“Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. “He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.” Daniel 11:36-37 NKJV
Have
you ever found yourself in the position of wanting to see someone embarrassed
or humbled because of their arrogance and pride? I think most of us would have to admit that,
like or not, we all have been there.
There is just something about seeing people with that sort of attitude
of superiority which makes us all hope for their fall, and suffer for their
actions as they profess their own magnificence.
Fortunately as believers, we are promised that the proud will in fact
get their just rewards so although we might not be witnesses to the fact; we
are assured of their ultimate humility.
This conclusion is never more apparent than in the fall of the
antichrist, and his eventual destiny.
The
seeds of his fall, as we saw last week, come from the desire of Satan to
magnify himself above God, and to be worshipped accordingly. This passage from Daniel spells out in detail
exactly how arrogant this attitude of the man of sin will be as he not only
claims himself to be God, but totally reject the consideration of what has been
revealed by God Himself, His Son Jesus Christ, or any other of the gods man has
created throughout history. Now
hopefully you noticed I referred to Jesus and wonder where that might be found
in the passage above.
Although
we do not have the time to examine in detail an exhaustive interpretation of
these two verses I encourage you to do your own research. The phrase
“the desire of women” has
unfortunately been incorrectly taught by many to suggest that the antichrist
has no affection for women. In truth, in
the Old Testament times the phrase “desire of women” was commonly used to refer
to the longing of devoted Jewish women to be the mother of the coming
Messiah. Daniel was well aware of this
and if we too understand that, the passage examined within its context concerning
worshipping gods makes much more sense when we see the man of sin believes he
is greater than God, His Son, or any other god.
Unfortunately
for him, although he might see himself that way and certainly desire for all
the remaining people on the earth to as well, we will find that in reality a
good portion of the population of the world will eventually reject him and his
claims. It is interesting to note that
while earlier in Daniel we were told that he becomes the ruler of the world,
and leader of the one world government, it is after the first half of the
tribulation when he claims to be god that the rebellion of his rule
begins. Is it because of his desire to
be worshipped as god? Does the world
think maybe he has lost his mind, or is delusional as he begins to persecute
and kill any who reject his authority?
Whatever the reasons, we are told his absolute rule begins to crumble.
“At the
time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the
North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and
with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass
through. “He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries
shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the
prominent people of Ammon. “He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and
the land of Egypt shall not escape. “He shall have power over the treasures of
gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans
and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. “But news from the east and the north shall
trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and
annihilate many. “And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the
seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one
will help him.” Daniel 11:40-45 NKJV
Did
you notice the very last words of this passage from Daniel? “And no one will help him.” When it is all said and done, the
antichrist will find himself all alone with absolutely no one to help him, much
less worship him as a god. I think it is
telling that the man, who came to power as a peacemaker, ends his career as a
tyrant at war with the world. Notice too
how he chooses to react to “news from the east and the north”. What does it say about a great “peacemaker”
that he reacts with “great fury to destroy and annihilate many” on the basis of just
troubling news rather than an outright attack?
As we saw last week we are told that if God did not put an end to the
tribulation, eventually there would be no survivors at all on the earth, so the
stage is set for the intervention of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
"Now I
saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war." Revelation 19:11 NKJV
Have
you ever wondered why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey at His first coming
but rides a horse at His second coming?
It wasn’t until recently that I became aware of the fact that in ancient
times, during times of peace a king always rode a donkey but in times of war he
always rode a horse. Understanding that
explains the fact that at His second coming Jesus is riding a horse, and that
He is coming to make war. God has seen
enough, the time of Jacob’s trouble is about to be concluded, and Jesus Christ
returns to put an end to all that the man of sin, Satan, and the false prophet
have tried to accomplish in the last three and one half years.
“Then I
saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the
supper of the great God “that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of
captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on
them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
And I saw the beast,
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against
Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was
captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by
which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning
with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded
from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with
their flesh.” Revelation 19:17-21 NKJV
I
hope you noticed that in these verses it appears that there is someone
missing? Although Satan chooses to
indwell the antichrist at the midpoint of the tribulation, it would appear that
he is quick to leave when judgment arrives.
In the Greek, the word translated capture carries within it the idea of
pursuit and apprehension. Can you just
see these two running for their lives believing that somehow they can escape,
only to be caught? I can also see Satan
coming out of the man of sin at that point thinking he too can keep on running
while leaving the other two behind? Not
to worry though because no one escapes the judgment of God.
“Then I
saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is
the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should
deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after
these things he must be released for a little while.” Revelation 20:1-3 NKJV
Nowhere
to go but down. Have you ever
experienced falling in such a way as to have the time to realize you have
absolutely no control over your circumstance?
Unfortunately I have experienced this several times and I can assure you
it is a terrifying experience. Did you
notice Satan is thrown into a “bottomless” pit?
Can you imagine falling for a thousand years having no control at all? This is Satan’s reward for trying to rule the
world, become like God, and persecute all who choose not to worship him.
My
intent over the past few weeks was simply to introduce you to this man, and the
circumstances surrounding his rise to power and eventual end. I would encourage you to find a good
commentary on the books of Daniel and Revelation and discover for yourself in
detail the events that many, myself included, believe are set to begin at any
time. If you have never taken the step
of making a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and allow His
forgiveness and sacrifice to grant you eternal life in Heaven with Him and to deliver
you from this time that is coming I encourage you to do it today. All you need to do is ask Him for forgiveness,
believe that His Son Jesus Christ died for your sins, and invite Him to come
into your life and help you become the person He intended you to be.
Keep
watching.
