regard for the God of his fathers, then skipping over the next phrase, he will not have a regard for any god, meaning any pagan god that was known at the time this was written. The phrase any god would seem to point to all pagan gods, so we are left with the God of his fathers, which would seem to imply the true God, as He is the only one left after pagan gods are removed from the equation. Now having seen that the antichrist (the host) appears to be of Middle East origin, that would make him a descendent of Abraham, whether Arab or Jew or even one of the lost tribes of Israel. So, the God of his fathers would indicate the true God. This means that the man used as the body for the beast could very well be a Jew or Israelite who is converted to Islam. What better way to get both the Jews and the Muslims to accept him? There are a few obscure verses that many have taken to point the finger at the tribe of Dan as the source of the man's lineage. Genesis 49:17:18 "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD."

Dan is equated with the serpent, whom we know refers to Satan. And Dan's tribe was the one who truly spearheaded the northern tribes' descent into their pagan worship. It is interesting that the first verse speaks of the serpent and adder causing the rider to fall backward, exactly what he did to the tribes of Israel, making them fall away from God. But then oddly in the midst of Jacob's blessings on his sons, he adds this right after the first prophecy for Dan, which was a terrible prophecy, that he awaits God's salvation. This is a reference to the Messiah. So, he is drawing a line connecting the serpent who is the destroyer of their spiritual life, to the Savior of their spiritual life, within Dan's tribe's future. And there is a big connection between the antichrist's appearance and the appearance (second coming) of our Lord. 

An even more interesting prophecy is the one found in Isaiah 14:29 "Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." This verse says that out of the rod or serpent's root that smote the land of Palestine will come forth a cockatrice. This is a particularly deadly snake. And then a fiery flying serpent. The word in Hebrew is actually seraphim, which guess what, is a type of angel. In particular they seem to be serpentine angels. The cherubim have an appearance of an oxen, eagle, lion, and human. We can see that the animal world that God created, just as the tabernacle was a pattern of the heavenly tabernacle, was created to resemble the creatures in heaven. The one missing from that list is someone who represents the reptilian world. Satan is called a serpent and dragon right from the start. And in studying angels I found that seraphim more than likely have at least some who are reptilian in appearance as Satan is. As there is speculation (no proof) that the beast might be Satan's offspring (in mimicry of God having a son) it would make sense that he is at the very least, part serpentine, for demonic spirits seem to be the dead and bodiless hybrid offspring of the mating between mankind and angels.  So given all this information, it would again appear that the person who becomes the host for the beast is from a Middle Eastern background, possibly from the tribe of Dan. Added to that, there is some unknown reason for which Dan's name is left off the list of the 144,000. Nobody knows why. This might explain it.

Now we are left with the middle phrase "nor the desire of women." Some have taken this to mean that he will be homosexual for he does not desire women. That is not what this says. The context is discussing the various gods. First it is Yahweh, then it ends with pagan gods, so the middle person must be a god also. The god that was the desire of women in Daniel's time would have been the Messiah. The Jewish audience to whom Daniel writes would have understood this to mean the promised Messiah God, for all women hoped to be the mother of the Messiah. The only other way to understand this would be to say that it is the god that women of the age of the antichrist worship. Since it is specifically targeting the god of women here, the alternative would probably be the feminine goddess who goes under many names. Namely, Isis, Diana, Mother Gaia, Mother Mary, and last but not least, the real name, Mystery Babylon, who is all of the former depending on the culture. So the choices are that the antichrist does not regard God the Father, or Jesus, or any pagan god, or that he does not regard God the Father, Babylon, or any other pagan god. I don't know that it is important to choose one or the other for the sake of this post. What is important is the next verse. 

In place of those gods (or God as the case may be) he will honor a god of forces or fortresses as the various versions say. This god is a god of strength, of forts or fortresses, or strongholds. He sounds like a military or militant god. This god is a god that his fathers never knew. In other words, this god was not known in the pantheon of the various pagan gods that Israel not only knew but worshipped themselves. What god came well after that fact that is a militaristic god of forts or fortresses or maybe of war?  The god that is so well known for that today is Allah. Again, we see that the path leads us back to Islam. 

Getting back to the question is Trump the antichrist, I think by now it is clear from Scripture that he does not fit the description as laid out by Scripture. This description of course only refers to the man the beast possesses, not the beast himself, who comes out of the abyss in hell. Trump is not from the Middle East, he is not Muslim, he was and may be again (as of the date this was written) the legitimate elected leader of a country, not someone who got it by illegitimate means. He did not rise to power with ten people. He does not at this point in time shake his fist at God and blaspheme Him. Another point that I think people might question is his age. If the antichrist is a mockup of Christ, then he will most likely be someone around the age that Christ was when He died. Early thirties. 

Some of the so-called reasons I have seen for "proving" Trump is the antichrist is that his mother's name was Mary, his aunt's name was Elizabeth, and his cousin was named John. Knowing how popular these names were in the age these people were born, I am guessing that we could find many people with those qualifications. Not to mention that nowhere in the Bible are these listed as qualifications for identifying the antichrist. Then I have perused a book that gave as proof chapters with themes such as "A  Mocker", "A Liar", "An Adulterer", "A Man of Pride", "An Arrogant Man" which each chapters contains a bunch of verses that say that these things are sins (yes, they are) and that they describe Trump, so therefore he is the antichrist. Those bad qualities are unpleasant, and they are sins, but it doesn't qualify one for the title of The Antichrist. Many, many politicians and business leaders fit this description.  In fact, the author of that book that this was presented is a person I've had debates with, and not only I, but others who followed our debates found him to be as pompous, arrogant, prideful, and as boastful as the very man he is designating as the antichrist. Those who disagree with him are considered stupid people to be dismissed. He has spent the last eight years almost daily posting diatribes, false articles, false accusations, etc. about Trump. The hate he spews is certainly not something that shows Jesus in his life. Does that make this man the antichrist then, because he is also guilty of these sins? These sins just make a person a sinner, not the antichrist. And what politician cannot tick off all of these sins? It's a competition between them all. Some of them can even tick off murder on their list. To my knowledge Trump has not committed that sin, so why is he the worst of the worst? Is he pompous and arrogant? Yes. It is the persona he presents, because that apparently is how prosperous and successful businessmen act toward each other. He is a businessman, not a politician. He has no idea how to act like a politician. He acts like a businessman. Locker room talk, boasting, etc. They all act like this when they get together for the deals. It's the art of the deal. And he is master at it. Is he a Christian? I think that it is fair to say that as he does not confess to having accepted Jesus as his Savior, the answer would appear to be no. Is he a righteous man? I think we can safely say, no. Is he kind to people and charitable. Yes, he can be very much like that in his private life, from what I have heard from those who know him.  He believes good works will get him into heaven. Erroneous, yes, but it does make him behave in some ways that are better than many. He has been an unrepentant adulterer. It seems that every president we have had is that, and some more disgusting than others. Is he a good businessman? Well, he gets the job done, and he got this country on its feet. I have no illusions about the man and who and what he is, but he is not a fulfillment of the prophecies of the antichrist, no matter how badly the Trump Deranged people want him to be. And many of those people claim to be Christians. Shame on them for taking such a positive stand on something which nobody can know until that day when the beast presents himself as God. It is bearing false witness. They need to stop and confess and start praying for their leaders instead, as we are told to do in Scripture. In fact, Scripture warns us to not talk about our leaders in this very way. Exodus 22:28 " Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people." We are not to badmouth the angels, including the fallen ones, nor our rulers. We may not like the people in office, but we need to behave in a Christian manner toward them. If we want our country healed, we need to humble ourselves and pray and confess our sins as we are told to do. 

So, Trump, by Scriptural description does not appear to be the antichrist. Should we be labeling anyone the antichrist? No, not THE antichrist. Can we say that some are AN antichrist, well anyone against Christ is an antichrist, so that means that many can lay claim to that title, however that is not something we should be doing. We are to pray for people's salvation and share the good news. Should we be watchful and know what the Scriptures teach, absolutely. We are commanded to do that. So if you are following someone who claims to know that Trump or anyone is the antichrist, you need to stop listening to them. You don't want God's chastisement to fall on you, as it will these people.