Is Elon Musk the Antichrist?

Every generation sees parallels between world leaders and some interpretation of the biblical “Antichrist” (Revelation 13:1) and “false prophet” (Revelation 13:11). Some of those connections are shallow; others are uncanny. Unfortunately, the internet makes it easy for the conspiracy-minded to find “evidence” suiting preferred conclusions. After Donald Trump’s second inauguration, Elon Musk was appointed to a position of influence. As with every powerful politician, people searched out and constructed ways to connect Trump and Musk to the end times. Do these points mean Musk could be an end-times figure? That’s possible, in theory, but “possibility” is different from being plausible or likely.

The most interesting claims about Musk revolve around his connections to technology. These are compared to descriptions of the second beast of Revelation, also called the false prophet (Revelation 19:20). Musk acts under the authority of another leader (Revelation 13:12) who survived a major head wound (Revelation 13:14). Rockets landing intact on earth are compared to calling fire from heaven (Revelation 13:13). Some say artificial intelligence as promoted by Elon Musk will become the “image” to be worshiped (Revelation 13:15). Musk’s work with the Neuralink brain interface is interpreted as a future mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16–17).

An unconfirmed video claiming to be from Musk’s former nanny says Elon is short for El Elyon, which would mean “most high god.” In Hebrew, ēlon refers to oak trees, while elyon refers to height and Él refers to God. Beyond doubts as to whether the claim is even true is the fact that elon and elyon are distinct Hebrew words with different meanings.

Even for the skeptical, some of these comparisons are interesting. Yet prior generations were also unsettled by biblical connections to famous figures. It’s difficult to objectively decide which set of claims is more convincing; anything relevant to our own life experience will always appear stronger. Modern Christians also have the advantage of hindsight. Already falsified parallels are easy to write off as unreasonable. But then we more easily convince ourselves that our conclusion is “different” from those of the past.

Whether one rejects or accepts the idea that Elon Musk is a fulfillment of end-times prophecy, there is a point of common ground: Christians should not be distracted from our pursuit of obeying the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). There are no spiritual or practical advantages to early knowledge of who the Antichrist and false prophet really are. Were this important, Jesus would not have been so blunt about how surprising the end times would be (Matthew 24:36, 44). He would have stressed the importance of directly identifying the people involved, rather than saying virtually nothing about it. Since we can’t prevent or change the end times, we should not waste undue time trying to map out the details in advance.

Every believer in every time period—before, during, and after the appearance of the Antichrist—is commanded to be ready, regardless of what is happening in the world (Matthew 24:6–8). If our approach to living out our faith changes based on learning who the Antichrist is, we’re not living the way God intended. Rather, we should live in obedience to Christ and confident anticipation of His return (Matthew 25:13; Luke 12:35–40).