Sermon starts at 47:30
I watched a great football game recently. Unbeaten Alabama faced off with Texas A & M. It was neck and neck up to the very last second. The score was tie 38-38 with one second on the clock when the kicker put a 28-yard field goal through the uprights to win the game 41-38. Texas A & M fans flooded the field, filled with jubilation at the win! Who cared about the $100,000 fine against the school? Who would have guessed the mighty Crimson Tide would lose to a team coached by one of Nick Sabin’s former assistant coaches. It just made the win that much sweeter for the Aggies.
We too are in a pitched battle between two enemies: this godless world run by Satan at war with our glorious God. But we don’t have to wait until the last second to know who wins. That’s the beauty of God’s prophetic Word we’ve seen in Daniel. We know who wins. Biblical prophecy feeds our faith. We can see the direction of this world and the mystery of iniquity at work and we’re excited about the coming rapture and end times. It feeds our hope. No question, Christ is coming back to rule this world and everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure (1 John 3:3). It feeds our understanding of God’s plan for this world and the goal of history. History is not cyclical and purposeless; it’s linear, guided by our sovereign God. We’re heading somewhere. There’s an “end zone” in this great battle between God and the devil. It feeds our joy knowing Christ is going to bring resolution. He’s going to return and judge and reward and set up His glorious kingdom and we’re coming with Him. We have every reason to be excited about the prophetic Word, regardless of pandemics and Marxism and all the other evils of our times. A day of jubilation is coming for all God’s people.
We are nearing the end of Daniel. We are closing in on that last seven-year period we saw in Daniel 9:27. We’re anticipating the rapture of the church at any moment and then the world will enter a time of unparalleled tribulation with a man called the Antichrist fighting for global dominance. Daniel gives us six major factors of this end time: 1) the final world ruler, 2) the final Middle East conflict, 3) the unprecedented great tribulation, 4) the great rescue, 5) a glorious resurrection, 6) a glorious reward. We’re looking at the first three today.
#1 THE FINAL WORLD RULER – vv. 36-39
Daniel 11:36-39, “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 “But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 “He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.
Most conservative biblical scholars see a jump to the future in verse 36 from Antiochus Epiphanes of the 2nd century BC to this end time willful king. The history of man in rebellion against God culminates in this final, godless, blasphemous world ruler, known as the Antichrist. Let’s list his characteristics from this text.
- He does as he pleases, accountable to no one since he’s a dictator.
- He exalts and magnifies himself above all gods.
- He speaks monstrous blasphemy against God.
- He’ll prosper until the end, fulfilling the sovereign decree and purpose of God, vs. 36.
- He has no regard for any god or the desire of women, which may mean Jewish women’s desire to be the chosen vessel to bring in the Messiah. Or it could mean his has no romantic inclinations. Most ancient kings had their harems. He has no interest.
- He magnifies himself above all gods. We’ve seen from 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13 that he enters the temple of God and declares himself to be God and demands universal worship. Jesus refers to this as the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15.
- He honors raw power, a god of fortresses in vs. 38. He idolizes military power. He will have the power and wealth to develop a massive nuclear arsenal. He will have the power and money to fortify his global cause. There is only one way to bring the world under his authority – obliterate anyone who opposes him and his global purpose. This man will build the greatest military ever. He becomes a totalitarian, demonic tyrant empowered and motivated by Satan himself (Rev. 13:2). Those who refuse to bow to his authority will face something like the guillotine, something that kills his enemies (Rev. 20:4).
- He takes action against the strongest of fortresses, the greatest of his enemies, bringing the world under his authority.
- He’ll give great honor to world rulers who submit to him and assign to them great portions of land and people (vs. 39).
- He’ll face a great military offensive in the first half of the seven-year tribulation period, perhaps be assassinated and rise from the dead, end his treaty with Israel (we saw this in Daniel 9:27), and launch the great tribulation period. That’s when things get really ugly.
We don’t know if he is a Jew or Gentile. And he is not without great opposition from other world powers, as we’ll now see. Students of prophecy are divided on the identity of the king of the north and the king of the south. These are probably coalitions that mount up against the Antichrist in the first half of the tribulation period, described as the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39.
#2 THE FINAL MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT – vss. 40-45
Daniel 11:40-45, “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 “But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
This final Middle East conflict takes place in the first half of the seven-year tribulation period. God is sovereignly moving world events around Jerusalem and Israel to bring the Antichrist to final power and then preparing the world for Christ’s return. This isn’t the battle of Armageddon as that takes place at the end of the tribulation period.
There are three major players in these verses. In verse 40 the king of the south, Egypt and perhaps an Arab block coalition, will try to drive the Antichrist out of Palestine. This will stir up the king of the North, probably Russia and other nations to the north of Palestine. This northern coalition will invade Palestine like a tornado, entering the Beautiful Land and possibly killing the Antichrist. Then in verses 42-43 he will move with lightning speed into Egypt bringing it all under control and enriching himself with great treasures.
Verse 44 says the king of the north hears rumors from the east and north – this may be news of resurrection of the Antichrist from his fatal wound we read about in Revelation 13:3-4. The king of the north storms back up to Palestine, but God supernaturally wipes him out with fire from heaven, “I will rain on him and his troops…a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone” (Ezekiel 38:22).
This is when the Antichrist gains world-wide worship. Revelation 13:4, “They worshipped the beast saying, ‘Who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him?’” This resurrection, whether real or fake, is the key to the Antichrist’s global rule. He is Satan’s counterfeit who now achieves global dominance. The world may see him as the great messiah bringing the world freedom from that awful repressive Christianity. Listen to 2 Thessalonians 2:11.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Verse 45 speaks of the end of either the king of the north or the Antichrist. I have friends on both sides of the aisle on that one. I tend to think verse 45 is talking about the inglorious end of the king of the north, which launches us into the second half of the tribulation period to follow.
#3 THE UNPRECEDENTED GREAT TRIBULATION – Daniel 12:1
Daniel 12:1, Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
We are now in the middle of the seven-year tribulation and three and one-half years away from the coming of Christ to cleanse this world of sin. The history of evil, cruelty, persecution, and violence culminate in an effort by the Antichrist to purge the world of all vestiges of God and the Jews. But of course, God is sovereign and has a plan. He has one high-level angel, Michael, to assist in protecting and preserving Israel as a nation. Now we’ll have to piece other prophecies together to get a full picture of these last three and one-half years.
Unparalleled Distress
Jesus gives us indicators of this coming time of distress in Matthew 24:5-21 when his disciples asked Him about the signs of the end of the age. He warns of false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, strong anti-Jewish hatred and murders, betrayal by family, increased lawlessness, love grown cold, and the gospel preached to the whole world. Then in Matthew 24:15 Jesus says when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, head for the hills, literally! In verse 21 Jesus warns, “For then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” Jesus is quoting Daniel 12:1 and the description of this time of distress.
Unparalleled Persecution
We have to go to Revelation 13 to get a feel for the persecution especially against the Jews, but also against Gentiles who refuse to submit to the Antichrist’s rule.
Revelation 13:7-8, It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
Revelation 13:15-17, And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Then in a description of the coming millennial kingdom, John writes:
Revelation 20:4, Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Where’s God in all this? He’s not silent. God’s purpose in the tribulation is to pour out judgments on the nations and also to draw His people Israel back to Himself. Believing Jews will look on Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10). God will protect the 144,000 Jewish believers (12,000 from each tribe) all the way to the end through all the horrors of a global holocaust. There will be a price to pay for those who submit to the Antichrist. These are some of the strongest words in the Bible about coming judgment and we don’t take them lightly. These words should break our hearts as we think of lost loved ones and friends who reject Christ and bow to the pressure of the Antichrist.
Revelation 14:9-11, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
The Battle of Armageddon
These last three and one-half years of the great tribulation will end with Satan’s demons drawing the world armies to Palestine for that final battle of Armageddon just before Christ returns.
Revelation 16:13-14,16, And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty…. 16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
With their resurrected world ruler and blasphemer leading the way for the final showdown, Christ returns on the Mount of Olives and fights against those nations gathered against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:3).
Revelation 17:12-14, The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.
If you didn’t get it the first time, John repeats for us…
Revelation 19:19-20, And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
That’s not social justice; that’s true justice. This is how the great seven-year tribulation period ends. Where will we believers in Christ be? Check out Revelation 19:14 “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him (Christ) on white horses.” Here we come in our new glorified Christ-like bodies on the best horseback ride we’ll ever have! What an invasion that will be as heaven’s armies invade Satan’s kingdom and bring justice and peace to this world!
Christ will return as the glorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords! You want to be on His side. Make sure you are covered by His righteousness and secure in His victory.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Next time we meet we’ll finish the last three major factors of the end times: Rescue, Resurrection, and Reward. And we’ll take a peek into that wonderful kingdom when Christ personally rules over this entire globe.
Be sure you’re on His side by personally placing your faith in Him and His work of salvation on that cross, where He took the punishment for your sin. Be sure your heart is submitted to Him as your Lord of Lords and King of Kings. John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”