Bible Studies

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We continue with the discussion of Dan. 11:40-45 here in Part 4, starting with Dan. 11:42.

(42) Then he [Antichrist, the king of the North of verse 40] will stretch his hand out against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. (43) But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. [[The Libyans and Ethiopians may have been aligned with the king of the South in his initial collision with Antichrist (Dan. 11:40). Anyway, they, like the Egyptians, will submit to Antichrist, including submitting their armies to him. (NOW WE COME TO VERSE 44, WHICH APPARENTLY IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT VERSES IN THE BIBLE THAT PROPHESIES OF THE WARFARE OF THE SHORT GREAT TRIBULATION OF MATT. 24:21, 22.)]] (44) But rumors ["reports" with the NIV is better] from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many." [[Antichrist will be in the South, having conquered Egypt (verses 42, 43). He will apparently be disturbed by reports of VERY LARGE armies crossing the Euphrates River and coming into that part of the world. Those armies will be coming from "the East" and "the North" of his location. Antichrist's abomination of desolation and the fact that he has been conquering countries will stir up much opposition to Antichrist, and nations/religions will want to defend their perceived rights (including religious rights) in Israel, especially in Jerusalem.

Apparently the prophecy of the sixth trumpet of the book of Revelation (Rev. 9:13-21), which we discussed above, enables us to understand the "reports" that will disturb Antichrist. That trumpet will sound about the time of Antichrist's abomination of desolation. The four evil angels who are now bound at the Euphrates River will be released at that time to gather TWO HUNDRED MILLION SOLDIERS who will cross the Euphrates River and come into that part of the world that includes Israel. Reports like that can disturb a person. (The ancient Romans feared attacks from Parthian horsemen who came from the other side of the Euphrates River.) Each evil angel may be responsible for gathering an army from his assigned part of the world. Note that demons gather the enemies of God (referring to people) to Armagedon (Har-Magedon) under the outpouring of the sixth bowl of wrath (Rev. 16:13-16).

As this verse (Dan. 11:44) shows (and it is no surprise) Antichrist "will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many." Antichrist will probably be killed during the warfare of the short great tribulation (Matt. 24:21, 22) that will take place in the one-month period that will start with the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15) and end before the Lord Jesus returns in the middle of the seven years (Matt. 24:29-31). Antichrist will be killed, but he will come back from the dead (he will come up out of the abyss [Rev. 11:7]) in time to kill the two witnesses three and one-half days before they come back to life (the fullness of eternal life) before the watching world in the middle of the seven years and are raptured (Rev. 11:7-11). It isn't hard to believe that a third of mankind (but, as I mentioned, not necessarily a third of mankind worldwide) will be killed during those few weeks of warfare that will undoubtedly use nuclear weapons and probably other weapons of mass destruction.]] (45) [[As I have mentioned, this verse is important to help confirm the (apparent) important point that God will not permit Antichrist to have access to Jerusalem (very much including the temple mount) during the second half of the seven years, after the Lord Jesus has returned and the rapture has taken place. It will apparently be controlled by the Lord Jesus and the elect end-time remnant of Israel who will have repented and submitted to Him and become Christians.]] He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him [Contrast Michael arising to help the end-time remnant of Israel during the days of the (short) great tribulation that is spoken of in the next verse (Dan. 12:1), which (as we have discussed) will start about the time of the abomination of desolation]." [[(This double bracket goes on for three paragraphs.) Antichrist will set up his headquarters in Israel. This may be his primary headquarters from this time (about the middle of Daniel's 70th week) to the time "he will come to his end" at the end of Daniel's 70th week (cf., e.g., Dan. 7:11; Rev. 19:20).

I believe the reading in the margin of the NIV ("the sea," instead of "the seas") in Dan 11:45 conveys the intended meaning. The Hebrew noun for "sea" is plural here, but it is quite common for Hebrew (unlike English) to use the plural when no plurality is intended. The Hebrew plural can be used to amplify the idea of majesty, extension, fullness, etc. I believe C. F. Keil (Keil and Delitzsch, "Commentary on the Old Testament," Vol. 9, 1978 reprint, pages 473, 474) says it well: The plural "is only the poetic plural of fullness, as a sign of the great Mediterranean Sea." Compare the size of that sea with the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea. The Mediterranean Sea is a common view in the commentaries.

So, Antichrist's headquarters will apparently be located between the Mediterranean Sea and Jerusalem, which is the "Holy Mountain" (cf. Dan. 9:16, 20). Within Jerusalem was the Temple Mount, which can certainly be called the "Holy Mountain." As we have discussed, it seems certain that Antichrist would like to control Jerusalem and have access to the temple from the time he begins his super-evil reign in the middle of the seven years (cf., e.g., Rev. 13:2, 5), but (as we have discussed) the Lord Jesus will apparently claim Jerusalem as His city when He returns in the middle of the seven years. (We discussed Matt. 24:15 and 21, 22 above. Now that we have discussed three very important cross-references that enable us to understand the short great tribulation of Matt. 24:21, 22, we are ready to discuss Matt. 24:29-31.]]

MATTHEW 24:29-31. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days [referring back to the "tribulation" of the short "great tribulation" of Matt. 24:21, 22. The same Greek noun ("thlipsis") is used in 24:21 and 29 (and in the Greek [Septuagint] version of Dan. 12:1); see under Matt. 24:21 above.] THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT [[As we have discussed, it is very important to see that the sun and moon will be darkened by the smoke and dust generated during the very intense warfare of the short great tribulation (see Rev. 9:17, 18 and Joel 2:30, 31; cf. Rev. 9:2, which confirms that it is Biblical to say that smoke can darken the sun, even though the sun itself continues to shine brightly above the smoke and dust.) There is widespread agreement that the moon's not giving its light here in Matt. 24:29 is referring to the same event as Joel 2:31 and Rev. 6:12, which speak of the moon being turned to blood. What little light that does come from the moon will have an ominous red coloration.]], AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [[(This double bracket goes on for five paragraphs.) These words are quite important; I believe that they convey a much more important meaning than is typically recognized. REVELATION 12:4a, 7-9 is the cross-reference that perfectly explains the primary meaning of these words, and this cross-reference prophesies of one of the more important features of God's end-time judgment of the world: The devil and the evil angels will be cast down to the earth at the time of Christ's mid-week return. They will be cast down at essentially the same time that we will be raptured. Based on Matt. 24:29-31 you could say that the devil and his angels will be cast down just before we are raptured. (Mike agrees that the devil will be cast down in the middle of Daniel's 70th week. See his 2014 "Studies in the Book of Revelation - Session 9, Second Coming and Rapture; War in the Spirit (Rev. 11-14)," page 5, for example, but he locates the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the rapture at the end of the seven years.)

I'll quote REVELATION 12:4a, 7-10 (Revelation chapter 11-13 are discussed verse-by-verse in my end-time e-book and the paperback book.): "And his [the dragon's, the devil's (see 12:9)] tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven ["Stars" sometimes represent angels, as they do here. They can represent good angels (Rev. 1:16, 20) or evil angels (Rev. 9:1; cf. 8:10, 11). This is the only verse in the Bible that shows that a third of God's angels followed the devil in his initial rebellion against God.] ... (7) And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, (8) and they [the devil and his angels] were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. [Before the devil is cast down he even has access to accuse God's people before Him day and night (Rev. 12:10).] (9) And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. [The return of the Lord Jesus (to save and) to judge in the middle of Daniel's 70th week will cause this preliminary, partial judgment of Satan and his angels. (At the end of the seven years he will be cast into the abyss for a thousand years [Rev. 20:1-3]; then after being loosed for a little while [Rev. 20:7-10]; he will be cast into the eternal lake of fire [Rev. 20:10].) The next verse is a strong confirmation of the fact that the Lord Jesus will return and the rapture will take place right in the middle of Daniel's 70th week.] (10) Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down.' " IT WILL TAKE A LOT MORE THAN THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS BEING CAST DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVEN YEARS (which Mike rightly believes will happen in the middle of the seven years) TO CAUSE THE SALVATION, AND THE POWER, AND THE KINGDOM AND THE AUTHORITY OF HIS CHRIST TO COME. THESE THINGS WILL COME BECAUSE THE LORD JESUS WILL COME TO BEGIN TO REIGN ON THE EARTH IN THE MIDDLE OF DANIEL'S 70TH WEEK WITH THE SOUNDING OF THE SEVENTH AND LAST TRUMPET, which is also the time the devil will be cast down with his angels, and the believers (the male child of Rev. 12:5) will be glorified, raptured, and begin reign with the Lord Jesus. (Revelation 11:15-17, which I'll quote as we continue, show that God's kingdom comes and He begins to reign on the earth [mostly at first through the reign of the Lord Jesus] at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet.) THIS IS A VERY STRONG CONFIRMATION THAT THE SEVENTH TRUMPET WILL SOUND AND THE LORD JESUS WILL RETURN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVEN YEARS.

After the devil is cast down he will have "great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time" (Rev. 12:13). As Rev. 12:13-13:18 show, he will know that he only has three and one-half years to go after he is cast down (Rev. 12:6, 14; and 13:5). One of the primary things the devil will be doing throughout those three and one-half years is to attack those who will be saved (become Christians) after the rapture, which will center in the end-time remnant of Israel. He will not be able to attack those who have been glorified and raptured in the middle of the seven years. For one primary thing, the devil will attack the Christians living on the earth after the rapture through Antichrist. Revelation 13:2 shows that he gives Antichrist "his power, and his throne, and great authority" right after he is cast down to the earth in the middle of the seven years.

As I showed, Mike agrees that the devil will be cast down right in the middle of the seven years. Mike also agrees that the devil will give Antichrist "his power, and his throne, and great authority" when he is cast down (see his 2014 "Studies in the Book of Revelation - Session 9, Second Coming and Rapture: War in the Spirit," pages 7 and 9). Mike even agrees that Rev. 11:15-18 prophesy of the return of the Lord Jesus at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet (see the reference I just cited, page 1), which is correct, BUT he believes those things will happen at the end of the seven years. I am sure they will take place in the middle of the seven years.

I'll quote REVELATION 11:15-17, which are verses of key importance. (Revelation chapters 11-13 are discussed in some detail in my "The Mid-Week Rapture

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