THE FINAL KING (Daniel 11:36-45)

Are you aware that Daniel 11:36-45 describes a coming vicious ruler yet future to us? Do you know how to have hope in the face of his horrors?

Transcript

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My wife and I get a kick out of watching our grandkids. Sometimes we see our kids in our grandkids. Sometimes we see each other, and sometimes we even see ourselves. And that can hit a little close to home. But I wonder if our grandkids ever see us in themselves. In other words, do we prefigure someone to come? Are we a foreshadow of those following us? It's a good question. The past sometimes foreshadows the future. In Daniel chapter eleven, a messenger from heaven clearly predicts to Daniel that control of Israel will be split between two Greek kings from north and south who would continually fight each other with Israel caught in the middle. This is the message we looked at last time. And finally, a vicious king from the north will prevail, defile, and ruin God's holy temple. He would forbid the Jews to practice their religion and persecute Israel. And as we said last time, this king is Antiochus IV Epiphanes. And his trail of destruction in history is well known. But when we come to Daniel chapter 11, verses 36 to 45, most students of Daniel's prophecy think that Daniel is speaking of a different king than Antiochus IV, that Antiochus IV simply foreshadows this final king. Daniel does not explicitly say this, but the case, as we will look at in a while, is compelling. Daniel is seeing what will happen centuries beforehand. We can look back now with far more information than Daniel had. Information that can be helpful in identifying who this king is and what he will do. But for now I'll simply refer to him as the final king. This lesson today will be broken down into three separate sections. The first is the final king's conduct, and that will be verses 36 to 39. Second will be the final king's combat, verses 40 to 44. And then finally, verse 45, the final king's collapse. His conduct, his combat, and his collapse. Who will this final king be? Well, he will be first and foremost a dictator. Verse 36 says, and the king shall do as he wills. He will be a dictator. In other words, no one will stand in his way. He is an absolute sovereign. Unlike Jesus, who restrained his prerogatives, this king will take all liberties and prerogatives with complete and utter selfishness. Also he will be an egomaniac. The rest of verse 36 says he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God, and you shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. In other words, he will see himself as above all gods and beyond the need for religion. He will defy and insult the God of gods. Who is that? That's Yahweh. That's who we now know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The text goes on to say that he shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done. The sense seems to be that this king is one expression of the final outpouring of God's indignation, the wrath that will occur at the last day, according to Second Thessalonians chapter one. And then as well, this king will be a hard and perverse man. Verse 37 says he shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. The language is somewhat cryptic, but I think you can ferret out from this certain things. I think normally people hold three things as sacred, especially men. First, family or family beliefs. This king could care less. He has no normal family bond. And in the last days we're told some will be heartless or will be without natural affection, according to Romans 1 and 2 Timothy 3. Family, parents, siblings, marriage, and traditions mean nothing. This guy has no formal family love, and no normal family love. He also has no regard for the one beloved by women, the scripture says, or for the desire of women, as one translation puts it. Again, that's a little confusing. It could mean a number of things. It could mean that this individual is a homosexual. It could mean that he has no normal desire for women. Or it could mean that he has no interest in loving a woman. Or that he has no regard for women at all and their virtues and what they contribute to our world. Could mean any of those things. And as well, this king doesn't regard any God. He doesn't regard family, he doesn't regard women, and he doesn't regard God. Most pagans believe in some kind of God, but this guy's totally irreligious. He's completely atheistic. And so in some, he's unmoved by family, by women, or any god. You know, our culture today is poised to support that kind of ruler right now. But he does have one God. Verse 38 goes on to say he shall honor the God of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. What in the world is he talking about? Well, people worship idols by bringing them costly offerings of precious metals and gems. The sense seems to be here instead of normal affection for family, for women, and for God, this man worships fortresses. In other words, he idolizes brute strength and raw military power. He breaks the whole earth into pieces, as we remember Daniel 7 saying. And he does so to steal their wealth. Why? To give to his God. You see, to the final king, might makes right. The picture here is that he takes the world's wealth to offer to his God. Why? To buy and to build his war machine? You see, his God is war. And war is expensive. And his God helps him. Verse 39 says, He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign God. And again, the foreign God here is unbridled power and war. Verse 39 goes on to say, those who acknowledge him, him being this final king, he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many, and shall divide the land for a price. In other words, this king will honor those who cooperate with him, and he will sell them land to rule. In other words, if they cooperate with him, he'll in turn sell them a cut of the pie. You cooperate with me, I'll sell it to you. And so he gains the world, and he gives leadership and land to the highest bidder to keep them loyal to himself. The picture is somewhat alarming. I don't know if you see this or not, but this king confiscates the world's wealth, and he redistributes it according to what benefits him. And by the way, against the culture that we're now in, that's always how government redistribution of wealth schemes work. It's mentioned right here. This final king is a king who is a dictator, he's an egomaniac, he is so hard and perverse, he pays no attention to family, to women, to God. Instead, he honors the god of war and brute strength and raw power in order to gobble up everything on earth so that he can redistribute it to those who will be his puppets. This is the final king's conduct. But the combat is coming. For a time things go well. This king enjoys dominating the world. And then we're told that this will happen. Look at verse forty. At the time of the end, in other words, this is the end of time. The king of the south shall attack him, who is the hymn, the final king. But the king of the north shall rush upon him, the hymn being here the king of the south, like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. Now again, the switching off King of the North, King of the South is confusing. The King of Daniel chapter eleven, verses thirty-six to forty five, though, is a king of the north. He is again attacked by the king of the south, but he himself successfully counterattacks. What's being described here? This is none other than a revolution. These are two kings bent on evil. This is a picture of evil turning in on itself. King of the North is evil, king of the south is evil. They turn on each other. When evil conquers the whole world, not even hell can hold it together. It is a kingdom, as Jesus said, divided against itself. What then will happen? Verse forty continues to say, and he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. In other words, the king wins. He shall come into countries, he shall overflow and pass through, he will prevail. And then it says of this king, he shall come into the glorious land. What does that mean? Well, the glorious land is Israel. It's honestly ironic. The world's battles seem always to involve or end up in Israel. Why is Israel so central? Why does everything go back to Israel? Why is Israel always the lightning rod for this conflict? Why is the Middle East so important? Well, it's important for geographic reasons. It's the strategic crossroads from west to east and north to south. If the Eastern Hemisphere was a city, Israel would be the main intersection. Israel's also important for economic reasons. We know today it's the source of oil so desperately needed by the rest of the world. It's important for political reasons. Israel is the hotbed of centuries-long conflict and war between nations. It's been controlled by the seven nations of Canaan, Oswell, Egypt, the Hittites, and then Assyria and Babylon and Persia and Greece, Rome, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans. On and on it goes. Israel is important for political reasons. It is a central position of control. And beyond that, Israel is important for spiritual reasons. Israel is claimed as holy land for the world's three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And everyone has a fervent need to control Israel. This final king that we're talking about in Daniel chapter 11 is no different. And he's not going to be friendly towards God's people. Look at what happens. The end of verse 41 says, And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the main part of the Ammonites. In other words, what he's saying here is that in this conflict thousands will die. But Israel's longtime enemies, like Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, what's going to happen? They're going to escape. Why? Well, rather than being concerned with Israel's enemies, this final king is far more interested in his own enemies, and his own enemies exist to the south, or in other words, Egypt. And so verse 42 goes on to say, He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train. The picture here is that he conquers the south. Where is the south? It's Africa. His enemies are captive, they follow in his train. And this final king gets a taste of victory, a mouthful of wealth, a belly full of power. And now, as victor, he has now more to protect, and so he is more on edge, as often is the case. The more you have, the more concerned you get, the more edgy you are. Verse 44 goes on to say, but news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he should go out with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction. The picture here is that he's paranoid. He hears threatening things. He goes out with even greater fury to destroy everything standing in his way, everything against him. Things get very, very bad. But as we're going to see, not for long. We've looked at the final king's conduct, his combat, and now his collapse. Verse 45 simply says, and he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious mountain. In other words, he will set up his command post, his palatial tent, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Zion, the holy mountain. And uh the picture here is that he wants to threaten Jerusalem. His troops will fill the land. Now the battle is unmentioned here, but the outcome is certain. The end of verse 45, simple sentence, says, Yet he shall come to his end with none to help him. That's it. His fall will be instant, final, no resistance. You ask, what is this battle? And when did this happen? I want to propose to you that this hasn't happened. It is still future. He's talking about the final battle, the final war. And this is why I come to that conclusion. In Daniel chapter 11, verses 36 to 45, what's described here does not entirely align with what we know of the life of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who lived in 175 to 164 BC. For example, Antiochus does not die between the Mediterranean Sea and Jerusalem, as is predicted in this section of Scripture. Instead, he dies far from there in Persia. Also, Antiochus did pay attention to the gods. Whoever this is does not pay attention. We know that Antiochus was a devout worshiper of Zeus, the Greek god of his fathers, and that he forced the Jews to worship it. But this individual does not pay attention to any of the pagan gods. And as well, whoever this king is, he will appear at the time of the end, verse forty says. Verse thirty-five also says, the time of the end. When you go to Daniel chapter twelve, it makes it clear that the messenger means the end of time. Therefore, Antiochus the Fourth is not who is described in these verses. Instead he foreshadows a final king who will embody all the worst of himself along with his predecessors, all of them combined. This will be a final and very vicious king yet to come, the likes of whom we have never seen. Now when you fast forward to the New Testament, the apostles refer to this final king by different phrases. For example, the Apostle John calls this individual the Antichrist in 1 John chapters 2 and 4. John also refers to him as the beast out of the sea in Revelation 13, 1 to 10. But then the Apostle Paul refers to this individual as the man of lawlessness, 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 1 through 12. Some of the Thessalonians were saying that Jesus' second coming had already happened. But Paul writes to them to tell them that the second coming of Jesus would not happen unless the rebellion comes first in chapter 2 and verse 3, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Now, think of those words. You might want to go back and read those words again. Paul says the second coming would not happen unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Does that sound familiar? That sounds an awful lot like what we have described in Daniel chapter 11, verses 36 to 45. Paul says that two things must occur before Jesus comes. First, the rebellion, he says, the rebellion comes first. Literally the apostasy. Or as some translations translations say, the falling away will happen. And Jesus said, the love of many will grow cold, Matthew 24 12. The first thing that happens then is that the rebellion has to come first. But second, along with the rebellion, an uncontrollably destructive man will appear. This would be a counterfeit of Christ's appearing. And what's he going to do? He's going to take his seat in the temple. Now don't think temple of Israel. Think temple, the church. He will exercise great authority and commit heinous ta attacks in the church. He will oppose God. He will make himself out to be God. And he will even demand to be worshipped as God. This man, we're told, is being held back right now. But he will soon come. And Paul adds at the end of this chapter in 2 Thessalonians. To the power of the lawless one, or the coming rather of the lawless one, is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. He's saying that this individual is animated by Satan himself. And he has miraculous powers. Now listen, if you're more impressed with miracles than you are devoted to Scripture, you will be deceived. And Paul is saying, don't be fooled. Stay alert. This final king that we're talking about, this antichrist, this beast out of the sea, this man of lawlessness, is also what Daniel refers to as the abomination that makes desolate. Daniel uses this expression in Daniel 9, verse 27, Daniel 11, verse 31, and he will say it again in Daniel 12 and verse 11. Jesus warned in Matthew 24. He cites Daniel. He refers to this abomination of desolation. And he says, so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee. So when the abomination of desolation emerges in the temple, in the church, run. Do not go back to your house. Do not do business as usual. Run as fast as you can. Run from his presence. Run from his books. Run from his speeches. Run from his podcasts or his videos. Run from his miracles and his smooth talk. Why? He's a fraud. He's an imposter. Do not get sucked in. Satan is too smart for you. He's too smart for all of us put together. Can I illustrate? Adolf Hitler gained instant power over an entire nation of intelligent, educated, and civilized people, many of whom were churchgoers. Germany. How does he do this? Hitler and his cronies, we now know, were immersed in the occult and Satanism. The swastika was an Asian occult symbol. And they believed that inside the earth were advanced beings with powers that were far beyond humans. Hitler was a man, but he was more than a man. His eyes had the look of a person in a trance. When he spoke in public, it was said that his face turned bizarre, and his voice was not his own. He was demonic. The same thing can happen today. The future abomination of desolations will be a thousand Hitlers put together. Satan is now imprisoned in the abyss, we're told in Revelation chapter 20, but one day he will be released to deceive the nations and gather them for battle. He will animate a world leader who will marshal politics and economics and religion, education, societal forces, all of that together in order to destroy God's people, the church. The past and present predict what's coming, my friends. And it's important that we know it. Now, do not let your hearts be troubled, because the man of lawlessness, his attack will be brief. The scripture teaches this. His overthrow will be sudden and without struggle. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 8 that the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. Jesus' breath will kill him. All he'll have to do is breathe on him. Jesus will not have to move his little finger. All he has to do is exhale. You see, the man of lawlessness, this abomination of desolations, this final king is no match for King Jesus. And he rallies everything he can. But once King Jesus appears, it is an instant rout, and he will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur and be tormented day and night forever and ever, Revelation 20 and verse 10. He's never coming back, ever. The final king is just that. Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote a story of a ship caught in a violent storm. And the ship was driven against the rocks. Any movement could be broken, could break it into pieces. The passengers huddled in terror, facing inevitable death. In the agony of the moment, one man said, I'm just gonna go see the captain, and he strained to get to the quarter deck. When the captain saw the man's terror stricken face, the captain simply smiled. The captain's hands were gripped onto the wheel, guiding the ship little by little away from the rocks to the open sea. But what caught this man's attention was that the captain not only gripped the wheel, but he was chained to the post. You see, we're in rough seas. And they will get rougher. But God is in control. He's not leaving, he's not panicked. Our king is chained to his church. And he is steering us. He's steering us well. He's smiling, but the final king. The final king we've described is not the king of kings. Jesus Christ is the king of kings. Jesus Christ is the king of the final king. And he's far greater than the final king because he is the eternal king. And so I want to encourage you keep your hope in the one who reigns now and forever. And nothing will ever destroy him.