War Against The Saints

Daniel 7:15-26 “I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.  (16)  I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So, he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: (17) 'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.  (18) But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.'  (19)  "Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet;  (20)  and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.  (21)  "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, (22) until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.  (23)  "Thus, he said: 'The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.  (24)  The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.  (25)  He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.  (26)  'But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.”

The above quoted passage of scripture is the angel’s explanation of Daniel’s vision described in the previous passage. There are several things revealed to us in this passage which help us to better understand both the Antichrist and the kingdom from which he will emerge. From the angel’s explanation we understand that there are ten kings that will arise to reign over the fourth kingdom; three of whom will be subdued by the Antichrist when he finally emerges to take full control of that kingdom. Clearly the three kings that are subdued will oppose the Antichrist’s bid to reign over the fourth kingdom. The previous passage tells us that these three horns will be plucked out by the roots, thus indicating that the Antichrist will orchestrate the violent overthrow of these three leaders, replacing them with leaders who will be submissive to his reign.

The angel gives us further insight into the person of the Antichrist by telling us that he will be different from the ten kings; this point will be expounded upon in a later section. The angel also tells us in this passage that the Antichrist will blaspheme the Most High. As already mentioned in a previous passage, the Antichrist will do that by opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

We also see from this passage that the Antichrist will persecute the saints during his reign, for the scripture says that he will make war against the saints and prevail against them. We see that the saints will be subjected to his reign for a period of three-and-a-half years, for the scripture says that the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. This account agrees with the book of Revelation which teaches us that the Antichrist will reign for a period of forty-two months (Revelation 13:5).

The angel tells us in this passage that the Antichrist will attempt to change both the calendar and the law.  So what does that mean? Because the Antichrist will emerge from the Muslim faith he will endeavour to implement both the Muslim calendar and Sharia Law in every nation that eventually becomes part of his kingdom. The angel also tells us that the fourth kingdom will be different from all other kingdoms. The reason for that is because the Antichrist’s kingdom will be theocratic and not secular.

This passage goes on to tell us that heaven will ultimately judge the Antichrist and his kingdom by destroying it forever when the time comes for the saints to possess the kingdom, i.e. when Jesus returns. An obvious observation that we can make from this passage is that because both the ten kings and the Antichrist will emerge out of the fourth kingdom, clearly that kingdom must be in place before they can be manifested. It is for that reason that identifying the fourth kingdom is the first key event that we are discussing in this series.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Last Days

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