The Evil Reign of The Antichrist Message 16 in Daniel Sermon Series Daniel 11:35-45 (NKJV)

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, September 2,2012 MESSAGE 16 in Daniel Sermon Series ( Back To The Future ) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister The Evil Reign of The Antichrist Message 16 in Daniel Sermon Series Daniel 11:35-45 (NKJV) As we continue with our study of Daniel, I would like for you to please open your Bibles once again to the eleventh chapter of Daniel. I N T R O D U C T I O N If you were with us last Lord s Day, we looked at the first 35 verses of this eleventh chapter. We learned that these verses give us a very detailed prophetic view of the Years of Silence between the Old and New Testaments. In fact, these verses contain no less than 135 prophecies that have already been fulfilled precisely as God said they would through Daniel. We learned that those Silent Years would be characterized by two things: One, they would be A TIME OF GREAT CONFLICT.and Two, those silent years would be A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE. The Old It was during those years of silence that God orchestrated the events of world history that would set the stage for the first coming of Christ as a babe born in a Bethlehem stable. But then when you get to VERSE 35, there is a very pivotal transition in the text. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. Notice those words, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. There are no historical events that have occurred that match the things Daniel is describing from VERSE 35 on, which tells us these verses are pointing us to sometime in the future.our FUTURE!

2 Simply put.. Everything written before VERSE 35 describes the events leading up to the first coming of Christ; events that have already been fulfilled in the most minute detail. Everything Daniel writes after VERSE 35 to the end of this chapter and including all of DANIEL 12 describes the events leading up to the second s coming of Christ; events that have yet to occur, but that will undoubtedly be fulfilled in the most minute detail as well. In these remaining verses of DANIEL 11 we are re-introduced to an evil man we have met before. In Daniel s Vision of The Four Beasts in Daniel 7, he was first introduced to us as the little horn with the face like a man who spoke pompous words. Now in verses 36 through the end of Daniel 11 Daniel gives us even more detail about this future evil l king known to us as the Antichrist. First of all, let s consider I. The Evil King s CHARACTER (vs ) 39) 36 Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. 1. These verses provide us with seven details about the future evil king of the world known as the Antichrist.

3 In the first part of verse 36 we see.. (A) The Antichrist will do as he PLEASES (v.36a) 36a Then the king shall do according to his own will. The Antichrist will be an absolute DICTATOR who will demand that he get his own way on everything. He will not tolerate anyone who tries to oppose him. He will be a man who believes he is above all the laws of GOD and MAN. In fact, in II Thessalonians 2, the apostle Paul calls the Antichrist the man of lawlessness. Also in verse 36 we see (B) The Antichrist will EXALT himself above GOD.. (v.36b) 36b He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods. The Antichrist will speak horrible, blasphemous, vile words against GOD and the Lord JESUS CHRIST to the point he will even shock the most devout atheists. He will proclaim himself as GOD and all who refuse to recognize him as the supreme ruler will pay for it with their lives. Next in the last part of verse 36 we see.. (C) The Antichrist will PROSPER for a TIME.. (v. 36c) 36c And he shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished. Adolph Hitler was successful for a time, but then he met his demise. Saddam Hussein was successful for a time, but then he met his demise. Osama Bin Laden was successful for a time, but then he met his demise.

4 The Antichrist will prosper he will succeed for a time. But then notice Daniel states that his success will only last until the wrath has been accomplished and then he will meet his demise. Now what is Daniel talking about when he says the wrath? THE WRATH is referring to the Great Day of GOD S wrath. In Revelation 19, John describes for us the day when Christ will come with a vengeance to battle the Antichrist and the armies of the world that have gathered in the valley of Megiddo northwest of Jerusalem. This is commonly called The Battle of Armageddon. Revelation 19:20,21 tells us the LORD will deal with the Antichrist and his False Prophet first by casting them into the lake of fire. Next in the first part of verse 37 we see (D) The Antichrist will have no regard for the GOD of his FATHERS.. (v. 37a) v. 37a He shall regard neither the God of his fathers. Some interpret this to mean the Antichrist will be a JEW who rejects the God his forefathers worshiped. And notice the last part of v. 37 says, he will have no regard for any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. Also in verse 37 we see.. (E) The Antichrist will have no DESIRE for WOMEN. v. 37 a,b He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women. There are a number of interpretations as to what is meant by he shall have no desire for women. At first glance, it appears this would mean that the Antichrist will be a HOMOSEXUAL; that he will not have the natural desire a man has for a woman.

5 The other common interpretation is that the desire of women is referring to the desire of JEWISH women to be the MOTHER of the MESSIAH. Remember the Jews rejected Christ as the Messiah, meaning they are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah. It is the desire of every Jewish woman to be the one who bears the Messiah. When you read the first part of verse 37 as a whole the latter interpretation makes sense: He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of the Jewish women to be the mother of the Messiah. The Antichrist would have no regard for the God of his fathers nor for the Messiah. Next in verse 38 we see. (F) The Antichrist will be a MILITARY genius. (v. 38) 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Hannibal, Cyrus, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great are considered to be some of the greatest military minds in history. But the Antichrist will accomplish something none of those great generals were ever able to accomplish. He will conquer the entire WORLD. According to this 38 th verse the Antichrist will pour massive amounts of money into creating the most powerful MILITARY MACHINE this world has ever known. Even the strongest armies in the world at that time will not be able to stand against the Antichrist s army. I ll say more about this when we get to verses

6 And then in verse 39 we see. (G) The Antichrist will REWARD those who SUPPORT him and DESTROY those who OPPOSE him. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. The Antichrist will reward his most loyal supporters in one of two ways: To some he will give positions of RULERSHIP over large groups of people. And to others he will give the gift of some of the choicest LANDS on earth. In order to obtain these rewards from the Antichrist people will literally have to sell their SOULS to the DEVIL. It is most likely what we are seeing here is the establishment of the Ten NATION Confederacy that will comprise the revived ROMAN Empire. What we are seeing in this 39 th verse takes us back to Daniel s vision of The Four Beasts in Daniel 7; more specifically to that fourth beast with the 10 horns and another little horn rising up in the midst of the others. Well now that Daniel has revealed THE EVIL KING S CHARACTER, he now reveals

7 II. The Evil King s CONQUESTS (vs ) 45) 40 At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him. 1. We must remember that according to the scriptures the Antichrist will rise to power during 70 TH WEEK of Daniel s prophecy in Daniel chapter nine. This 7 YEAR period is called the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:29-35; Revelation 7:14). An in-depth study of this seven year period reveals the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation will be a time of unparalleled PEACE, while the last 3 ½ years will be marked by unparalleled human SUFFERING and SLAUGHTER. 2. Many Bible scholars believe what Daniel is describing here in these final verses of Daniel 11 is the event that will occur at the half-way point of the Tribulation that will change the world climate from one of peace to one of the worst suffering and slaughter in the history of the world. 3. And just what is this earth-shattering event? Daniel tells us there is going to be a rebellion against the Antichrist in an attempt to oust him from power.

8 40 At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 4. Now remember we learned earlier in this eleventh chapter the King of the South represented Egypt and the King of the North represented Syria. These were armies of the past. These battles have already been fought. What Daniel is describing in these verses are FUTURE armies. And notice, they are not fighting with each other, they are joining forces to try to overthrow the Antichrist. Most Bible scholars are in agreement that the King of the South represents the joint forces of EGYPT, LIBYA and ETHIOPIA as Daniel indicates in verse 43. And the King of the North represents the joint military forces of RUSSIA and her allies from Arab nations to to the north of Israel such as IRAN and SYRIA. Think about everything that has happened in just the last year or two involving many of these nations I just mentioned. The governments of Egypt, Libya and other African nations have toppled within the last twenty four months, as has the government of Syria to the north of Israel. And think how much IRAN is in the news right now because of their defiant refusal to halt their attempt to build nuclear weapons. Who is assisting Iran with the technology and money and materials to build these nuclear weapons? Who is Iran s strongest ally right now? Russia, that s who!

9 5. You notice the first part of verse 41 says, He shall also enter the Glorious Land. During this time when his power is being threatened the Antichrist will turn on the Jewish people 6. We learn in verses 42, 43 that the allied forces from the North and South will NOT be successful in overthrowing the Antichrist. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 7. But before the dust has even settles on this unsuccessful attempt to over-throw the Antichrist look what happens in verse But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. Just when the Antichrist thinks he can breathe a sigh of relief he will receive a very disturbing report. He will hear troubling news from the east that a massive army has formed and they are advancing towards him in Israel. Revelation 9:13-21 tell us a massive army of over TWO HUNDRED MILLION will come from a land east of the Euphrates river. There is only one nation in the world today that has a militia of over 200 million and that is CHINA. But the Antichrist will also receive troubling news from THE NORTH. In his commentary on Daniel, Dr. John Walvoord states, This troubling news will likely be that the Russian army has re-grouped after their earlier defeat and are prepared to attack the Antichrist again.

10 8. According to VERSE 44 the Antichrist will launch an offensive attack on these advancing armies and will totally annihilate them. 9. In verse 45 4 Daniel tells us that after successfully defeating the armies from the East and North, the Antichrist will plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. Just where is this? Sitting between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea is the glorious holy mountain called ZION, better known to you and me as JERUSALEM. It is during this time the Antichrist will set up his headquarters inside the Temple in Jerusalem. Daniel referred to this in Daniel 9:27 as the abomination that causes desolation. 10. Will anyone ever be able to defeat this most evil of all world dictators? Yes, his death has already been sealed in prophecy. v. 45b Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him. 11. The Antichrist will be defeated by Jesus Christ Himself at the time of Christ s Second Coming. (Revelation 19:17-21) C O N C L U S I O N Now I m sure you are wondering, Are we going to be here when the Antichrist rises and brings his reign of evil and terror upon the world? In short, NO! The next event on God s prophetic calendar is the return of Christ to get His Church! When will this happen? Christ tells us No one knows the day or the hour. (Matthew 24:36) Paul tells us He will come in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. (I Corinthians 15:52)

11 Paul also tells us in II Thessalonians 2:7,8 that the lawless one (the Antichrist) will NOT be revealed until the One who now restrains is taken out of the way. The One Who restrains is the Holy Spirit. While it should be of great comfort to us that WE, THE CHURCH will not be here during the Great Tribulation when the Antichrist reigns in terror, it should be VERY SOBERING to you and me that the stage is being set in our generation for the events of The Great Tribulation to unfold. I leave you with these wonderful words of Christ. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near Luke 21:28 (NKJV)