What in the World is Going On?
The king of the south
Daniel 11:25-32
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. 26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall 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. 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.
29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.
30 “For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Daniel 11:25-32
How much of the above scripture refers to the past and how much to the future? See footnote.1
In our previous study an evil, powerful, conniving, smooth-talking man has gained a partnership with Israel, replacing whoever had been their ally up to that point. He has made an alliance that involves a seven year period. This evil person has taken steps to retain this alliance by increasing the size of his armed forces and by carefully plotting an attack against a stronghold which he saw as a threat.
This is the person that the Bible labels as 'The Man of Sin' in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This is the same person that is called 'Gog', the chief prince of Rosh (Russia) in Ezekiel 38.22 He is the one referred to as the 'The Beast' in Revelation 13. We commonly call him the Antichrist. (We have more or less identified the king of the north. Who is the king of the south? We will go into detail regarding this in a later session.)
Between Daniel 11:21 and Daniel 12 several wars occur. World Wars. These all take place in the final seven years of this age. I will refer to them as WW1 of the tribulation, WW2 and WW3. There is one more final battle which will be the fourth … it is called the Battle of Armageddon.
The first thing we can observe is the descriptive language about the size of the armies involved.
The King of the north initiates an attack … with his 'great army'. The King of the south enters the battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army.
In spite of having armed forces more powerful than the northern power, the southern king fails. We are told that his failure has to do with the scheming and plotting of the Antichrist (The King of the North).
Many people end up dead. This is the part where the Apostle John, while he was 'transported' up to heaven, sees a red horse, a rider with a sword, and the intent to remove peace from the earth.
Re 6:4 “And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”
Immediately John sees another horse: Re 6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.Re 6:6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
So great was this battle that food supplies on a global scale have become scarce.
Then a fourth horse and horseman:
Re 6:8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
This gives a gruesome summary of the results of global war. One quarter of the population … dead.
We are about to read about World war 2 … of the tribulation period. It is entirely possible that the 'Pale Horse' about which we have just read is actually referring to this war and not WW1 of the tribulation. At any rate, we do not want to minimize Daniel's statement: many shall fall down slain.
Since this is speaking of a future time, the weapons of warfare would be massive. This more than likely will involve nuclear weapons.
So, as great as the military strength of the King of the South is, the man from the north had some trick up his sleeve which decided the victory.
It would be hard to pick a favorite here. The scripture says that both of these leaders are evil. The time period we are looking at is the first part of the tribulation.
The first year of the seven was peace … on earth. This battle removes peace … globally. This is not some smaller localized battle happening in and around the holy land. This is world-wide.
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.
I am commenting on these verses as if this is a PAST event. All of this is still in the future.
Here we notice that these two leaders sit at the same table. This is after the first war. The purpose of this 'meeting' no doubt, is for a 'peace-talk'. The world had waited a very long time to see peace in the middle east. This 'year of peace' likely extended all over the world. People enjoyed this peace. But now it is gone. A world war has taken place.
So it is very fitting that the world will see two very great leaders sitting down and agreeing … “No more! Let's never do this again! Let's disarm. No more nuclear weapons!” They have peace-talks at a negotiating table … but they both lie.
“But to no avail”. In other words … its not over. Meanwhile …The King of the North has an agenda, and he is carrying it out.
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.
War is evil. Is it all about greed and wealth? That is a large part of it. But in this case we see the emerging of a super-ego. For him, (The King of the North) power plays a first place role.
He distributes wealth to his own country. As we pointed out last time, Russia is in financial straits. This should put the Russian people in a place to admire their strong, new leader.
We read that his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. This covenant can only refer to one thing … the Jewish connection to God through their newly re-established sacrificial system of worship. By the way, God does not revert back to the Old Testament system. Jesus was and is the Lamb Who was slain. But the Jews don't know that … or accept that. This 'Holy Covenant' is only in their minds, not in God's mind.
The King of the North is back home for the time being. His heart is against this covenant. In other words … he is planning to get rid of it. But what can he do? If he steps in now and puts a stop to the whole sacrificial system, what will the rest of the world think? What will the King of the South think. “What if he attacks … he has a mighty army!”
So he does this ...
29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south,
Because of the way that Daniel has used the word 'time', I think it is important to read it this way …
“At just the right time, about a year later, the king of the North goes against the south.”
He wants to put an end to the 'holy covenant', but to do that he really needs to take care of this southern 'stronghold'.
So here comes WW2 of the tribulation.
… but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 For ships of ...
Remember … in the disarmament talks … they both lied? The King of the South is ready for him. How great is this war? Daniel does not give specifics. But as we noted earlier the world is in rough shape. A quarter of the population (2 billion people!) wiped out. Famine everywhere, and the King of the North still does not have what he wants regarding Israel. He wants every hint of Jehovah God and the mention of His name removed!
30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Here is the same verse from the NIV: 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Just a reminder at this point … most bible prophecies have both a near fulfillment and a distant fulfillment. Many of the details of this prophecy were first fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes came from the north, Syria. His battlefield enemy, the King of the South was in Egypt. His desires were also against the holy covenant of the Jews. He defiled the Jewish worship system by placing the Abomination of Desolation in the temple. This is a couple of hundred years before Christ. But when Jesus refers to it in chapter 24 of Matthew, He speaks of it as something coming in the future. Nevertheless, even though Jesus was speaking of a future event, the historical events of two hundred years earlier were likely still being talked about. No doubt when Jesus mentions a coming 'Abomination of Desolation' being placed in the temple, the disciples must have thought ...“What? Again?”
So in the previous fulfillment, when Antiochus was the 'vile person', he was thwarted by Ships from Cyprus. How does this fit the future fulfillment? I have no specific information on that. It could be a similar thing … in other words, the King of the South may have some huge battle ships situated in the Mediterranean to 'join' forces with him, and this becomes the resistance that the King of the North is unable to defeat. So he goes back home … very angry.
This evil man, filled with rage, intends to get what he wants. He shows favor to the Jews who are non believers in God, to make sure that they are on his side. Then he looks for allies ...
31 “And forces shall be mustered by him,
This is what the Northern king needs if his plans are to succeed. He needs support. He is about to destroy Israel's sacrificial worship system, and he needs to be ready for the King of the South. So, now with increased military strength to 'watch his back', he goes ahead.
31b … and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
This 'Man of Sin' is not a worshiper of God, but he does worship something. We will talk about that later. This man boldly goes into the 'sanctuary fortress' … the temple, and puts a stop to the daily sacrifices … and 'places' in the temple, the abomination. What exactly does he place in the temple?
Let's read about this in the New Testament.
2Th 2:3,4 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This man, himself … is an abomination. Sitting there and announcing that he is the only god that anyone will have to deal with ...is an abomination. Whether he places some other symbol there or not, he is an abomination.
Now, having said that, let's have a look at look at what John says concerning this new object of worship:
Re 12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
This red dragon that John describes represents the Devil, Satan. Many years ago he was responsible for causing roughly a third of all the angels to follow him in a rebellion against God. The result was that these angels were all cast out of heaven and now dwell on this earth. These fallen angels are now called demons.
Now we will skip ahead to Revelation 13:
Re 13:1-4 ¶ And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
You will notice similarities between the 'beast' and the dragon. Their 'shape' seems to be the same. I would say that we are supposed to see that the red dragon indwells the beast … completely.
Next, notice the word 'worship'. The people of the world worship the dragon … Satan. And then we read that they worship the beast. It is possible that Satan worship becomes popular … world-wide. But it is also possible that it is the beast … the almighty army of the Antichrist, the evil man of sin that is being worshiped. And as he is being worshiped people are actually, and possibly unknowingly, worshiping Satan.
This centre of worship is possibly in Jerusalem.
And we read this … Re 13:11-15 ¶ Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
John gives some clear identifying marks regarding this second beast. The first thing I want to point out is its appearance. It LOOKS like a lamb. It appears to be gentle and nice. But it has the tongue of the Devil. This second beast sounds like a person, an individual, while the first beast sounds like a conglomerate army.
So I believe what we are reading about is this: The second beast, the one that looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon, is the king of the north, the man who took power via the use of flattery and intrigue. Notice the abilities that this man possesses; great signs (miracles), even making fire come down from heaven. People are deceived by his powers. This is the messiah that Jews, Muslims and now the world will accept. He causes people to worship the first beast … his army, his military might. Power is his god.3
This 'worship' occurs after WW2 of the tribulation period. In this last war the king of the north was not successful. Many died. Perhaps this is the deadly wound that was inflicted on the beast. But there is a miraculous recovery as 'new allies' are brought into the army of the northern king.
At least two years of the tribulation period have passed. Longer, if we consider that each of the wars also took up some time. At any rate … we know that we are 3 ½ years in to the seven year tribulation period. We know that because Daniel 9:27 states, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
So, two large battles are past. The Antichrist double-crosses his agreement with Israel by stopping the daily sacrifices, and then by sitting in the temple itself and announcing that there is no other God other than he, himself.
What will the rest of the world think about what he has just done? What will the Jews think about what their new 'leader' has just done? Many will be shocked beyond measure. But not all of them. In verse 30 it reads: So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
A certain percentage of the Jews back this man completely. These Jews do not believe in Jehovah God. They do not want anything to do with the sacrificial system. They will not be shocked at what this man just did. As a matter of fact, they likely were in on it. The next verse reminds us again that the man of sin has convinced these Jews by means of his slippery tongue.
32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery;
This is going to be a terrible time of fear, persecution and death as this man turns his fury against the God of Israel – the God of Christianity – the God of the Bible.
32b ...but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
We will comment on what the people of God are doing as this evil person breaks his agreement with Israel in another session. For now let's go to the New Testament and read about the immediate effect of this man sitting in the temple and claiming to be God:
Mt 24:15-21 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be”.
Next time: The People Who Know God.
1 As I have stated previously, Antiochus Epiphanes and his army did all these things contained in this section of scripture. This constitutes the 'near fulfillment' of Daniel's prophecy. But because Jesus referred to this very passage as being something to watch for in the future, we come to understand that this passage has a future (or distant) fulfillment. And since it is impossible to sort out whether or not some of these things ONLY refer to Antiochus and other things ONLY refer to Antichrist, I have to take it on faith that everything fits both of them. And most importantly, even if some of these things do not apply to Antiochus, they all apply to the future Antichrist.
2 Eze 38:2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 Note: Daniel 11:38 states that the king of the north honors 'the god of fortresses'. The Douay version translates the word fortresses as Maozim. Some think that the king of the north worships a god by this name. Personally I don't think so because Paul states in 2Thessalonians 2 that this person claims that he himself is god.
29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before.
30 “For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Daniel 11:25-32
How much of the above scripture refers to the past and how much to the future? See footnote.1
In our previous study an evil, powerful, conniving, smooth-talking man has gained a partnership with Israel, replacing whoever had been their ally up to that point. He has made an alliance that involves a seven year period. This evil person has taken steps to retain this alliance by increasing the size of his armed forces and by carefully plotting an attack against a stronghold which he saw as a threat.
This is the person that the Bible labels as 'The Man of Sin' in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This is the same person that is called 'Gog', the chief prince of Rosh (Russia) in Ezekiel 38.22 He is the one referred to as the 'The Beast' in Revelation 13. We commonly call him the Antichrist. (We have more or less identified the king of the north. Who is the king of the south? We will go into detail regarding this in a later session.)
Between Daniel 11:21 and Daniel 12 several wars occur. World Wars. These all take place in the final seven years of this age. I will refer to them as WW1 of the tribulation, WW2 and WW3. There is one more final battle which will be the fourth … it is called the Battle of Armageddon.
The first thing we can observe is the descriptive language about the size of the armies involved.
The King of the north initiates an attack … with his 'great army'. The King of the south enters the battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army.
In spite of having armed forces more powerful than the northern power, the southern king fails. We are told that his failure has to do with the scheming and plotting of the Antichrist (The King of the North).
Many people end up dead. This is the part where the Apostle John, while he was 'transported' up to heaven, sees a red horse, a rider with a sword, and the intent to remove peace from the earth.
Re 6:4 “And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”
Immediately John sees another horse: Re 6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.Re 6:6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
So great was this battle that food supplies on a global scale have become scarce.
Then a fourth horse and horseman:
Re 6:8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
This gives a gruesome summary of the results of global war. One quarter of the population … dead.
We are about to read about World war 2 … of the tribulation period. It is entirely possible that the 'Pale Horse' about which we have just read is actually referring to this war and not WW1 of the tribulation. At any rate, we do not want to minimize Daniel's statement: many shall fall down slain.
Since this is speaking of a future time, the weapons of warfare would be massive. This more than likely will involve nuclear weapons.
So, as great as the military strength of the King of the South is, the man from the north had some trick up his sleeve which decided the victory.
It would be hard to pick a favorite here. The scripture says that both of these leaders are evil. The time period we are looking at is the first part of the tribulation.
The first year of the seven was peace … on earth. This battle removes peace … globally. This is not some smaller localized battle happening in and around the holy land. This is world-wide.
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.
I am commenting on these verses as if this is a PAST event. All of this is still in the future.
Here we notice that these two leaders sit at the same table. This is after the first war. The purpose of this 'meeting' no doubt, is for a 'peace-talk'. The world had waited a very long time to see peace in the middle east. This 'year of peace' likely extended all over the world. People enjoyed this peace. But now it is gone. A world war has taken place.
So it is very fitting that the world will see two very great leaders sitting down and agreeing … “No more! Let's never do this again! Let's disarm. No more nuclear weapons!” They have peace-talks at a negotiating table … but they both lie.
“But to no avail”. In other words … its not over. Meanwhile …The King of the North has an agenda, and he is carrying it out.
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.
War is evil. Is it all about greed and wealth? That is a large part of it. But in this case we see the emerging of a super-ego. For him, (The King of the North) power plays a first place role.
He distributes wealth to his own country. As we pointed out last time, Russia is in financial straits. This should put the Russian people in a place to admire their strong, new leader.
We read that his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. This covenant can only refer to one thing … the Jewish connection to God through their newly re-established sacrificial system of worship. By the way, God does not revert back to the Old Testament system. Jesus was and is the Lamb Who was slain. But the Jews don't know that … or accept that. This 'Holy Covenant' is only in their minds, not in God's mind.
The King of the North is back home for the time being. His heart is against this covenant. In other words … he is planning to get rid of it. But what can he do? If he steps in now and puts a stop to the whole sacrificial system, what will the rest of the world think? What will the King of the South think. “What if he attacks … he has a mighty army!”
So he does this ...
29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south,
Because of the way that Daniel has used the word 'time', I think it is important to read it this way …
“At just the right time, about a year later, the king of the North goes against the south.”
He wants to put an end to the 'holy covenant', but to do that he really needs to take care of this southern 'stronghold'.
So here comes WW2 of the tribulation.
… but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 For ships of ...
Remember … in the disarmament talks … they both lied? The King of the South is ready for him. How great is this war? Daniel does not give specifics. But as we noted earlier the world is in rough shape. A quarter of the population (2 billion people!) wiped out. Famine everywhere, and the King of the North still does not have what he wants regarding Israel. He wants every hint of Jehovah God and the mention of His name removed!
30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Here is the same verse from the NIV: 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
Just a reminder at this point … most bible prophecies have both a near fulfillment and a distant fulfillment. Many of the details of this prophecy were first fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes came from the north, Syria. His battlefield enemy, the King of the South was in Egypt. His desires were also against the holy covenant of the Jews. He defiled the Jewish worship system by placing the Abomination of Desolation in the temple. This is a couple of hundred years before Christ. But when Jesus refers to it in chapter 24 of Matthew, He speaks of it as something coming in the future. Nevertheless, even though Jesus was speaking of a future event, the historical events of two hundred years earlier were likely still being talked about. No doubt when Jesus mentions a coming 'Abomination of Desolation' being placed in the temple, the disciples must have thought ...“What? Again?”
So in the previous fulfillment, when Antiochus was the 'vile person', he was thwarted by Ships from Cyprus. How does this fit the future fulfillment? I have no specific information on that. It could be a similar thing … in other words, the King of the South may have some huge battle ships situated in the Mediterranean to 'join' forces with him, and this becomes the resistance that the King of the North is unable to defeat. So he goes back home … very angry.
This evil man, filled with rage, intends to get what he wants. He shows favor to the Jews who are non believers in God, to make sure that they are on his side. Then he looks for allies ...
31 “And forces shall be mustered by him,
This is what the Northern king needs if his plans are to succeed. He needs support. He is about to destroy Israel's sacrificial worship system, and he needs to be ready for the King of the South. So, now with increased military strength to 'watch his back', he goes ahead.
31b … and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
This 'Man of Sin' is not a worshiper of God, but he does worship something. We will talk about that later. This man boldly goes into the 'sanctuary fortress' … the temple, and puts a stop to the daily sacrifices … and 'places' in the temple, the abomination. What exactly does he place in the temple?
Let's read about this in the New Testament.
2Th 2:3,4 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This man, himself … is an abomination. Sitting there and announcing that he is the only god that anyone will have to deal with ...is an abomination. Whether he places some other symbol there or not, he is an abomination.
Now, having said that, let's have a look at look at what John says concerning this new object of worship:
Re 12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
This red dragon that John describes represents the Devil, Satan. Many years ago he was responsible for causing roughly a third of all the angels to follow him in a rebellion against God. The result was that these angels were all cast out of heaven and now dwell on this earth. These fallen angels are now called demons.
Now we will skip ahead to Revelation 13:
Re 13:1-4 ¶ And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
You will notice similarities between the 'beast' and the dragon. Their 'shape' seems to be the same. I would say that we are supposed to see that the red dragon indwells the beast … completely.
Next, notice the word 'worship'. The people of the world worship the dragon … Satan. And then we read that they worship the beast. It is possible that Satan worship becomes popular … world-wide. But it is also possible that it is the beast … the almighty army of the Antichrist, the evil man of sin that is being worshiped. And as he is being worshiped people are actually, and possibly unknowingly, worshiping Satan.
This centre of worship is possibly in Jerusalem.
And we read this … Re 13:11-15 ¶ Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
John gives some clear identifying marks regarding this second beast. The first thing I want to point out is its appearance. It LOOKS like a lamb. It appears to be gentle and nice. But it has the tongue of the Devil. This second beast sounds like a person, an individual, while the first beast sounds like a conglomerate army.
So I believe what we are reading about is this: The second beast, the one that looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon, is the king of the north, the man who took power via the use of flattery and intrigue. Notice the abilities that this man possesses; great signs (miracles), even making fire come down from heaven. People are deceived by his powers. This is the messiah that Jews, Muslims and now the world will accept. He causes people to worship the first beast … his army, his military might. Power is his god.3
This 'worship' occurs after WW2 of the tribulation period. In this last war the king of the north was not successful. Many died. Perhaps this is the deadly wound that was inflicted on the beast. But there is a miraculous recovery as 'new allies' are brought into the army of the northern king.
At least two years of the tribulation period have passed. Longer, if we consider that each of the wars also took up some time. At any rate … we know that we are 3 ½ years in to the seven year tribulation period. We know that because Daniel 9:27 states, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
So, two large battles are past. The Antichrist double-crosses his agreement with Israel by stopping the daily sacrifices, and then by sitting in the temple itself and announcing that there is no other God other than he, himself.
What will the rest of the world think about what he has just done? What will the Jews think about what their new 'leader' has just done? Many will be shocked beyond measure. But not all of them. In verse 30 it reads: So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
A certain percentage of the Jews back this man completely. These Jews do not believe in Jehovah God. They do not want anything to do with the sacrificial system. They will not be shocked at what this man just did. As a matter of fact, they likely were in on it. The next verse reminds us again that the man of sin has convinced these Jews by means of his slippery tongue.
32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery;
This is going to be a terrible time of fear, persecution and death as this man turns his fury against the God of Israel – the God of Christianity – the God of the Bible.
32b ...but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
We will comment on what the people of God are doing as this evil person breaks his agreement with Israel in another session. For now let's go to the New Testament and read about the immediate effect of this man sitting in the temple and claiming to be God:
Mt 24:15-21 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be”.
Next time: The People Who Know God.
1 As I have stated previously, Antiochus Epiphanes and his army did all these things contained in this section of scripture. This constitutes the 'near fulfillment' of Daniel's prophecy. But because Jesus referred to this very passage as being something to watch for in the future, we come to understand that this passage has a future (or distant) fulfillment. And since it is impossible to sort out whether or not some of these things ONLY refer to Antiochus and other things ONLY refer to Antichrist, I have to take it on faith that everything fits both of them. And most importantly, even if some of these things do not apply to Antiochus, they all apply to the future Antichrist.
2 Eze 38:2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 Note: Daniel 11:38 states that the king of the north honors 'the god of fortresses'. The Douay version translates the word fortresses as Maozim. Some think that the king of the north worships a god by this name. Personally I don't think so because Paul states in 2Thessalonians 2 that this person claims that he himself is god.