There are many unbiblical ideas about the identity of Antichrist. The craziest idea that has gotten a lot of traction is that he will be the head of the Illuminati, which is supposed to be some kind of powerful organization that conspires “to control world affairs.” The Illuminate is said to be a secret society whose members are the world’s most powerful and wealthy men. Their goal is to establish a New World Order which is supposed to be an “emerging clandestine totalitarian world government.” These powerful and wealthy men are looking for someone special to head up their powerful New World Order. And who might that man be? Why it’s none other than Antichrist.
Sorry. None of that is scriptural.
It’s a waste of time to listen to these kinds of hair brained conspiracy theories. It’s a waste of time because the Lord, through His prophets, has given us ample information about the Antichrist figure so that when he appears on the scene, we will know him immediately. Through the prophet Daniel, the Lord revealed to us Antichrist’s military war campaign. It’s detailed enough so that we will recognize him immediately. And, for sure, he will not be the head of the mythological Illuminati New World Order. Keep reading if you want to learn more.
Antichrist’s Military Path
Fourth of Five-Part Series
by Karen Thompson
In our last post, we learned about what kind of man Antichrist will be. We learned he will be a man full of pride and will exalt himself. He places himself above every god. He will speak blasphemous things against God. We learned that he will not regard any god, but he will support financially the “god of forces.” With this “god of forces,” he will go forth and come against strongholds. And in these final verses of Daniel chapter 11, we will learn the nations he will invade, nations that will simply fall in step with him, and nations that will escape his grip.
Verses 40–43: Antichrist Goes Forth to Conquer
Dan. 11:40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
Now let’s continue looking at the last verses of chapter 11. Verse 40 says, “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” This tells us the king of the south, which is Egypt, will attack the king of the north, which will be Antichrist. We are not told what Egypt’s motive will be for attacking Antichrist, the king of the north. Does Antichrist do something that makes Egypt feel threatened? We don’t know. But the outcome for Egypt will not be good. Antichrist will come against Egypt like a whirlwind and he, Antichrist, “will overflow and pass over.” That’s Bible language for succeed.
Verse 41 starts out saying, “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown….” This is referring to Antichrist entering into the glorious land. The glorious land is Israel. We’ve read in Daniel’s previous visions about the little horn, Antichrist, uprooting three horns, one of them being Israel. Then it continues: “many countries shall be overthrown.” Antichrist will overthrow, or conquer, “many” countries. I question whether the word “many” is the right translation. The Hebrew word translated as “many” is rab, and it can also be translated as great or strong. We know from the books of Daniel and Revelation that Antichrist actually only militarily conquers three nations. Other nations voluntarily follow, or submit, to him. There are others that have translated this to mean Antichrist will rule the world. He will not. He will only have a seven-year period in which to do his conquering, so that is actually not a lot of time given to overthrow nations. So get it out of your head that he will rule the world.
The rest of verse 41 tells us which nations will escape his clutches: “but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” The lands of Edom, Moab and Ammon were all located in what is now present-day Jordan. What is interesting is that this is where the Jewish people will flee to and live for three and one-half years when Antichrist invades Jerusalem in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week (Rev. 12:6).
Verse 42 says, “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” Verse 41 said many countries shall be overthrown, and now this sentiment is repeated in verse 42 when it says Antichrist will stretch forth his hand also upon the countries. And then the last portion of verse 42 tells us of the outcome of Egypt’s attack against Antichrist: “and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” Egypt will initiate an attack against Antichrist, but it will not prevail in battle against the king of the north.
Let’s look at verse 43: “But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” Verse 42 said Egypt would not escape Antichrist. And here in verse 43, we see the spoils of victory for Antichrist in that he will have power over the treasures of gold, silver, and all the precious things in Egypt. Antichrist will not only have access to the wealth of Egypt, but he will have power, or dominion, over its wealth. That is an indication that Egypt will fall totally under the power of Antichrist.
Then the last part of verse 43 says, “and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” Some think this indicates that Libya and Ethiopia will follow Antichrist in his steps, or will be under his dominion. The Amplified Bible says “they will be compelled to follow his steps.” Also, ancient Ethiopia was not located where it is today. It was located in what is now northern Sudan.
Verses 44–45: Antichrist Comes to His End
Dan. 11:44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
The last two verses are intriguing because they tell us about the end of Antichrist. Verse 44 says Antichrist will hear a bad report: “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” The news Antichrist will hear from the east and north will “trouble” him. When he hears the news, he goes forth “with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many.” Daniel’s prophecy doesn’t tell us what the news is that troubles him, but the news fills him with fury. He goes forth to meet the situation, to “take away many” which no doubt means a lot of deaths.
Lastly, we come to verse 45 which tells us the end of Antichrist: “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” When it says, “he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace…” it means he will set up his military base camp, or headquarters. He will set up his base camp “between the seas in the glorious holy mountain….” Young’s Literal Translation is clearer: “between the seas and the holy desirable mountain….” So his camp will be between the seas and the holy mountain. The seas undoubtedly means the Mediterranean Sea, and the glorious holy mountain is another name for Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:20 confirms that the term “holy mountain” is Jerusalem: “to my holy mountain Jerusalem.” Daniel also confirms it in 9:16: “I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain.”
Then the last part of verse 45 says, “yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” This is when Antichrist will meet his end in the final battle. His end doesn’t happen until the very end of Daniel’s 70th week, three and a half years after he breaks the covenant and invades Jerusalem. His end will happen when Jesus confronts him during the battle called Armageddon.
Tying the Words of the Prophets Together
Now let’s look at these last two verses again, this time taking into consideration what other prophets have to say about Antichrist’s invasion of Jerusalem and his final end. First of all, let’s talk about the tidings, or news, coming out of the east and out of the north. At first glance, one would assume the news is about two places, something that is happening in the north and something happening in the east—but east and north of where? We need to know where Antichrist will be when he hears the news coming from the east and the north. In the verse before these verses, we see Antichrist in Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia. If he is in Egypt when he hears this news, then we can look on a map to figure out what is in the north and what is in the east. Let’s consider another possibility. What if the news is not coming from two places—east and north. What if the phrasing “tidings out of the east and out of the north” is the Bible’s way of saying the northeast? If you’re in Egypt, northeast could be Israel. Verse 45 seems to confirm the troubling news does, indeed, come from Israel. After Antichrist heard the bad report and went forth in fury, and pitched his tent right outside Jerusalem. This would seem to confirm that the news is not coming from two places—the east and north—but it is coming from one direction, the northeast, which is Israel.
Now let’s combine this information with what other prophets have prophesied about these end time events. The prophet Zechariah has much to say about Antichrist’s invasion of Jerusalem. In Zechariah 14:1–2, Zechariah describes Antichrist’s invasion of Jerusalem, saying, “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” He describes the violence with which Jerusalem will be invaded in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, resulting with half the people fleeing the city.
When Antichrist invades Jerusalem/Israel, the Jewish people aren’t going to sit back and do nothing. They will fight. And according to Zechariah, they fight with the anointing of God, like mighty men. While Antichrist is off conquering other lands, the Jewish people will be fighting to free their land. Zechariah 12:8–9 tells us that in that day, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Lord will strengthen the feeble so that they will fight like King David, whose warrior status was legendary. And the house of David, meaning the Jewish people as a whole, will be as God. Verse seven says the tents of Judah will be saved first and then Jerusalem last. Did you catch that? Jerusalem will be saved, wrestled away from the clutches of Antichrist. This happens at the end of Daniel’s 70th week. I’m quite confident that is the news Antichrist will hear that sets him off in a rage.
Now let’s look at what the apostle John had to say about it in Revelation. At the end of Daniel’s 70th week, John tells us that Antichrist and the ten nations aligned with him will invade Jerusalem again. Revelation 17:12–17 says the ten kings aligned with Antichrist will hate Jerusalem. Together, they will burn Jerusalem with fire, making it desolate. Remember, Jerusalem has been under the control of Antichrist for three and one-half years when Antichrist broke the covenant in the middle of the week and invaded Jerusalem. So why does John say Antichrist attacks Jerusalem when it was already under his control? The common sense answer is that the Jewish people were able to regain control of the city. When Antichrist hears they’ve regained control of Jerusalem, he rushes back to Jerusalem to do great damage. It’s at that time Antichrist will finally be able to kill the two witnesses. With the two witnesses out of the way, Antichrist will then be able to enter the temple and defile it, all the while proclaiming he is god. Jerusalem will be completely destroyed, thereby fulfilling verse 44: “therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” After Jerusalem is destroyed, Antichrist and the nations aligned with him will fight the Messiah at the battle of Armageddon, fulfilling verse 45: “yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”
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