Daniel 11.36a-The Prophecy of the Absolute Power of the Antichrist During During the Last Three and a Half Years of the Seventieth Week
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 26, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 11:36a-The Prophecy of the Absolute Power of the Antichrist During the Last Three and a Half Years of the Seventieth Week
Lesson # 354
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:36.
Daniel 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. 40 At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.” (NASB95)
In Daniel 11:36, the prophetic statement “the king will do as he pleases” presents the next prophetic event that will take place after the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:35.
“The king” is the articular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), which is used with reference to the governmental head of the final stage of the Roman Empire during the seventieth week.
This is indicated by the prophetic statements in Daniel 11:36-12:3 which correspond to the prophecies in our Lord’s Olivet Discourse and in the book of Revelation regarding the Antichrist who will be the ruler of the final stage of the Roman Empire during the seventieth week.
The articular construction of this noun emphasizes the uniqueness of this king whose character and actions are described in Daniel 11:36-45.
The description of this king does not correspond to any king in history but does correspond to the description of the Antichrist in Daniel 7, Matthew 24-25 and Revelation 13.
“Will do as he pleases” is composed of the verb ʿā·śā(h) (עָשָׂה) (aw-saw´), “will do” and then we have the preposition k- (ךְּ־) (kee), “as” and its object is the noun rā·ṣôn (רָצוֹן) (raw-tsone´), “pleases” and this is followed by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix –hû (־הוּ) (who), “he.”
The verb ʿā·śā(h) means “to do” in the sense of performing an action indicating that this king will “do” as he pleases.
The noun rā·ṣôn means “will, wish” referring to a strong desire which implies choice.
Here it denotes that this unique king will do as he “pleases” or “desires.”
The noun rā·ṣôn is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix –hû, which means “his” referring to this unique king and is functioning as a possessive personal pronoun.
The noun rā·ṣôn is also the object of the preposition k-, which is functioning as a marker of correspondence indicating that this unique king will do “as” or “according to” his desire.
Daniel 11:36 “Then, a unique king will do according to his desire.”
The elect angel continues to communicate to Daniel this prophetic revelation from God regarding His prophetic program for Israel during the Times of the Gentiles.
Here in verse 36, the angel’s first prophetic statement is that a unique king will do according to his desire.
This language was used to describe Alexander the Great in Daniel 11:3 and Antiochus Epiphanes IV in Daniel 11:16.
In each instance, it refers to the absolute political and military power of these two individuals.
Here in Daniel 11:36, this first prophetic statement speaks of the absolute political and military power of this unique king.
The character and actions of this king described in Daniel 11:36-45 do not correspond to any king in history but rather corresponds to the descriptions of the character and actions of Antichrist during the seventieth week which are recorded in Daniel 7, Matthew 24-25, 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13.
In other words, the description of the character and actions of this king in Daniel 11:36-45 correspond to the prophecies of the Antichrist in Daniel 7, Matthew 24-25, 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13.
“The king” in Daniel 11:36 does not refer to Antiochus Epiphanes IV.
Those who believe that this king in Daniel 11:36 is a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes IV argue that by stopping the sacrifices and offering a pagan sacrifice Antiochus fulfilled the prophecy in Daniel 11:36 that this king will magnify himself above every god and speak monstrous things against the god of gods.
Some argue that when Antiochus gave himself the title “God Manifest” he fulfilled this prophecy in Daniel 11:36.
However, Antiochus did not set up an image of himself to be worshipped or demand the world worship him as will be the case with Antichrist according to Revelation 13.
Antiochus simply set up an image of Zeus.
The prophecy in Daniel 11:37 that “he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers” was not fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV since his policy was to compel the Jews to worship the god of his fathers or be executed.
The prophecy in Daniel 11:38 that “he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know” was not fulfilled by Antiochus since he was devoted to the god of his country Zeus who was the god of his fathers.
Furthermore, the king mentioned in Daniel 11:36 is clearly distinguished from the king of the north who is mentioned in Daniel 11:40 and we know from history that Antiochus Epiphanes IV in Daniel 11:21-35 is the despicable king of the north.
Daniel 7:7-8 mentions the Antichrist, identifying him as “the little horn.”
Revelation 17:12-13 teaches that the Antichrist will initially gain absolute authority over the ten-nation confederacy by the consent of the ten kings who will submit to him.
The Antichrist’s actions are also described in Daniel 9:27 which predicts he will live during the seventieth week.
The Scriptures give the Antichrist many titles and names: (1) “The beast” (Revelation 13:1-2) (2) “The prince that will come” (Daniel 9:26-27) (3) The “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10) (4) The “scarlet beast” (Revelation 17:3) (5) The willful king (Daniel 11:36-40) (6) “The man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), (7) “The son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) (8) The Desolater (Daniel 9:27).
Antichrist will be a Gentile since in Revelation 13:1 he is described as arising from the sea and since the sea depicts the Gentile nations according to Revelation 17:15, he must be of Gentile origin.
Antichrist is the head of the last form of Gentile world dominion, for he is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion (Revelation 13:1; compare Daniel 7:7-8, 20, 24; Revelation 17:9-11) and as such he is a political leader.
Daniel 7:21-22 reveals the following regarding the little horn: (1) He will persecute the saints of the Most High and is thus a person and Daniel 7:24 says that he is a king. (2) He will overcome the nation of Israel and will bring that nation under his authority (Revelation 12:13-17; 17:7). (3) He will be judged by God (Revelation 19:19-20) and Israel will thus enter into her millennial reign.
Daniel 7:23 reveals that the little horn will have a world-wide kingdom (Compare Revelation 13:7) and it will be an overwhelming conquest, which anticipates a coming one-world government under a worldwide dictator.
Daniel 7:25 corresponds to Revelation 13:1-10 and gives us three more additional facts about the little horn: (1) He will oppose God’s authority as indicated by the phrase “He will speak out against the Most High” (Compare Revelation 13:6). (2) He will oppress born-again Israel as indicated by the statement “wear down the saints of the Highest One.”
Antichrist will not and can not appear until the Day of the Lord has begun (2 Thessalonians 2:2) and his manifestation is being hindered by the Restrainer (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7) and this appearance will be preceded by the rapture of the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
2 Thessalonians 2:7 teaches that the Antichrist cannot appear until the Spirit who indwells the church is taken away from the earth.
Revelation 6:1-2 parallels the first statement in Daniel 9:27.
The former records the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven breaking the first of the seven seal judgments, which results in the appearance of the Antichrist on the stage of history as a peace maker and who is depicted as riding on a white horse.
The rise to prominence of the Antichrist as a man of peace is the result of the breaking of the first seal judgment recorded in Revelation 6:1-2.
Therefore, based upon a comparison of the prophetic statements recorded in Daniel 7, Matthew 24-25, 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13, we can conclude that the first prophetic statement in Daniel 11:36 that “a unique king will do according to his desire” is a prophecy of Antichrist’s absolute power over the world during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.