As geopolitical alliances shift, artificial intelligence accelerates and systems of global power evolve, an ancient prophecy in the Book of Revelation is drawing renewed attention. What might the mysterious “Ten Kings” reveal about the world taking shape around us?
By Troy Anderson
For over three decades as an investigative journalist, I learned that the most important stories are rarely understood by looking at a single headline. You have to step back, examine the larger pattern, follow the evidence, talk to people who understand the forces at work and consider where events may be leading.
That approach has also shaped much of my work as an author.
Today, the world is undergoing changes at a remarkable pace. Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than many governments and institutions can respond. Wars and geopolitical tensions are reshaping alliances. Economic and financial systems are becoming increasingly digital and interconnected. Political movements are challenging institutions that once seemed permanent, while events involving Israel and the Middle East continue to reverberate around the world.
For those who study biblical prophecy, these developments raise an unavoidable question: Could some of the conditions emerging in our time eventually help set the stage for events described in the Book of Revelation?
That is one of the central questions Pastor Paul Begley and I explore in our new book, Trump vs. the Beast: The Ten Kings Prophecy and the Bible’s Revelation of Coming Final Days (Humanix Books/Newsmax Media, October 6, 2026),
The Mystery of the Ten Kings
Among the most intriguing passages in Revelation is the vision recorded in Revelation 17, where the apostle John describes ten kings who receive authority for a brief period and ultimately give their power and authority to the Beast.
Christians and prophecy scholars have debated the meaning of this passage for centuries. Are these ten literal political rulers? Do they represent nations, regions or some future configuration of global power? Could they emerge from political structures familiar to us today, or from a system that does not yet exist?
Those are legitimate questions, but they also require humility.
Scripture describes the prophecy, but it does not give us the names of ten contemporary leaders and tell us that they are the fulfillment of Revelation 17. History is filled with examples of people who became overly confident in identifying prophetic figures or attaching biblical passages to events that later unfolded differently than they expected.
The responsible approach is not to force every headline into a prophetic timetable. It is to understand what Scripture says, examine developments carefully and remain alert to patterns that may become significant as history unfolds.
A World Being Reshaped
What makes the Ten Kings prophecy particularly fascinating in our generation is the transformation taking place in the nature of power itself.
For much of modern history, political power was associated primarily with nation-states, governments and militaries. Those institutions remain enormously important, but they no longer represent the entire picture.
Technology companies now operate platforms capable of influencing how billions of people communicate and receive information. International financial institutions and central banks can make decisions with consequences extending across continents. Artificial intelligence is beginning to transform medicine, employment, education, communications, surveillance, warfare and decision-making. Governments increasingly confront challenges that cross national borders and require international cooperation.
None of these developments proves that Revelation 17 is being fulfilled in our time.
What they do demonstrate is how quickly the architecture of global power can change.
Earlier generations might have found it difficult to imagine a world in which information could travel instantaneously across the planet, financial transactions could occur electronically in seconds, sophisticated surveillance systems could follow people and objects across vast distances, or artificial intelligence could analyze enormous quantities of information almost instantaneously.
We now live in that world.
The question is where these capabilities will lead and who will ultimately control them.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power
Few developments illustrate the speed of this transformation more clearly than artificial intelligence.
AI offers extraordinary possibilities. It is already being used in medicine, scientific research, business, communications, defense and countless other areas. Properly developed and governed, it may contribute to advances that improve millions of lives.
At the same time, its rapid development raises profound questions.
Who will control the most powerful artificial intelligence systems? Who will establish the rules governing their use? What happens when governments, corporations or other institutions possess technologies capable of monitoring populations, shaping information, predicting behavior or making decisions affecting enormous numbers of people?
These are technological questions, but they are also questions about political authority, economic power, human freedom and the nature of society.
In Trump vs. the Beast, Pastor Begley and I examine artificial intelligence as part of a much larger investigation into biblical prophecy, geopolitics and emerging systems of global power. We are not arguing that a particular technology, company or institution can simply be labeled as the fulfillment of a specific prophecy. The more important issue is whether technological developments are creating capabilities that could someday make forms of centralized power possible on a scale previous generations could scarcely have imagined.
Israel and the Prophetic Landscape
Any serious examination of biblical prophecy also has to consider Israel and Jerusalem.
From the Hebrew prophets through the New Testament, Israel occupies a central place in the biblical narrative. It is therefore understandable that wars, diplomatic developments and political changes involving Israel receive intense attention among students of prophecy.
Yet this is another area where discernment is essential.
Governments rise and fall. Alliances change. Wars begin and end. Political leaders come and go. Attempting to assign prophetic significance to every breaking-news development can quickly lead to speculation presented as certainty.
Biblical prophecy offers something larger than a running commentary on the news cycle. It provides a framework for considering history, human nature, spiritual conflict, judgment, redemption and the sovereignty of God.
For Christians, the question is therefore not merely what will happen next. It is how believers should live if history is moving toward the fulfillment of God’s purposes.
Trump, Disruption and a Changing World Order
Donald Trump inevitably enters this discussion because few political figures in recent American history have disrupted established institutions, alliances and assumptions as dramatically as he has.
His return to the presidency has renewed debates about America's role in the world, the future of international institutions, economic nationalism, globalism, borders, trade, war, peace and the direction of Western civilization.
Our book examines Trump within this much larger geopolitical and prophetic landscape.
The title Trump vs. the Beast should not be interpreted as presenting Trump as a messianic figure. Christian theology reserves that role for Jesus Christ alone. Rather, the book investigates whether disruptive political leaders can alter the trajectory of larger political and historical movements, and how those developments might be considered alongside biblical prophecy.
The questions extend well beyond any single president.
Where is global power moving? What will happen as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly powerful? How will governments respond to economic, technological and geopolitical instability? Will sovereignty remain primarily with nation-states, or will new structures of authority emerge?
And if Revelation describes a future period in which extraordinary political power becomes concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of rulers, what developments might eventually make such a system possible?
We cannot answer those questions with certainty. But they are worth investigating.
Prophecy, Discernment and Hope
One danger in discussing end-times prophecy is allowing fear to become the dominant message.
The Book of Revelation contains some of the most sobering imagery in Scripture. It describes war, persecution, deception, judgment and extraordinary upheaval. Yet Revelation is ultimately not a story about the triumph of evil. It is a story about the sovereignty and ultimate victory of God.
That distinction matters.
The proper response to biblical prophecy is not panic, but discernment, faithfulness, courage and hope.
This is also an important theme in Trump vs. the Beast. Alongside our examination of geopolitical developments, artificial intelligence, global systems and prophetic warnings, Pastor Begley and I explore the possibility of spiritual awakening in a period of extraordinary disruption.
History has repeatedly demonstrated that times of crisis can become times of spiritual searching. When familiar institutions fail, when societies are shaken and when people confront uncertainty about the future, questions about faith and meaning often become more urgent.
That possibility should not be overlooked amid discussions about the darker aspects of prophecy.
Watching the World With Wisdom
Journalism taught me to ask questions, verify information and remain skeptical of conclusions that move beyond the available evidence. Faith has taught me something equally important: human beings do not possess every answer.
Those principles are especially important when studying prophecy.
Revelation gives us a remarkable picture of events associated with the culmination of history, but it does not provide a newspaper-style chronology identifying every modern institution, technology or political leader in advance.
That leaves us with a responsibility to watch carefully without pretending to know more than we do.
We can study Scripture. We can investigate geopolitical developments. We can examine emerging technologies and financial systems. We can listen to scholars, pastors, researchers and people with different perspectives. We can compare claims with evidence and distinguish documented facts from interpretation.
Most importantly, we can resist the temptation to turn speculation into certainty.
The world is changing at a speed that would have seemed extraordinary only a generation ago. Artificial intelligence, geopolitics, economics, warfare, communications and culture are converging in ways that deserve serious attention.
Whether the developments we see today will ultimately prove to be directly connected to the Ten Kings prophecy remains to be seen.
Perhaps that uncertainty is itself an important lesson.
The purpose of prophecy is not simply to give us a code for predicting tomorrow’s headlines. It calls us to recognize the larger spiritual dimensions of history, to remain watchful and discerning, and to live faithfully in whatever circumstances may come.
The great question may not be whether we can identify every prophetic figure before the events unfold.
It may be whether we have the wisdom, courage and faith to recognize the times in which we live while remaining faithful through them.
About Trump vs. the Beast
Trump vs. the Beast: The Ten Kings Prophecy and the Bible’s Revelation of Coming Final Days is the forthcoming book by Pastor Paul Begley and Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist and six-time # bestselling author Troy Anderson, with forewords by Kevin Sorbo and Joseph Z. The hardcover and e-book are scheduled for release October 6, 2026. It's the #1 "Hot New Release" in "Prophecies" on Amazon. The audiobook was released August 24, 2026.
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