Could Vladimir Putin be the Antichrist?

The Antichrist is a topic that I have written about many times. I even have an article about the possibility of President Obama being the Antichrist. Besides him there have been many other individuals in history that have been identified as the man of lawlessness. Now there is another world leader that some think could be the Antichrist – the President of Russia. Could President Vladimir Putin be the Antichrist? Let’s take a look.

I write this at a time when Russia is in the news almost daily because of the crisis in Ukraine. Russia has the second most powerful military in the world (only behind the United States). Russia was the big “bad guy” from the past century (at least after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan), and has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It is because of these facts many people in the United States, and throughout the world, fear what Russia could possibly do. Some are calling the current situation with Russia the beginning of a new Cold War that could lead us on a path of destruction.

These facts are enough to make Christians feel certain that Russia has to have something to do with the Antichrist. When it comes to believing that Putin is the Antichrist, I think that there are two possible reasons why people think he is the end-time leader. First is the information that I presented above about the power of Russia and the possibility of a global crisis and a new Cold War. I think that there are many people who fall into this camp.

Second, there is a long standing tradition in the Church that associates Russia with the end-times. It is one of the famous end-time passages in all of Scripture, and it is thought that it teaches us about a Russian-led invasion of Israel sometime before the end.

Ezekiel 38 and 39 record for us a great war that takes place before the second coming of Christ. The leader of the invading nations is named Gog of Magog, and he is said to be the prince of Meshech and Tubal (he also leads other nations into this war). The most common interpretation is that Magog, Meshech, and Tubal were ancient names for what is today Russia, and that this battle takes place before the Tribulation. This would make Gog a ruler who comes onto the world stage before the Antichrist makes his appearance.

However, as I have written about previously, the biblical evidence actually presents Gog as the Antichrist. Here a summary of the evidence in that article:

“The following evidence summarizes what I write about in another article: a) God refers to Gog in a way that only makes sense if Gog is the Antichrist (38:17; 39:8); b) there are many parallels between Gog’s battle and Armageddon… c) both Gog and the Antichrist use peace as a way to wage war (Daniel 8:25; 9:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; Ezekiel 38:12-13); d) there are many details given about the aftermath of Gog’s battle that can only occur at the second coming of Christ. These include God’s name no longer being blasphemed (38:23; 39:7), the non-Jewish nations coming to know the Lord (38:23; 39:6-7), the Jews dwelling in their land safely forever (39:26), God pouring out his spirit upon Israel (38:29), and Ezekiel telling us that the Lord will actually be present at the defeat of Gog (39:29).”[1]

This shows us that Gog is the Antichrist. Doesn’t this confirm that the Antichrist will be from Russia? This is an excellent question. However, the identification of exactly which nations Magog, Meshech, and Tubal are actually demolish the Putin-Antichrist theory. I have written previously about how these three nations are not Russia:

“Ezekiel 38:2-6 teaches us that Gog is ‘of Magog’ and is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. It is also said that Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth Togarmah fight with Gog. Persia, Cush, and Put are the easiest to identify as they are Iran, Sudan, and Libya respectively. However, the other five nations have been misidentified. Magog, Meshech, and Tubal are usually said to be Russia, but an in-depth study of these nations shows that they were areas in what is today Turkey. Gomer and Beth Togarmah were also in Turkey.”[2]

Now I know that some of you are probably objecting to the idea that the Antichrist will come from Turkey, but I ask you to read the article in the link that I gave above (and the rest of my Antichrist series). I go in-depth there to show that Gog does not come from Russia at all (and I answer some objections as well).

Is Vladimir Putin the Antichrist? The answer is no. The biblical evidence is clearly against it. This does not mean that Russia will have nothing to do with the end-times, it just means that the Antichrist will not come from Russia.

[1] This quote comes from my article “Biblical Evidence for that the Antichrist will come from the Middle East.”

[2] See endnote #1.

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