A film starring Christian actor Kevin Sorbo about the post-rapture world and the rise of the Antichrist. The film is based on Tim LaHaye’s and Jerry B. Jenkins’s popular Left Behind book series, which were adapted into an older film versions in early 2000s. The book series and the film present a pre-millennialist futurist/dispensationalist and pre-tribulationist view of end-times events. Readers familiar with my eschatology already know that I have a slightly more complex view of eschatology where I have reconciled different schools of thought such as historicism and futurism. I also subscribe to pre-tribulationist view on rapture, although not quite in the form in which it became mainstream with C.I. Scofield’s reference Bible in the early 1900s. You can read more about my views on rapture here.

The film presents Scofield’s Reference Bible’s doctrine, that the Antichrist is revealed to Christians only after the rapture (i.e. to those Christians who are left behind or who come to faith after the rapture). This is based on an erroneous interpretation of the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, which I do not agree with (the second chapter of my book is devoted to refuting it). But for the most part, my own interpretation of the chronology of end-time events is still closer to the chronology presented in the movies than, say, a mid- or post-tribulationist chronology. I also think the film makes assumptions that cannot be derived directly from biblical prophecy, such as the time of the beginning of the construction of the third temple.

The establishment of the temple is linked in the film to the seven-year covenant made by the Antichrist with Israel, but that treaty need not be linked to the temple, although the Bible predicts a third temple and a seven-year treaty. Indeed, I personally do not find it likely that the Antichrist would publicly support the establishment of a temple on the Temple Mount. This is because he has to present himself from the outset as a peacemaker promoting interfaith coexistence, and therefore support for a third temple would be too controversial and explosive an issue that would infuriate the world’s two billion Muslims. And if he supported the establishment of the temple, he would not stop its offerings in the middle of the seven-year period of Tribulation, as Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and Matthew 24:15 predict.

Even if I don’t agree with every detail of the film’s chronology, I am not among those who vilify the film and claim it promotes the “satanic delusion” about the end times and rapture. There are many Christians who are inclined to see satanic deception everywhere and their whole life’s work is based on looking for deception here and there. Jesus did indeed warn us about the deceptions when he said, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:4). But sometimes those “vigilants” may themselves be also the greatest deceivers of all.

My own view is that the Holy Spirit of God has also been involved in the production and direction of films like this. It may be just entertainment to many Christians, but who knows what effect such films will have on people living in a time of tribulation who do not know what to believe when millions of people have “vanished into thin air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and the secular media and secular governments will spread disinformation about it (e.g. the idea of a worldwide UFO abduction) while labeling believers in the “rapture theory” as dis-informers and fake news spreaders (as described in the film).

Already at the moment, social media shows how various alternative news sources (which also serve as platforms for disinfo alongside the mainstream media) are also promoting conspiracy theories about how governments are preparing for some kind of “fake rapture”. Under the name “Project Bluebeam” you can find all kinds of wild conspiracy theories about the second coming of Jesus. After the rapture, those who are left behind may have hard time to accept that those “crazy” evangelical right-wing Christians were right all along about the coming disappearance of millions of people. And therefore – rather than humble themselves and begin to examine with an open mind what the Bible prophecies predicted of our time – they will prefer to believe the lies, and put their trust in the Antichrist, who will give them a false sense of security. That is why Paul said of him:

The one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

2 Thess. 2:9-12

But if even one truth-seeker remembers what Christians told them would happen in their sermons, books and movies, and humbles himself before God, he will save his soul from eternal damnation and avoid the mark of the beast. At the end of Left Behind, the narrator of the film says something that resonates with my own feelings about my own mission. I will just replace the name of the movie character in the film with my own name:

When Samuel’s word went out to the world, it felt like a great victory. But the Bible warned us that it would not be as easy as just telling the truth to everyone. But I have always thought, and now believe, that even if only one soul is saved, your efforts have not been wasted. Right now, the impact of Samuel’s message will have to be analysed later. He knew that many people would disagree with what he had to say.

Jesus told us that these last years would be worse than anything the world has ever seen. God gave us the chance to escape it if we wanted to. But for those who chose not to take it, for those who were left behind… well, we’ll just have to see what happens. I know there’s nothing we can do to stop what’s prophesied to happen. But that doesn’t mean we should just give up, not even close. Our mission is to save souls, and as long as that is the case, our goal is clear.

This is a expresses well why I write about the kind of subject I write about in the first place. Even though I know that only a few people will listen and agree with my views, my work is not in vain if at least one soul can be saved through it. My sense of the calling I believe God has entrusted to me has always been somewhat conflicted. While I feel it to be solely God’s mercy and goodness to me that a sinner like myself should serve Him in so responsible a task, I have often felt that I am a wrong person to warn the world of its coming deceiver.

If I’m not that person, I’m just making a mockery of myself and the Word of God. If I am that person, why didn’t God choose a well-known TV preacher, or YouTube personality, who could reach a much larger audience with his message. Why am I not like the film’s favorite journalist Cameron (“Buck”) Williams, who God uses to warn millions about the film’s fictional Antichrist character Nicolae Carpathia? But at the same time, I never thought God would elevate just one man into “star” above the rest. God uses and will use many different personalities from very different starting points and He has a unique ministry for each of us.

Perhaps in a time of tribulation, God will raise up that real-life Cameron Williams to warn those who are left behind of the Antichrist and his lies. Perhaps my own work can be an inspiration for the calling of this charismatic TV face. Perhaps my books will be dropped from the sky over cities (that’s why I haven’t published a hardcover edition), like the actors dropping leaflets at the end of a film. Or maybe I’m just as crazy as the writers of the film, when I believe that this fictional film will eventually come true, literally, and that Charles III is the real-life Nicolae Carpathia. Incidentally, the film’s fictional Antichrist is linked to The Great Reset, a project launched by the World Economic Forum in 2020, in which Prince Charles and Forum founder Klaus Schwab played a leading role. The film thus suggests, intentionally or not, that Charles III could be that real-life Nicolae Carpathia.