Segment 4 - Daniel 8
The Antichrist
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The King of the North in Daniel 11

Even though Daniel 8 indicates the horn power comes out of the north, Daniel 11 offers more details about the king who comes out of the north. Let us jump ahead for a moment to Daniel 11:36 and notice a few verses. These verses may help you see more clearly how the architecture of Daniel influences my conclusion that the horn power in Daniel 8 is the Antichrist. First, consider these verses: “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. [However, at the appointed time of the end] The [stern-faced] King will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath [the Great Tribulation] is completed, for what has been determined must take place.” (Daniel 11:35,36, italics and insertions mine) These two verses speak about the time of the end. Now we will jump forward to verse 40 and 41. “At the time of the end the king of the south will [rebel and] engage him in battle, and the king of the north [the Antichrist] will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land…” (Daniel 11:40,41, insertions mine)

After Lucifer appears on earth, Revelation 13:8 indicates most wicked people will receive him as God, but many of them will reject him and rebel against the claims of authority. Daniel 11 reveals the wicked king of the south will rise up and oppose the arrogant and pompous claims of Lucifer, the king of the north. Lucifer will wage war against the king of the south, and will destroy him and his followers. In fact, this destruction amounts to one-third of the wicked! The remaining two-thirds of the wicked will gladly submit to the devil as though he were Almighty God. As horrendous as this battle is, the sixth-trumpet war is not the battle of Armageddon. The battle of Armageddon occurs as Jesus appears. (Revelation 16:12-21)

The war described in Daniel 11:40,41 is also described in Revelation 9:13-21. Daniel and Revelation perfectly harmonize on this matter. The point is that the horn power of Daniel 8 is the king from the north. Study over Chart 4.2 and notice how the king from the north in Daniel 11:36 and the horn power of Daniel 8 appear at the appointed time of the end. The architecture of apocalyptic prophecy is amazing! (Note: To keep the size of this growing matrix within physical constraints, the column for Babylon has been removed.)

Prophecy Matrix With the King of the North

Chart 4.2

Summarizing His Origin

The horn power in Daniel 8 does not arise from a nation on Earth. This king will come out of the north during the appointed time of the end. God uses the point of origin to make a profound statement. The Antichrist will arrive on a divine mission of destruction! God will send the stern-faced king to rule over the wicked. God will send him because the wicked rejected His truth and rebelled against His generous offer of salvation. Paul talked about this, “… They [the wicked] perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they might believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, italics mine)

Consider God’s consistent ways, He sent armies to destroy the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Medes and Persians, the Grecians, and the Romans. When nations go beyond the point of redemption, God raises up a destroyer king. The reason God places the Antichrist in the end time story is because He sets up kings and He takes them down with other kings.  During the Great Tribulation, God will send the stern-faced king of Daniel 8 (the Antichrist) to destroy much of the world. The devil will kill one-third of mankind, leaving two groups of survivors. When Jesus appears, one group will obey the commandments of the Lamb (Revelation 12:17) and the other group will obey the lamb-like beast (the Antichrist). I know this explanation of the horn power goes beyond the evidence presented thus far in Daniel 8, but my purpose is to help you behold a very large picture that will continue to unfold if the apocalyptic rules are followed!

Section III – Antichrist Will Oppose All Religions

The Horn Power Grows Until ….

“It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.” (Daniel 8:10) The horn power from the north starts small, but it grows until it reaches the starry host of the heavens, then it throws them down and tramples them. This language indicates the stern-faced king will grow in recognition and authority among the inhabitants of Earth until he is exalted above all gods! The book of Revelation reveals more about this process than Daniel. Revelation indicates the devil will begin his physical work on Earth with local appearances. The devil, along with his enormous host of angels, will come down out of the sky in blinding clouds of light at specific locations on Earth. He will imitate Christ’s Second Coming with two obvious differences. First, God will not permit the devil to be visible to the whole world at one time. Therefore, the people of Earth will not be introduced to the Antichrist at one event. He will grow in popularity as he appears in the skies over the populated cities of the world such as Mexico City, Jerusalem, Washington D.C., Moscow, Sydney, Beijing, Calcutta, Houston and others, will see magnificent displays of power and glory. Lucifer will appear in various places and he will exercise miracle-working powers to convince people that he is God. (Revelation 13:14,15) Even though his display of power will be amazing, the saints will not be deceived. They know who lives behind the mask. (Revelation 14:9,10)

To understand the meaning of “the starry hosts” in Daniel 8, we have to examine the language and ways of people who lived in ancient times. Polytheism was popular. The ancients worshiped various gods who lived among the stars of the heavens. (Daniel 2:11,28) They used the stars, like dots on a drawing pad, to draw pictures of their gods. These mythical gods belonged to a collection called “the starry hosts.” Idols of gold, silver, wood, and stone were representations of these various gods. These five texts help us understand who the starry hosts were (italics mine):

1.      “They [Israel] forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.” (2 Kings 17:16, insertion mine)

2.      “He [King Manasseh] rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ‘In Jerusalem I will put my Name.’ In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts…” (2 Kings 21:3-5, insertion mine)

3.      “He [King Josiah] did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem – those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.” (2 Kings 23:5, insertion mine)

4.      “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” (Nehemiah 9:6)

5.      “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all nations under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:19)

If we allow the Bible to be its own interpreter, the term “starry hosts” represent pagan deities. The ancients gave them names such as Baal, Mercury, Zeus, Hermes, Venus, Ra, Sol and others. (Acts 14:12) With this setting in mind, Daniel 8: 10 indicates the Antichrist will grow in authority and recognition until he is honored above all gods worshiped by men. The stern-faced king will prove himself greater than the gods of all religions because he can perform great signs and miracles at will. No other false god will be able to match his glory and prowess. Even King Nebuchadnezzar admitted that Daniel’s God was greater than his own god when Daniel interpreted the king’s vision! Therefore, when the time comes, the Antichrist will call fire down out of Heaven to destroy rebellious groups of people, and his actions will convince onlookers that they are in the presence of Almighty God. (Revelation 13:13, 14; 2 Thessalonians 2:9)

In this way, the devil will trample down (show inferior) all of the gods of this world and the religions of men. Now that you have an idea if what the horn power from the north will do to the nations and religions of the world, notice these two texts:

1. “The [stern-faced] king [of the North] will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers [the traditional gods of religions] or for the one desired by women [Jesus Christ], nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.” (Daniel 11:36,37, italics and insertion mine.) “Let no man deceive you by any means: except there come a falling away [from the truth] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [destruction]; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4, insertions mine)

Do not forget each of these specifications. The details regarding the horn power in Daniel 8 are creating a tall order – in fact, no ordinary person can meet these specifications.

Section IV – Horn Power Cannot Be Antiochus Epiphanes IV

Daily Services in Heaven

It is regrettable that millions of Christians believe that Antiochus Epiphanes IV (175-164 B.C.) is the horn power of Daniel 8. We will investigate this claim by comparing the specifications given in the Bible with the historical facts about Antiochus IV. Beginning with Daniel 8:11, the angel said, “It [the horn power] set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host [The Lord Jesus]; it [the horn power] took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.” (Daniel 8:11, insertions and italics mine) Verse 11 will make a lot more sense if you understand God’s use of parallel temples. (Bible study room under parallel temples.) Daniel 8:11 are not describing the cessation of daily sacrifices in Jerusalem’s temple in 167 B.C. Instead, we will see that this verse describes the cessation of the daily services in Heaven’s temple which during “the appointed time of the end.”

The word “sacrifice” in verse 11 has been added by translators and is not found in the original manuscripts. This fact is important because Gabriel is not talking about the cessation of animal sacrifices on Earth. He is talking about the cessation of the daily services in Heaven’s temple. The word “daily” comes from a perpetual round of services that occurred evening and morning in the earthy temple. The daily services on Earth shadow similar services in Heaven’s temple. (Hebrews 8:1-5) during the appointed time of the end, the Antichrist will cause the daily services in Heaven’s temple to end and the Antichrist will cause the place of Christ’s sanctuary to be brought low (treated with distain and contempt.).

History reveals that Antiochus IV ended the daily services in Jerusalem’s temple for about a three-year period. However, the cessation of the daily in 167 B.C. is not a fulfillment of Daniel 8. Antiochus IV was not the only king that terminated the daily services at the temple in Jerusalem. For example, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in 586 B.C. and ended the daily services for more than seventy years. The Roman general, Titus, destroyed the temple in A.D. 70, and the daily services of the temple have not resumed to this day because there is no temple in Jerusalem. However, the primary question begging for an answer is whether Antiochus IV was powerful enough to take the daily away from the Prince of the host, Jesus! Review verse 11 again: “It [the horn power] set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host [the Lord Jesus]; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.”

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