Hi Joe,
 
It does appear that God, the Father allows Satan temporary rulership over the world because according to Matthew 4:8-10 when Jesus went in to the wilderness for 40 days, and was tempted by the devil, the devil took him up unto an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.  And the devil said to Jesus, "All these things I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Then Jesus saith unto him, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only thou shalt serve."  Then over in Revelation 11:14-15 when "the second woe is past; and behold the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."  At that point in time, the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our Lord; and he takes over the rulership of them.
 
So it would stand to reason that Satan would be able to give worshippers of him (whoever they may be) kingdoms on earth until our Lord Jesus Christ sets up his kingdom on earth when believers get to reign and rule with him. The Bible prophecies in the book of Revelation do have to be fulfilled as you mentioned, and the beast does have to rise to power to rule over the earth for a short period of time because the Lord's word is the truth. So I am just going to put my faith and trust in the Lord to save any family members left behind in the tribulation period, and that his will be done on earth and not mine.  However, if the fall elections do take place in the U.S., I will vote for Michael Peroutka, a third party candidate, if he is on my state's ballot because his platform stands for the principles in God's word, and my vote will be a statement that I am standing for God's word as well and not the lesser of two evils.
 
God bless,
Donna