Sunday Evening Bible Study
Daniel 11:38-39
Introduction
Several weeks ago we read of an incredible visit that Daniel had by an angelic visitor.
The visitor came to give Daniel an incredible prophecy
detailing things that were to happen to Daniel's people,
We saw a glimpse of mid-eastern history in the making from the overthrow of the Medo-Persian empire by the Greeks under Alexander, to the division of the Grecian empire, right through to a madman named Antiochus Epiphanes.
The prophecy took a jump into the future last week, entering into the time of the antichrist.
We began with a look at his character in verses 36-37
I ended the study with the exhortation, "Keep your eyes open, watch the newspapers, just watch how close we are..."
Monday morning, I opened up the Register to these headlines:
"
An agreement has been reached where the
Under the agreement, Israeli troops will withdraw form six
The accord allows for the continued presence of the 130,000
Jews in
All this with keeping in mind that the antichrist will be involved in some kind of treaty with Israel, probably one of peace, and that will start the seven year tribulation period.
We're close.
:36-45 The Antichrist
verse 37 ended with saying that the antichrist would magnify himself above all gods.
:38 in his estate shall he honour the God of forces
in his estate - or, "in the place of the other gods ..."
the God of forces -
NAS, NIV - "a god of fortresses"
ma`owz - place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold
It would seem that the "god" that the antichrist will honor will be military force.
We believe he will have one of the world's largest and best military establishment under his control.
At the very end, he will muster this great army together to try and fight against the returning Jesus.
»Revelation 19:19-AV And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
:38 a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold ...
It would seem that this would most likely refer to this "god of forces".
And he will honor this "god of forces" with lots of money.
In other words, he will have a huge military budget.
It's kind of interesting in these times when military budgets are getting cut around the world, making the current world powers smaller and smaller.
It is also possible that this is a "god" distinct from the "god of forces".
In that case, it may be a reference to Satan.
In fact, it may be that Satan is the "god of forces".
»Revelation 13:1-4 AV And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 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. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
It also may be a reference somehow to
»Revelation 17:3-8 AV So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
»Revelation 18:9-16 AV And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
:38 gold, and silver, and with precious stones ...
The antichrist will have a great economic base, and a grip on the world's economy.
»Revelation 13:16-17 AV And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
This money will go to giving honor to this "god", Satan.
:39 shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god ...
the most strong holds - ma`owz - the same word that was used in verse 38 ("forces"), in addition to the word for fortresses (translated here "holds")
a strange god - foreign, alien, foreignness, that which is foreign
This is awfully hard to understand, so we look at the more modern translations:
»Daniel 11:39-NAS "And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with [the help of] a foreign god ...
As he is giving honor to this "god of fortresses", he will take action against the strongest "fortresses", possibly coming against the strongest nations.
Of course, he'll have a little help, from Satan (who could be stranger god than that!)
:39 whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory
I wish I new my Hebrew better!
The KJV seems to talk about how the antichrist will acknowledge the god (Satan) who has helped him, and will give him glory.
This does seem to fit our passage in Rev.13:4.
But the other modern translations carry an entirely different meaning:
»Daniel 11:39-NIV ... and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people ...
These translations all seem to carry the idea that the antichrist won't be biting the hand that feeds him.
He'll be giving special favors to those who are willing to jump on board with his programs.
He'll even give authority and power to those who will stand by him.
Kind of like what happens when a new president comes into the White House.
All his campaign advisors and supporters become the new cabinet and ambassadors.
:39 shall divide the land for gain
NASB:
»Daniel 11:39-NAS ... and will parcel out land for a price.
I believe he's talking about dividing up
From 1987: "The
desire of the Arab states today is to at least divide
It's interesting that it's already on it's way.
The idea here is that the
Question: Does the current peace negotiations, involving the splitting off of the West bank, giving it to the Palestinians, involve financial incentives for those involved?
From Reuters News Service:
BEIRUT, Sept 27 (Reuter) - He (Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri) told the businessmen that even after peace is signed with Israel, Lebanon was opposed to the establishment of a regional development bank -- a proposal floated in March by the United States, the sponsor of the Arab-Israeli peace process.
``Even if (Israeli) occupation of our land ended, our opinion in this idea is that we have no interest in it,'' the billionaire tycoon (Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri) leading Lebanon out of the 1975-90 civil war said.
``I think many other countries hold similar opinions because setting up the bank, its capital and its work as planned...is not in our interest and we do not support its establishment.''
Key partners in the U.S.-brokered peace talks --
Reut06:47
Another article, about the impact of the peace process on financial matters:
``If the peace process can be lived up to as well as signed by the leaders, it augurs very well for Israel's economic development,''
Another article, about
Reut10:16 09-25-95 DUBAI, Sept 10 (Reuter) - Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said on Sunday that discussions to export Qatari gas to Israel are moving ahead and that the Arab boycott of the Jewish state will end when comprehensive peace is achieved.
"There is a gas project between us and
Want a scary one?
COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY PRESS RELEASE: PESC/95/86
DOCUMENT DATE:
DECLARATION BY THE PRESIDENCY ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN
The European Union expresses its deepest satisfaction at the
achievement of the Interim Agreement, initialled in
the Egyptian city of
The European Union applauds the clear-sightedness and political
courage shown by both parties, which highlight their sincere will to achieve
full and long-lasting peace in the
It likewise urges Israelis and Palestinians to continue working with the same determination to attain the ultimate goals of the Peace Process.
The European Union wishes to take advantage of this important opportunity to reiterate its political and economic commitment to the Middle East Peace Process and its unreserved support for peace and prosperity among the peoples of the region and their political, economic and social development.
END OF DOCUMENT
Reut06:31
MADRID, Sept 25 (Reuter) - Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez will travel to Washington on Wednesday to attend the ratification of a peace accord between Israel and the PLO, the prime minister's spokesman Miguel Gil said on Monday.
Gil told journalists Gonzalez had been invited by U.S.
President Bill Clinton both for his role as acting president of the European
Union and because
Earlier, Gonzalez hailed Israeli and Palestinian leaders for political courage in congratulatory telegrams on achievements in the peace process.
What's the European Union?
I'm not sure, I'll work on it.
But if it's the "Common Market" ...
European Communities (EC) is the collective name of three
organizations with the same members the
Beginning after 1992, the communities aimed to integrate their
economies, coordinate social development, and ultimately bring about political
union. The full members are
Excerpted from
Copyright © 1993, 1994
Israel-Jordan trade agreement:
TEL AVIV, Sept 27 (Reuter) - Israel and Jordan will sign a trade accord before a Middle East regional development conference opens in Amman at the end of October, Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Micha Harish said.
``We will sign a
trade accord with
A free trade
agreement was mentioned in the peace treaty the two countries signed last
October. But talks have been snared since June, when
Negotiators had
agreed in principle to conclude a free trade agreement within three years that
would eliminate duties in 12 years. Under a draft trade treaty,
Reut06:08
The move effectively
cancels approximately $700 million of official debt owed to Jordan President
Clinton pledged to write-off in support of
The state-run news
agency
Jardaneh
said the write-off would have a positive effect on ``
Egan said the
Last July
Under the plan,
Earlier in the year,
Congress approved forgiveness of up to $220 million of
It sure is getting interesting!!!
Are you ready for the end?
»Matthew 24:45-51 AV Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite [his] fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.