There are a minority view that thinks that Antichrist’s rule will only be limited to the region of Israel and its proximity. I have argued recently here that this is in error. Further, it is a dangerous premise since it lulls the universal Church into thinking that they will not be persecuted by Antichrist during the Great Tribulation.
I want to add some more Biblical reasons why the “Regional” position lacks Biblical support.
First, Revelation 11:15 reads:
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.””
This verse is in the context of the blowing of the seventh trumpet and consequently there is a celebration of the certainty of the Lord’s kingdom defeating the current world kingdom.
The only antagonist kingdom that is in view in Revelation is the Satan-inspired Beast’s (Antichrist’s) kingdom. And given the fact that a directed portion of the trumpet and bowl judgments are against the Beast’s kingdom, it is clear that the celebration of defeat is over his kingdom. Further, it should be noted that it is in the singular, and it has the definite article noting a particular kingdom. The article can be considered in the Greek category of articles as “Well-Known” or even the “Par Excellence.”
Also, it is important to note that the Greek word for “world” in this verse is kosmos, which is a term that denotes primarily a “universal” sense. This is a salient fact because those who believe in the “Regional” view argue that kosmos is never used to refer to the Beast’s rule. But this instance of kosmos that refers to the Beast’s kingdom undercuts that claim.
Second, Paul warned the Thessalonians of the coming Antichrist and his persecution, thus his exhortation to stay faithful. Where was Thessalonica located? That’s right, in Macedonia, which is part of modern day Europe! The Antichrist’s rule will reach Europe according to the logical inference from Paul.
Third, the scope of Revelation is global, not local. This fact is denied by those who limit Antichrist’s rule. There is nothing that they point to in Revelation that proves this, they can’t. What they do is they go back to Daniel and cite selective passages about how past empires were limited to the Near East and argue that since inhabitants of the Near East used “world” to describe their phenomenological surroundings, therefore Antichrist’s rule must also be limited to a particular region.
In response, no one denies that often when the ancients used the term “earth” or “world” it was limited to their geo-political surroundings. But it would be a mistake to ignore the innumerable instances in which they used those same terms to refer to all that existed in the world, even though they themselves were not aware of all the world in its entirety.
When Genesis 1:1 says that God created the earth, are we suppose to believe that God only created a region of the earth? Indeed Near Eastern Ancients conceived of the earth of mostly their surrounding nations and demarcated oceans. But from our vantage point we can see that Genesis 1:1 encompassed much more than the environs of the Near East!
Also, it is a false deduction to read those limited regional instances into contexts such as Revelation, a book that portrays for us a global, cosmic perspective.
Fourth, John writes:
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18).
In this verse, one of the things he warns us is that Antichrist is coming. Then later he writes:
“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 [kosmos] already.” (1 John 4:3).
We are told that the spirit of Antichrist already has a reaching kosmos. The Greek uses the combination of the terms nyn (now) and ede (already) stressing that his kosmos presence has already begun. The combination of these terms is significant because it is connecting what is happening at the moment (kosmos domain of the spirit of Antichrist) with what will also be the case of a future Antichrist (a kosmos domain).
In other words, John is saying, do not wait to be vigilant for the future kosmos presence of Antichrist, his spirit is already in the kosmos.
This text is incongruent to the notion that the future Antichrist’s realm will be limited to one particular region.
Fifth, John writes:
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world [kosmos] lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19).
Here John states that Satan’s realm is global. And we are informed by Paul that the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan:
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9).
Since Satan’s power encompasses the entire world, and since the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan, it is consistent to understand that Antichrist’s domain will cover the entire world.
