198 - Characteristics of Antichrist [B]

Characteristics of Antichrist. Daniel 8

The beast that comes out of the sea in Revelation 13:1, 2 is really more of a representation of the kingdom as well as the king; it is both. We see this also back in Daniel chapter seven, that sometimes the concept of the king and the kingdom overlaps; there is the identification of a king or personage with a particular kingdom. So in this passage the beast coming up out of the sea with the ten horns and the seven heads represents the kingdom. But it is also representing the individual that will be the manifestation of that kingdom, the Antichrist. So we are focusing on who this first beast is. It is the kingdom because it is comprised of the ten nations, the ten horns, the seven heads; and then it is the personage of the Antichrist who is the first beast as well.

Daniel 8:15 ^NASB "When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man." Verses 15-19 really describe the transition point of how Daniel comes to understand this vision. He doesn't just interpret it from his own frame of reference, he interprets it because the angel Gabriel is going to interpret it for him. [16] "And I heard the voice of a man between {the banks of} Ulai, and he called out and said, 'Gabriel, give this {man} an understanding of the vision.' [17] So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, 'Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end'" The phrase "time of the end" refers to the end times of Israel. We have to distinguish between latter times for Israel and latter times for the church. The latter days for Israel is the seven year Tribulation period, Daniel's seventieth week. The latter days for the church began with the end of the apostolic period. Paul describes to Timothy the various characteristics of what will go on during the latter days and it describes the trends and cycles that will occur during the entire church age period.

There is a misunderstanding and a sort of popular eschatology level that there is going to be a great end-time apostasy before Jesus comes back. Well if the return of Jesus at the Rapture has to be preceded by a great apostasy of the church then it can't be imminent, can it? It can't occur at any moment because some prophetic sign would have to be fulfilled before Jesus could return at the Rapture. The verse that idea is based on in 2 Thessalonians 2 where it talks about the Antichrist not coming "until the apostasy." So we think of apostasy as the falling away from truth, the departure from truth; but actually the Greek word apostasia [a)postasia] has to do with a departure, and it can refer to many different kinds of departure. That verse should really be understood to mean that the Antichrist will not be revealed until the Rapture, the departure occurs. There is no other sign that occurs prior to the revelation of the Antichrist. So when we see this phrase "the time of the end" we need to ask the question, the end for whom? Here it would be Israel. But he is not saying that this will be fulfilled in the end time but that it pertains to the end time. In other words, there is a typology, a shadow image that occurs here that nothing in this chapter is related to end time fulfillment, it was all fulfilled historically during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes but these events that happen foreshadow the kinds of things that will take place during the end times. Daniel 8:18 ^NASB "Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright." 

Daniel 8:23 ^NASB "In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run {their course,} A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue." Here we start getting into the character of the Antichrist. This is one of the key elements for understanding this man. What we will see is that there are many antichrists, as John says, many people in church history who have these same characteristics; but they are going to be focused in the most extreme, intense form in the person of the beast of Revelation. What is "their rule" in this verse? Greece. He is talking about the ram and the goat. He is talking about the ram (Greece), the latter part of the Greek period. Only during the period of 198-163 BC was there the period of the Seleucid domination. It is the patter part of the Greek kingdom. When we see the term "reached its fullness" or "have run their course," it is as if to say when God has given them enough rope to hang themselves, and now they are hanging themselves. They have been given freedom by God, opportunity again and again to repent but they have refused to do that, and so when that transgression has reached its fullness God is going to release that harsh discipline upon the nation. 

"A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue." What exactly does this tell us? The word translated "insolent" here in the Hebrew is a word that means "strong of face." It is used figuratively here to indicate someone who is arrogant, impudent, audacious and presumptuous. So this is someone who is really going to push the boundaries of his own prerogatives and he will push his own agenda to the fullest.

Then we have "and skilled in intrigue" in the NASB; the NKJV says "he understands sinister schemes." Other translations indicate that he is somewhat wily. The Hebrew word indicates literally that he discerns riddles, and this was an idiom indicating that he was someone who could figure out what seemed to be impossible problems. This was describing Antiochus, but remember it is a picture of what the Antichrist would have to a much greater extent.

Daniel 8:24 ^NASB "His power will be mighty [military prowess], but not by his {own} power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform {his will;} He will destroy mighty men and the holy people." He is not getting his power from his own native ability; the real power behind him is satanic or demonic. His power is strong but it is not his. Antiochus really took it out on the Jews and that is what this is predicting. [25] "And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify {himself} in his heart, And he will destroy many while {they are} at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency." He sees himself in opposition against God but God took him out when he died.

Daniel 8:26 ^NASB "The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true…" This is a reference to the prophecy of the time periods. "… But keep the vision secret, For {it} pertains to many days {in the future.}" It was not going to happen right then. [27] "Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up {again} and carried on the king's business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain {it.}"

Where was Daniel when he saw the vision? He is a captive in the Persian empire. The Jews had been taken out and removed from the land since 596 BC. What has Daniel learned in these visions? That in the future the Jews in the land are going to be assaulted dreadfully by this particular strong and cunning king. That means they have to be back in the land. So he understands from that prophecy that God is going to restore Israel to the land. As a result of this he will begin to research through Jeremiah, and that is what he refers to in Daniel 9:2 ^NASB "in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was {revealed as} the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, {namely,} seventy years." Now he understands that God is going to take them back and this begins his prayer which sets the stage for the great prophecy that we have beginning in verse 20. 

Daniel 9:26 ^NASB "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end {will come} with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined." That is a prophecy related to AD 70 and the destruction of the temple by Titus. The "prince who is to come" refers ultimately to the Antichrist. The statement is really saying the people shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Who are the people who destroy the city and the sanctuary? It was the Roman army. It was the Roman empire that destroyed the city. No matter what the makeup of the legions was it was still an official Roman action, and it is Rome that will produce the prince who is to come.

But this has been challenged today and people say that of we examine history we will discover that the people who actually took part in the assault on Jerusalem in AD 70 were Syrians and Arabs. This is what Josephus writes and so the people of the prince that was to come were Arabs. And the argument is that the legions that made up the tenth Roman legion specifically and the other legions that were involved in the assault were made up of Syrians and Arabs, therefore if the people are Syrians and Arabs then the prince who is to come must be a Syrian and an Arab. Well there are some problems with that. Research has shown that there were four major Roman legions that were present in Jerusalem under Titus when the city was assaulted and the temple was destroyed. The Tenth legion was called the Protensus Legion, and the name protensus literally means "of the straights." This was composed of soldiers who were recruited in Italy and from the geographical regions on either side if the Straights of Messina. The twelfth legion was also present and they recruited many of their soldiers from Macedonia as well as Italy. The leaders were Roman, the operation was a Roman empire operation, the majority of the officers as well as the men were Roman or Greek; they were not Syrian and they were not Assyrian.

Another claim is in Micah chapter 5. Verses 3-15 really relate to the kingdom time when there will be peace to the ends of the earth. There is a reference here that is translated by some to be "the Assyrian," v. 5 ^NASB "This One will be {our} peace. When the Assyrian invades our land, When he tramples on our citadels, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men." There are some who will go to this verse and say this is the assault of the Antichrist, that he is an Assyrian. There are some problems with this. First of all it is not at all clear that the term "the Assyrian" refers to a particular Assyrian. It could be a way of expressing the Assyrian empire. At the time that Micah wrote (the same time that Isaiah was prophesying) the Assyrian empire was the major enemy of Israel. So the term "Assyrian" there was a term that was just used as a symbol or representation of the enemies of Israel. The time frame though really relates to the Millennial kingdom when there is peace and there won't be these threats from enemies like the Assyrians. That is the thrust of the passage. Then, last but not least, they emphasize this thing with the goat and the Greek empire that comes out of that area, but the emphasis in Daniel chapter seven and the emphasis in the end of chapter nine is that the last empire, the Roman empire, is the one that produces the Antichrist; the feet of clay and iron is the revived Roman empire. 

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