Anti-Christ & Armageddon!

DANIEL: LIVING GODLY IN AN UNGODLY WORLD!

Anti-Christ & Armageddon!

Daniel 11:21-45

While God is not responsible for the evil that men and women have done in the name of government and religion, He is still the Lord of history and continues to work out His plans for mankind.

The last six chapters of the book of Daniel have brought confusion to the minds of God’s people and division to the Church of Jesus Christ. I do not think it needs to be that way. God revealed these chapters to prepare and encourage God’s people, not to confuse and divide.

By now it should be evident to the reader that the key to understanding these last chapters is to see that the focus is mainly on two great crises that were going to come upon God’s people. The first was the crisis brought about by Antiochus around 168 b.c. The second crisis will be the one brought about by the Antichrist sometime in the future.

We have already met this wicked man (8:9–14) who in his character and activities is a picture of the future Antichrist. He gave himself the name “Epiphanes,” which means “glorious one,” but Gabriel calls him “a vile [contemptible] person.” Antiochus wasn’t the heir to the throne, but he obtained it by guile. The true heir was Demetrius Soter, who was very young, so Antiochus claimed to be his lawful protector and seized the throne.

21 In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

He was very successful in his military endeavors and knew how to combine deceptive strategy with brute force. In his first campaign against Egypt (11:25–28), he won the battle even though he failed to take all of Egypt. He sat down at the bargaining table with the Egyptian leaders, never intending to keep any agreements. In spite of deception on both sides, the Lord was still in control and was watching the calendar. He has His appointed times and He is always on time.

22 Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. 23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. 24 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.

Then, as Daniel prophesied, Antiochus stirred up a battle against “the South” (Egypt), but he couldn’t win on the battlefield, so they went to the peace talks.

27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed.

On his return to Syria in 170, Antiochus turned his attention to Israel and the wealth in the temple (v. 28). He plundered and defiled the temple, abolished the daily sacrifices, killed a great many Jews, and left soldiers behind to keep things in control.

28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.

Two years later (168) he again invaded Egypt, but this time the Romans (v. 30, “ships of Chittim”) confronted him and told him to stop. He obeyed grudgingly and took out his anger on the Jews, with the help of Jewish traitors who forsook their own covenant to support him. He promised to reward them generously for their help.

29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

On December 14, 168, Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and by offering a pig as a sacrifice. Gabriel calls this “the abomination that maketh desolate” (v. 31). The future Antichrist will put his own image in the Jewish temple when he breaks his covenant with the Jews in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period, Daniel’s seventieth week (9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14). Antiochus was doing his best not only to exterminate the Jewish people but also to eliminate their religion from the earth. He promised to reward the Jews who followed his orders, and there were those who forsook their holy covenant to obey him. This was a time of testing and refining for the Jewish people, when they had to decide to obey the God of their fathers and possibly be slain, or submit to the pagan Syrian leaders and live as traitors to their faith (Dan. 11:34–35).

32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.

According to verses 32–35, there was a small group of faithful Jews who opposed the godlessness of Antiochus and trusted God to enable them to fight back. A Jewish priest named Mattathias, with his five sons, gathered an army and were able to fight back. His son Judas, nicknamed Maccabeus (“the hammerer”), was one of the heroes of this revolt. Many Jews laid down their lives for their city, their temple, and their faith, and finally they won. On December 14, 165, the temple was purified and the altar dedicated. (See 8:9–14, 23–25.) The Jews celebrate this occasion annually as the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah). Their enemy Antiochus Epiphanes died in Persia in 163. He was judged insane, and it was no wonder people called him “Antiochus Epimanes—Antiochus the madman.”

Gabriel closes this section about Antiochus by reminding Daniel that what he had related to him had implications for Israel in “the time of the end” (11:35). Although he had spoken about leaders who would appear after the fall of Persia, Daniel could see in those events some of the things that would happen to the Jews in the end times. This was especially true of Antiochus Epiphanes, a clear picture of the future Antichrist. Daniel knew that his people would endure great suffering for their faith, that some would apostasize and join the enemy, and that others would trust the Lord and “do exploits” (v. 32). No matter how difficult the times, God has always had His faithful remnant, and He will keep His covenant with His people to the very end.

All the evil rulers we have studied in Daniel 11 tell us that the ultimate evil ruler is ascending. This final ruler can’t be Antiochus Epiphanes, as some would have us believe. Note the words at the end of verse 35: “the time of the end.” There’s a break from the discussion of Antiochus Epiphanes, whose atrocities have already been recorded. What is about to be discussed concerns another despot, more evil than Antiochus.

Many scholars believe that the entire second half of the book of Daniel is just a preamble to these verses. Daniel tells his readers about these two crises in three couplets found in four of the last six chapters.

Typical of apocalyptic literature, notice how the order is reversed:

Daniel 7:7-27 The kingdom of Antichrist

Daniel 8:9-27 The kingdom of Antiochus

Daniel 9:24-27 An interlude of good news: After the reign of Antiochus, Messiah will come to die & deliver his people from sin.

Daniel 11:21-35 The kingdom of Antiochus in more detail

Daniel 11:36-45 The kingdom of Antichrist in more detail

Daniel 12:1-4 An interlude of good news: After the reign of Antichrist, Messiah will come to reign & resurrect his people from death.

Daniel 12:7-9 The kingdom of Antichrist

Daniel 12:10-12 The kingdom of Antiochus

Having mentioned “the time of the end,” Gabriel will now speak about the future Antichrist and the terrible time of Jacob’s trouble (11:36–45).

These prophecies were written both to prepare God’s people for the future and to remind them that he is sovereign. The Lord himself is in control of all these events. He knows all the details of the future, because he planned them. Even in our darkest hour we can trust his plan because he is our Father, and he loves us. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). These prophecies reveal to us that God has a planned future for his people; so we can trust him in the difficult crises of life.