Who is the Antichrist? Part 4 – His military career
What is the Antichrist military connection? But when we come to verses 40 through 45 of Daniel 11, we have the military career of the Antichrist being revealed. Verse 40 says, “And at the time of the end”—this is going to be in the future tribulation—“shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships.” Who is the “him” of verse 40? Well, in light of the fact that it’s the Antichrist that’s just been described in the immediately preceding verses, it’s obvious that the “him” of verse 40 is the Antichrist. So that Daniel is being told in verse 40 that at the time of the end, Antichrist will be attacked militarily by the king of the south and the king of the north.
But who are the king of the south and the king of the north in verse 40? Thankfully, verses 2 through 35 of Daniel 11 have already been fulfilled historically. In fact, they were fulfilled even before the first coming of Christ. In light of that historic fulfillment it’s interesting to note that the king of the south and the king of the north are referred to several times in verses 2 through 35. So we know who they were in that passage. The king of the south in those verses was always the nation of Egypt, directly south of Israel. And the king of the north in verses 2 through 35 was always the nation of Syria, directly north of Israel, the same Syria and Egypt that are in the Middle East today and that sometimes cause problems for Israel.
And so that’s past history, verses 2 through 35; but here, the king of the south and the king of the north are referred to again in verse 40 which has not yet been fulfilled and since Daniel is not told these are different from the king of the south and the king of the north of verses 2 through 35, we can draw the conclusion they are still the same two nations. Therefore, what Daniel is being told here by God in verse 40 was this: that in the future tribulation period, Antichrist will be attacked jointly by Egypt and Syria at the same time. But that revelation poses a problem. How will they attack Antichrist? At this time, our understanding is, Antichrist will be headquartered over in Western Europe as the head of the revived Roman Empire, and as you know, Syria and Egypt are two Middle Eastern nations. If they’re in the Middle East and he’s in Europe, how will they attack him? I want to make a proposal to you as to how this could happen.
According to Daniel 9:27, at the very beginning of the seven-year tribulation, Antichrist is going to confirm a covenant with the nation of Israel in the Middle East. Now, the Hebrew language of Daniel 9:27 makes it very clear that this will be a strong, binding covenant. The implication seems to be that through the confirming of that covenant, Antichrist will so strongly bind the nation of Israel in the Middle East to the revived Roman Empire, that he will actually regard Israel as an extension of himself and his revived Roman Empire in the Middle East. And therefore, any attack against Israel will be an attack against him.
In light of that, I would propose that the way in which Syria and Egypt will jointly attack the Antichrist is by those two Middle Eastern nations jointly attacking his Middle East ally, Israel, at the same time. Syria, coming down from the north against Israel, while Egypt comes up from the south against Israel in a pincher type military movement. How will Antichrist while over in Western Europe react when he receives news to the fact that his Middle Eastern ally, Israel, has been jointly attacked by Syria and Egypt?
At the end of verse 40 we’re told this: “and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over.” Keeping his covenant commitment to Israel, Antichrist will move his Western European armies into the Middle East and will begin overflowing the nations of the Middle East. Now, when you begin reading at the end of verse 40 and you read down through verse 43, it becomes obvious that once he invades the Middle East, his movements will be from north of Israel to south of Israel. Apparently, he will invade Syria north of Israel first and other peoples probably around there—probably Lebanon as well—and take control of them.
But then, verse 41 says, “He shall enter also into the glorious land.” Obviously to Daniel, the “glorious land” is the land of Israel. After Antichrist has finished his conquest of Syria in the north, he will march his army south through the land of Israel. And we’re told that “many shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon.” In Daniel’s day, Edom, Moab and Ammon were nations located due east of Israel right across the Jordan River. Today that is the nation of Jordan.
The implication is, that when Antichrist marches his army south through Israel, he is so anxious to get down to Egypt, the other enemy that attacked his ally, Israel, that he won’t take the time to cross east of the Jordan River to take control of the nation of Jordan. And he will get down to Israel. We are told in verse 42, “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape, but he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.”
What this is saying is, he will get to Egypt and he will be able to conquer the entire nation of Egypt. When it is says here “the Libyans will be at his steps,” literally at his heels, the point is, he will conquer Egypt clear over to its western border with Libya and stop there and turn around so that when he turns around, the Libyans will be at his back, at his heels, and then he will conquer Egypt as far south as you can go to its border with its southern neighbor, so that when he turns around, that southern neighbor of Egypt will be at his heels as well. This is God’s way of saying, the Antichrist will be able to conquer the entire nation of Egypt, and it will look as if the whole Middle East is going to come under this ruler’s control.
But look at the contrast word that begins verse 44: “But,” in other words, in contrast to the way it will appear, “tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him.” What will be the substance of this disturbing news from the north and from the east that Antichrist will receive while he’s down in Egypt taking a spoil of the resources of the nation of Egypt?
Remember a prophecy that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 38 of Ezekiel to the effect that during the first half of the tribulation period, Israel will be jointly attacked by Islamic nations and Russia, Russia leading this multi-nation attack against Israel. We saw there that Russia is going to come from the north against Israel. We also saw that one of the Islamic nations that is going to attack will be Iran, and Iran is due east of Israel. I would propose to you that the disturbing news that Antichrist will hear while down in Egypt is to the effect that his ally Israel has been attacked again, this time by the joint forces of Islamic nations and Russia—Ezekiel 38.
In Daniel 11:44, Antichrist will receive disturbing news down in Egypt, disturbing news from the north and from the east. And we’ve noted that Russia and Iran are going to come together with other nations against Israel in the first half of the tribulation period—Russia from the north, Iran from the east—and it would appear that’s the disturbing news that Antichrist will hear when he’s in Egypt.
How will he react to this disturbing news? In the middle of verse 44 of Daniel 11 we are told, “Therefore, he will go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many.” In other words, keeping his covenant commitment to Israel, he will rush his armies north out of Egypt to the land of Israel with the goal of trying to totally destroy the invading armies of Russia, Iran and other Islamic nations. But if you know the Ezekiel prophecy, Ezekiel 38 and 39, God makes it very clear that in the day that Russia, Iran and other Islamic nations attack Israel, God says, “Then my fury will come up in my face,” and God indicates that He will intervene supernaturally, through supernatural means, and God will supernaturally wipe out these massive armies of Russia, Iran and other Islamic nations. Read Ezekiel 38 and 39 where that is made very clear.
The end result is that by the time Antichrist gets up to Israel, the armies of these other invaders have already been wiped out supernaturally, and that will give the Antichrist a free hand to do what he wants in the Middle East. And so notice what he will do in verse 45 of Daniel 11: “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.” He, once he gains control of the Middle East, will decide to plant his palace, in other words, his headquarters for what he hopes will become the capital of a worldwide kingdom, he’s going to plant it there in the Middle East between two seas. That would be between the Dead Sea on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and that palace between the seas will be in the glorious holy mountain. The glorious holy mountain to Daniel would be Mount Zion where the Temple stood in Old Testament times. In other words, once Antichrist gains complete control in the Middle East, he’s going to make Jerusalem the capital of what he hopes will become his worldwide kingdom.
