Title: War of Armageddon (Daniel 11:40-45)
Lesson 118 War of Armageddon (Daniel 11:40-45)
11:40-45
In the last days the king of the south will pierce him, and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and many ships, and he will enter his kingdoms, and he will pass by like a flood, and he will enter a glorious land, and he will destroy many kingdoms. But Edom, Moab, and the nobles of the Ammonites will be freed from his hand, and he will stretch out his hand to the nations, and the land of Egypt will not escape; so he will have power over Egypt's gold and silver and all its treasures; the Libyans and the Cushites will He will be his servant, but rumors from the northeast that trouble him, and he will go out in anger and go out to slaughter and annihilate the multitudes, and he will set up his tent-house between the sea and the glorious and holy mountain, but his end is coming, and there will be no one to help him. there will be none
Daniel received all four visions from God. The fourth and final vision is recorded in Daniel 10-12. In 10:1, the fourth vision begins. What was the main content of the fourth or higher?
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, what he had done appeared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, and it was true, concerning a great war."
In Revelation 16:16, the great war that will take place in the last days is called the war of Armageddon. Armageddon is a place name in the land of Palestine. In Hebrew it is called Har Megiddo. Har means mountain. It means Mount Megiddo. Armageddon is the name of a mountain located halfway between Mount Carmel and the Sea of Galilee. There have been many wars in Megiddo since ancient times. It is just like a fierce battle took place on Mt. Dosol in our country during the 6/25 Uprising. In any case, there will be a great battle centered on Armageddon in the last days between peoples and between peoples and the spirits that are controlling them behind them. In today's text, the angel Gabriel is explaining it to Daniel.
Look at verse 40. "The king of the south will pierce him in the last days." As we have seen in the last time, the Antichrist wields great power in the last days. He will force people to worship him as if he were God. Finally, the king of the south provokes a fight against the Antichrist. "The king of the north came to him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and many ships." A great battle broke out between the Antichrist and the king of the south who opposed him. “They will enter the nations, and they will pass by like overflowing waters.” The Antichrist will trample upon nations as a flood sweeps away everything wherever he goes.
Let's look at verse 41. "He will enter the glorious land again." The glorious land refers to the land of Palestine. Let's look at 9:27. “He is going to make a covenant with many people for one week.” The Antichrist will establish a covenant with many of the Jews in the end times for a week, that is, seven years. At first, the Jews do not know the reality of the Antichrist, so they will regard him as good and make a covenant with him. But after half a week, three and a half years, he will turn his back on the Jews. They will break the covenant they have made, and they will persecute the Jews severely.
"I will destroy many countries." The Antichrist conquers countless nations by his own force. Verse 40 also says “their many nations”, verse 41 also says “many nations”, and in verse 42, it says, “He is in many nations”. Countless nations will bow their knees before his power. "Only the nobles of Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon will escape from their hand." Edom, Moab, and Ammon are all nations on the right hand side of the Jordan River. These nations are said to be freed from the hand of the Antichrist. Most likely, the Antichrist will pass mainly west of the Jordan River, that is, to the land of Palestine. So, I think that these three nations located on the east side of the Jordan will be able to escape from the hand of the Antichrist. So the Jews will be able to run there to escape the tribulation.
Continue to verse 42. "He will stretch out his hand to the nations." It refers to the fact that a great many nations will fall into the hands of the Antichrist. "Because even the land of Egypt will not escape." This means that Egypt, which played a leading role against the Antichrist, will eventually be conquered by the Antichrist.
Let's look at verse 43. "He will have power over the gold and silver and all the treasures of Egypt." Egypt is now a poor country. However, I don't know if Egypt will become a prosperous nation again in the last days. Also, if you actually go to the Egyptian National Museum, you will find a huge treasure trove there. For example, the ancient Egyptians made all mummies' coffins out of gold. "They will catch gold and silver and all treasures." Treasure here may refer to oil. Doesn't the Arab region have oil in their hands now? In the end times, the Antichrist will put everything he owns into his hands. The Antichrist was not content to occupy only Egypt. He continued to attack. "The Libyans and the Cushites will be his servants." To the west of Egypt they took Libya, and to the south of Egypt they took Cush, or Ethiopia.
But before the Antichrist could even breathe after winning the battle with the king of the south, a problem arose for him. Look at verse 44. "But rumors have come from the northeast." Rumors had spread that they were coming against him from the east and the north. East refers to India and China. North refers to Russia. These mighty armies will gather to Armageddon to fight the Antichrist. In this way, a great war that has never been seen in history will be waged. “Because I have troubled him, he will go out in anger and go out to slaughter and annihilate many people.” Thousands of people will die in this battle. Zechariah 13:8 says that at that time two-thirds of the people of the world will be annihilated, and only one-third will remain.
Let's look at verse 45. "He will make a tented palace between the sea and the glorious and holy mountain." The original text is slightly mistranslated. Translated from the original text, it reads: “He will set the tent palace among the seas, on the glorious and holy mountain.” "The seas." It is plural. Means the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. Holy Mountain means Mount Zion. That is, the Antichrist will set up the headquarters of the army in Jerusalem. "His end shall come." When the time decreed by God will come, God's judgment will be revealed to him.
See verse 7:9.
“I saw a throne set, and the Ancient of Days seated, whose robes were white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure sheep’s hair, and his throne was a flame, and his wheels were flaming fire.”
This is a description of the court in the kingdom of heaven that will judge the Antichrist.
Let's look at 7:10-11.
“Fire flows like a river and comes out before him, and thousands of those who attend him, and ten thousand ten thousand protesters before him, and the judgment is set, and the books are opened. It was slain, and its body was bruised and thrown into the burning fire."
In the end times, the Antichrist and his followers will be cast into a lake burning with brimstone and fire.
Let's go back to the main text and look at verse 45. "His end is coming, and there will be no one to help him." When God judges, who dares to help the Antichrist?
Let's look for the words written in the book of Revelation about the great war that will take place in the last days, the war of Armageddon. Let's look at the words of Revelation 16:12.
“And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and it dried up, that the way of the kings from the east was prepared.”
Verse 44 says that great armies are coming from the east and the north to fight the army of the Antichrist. The upper reaches of the Euphrates are located in present-day Turkey. Turkey has built many dams there. So if they make a mistake, they threaten to block the dam and not let the water go down. In any case, when the Armageddon War breaks out, the Euphrates will dry up, making it easier for troops from India or China to advance.
Let's look at the words of Revelation 16:13-14.
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and of the beast, and of the false prophet, who were spirits of demons, who performed miracles to go to the kings of the whole world, and bring them out for war in the great day of God the Almighty. collected."
In the great war of the end times, evil spirits will intervene and even supernatural things will happen.
Please see Revelation 16:15.
"Behold, I am coming like a thief; blessed is the man who watches and keeps his garments, and does not walk naked, and shows no shame."
When that time comes, the second coming of Jesus is very near. Blessed is anyone who is always spiritually awake and does not act shameful in the sight of God and people.
Let's look at the words of Revelation 16:16.
"Three spirits gathered the kings together to a place called Armageddon in the Hebrew language."
There will be a great war at Armageddon in the end times.
Let's go back to Daniel and look at the words of Daniel 12:1.
“At that time Michael, the great army that guards your nation, will arise, and there will be troubles like never before, since the nation was founded until then, and at that time all your people, all who are written in the book, will be saved.”
All who are written in the book of life will be saved. As Psalm 121 says, God will protect us from any tribulation. God is the shadow at our right hand. Therefore, neither the sun by day nor the moon by night will harm us. God is counting every hair of his chosen people. Therefore, there is no need to worry if any tribulation comes. As we said in Rev 16:15, let's be spiritually awake. I pray in the name of Jesus that we will keep our faith and live a life that pleases God so that we will not be ashamed when Jesus comes again.