This morning, as I mentioned earlier, we’re going to be turning back to Daniel to finish our study in the book of Daniel.And this morning, I wanted to pick up in Daniel chapter 11 at verse 35. Daniel had been given visions by God of events that were going to be occurring in the last days.
The last time we looked at chapter 11, we were looking at the first portion of this chapter.And it looked at the remnants of the kingdom of Greece that Alexander the Great had established. And when he died, divided, as the scripture said to Daniel, he would divide them to the four winds.
He divided them amongst four generals. And we saw that it was amazing that portion of Daniel’s prophecy occurred over 200 years prior to the events occurring. And yet, they are accurate down to the point of giving specific details that some scholars, historians who are not Christians, said Daniel could never have written it because it’s so accurate.
Yet, we know that he wrote it. And the reason it’s accurate is God gave him the visions that revealed these things. And he gave them details that only God who knows the beginning from the end could know.
At the last portion of chapter 11 of Daniel’s book is recorded a man that is yet to come. A man, given the signs that we’re seeing in the world today, could very well be alive at this moment. We looked in the first portion of chapter 11 of a man by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes, who was one of the generals of the northern kingdom, the kingdom that would have Syria and eventually take over Israel, 200 years before Daniel’s, or 200 years after Daniel recorded that prophecy.
He presented a type of this man that was to appear and will appear in the day in which you and I live unless God will tarry. This man is an ungodly man. Like Antiochus Epiphanes, he will come to power by flattery and by deceit.
This man is a man who has no regard, as we’re going to see from the text this morning, for the things of God. He has no regard for the God of the Bible, nor does he have any regard for Jesus Christ. Because this man is motivated and driven by Satan himself.
The world is being prepared to receive this man. And this morning, I want to read from chapter 11, beginning at verse 35 to the end of the chapter. And then we are going to take a look at this in depth, as well as some other scriptures that reveal some characteristics about him.
And then we are going to look at things that are happening in the world today that point to this spirit, which has always been in the world, it’s the world spirit, it’s Satan’s spirit, not God’s spirit. And we are going to see the things that are making ready for this man to appear. And some of them understanding shall fall, to try them and to purge and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for a time appointed.
And I just want to pause here and remind you of one thing. All of Daniel’s gospel is specifically dealing with the nation of Israel. It’s the last 70 weeks of years, 490 years, and we have already seen all except the last seven that have been prophesied.
And now Daniel is going to begin to deal with the last seven. In the book of Revelation, these seven are referred to as the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation. They are referred to elsewhere in Scripture as a time of Jacob’s trouble, where the nation of Israel is going to be persecuted like it has never been persecuted before in the history of the world.
But it’s all going to start with deceit and peace. So this is what Daniel is going to be speaking about, this man who will come to power during these last seven years of history as we know it.
Daniel 11:35-45
Now, Paul presented to the Thessalonians the gospel, and he presented it and said, we will walk in the power of God, we’ll walk in truth, and we presented that, you’ve seen it in our lives.
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Let’s just bow in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, as we come before you, Lord, I pray that you just help us to have understanding as we look at what your word says about future events and a future person. A person that is referred to as the Antichrist, the one who desires to take the place of Jesus and stands against Jesus. And Lord, I pray that you would just help us to understand that the spirit of this man, the things that he desires is a spirit that’s in our world and has been here even since the beginning of the church. Help us to have discerning spirits where we can see it and we are not involved with it, but stand against it and understand the great spiritual warfare that will go on in the last days. And at the heart of it is the very souls of men. Father, as long as we are here, give us a desire to share the gospel that men can be set free and out from under the control of this ungodly spirit. And Lord, help us to proclaim the truth of your word and the reality of Jesus Christ to a world that is being drawn towards him, this ungodly prince. Lord, now I pray that you would just speak to us through your word this morning, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
There are some things that are very interesting as you look at this. The events that are going to transpire in the last days are going to be centered in the Middle East.
And if you look at from a world history standpoint, oftentimes the Middle East is one of the areas that is most neglected in review of history. And part of it is because the center of the Middle East is really the center of all history and that is found on Mount Moriah, which is referred to as Mount Zion. And it is where the temple of the Lord shall be reestablished.
First of all, by the nation of Israel. And then the Lord himself shall come and reestablish his temple when he comes to deal with this man and establish his kingdom for the millennial reign, which is a thousand year reign on earth, which it speaks of here in scripture. This man is the epitome of Satan’s desires.
I would have you turn with me to understand the spirit we are dealing with. And if you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 14. In Isaiah chapter 14, Isaiah speaks of the king of Tyre.
But he is speaking of a king that is a spirit behind this man. This is much more than just a man. And these verses really give us a picture of who Satan is and what his motivation and desire is.
So if you turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 14 beginning at verse 9.
Jeremiah 14:9-10
9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied,
as a mighty man that cannot save?
yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us,
and we are called by thy name;
leave us not.10 Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Then saith the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry.
And when they offer burnt offering and oblation, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. Then said I, O Lord God, Behold the prophets, say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine.
But I will give you assured peace in this place. I’m sorry, I’ve got a new Bible and I’m reading from Jeremiah. But it’s the same thing that was happening during the time of Isaiah.
Isaiah 14. It happened a couple hundred years later again. But the same problem was going on.
But let’s go back to Isaiah chapter 14. I’ll get the right scripture this time. Isaiah chapter 14, beginning at verse 9.
And here it’s speaking of initially the king of Tyre, but then it transitions into speaking of Satan himself. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
All they that speak and say unto you, Are you also become weak as we? Are you become like unto us? Now here, the kings of the nations are speaking to Satan as Satan has had to begin to face his final days at the hands of God and His judgment. And the kings of the earth are saying, You’re the ones that inspired us. You’re the one that led us.
You’re the one that gave us our supposed power to control men. And now we see how weak you really are. And they question him.
Your pomp is brought down to the grave and your noise of your vials, the worm is spread under you and the worms over you. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of mourning? How are you cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For you have said in your 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.
These were the claims of Satan, but he’s not going to achieve them. Now, I want you to understand that in the last days,it’s a great spiritual war that’s going to be manifesting itself on earth. Even what’s happening in the Middle East right now, behind it is a spiritual war.
In the beginning of the book of Daniel, you saw that Daniel prayed. And in chapter 8, he prayed for the nation of Israel.And then, prior to this event being shown to Daniel, he had prayed.
And Gabriel came, but he couldn’t come because he said, the prince of Persia prevented him until Michael the archangel came and helped him so that he could be set free to attend to the answer of the prayer of Daniel and to give him God’s insight. This prince of Persia, it doesn’t give us his name, but when Satan fell, one third of the angels fell with him. It’s revealed in Scripture.
Satan has a hierarchy of angels that he patterned after the hierarchy that God had created amongst his angelic beings. We know that the Lord has revealed to us that there are archangels, there’s Seraphim, there’s Cherubim, and Satan copies everything God does except he cannot do anything good because he is evil. And so, his demonic angels and spirits war against the angels of God.
And the Scriptures tell us that God’s angels are his messengers to serve us and to be there on our behalf. Well, Lucifer and his demonic spirits and fallen angels had deceived the men of this world. And they’re still deceiving them today.
I want you to take a look at another Scripture. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 12, verse 1. And in Revelation, it’s revealing. The book of Revelation means the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the last days of history and his return and ultimately the new heavens and earth.
But in Revelation chapter 12, verse 1, we read about the war in heaven.
Revelation 12:1-2
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Now, I want you to understand the picture given here, as we’ve shared in one of the other messages that we brought when we were back in Daniel before, was a picture that Joseph had given in a dream where Jacob, his father, and his mother were stars, and then there were twelve other stars, and his father and mother, their heavenly bodies bowed down to his star because they would, because the Lord was going to set him apart to preserve the land of Israel.
It’s speaking of Israel and the descendants of Israel when it gives this picture. So, this woman is Israel. The child that she is bearing is the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, come through the line of Judah and David,and he would come, and he would be the fulfillment of the promise that had been given way back at the beginning of creation, when Adam first sinned, and it said, the seed of woman shall crush his head, crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent shall bruise his heel.
Jesus came through the nation of Israel. Satan hates the nation of Israel. Let’s go on and continue to read a little bit more.
Revelation 12:3-6
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred andthreescore days.
Now what you’ve been given is an overall summary of the last day events from the time that Israel was formed, to the time that Jesus was conceived and married, to the time He was born, to the time that Satan tried to kill Him as an infant, to the time that Jesus was crucified and caught back up to heaven, to the time that Satan and his demonic entitythat followed Him in rebellion against God will ultimately be cast down from heaven. And it’s going to occur during the last seven years, and specifically it will be during the last three and a half of those seven years. That is what that reveals to us.
Now, what does this have to do with the Antichrist? Well, let’s go and read what Paul has to say about that. And let’s go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.And I’d like to begin at verse 3. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel. Even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God which tries our hearts.
For neither at any time use we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness is witness, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others. Have we been burdensome as apostles of Christ? But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cheritheth her child. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, being you were dear unto us.
Now, Paul is speaking here of when they came with the gospel. And he’s saying, we’re not coming with this false gospel.We’re coming with the truth.
And our attitude and everything about us is the exact opposite of this man of perditionthat will be coming in the last days.Now, if you turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 2, I would like to read in 2 Thessalonians 2 what Paul says about this man of perdition. And you’ll see everything that characterizes the man of God is exact opposite in this man.
Let’s begin at verse 3 here as well.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-6
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Don’t you remember that when I was with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them who perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, and they should believe a lie,that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
And Paul says here to the Corinthian church, And did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now as these things were our examples, to the inherit we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be idolaters, as some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for our examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.Wherefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
There is no temptation taken you, but such is common to man. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
I speak to wise men. Judge ye that I say, the cup of blessing which we bless, it is not the communion of the blood of Christ. The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body.
Paul is talking there about the fact that there is going to come great deception in the Christians themselves. He is warning them, do not be deceived, do not follow the spirit of this age, but walk in Christ and realize what Christ has done for you.This morning we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.
We celebrated the bread and the cup, reminding us what Jesus had done for us. Well, there is coming a man who is coming by the spirit of Satan, who is coming with the attitude of Satan, which we read about in Isaiah chapter 14, who is exalted by pride and desires to come against the things of God. It is interesting as you look at what Daniel is revealing of this man.
He is coming in the last days and he is coming to the Middle East, and the Middle East is going to be his headquarters. I began the message this morning by talking about the fact that the Middle East is the focal of history, the focal point of real history. Because you have three continents that meet in Israel.
Europe, Asia and Africa. This has always been a tremendous trade area, an area where ideas came from, but it is also the area that God has chosen as His place that He will rule and reign when He comes back to earth. Today in our culture, we have a spirit that is running rampant through conservative circles as well as the church.
It is a spirit of anti-Zionism and coming against the Jewish people, anti-Semitism. If you look at what is Zionism, Zionism at the heart of Zion is the fact that God’s mountain is Mount Zion, and that is where the temple that He will establish one day to rule and reign for a thousand years will come back. It is the point that the whole world wants is Jerusalem and Mount Zion.
The Jews were given the land of Israel, and it is in multiple portions of Scripture, to inherit from the Lord because it is the Lord’s land, not any man’s. And being it is God’s land, He can entrust it to whomever He wants. He entrusted it to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The Antichrist, when he comes, one of the first things that he is going to see is what we see today, tremendous fighting in the Middle East, people coming against Israel. And the world tells us that what he is going to do, the first thing he is going to do, is he is going to come and offer himself as a man of peace, who will be able to prevent the nations of the world from attacking Israel. And there are two events that are going to kick off what we refer to as the time of Jacob’s trouble,the tribulation, and then the last three and a half years, the great tribulation,culminating in the judgment of mankind.
The first event, Paul talks about in Thessalonians as well, and he also talks about it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which we looked at a couple of Sundays ago. It is the rapture. I want you to know that the church today, one of the things that they do not emphasize is the rapture.
When we looked at the rapture in the past, and when we also looked at the ten virgins a few weeks ago, we were admonished by the Lord to be prepared, because none of us know the day or the hour when He shall come to gather His church unto Himself. We stand free from experiencing His judgment for our sins, but we will stand before Him with accountability for what we have done, what He has entrusted to us. And one day, if you are a believer in Christ, you are going to have to stand before Him and say, this is what I did with what you gave to me.
When you placed people before me to share the gospel with. When you told me to live my life in obedience so I could be a light in the midst of darkness of the reality of your existence. And we will have to give an account for it.
That is going to be the behemoth seed of Christ. That will occur at the rapture right before when we go into the marriage supper of the Lamb, which is referred to in Revelation. The second great event that is going to occur is a peace treaty that is going to be brought between Israel and all of their enemies in the Middle East.
And this peace treaty is going to have Israel at peace with their enemies for three and a half years. But at the midpoint of this peace treaty, the temple will be rebuilt by the Jewish people,and they will be offering sacrifices again. That is what the scriptures say.
The Antichrist is going to reveal his true character at the midpoint, and he is going to come against the Jewish people. He is going to enter the temple. He is going to do what Antichrist Epiphanes did when he entered the temple.
He is not going to offer a pig on the altar. What he is going to do is say, I am God, worship me.There are a number of events, and we are running out of time, so I will just capsulate some of these events that will occur that will draw people and make them think that he is God.
It says that he is going to suffer some type of a head wound. And this head wound will appear like it is a wound unto death. But then he is going to come alive again.
Bible scholars, no one knows specifically what is the cause of his resurrection, if God allows Satan to have power for the deception. We have AI today where you can have AI images on your computer today that look like real people, speak like real people. They can make images of you and me.
They also have the ability to do holograms. I could be a hologram speaking to you this morning,and unless you came up and tried to touch me, you would think I was a real person. The technology is there to do these things.
I don’t know what is going to happen. All I know is that that is going to be one of the points that is going to really turn the world towards him. And there are other things that will be happening,like two witnesses will be coming that will be Old Testament saints.
They will be rising from the dead. They will be coming specifically to the nation of Israel. They will be witnessing in Jerusalem.
They will witness for the first three and a half years of the Tribulation about the fact that the Jewish people need to turn to God, and those that are alive in the world need to realize God is the true God, not the Antichrist, not Satan. And the world will hate them. And at the midpoint of the Tribulation, they will be able to be killed by the Antichrist.
And it says that their bodies will lay in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. And they will be like Christmas to the world. Because they are going to go about rejoicing that these men that have been preaching against their man, the Antichrist, are dead.
But then they will be raised again from the dead and ascend into heaven. And the world will become shocked, but not repentant. The Antichrist is going to be a very unique individual.
He comes with flattering words. He has a mouth that gives all the answers that people want to hear. People will be drawn to him like a magnet.
Now it’s interesting. If you look at the spirit of the age in which we live, people are being trained to look for a man that can give them the answers. Do you know that people in Israel today, who are not believers in Jesus Christ, are looking for a Messiah? Did you know that the Islamic people, people who follow Mohammed in the Islamic religion, are looking for their Messiah? Did you know that the New Age people are looking for their New Age Messiah? All of them look at the fact that this man will have tremendous abilities.
He will be able to solve all problems that no other man could solve. And they will be willfully willing to follow him. The world is being set up.
The world is being set up that man has got the answers. And that man has the solutions. We just need to realize and have the right man come and follow him.
As the world is set up for this, you and I need to understand the battle that we’re in. And we need to understand that God has called us, in the midst of this battle, to share the gospel. And to be used by God’s Spirit, that He may open people’s eyes, that they can understand the truth.
And be set free before the day is too late, and the deception is too far, and they are to the point of no return. We live in perilous times. And we live in times that God talked about.
So how do we do it? Well, first of all, you need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you haven’t accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you’re on the wrong side. You’re worshiping the wrong guy.
If you possess an attitude that is one of self-centeredness, and I want to exalt myself, you are identifying with Satan and the Antichrist, not the Spirit of Jesus Christ. If you are walking in your old nature and desirous of the things of this worldmore than you’re desirous of God, you need to find out who you’ve given your allegiance to and who you’re following.And this morning, if you have not given your heart to Jesus Christ, you need to give it this morning.
As you look around, the events in the world today are aligning themselves like they’ve never aligned them before. In the Middle East, you’ve got Russia, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Turkeybecoming very much more integrated. Turkey just this last week said that they needed to get these other countries to come against Israel.
It’s written in the Bible that that’s going to happen in the last days. Never before. So, the first thing you do is accept Jesus.
The second thing you do, if you’re a Christian, you need to understand the hour in which you live and you need to realize the importance of the things that God has placed before you to do,the people that He has given you opportunities to share the Gospel with, and you need to do that. And we need to be prepared and understand that there’s a spirit of Antichristthat’s been in our world ever since the Apostle Paul was sharing the Gospel. But there’s been a greater spirit, and that’s God’s Holy Spirit, that indwells those, and He is the restrainer of this Antichrist spirit.
But one day, you and I will be taken, and we’ll no longer have the opportunity to witness to those that we care about. Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that you just help us to understand a little bit about the Antichrist, help us understand whose spirit he possesses, who he’s placed in this world by and for, what his purpose is, and how Satan desires to use him to deceive the world.
Help us not to be deceived. And Your Word tells us that if we walk in the power of Your Spirit,even though we may be tempted, You are there for us to deliver us from the moment of temptation that we will not fall into deception. Lord, go with us now, we pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.