Daniel Chapter 11
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In verse 2, Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, the great Persian king who dominated the land of Palestine and other Persian kings who did as well.
The second major king was Alexander in verses 3–9. Alexander and those who followed him, the great world conquering Greek, who founded the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Seleucids to the north, the Ptolemies to the south and between the two of them, they literally dominated and oppressed that land for hundreds of years.
Then the third king was Antiochus the Great, in verses 10–20, the great Seleucid king who had the lasting control. The first Seleucid and Ptolemy kings kind of kicked it back and forth and then Antiochus went in, Antiochus the Great, and kind of had a lasting control over Israel.
Then in verse 21 we met the last of the first four kings, Antiochus Epiphanes, the next in the Seleucid line who ruled Palestine. And he it was who was a vile person, it says in verse 21, a vile person. He oppressed, he desecrated, he slaughtered, he devastated the Jews, their people, their temple, their worship, all of these things.
Verse 35 is where we stopped last time and that’s the key. “To purge and to make them white, even to the time of the end.” The whole purpose of all of this was the purging of the people of Israel. It was their spiritual purification. It is to refine them. God has always used suffering to do that. Even in the New Testament, Peter writes that the Lord make you perfect after you have suffered a while. James writes, the trial of your faith works patience and patience has its perfect work. The purging, the purification of suffering, till the time of the end.
So, the angel says, “Daniel, you’re confused because the 70 years are up and only 40,000 went back, the rest have stayed embedded in Babylon and they’re not even interested in God. And the ones who went back can’t rebuild the city, they’re a weak people. And you’re saying to yourself, “I thought it was over.” And the angel says it isn’t over. It will go on until the end time. And then he takes him through the Persian period and through the Greek period and says this is all for the purging and the making white, or the cleansing of God’s people till the time of the end.
Now, as we approach verse 36, we leap across centuries to the final king, Antichrist. And we meet him in verses 36–45. We’ve seen the Persian era, the Greek era, and now we see the final form of the Roman era. The final chapter of the chastening of the people of Israel. And this amazing figure will be all the evil power of Ahasuerus, Alexander, Antiochus the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes combined and more. He is the counterfeit Christ who makes a treaty or a covenant or a league or a pact with Israel He promises to protect. He aligns Israel with the west. And then in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation, he breaks that pact, he desecrates their temple, he desecrates their religion, he blasphemes their God and precipitates the holocaust of Armageddon which is ended in the return of Jesus Christ.
Now beginning in verse 36, there’s a sharp break. It is introduced to us at the end of verse 35. “Even to the time of the end,” that’s the key phrase. This is going to go on till the time of the end. Up to this point, the prophecy has dealt with history past. Now we come to a different scene, history future, the time of the end.
Now some Bible commentators, and you who get into the depths of these things will be interested in this, but some Bible commentators want to apply this to some historical point. They want to apply the rest of the chapter to Antiochus Epiphanes, or some other personality, primarily Antiochus Epiphanes is selected. But they don’t want to allow for prophecy in the future so they want to tie it all to some past event. But that just doesn’t work very well.
Let me suggest several reasons. First of all, in verse 35, the time of the end is an eschatological term. It deals with last things. In verse 40 it begins, “And at the time of the end.” And both of those uses indicate a future last-days point. Secondly, the scope of the prophecy is beyond just the Persian and Greek area. The angel said this in 10:14. “Now I am come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days.” So, from the very beginning, the prophecy was said to stretch much further than just Persian-Greek times.
Further, we can follow with minute absolutely accurate detail all of the prophecy up to verse 35. But after that, we have no historical data that can at all relate to what happens from verse 36 to 45. Certainly not in the life of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Notice also in verse 36, it says near the end of the verse, all of this is going to prosper till the indignation be accomplished. Now the indignation which is to be fully accomplished simply means the final outpouring of God’s wrath and that demands the last days. In fact, the indignation is almost a synonymous term with the Tribulation.
Further, the description of the ruler in this passage absolutely detail by detail parallels other Scripture accounts of Antichrist. Also 12:1 tells us that at that time shall Michael stand up and they’ll be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. In other words, there is coming a time that will be worse than any other time in the history of man. And verse 2, it will be followed by the resurrection. Now that has to be the last time.
Furthermore, the last three revelations in the book of Daniel have closed with a word about the Antichrist. It is fitting that this one follow that same pattern. I just wanted you to know that there are reasons why we interpret this in relation to the Antichrist. And so, we sweep across thousands of years of history to the final world ruler. Three things to see about him tonight: his character, his conflict, his condemnation. If you read this, you may have been confused by it. But it really isn’t that difficult. Let’s flow through and see what it says.
The Wickedness of the Anti christ
DAn
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.
The word Antichrist in plane terms: The prefix "anti" can of course mean either “instead of” or “against.” So antichrist describes a particular individual or a group of people who oppose God and His purpose.
Blevins, J. L. (2003). Antichrist. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 74). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Let me suggest several reasons. First of all, in verse 35, the time of the end is an eschatological term. It deals with last things. In verse 40 it begins, “And at the time of the end.” And both of those uses indicate a future last-days point. Secondly, the scope of the prophecy is beyond just the Persian and Greek area. The angel said this in 10:14. “Now I am come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days.” So, from the very beginning, the prophecy was said to stretch much further than just Persian-Greek times.
Further, we can follow with minute absolutely accurate detail all of the prophecy up to verse 35. But after that, we have no historical data that can at all relate to what happens from verse 36 to 45. Certainly not in the life of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Notice also in verse 36, it says near the end of the verse, all of this is going to prosper till the indignation be accomplished. Now the indignation which is to be fully accomplished simply means the final outpouring of God’s wrath and that demands the last days. In fact, the indignation is almost a synonymous term with the Tribulation.
Further, the description of the ruler in this passage absolutely detail by detail parallels other Scripture accounts of Antichrist. Also 12:1 tells us that at that time shall Michael stand up and they’ll be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. In other words, there is coming a time that will be worse than any other time in the history of man. And verse 2, it will be followed by the resurrection. Now that has to be the last time.
Furthermore, the last three revelations in the book of Daniel have closed with a word about the Antichrist. It is fitting that this one follow that same pattern. I just wanted you to know that there are reasons why we interpret this in relation to the Antichrist. And so, we sweep across thousands of years of history to the final world ruler. Three things to see about him tonight: his character, his conflict, his condemnation. If you read this, you may have been confused by it. But it really isn’t that difficult. Let’s flow through and see what it says.
The prince of Christ’s enemies.
Cross, F. L., & Livingstone, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). In The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed. rev., p. 77). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.
And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
So he has prerogative. He makes all the decisions. He rules the world. Every man on the globe in order to function in human society, according to , will have to take his mark, the mark of the beast.
The Spirit of Ani-christ manifest it self in a Spirit of Privilege
Prerogative Does what He wants do do
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
The Spirit of Ani-christ manifest it self by a Spirit of Pride
who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thes
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
1 John
and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.
And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.
The Spirit of Ani-christ manifest itself by a Spirit of Perversion
Verse 37, not only does he exercise prerogative, pride, profanity, but verse 37 tells us he’s perverted. He is perverted. And the angel shows us three things which normally men hold dear, which are just normal natural responses to human behavior, but not him. He is perverted in the very basics of human behavior.
First of all, he does not regard the gods … that should be plural … the gods of his fathers. And the reason we know it’s plural gods because the singular is used twice in the next few words. And so in using the plural, he is referring about … referring as opposed to one God to many gods.
SIDE TWO
He doesn’t even regard the traditional religion, the traditional worship of his fathers. Now watch this. “He has no proper perspective of family.” You remember when Paul said in the last days men will not have natural affection? And he uses a Greek term which has to do with family love. In other words, in the last days the family will break down, the family will fall apart, people will no longer care about their families. They’ll have no respect for the parents, no respect for their heritage, no respect for the traditions of their fathers, no respect for the beliefs that have been handed down. That’s this kind of man. He has no respect at all, no natural affection, no family love for those who are his ancestors.
Men normally have an affinity for and a respect for the gods of their parents, their ancestors. Some sense of respect. Not him. He doesn’t have normal family love.
Secondly, this is very interesting. “Neither does he regard the desire of women.” Now this is a very difficult one to interpret. It could mean that he’s a homosexual. That could be very possibly the meaning. He has no normal desire for women. He has no capacity to love a woman. He has no interest in loving a woman.
Some people think it means that he … that he has none of the gentleness, none of the graciousness, nor does he appreciate any of it that women bring to society and give to their children. Some other commentators have felt that it means that he doesn’t care for the Messiah, that the desire of woman is kind of a title that the Jewish mothers use to speak of Messiah. In other words, the ultimate desire of a Jewish woman would be to give birth to the Messiah. But I really believe that interpretation is foreign to the context here. Why should we introduce into this some Jewish element? ‘We cannot distinguish Antichrist because he has no desire for the Messiah, a lot of people don’t have that.
I think what it’s saying is he has no capacity for normal affection for a family. He has no capacity for normal affection for a wife, a mother, a sister. He’s perverted.
And thirdly, he doesn’t regard any God. You don’t have to travel very far around this world to find out that most people believe in God, some kind of God. You just watch them when they get into trouble and see if they don’t. All across the globe men invent religion … everywhere, because they believe in the super-natural. This man does not. He is utterly irreligious. That’s a perversion of normal human response. He has no family love, he has no love for women, he has no love for God of any kind. He is perverted.
The world is ready for that kind of leader. It wouldn’t bother anybody today that a man didn’t have a normal relationship to a family. Fifty years ago, they wouldn’t look at him. It wouldn’t bother anybody today if the man happened to be perverted in his sexual life. I read a textbook that’s used in the Glendale Public School system to teach sex education. They present homosexuality as an alternative … everybody’s different. We all have different noses and different kind of ears and every-body likes different kind of flavors of ice cream. Everybody’s different. The world’s ready for that kind of thing.
And God isn’t important in our society. We’d take an atheist, someone who didn’t believe, especially if he pretended to be religious. We’re ready for this.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
Verse 38, “But in his estate,” or literally Hebrew, “in its place,” what’s place? Normal human desires for family and women and God, in its place
First of all, he does not regard the gods … that should be plural … the gods of his fathers. And the reason we know it’s plural gods because the singular is used twice in the next few words. And so in using the plural, he is referring about … referring as opposed to one God to many gods.
END OF SIDE ONE
SIDE TWO
“He will honor the God of fortresses.” That Hebrew word is used six times in this chapter: verse 1, verse 7, verse 10, verse 19, verse 31 and verse 39. And every time it means a strong place, a fort, a strong place. And it has to do with military power.
He doesn’t even regard the traditional religion, the traditional worship of his fathers. Now watch this. “He has no proper perspective of family.” You remember when Paul said in the last days men will not have natural affection? And he uses a Greek term which has to do with family love. In other words, in the last days the family will break down, the family will fall apart, people will no longer care about their families. They’ll have no respect for the parents, no respect for their heritage, no respect for the traditions of their fathers, no respect for the beliefs that have been handed down. That’s this kind of man. He has no respect at all, no natural affection, no family love for those who are his ancestors.
Men normally have an affinity for and a respect for the gods of their parents, their ancestors. Some sense of respect. Not him. He doesn’t have normal family love.
Secondly, this is very interesting. “Neither does he regard the desire of women.” Now this is a very difficult one to interpret. It could mean that he’s a homosexual. That could be very possibly the meaning. He has no normal desire for women. He has no capacity to love a woman. He has no interest in loving a woman.
In place of normal affection, he will place a perverted worship of military power, he’ll worship power. Chapter 7:23 of Daniel, it says that when he comes he will devour the whole earth, this fourth and final form of the Roman Empire, devour the whole earth, tread it down and break it in pieces. Boy, he is going to have power. That’s why he can magnify himself above all because he’s going to have military power. Unquestionably he’ll have the intimidation of nuclear weapons and whatever else may be in vogue at that time, germ warfare, or whatever. He will honor the God of forces, even a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver and precious stones and desirable items.
Some people think it means that he … that he has none of the gentleness, none of the graciousness, nor does he appreciate any of it that women bring to society and give to their children. Some other commentators have felt that it means that he doesn’t care for the Messiah, that the desire of woman is kind of a title that the Jewish mothers use to speak of Messiah. In other words, the ultimate desire of a Jewish woman would be to give birth to the Messiah. But I really believe that interpretation is foreign to the context here. Why should we introduce into this some Jewish element? ‘We cannot distinguish Antichrist because he has no desire for the Messiah, a lot of people don’t have that.
I think what it’s saying is he has no capacity for normal affection for a family. He has no capacity for normal affection for a wife, a mother, a sister. He’s perverted.
And thirdly, he doesn’t regard any God. You don’t have to travel very far around this world to find out that most people believe in God, some kind of God. You just watch them when they get into trouble and see if they don’t. All across the globe men invent religion … everywhere, because they believe in the super-natural. This man does not. He is utterly irreligious. That’s a perversion of normal human response. He has no family love, he has no love for women, he has no love for God of any kind. He is perverted.
The Spirit of Ani-christ manifest itself with a Spirit of misplaced trust
The world is ready for that kind of leader. It wouldn’t bother anybody today that a man didn’t have a normal relationship to a family. Fifty years ago, they wouldn’t look at him. It wouldn’t bother anybody today if the man happened to be perverted in his sexual life. I read a textbook that’s used in the Glendale Public School system to teach sex education. They present homosexuality as an alternative … everybody’s different. We all have different noses and different kind of ears and every-body likes different kind of flavors of ice cream. Everybody’s different. The world’s ready for that kind of thing.
And God isn’t important in our society. We’d take an atheist, someone who didn’t believe, especially if he pretended to be religious. We’re ready for this.
He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
The Warfare of Anti-Christ
“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.
Verse 40, then the conflict begins. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships.” Stop there.
You know what that is? That’s a revolution. Up to now everything’s been fine. But holding such a massive global empire together is an impossible task … even hell can’t pull it off, even hell won’t cooperate with itself. And the hellish system begins to disintegrate. The Antichrist has come in peaceably. He has perhaps solved problems in the Middle East. He has become the protector of Israel. And then it all begins to fall apart. There’s an insurrection. The time of the end, I believe, would be during the Tribulation. And as you move to the middle of the Tribulation it begins to happen.
The king of the south, some African army bigger than just Egypt, but perhaps involving Egypt, a mass moves in. I hasten to add that little by little, piece by piece, bit by bit, with a few exceptions, Africa has been targeted for a total take-over. And they’re putting the pieces together and certainly in the end time if they want that particular strategic location of Israel, they’re going to get involved in the battle. So this great southern confederacy pushes and the word “push” there is a word that means “to push like a goat,” or “to attack.”
Verse 40 then says, “And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind.” Now here’s a great massive force from the north and they’re more powerful than the south.
He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.
“Having defeated the king of the south, and defeated the king of the north, the African army and the Russian army and its Arab allies, he enters into the glorious land.” What’s that? That’s Israel … that’s Israel. “And many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon.”
He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train.
Verse 43, “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, over all the precious things of Egypt and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” He not only wipes out the southern army, the northern army, but all of those Arabs who got involved with the north as well. You know what? He is the master of the world at this time. He has passed his first great revolutionary test. And now he really begins to feel his oats. Now he really begins to sense the power. It’s like sort of a blood-thirsty sense that he gets. And so he moves out. And I believe it’s at this time that he really begins to crash against the institutions that exist. I believe it’s very likely now that he consumes the false church and devours the harlot that he begins to move in to Israel. He calls upon the whole world to worship him. He abolishes all false religion. He sets himself up as God. He will tolerate no other kings and no other gods and no other religions. He will rule in absolute supremacy. And all of the allies of Russia are at his steps, or literally in the Hebrew, they’re in his train, they’re following along behind him.
The Wrath of the Anti-Christ
But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.
“Then he plants the tabernacle of his palace between the seas,” the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea are the seas that would be known to Daniel. “Between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea in the glorious holy mountain.” And what mountain is it between those two seas? It is Zion. The place of the temple, the city of God, he sets up a temple and sets himself up as God and he has won two great victories. And now, I believe, we’re nearly at the end of the Tribulation. By this time Israel is devastated. In these battles Israel has been wiped out, two out of every three are dead.
The Condemnation of the Anti-Christ
“He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
Is it over? Is that the way history ends? Look at the end of verse 45, the third point, his condemnation. “Yet,” I like that word, don’t you? “Yet, he shall come to his end and none shall help him.” That’s all it says. You want to know how it happens? He comes to his end? tell you how it happens. Just as soon as he is finished with his part of Armageddon and the blood bath in which he’s victorious, the Bible says in , Jesus Christ comes out of the sky with a sword going out of His mouth. And the Bible says he will be slain with the sword that comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. You see, he’s no match when he meets God’s true King. He may have been a match for the king of the north, the king of the south and the king of the east, but he’s no match for the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what happens to Israel in all of this? Israel is at the deepest point of sorrow, the deepest point of suffering, the deepest point of humiliation in all of its history and it is at this very point that they look upon Him whom they’ve pierced and are redeemed. I believe they’ve already had 144 thousand special Jews giving them the message all through this three and a half years. And finally they hear it.
I close with this. Three major lessons. By the way, if you want to know what happens after Christ comes, come back next week. That’s chapter 12, that’s the best part. But listen, three great lessons, now get them. Number one, God controls everything. Is that great? Everything. All of history under the control of God … every detail, every ruler, Ahasuerus, Alexander, Antiochus the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, everybody in between, Antichrist, all carrying out His will within the framework of His plan. I’ll tell you, it’s a comforting thing to know that history is His story, that the whole thing is in His hand. I don’t even worry about it. An unknown poet wrote, I love these words:
The second great lesson, not only that God controls history, and I love this one, but God will purge His people Israel. There’s coming a day for Israel. And when these things begin to come to pass, said the Lord in Luke, look up, lift up your heads for your what? Redemption is near.
Third lesson, number one—God controls everything number two—God is going to purge and redeem His people; number three—the world will end in a holocaust but Christ will triumph over that and all will be well forever for the saints of God. Are you thankful?
There will always to be wickedness
There will always be war
There will always be a winner