Segment 4 -
Daniel 8
The Antichrist
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The Time of Wrath
Gabriel said the
appointed time of the end would be a
time of wrath. A time of wrath means
that everyone will suffer wrath
during the appointed time of the end.
The wicked will receive God’s
wrath for their rebellion and
insolence (Colossians 3:5,6;
Revelation 16), and the saints will
receive the wrath of their
governments when they refuse to obey
the dictates of Babylon and the
Antichrist! (Revelation 13: 7-10)
Everyone will suffer wrath.
How does the horn
power in Daniel 8 connect to the
appointed time of the end? The
connection is quite simple because
the ram and the goat are not end-time
players. History says these world
empires disappeared more than two
thousand years ago. However, the horn
power, or “the stern-faced
king,” has not yet appeared. He
is the only item left in this
vision that relates to the appointed
time of the end. As we will see, the
horn power in Daniel 8 is the coming
Antichrist. He will appear “out
of nowhere” during the Great
Tribulation. He does not rise out of
a nation or a kingdom like the little
horn of Daniel 7. Lucifer will
suddenly appear in clouds of light
with his angels, and through
counterfeit miracles, signs, wonders,
deceit and lies, he will deceive the
whole world. He will gain control of
Earth during the appointed
time of the end.
First Question
After hearing that the
horn power is the only part of this
vision that applies to the time of
the end, one of the first questions
people ask is this: “Why did God
put two ancient kingdoms in this
vision if they have nothing to do
with end-times?” There are at
least three reasons for placing these
ancient kingdoms in a prophecy that
point to the appointed time of the
end.
- God placed the
ram and the goat in this
vision of Daniel 8 so that we
could identify by name the
two empires that followed
Babylon. The Bible says the
ram and the goat represent
the kingdoms of the Medes and
the Persians and the
Grecians, respectively.
(Daniel 8: 20,21) By stating
their names, God eliminated
any wiggle room about the
identity of the first three
empires in Daniel’s
historical matrix, namely,
Babylon, Medo-Persia and
Grecia. Furthermore, the
identity of these three
kingdoms leave no question
about the identity of the
fourth beast in Daniel 7
(Rome) nor the identity of
the little horn power in
Daniel 7 that rose out of
Rome (the Roman Catholic
Church).
- The second
reason God put two ancient
kingdoms in the end-time
vision is linkage. The ram is
connected by the 2,300 days
to an event that occurs in
Heaven. Because we cannot see
into Heaven with the naked
eye, God has linked events in
Heaven with well-known events
on Earth. The result is
simple. Students of
apocalyptic prophecy can
determine the timing of
several heavenly events that
no can see.
- Last, God put
two ancient kingdoms in the
end-time vision because God
wants everyone to know the
horn power in Daniel 8
does not rise out of an
ancient empire like the
little horn of Daniel 7. The
horn power in Daniel 8 is not
an extension of the Roman
Empire or any world empire.
The point here is separation.
The horn power in Daniel 8 is
separate and isolated from
the earthly kingdoms. This is
not the case in Daniel 7. We
know the little horn in
Daniel 7 rose out of the
fourth beast and it derived
its name from the powerful
host. For seventeen
centuries, the little horn of
Daniel 7 has been called the Roman
Catholic Church. To keep
us from misidentifying the
horn power of Daniel 8, God
inserted more than 2,000
years between the ancient
kingdoms and the appearing of
the horn power. God wants the
world to understand the horn
power in Daniel 8 does not
have an earthly origin.
Instead, he will have a
supernatural one. Revelation
9 indicates that Lucifer will
come down out of the sky
attended by millions of
angles.
Antichrist Will Not
be Human
The books of Isaiah
Ezekiel, 2 Thessalonians, 2
Corinthians, Daniel and Revelation
harmonize because they are the Word
of God. They present a rather
startling picture of the coming
Antichrist by adding valuable pieces
to the puzzle. The following comments
are a brief synthesis of what these
books say about the Antichrist:
The coming Antichrist
will not be a mere mortal. The coming
Antichrist will not be born to a
woman. Men cannot kill the coming
Antichrist. The coming Antichrist
will have supernatural powers that
far exceed anything man can do. The
coming Antichrist will be evil and
destructive beyond comprehension. The
coming Antichrist will be dazzling
and commanding in appearance, but
deadly in his manipulation. The
coming Antichrist will be a
stern-faced king, that is, he will
not show mercy unless temporal mercy
facilitates his evil schemes.
Billions of powerful demons serve
him. The coming Antichrist is an
ancient foe of Christ. In fact,
Lucifer is the most powerful and
greatest angel that God ever created.
He was the first being to become
anti-Christ. The Bible predicts that
God will allow Lucifer and his angels
to appear in physical form visible to
the human race. Just as Jesus became
man to save the world, Lucifer will
be granted authority to masquerade as
God so that he can quickly lead the
wicked to their destruction. Lucifer
will mimic Christ’s return and
appear with clouds of angels. You can
be sure the appearing of the devil
will be the most spectacular event
ever viewed by human eyes (Revelation
17:8) – only to be eclipsed by
the brighter and more glorious
appearing of Jesus. (Revelation 1:7,
19:11-21)
Horn Power Not
Antiochus Epiphanes IV Nor the Papacy
Most Christians
believe the horn power in Daniel 8 is
either Antiochus Epiphanes IV, an
ancient king who ruled with
Rome’s permission over a tiny
Syrian state (175-164 B.C.), or they
say the horn power is the Roman
Catholic Church. Of course, the only
way we can determine the true
identity of this horn is by
satisfying all the specifications
given to Daniel. We find in this
presentation that both
interpretations share the same
deficiency. Neither conclusion
satisfies all the specifications
given in Daniel 8.
Even though Bible
students and scholars have studied
the book of Daniel for centuries, it
was impossible for them to know the
truth about Daniel 8 because the
knowledge of the architecture of
Daniel was sealed up until the time
of the end. (Daniel 12:4,9) Because
the end of the age is here and the
Great Tribulation is about to begin,
the book of Daniel has been unsealed
and God’s Word now speaks with a
clarity and precision that it did not
have before. When Daniel 8 is
integrated into the historical matrix
that the four rules of interpretation
produce, the horn power in Daniel 8
cannot be Antiochus IV or the papacy!
The horn power in Daniel 8 is
something far more powerful and far
more sinister. The horn power in
Daniel 8 is the great enemy of God
and man. He is the coming Antichrist.
Section II –
Antichrist as King of the North
All Specifications
Have to Be Fulfilled
Rule Two
says, “A fulfillment of
apocalyptic prophecy occurs when the
specifications within that prophecy
are met. This includes the order of
events outlined in the
prophecy,” With this rule in
mind, we will carefully examine all
of the specifications of the horn
power in Daniel 8. We will begin with
the origin of the Horn Power. “The
goat [Grecia] became very
great, but at the height of his power
his large horn [Alexander the
Great] was broken off, and in its
place four prominent horns grew up
toward the four winds of heaven
[North, East, West, South]. Out of
one of them [the four winds] came
another horn, which started small but
grew in power to the south and to the
east and toward [the west] the
Beautiful Land.” (Daniel
8:8,9, insertions mine) The Bible
says the large or prominent horn of
the goat was broken off at the height
of its power. This seems odd. A
person would not expect a powerful
horn to “break off” at the
peak of its strength, but remember,
this horn represents a king, not an
empire. Alexander the Great died at
the peak of his military power. His
kingdom was divided between his four
generals that are represented by the
four horns. Gabriel told Daniel, “The
four horns that replaced the one that
was broken off represent four [kings
or] kingdoms that will emerge from
his nation but will not have the same
power.” (Daniel 8:22,
insertion mine) It is interesting to
observe that prophecy is history
written in advance. History confirms
Gabriel’s words. None of
Alexander’s generals was strong
enough to reunite the Grecian
kingdom.
God used beasts in
Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 to represent empires,
but He consistently used horns to
represent kings. The Hebrew
word for horn, malkuwth, can
mean king, ruler or kingdom. Most
translators treat malkuwth in
Daniel 8:22 as “four
kingdoms,” however, in this
context malkuwth is better
translated “four kings.”
Because horns represent kings in
Daniel 8, this consistency forces the
horn power in Daniel 8 to also be a
king. In fact, the Bible emphasizes
this point by indicating the horn
power in Daniel 8 will be a
stern-faced “king” who
appears during the appointed time of
the end! (See Daniel 8:19,23)
The Horn Power Comes
out of the North
“And out of
one of them [the four winds] came
a forth a little horn, which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south,
and toward the east, and toward the [west]
pleasant land.” (Daniel
8:9, KJV, insertions mine) From the
evidence that follows, we will
discover that the horn power (the
stern-faced king) does not originate
within an earthly kingdom. Actually,
the Antichrist just appears
out of nowhere. The Bible reveals he
comes from the north, out of one of
the four winds. There
is more to this direction than one
might think at first. As we proceed,
notice how the horn power in Daniel 8
does not have its roots in ancient
kingdoms such as Medo-Persia, Grecia
or Rome!
Daniel 8:9 say, “And
out of one of them came another
horn….” To understand
this phrase we have to examine the
grammar. To what noun does the
pronoun, “them” refer? The
Hebrew pronoun “them” (hem)
is masculine, and the Hebrew word for
“winds” (ruwach) can be
masculine or feminine, but the Hebrew
word for “horn” (qeren) is
feminine. Therefore, a gender
agreement (masculine “them”
and masculine “winds”) is
possible if we say, “out pf the
four winds….” But if we
say, “out of one of the four
horns…,” the gender in the
grammar does not agree. Even though
grammar suggests the horn power comes
out of one of the four winds, grammar
alone does not make this conclusion
airtight. So, let us see if there is
stronger evidence.
Daniel was standing on
the banks of the Ulai River when he
received this vision. From his point
of reference, the horn power started
out small, but became “exceeding
great” as it grew toward the
south, east and ‘toward the
beautiful land.” Daniel refers
to his homeland as “the
beautiful land” without
explicitly saying “west.”
(See Jeremiah 3:19.) Maps of this
region show Jerusalem to be due west
of the province of Elam where Daniel
was located. Therefore, after
analyzing verse 9, we discover the
horn power comes out of the north and
grows toward the south, east and
west.
The direction of
north is very significant. The
ancients thought the world was flat,
and north was “up” and
south was “down.” Two
thousand six hundred years later,
while we know the world is not flat,
we still follow this tradition. Most
people think the North Pole is on top
of the world and the South Pole is at
the bottom. The ancients believed
that God’s throne was above the
world, so they concluded that divine
judgments came down from the north.
Carefully study the following seven
texts and notice how the direction of
north is associated with divine
destruction (italics and insertions
mine):
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.
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