As soon as the word antichrist is mentioned, all kinds of questions come to mind.

Could the antichrist be alive somewhere in the world today?

Could he be a child, or perhaps a teenager, a college student, or even an adult waiting in the wings to emerge as a world leader?

Could one of today’s well-known political leaders be the antichrist?

What will this individual be like?

Hardly a day passes without hearing about conflict and war in the world. It seems never-ending. The bad thing about watching the evening news on television is that it’s, well, mostly bad news!

Of course, there was no news media back in Bible times. If there were, however, they too would have heard daily reports about war and conflict in the world.

As the closing passage of the Bible, the book of Revelation is both intriguing and significant, containing topics and themes that shouldn’t be neglected. When it comes to understanding Revelation, scholars throughout the ages have taken four primary interpretive approaches. 

As Christians, we trust in the providence of God. We know that God often works behind the scenes in events on earth in order to accomplish His will. But since God has an eternal plan He is already accomplishing, where do our prayers fit into the picture?

Take a look at Genesis 24, which recounts the story of Isaac and Rebekah, and consider the following insights on the biblical text.

• “Wife for my son” (24:3): Because Abraham was getting old, he wanted to take steps to ensure the continuation of the line of promise and the fulfillment of the covenant God made with him. He didn’t want to die before ensuring the next generation in this line of promise. So he had Eliezer, his chief steward, swear to find a wife for Isaac from among his own people.

The question of whether America is mentioned in end-times Bible prophecy has been the subject of much debate through the years. Some say yes, and others say no. Many theories on the issue have been speculative and far-fetched. Others have taken a more reasoned approach. I will consider two major viewpoints in the debate: (1) America is only indirectly mentioned in Bible prophecy, and (2) America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy at all. We will cover the second view in this article.

Not Mentioned in Bible Prophecy at All

A major viewpoint in this debate is that America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy at all. If this assessment is correct, a question arises: Why? Prophecy students have proposed a number of possible explanations.

The question of whether America is mentioned in end-times Bible prophecy has been the subject of much debate through the years. Some say yes, and others say no. Many theories on the issue have been speculative and far-fetched. Others have taken a more reasoned approach. I will consider two major viewpoints in the debate: (1) America is only indirectly mentioned in Bible prophecy, and (2) America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy at all. We will cover the first view in this article.

Only Indirectly Mentioned in Bible Prophecy

Some prophecy enthusiasts believe Bible prophecy includes no direct references to the United States, but it may mention America indirectly. Following are some possible indirect references.

Eternity is a big concept. We read in the pages of Scripture that God has “put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As one Christian leader put it, “Within each of us is an inner sense or feeling that death is not the end, but that there must be something beyond the grave. Even if we deny it or ignore it, this inner yearning is still there—and it is universal. Where did it come from? The Bible says God placed it within us.” (Blanchard, 1993)

Though we live in a world of time, we have intimations of eternity in our hearts. We instinctively think of “forever.” We seem to intrinsically realize that beyond this life lies the possibility of a shoreless ocean of time. It is wondrous to even think about it.