Daniel 11 and
The Antichrist
The most notable
prophecy scholar of the 19th century, Dr. Samuel P. Tregelles,
delivered the truth concerning the Antichrist and exactly where he arises from
when he discovered the link between Chapter 8 and 11 of the book of Daniel,
for, as he documented in his comments on Daniel, the mention of the four
divisions of Alexander the Great’s kingdom appears a number of times in the
book of Daniel and its occurrence and what immediately follows is one of the
keys to understanding the unfolding revelation of the Antichrist in the book of
Daniel.
The first
mention of this four-fold division is in (7:6) ‘After this I kept looking and
behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on it’s back four wings of a
bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it’. The second
occurrence is in (8:8) ‘There came up four conspicuous horns toward the four
winds of heaven’ with the third occurring in the same chapter during Gabriel’s
interpretation in (8:22) ‘And the broken
horn and the four horns that arose in it’s place represent four kingdoms which
will arise from his nation, although not with his power.’ Then in (11:4) ‘But as soon as he has arisen, his
kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the
compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority
which he wielded; for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others
besides them.’
But, the
significance of the four kingdoms is found in (8:9-12)
’And out of one of them came forth a rather small
horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward
the Beautiful Land. And it grew up to the host of
heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth,
and it trampled them down. It even magnified itself to be equal with the
Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the
place of His sanctuary was thrown down. And on account of transgression the
host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it
will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.’ This
pinpoints the location from which the Antichrist will arise. He will come ‘Out
of one of them’ meaning the four kingdoms or the four divisions of Alexander
the Great’s kingdom: The northern: Greece/Syria, the western: Asia Minor, the
southern: Egypt,
and the eastern: Persia/Iraq.
Chapter
(11:1-4) gives the introductory information but at (v.4) when ‘The four points
of the compass’ are mentioned, immediately, as in Chapter 8, the revelation
fast forwards to the end of the age showing three successive rulers of the
North, and, with the third the sequence of events that must occur in order to
usher in the Antichrist and his end time agenda. The first ‘King of the north’
is surveyed in (v.6-21), the second in (v.20), and from (v.21) on the
Antichrist is in view. Notice, ‘The honor of kingship has not been conferred’
upon him, ‘But, he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by
intrigue.’(v.21), so, the Antichrist becomes king of his own doing which means
he will not be from the family succession of nobility.
Now, we
must keep in mind that Daniel’s vision of Chapter 10-12 was given in part that
he might understand the vision given to him in Chapter 8 concerning the
Antichrist and the place from which he would arise, for the same sequence is
covered, this time providing understanding to Daniel of the things he did not
understand in his Chapter 8 vision.
Therefore, portions of Chapter 10-12 were
given in order that Daniel would grasp what he did not understand after the
vision of Chapter 8. Here, in Chapters 10-12, Daniel received understanding of
the revelation he was given (10:1) and desired to know more after the vision
was complete, but the Lord told him ‘Go your way, Daniel, for these words are
concealed and sealed up until the end time.’ (12:9)
And, so,
as we continue to move ever closer to the end of the age, the Lord will provide
illumination to those willing to saturate their souls with the book of the
Daniel, the book of the Revelation and other pertinent time of the end
Scriptures. This increased knowledge by those who are willing to study God’s
Word has begun and is increasing during the present hour for we surely are
living in the end times as we wait on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ (Hebrews 9:28).
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