Daniel 11.44-The Prophecy of Antichrist Waging War Against China and Syria and Their Allies After Hearing Reports of Their Mobilizing Against Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 29, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 11:44-The Prophecy of Antichrist Waging War Against China and Syria and Their Allies After Hearing Reports of Their Mobilizing Against Him
Lesson # 367
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:40.
Daniel 11:40 “Now, during the end time, the king ruling the south will cause himself to go to war against him. Also, the king ruling the north will cause himself to storm against him with a military chariot group, with a cavalry as well as with a large armada of ships. However, despite this, he will wage attacks against countries so that he will overflow, yes, pass through like a flood. 41 He will even wage an attack against the beautiful land. Indeed, many will be defeated. However, these will for their own benefit escape: Edom as well as Moab and in addition the leadership of the citizens of Ammon. 42 Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 He will even be in control over hidden treasures, namely their gold as well as their silver, indeed, over all Egypt’s valuable commodities. Also, the Libyans as well as the Cushites will be under his control. 44 However, reports from the east as well as the north will alarm him. Consequently, he will march out in a great rage in order to kill, yes, annihilate many.” (My translation)
Daniel 11:44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.” (NASB95)
“But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him” stands in contrast to the previous prophetic statements in Daniel 11:41-43, thus the contrast is between many nations falling to the armies of this wicked king and the armies from the East and North challenging him.
“Rumors” is the noun šemû·ʿā(h) (שְׁמוּעָה) (shem-oo-aw´), which means “report, news” pertaining to information whether positive or negative often from another geographical area which is announced to others.
Therefore, here in Daniel 11:44, the noun šemû·ʿā(h) means that the wicked king described in Daniel 11:36-39 will hear intelligence reports from his military observers who will inform him that the armies from the East and the North are mobilizing against his armies.
“Will disturb” is composed of the verb bā·hǎl (בָּהַל) (baw-hal´), which means “to alarm, trouble, disturb” since it pertains to hearing information which warns the wicked king of an impending attack from armies coming from two different directions.
“And he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many” presents the result of the previous prophetic statement that intelligence reports from the east and north will alarm the wicked king described in Daniel 11:36-39.
“He will go forth” is the verb yā·ṣā(ʾ) (יָצָא) (yaw-tsaw´), which means “to march out” and refers to the armies of the wicked king described in Daniel 11:36-39 “marching out” of Israel to engage armies coming from the east and the north.
“To destroy” indicates that as a result of hearing intelligence reports from the east and north that armies were mobilizing against him, this wicked king will march out his armies for the purpose of killing many from these armies mobilized against him.
“To annihilate many” indicates that as a result of hearing intelligence reports from the east and north that armies from the east and north were mobilizing against him, this wicked king will march out his armies for the purpose of annihilating many soldiers from these armies.
“To destroy and annihilate many” contains the figure of hendiadys which emphasizes this wicked king’s intention of completely destroying the armies of the east and north.
So here in Daniel 11:44, the angel informs Daniel with the first prophetic statement that reports from the east as well as the north will alarm him.
Since we have already established that this king is the Antichrist, this prophetic statement teaches that intelligence reports from the east and the north will alarm him but who are these armies from the east and the north?
First of all, the army from the east would appear to be the armies from the Far East such as China and Japan which is supported by the prophecies in Revelation 16 which teaches that a massive army of 200 million men will march across the dried up Euphrates River to oppose the Antichrist.
This attack against the Antichrist by the armies from the east is the direct result of the sixth bowl judgment mentioned in the book of Revelation.
The purpose of this sixth bowl judgment is to prepare the way for the invasion of Israel by the kings from the east to do battle with the armies of the Antichrist so that God might bring them into judgment at Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16).
“The kings from the east” in Revelation 16:12 is a poetical expression signifying the kings from where the sun rises, as China, Japan, India, Persia, and Afghanistan.
Therefore, in Daniel 11:44, the army from the east which will oppose the Antichrist during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week is the direct result of the sixth bowl judgment and will be composed by China, Japan, India, Persia, and Afghanistan.
This massive army from the east will oppose Antichrist because of his actions in conquering militarily the Middle East and demanding that the world worship him.
The army from the north is more than likely Syria and her allies and is not Russia which is referred to in Ezekiel 38-39 as attacking Israel since Ezekiel 38-39 makes no mention of an invasion from Egypt as is the case in Daniel 11:40.
Also, the army invading Israel in Ezekiel 38-39 comes from the remotest parts of the north of Israel whereas in Daniel 11:40 the Antichrist is attacked by an army from the north with no mention as to how far north as was the case in Ezekiel 38-39.
This would suggest that the king of the north in Daniel 11:40 is not the same as the northern ruler who attacks Israel in Ezekiel 38-39.
Now, as we noted the king of the north throughout Daniel chapter eleven is referring to the Seleucid Empire which was located to the immediate north of Israel, which was Syria as it is today.
Why is it that expositors consistently identify the king of the north in Daniel 11:5-35 as being a reference to Syria but then in Daniel 11:40 they interpret the king of the north as Russia?
It is hermeneutically inconsistent to interpet the king of the north this way and in fact, many of these expositors who argue that the king of the north in Daniel 11:40 is Russia, also say that the king of the south in Daniel 11:40 is Egypt since Egypt has been referred to throughout chapter eleven as the king of the south.
Therefore, the identity of the king of the north in Daniel 11:40 should be determined in light of the Seleucid Empire or in others in light of the fact that throughout Daniel 11:5-35, the king of the north is a reference to this empire which was located to the immediate north of Israel, which today would be Syria.
Today the national boundaries of the Seleucid Empire would include Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan as well as parts of Pakistan.
Therefore, we should interpret the king of the north in Daniel 11:40 as a confederation of nations located geographically to the immediate north of Israel.
Thus, during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week, both Egypt and her allies in her region as well as Syria and her allies will attack the Antichrist.
If you notice in Daniel 11:40-45, the angel does not say if the army from the north will be defeated by the Antichrist but he does say that the army from the south will be defeated which we noted is a reference to Egypt.
The reason for this could be that Syria and her allies will join forces with the armies from the Far East to fight Antichrist during the Armageddon campaign until the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
In other words, the armies of the final stage of the Roman Empire under Antichrist will be at war with the armies of Syria and the Far East until Jesus Christ’s Second Advent which will end this war.
So Antichrist would be fighting on two fronts during this war of Armageddon.
Now, we also must remember that the attack from the south and the north against the Antichrist mentioned in Daniel 11:40 will not be a simultaneous attack since the prophetic statements in this verse summarize Daniel 11:41-45.
The army from the north in Syria will along with the armies from the East oppose Antichrist after the Antichrist has conquered Israel and Egypt and other countries in the Middle East.
The chronology in Daniel 11:41-45 indicates this since this passage reveals that the armies from the east and north oppose Antichrist after he has captured Israel and Egypt.
Revelation 16 and Daniel 11:40-45 do not mention Antichrist defeating these armies from Syria and her allies and the armies from the Far East led by China which would suggest that the armies of Antichrist, the Far East and Syria and her allies will fight each other up to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
Our Lord’s statements in Matthew 24:22 that His Second Advent will prevent the extinction of the human race indicates that this final war during the last three and a half years would result in the extinction of the human race if it were not for Jesus Christ returning to end this war.
Revelation 19:19 reveals that the armies during the Armageddon campaign will turn their weapons from facing each other and turn them against Jesus Christ when He returns at His Second Advent.
He will exterminate these armies and have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown alive into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20-21).
Also, Satan will be imprisoned at this time for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6).