Daniel 11.41a-The Prophecy of the Antichrist Attacking Israel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 17, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 11:41a-The Prophecy of the Antichrist Attacking Israel
Lesson # 363
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:40.
Daniel 11:40 “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.” (NASB95)
Daniel 11:40 “Now, during the end time, the king ruling the south will cause himself to go to war against him. Also, the king ruling the north will cause himself to storm against him with a military chariot group, with a cavalry as well as with a large armada of ships. However, despite this, he will wage attacks against countries so that he will overflow, yes, pass through like a flood.” (My translation)
Daniel 11:41 “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.” (NASB95)
“He will also enter the Beautiful Land” is an ascensive clause meaning that this prophetic statement is an addition to the previous prophetic statement and is out of the ordinary or unexpected.
It expresses the shock that the king described in Daniel 11:46-39 who is described in Daniel 11:40 as conquering countries despite being attacked by the kings of the north and south would attack Israel.
It denotes that he should never have done this since the Jews are the covenant people of God through whom Jesus Christ will rule during His millennial reign on the earth and who will be the head of the nations during that time.
“He will enter” is the verb bô(ʾ) (בּוֹא) (bo), which means “to wage an attack” referring to the king described in Daniel 11:36-40 waging an attack against Israel during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
“The Beautiful Land” is composed of the noun ʾě·rěṣ (אֶרֶץ) (eh´-rets), “the Land” which is modified by the noun ṣeḇî (צְבִי) (tseb-ee´), “Beautiful.”
The noun ʾě·rěṣ means “land” in the sense of the geographical boundaries of the nation of Israel in which her citizens resided.
The noun ṣeḇî literally which means “the beauty” and is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:9, 16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).
The word describes the beauty of the land of Israel.
Though in Daniel’s day it was destroyed by war, it was still described as beautiful by the angel since it is the place in which the Messiah would be crucified and would die as a substitute for all of sinful humanity.
It is also the place in which He will reign over all the earth for a thousand years.
This noun ʾě·rěṣ is also the object of the preposition bĕ, which is a marker of opposition indicating that the king described in Daniel 11:36-40 will wage an attack “against” the land of Israel.
Daniel 11:41a “He will even wage an attack against the beautiful land.” (My translation)
The events described in Daniel 11:40-45 will all take place after the Antichrist desecrates the temple by deifying himself and reveals himself as an enemy of Israel.
Antichrist’s armies will already be in the Middle East because of his agreement with Israel to offer her protection.
He will be already present in Israel because of this agreement.
When he desecrates the temple in Jerusalem by deifying himself and then demanding the world to worship him, he will betray Israel and attack her and then occupy her land and then he will be attacked by Egypt and Syria.
Therefore, when the angel says that the king described in Daniel 11:36-40 will wage an attack against Israel, he is prophesying that the Antichrist will attack Israel after he breaks the treaty with her and desecrates the temple by deifying himself and demanding the world to worship him as God.
In other words, this attack is the direct result of the actions of Antichrist in the temple in deifying himself and demanding the world to worship him.
Therefore, the three prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:40 and the first in Daniel 11:41 will all take place after the Antichrist desecrates the temple by deifying himself and demanding the world to worship him.
Thus these prophetic events will take place after and as a direct result of the second and third prophetic events recorded in Daniel 9:27.
Daniel 9:27 “Then, he will establish a firm covenant with the leaders, which will be one unit of seven years. However, he will cause the sacrificial offering to stop in the middle of this unit of seven years while between the wings which results in abominations, he will cause desecration. Indeed, until a decreed complete destruction is poured out against the desecrater.” (Author’s translation)
In His Olivet Discourse, the Lord Jesus Christ makes mention of this event.
Matthew 24:15, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” (NASB95)
The apostle Paul also refers to the Antichrist’s desecrating the temple and declaring himself God and demanding the worship of the world.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. (NASB95)
Paul’s statement in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that Antichrist will “take his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as God” is a reference to the statement in Daniel 9:27, “on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate.”
Revelation 13:14-15 also mentions Antichrist exalting himself as God and receiving the worship of the world as such as does Daniel 11:36-39.
Therefore, the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:40 and including the first prophetic event recorded in Daniel 11:41 which reveals that the Antichrist will wage an attack against Israel will take place after and as a result of the second and third prophetic events recorded in Daniel 9:27.
So after the Antichrist desecrates the temple by deifying himself and demands the world to worship him, he will be attacked by Egypt and Syria but he will repulse the attack from Egypt and her allies and conquer them.
He will also wage an attack against Israel as well after his actions to deify himself in the temple.
In fact, Daniel 11:45 predicts that he will occupy Israel during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week until he meets his demise at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
The prophet Zechariah speaks of this attack and subsequent occupation of Israel during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. (NASB95)
The occupation of Jerusalem during the last three and half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week is predicted in Revelation 11:1-2.
Revelation 11:1 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.’” (NASB95)
Accompanying this attack and subsequent occupation of Israel and her capital Jerusalem will be a great world-wise persecution of the Jews inspired by Satan himself.
Revelation 12 predicts that Israel will experience the worst persecution in her history during the last three and half years of Daniel’s seventieth week.
This chapter also teaches that “Anti-Semitism” is Satanic in origin since it teaches that Satan has persecuted the nation of Israel throughout her history because the Messiah would be a Jew.
Jeremiah 30:5-7 also speaks of this greatest persecution in Israel’s history.
In His great Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24:9, the Lord Jesus Christ predicts this great persecution of the nation of Israel.
Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” (NASB95)