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Daniel 11:40
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There will be a period of time when the antichrist is at work, but his antagonism to the church of God – the church of converted Jews and converted Gentiles of the New Testament – will reach a climax. ‘And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him.’ The passage is difficult. Who is meant by ‘him’ in these words? Obviously it is someone already in view, but the only one we have read about in the last four verses is ‘the king’ of verse 36. If ‘the king’ of verses 36-39 were Antiochus, the king of the north, then it would be natural to understand the passage as continuing to speak of wars between these same two powers that have been in view throughout the rest of the chapter – the narrative switching to the king of the south, and he again attacking the king of the north, and the king of the north responding. But we have seen that this does not fit Antiochus, who did not wage a fourth campaign against Egypt (in spite of what Porphyry says, which, as noted by Barnes, does not fit with other historical records). If it is correct that verses 36-39 refer to the final antichrist, then the word ‘him’ in the first part of the verse also refers to the antichrist. Then we have, ‘And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind.’ Again, who is meant by ‘him’ – ‘against him’? Has the one in view changed here? Is this the retaliatory action of the king of the north against the king of the south, and does the word ‘him’ now refer to the king of the south, just mentioned? Leupold believes that both times, the word ‘him’ refers to the antichrist who is simultaneously being attacked by south and north. But, given what follows, it seems more straightforward to understand this as the reciprocal action of one king against another. The king of the south pushes against the king of the north, and the king of the north reciprocates. In what follows no further actors are introduced. It is the king of the north who comes ‘like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships’ (verse 40); it is the king of the north who enters ‘also into the glorious land’; it is the king of the north who ‘shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape’ (verse 42), and who shall ‘have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt’ (verse 43); and it is the king of the north who shall receive ‘tidings out of the east and out of the north’ that trouble him. Although from verse 36 on, it is the antichrist alone who is in view, he seems to be treated under the figure of the king of the north.‘And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships.’ But we know of course that the language of the Old Testament has to be used to describe, in prophecy, things that will happen in a later age that will not use those weapons. What you see here is that every available kind of weapon will be used by antichrist. The king of the north proceeds to overrun many countries with the resources at his disposal. These verses use the imagery seen in the first part of the chapter but intend some future reality. The kings of the south and of the north – that is Egypt and Syria, but it isn't Egypt and Syria now. The prophecy is talking about the end times. Egypt and Syria are just symbols, and the people of God, represented by ancient Israel, will be stuck in the middle, and will be his biggest object of hatred. Fascinating! Who would Egypt possibly be a symbol of? Some people nowadays are saying, Islam. Syria is perhaps a symbol of the Western world: nominal Christendom. They will be fighting each other, and antichrist will be stirring up problems; that could possibly be the sense here. But finally, he won't be happy, but he will mount a tremendous assault against the people of God. ‘He shall enter also into the glorious land.’ Not now literally Jerusalem, which is a figure of the church of all ages: the Old Testament church with its special country, and its special city, and its special capital. It becomes symbolic of what will happen in the end times. ‘He shall enter also into the glorious land and many countries shall be overthrown,’ – some very intriguing prophecies – ‘but these shall escape out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon’ – the enemies of the people of God of those days who were nearest to them and yet persistent enemies. The antichrist will know how to distinguish between true Christians and false Christians – those groups that are near to them, perhaps like the church of Rome and of course Liberal Christianity – and they will be preserved from all the persecutions because they are really on the side of antichrist, and they are against the grace of God and the truth of the word. Perhaps that is what is referred to here. At the end of the chapter we see antichrist standing between the Mediterranean, advancing on Jerusalem, standing by the very mountains that protect Jerusalem; he is about to pounce. He is about to try to engulf the church. This is his being revealed as in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:3. Just at that moment Christ will return and destroy him with the brightness of his coming. Here is the apostle Paul in total accord with the prophecy of Daniel. Christ finally prevails. ‘Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [prevents or restrains] will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming’ (2 Thessalonians 2:5-8). Verse 43: ‘But he [antichrist] shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver.’ Don't expect necessarily – although this could be involved – a literal rounding up of earthly riches and means. The treasures of gold and of silver stand for every form of wealth and power: all the best intellectual expertise will be enrolled by antichrist; all the force of scientific humanism. ‘He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver,’ – the things that make the world effective in bringing about change – ‘and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.’But then verse 44: ‘Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him.’ For all his power and his evil and his apparent success as his work moves to its peak at the very end of time, he will be very troubled and insecure. Whether antichrist is an individual person, a force, a movement; whatever form he takes, he will troubled by rumour, intolerant in the extreme. ‘He shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.’ When he reaches that peak, the Lord will appear and will destroy him by the brightness of his coming. ‘And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace’ – his war tent – ‘between the seas’ – the Mediterranean – ‘in the glorious holy mountain’ – outside Jerusalem in the hills. But this is a figure of the closeness that he will get to victory, and to the destruction of the people of God. The two witnesses of Revelation are prostrate on the ground. ‘Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.’ That is the end, the final destruction of antichrist.
Application
Persecution takes many forms: physical persecution, obviously; persecution by way of legislation which we are seeing gathering speed at the present time, as legislation is passed to legalise things which the Scriptures and the preaching of the church proclaims as sinful before God, and to begin to criminalise all those who hold to that view and oppose the new morality. So there is legislative persecution. Then there is social persecution which we also see. We see it particularly concentrated in these last days with the emergence of electronic communication, and every adult, every child, has now their phones and their devices by which the propaganda of antichrist, and the culture of antichrist, and the entertainment inspired by antichrist is pumped into everyone's head and everyone's heart. There is social persecution. For young people and older people to stand against the social persecution of today, and to leave the peer group, and to regard these things as sinful and unacceptable is a tremendously difficult thing for them. Every kind – chariots, horsemen, many ships. Don't think in terms of a time coming as some people very unwisely do, when the people of God will literally be attacked by this kind of weaponry. That is foolishness; this is the language of the Old Testament applied to New Testament times. But the fact that every kind of weapon is in use reminds us that all forms of persecution will intensify at the end.
We see that there is no more intolerant force in the world than scientific humanism. It must get everybody's mind enslaved. It will use every means possible to be the only acceptable ideology and teaching. Here it is: tidings, rumours that will trouble him, and this will apparently inspire his final and most ferocious attack on the church of Jesus Christ: the Jewish Gentile church of Christ in the New Testament.
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