THE SIX-FOLD ORIGIN OF THE ANTICHRIST
- Racial Origin - a Jew - Hyman Appelman says Jews wouldn't accept anybody else.
Dan. 11:37 "God of his fathers" - this has a Jewish flavor. "Nor desire of women" points to Messiah.
Cf. Isa. 14:20 "Thy land . . . thy people."
Gen. 49:16-17 Hippolytus traces his origin to tribe of Dan. Dan left out in 144,000 in Rev. 7 Dan was cursed.
"Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."
Daniel 11:37 says of this coming ruler, "He will show no regard for the gods [God] of his fathers." Will the Antichrist be a Jew? In Revelation 13:1 he is described as "a beast coming up out of the sea," which symbolizes the Gentile world (cf. Dan. 7:2-3; Rev. 17:15). But he could be a Jew born and raised in a Gentile nation and still fit this description. An even more important question is how apostate Israel will view this person. If they see him as their Messiah, they would more likely accept him as such if he were a Jew (Deut. 18:15, 18; 2 Sam. 7:12). But it is not altogether clear they will see him as their true Messiah at the time they enter into the seven-year covenant (Dan. 9:27), unless our Lord implied this in John 5:43 (cf. Matt. 24:5). A key question is whether 'elohim at the beginning of Dan. 11:37 is to be understood as singular ("God") or plural ("gods"), for "the God of his fathers" would indicate that he is a Jew. The Hebrew wording in the following verse ("instead," or lit., "in his place") suggests a singular antecedent. Edward J. Young concludes: "The phrase has a Jewish emphasis and has reference to the Jewish religion. The one who has no regard for this Jewish religion is himself a Jew, the Antichrist. I fully agree with Gaebelein's statement, 'Here his Jewish descent becomes evident.'"
Neither shall the Antichrist have regard for "the desire of women." "He shall set himself free ... from all piety toward men and God, from all the tender affections of the love of men and of God. The 'love of women' [cf. 2 Sam. 1:26] is named as an example ... of that affection of human love and attachment for which even the most selfish and most savage of men feel some sensibility."
Furthermore, "he will honor a god of fortresses ... he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him" (Dan. 11:38-39). The Antichrist will lavish all his vast resources upon military fortifications and programs and will encourage cooperation by distributing positions of authority and valuable property to his followers.
Daniel 11:40 states, "And at the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him ... and. he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through." "At the end time" is a clear eschatological reference in the book of (Daniel 11:35; 12:4, 9). The King of the South must therefore be a yet future Egyptian monarch, judging from the previous use of the term in the chapter and also the clear statements of Dan. 11:42-43. Presumably in alliance with a King of the North (such as Russia today?), the eschatological Egyptian ruler will launch a diversionary thrust and "will collide with him," that is, with "the king [who] will do as he pleases" (the Antichrist) in the immediately preceding context (Dan. 11:36-39).
It is important to note that the antecedent of "him" (used twice in verse 40) must be the Antichrist, whose location at this time will be somewhere between the "north" and the "south," presumably Palestine.
Could the King of the North be Syria? No, for his "attack on Antichrist involves the King of the North's entering, overflowing, and passing through other countries en route to Palestine." The name of any particular "King of the North" may indeed change with the flux of history, but the general location remains fixed. "Russia meets the hermeneutical requirements involved, in the title 'King of the North' associated with the Seleucid Empire [of vv. 5-29]. It has a corresponding northern location, a corresponding vast geographical scope, and a corresponding vast political preeminence."
Although agreeing that three distinct kings are seen in Daniel 11:40-45, most premillennialists understand the pronoun he in these verses to refer to the Antichrist, not the King of the North. Thus, when the King of the South storms against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, the Antichrist is viewed as launching a counterattack whereby "he will enter countries." This great conflict is seen as continuing throughout the last half of the Seventieth Week until the Antichrist comes to supernatural judgment at .Armageddon.
Among the difficulties with this view are: (1) Revelation 13:4 seems to contradict the idea that the Antichrist will require forty-two months to subdue his enemies; (2) the "rumors" he hears are from Palestine ("the Beautiful Land"), east and north of Libya and Ethiopia, not from the Euphrates River as generally understood (cf. Rev. 16:12); (3) if the king in Dan. 11:45 were the Antichrist, 12:1 would seem to be anticlimactic, whereas the Antichrist is the climax of all evil forces until the second coming of Christ; (4) it is not primarily Israel, but rather the Antichrist, who is attacked by both the King of the South and the King of the North in this passage.
Neither shall the Antichrist have regard for "the desire of women." "He shall set himself free ... from all piety toward men and God, from all the tender affections of the love of men and of God. The 'love of women' [cf. 2 Sam. 1:26] is named as an example ... of that affection of human love and attachment for which even the most selfish and most savage of men feel some sensibility."
Furthermore, "he will honor a god of fortresses ... he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him" (Dan. 11:38-39). The Antichrist will lavish all his vast resources upon military fortifications and programs and will encourage cooperation by distributing positions of authority and valuable property to his followers.
Daniel 11:40 states, "And at the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him ... and. he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through." "At the end time" is a clear eschatological reference in the book of (Daniel 11:35; 12:4, 9). The King of the South must therefore be a yet future Egyptian monarch, judging from the previous use of the term in the chapter and also the clear statements of Dan. 11:42-43. Presumably in alliance with a King of the North (such as Russia today?), the eschatological Egyptian ruler will launch a diversionary thrust and "will collide with him," that is, with "the king [who] will do as he pleases" (the Antichrist) in the immediately preceding context (Dan. 11:36-39).
It is important to note that the antecedent of "him" (used twice in verse 40) must be the Antichrist, whose location at this time will be somewhere between the "north" and the "south," presumably Palestine.
Could the King of the North be Syria? No, for his "attack on Antichrist involves the King of the North's entering, overflowing, and passing through other countries en route to Palestine." The name of any particular "King of the North" may indeed change with the flux of history, but the general location remains fixed. "Russia meets the hermeneutical requirements involved, in the title 'King of the North' associated with the Seleucid Empire [of vv. 5-29]. It has a corresponding northern location, a corresponding vast geographical scope, and a corresponding vast political preeminence."
Although agreeing that three distinct kings are seen in Daniel 11:40-45, most premillennialists understand the pronoun he in these verses to refer to the Antichrist, not the King of the North. Thus, when the King of the South storms against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, the Antichrist is viewed as launching a counterattack whereby "he will enter countries." This great conflict is seen as continuing throughout the last half of the Seventieth Week until the Antichrist comes to supernatural judgment at .Armageddon.
Among the difficulties with this view are: (1) Revelation 13:4 seems to contradict the idea that the Antichrist will require forty-two months to subdue his enemies; (2) the "rumors" he hears are from Palestine ("the Beautiful Land"), east and north of Libya and Ethiopia, not from the Euphrates River as generally understood (cf. Rev. 16:12); (3) if the king in Dan. 11:45 were the Antichrist, 12:1 would seem to be anticlimactic, whereas the Antichrist is the climax of all evil forces until the second coming of Christ; (4) it is not primarily Israel, but rather the Antichrist, who is attacked by both the King of the South and the King of the North in this passage.
- National Origin - Roman Empire
Dan. 7:7-8 Beast with ten horns (Roman Empire) - another, a little horn.
Dan. 9:26 Romans destroyed the city in 70 A.D.
- Geographical Origin - one of four divisions
Out of one of the four notable horns
1. Syria (including Babylon) King of the North.
2. Macedonia
3. Egypt (cf. Ezek. 30:13)
4. Asia Minor
Dan. 8:8-9, 21-23
- Political Origin
Rev. 13:1 "He" (ARV) stood, i.e. Satan stood - cf. with preceding chapter. "Sea" is a symbol of nations in Scripture (cf. Rev. 17:1)
Cf. Dan. 7:2-3 "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another."
Lenin came out of war, confusion; also Trotsky, Hitler, Mussolini
- Spiritual Origin
Rev. 11:7 "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."
Rev. 17:8 "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."
Rev. 16:13 - One of Satanic trinity - "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."
Matt. 4:8-9 to be Satan's own man - "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
cf. Alternative views:
1. Antichrist comes up out of the bottomless pit; or
2. He will be a human being who will he possessed by an evil spirit out of the abyss. This last might be a parody on Baptism of Spirit on Christ.
- Providential Origin
2 Thess. 2:11 God sends strong delusion. "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"
Rev. 6:1-2 God says "Go" "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."
- God is in control--this gives the believer confidence
No comments:
Post a Comment