Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 1 * PART 2 * BOOK 10

THE ANTI-CHRIST: DEPARTURE: ESCAPING REMNANTS

Revelation 11-13

Remember in our last program we were describing the attribute or personality of this man that’s going to come on the scene to rule the world during the Tribulation. Also, we had come out of Daniel and gone into the New Testament to see some of those descriptions there. So let’s begin by turning to II Thessalonians Chapter 2. I’ve stressed over the last several months that Paul never writes with regard to prophecy per se. Paul writes concerning the Church. But you see, as the Church bumps right up against the door of the fulfilling again of prophecy, Paul does make some statements here in II Thessalonians Chapter 2 concerning this Man of Sin. Consequently, I want to look at these just to get another point of view about this man who is going to come on the scene:

II Thessalonians 2:1

“Now we beseech you (Paul writes to the Thessalonians who are Gentiles in northern Greece), brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.”

Do you see the language? That’s not the Second Coming, because there is not going to be a gathering unto Him at the Second Coming. He’s going to come to… but here there is a gathering unto. There is a difference in language. Someday, down the road, we’re going to show the difference in all the Scripture verses – how that the Second Coming is totally different language than Christ’s coming for the Church. And we’ll be able to show that so clearly. Continuing on into verse 2, Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers, that evidently thought they had missed the Out-Calling, or the Rapture, and thought they were in the Tribulation. Remember, they were under intense persecution.

So Paul writes this little letter to calm their fears, and let them know that they hadn’t missed it. I think every believer who understands my teaching of the Rapture of the Church may have had this experience: you come home from somewhere and unknown to you the whole family is gone. My wife loves to go fishing, and sometimes when I come in she’s gone. When there’s nobody around, you suddenly realize that the loved ones you thought should be there are gone. What’s that first thought that may hit us? The Lord has taken them and I’ve missed it. We all have those thoughts occasionally. We should all be aware of this. “Is it possible, have I missed it?” That’s what the Thessalonians thought. They thought because of the pressures they were now under, the Lord had come, the Tribulation had come in and they’d had it. This is the reason for this condolence letter. And he says:

II Thessalonians 2:2

“That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”

The day of the Lord, the day of Jehovah, the “day of God;” what is that? Well that’s the Tribulation, when God’s judgment is going to come on the scene for those seven years. So he says the day of Christ is at hand, or has happened. Now verse 3. Here is a verse that I think it was so unfortunate the King James translators were not perfect (no translation is). I’ve always had such high respect for the accuracy of the King James Version, but here is one where I think they made a glaring mistake, and it has caused a lot of confusion among Christendom and that is on the word “apostasia.”

II Thessalonians 2:3

“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day,“ that is the coming in of the Tribulation, the day of God, “that day shall not come except there come,…“ Now most translations have got it `a falling away.’ I think it’s so unfortunate, and I changed the teaching of it when the Amplified New Testament came out. I don’t remember when that was, but the Amplified New Testament came out in about the middle 70’s. The Amplified, for those of you who are not acquainted with it, is a good study Bible. They have simply taken the Greek of the New Testament, and it may take four or five English words to enlarge on a Greek word. Now it doesn’t make nice reading. It’s just word after word after word, all describing the original. But if you take the time, and understand that sometimes it does take four or five English words to understand one Greek word, then you’ll get the picture.

Here is one of them where in their footnote they use `the departure’ for the word `apostasia,’ instead of “a falling away.” Now read it in that light. “For that day shall not come,…” In other words, the introduction of the Anti-christ, “that day shall not come, except there come a departure first.” Now it’s interesting that in all of the early translations of the Bible, beginning with Tyndale, and all the way up through the 1500’s, almost every translation, including the Tyndale and the Geneva, and several others, all translated that word, `the departure.’

Dr. Kenneth Wuest, who is probably the most respected Greek scholar on the scene today is at Moody Bible Institute, and in his book, Prophetic Light in the Present Darkness, he also makes that same delineation of this word, that is better translated `the departure,’ because the same Greek word translated in our King James, `falling away,’ is translated eight times in our New Testament, as `depart;’ either of a person departing from another person to go away, or of a person departing from one place to another. You see, that makes all the difference in the world in this text. That the Tribulation cannot begin until there is the departure. And I think we are going to live to see the day. I think we are getting closer and closer. We’re suddenly going to be gone from this place. And so he says, and we’re going to go on now, “And that man of sin,…” See, here is another one of the titles or the descriptions of this Anti-christ. “…and except there come a departure and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.“

I’m going to throw this in casually because I don’t get dogmatic on some of these things, but if you want to make a Bible study of something that gets rather intriguing, what other human being in Scripture is referred to as the Son of Perdition? Judas! Judas Iscariot was called the Son of Perdition. Like I say, you can do this on your own. But you see, Judas Iscariot was spoken of as having gone to his own place. The Book of Revelation speaks of the Anti-christ as the Son of Perdition, who also came from his own place.

So there are many Scriptural analogies that may suggest we will have one instance of a reincarnation. I don’t even like to use the word because it’s coming in so fast in the oriental religions and so forth. And there’s certainly no other instance of it in all of Scripture. But I think it is a possibility that Judas Iscariot could come back reincarnated. Remember, Christ was not reincarnated, He was incarnate. But a reincarnation could be someone who has lived and now is alive again. Now, it’s possible, and that’s all I can say, it’s possible that the Anti-christ could be a reincarnated Judas Iscariot. And the more I think about it, the more I think indeed it is possible. And as I said last lesson, I think the Anti-christ will be an apostate Jew, rather than an apostate from Christianity. But whatever, we know he’s going to be a demonic individual. But as we saw in the last lesson, he’s going to have all of these pleasant (on the surface) attributes. He’s going to be a charismatic individual. He’s going to be able to sway people’s opinions. He’s going to be able to lie and get away with it. He’s going to promise peace and prosperity, and that’s what the world is looking for.

The world will vote their pocketbook every chance they get and he’s going to take advantage of that. He’s going to promise world peace and prosperity. Consequently, they’re going to fall for it hook, line, and sinker. I have a statement that was printed in Time Magazine in 1957, by a famous World War II Belgian General who became a diplomat, by the name of Paul Henry Spock. This is what he said, back in 1957, as one of the top leaders in Europe at that time. “We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil. We will accept him.” That was spoken by a European leader in 1957. Here we are that much later and the world is that much more ready for such a man. Let’s go back to the text here where Paul is writing concerning this world ruler that’s going to come on the scene. Now, verse 4:

II Thessalonians 2:4

“Who opposeth and exalteth himself…(it’s just exactly what Daniel said; he’s going to worship the god of forces, he’s going to exalt himself as God. Paul is right in line with that here. Beginning the verse again, he says,) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

The Temple will be rebuilt and on the scene in Jerusalem. When we go back to Daniel, we’re going to see how we know the Temple is going to be rebuilt. It has to be! Because Israel is going to enjoy Temple worship up until the mid-point, when this man will go into the Temple as Paul depicts it here, will defile it, will do some abominable thing, probably as Antiochus The Great did. He offered a hog, a sow, upon the altar there in Jerusalem, and I’m sure the Anti-christ will do something just as bad. Reading on in verse 5:

II Thessalonians 2:5

“Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?”

So Paul says you haven’t missed it. The Tribulation hasn’t come in because you are still here. And the Tribulation can’t begin until there is the departure. We won’t go any further here in Thessalonians now; we’ll come back at a later date. Now go to the little letter of 1 John. We have all these references of this Man of Sin, this vile person, a prince that shall come and so forth. But I’m sure this is the only place in our Bible where he is called what we normally call him, and that is the Anti-christ. And here it is in I John Chapter 2:

I John 2:18a

“Little children (now you see how all these writers of Scripture are just assuming that all this would happen, one thing right after the other. Remember when I had the timeline up there on the board, that after the Crucifixion there would be a little segment, and then would come the Tribulation, and then would come the return of Christ, with no hint of 2000 years of Church Age. Well, John writes in that same light. He has no idea of this 2000 year interval in here. And so he says), it is the last time: as ye have heard that anti-christ shall come,…”

As far as I know, that’s the clearest term concerning this man, as being the Anti-christ. John also speaks of many other anti-christs; others who will oppose the Word of God. But there is only one real Anti-christ. Now, we go into the Book of Revelation, and we get a further description in Chapter 13. If the Lord tarries and we stay on television, there will come a day when we will study the Book of Revelation verse by verse. I know in my weekly classes it has always prompted our largest attendance. And the most excited response. But for now we are just going to take a glimpse of it because we want to keep our flow through the Scriptures. I’m getting anxious now to get out of the Old Testament and get into the New Testament. We are going to start in Matthew soon. But now Revelation 13. John in his vision says:

Revelation 13:1a

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,…”

Now, we have to stop and explain. Here is another Book of Prophecy written in symbolism. The beast here in Revelation is the same beast of Daniel. Number one, it’s the Roman Empire. But this man Anti-christ, since he’s going to rule it, is also identified as the beast. The word beast has a two-fold meaning. It can mean the original Roman Empire, or the revived one. But it’s also the Man of Sin, the Anti-christ who is going to rule this final world system. Now the imagery here again is the “sea.” Out of the sea he sees this beast come. The average reader will imagine a dragon or some kind of sea monster, coming up out of the middle of the ocean. That’s not what is indicated. It’s a symbolic statement; that out of the sea of humanity, out of the masses of nations, there is going to come this final empire. And we are seeing it happen right before our eyes, with the European community. It’s a restoration of the very same geographical area of the ancient Roman Empire.

I always like to remind my classes that you have to realize that from the demise of the ancient Roman Empire between 300-400 A.D. and the rising now of this revived Roman Empire, even though it’s 1900 plus years, to us that’s a long time. But in the mind of God, what is it? A blink of the eye. As far as He is concerned, what ended in 350 A.D. and is now coming about in the 1990’s, it’s as if there is no interval in between. It has just been pushed right up back to back. And so this is what you must keep in mind when studying the Book of Revelation. Read on, as this great empire, as well as this great individual rises up out of the masses of humanity:

Revelation 13:1b

“…having seven heads and ten horns (like we saw in the Book of Daniel, when Medes and Persians were depicted as the ram with two horns. What were the horns? Well, the two individual kings. Now when this empire comes on the scene, there is going to be seven distinct heads of state. But there are going to be ten crowns. You are going to have ten distinct nations, three of whom will not be very powerful, or large enough to have their own heads of state. But you will have ten distinct leaders.), and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

So who is heading up this empire? Satan is. It’s a satanic consortium of politicians and so forth. Now when I say satanic, remember Satan isn’t just a promoter of skid row. Satan doesn’t just promote the vile aspect of life. Satan can promote the greatest technology, he can promote the most beautiful things on earth, as long as it’s for his own end. And so, even though this great world system comes on the scene, and just because I say it’s satanic doesn’t mean that it’s intrinsically evil from its outward appearance, but you can bet the farm that the inward part of it will be corrupt to the core. And that’s why I said when he comes on the scene, how is he going to achieve his end? By lying, by deception, by flattery, and by his charismatic personality. He’s going to get people to fall at his feet. But remember he’s corrupt. Now let’s read on:

Revelation 13:2

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,…“ You always have to take time, and think back to Daniel Chapter 2. Remember the Babylonian Empire was called the head of gold? The Medes and Persian Empire was the chest of silver. The Greek Empire was the belly of brass. The Roman Empire was legs of iron. Then in Chapter 7, Daniel saw those same empires as wild beasts. He saw Babylon as a lion. He saw the Medes and Persians as the bear. And he saw the Greek Empire as the leopard. And the fourth empire was a beast beyond description. Daniel saw them from a prophetic view from start to finish. Coming down, John sees them now as looking back. Notice they are in reverse order.. “and the dragon (Satan)gave him his power, and his seat (or throne), and his authority.“ Do you see how plain that is? This man is going to come on the scene, satanically driven, and he’s going to receive his power, talents and ability directly from Satan himself. He’s going to take over these ten nations that I’m convinced will be the European Community. And out of that ten-nation power he will come to the top and will become the great world leader.

Revelation 13:3

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death (now again there is a lot of controversy as to, “Will the Anti-christ himself be assassinated and be raised back to life?” I do not think so, although that would make good news. I personally think that the wounding to death here is the ancient Roman Empire. Everyone historically feels that the Roman Empire is dead and gone. But here it is coming back just as if nothing has happened.); and his deadly wound was healed (now watch those next 3 or 4 words): and all the world (not just Europe, not just the Mediterranean, but the whole world.) wondered after the beast.”

Revelation 13:4

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying (do you see now why we are seeing such an increase in Satan worship? We’re seeing an increase in the Oriental Religions, which are tied of course to the Occult. They are all getting ready when this man comes on the scene, and takes over and the world is going to be ready to fall at his feet, and they will worship him as well as the satanic power that is behind him. Reading on now, they will ask the question), `Who is like unto the beast (who’s like him? He’s one in millions.) who is able to make war with him?'”

Revelation 13:5a

“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies;…”

He is going to be Anti-God, he is the Anti-christ, and he’s going to have tremendous power because of the satanic power behind him. Don’t ever underestimate Satan. Do you remember when Jesus was out there in the temptations. It’s in Matthew Chapter 4, and one of the temptations was, as Satan took Him up to the mountain top in this particular case, he showed Jesus what? All the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And what did Satan have the nerve to say to Jesus? “Fall down and worship me and I’ll give them to you.” I’ve always maintained they’re his to give. And now here we see him really coming to the place where he thinks he’s got the world under his thumb. And they’re all beginning to worship him, but God limits him. And what is the next limit? Forty-two months. That is 3 ¹/2 years.

So out of the seven years remember the first 3 ¹/2 he’s going to be making his points, he’s going to be coming on the scene, but he won’t attain this position as absolute world controller until the middle of the Tribulation. That’s when he will move into the Temple in Jerusalem, and that’s when he will turn on the Jew. Then, as we will see in the next few programs, at the mid-point of the Tribulation, Satan is cast out of heaven. So I always put it this way. That last 3 ¹/2 years is not just going to be the wrath of God poured out, but it’s going to be a combined wrath. The wrath of Satan, the Scripture says, knowing that he has only a short time left, 3 ¹/2 years. The wrath of God because he has promised he would pour out his wrath on Christ-rejecting mankind, and so that last forty-two months are like Jesus said in Matthew 24, a time of trouble, the like to which the world has never seen or ever will. And it’s going to be such that we cannot even comprehend.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 11

THE ANTI-CHRIST: DEPARTURE: ESCAPING REMNANTS

Revelation 11-13

Let’s get back into prophecy. Before we go back to Daniel, I’d like you to turn to II Peter Chapter 1. I have a reason for spending as much time in prophecy as I do. I never like to get on a hobby horse, and just ride one thing to death. I don’t teach prophecy simply because it’s sensational, or exciting, although it is. I simply like to teach prophecy on the basis of these verses of Scripture.

2 Peter 1:17

“For he (Christ) received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, `This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'”

Now Peter is making reference to the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. That’s when the voice from heaven spoke, and Peter, James, and John were struck with such awe at the events that were taking place. After all it was just beyond human comprehension, as Christ was transfigured right before them; and then to hear the voice from heaven. But Peter goes on to say:

2 Peter 1:18,19

“And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (that is the Mount of Transfiguration).” But now verse 19; here is my reason for spending as much time on prophecy as I do: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”

What is Peter saying? Though the event at the Mount of Transfiguration was thrilling, Peter says we’ve got something that proves these things more than that. What is it? Prophecy!

2 Peter 1:20

“Knowing this first (now the word “knowing” in the Greek is more emphatic than what we normally think of the word “knowing.” It’s just not a casual acceptance of something, but it’s a bona fide knowledge, without any questions or doubt), that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

In other words, you don’t take one verse and try to twist it out of shape and make it fit. You leave everything in context. I hope people realize, that is how I teach. I hope I’m never guilty of lifting something out of context and making it say something that the Lord never intended for it to mean.

2 Peter 1:21

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man (but here is how it came about. The word “holy” means set apart. Holy men of God spake, not as they dreamed it up, not as they had remembered what they heard around a camp fire, or what had been handed down from generation to generation): but these holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

What is this saying? Everyone of us will meet someone once in a while who will say, “I don’t see how you can believe all that stuff. After all, why do you think the Bible is more right in what it teaches than the Koran or the book of Mormon?” or anything else that they may say is their guideline for doctrine. I’ll tell you why. There is not another book written that makes prophetic statements like our Bible does. Hundreds, even thousands of years before they happen and they all come true. What hasn’t come true, will!

This is our reason for teaching prophecy. It is to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Book is the Word of God. And it’s prophecy that has been spoken, and fulfilled to the last jot and tittle as much of the Old Testament already has been. We have no reason to doubt that the rest of it will be. Because the same God that fulfilled the first ninety percent of prophecy, is the God that’s going to finish the last ten percent. All of that is just to show why we like to spend as much time in prophecy as we do.

The main reason we are studying prophecy now, is, as we come through the Old Testament, we reach to Daniel. Let’s go back to the Book of Daniel now to Chapter 8, which we skipped when we came through. But, you remember on our sojourn up through the Scriptures, starting with Genesis, we have just come right on up, unfolding our timeline, and, consequently, since Daniel is in captivity under the Babylonian empire we stopped there in our progressive revelations. But, of course, Daniel is a book of prophecy. And so, he is dealing almost entirely in his whole book with events that would happen to the Gentile world. Now, back here in Chapter 8, let me show you how accurate prophecy has been. It’s already been fulfilled as you will notice starting with verse 1:

Daniel 8:1

“In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.”

And he goes on to say that he saw a vision way out there in Shushan, which was the capital of the Medes and Persian empire on the Tigris River. In this vision he’s going to see the unfolding of the rather immediate history (not the long term).

Daniel 8:3

“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.”

Everyone envisions some horrible looking creature with a horrible looking pair of horns. Let’s go back to a statement I made several weeks ago. Three books of our Bible were written outside of the land of Israel. All three of them are mostly prophetic, and all three of them deal primarily with Gentile prophecy. Daniel is one of them. He writes from Shushan on the Tigris river; Ezekiel is another, he also writes from captivity; and the third Book is Revelation, when John, the Revelator, wrote from the Isle of Patmos in exile. None of those three books were written in Israel. However, they were all written by Jews, and all three wrote in symbolism. The symbolism here is that the ram was indicative of the Medes and Persian empire. In fact, their coins had the ram’s head on them. The crown of the Medes and Persians had the likeness of a ram. And so, there’s no doubt from history and archaeology, that Daniel is seeing the vision concerning the empire of which he was a part, and that was the Medes and Persians represented by the two horns.

The horns in Scripture always refer to kings or the top guy in control. Try to remember that, because when you get to the Book of Revelation, you are going to see this leader with ten horns. And that simply means a government with ten distinctive heads or presidents, or kings. The Medes and Persians are the two kings. One of them is the father of Cyrus. He was the one horn, but his son Cyrus became so much greater, and pushed the empire out further, that Daniel sees it as the greater of the two horns. And that’s all they are, two kings, the father and son. Now, as the Medes and Persians began to expand out their empire, they enveloped the land of Israel, and they took the city of Jerusalem. Then they went down into Egypt. And then they went around the Mediterranean Sea, and started overrunning what is present day Turkey – and they were headed toward Europe. But Daniel sees something that’s going to stop this Medes and Persian Empire. Verse 4:

Daniel 8:4

“I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.” They were the greatest empire on the earth at that time.

Daniel 8:5

“And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth (they’re in the Middle East. The Medes and Persians are coming from the east, in the area of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They are moving around the north side of the Mediterranean Sea, and here comes a power from the west to meet them head on. It’s a he-goat, and we know from archaeology that the Grecian Empire emblem was the goat. It was on their coins and other emblems. They recognized them as the he-goat. So this he-goat came from the west), and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn (One. What was Alexander the Great? – a conqueror of one (not a consortium like the Medes and Persians). He alone arose from the Grecian Empire.) between his eyes.”

Daniel 8:6

“And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.”

Let’s break that verse down. “And he came to the ram” (now what do you have? Do you have a fight between two animals? No, you have a fight between two empires. So, the Grecian Empire is going to run head-on into the Medes’ and Persians’ Empire. And of course we know from history who won? The Greeks did. Alexander overran the Medes’ and Persians’ Empire, and ruled the greatest empire on earth by the time he was 33 years old. And he was also known in history as a general who conquered swiftly. He would move his armies with speed such that the then-known world knew nothing of. He would take chances, and was almost reckless in the chances that he would take. But he always seemed to come out on top. He never really lost an army.

So it was unique to Alexander the Great’s military campaign. I think the word that shows that in verse 6 that many of us might miss is “ran:” but as this he-goat came he “ran;“ see the indication of his swiftness and speed? “…and ran unto him in the fury of his power.” Now, people read this and all they picture is a couple of animals in a wild animal fight of some kind – all it is, is two empires. Now you say, “Where do you get it?” Well, just move across the page to verse 20. And as I have said so often, Scripture always does it’s own interpreting.

Daniel 8:20,21

“The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia (it’s plain isn’t it?): and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king (Alexander the Great).”

Daniel 8:22

“Now that being broken (you know what happened to him – he died; probably of alcoholism. He was only 33 years old. The great empire that Alexander the Great set up so swiftly, was immediately divided between four of his Generals. And so the empire became a quadrangle. It was no longer “one.”), whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” In other words, no longer an Alexander.

Daniel 8:23

“And in the latter time of their kingdom (these four generals), when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.”

This is an interesting little quirk of Scripture and prophecy. The little king, spoken of here as being so fierce and powerful, on the pages of secular history wasn’t enough to amount to a paragraph. But he was a king who went down to Jerusalem and utterly persecuted, and put under tremendous pressure, the people of Israel. So, in God’s plan of things, he becomes a prime player. But other than that, he is only a little blip on the radar of history. Let’s look at this man because he is a picture, or a type of the last man of fierce countenance. He is a picture of the Anti-christ. So this is the only way we can look at the description of this Antiochus The Great. The very same descriptive words connected to him are also descriptive of this Man of Sin. I’m going to wind up with the biblical description of this world ruler that is coming on the scene (we think before much longer). Let’s look at verse 24, still speaking of Antiochus The Great, in history shortly following Daniel’s vision:

Daniel 8:24

“And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully (in other words, beyond human comprehension the things that he would do.), and he shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.” See, he came down and persecuted the Nation of Israel.

Daniel 8:25

“And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand (in other words he’s going to be successful in his little era of history); and he shall magnify himself in his heart(this is all indicative of what the Anti-christ is going to be like thousands of years later), and by peace shall destroy many (in other words he’s going to be a political manipulator, and we are going to see that in a little bit. How the man Anti-christ is going to have such charisma, he’s going to have the world just really licking out of his hands, because of his charismatic personality. And this fellow was able to do the same thing): he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes (now that’s capitalized, so he’s actually going to stand up in the face of God, and try to fight against Him); but he shall be broken without hand.”

Well, he ends the vision. Come over to Chapter 11. Now Daniel brings this same personality, this Antiochus The Great, out of Syria, who, like I said, was a blip on history’s radar. But yet in Biblical analogy, he is an important character because he foreshadows the Anti-christ. Now verse 21 . Without realizing it, Daniel is leaping about 2500 years of history, bringing us to this end-time individual.

Daniel 11:21a

“And in his estate shall stand up a vile person (this is one of his descriptions), to whom they shall not give honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”

In other words, there is not going to be a great land-swell of voting for this guy. He will come in with intrigue, and political maneuvering. “…but he shall come in peaceably,” So, he’s not going to have a violent overthrow. But by political maneuvering, he’s going to bring himself to the top of the heap. “…and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.” He’s going to say what people want to hear and he’s going to get away with it. He’ll be a liar because that’s his very make-up. He’ll say whatever needs to be said to obtain his end.

Daniel 11:22

“And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.”

In other words, this Anti-christ, is going to sign this treaty with Israel, with flattery, promise of peace and prosperity, but he’s going to turn on them. And he’s going to bring in violent pressure upon them. Come over to verse 36:

Daniel 11:36

“And the king (this world ruler coming on the scene in the end time) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.”

He will finally get to the place where he’ll have almost absolute power over the whole world. When I say the whole world, stop and think for a moment. If you are aware of what is going on (if you read the weekly news magazines and so forth), the world is becoming more global minded. The global economy, global politics, global religion, global currency. It’s world-wide and everything is being prepared for the coming in of this world leader.

Take our Social Security system. That’s not the mark of the beast, don’t worry about that, but I’ll tell you what it is. It’s the forerunner; it’s getting masses of people ready to be subjected to a central power who is going to control them with a number. Now, that’s the mark of the beast, but we believers won’t have to worry about it, because we won’t be here. But for the world that’s here, they are all going to have a number. Even today with the exception of only a few nations in the third world, do you realize that almost every nation has a Social Security system. I didn’t know that until just a few weeks ago. And that Social Security system you see, prepares everybody for understanding that they can’t make a move until they have that number. You just stop and think what we Americans can do without a Social Security number. Nothing. You can’t drive your car, you can’t enroll your kids in school, you can’t file your taxes, or pay your taxes without that number. Well, that’s just the preview of what’s coming. “…and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god,” Now you want to remember, this guy is going to be the very tool of Satan. And what is Satan’s big lie, according to all that I’ve taught ever since we came up from Genesis? That you can be like God. See this guy is believing it concerning himself, that he is greater than God; he is God. Now read on. “…and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished:” In other words, when the Tribulation ends, and he goes to his doom. “…for that that is determined shall be done.” This means that all that prophecy says will happen to this man will happen. But for seven years he’s going to have this kind of power.

Daniel 11: 37

“Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.”

He will probably be an apostate Jew. Others say an apostate Gentile from Christianity; but since Israel is going to accept him and almost take him as their Messiah, I personally think he will be an apostate Jew. We know on this subject, there is a lot of controversy among Bible scholars, and I’m not one. I have never claimed to be a scholar. I’m not a theologian. I’m just a teacher. I was thinking the other day, there are thousands of them out there, that are just like I am… Sunday school teachers and what have you. And I never pretended to be anything more than that. We just want to teach the Word on a level that everyone can understand.

Daniel 11:38

“But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.”

In other words, an indication that he won’t worship the God of Abraham, but he’s going to worship Satan, which of course will be the prime mover. Now, if you will come back with me again to Matthew 24. You remember in Daniel Chapter 9, when Daniel says that this man, the prince that’s going to come out of the revived Roman Empire, is going to sign a seven-year treaty with the Nation of Israel. And this seven-year treaty is going to run its course according to prophecy. But Daniel says in the middle of that seven-year treaty, he’s going to turn on Israel. We have already seen that back in Chapter 8. And he’s going to set himself up as God to be worshiped as God in the very Temple in Jerusalem that will, of course, by that time be rebuilt. So, again in Matthew 24, I want you to see how Jesus put His stamp of approval upon what Daniel wrote.

Matthew 24:15

“When ye therefore (now He’s talking to the twelve; He’s talking to the Nation of Israel) shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,…” What’s that saying? Daniel said he would come in and he will.