END-TIMES PROPHECIES IN DANIEL

PART 2

by Steve Ashburn

 

In Part 1 of this series, we saw how the US-British alliance was described in Daniel 7 as “like a lion, and had eagle's wings” and how “the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it,” representing loss of the military power of the Anglo-American alliance after the rapture and conquest of the United States. Three other beasts then sequentially took power in the Mediterranean area surrounding Israel: a bear, representing Russia, who was defeated in the Ezekiel 38-39 war; a leopard, representing a transitional UN-type of government; and finally, a fourth beast, “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,” representing the kingdom of the Antichrist.  

We now continue our studies of the Antichrist—the most malignant sociopath who ever lived—and his kingdom, the most authoritarian and evil dictatorship in history.  

Daniel 9:27 declares that the Antichrist will confirm a peace treaty with Israel: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”  

This covenant is probably the same which God made with Abraham: “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee. . . . And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:7–8), recognizing Israel’s right to the ancient land of Canaan.  

This treaty also allows Israel to continue offering sacrifices in the temple, which no doubt is rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem soon after the war which begins the end times; this event probably happens only after extensive debate in the Knesset and careful planning and deliberation between all the parties involved—orthodox Jews, liberal Jews, and others. If the Holy of Holies is determined to be one hundred meters north of the Dome of the Rock as some believe, it would allow construction of the temple while preserving existing Moslem shrines. 

This treaty—which probably includes a guarantee of Israel’s security and may already have been signed—is confirmed for seven years (“one week”) on behalf of the one-world government, with the Antichrist as its head after God destroys Russia and her allies as described in Ezekiel 38–39. The confirming of this treaty by the Antichrist marks the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week—the beginning of the tribulation. This event occurs thirty-three years after the beginning of the end times, which began when Israel launched its nuclear attack against Egypt. As the US and its coalition partners probably guaranteed Israel’s security then, so the Antichrist does now on behalf of the nations of the world. 

This seven-year tribulation period is described in detail in the book of Revelation, as well as in Daniel 7–9 and 11–12. A short version follows here.  

At first, the Antichrist makes utopian promises to the nations of peace and prosperity, if only they will join his “new world order”; however, this totalitarian dictatorship in disguise runs into quite a bit of resistance from other nations, resulting in a war which kills one-fourth of the world’s population. In addition, entirely miraculous judgments from God upon the world because of sin result in another one-third being killed, and this doesn’t even count the untold number of believers who are martyred for their faith at the same time. Apparently the world will blame these believers for judgments from God and will kill them, until at the end, only a few believers are left, with the rest of the world totally committed to the worship of the Antichrist.  

At the end of this period, the Lord Jesus Christ physically returns to earth, and the Antichrist is destroyed, as described in Daniel 8:25: “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” 

Revelation 6:2 provides a description of the Antichrist’s malignant character: “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.” The Greek word translated “bow” (toxon) occurs only this one time in the Bible, and also can be translated “bow (apparently as the simplest fabric)” [Strong's Exhaustive Concordance]; therefore, our text verse can be translated, “he that sat on him had a simple fabric bow.” The Greek word translated “conquer” (nikon) also can be translated “subdue.” 

In light of current events, this “fabric bow” most likely is a face mask, which the Antichrist uses to “subdue” the world through medical tyranny. We see the same strategy employed today, whereby people are “locked down” because of a coronavirus hoax, their constitutional rights suspended, “social distancing” enforced and independent businesses destroyed. Scripture suggests that the Antichrist will use this same ruse to “subdue” the world. Eventually an “immunity passport” will be encoded into an RFID chip, combined with financial information, and injected beneath the skin, so that “no man might buy or sell” without it (Revelation 13:17). So you see where all this is leading.  

Daniel 8 also describes the Antichrist as a “little horn.” The context is a vision Daniel received while still living in Babylon and before the Persian conquest of this city in 539 BC. In this vision, Persia is represented by a ram. This ram has two horns, representing the kings of Media (Darius the Mede) and of Persia (Cyrus the Great). The ram is shown conquering territory west, north, and south; this represents expansion of the Persian empire. Then, a goat is seen in the vision coming from the west. The goat represents Greece and has a great horn representing its king, Alexander the Great.  

Daniel watched while the goat attacked the ram with great fury, broke its horns, and stamped on him—representing Alexander’s conquest of Persia in 331 BC. The great horn on the goat then was broken, and in its place came up four notable horns pointing in four cardinal directions. The interpretation of this is that after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, his four generals divided the empire amongst themselves: Cassander took over Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus claimed Asia Minor; Seleucus took Syria and Babylonia; and Ptolemy took Egypt and North Africa. Out of one of these horns came a little horn—this represents the Antichrist. 

The Antichrist is also called “the Assyrian” in Isaiah 23:13, and will partially rebuild post-war Iraq after its destruction at the beginning of the end times; his capital city eventually will become the center of global commerce and trade—what Revelation calls “Babylon.” Thus he will be descended from Seleucus, be an Iraqi (or Syrian) of Greek origin, and born in present-day northern Iraq or perhaps extreme eastern Syria, i.e. the ancient land of Assyria. Further, Daniel 11:37 adds that he shall not “regard the God of his fathers.” This indicates that the Antichrist will come from a Christian family.  

I believe he is alive today, probably in school, and it may be possible to identify him based on his background information. I have compiled more details about this in a series of articles entitled, “Who is the Antichrist” at www.endtimesrecord.com. These are highly informative! Please read them! 

Daniel 8:10 describes the little horn: “And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” This verse implies that the Antichrist will somehow attack the host of heaven and even kill some of them. How is that possible?  

The explanation seems to be that believers in Christ are seated “together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6) and that our citizenship “is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Daniel 12:3 also says that “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Therefore, tribulation saints here are pictured as stars, some of whom the Antichrist will be allowed to persecute and kill.  

Revelation 6 says that one-fourth of the earth’s population will be killed in the fourth seal judgment, and all be sent to hell (“and Hell followed with him”; Revelation 6:8). After this, in verses 10–11, it describes a great number of saints before God’s throne which had been martyred in the fifth seal judgment; however, they are not counted as a part of the earth’s population that was killed. Why not? Apparently God sees his people as citizens of heaven and not of the earth—perhaps this is why these saints are not counted among the earth’s population, even though their number actually may exceed that of unbelievers who die during this time. 

The Antichrist also will stop the daily sacrifice at the midpoint of the tribulation, and sit in the temple and demand to be worshipped as God. Daniel 12:11 calls this “the abomination that maketh desolate,” and Daniel 9:27 says it will happen “in the midst of the week,” meaning the middle of the tribulation. He also shall make war against the saints, and they shall be given into his hand for three-and-one-half years. His power shall be mighty, “but not by his own power,” meaning that his power comes from Satan; he will be trained in the occult (“understanding dark sentences”) and “shall destroy the mighty and the holy people,” meaning the tribulation saints (Daniel 8:23–24). 

What follows the tribulation is the thousand-year reign of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who as King of kings and Lord of lords shall rule over the entire earth from Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:16 reads: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” 

God commanded Daniel to “seal the book, even to the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4). This command again is repeated in Daniel 12:9: “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” This means that the prophecies in the book of Daniel (and by extension the Bible, the meaning of the word “book”) relating to the end times would be “sealed” (not understood) until “the time of the end” actually begins or shortly before. For example, the prophecies in Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 50–51 about the third US-led coalition invasion of Iraq and especially the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq (the first and second “rumour” of Jeremiah 51:46) have not become clear until very recently.  

This historical ignorance of Scripture led many to believe that the rapture was ever-imminent and there were no specific signs that had to occur first. Perhaps this was good in a sense, because every generation of Christians always had hope that theirs would be the one to see Christ return for his church, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4: 

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17) 

Notwithstanding, it is my considered belief, based on Scripture, that a nuclear war in the Middle East as described in Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 50–51, Ezekiel 29, and other Old Testament passages will happen first, followed by perhaps a couple of decades of peace and prosperity. (I provide more details of this in my book, END TIMES DAWNING.) 

Does this mean we should become complacent? On the contrary, once the end-times events start to happen, we should be on red alert, sirens wailing and klaxons blaring that the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is very imminent—in the hope and prayer that as many as possible will fear God, repent of their sins, receive Jesus as their Savior in their spirit, and become born again, thereby avoiding the awful judgments of the tribulation which are soon to come. 

When exactly will these things happen? The Bible doesn’t say, but Daniel 9:26 gives us a hint: “and the end thereof shall be with a flood.” This means that the speed at which events happen is exponential; at first, events happen very slowly, and things don’t seem to change, and people become complacent—this describes most of church history in terms of end-times prophecy. But then, the curve begins to steepen, and events happen at a slightly faster pace. This describes the last few decades of history. Then, at some point, events begin to accelerate at a frightening pace, until finally “the end thereof shall be with a flood.”  

We are now in a time when events have just begun to accelerate and signs are beginning to converge: Israel is surrounded by hostile Islamist states committed to her destruction; there have been two coalition invasions of Iraq (1991 and 2003), corresponding to the first and second rumors of Jeremiah 51:46, followed by sectarian violence which is now abating; the theocratic government of Iran is being squeezed economically and being pressured to become more pro-Western, which eventually will result in them joining the US in the next coalition invasion.  

Extreme drought is affecting much of the central and western US, including our breadbasket food-producing regions; economic problems have become severe, with insurmountable sovereign debt loads worldwide resulting in forced austerity, unemployment, and riots; political paralysis in dealing with economic problems; and large meteors have started impacting the earth’s atmosphere, such as the one that streaked across Russia in February of 2013.  

Given this convergence of signs, we should expect acceleration of the trend, until one day headlines announce a sudden, massive, and unexpected attack upon Israel by the nations which surround her—followed by immediate nuclear retaliation. At that point, the forty-year clock starts ticking. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading this series about end-times prophecies in Daniel. I provide more details of this and many other end-times prophecies in my recently published book, END TIMES DAWNING: Get Ready! (available from www.endtimesrecord.com). Please read it! Also if you would, please leave a book review on Amazon! 

Yours in Christ, 

Steve Ashburn