Segment 4
– Daniel 8 – The Antichrist
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1.
“This is what the Lord says [to
Israel]: ‘Look, an army is
coming from the land of the north
[to destroy you]; a great nation
is being stirred up from the ends of
the Earth. They are armed with bow
and spear; they are cruel and show no
mercy. They sound like the roaring
sea as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle
formation to attack you, O daughter
of Zion.’” (Jeremiah
6:22,23)
2.
“’I will summon all the
peoples of the north
and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon,’ declares the Lord,
‘and I will bring them against
this land and its inhabitants and
against all the surrounding nations.
I will completely destroy them [the
inhabitants of Judah] and make
them an object of horror and scorn,
and an everlasting ruin.’”
(Jeremiah 25:9)
3.
“This is the message the Lord
spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about
the timing of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon to attack Egypt… Egypt
is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly
is coming against her from the north.
The mercenaries in her ranks are like
fattened calves. They too will turn
and flee together, they will not
stand their ground, for the day of
disaster is coming upon them, the
time for them to be punished.” (Jeremiah
46: 13, 20,21)
4.
“Announce and proclaim among the
nations, lift up a banner and
proclaim it; keep nothing back, but
say, ‘Babylon will be captured;
Bel will be put to shame, Marduk
filled with terror. Her images will
be put to shame and her idols filled
with terror.’ A nation from the North
[the Medes] will attack her
and lay waste her land. No one will
live in it; both men and animals will
flee away.” (Jeremiah
50:2,3)
5.
“Therefore, son of man, prophesy
and say to Gog [Lucifer]:
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: In that day, when my people
Israel are living in safety, will you
not take notice of it? You will come
from your place in the far north,
you and many nations with you, all of
them riding on horses, a great horde,
a mighty army. You will advance
against my people Israel like a cloud
that covers the land. In days to
come, O Gog [Lucifer], I will
bring you against my land, so that
the nations may know me when I show
myself holy through you before their
eyes.’” (Ezekiel
38:14-16)
6.
The horn power in Daniel 8 descends
from the north because north
is a meaningful direction. God
deliberately embedded this seemingly
insignificant detail in Daniel 8
because He can say profound things
with very few words through
figurative speech. (Remember, no copy
machines or printing presses existed
in those days. Hand copied books were
scarce and extremely expensive, so
books with fewer words were easier to
preserve.) The direction of
“north” because a
significant direction when Lucifer
began campaigning against Christ in
Heaven. Speaking about Lucifer’s
blasphemy, the Lord said, “For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will
sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the
north: I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like
the most High.” (Isaiah
14:13,14, KJV) The phrase, “the
sides of the north,” refers to
the location of God’s throne.
God’s throne was located on the
“higher side” or the north
side of Heaven’s temple. (The
Table of Shewbread, which represented
God’s throne, was placed on the
north side of the earthly temple.)
This knowledge and God’s
consistent use of the direction of
“north” in the Old
Testament indicate that divine
authority or judgment originates on
“the sides of the north.”
7.
One more text highlighting the
importance of the direction north
that the reader should consider. In
the book of Job, Elihu speaks for
God. He addresses a number of false
arguments that Job’s friends had
made against God. (I am convinced
that Elihu was Jesus, who physically
appeared before Job and his friends,
much like the Lord appeared before
Abraham. Genesis 18:22) Elihu said, ‘Be
assured that my words are not false;
one perfect in knowledge is with
you…. Out of the north he comes
in golden splendor; God comes in
awesome majesty.” (Job 36:4;
37:22, italics mine) In the context
of Job 36 and 37, the sovereign
authority and awesome wisdom of God
comes out of the north. This makes
perfect sense because God’s
throne is located “on the sides
of the north” in Heaven’s
temple. (See Exodus 26:35 and Exodus
40:22 for the location of the Table
of Showbread which represented
God’s throne.)
Intermediate
Review
- The
horn power comes out of one
of the four winds.
- The
horn power comes out of the
north and grows toward the
south, east and west.
- Divine
authority and divine
destruction comes out of the
north.
- God’s
throne is located on the
north side of Heaven’s
temple.
The
King of the North in Daniel 11
Even though Daniel 8
indicates the horn power comes out of
the north, Daniel 11 offers more
details about the king who comes out
of the north. Let us jump ahead for a
moment to Daniel 11:36 and notice a
few verses. These verses may help you
see more clearly how the architecture
of Daniel influences my conclusion
that the horn power in Daniel 8 is
the Antichrist. First, consider these
verses: “Some of the wise
will stumble, so that they may be
refined, purified and made spotless until
the time of the end, for
it will still come at the appointed
time. [However, at the appointed
time of the end] The [stern-faced]
King will do as he pleases. He
will exalt and magnify himself above
every god and will say unheard-of
things against the God of gods. He
will be successful until the time of
wrath [the Great Tribulation]
is completed, for what has been
determined must take place.” (Daniel
11:35,36, italics and insertions
mine) These two verses speak about
the time of the end. Now we will jump
forward to verse 40 and 41. “At
the time of the end the king of the
south will [rebel and] engage
him in battle, and the king of the
north [the Antichrist] will
storm out against him with chariots
and cavalry and a great fleet of
ships. He will invade many countries
and sweep through them like a flood.
He will also invade the Beautiful
Land…” (Daniel
11:40,41, insertions mine)
After Lucifer appears
on earth, Revelation 13:8 indicates
most wicked people will receive him
as God, but many of them will reject
him and rebel against the claims of
authority. Daniel 11 reveals the
wicked king of the south will rise up
and oppose the arrogant and pompous
claims of Lucifer, the king of the
north. Lucifer will wage war against
the king of the south, and will
destroy him and his followers. In
fact, this destruction amounts to
one-third of the wicked! The
remaining two-thirds of the wicked
will gladly submit to the devil as
though he were Almighty God. As
horrendous as this battle is, the
sixth-trumpet war is not the battle
of Armageddon. The battle of
Armageddon occurs as Jesus appears.
(Revelation 16:12-21)
The war described in
Daniel 11:40,41 is also described in
Revelation 9:13-21. Daniel and
Revelation perfectly harmonize on
this matter. The point is that the
horn power of Daniel 8 is the king
from the north. Study over Chart 4.2
and notice how the king from the
north in Daniel 11:36 and the horn
power of Daniel 8 appear at the
appointed time of the end. The
architecture of apocalyptic prophecy
is amazing! (Note: To keep the
size of this growing matrix within
physical constraints, the column for
Babylon has been removed.)
Summarizing
His Origin
The horn power in
Daniel 8 does not arise from a nation
on Earth. This king will come out of
the north during the appointed time
of the end. God uses the point of
origin to make a profound statement.
The Antichrist will arrive on a
divine mission of destruction! God
will send the stern-faced king to
rule over the wicked. God will send
him because the wicked rejected His
truth and rebelled against His
generous offer of salvation. Paul
talked about this, “…
They [the wicked] perish
because they refused to
love the truth and so be
saved. For this reason God sends them
a powerful delusion so that they
might believe the lie and so that all
will be condemned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted
in wickedness.” (2
Thessalonians 2:10-12, italics mine)
Consider God’s
consistent ways, He sent armies to
destroy the Canaanites, the
Israelites, the Egyptians, the
Babylonians, the Medes and Persians,
the Grecians, and the Romans. When
nations go beyond the point of
redemption, God raises up a destroyer
king. The reason God places the
Antichrist in the end time story is
because He sets up kings and He takes
them down with other kings. During
the Great Tribulation, God will send
the stern-faced king of Daniel 8 (the
Antichrist) to destroy much of the
world. The devil will kill one-third
of mankind, leaving two groups of
survivors. When Jesus appears, one
group will obey the commandments of
the Lamb (Revelation 12:17) and the
other group will obey the lamb-like
beast (the Antichrist). I know this
explanation of the horn power goes
beyond the evidence presented thus
far in Daniel 8, but my purpose is to
help you behold a very large picture
that will continue to unfold if the
apocalyptic rules are followed!
Section
III – Antichrist Will Oppose All
Religions
The Horn Power Grows
Until ….
“It grew until
it reached the host of the heavens,
and it threw some of the starry host
down to the earth and trampled on
them.” (Daniel 8:10) The
horn power from the north starts
small, but it grows until it reaches
the starry host of the heavens, then
it throws them down and tramples
them. This language indicates the
stern-faced king will grow in
recognition and authority among the
inhabitants of Earth until he is
exalted above all gods! The book of
Revelation reveals more about this
process than Daniel. Revelation
indicates the devil will begin his
physical work on Earth with local
appearances. The devil, along with
his enormous host of angels, will
come down out of the sky in blinding
clouds of light at specific locations
on Earth. He will imitate
Christ’s Second Coming with two
obvious differences. First, God will
not permit the devil to be visible to
the whole world at one time.
Therefore, the people of Earth will
not be introduced to the Antichrist
at one event. He will grow in
popularity as he appears in the skies
over the populated cities of the
world such as Mexico City, Jerusalem,
Washington D.C., Moscow, Sydney,
Beijing, Calcutta, Houston and
others, will see magnificent displays
of power and glory. Lucifer will
appear in various places and he will
exercise miracle-working powers to
convince people that he is
God. (Revelation 13:14,15) Even
though his display of power will be
amazing, the saints will not be
deceived. They know who lives behind
the mask. (Revelation 14:9,10)
To understand the
meaning of “the starry
hosts” in Daniel 8, we have to
examine the language and ways of
people who lived in ancient times.
Polytheism was popular. The ancients
worshiped various gods who lived
among the stars of the heavens.
(Daniel 2:11,28) They used the stars,
like dots on a drawing pad, to draw
pictures of their gods. These
mythical gods belonged to a
collection called “the starry
hosts.” Idols of gold, silver,
wood, and stone were representations
of these various gods. These five
texts help us understand who the
starry hosts were (italics mine):
1.
“They [Israel] forsook
all the commands of the Lord their
God and made for themselves two idols
cast in the shape of calves, and an
Asherah pole. They bowed down to all
the starry hosts,
and they worshiped Baal.” (2
Kings 17:16, insertion mine)
2.
“He [King Manasseh] rebuilt
the high places his father Hezekiah
had destroyed; he also erected altars
to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as
Ahab king of Israel had done. He
bowed down to the starry hosts and
worshiped them. He built altars in
the temple of the Lord, of which the
Lord had said, ‘In Jerusalem I
will put my Name.’ In both
courts of the temple of the Lord, he
built altars to all the starry
hosts…” (2
Kings 21:3-5, insertion mine)
3.
“He [King Josiah] did
away with the pagan priests appointed
by the kings of Judah to burn incense
on the high places of the towns of
Judah and on those around Jerusalem
– those who burned incense to
Baal, to the sun and moon, to the
constellations and to all the starry
hosts.” (2 Kings 23:5,
insertion mine)
4.
“You alone are the Lord. You
made the heavens, even the highest
heavens, and all their starry
host, the earth and all
that is on it, the seas and all that
is in them. You give life to
everything, and the multitudes of
heaven worship you.” (Nehemiah
9:6)
5.
“And when you look up to the sky
and see the sun, the moon and the
stars – all the heavenly array
– do not be enticed into bowing
down to them and worshiping things
the Lord your God has apportioned to
all nations under heaven.” (Deuteronomy
4:19)
If we allow the Bible
to be its own interpreter, the term
“starry hosts” represent
pagan deities. The ancients gave them
names such as Baal, Mercury, Zeus,
Hermes, Venus, Ra, Sol and others.
(Acts 14:12) With this setting in
mind, Daniel 8: 10 indicates the
Antichrist will grow in authority and
recognition until he is honored above
all gods worshiped by men. The
stern-faced king will prove
himself greater than the gods of all
religions because he can perform
great signs and miracles at will. No
other false god will be able to match
his glory and prowess. Even King
Nebuchadnezzar admitted that
Daniel’s God was greater than
his own god when Daniel interpreted
the king’s vision! Therefore,
when the time comes, the Antichrist
will call fire down out of Heaven to
destroy rebellious groups of people,
and his actions will convince
onlookers that they are in the
presence of Almighty God. (Revelation
13:13, 14; 2 Thessalonians 2:9)
In this way, the devil
will trample down (show inferior) all
of the gods of this world and the
religions of men. Now that you have
an idea if what the horn power from
the north will do to the nations and
religions of the world, notice these
two texts:
- “The
[stern-faced] king [of
the North] will do as he
pleases. He will exalt and
magnify himself above every
god and will say unheard-of
things against the God of
gods. He will be successful until
the time of wrath
is completed, for what has
been determined must take
place. He will show no regard
for the gods of his fathers [the
traditional gods of
religions] or for the one
desired by women [Jesus
Christ], nor will he
regard any god, but will
exalt himself above them
all.” (Daniel
11:36,37, italics and
insertion mine.) “Let
no man deceive you by any
means: except there come a
falling away [from the
truth] first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition [destruction];
Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above that is called
God, or that is worshiped; so
that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, showing
himself that he is God.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,
insertions mine)
Do not forget
each of these specifications. The
details regarding the horn power in
Daniel 8 are creating a tall order
– in fact, no ordinary person
can meet these specifications.
Section
IV – Horn Power Cannot Be
Antiochus Epiphanes IV
Daily
Services in Heaven
It is regrettable that
millions of Christians believe that
Antiochus Epiphanes IV (175-164 B.C.)
is the horn power of Daniel 8. We
will investigate this claim by
comparing the specifications given in
the Bible with the historical facts
about Antiochus IV. Beginning with
Daniel 8:11, the angel said, “It
[the horn power] set itself up
to be as great as the Prince of the
host [The Lord Jesus]; it [the
horn power] took away the daily sacrifice
from him, and the place of
his sanctuary was brought low.”
(Daniel 8:11, insertions and italics
mine) Verse 11 will make a lot more
sense if you understand God’s
use of parallel temples. (Bible study
room under parallel temples.) Daniel
8:11 are not describing the cessation
of daily sacrifices in
Jerusalem’s temple in 167 B.C.
Instead, we will see that this verse
describes the cessation of the daily
services in Heaven’s temple
which during “the appointed time
of the end.”
The word
“sacrifice” in verse 11 has
been added by translators and is not
found in the original manuscripts.
This fact is important because
Gabriel is not talking about the
cessation of animal sacrifices on
Earth. He is talking about the
cessation of the daily services in
Heaven’s temple. The word
“daily” comes from a
perpetual round of services that
occurred evening and morning in the
earthy temple. The daily services on
Earth shadow similar services in
Heaven’s temple. (Hebrews 8:1-5)
during the appointed time of the end,
the Antichrist will cause the daily
services in Heaven’s temple to
end and the Antichrist will cause the
place of Christ’s sanctuary to
be brought low (treated with distain
and contempt.).
History reveals that
Antiochus IV ended the daily services
in Jerusalem’s temple for about
a three-year period. However, the
cessation of the daily in 167 B.C. is
not a fulfillment of Daniel 8. Antiochus
IV was not the only king that
terminated the daily services at the
temple in Jerusalem. For example,
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple
in 586 B.C. and ended the daily
services for more than seventy years.
The Roman general, Titus, destroyed
the temple in A.D. 70, and the daily
services of the temple have not
resumed to this day because there is
no temple in Jerusalem. However, the
primary question begging for an
answer is whether Antiochus IV was
powerful enough to take the daily
away from the Prince of the host,
Jesus! Review verse 11 again: “It
[the horn power] set itself up
to be as great as the Prince of the
host [the Lord Jesus]; it took
away the daily sacrifice
from him, and the place of his
sanctuary was brought low.”
The History of
Antiochus IV
A brief history of
Antiochus IV may be helpful because
millions of people believe Antiochus
IV is a fulfillment of the horn power
in Daniel 8. Let us closely examine
the logic that produces this
conclusion.
- The
Bible says the goat in Daniel
8 represents Grecia.
- The
Bible says the great horn
represents the first king of
Grecia, Alexander the Great.
- The
Bible says the four horns
represent the four generals
that gained control of
Alexander’s empire.
- One
of the four generals was
Seleucus. He was the first in
a long line of succeeding
kings.
- Just
before the Grecian empire
fell to Rome, Antiochus IV
came to power as the king of
Syria (175-164 B.C.). After
his father, Antiochus the
Great, died, the Romans, who
controlled the Middle East at
this time, allowed Antiochus
IV to become the eighth king
in a line of kings whose
lineage dates back to
Seleucus. Antiochus IV
exalted himself by adding
“Epiphany” to his
name. An epiphany is “a
great manifestation of
God.” The Romans mocked
the pompous little king by
calling him Antiochus
Epimanes IV. Epimanes sounds
similar to Epiphany, but it
means “mad man.”
- About
168 B.C. Antiochus sent his
army to Egypt to steal some
wealth. He desperately needed
to replenish his empty
treasury. Antiochus had
squandered the assets of his
kingdom on foolish endeavors
and Syria was near the point
of bankruptcy. He defeated
the cowardly Ptolemee, king
of Egypt, but Rome sent an
envoy to inform Antiochus IV
that he could not rule over
Egypt. Antiochus knew that
any sign of rebellion against
Rome was fatal. Thwarted and
humiliated, but happy with
the loot he had stolen, he
returned home.
- Meanwhile,
in Jerusalem, the high
priest, Jason, had initiated
a rebellion against the rigid
control of conservative Jews.
He wanted to adopt some of
the more liberal Hellenistic
ways of the Greeks and build
a Greek gymnasium where nude
bodybuilding and sensual
exercises could be conducted.
While this conflict was
unfolding, Menelaus, a
wealthy Jew, offered
Antiochus IV a large bribe if
he would send soldiers to
overthrow Jerusalem’s
leadership and appoint
Menelaus as high priest. This
bribe gave Antiochus a
“golden”
opportunity to quell
Jason’s rebellion and
plunder the Jewish temple of
its gold and silver. Gold and
silver from the Jewish temple
would help replenish his
ever-empty treasury.
- Antiochus
loved the decadent and
sensual ways of the Greeks.
When the king arrived in
Jerusalem, he showed contempt
for the conservative Jews by
erecting a statue of the
Greek god, Zeus, on the Altar
of Burnt Offering on Chislev
15, 167 B.C. Ten days later,
on Chislev 25, Antiochus
ended daily services
(including the daily
sacrifices) at the temple
when he offered a pig (or
some unclean animal) on the
Altar of Burnt Offering. This
abominable act led to a
series of wars between
Antiochus forces and
conservative Jews. This
series of wars became known
as the Maccabean revolt
because a conservative
priest, Judas Maccabeus, led
the Jews against the forces
of Antiochus IV.
- A
year or so later, Antiochus
ran out of money again.
This time he decided to raid
portions of Persia to finance
his excessive spending
habits. Therefore, he turned
his management of his kingdom
over to his friend, Lysais,
instructing him to destroy
the Jews and Jerusalem as
quickly as possible. However,
Judas Maccabeus and the Jews
eventually defeated Lysais
and his generals. The victory
over Lysais did not end the
wars between the Jews and
their enemies. Three years
after offering a pig on the
altar, to the very day, on
Chislev 25, 164 B.C., a new
altar was installed and
dedicated in the temple at
Jerusalem and the daily
services resumed. The Jews
have celebrated the
restoration of temple
services on this day ever
since. (See John 10:22,23) It
is called Hanukkah, which
means ‘the
dedication.”
- Meanwhile,
in Persia, Antiochus IV
experienced a number of sound
defeats, and when he learned
that the Jews had defeated
Lysais and robbed him of his
armament, Antiochus IV became
heartsick. After a period of
suffering from illness
(perhaps from too much
drinking), Antiochus uttered
these words, “I perish
through great grief in a
strange land.” (1
Maccabees 6:13) After giving
his close friend, Philip, his
crown, robe, and signet, he
gave instructions that he was
to raise his son Antiochus V,
to take his throne. Then,
Antiochus IV died.
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