A Russian Antichrist?

Patriarch Kirill I and Vladimir Putin

Many folks believe that the coming world government will either feature a global caliphate ruled by an Islamic Antichrist or it will be a secular government ruled by a powerful atheist who will outlaw all religious expression on the earth.

While both views have become popular in recent years, neither one is correct. The Bible clearly reveals that the coming world government is going to be a partnership of politics and religion.

However, the religious half of this partnership won't be Islamic--it will feature a perverted form of Christianity.

How do we know this? The apostle John, who recorded the Bible's final book the Revelation, in about 90 A.D., saw an incredible vision of a garishly dressed prostitute riding high atop a scarlet beast that featured seven heads and 10 horns.

Here's what John saw and recorded: "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: 'Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother of Prostitutes and of The Abominations of The Earth.'" (Revelation 17:3-5)

The scarlet beast that the woman rides is symbolic for a world government that will feature a confederacy of 10 nation groups that will be ruled by seven kings.

But what is the identity of this mysterious harlot? She represents the Roman Catholic Church that will become partners with this global nemesis after it begins functioning. 
http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp

And here's where things get interesting. Biblical prophecy reveals that the coming dreaded Antichrist will be both a political and religious figure and he will eventually come from Russia.

But how is that possible? How can the Antichrist come from Russia? And how can he rise through the Catholic Church since the Orthodox Church is Russia's official church?

Biblical prophecy reveals that a powerful nation will rise in the end times that the Bible describes as a northern kingdom. (Daniel 11) That nation will be ruled by the Antichrist who will then assume control of a world government. How can we determine that this kingdom is Russia?

Because the Bible always places Israel at the center of its geographical map. Therefore, a northern kingdom would be located directly north of the Jewish nation. And Russia is located directly north of Israel.

Furthermore, the prophet Ezekiel, who lived during the 6th Century B.C., revealed that this kingdom he described as Gog, would invade Israel at some point in the very last days. (Ezekiel 38-39) Gog was one of the ancient names for modern Russia.

But how does the Catholic Church factor into this equation? Through a reunion with the Eastern Orthodox churches that separated from Rome about 1,000 years ago when the eastern churches rejected the Roman papacy and chose to serve the Bishop of Constantinople.
http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp

Talks concerning that reunion have been taking place for several years now between the Vatican and high-ranking Eastern clerics. When that reunion occurs, an important prophetic door will be opened between Russia and Rome that will pave the way for the coming Antichrist.

And when that door is finally opened, one of the greatest counterfeit religious revivals will be imminent. That revival will usher in the advent of the Antichrist. In Part Three, we'll take a look at that coming revival.