Segment 4 - Daniel 8
The Antichrist
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The Time of Wrath

Gabriel said the appointed time of the end would be a time of wrath. A time of wrath means that everyone will suffer wrath during the appointed time of the end. The wicked will receive God’s wrath for their rebellion and insolence (Colossians 3:5,6; Revelation 16), and the saints will receive the wrath of their governments when they refuse to obey the dictates of Babylon and the Antichrist! (Revelation 13: 7-10) Everyone will suffer wrath.

How does the horn power in Daniel 8 connect to the appointed time of the end? The connection is quite simple because the ram and the goat are not end-time players. History says these world empires disappeared more than two thousand years ago. However, the horn power, or “the stern-faced king,” has not yet appeared. He is the only item left in this vision that relates to the appointed time of the end. As we will see, the horn power in Daniel 8 is the coming Antichrist. He will appear “out of nowhere” during the Great Tribulation. He does not rise out of a nation or a kingdom like the little horn of Daniel 7. Lucifer will suddenly appear in clouds of light with his angels, and through counterfeit miracles, signs, wonders, deceit and lies, he will deceive the whole world. He will gain control of Earth during the appointed time of the end.   

First Question

After hearing that the horn power is the only part of this vision that applies to the time of the end, one of the first questions people ask is this: “Why did God put two ancient kingdoms in this vision if they have nothing to do with end-times?” There are at least three reasons for placing these ancient kingdoms in a prophecy that point to the appointed time of the end.

1. God placed the ram and the goat in this vision of Daniel 8 so that we could identify by name the two empires that followed Babylon. The Bible says the ram and the goat represent the kingdoms of the Medes and the Persians and the Grecians, respectively. (Daniel 8: 20,21) By stating their names, God eliminated any wiggle room about the identity of the first three empires in Daniel’s historical matrix, namely, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Grecia. Furthermore, the identity of these three kingdoms leave no question about the identity of the fourth beast in Daniel 7 (Rome) nor the identity of the little horn power in Daniel 7 that rose out of Rome (the Roman Catholic Church).

2. The second reason God put two ancient kingdoms in the end-time vision is linkage. The ram is connected by the 2,300 days to an event that occurs in Heaven. Because we cannot see into Heaven with the naked eye, God has linked events in Heaven with well-known events on Earth. The result is simple. Students of apocalyptic prophecy can determine the timing of several heavenly events that no can see.

3. Last, God put two ancient kingdoms in the end-time vision because God wants everyone to know the horn power in Daniel 8 does not rise out of an ancient empire like the little horn of Daniel 7. The horn power in Daniel 8 is not an extension of the Roman Empire or any world empire. The point here is separation.  The horn power in Daniel 8 is separate and isolated from the earthly kingdoms. This is not the case in Daniel 7. We know the little horn in Daniel 7 rose out of the fourth beast and it derived its name from the powerful host. For seventeen centuries, the little horn of Daniel 7 has been called the Roman Catholic Church. To keep us from misidentifying the horn power of Daniel 8, God inserted more than 2,000 years between the ancient kingdoms and the appearing of the horn power. God wants the world to understand the horn power in Daniel 8 does not have an earthly origin. Instead, he will have a supernatural one. Revelation 9 indicates that Lucifer will come down out of the sky attended by millions of angles.

Antichrist Will Not be Human

The books of Isaiah Ezekiel, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, Daniel and Revelation harmonize because they are the Word of God. They present a rather startling picture of the coming Antichrist by adding valuable pieces to the puzzle. The following comments are a brief synthesis of what these books say about the Antichrist:

The coming Antichrist will not be a mere mortal. The coming Antichrist will not be born to a woman. Men cannot kill the coming Antichrist. The coming Antichrist will have supernatural powers that far exceed anything man can do. The coming Antichrist will be evil and destructive beyond comprehension. The coming Antichrist will be dazzling and commanding in appearance, but deadly in his manipulation. The coming Antichrist will be a stern-faced king, that is, he will not show mercy unless temporal mercy facilitates his evil schemes. Billions of powerful demons serve him. The coming Antichrist is an ancient foe of Christ. In fact, Lucifer is the most powerful and greatest angel that God ever created. He was the first being to become anti-Christ. The Bible predicts that God will allow Lucifer and his angels to appear in physical form visible to the human race. Just as Jesus became man to save the world, Lucifer will be granted authority to masquerade as God so that he can quickly lead the wicked to their destruction. Lucifer will mimic Christ’s return and appear with clouds of angels. You can be sure the appearing of the devil will be the most spectacular event ever viewed by human eyes (Revelation 17:8) – only to be eclipsed by the brighter and more glorious appearing of Jesus. (Revelation 1:7, 19:11-21)

Horn Power Not Antiochus Epiphanes IV Nor the Papacy

Most Christians believe the horn power in Daniel 8 is either Antiochus Epiphanes IV, an ancient king who ruled with Rome’s permission over a tiny Syrian state (175-164 B.C.), or they say the horn power is the Roman Catholic Church. Of course, the only way we can determine the true identity of this horn is by satisfying all the specifications given to Daniel. We find in this presentation that both interpretations share the same deficiency. Neither conclusion satisfies all the specifications given in Daniel 8.

Even though Bible students and scholars have studied the book of Daniel for centuries, it was impossible for them to know the truth about Daniel 8 because the knowledge of the architecture of Daniel was sealed up until the time of the end. (Daniel 12:4,9) Because the end of the age is here and the Great Tribulation is about to begin, the book of Daniel has been unsealed and God’s Word now speaks with a clarity and precision that it did not have before. When Daniel 8 is integrated into the historical matrix that the four rules of interpretation produce, the horn power in Daniel 8 cannot be Antiochus IV or the papacy! The horn power in Daniel 8 is something far more powerful and far more sinister. The horn power in Daniel 8 is the great enemy of God and man. He is the coming Antichrist.

Section II – Antichrist as King of the North

All Specifications Have to Be Fulfilled

 Rule Two says, “A fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy occurs when the specifications within that prophecy are met. This includes the order of events outlined in the prophecy,” With this rule in mind, we will carefully examine all of the specifications of the horn power in Daniel 8. We will begin with the origin of the Horn Power. “The goat [Grecia] became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn [Alexander the Great] was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven [North, East, West, South]. Out of one of them [the four winds] came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward [the west] the Beautiful Land.” (Daniel 8:8,9, insertions mine) The Bible says the large or prominent horn of the goat was broken off at the height of its power. This seems odd. A person would not expect a powerful horn to “break off” at the peak of its strength, but remember, this horn represents a king, not an empire. Alexander the Great died at the peak of his military power. His kingdom was divided between his four generals that are represented by the four horns. Gabriel told Daniel, “The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four [kings or] kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.” (Daniel 8:22, insertion mine) It is interesting to observe that prophecy is history written in advance. History confirms Gabriel’s words. None of Alexander’s generals was strong enough to reunite the Grecian kingdom.

God used beasts in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 to represent empires, but He consistently used horns to represent kings. The Hebrew word for horn, malkuwth, can mean king, ruler or kingdom. Most translators treat malkuwth in Daniel 8:22 as “four kingdoms,” however, in this context malkuwth is better translated “four kings.” Because horns represent kings in Daniel 8, this consistency forces the horn power in Daniel 8 to also be a king. In fact, the Bible emphasizes this point by indicating the horn power in Daniel 8 will be a stern-faced “king” who appears during the appointed time of the end! (See Daniel 8:19,23)

The Horn Power Comes out of the North

“And out of one of them [the four winds] came a forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the [west] pleasant land.” (Daniel 8:9, KJV, insertions mine) From the evidence that follows, we will discover that the horn power (the stern-faced king) does not originate within an earthly kingdom. Actually, the Antichrist just appears out of nowhere. The Bible reveals he comes from the north, out of one of the four winds.  There is more to this direction than one might think at first. As we proceed, notice how the horn power in Daniel 8 does not have its roots in ancient kingdoms such as Medo-Persia, Grecia or Rome!

Daniel 8:9 say, “And out of one of them came another horn….” To understand this phrase we have to examine the grammar. To what noun does the pronoun, “them” refer? The Hebrew pronoun “them” (hem) is masculine, and the Hebrew word for “winds” (ruwach) can be masculine or feminine, but the Hebrew word for “horn” (qeren) is feminine. Therefore, a gender agreement (masculine “them” and masculine “winds”) is possible if we say, “out pf the four winds….” But if we say, “out of one of the four horns…,” the gender in the grammar does not agree. Even though grammar suggests the horn power comes out of one of the four winds, grammar alone does not make this conclusion airtight. So, let us see if there is stronger evidence.

Daniel was standing on the banks of the Ulai River when he received this vision. From his point of reference, the horn power started out small, but became “exceeding great” as it grew toward the south, east and ‘toward the beautiful land.” Daniel refers to his homeland as “the beautiful land” without explicitly saying “west.” (See Jeremiah 3:19.) Maps of this region show Jerusalem to be due west of the province of Elam where Daniel was located. Therefore, after analyzing verse 9, we discover the horn power comes out of the north and grows toward the south, east and west.

 The direction of north is very significant. The ancients thought the world was flat, and north was “up” and south was “down.” Two thousand six hundred years later, while we know the world is not flat, we still follow this tradition. Most people think the North Pole is on top of the world and the South Pole is at the bottom. The ancients believed that God’s throne was above the world, so they concluded that divine judgments came down from the north. Carefully study the following seven texts and notice how the direction of north is associated with divine destruction (italics and insertions mine):

1.      “This is what the Lord says [to Israel]: ‘Look, an army is coming from the land of the north [to destroy you]; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the Earth. They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O daughter of Zion.’” (Jeremiah 6:22,23)

2.      “’I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them [the inhabitants of Judah] and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.’” (Jeremiah 25:9)

3.      “This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the timing of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt… Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north. The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves. They too will turn and flee together, they will not stand their ground, for the day of disaster is coming upon them, the time for them to be punished.” (Jeremiah 46: 13, 20,21)

4.      “Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, ‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’ A nation from the North [the Medes] will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both men and animals will flee away.” (Jeremiah 50:2,3)

5.      “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog [Lucifer]: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog [Lucifer], I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.’” (Ezekiel 38:14-16)

6.      The horn power in Daniel 8 descends from the north because north is a meaningful direction. God deliberately embedded this seemingly insignificant detail in Daniel 8 because He can say profound things with very few words through figurative speech. (Remember, no copy machines or printing presses existed in those days. Hand copied books were scarce and extremely expensive, so books with fewer words were easier to preserve.) The direction of “north” because a significant direction when Lucifer began campaigning against Christ in Heaven. Speaking about Lucifer’s blasphemy, the Lord said, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:13,14, KJV) The phrase, “the sides of the north,” refers to the location of God’s throne. God’s throne was located on the “higher side” or the north side of Heaven’s temple. (The Table of Shewbread, which represented God’s throne, was placed on the north side of the earthly temple.) This knowledge and God’s consistent use of the direction of “north” in the Old Testament indicate that divine authority or judgment originates on “the sides of the north.”

7.      One more text highlighting the importance of the direction north that the reader should consider. In the book of Job, Elihu speaks for God. He addresses a number of false arguments that Job’s friends had made against God. (I am convinced that Elihu was Jesus, who physically appeared before Job and his friends, much like the Lord appeared before Abraham. Genesis 18:22) Elihu said, ‘Be assured that my words are not false; one perfect in knowledge is with you…. Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty.” (Job 36:4; 37:22, italics mine) In the context of Job 36 and 37, the sovereign authority and awesome wisdom of God comes out of the north. This makes perfect sense because God’s throne is located “on the sides of the north” in Heaven’s temple. (See Exodus 26:35 and Exodus 40:22 for the location of the Table of Showbread which represented God’s throne.)

Intermediate Review

1. The horn power comes out of one of the four winds.

2. The horn power comes out of the north and grows toward the south, east and west.

3. Divine authority and divine destruction comes out of the north.

God’s throne is located on the north side of Heaven’s temple.

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