We talked about the first part of Daniel 11, Things to Come Which Did. Today we talk about Things to Come Which Will, as we look at verses 36 through 45. The amazing, elaborate detail of this prophetic revelation is just breathtaking. Daniel is given this information regarding empires and leaders that would affect the Jewish people for the next 400 years after his lifetime and then well beyond that even unto our own day.
So specific is the prophetic material before us that critics of the Bible, who do not believe in supernatural character, insist that this has to be fraudulent. Some other person, they say, pretending to be Daniel, had to write this stuff after the fact. He had to write it as history and then deceptively insert it into the book of Daniel as though it were prophetic and as though Daniel wrote it personally.
But for those of us who believe in a supernatural God and a supernatural Bible, one that is divinely inspired, believe that fulfilled prophecy is not strange at all. That in fact we should expect that to be the case and that is exactly what we find in Daniel chapter 11. Daniel could not have foreseen, of course, the time interval between the events that were unveiled to his understanding. He could not know how quickly all of these things would come to pass.
As we have already said, verses 2 through 35 have indeed already been fulfilled from our perspective. And with the advantage of history, we can look back to these events as Daniel had to look forward to them. However, as we look back, we can see the time intervals that were involved and the fact that these verses in the early part of the chapter covered a period of some 400 years. But we come now to a different time frame in the last part of the chapter.
It says beginning in verse 36, Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and will speak monstrous things against the god of gods. And he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god, for he will magnify himself above them all.
But indeed he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know. He will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones, and treasure. And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will give great honor to those who acknowledge him, and he will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. And at the end time, the king of the south will collide with him.
And the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. And he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through. He will also enter the beautiful land, and many countries will fall, but these will be rescued out of his hand, Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 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, and 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.
The king of verse 36 is not the same as Antiochus IV, whom we have seen in the previous verses. The scope of what is said here was not realized in Antiochus IV. Indeed, some of the character traits are similar, but the deeds, the activities, the movements that are described here do not at all relate to anything that happened during the lifetime of Antiochus IV. Antiochus IV foreshadowed the one who is in view here, one who is yet future, and one who will be a great persecutor of the Jews.
For the person that is foreseen in these verses is none other than Antichrist, the leader who will dominate the 70th week of Daniel that we have looked at now several times. He will first be a man of peace, and then reveal himself as his true nature is, as a man of war. It is here that the latter aspect is emphasized, his true character, and his evil deeds are exposed. Notice first of all his designation in verse 36. He is called a king. That does not necessarily mean that he is royalty.
It does not mean that he comes from a royal lineage, but rather it describes the autocratic nature of his rule. He will be a dictator. This is the same king as was called a little horn in Daniel 7 verse 8 and again verse 24. And he is referred to as the prince. That shall come in chapter 9 in verse 26. Again the word prince does not mean that he will literally be a prince, that he will be royalty, but he will be the leader of that day.
And Daniel in chapter 9 says it is that prince who will come, who will make a covenant for seven years with the Jewish people. That seven years is the same as what is called the tribulation in the Bible, a time of suffering and of God's wrath being poured out upon the entire earth. And so we see him designated here as king to emphasize his absolute rule over his empire. Notice secondly his limitation also in verse 36.
It says that he will do as he pleases, he will exalt and magnify himself, will speak monstrous things, will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. This term indignation seems to be a reference to the tribulation period, the seven years when he will be prominent in his empire. It is called the indignation and it says that it will be finished. The time of the activity of this person will be limited.
Now undoubtedly he will be active and becoming too prominent before the seven years begins. Because that which signals the start of the seven years is his making a covenant with Israel and he must be in a position of power and authority to make the covenant to start. So he will be coming to power but his greatest period will be this seven years, the time of indignation. And whatever he does, though he does what he pleases it says, will be limited by God's sovereign purpose.
His abilities and his time of activity has already been determined by God and he cannot go beyond that. Notice thirdly his characterization, verses 36 and 37. He will do as he pleases. Two words come to mind as I read these verses. The first is arrogance. Antichrist will be noted for his arrogance. In this sense he is very similar to Antiochus the fourth. Insolent, proud, filled with self-will. He will accumulate to himself unprecedented authority and power to do what he desires.
He will be very much like the Caesars who reigned that way for a period at least in the earlier phase of the Roman Empire. And I just remind you in passing that Antichrist will reign over a revived, renewed form of that ancient Roman Empire. Now to show to you his ability to do as he pleases and his arrogance, I'd like you to turn to the book of Revelation, the 13th chapter, where we have another picture or a vision of this same person coming to the scene.
Here he is seen symbolically as a beast, which describes his nature. Now because we'll refer to this at least a couple of times in this message, let me just begin reading in verse 1. And he stood on the sand of the seashore. Question, who is he? The answer is the dragon in verse 17, the last chapter, the previous chapter. It is Satan. And so John in this vision sees the dragon, Satan, symbolized, standing on the sand of the seashore. And he says, And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.
And so you see the dragon is in a position of calling out from the sea this beast that now emerges from the waters that John sees. Having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like those of a bear, his mouth was like the mouth of a lion. Now if you recall the earlier prophecies in Daniel, you will see some parallels here to Babylon, to Persia, and to Greece,
in these beasts that are described. And so there will be something of those ancient empires that will be a part of Antichrist, something of their nature. He will be something like Alexander the Great. He will be something like the power of the king of the Medes and the Persians. He will be something like one in his pride, like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and his great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast, and they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast saying, who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? Now this beast, remember, is the same king we're looking at in Daniel. And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies.
Notice both of those, arrogant words and blasphemies. And authority to act for 42 months was given to him. That amounts to three and one half years, which is one half of the tribulation period. The period referred to here, most likely, is that last half of the seven years, when his true beastly nature will be exposed. And he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, that is those who dwell in heaven.
And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And we see here his ability to do what he wants when it says, an authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And so his kingdom will approach a worldwide kind of dictatorship. There will be some distant areas that will not come under his rule. But he will press for that. He will seek to be the one world dictator.
In chapter 17 and verse 13 we see once more his arrogance and his power when it says, These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast. Who are these? Well, it is those who are conquered by him and who are ruled by his decree and his authority over parts of his empire. And it says that they have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast.
And so you see the picture here of an arrogant dictator who will arise and who will demand and receive the following of other rulers in the world and many, many, many of the peoples of the world. He is arrogant. Now there is a second word that describes him which is seen both in Revelation and in our text in Daniel 11 and that is the word blasphemous. His mouth will be filled with blasphemy and Daniel says he will speak monstrous things against God.
The word monstrous means astonishing. Unbelievable things will come out of his mouth. He will challenge God and speak against God in a unique and unprecedented way that is not further described to us. But he will be a monster in the way that he speaks regarding God. He will disregard religious heritage. Organized religion will have no use to him except as it allows him to magnify himself.
And if you look in Revelation 13 you see that there is a parallel religious system that will come alongside the beast that will help him magnify himself. It is the final form of some kind of an eclectic, ecumenical movement that will embrace many different religions and ideas and thoughts. And it will come to the side of Antichrist, one who is called a false prophet who is also beastly in his nature. Will arise to be a partner with the Antichrist, the political figure.
And it is the two of them who work together at least for a period of time and who bring the world into willing submission to this very charismatic, powerful dictator. Perhaps it would be good to look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 just to read the verse mainly. But where again it affirms the fact that religion, although he will deny religion as it has historically been, he will create his own.
In 2 Thessalonians 2 it predicts the coming in verse 3 of the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, two other names for the same person, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. And so he will seek, it would seem, eventually to enter the temple, one that will be constructed inevitably in Jerusalem, and there in that temple he will seek to take the place of God Almighty.
And it says in Revelation that he will have an image constructed, which will be able to seem lifelike and which will be able to do miracles. If you've ever been to Disney World or Disneyland and you've been to some of the exhibits there, you see former presidents who seem lifelike, don't they? As they speak and gesture, and yet they are simply mechanical puppets. Well this image that Antichrist will create will be so lifelike that it will deceive people. And it will accomplish miracles.
And the power for all of that will come from Satan. And one of the reasons that people will be deceived by it is that Satan will be supernaturally blinding the minds of many people. So that what they might have at one time seen through, they will at that time be taken in by. It's a very frightening picture as this happens to the masses of the world. Yes, even the educated intellectual scientific masses of the West and its population.
Now coming back to Daniel chapter 11, let's look forthly at his motivation, verses 38 and 39. Antichrist will come on first as a man of peace. His covenant will be made with Israel to protect the Jewish people against her enemies. And all of us are keenly aware of the enemies of the Jews these days. Not just those around them either, but people in populations like the United States and in Russia where there are rising anti-Semitic feelings.
Antichrist will come to the defense, particularly of the Jews who are in Israel, will establish that covenant. He will seem to be a man of peace and all the while his real God within his own heart is warfare. He will worship war. It speaks here of the God of fortresses or the God of strongholds. The language that Daniel uses seems to suggest that this man will expend vast sums of money in order to build his war machine while at the same time coming across as a man of peace.
Does that remind you of anybody who is in the world today? I'm not saying that that is the Antichrist. But what I am saying is that the same thing that is happening in Russia today with the leader who speaks of Perestroika and Glasnost and who at the same time is building the armaments of the Soviet Union, that that's exactly what Antichrist will be like. And as we have seen, among those who are conquered by his treaties or eventually by his warfare, there will be great allegiance given.
And he will reward those who give him allegiance, it says, with power over portions of his reign. Now let's go on to verses 40 through 45 as we talk about the reaction of Antichrist. The time that is in view here seems to be the final half of the seven years. As we have said before, a treaty will unite the interests of Israel with his empire, which will be headquartered in the Mediterranean area. Perhaps the city of Rome will be the head, the capital city of his empire.
It will stretch across Europe and will take up basically what was the Roman Empire in the days of the New Testament. We notice that there is an invasion of Antichrist territory that will take place at the end time. The king of the south will collide with him, it says, and at the same time the king of the north will storm against him. The word there is very strong, with rage like bees that have been stirred up. The king of the north will come at Antichrist with horsemen, chariots, and many ships.
Now of course Daniel is receiving information that he can understand in his day. We would expect that these would not be horses and chariots today, but more the modern kinds of warfare vehicles and weapons. And so the king of the south, who is that? Well in the context of the whole chapter, the king of the south is the Seleucid line. It is the line of, excuse me, the Ptolemy line. It is the line of Egypt, and so I think that in the context it is best to understand this as being Egypt as a power.
Will come against Antichrist, at the same time the king of the north, and in the context here that is the Seleucid or the Syrian power, will come at him. And so there seems to be a kind of pincer movement on here. With these two powers, the one to the south being Egypt and her allies, and mentioned as allies here are Libya and Ethiopia, which would be a counterpart to modern Sudan. They will move against Antichrist. To the north comes another power. Now that may be Syria.
Could be a confederation yet of Islamic powers, but that is a very fluid situation as you know. To the north of Israel. There are others who see the king of the north here as the same power as Ezekiel talks about in his chapters 38 and 39 of his book. Where a far north power comes down into Palestine, and some Bible scholars see that indeed as Russia coming south.
I'm not as convinced of that as I used to be, but the point is that there will be a power to the north, a power to the south, and they will both come against Antichrist. And he will respond. And he will enter the beautiful land, verse 41. The beautiful land is none other than Palestine, the land of Israel. And so because of this power play that is on, he will keep his treaty, and he will enter into the beautiful land, and it says many countries will fall.
It specifically says, and this is interesting and why it says this, I cannot tell you. It will be clear I'm sure in the day when it happens. But the area of Jordan will not fall. Jordan will not be attacked at this time. That's Edom, Moab, and the foremost of Ammon. The same geographical territory. But he will stretch out his hand against other countries. The land of Egypt will not escape. And he will gather great riches from Egypt. Libyans and Ethiopians will follow with his heels.
This Libya here may not be the exact counterpart to Colonel Gaddafi and Libya today. But the concept is an African power block there, north and east part of Africa. But as he is cleaning up there in Africa, and he will do that very quickly, it says he will come in like a flood across the land. If you have seen any of the pictures from Texas and Louisiana in recent days, you know the power of a flood.
The water power is just amazing, isn't it? As it flows through these normally dry riverbeds and washes away bridges and homes and everything in its way. Well that is the way Antichrist armies will go across the beautiful land and down into Egypt and northern part of Africa. Something like Hitler's troops in World War II as they just swept across Africa with Ramel. But suddenly something will happen and his attention will be drawn in another direction.
For there will be some rumors that will get to him from the east and it says from the north and these will disturb him. Well now once again it is difficult for us to be precise in identifying what these rumors will be. It is possible that these rumors from the east would refer to that army that is suggested in the book of Revelation. For in the book of Revelation it speaks in chapter 9 about an army from the east that will arise. It describes it in rather amazing terms.
You see horses that have tails with heads on them like serpents. And it is very difficult to imagine what that must have looked like to John. But keep in mind that he did not know at all how to describe or what to call modern armaments. He would not know what to call a tank for example. How would he describe a tank? How would he describe a helicopter if he saw that in his vision? So keep that in mind as you read his descriptions.
The number of the army is given to us later in the book of Revelation. It is said to number 200 million soldiers. And many people for years have laughed and scoffed and said well now that is absolutely impossible. There is no one in the whole history of the world that could ever pull together that kind of an army.
And yet I have a clipping somewhere in my files that talks about a boast of one of the leaders of Red China that they were able to field a total army of 200 million people if anybody attacked them. Their standing army plus their militias they said would number and they gave that exact number 200 million. And so where is China from Palestine? Remember that is the direction orientation here. Well you look to the east.
And so it may be that as Antichrist is making his move in northern Africa consolidating his power that from the east and the north comes the word that there is this vast army that is gathering to the east of the Euphrates and it is about to march upon Palestine. And so he turns around and he comes back into Israel and he pitches his tents it says between the seas and the holy mountain. Now the holy mountain must be Jerusalem.
The seas would refer to the Mediterranean Sea undoubtedly perhaps the Dead Sea. So somewhere in that region around Jerusalem between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea he is going to establish his field headquarters. So that is as much information about all of this as Daniel receives. There is other information given in other places like the book of Zechariah for example where the result of all of this is laid out for us but we don't have time this morning to look at that.
The point is that he will occupy Israel and will establish his presence there and it is probably at this same time that he will go up to the temple and have himself placed there as God in the temple. Coronated that way. But Daniel is given one final bit of information at the end of verse 45 and it is interesting that whenever Antichrist is mentioned in the Bible it always concludes with something like this. It says, Yet he will come to his end and no one will help him.
Now what is it that brings Antichrist to his end? He attacks Jerusalem, conquers the city, but just as he does that in Revelation chapter 19 his attention is immediately drawn to yet another sound, another sight and it is the sound and the sight of the return of Jesus Christ from heaven with his armies. And the armies of heaven go forward and they fight against the armies of Antichrist and those of the world gathered and Antichrist is defeated.
And in the Revelation chapter 19 it tells us that he, the beast, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, this religious counterpart who has helped him build his empire, will both be taken alive and cast into the eternal lake of fire. Which is God's prepared abode for all of the wicked and they will be the first two inhabitants of that place. And will be alone there as a matter of fact for a thousand years at least. Just the two of them in that lake of fire.
And so his destruction comes in a moment. He will face the loss of all that he has gained. There will be none who will be able to deliver him from these armies, the armies of angels, and he will be destroyed. Now there are some final observations that I want us to make before we leave our text this morning. The first is this, that we should be alert to the times. Yet avoid becoming prophecy freaks. Now please bear with me as I use that term.
We are expected by God to be aware of world events and conditions. That is why God gave us the information that he did. For example, turn to Matthew chapter 24 for a moment and look at the words of our Lord. Jesus has been answering here the question his disciples posed to him. What are the signs of your coming at the end of the age? So he has given them signs.
And then he says in verse 33, verse 32, Now learn the parable from the fig tree when its branch has already become tender and put forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. In other words, you know summer is coming because your plants at home are greening out and leaving, right? They are blossoming. And so you know summer is approaching. The signs are there that spring has come. Even if you live in Minnesota, spring eventually comes and so does summer. It may be brief, but it comes.
Now it goes on to say in verse 33, Even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near right at the door. Now I don't expect to be here in the tribulation period to see all of these things that he's talked about. But the fact is that we are seeing the preparations, we are seeing the foundation being laid right now for the things that will take place in the tribulation period. Now Jesus expects us to notice these things.
We are not to stick our heads in the sand and be ignorant. He says we are to exhort one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. So we are expected by God to be alert to the times in which we live. But we have to be careful not to become what I call prophecy freaks. We do not want to be among those who set dates. We do not want to be among those who are identifying the Antichrist with the certainty. Nor do we want to read into events prematurely. But we want to be alert.
Someone brought to my attention an investment opportunity that I called and got some information on. I will not name the company, but this attractive brochure says across the top of it, Europe 1992 puts opportunity on the map right now. And in here it describes the advantages of investing in Europe because of the common market.
And it says, the new unified Europe is envisioned as one wide open marketplace where goods, people, services and capital are able to move swiftly and freely between countries. And it will be the world's largest single market with a population of 320 million people and $4 trillion of purchasing power, surpassing both the United States and Japan. Well, the Bible said 2000 years ago that Europe was going to be the dominating economic power in the world in the end time.
The book of Revelation says that, but here this investment company is admitting it and saying, if you want to be a good investor, then understand what's happening in Europe in two years and get your money in there ahead of time to make a good deal. Someone clipped this article out of The Economist for me, April 21, 1990. It's an article on the elephant and the hawk. It is an article that talks about the possibility of Armageddon.
Now this is no Christian magazine in any sense of the term, but it is interesting that in here they pose the question, what would happen if Iraq, for example, who is quite hostile to Israel as you know, moved into Jordan, not against Israel directly, but against King Hussein. They moved their troops in there because Hussein and the leader of Iraq are good friends. So let's just suppose that Jordan said to Iraq, come on over and you join with our army and we'll be together.
Here's what this secular magazine says. What would happen if Iraqi tanks moved into Jordan? That would be the moment to take Armageddon, the Armageddon possibility, seriously. It goes on to say, the desert which history thoughtfully put between Israel and Iraq could then become one of history's grizzlier killing grounds. Well, the Bible predicts exactly what the killing ground will look like in that day and where it will be. And it's exactly where The Economist suggests it's going to be too.
Another one other than the distinguished Dan Rather of CBS, a number of months ago now was talking about the benefit of what's happening in Russia with Gorbachev. And he said because of what's happening there and what's happening in Eastern Europe, we're living in a brand new world. And of course that's true. And he said really there are three considerations in light of these world events that we have to address as Americans.
Number one, what will we do with the quote, peace dividend, close quote. Now you've heard the same thing or read the same thing. What will we do with the peace dividend? Well, the Bible says that in the last days the main theme is going to be peace and safety. We've finally arrived. And now we're wondering what we're going to do with the great benefit of peace that's breaking out all over. Secondly, he says we are living in a time when global regulations are required.
It's not enough anymore to have national laws, but because of what's taking place we need global, one world kinds of systems and laws, he says. And he says, thirdly, future wars from this time will no longer be military, but will be economic wars. Well, he's wrong on the first account, but he's right on the second account because the two will go together. The Bible says plainly that Antichrist will wage economic warfare, especially against the saints of God during the tribulation period.
He will be able to put a stranglehold on anyone who will not accept his line and follow his steps. And so it is just interesting. We are to be alert to the times in which we live, and yet at the same time be balanced. Secondly, we should act strong in faith and not be deterred by unbelieving mockers. There are those, of course, who are mocking today the kind of a message I'm giving to you this morning.
And they say, well, you know, at the end of every century and at the turn of every millennium, this happens. There are people who rise up and say, this is the end time, and so on. And they mock, and they say things have really continued on like they always have. And when they do that, knowingly or unknowingly they are, but paraphrasing what Peter said in the third chapter of 2 Peter, that these very people would arise at this period of time and say, where is the promise of His coming?
Everything has always continued like it always has. God has never intervened. And they willingly will overlook the flood. It would be very interesting that if in the last days God did allow the discovery of Noah's flood, just so that those who wanted to reject it would have to really reject it. Overlook the whole presence of a boat on Mount Ararat and say, well, it didn't even happen. That would be very interesting. I'm not predicting that.
However, we are to be strong in faith despite the presence of those who mock. And finally, we should live godly lives and not be compromised by immoral behavior. Turn with me to Romans chapter 13 in closing. Verse 11 says, And this do what? Well, the commands that he's talked about to love and so on. Do this, he says, knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
The night is almost gone, he says, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. We are living in a time when the flesh is just told to express itself. Just let it all hang out and fulfill your desires.
Man or woman, just fulfill everything you want and get it while you can. That's the day we're living in. But the Bible says that those of us who are of the day need to recognize the hour it is and despite the pressures from the world, the temptations that confront us, we are to put on Jesus Christ and we are not to partake of that immoral lifestyle of the society in which we live. We are not to be compromised.
The idea of the end of time reduces every question and issue just to the basics, doesn't it? Am I right with God? Is there any question that's more basic as we think about the end of time than that? Am I right with God? Am I helping others to know God? Am I investing my life and my gifts for things that will matter eternally? Those are the kinds of questions we need to face in light of a chapter like Daniel 11. Let's pray.
Father, may we not be ignorant, uninformed regarding the times in which we live. Awaken us from drowsiness and from sleep. Awaken us to be awake as children of the day, living purely and godly in this present age, looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. Before I finish praying, are you right with God? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Are you living with Christ as the Lord of your life? Are you? What are you doing to help others know Him?
How are you investing your life and the gifts that God has put into your hands so that it will count for eternity? May the Spirit of God enable us to face those questions and answer them in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord. Father, thank you for this study of your Word this morning. May it be more than simply stimulating to our minds, but may it be stimulating to our wills that we might choose to live godly in Christ Jesus and be faithful to occupy until you come. Amen.
I'd like for us just to sing the verse that you know, with our heads bowed perhaps. Let's sing. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. Amen. No turning back. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.