The Tribulation People
15 Wars of Kings
Following our discussion regarding the identity and activity of ‘Mystery Babylon’, (aka the scarlet woman, the harlot), we want to re mention the main characters of the tribulation, as Revelation presents them, and then consider how Daniel 11 identifies these same people. Once we do that, we will examine the events of the tribulation as Daniel presents them.
The tribulation people mainly fall into two groups: those for Christ and those against.
Those on Christ’s side, would be:
a) all of those who put their trust in Jesus for salvation,
b) One hundred forty-four thousand Israelites who are wearing a (invisible?) seal of protection on their foreheads,
c) two witnesses who have been granted incredible powers to bring plagues upon the unbelievers, calling them to repentance.
And then those who are against Christ:
a) The beast with seven heads, and the false prophet who tries to force the whole world into worshiping the beast,
b) A harlot riding on the back of the beast that has something to do with immense wealth and luxury and control over the beast,
c) Ten kingdoms (horns) who join themselves with the beast for a short time in order to destroy the harlot,
d) the hordes of lost, unsaved people who are suffering severely because of the plagues being brought down on them by the two witnesses.
And finally we have:
an ‘in between’ group, and that is a remnant of Israel who do not accept the false prophet as their messiah, do not take the mark of the beast … but also have not committed themselves to Jesus. They go into hiding for three and half years, until they see Jesus coming down to this earth.
So those are the tribulation people.
Let’s turn to Daniel chapter 11 and see how the angel talking with Daniel, describes the tribulation people. Regarding the passage we are about to look at, I must say, like many other prophecy scriptures, not all bible scholars agree.
Some see Daniel 11:21 to Daniel 12, as having been already fulfilled by the year AD 70. Others say that the verses from 11:21 up to a certain point, have been fulfilled 400 years before Christ, by an army led by Antiochus Epiphenes. But most are uncertain as to how many verses to include before applying some of the verses to the future tribulation.
I am taking the position, quite positively I might add, that even though some of these verses look like they were fulfilled four hundred years before Christ, there is so much clear correlation with Revelation and with Jesus words about the tribulation in Matthew 24 and elsewhere, that I am saying all of the verses from Daniel 11:21 and right into chapter 12, are all future. That is my position and that is how I will be commenting on this section.
We start reading at verse 21.
21 ¶ In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
I will not address “In whose place?” But I will just point out that we can call this man, a contemptible man”, receiving a kingdom, not by human or biological succession to the throne, but as an outsider.
He becomes king by his talk. King over which country? It becomes clear in a few verses. So for now, let’s get this … an unnamed, contemptuous person becomes king of a country somewhere.
22 Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.
Through his use of words and politics, he seems to gain control of a great army. He also gains control of another army containing a prince of the covenant. This second army seems to come under his control. Armies are swept away before him. They are conquered by him. The prince of the covenant refers to the leader of Israel at the time. This leader is, like Israel’s army, also ‘broken’. The leader of Israel will be at this man’s disposal.
Here is our first clue that he is working with Israel, the ‘prince of the covenant’ (that would be the Jewish covenant) is broken, or falls under his spell. It would seem we might be talking about the high priest if this were in Jesus’ day. But in reality, we are probably talking about the number one man, the Prime Minister.
23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people.
This king with no name makes an alliance and becomes firmly in agreement with a small people. This refers to the people of Israel. Note, so far we don’t know which country he calls home.
The alliance made with him marks the beginning of the tribulation. This man with no name is the antichrist.
24 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.
Two things to note here. His agreement with this small people nets him plunder and riches with which he can benefit his own home country.
The second thing to note is that there are some ‘strongholds’ somewhere in the world that he must prepare to eliminate if he is to actually be king of the world.
So far, if we use our current world scene to try to understand what this would or could look like, we will see that America has held the place of cooperation, protection and support of Israel for the last number of years. America has held a dominant position in the world in the last 50 or 60 years or so.
Before the tribulation period can come, this will have to change. For this unknown person to suddenly become firm with Israel, Israel would have to switch alliances. The USA which protects Israel, ‘for a price’, will, in the future, be replaced.
We have no idea if the USA makes the first move by dropping Israel, or if the USA merely seems to be benefitting Israel less and less, and so Israel switches their allegiance to this new unknown king and his country.
Notice this king will devise plans against the ‘stronghold’ country and army, for ‘a time’. Daniel’s use of the word time is actually quite specific. He means one year. We understand that from the phrase, “for time, times and half a time”. That same wording is used in Revelation and means three and a half years.
So what happens after this ‘time’ of devising a plan?
25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.
Here we are introduced to a second king, but this one has a name, King of the South. South of where? We are not told directly … either south of where the other king comes from, or south of Israel. More about this in a moment.
A huge battle, war, ensues. No doubt there will be much blood shed. Now, this should begin to sound familiar with what we know of Revelation.
In chapter 6 a white horse goes out conquering. A seemingly good guy. He promotes some kind of peace … but this is that unknown king which becomes strong with Israel. In Revelation we read about a red horse appearing next, and peace is taken from the earth (this is no local battle happening in the middle east) and there is much blood shed.
So as we expand on verse 25 here, we realize that if we were in Revelation reading about this same event, it would have to do with what the red horse of Revelation 6 is all about.
The battle is huge. The king of the south is unable to win this battle, why? Because of the ‘plots devised against him’. In other words, this battle was well planned by the king with no name.
26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
We get a bit of clue as to why the King of the south did not win. The king with no name ‘corrupted’ or persuaded some of the Southern king’s allies to join the king with no name.
The result? Many fall down slain.
27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed.
We understand from this verse that there was no decided victory. The king with no name (whom I will say is the false prophet, the antichrist who will work with Israel) sits at a peace talk table with the king of the south. If you haven't seen it by now, this is the harlot of revelation. The scarlet woman. The King of the South.
The purpose of sitting at a table together, is to work out a peace agreement. Most likely the agreement would have something to do with a mutual agreement to do some ‘disarming’.
But BOTH kings lied. That is, neither one did any disarming, but probably went back home and armed themselves to the teeth in case there might be another battle.
The end, says the angel to Daniel, is to be at the ‘time’ appointed.
The king with no name goes home.
28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
We are not clearly told where he gets all this wealth to take back home with him, but I am thinking it has something to do with the outcome of the war. The king of the South, Babylon, the harlot, is not destroyed, but has made some concessions. These concessions added to the wealth of the king with no name.
As he goes home we note that he is not happy with the deal that he made with Israel … that is, he is against ‘the holy covenant’. He is not a Jew, but in order to become strong with the Jewish people, he must have made some special arrangements regarding the Jews and their covenant.
From what I read elsewhere in Daniel, this king with no name is instrumental in bringing in temple sacrifices for Israel. This must have been part of the two-way deal. “I will give you protection, I will build your temple for you, in exchange for what you can give me.” This is rather over-simplified, but I think it makes the point.
So this king, even though he made this agreement with the Jews, he does not like it. This man is an atheist. Paul tells us that in 2 Thessalonians. The antichrist, this unnamed king, does not like the fact that he has encouraged, permitted and enabled the Jews to worship Jehovah in a temple.
What can he do about it? Can he go back on his word? Can he just put a stop to the sacrifices? The answer is only, maybe. But the king of the South is still around. The king of the south is and has been, pro-Israel all along.
The antichrist's thinking seems to be that he should rid himself of the king of the south. Then he would be free to do whatever he wants in Israel.
So, ‘at the time appointed’, I think a year after the first peace talks,
29 "At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.
How was it before? The war ended after a lot of blood shed … but neither one came out a clear winner. This time it will not be like that.
30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
We cannot be certain about the ‘ships of Kittim’ and their part in this battle. All we know is that their involvement balanced the war in the favor of the king of the South.
This causes the king with no name, the antichrist, to go back home enraged and decides to take it out on the Jews. He intends to violate his agreement with the Jews. To do so, he goes to those Jews that have no regard for the covenant that makes Jews God’s special people. They are atheistic Jews.
31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Although this abomination that makes desolate’ was done by Antiochus, and it may have been done by the Romans in AD 70, this will be done halfway through the tribulation. This is the event that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 and this is also the event that apostle Paul spoke of.
2 Thess 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
The antichrist, sitting in the temple claiming to be God … is the abomination.
Daniel 11:32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
With his smooth talk he seduces the Jews who do not believe in God. But believers will stand strong and take some kind of action. What kind?
My guess is, that if the believers did not know these are the last days, they know it now. They know it will soon be too late for people to accept Christ. They know that the beast, the king with no name, will soon be issuing a mark system that will control buying and selling. They know that if anyone takes the mark they will be lost forever.
So this is the time for earnest prayer and action. Evangelize all whom you can, will be the cry.
33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
At the time of the abomination of desolation in the temple, it marks the midpoint of the tribulation period. Although evangelism leads many to Christ, the cost for many is martyrdom. But help is on the way.
34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery,
They receive help in the form of two witnesses. These two will be a terrific pain to the antichrist and his kingdom, but it will really help to reach others for Christ. But not all who become believers will be genuine. Some people will join superficially and soon become betrayers.
35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
Some of the ‘wise’ will need purifying. This sounds like Revelation 3:14 ¶ "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 "’I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Suffering, enduring suffering that is, has a very positive benefit. It has a purifying effect on God’s elect.
As the second half of the tribulation unfolds, we read, Daniel 11:36 "And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.
38 He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
He will sit in the Jews’ temple and defy their God by saying that he is God. He will honor the god of force or muscle. He will embellish his armed forces (The beast) and cause it to be worshiped.
Divide the land for a price? I am not sure, but I believe he is referring to Israel, which he now considers his.
40 "At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.
At the time of the end of the tribulation. Mystery Babylon, the Harlot, the king of the south, and to my understanding the USA and her allies, initiates an attack against the beast. She is not happy with the loot all going to the king of the North. (by the way, now we finally know where he is from).
She attacks. But remember what we read in Revelation … the ten horns join the beast and totally destroy the harlot.
The believers are all gone at this point. This is the seventh bowl of God’s wrath. He has put into the hearts of the ten kings to help the beast, the king of the north, to totally wipe out the king of the south, Babylon, the USA.
After the king of the north finishes destroying the scarlet woman, he is totally free to go into Israel and pillage her completely.
41 He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.
42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train.
Ezekiel describes this battle/takeover in great detail.
Eze 38:15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
A terrifying and total destruction of unbelieving Israel. They are gone forever. But we remember that the remnant of God-fearing Israelites, roughly one third of the total number, has been protected in a hiding place outside of Israel somewhere.
Along with destroying Israel, this evil king of the north, antichrist, continues decimating other small countries in that same area. Very likely these smaller countries had sympathies toward Israel perhaps, open misgivings regarding antichrist.
We read in Daniel 11:41 that several gentile countries escape from the king of the north.
At this point in time the antichrist has removed most of his opposition. The USA is gone, Israel is gone, several smaller countries are gone, all Christians are gone including the two witnesses. But one area of opposition still exists.
Daniel 11:44 But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.
This agrees with Revelation which states;
Re 16:12 ¶ The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
So the final scene is, antichrist, king of the north is troubled to hear news regarding kings of the east. They are mobile and are heading for Jerusalem. Antichrist has been proudly sitting in Jerusalem, thinking that he is king of the world.
Daniel 11:45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.
We read earlier, “he shall go out with great fury to destroy…” He thinks he has one last battle to fight. But God has other plans for him.
Now that Gog, the king of the north, the beast, has been led by God to remove all of unbelieving Israel, God is finished with Gog and takes him out …. In the battle of Armageddon.
Jesus comes to earth from heaven, from the wedding supper, (Revelation 19) with His bride and many angelic forces.
Then this happens:
Ezekiel 38:21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.
The antichrist and his beast, the kings of the east … are gone. They are in the lake of fire.
Jesus is back with his bride. The bride, all believers have been translated. That is, they now are dwelling in their eternal, immortal bodies. Jesus is going to rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years, and His bride rules with.
Who still remains on this earth, still living in their mortal bodies. Who has not been destroyed in the battle of armageddon?
The God fearing remnant of Jews for one. They will inherit the kingdom.
There will be numbers of unbelievers who were living somewhere on this globe who were not soldiers and did not gather at Megiddo for that last battle.
They cannot all be allowed to live in Christ’s millennial kingdom until after He has had a chance to address them and put them through a sorting process.
Matt 25:31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
The ‘sheep’ you will notice, had not been taken up to heaven in the rapture. This means that they were unsaved at the time of the rapture. Maybe many of them are saved, after having heard the testimony of believing neighbors, and then having witnessed their disappearance in the rapture. At any rate, they were left behind, but now are appearing before Christ, on this earth, at a judgment.
The goats … clearly still unbelievers, are sorted out and removed to the lake of fire.
Matt 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
So much more could be said on this topic, but this concludes the study, Wars of kings.
The tribulation people mainly fall into two groups: those for Christ and those against.
Those on Christ’s side, would be:
a) all of those who put their trust in Jesus for salvation,
b) One hundred forty-four thousand Israelites who are wearing a (invisible?) seal of protection on their foreheads,
c) two witnesses who have been granted incredible powers to bring plagues upon the unbelievers, calling them to repentance.
And then those who are against Christ:
a) The beast with seven heads, and the false prophet who tries to force the whole world into worshiping the beast,
b) A harlot riding on the back of the beast that has something to do with immense wealth and luxury and control over the beast,
c) Ten kingdoms (horns) who join themselves with the beast for a short time in order to destroy the harlot,
d) the hordes of lost, unsaved people who are suffering severely because of the plagues being brought down on them by the two witnesses.
And finally we have:
an ‘in between’ group, and that is a remnant of Israel who do not accept the false prophet as their messiah, do not take the mark of the beast … but also have not committed themselves to Jesus. They go into hiding for three and half years, until they see Jesus coming down to this earth.
So those are the tribulation people.
Let’s turn to Daniel chapter 11 and see how the angel talking with Daniel, describes the tribulation people. Regarding the passage we are about to look at, I must say, like many other prophecy scriptures, not all bible scholars agree.
Some see Daniel 11:21 to Daniel 12, as having been already fulfilled by the year AD 70. Others say that the verses from 11:21 up to a certain point, have been fulfilled 400 years before Christ, by an army led by Antiochus Epiphenes. But most are uncertain as to how many verses to include before applying some of the verses to the future tribulation.
I am taking the position, quite positively I might add, that even though some of these verses look like they were fulfilled four hundred years before Christ, there is so much clear correlation with Revelation and with Jesus words about the tribulation in Matthew 24 and elsewhere, that I am saying all of the verses from Daniel 11:21 and right into chapter 12, are all future. That is my position and that is how I will be commenting on this section.
We start reading at verse 21.
21 ¶ In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
I will not address “In whose place?” But I will just point out that we can call this man, a contemptible man”, receiving a kingdom, not by human or biological succession to the throne, but as an outsider.
He becomes king by his talk. King over which country? It becomes clear in a few verses. So for now, let’s get this … an unnamed, contemptuous person becomes king of a country somewhere.
22 Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.
Through his use of words and politics, he seems to gain control of a great army. He also gains control of another army containing a prince of the covenant. This second army seems to come under his control. Armies are swept away before him. They are conquered by him. The prince of the covenant refers to the leader of Israel at the time. This leader is, like Israel’s army, also ‘broken’. The leader of Israel will be at this man’s disposal.
Here is our first clue that he is working with Israel, the ‘prince of the covenant’ (that would be the Jewish covenant) is broken, or falls under his spell. It would seem we might be talking about the high priest if this were in Jesus’ day. But in reality, we are probably talking about the number one man, the Prime Minister.
23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people.
This king with no name makes an alliance and becomes firmly in agreement with a small people. This refers to the people of Israel. Note, so far we don’t know which country he calls home.
The alliance made with him marks the beginning of the tribulation. This man with no name is the antichrist.
24 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.
Two things to note here. His agreement with this small people nets him plunder and riches with which he can benefit his own home country.
The second thing to note is that there are some ‘strongholds’ somewhere in the world that he must prepare to eliminate if he is to actually be king of the world.
So far, if we use our current world scene to try to understand what this would or could look like, we will see that America has held the place of cooperation, protection and support of Israel for the last number of years. America has held a dominant position in the world in the last 50 or 60 years or so.
Before the tribulation period can come, this will have to change. For this unknown person to suddenly become firm with Israel, Israel would have to switch alliances. The USA which protects Israel, ‘for a price’, will, in the future, be replaced.
We have no idea if the USA makes the first move by dropping Israel, or if the USA merely seems to be benefitting Israel less and less, and so Israel switches their allegiance to this new unknown king and his country.
Notice this king will devise plans against the ‘stronghold’ country and army, for ‘a time’. Daniel’s use of the word time is actually quite specific. He means one year. We understand that from the phrase, “for time, times and half a time”. That same wording is used in Revelation and means three and a half years.
So what happens after this ‘time’ of devising a plan?
25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.
Here we are introduced to a second king, but this one has a name, King of the South. South of where? We are not told directly … either south of where the other king comes from, or south of Israel. More about this in a moment.
A huge battle, war, ensues. No doubt there will be much blood shed. Now, this should begin to sound familiar with what we know of Revelation.
In chapter 6 a white horse goes out conquering. A seemingly good guy. He promotes some kind of peace … but this is that unknown king which becomes strong with Israel. In Revelation we read about a red horse appearing next, and peace is taken from the earth (this is no local battle happening in the middle east) and there is much blood shed.
So as we expand on verse 25 here, we realize that if we were in Revelation reading about this same event, it would have to do with what the red horse of Revelation 6 is all about.
The battle is huge. The king of the south is unable to win this battle, why? Because of the ‘plots devised against him’. In other words, this battle was well planned by the king with no name.
26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
We get a bit of clue as to why the King of the south did not win. The king with no name ‘corrupted’ or persuaded some of the Southern king’s allies to join the king with no name.
The result? Many fall down slain.
27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed.
We understand from this verse that there was no decided victory. The king with no name (whom I will say is the false prophet, the antichrist who will work with Israel) sits at a peace talk table with the king of the south. If you haven't seen it by now, this is the harlot of revelation. The scarlet woman. The King of the South.
The purpose of sitting at a table together, is to work out a peace agreement. Most likely the agreement would have something to do with a mutual agreement to do some ‘disarming’.
But BOTH kings lied. That is, neither one did any disarming, but probably went back home and armed themselves to the teeth in case there might be another battle.
The end, says the angel to Daniel, is to be at the ‘time’ appointed.
The king with no name goes home.
28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
We are not clearly told where he gets all this wealth to take back home with him, but I am thinking it has something to do with the outcome of the war. The king of the South, Babylon, the harlot, is not destroyed, but has made some concessions. These concessions added to the wealth of the king with no name.
As he goes home we note that he is not happy with the deal that he made with Israel … that is, he is against ‘the holy covenant’. He is not a Jew, but in order to become strong with the Jewish people, he must have made some special arrangements regarding the Jews and their covenant.
From what I read elsewhere in Daniel, this king with no name is instrumental in bringing in temple sacrifices for Israel. This must have been part of the two-way deal. “I will give you protection, I will build your temple for you, in exchange for what you can give me.” This is rather over-simplified, but I think it makes the point.
So this king, even though he made this agreement with the Jews, he does not like it. This man is an atheist. Paul tells us that in 2 Thessalonians. The antichrist, this unnamed king, does not like the fact that he has encouraged, permitted and enabled the Jews to worship Jehovah in a temple.
What can he do about it? Can he go back on his word? Can he just put a stop to the sacrifices? The answer is only, maybe. But the king of the South is still around. The king of the south is and has been, pro-Israel all along.
The antichrist's thinking seems to be that he should rid himself of the king of the south. Then he would be free to do whatever he wants in Israel.
So, ‘at the time appointed’, I think a year after the first peace talks,
29 "At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.
How was it before? The war ended after a lot of blood shed … but neither one came out a clear winner. This time it will not be like that.
30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
We cannot be certain about the ‘ships of Kittim’ and their part in this battle. All we know is that their involvement balanced the war in the favor of the king of the South.
This causes the king with no name, the antichrist, to go back home enraged and decides to take it out on the Jews. He intends to violate his agreement with the Jews. To do so, he goes to those Jews that have no regard for the covenant that makes Jews God’s special people. They are atheistic Jews.
31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Although this abomination that makes desolate’ was done by Antiochus, and it may have been done by the Romans in AD 70, this will be done halfway through the tribulation. This is the event that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 and this is also the event that apostle Paul spoke of.
2 Thess 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
The antichrist, sitting in the temple claiming to be God … is the abomination.
Daniel 11:32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
With his smooth talk he seduces the Jews who do not believe in God. But believers will stand strong and take some kind of action. What kind?
My guess is, that if the believers did not know these are the last days, they know it now. They know it will soon be too late for people to accept Christ. They know that the beast, the king with no name, will soon be issuing a mark system that will control buying and selling. They know that if anyone takes the mark they will be lost forever.
So this is the time for earnest prayer and action. Evangelize all whom you can, will be the cry.
33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder.
At the time of the abomination of desolation in the temple, it marks the midpoint of the tribulation period. Although evangelism leads many to Christ, the cost for many is martyrdom. But help is on the way.
34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery,
They receive help in the form of two witnesses. These two will be a terrific pain to the antichrist and his kingdom, but it will really help to reach others for Christ. But not all who become believers will be genuine. Some people will join superficially and soon become betrayers.
35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
Some of the ‘wise’ will need purifying. This sounds like Revelation 3:14 ¶ "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 "’I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Suffering, enduring suffering that is, has a very positive benefit. It has a purifying effect on God’s elect.
As the second half of the tribulation unfolds, we read, Daniel 11:36 "And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.
38 He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
He will sit in the Jews’ temple and defy their God by saying that he is God. He will honor the god of force or muscle. He will embellish his armed forces (The beast) and cause it to be worshiped.
Divide the land for a price? I am not sure, but I believe he is referring to Israel, which he now considers his.
40 "At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.
At the time of the end of the tribulation. Mystery Babylon, the Harlot, the king of the south, and to my understanding the USA and her allies, initiates an attack against the beast. She is not happy with the loot all going to the king of the North. (by the way, now we finally know where he is from).
She attacks. But remember what we read in Revelation … the ten horns join the beast and totally destroy the harlot.
The believers are all gone at this point. This is the seventh bowl of God’s wrath. He has put into the hearts of the ten kings to help the beast, the king of the north, to totally wipe out the king of the south, Babylon, the USA.
After the king of the north finishes destroying the scarlet woman, he is totally free to go into Israel and pillage her completely.
41 He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.
42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train.
Ezekiel describes this battle/takeover in great detail.
Eze 38:15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
A terrifying and total destruction of unbelieving Israel. They are gone forever. But we remember that the remnant of God-fearing Israelites, roughly one third of the total number, has been protected in a hiding place outside of Israel somewhere.
Along with destroying Israel, this evil king of the north, antichrist, continues decimating other small countries in that same area. Very likely these smaller countries had sympathies toward Israel perhaps, open misgivings regarding antichrist.
We read in Daniel 11:41 that several gentile countries escape from the king of the north.
At this point in time the antichrist has removed most of his opposition. The USA is gone, Israel is gone, several smaller countries are gone, all Christians are gone including the two witnesses. But one area of opposition still exists.
Daniel 11:44 But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.
This agrees with Revelation which states;
Re 16:12 ¶ The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
So the final scene is, antichrist, king of the north is troubled to hear news regarding kings of the east. They are mobile and are heading for Jerusalem. Antichrist has been proudly sitting in Jerusalem, thinking that he is king of the world.
Daniel 11:45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.
We read earlier, “he shall go out with great fury to destroy…” He thinks he has one last battle to fight. But God has other plans for him.
Now that Gog, the king of the north, the beast, has been led by God to remove all of unbelieving Israel, God is finished with Gog and takes him out …. In the battle of Armageddon.
Jesus comes to earth from heaven, from the wedding supper, (Revelation 19) with His bride and many angelic forces.
Then this happens:
Ezekiel 38:21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.
The antichrist and his beast, the kings of the east … are gone. They are in the lake of fire.
Jesus is back with his bride. The bride, all believers have been translated. That is, they now are dwelling in their eternal, immortal bodies. Jesus is going to rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years, and His bride rules with.
Who still remains on this earth, still living in their mortal bodies. Who has not been destroyed in the battle of armageddon?
The God fearing remnant of Jews for one. They will inherit the kingdom.
There will be numbers of unbelievers who were living somewhere on this globe who were not soldiers and did not gather at Megiddo for that last battle.
They cannot all be allowed to live in Christ’s millennial kingdom until after He has had a chance to address them and put them through a sorting process.
Matt 25:31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
The ‘sheep’ you will notice, had not been taken up to heaven in the rapture. This means that they were unsaved at the time of the rapture. Maybe many of them are saved, after having heard the testimony of believing neighbors, and then having witnessed their disappearance in the rapture. At any rate, they were left behind, but now are appearing before Christ, on this earth, at a judgment.
The goats … clearly still unbelievers, are sorted out and removed to the lake of fire.
Matt 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
So much more could be said on this topic, but this concludes the study, Wars of kings.