DANIEL 7:26

Continuing to talk about the antichrist, the Bible says in Daniel 7:26, “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Once again the Word of God makes it clear that the antichrist will come to a final and certain judgment. The antichrist will rule most of the earth, but his rule will be short-lived. The last human leader of the earth will be destroyed by God Himself when Jesus returns.

Jesus will rule the earth, but He will share that government with all the believers. The Bible says in Daniel 7:27-28, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.[28] Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.” Concerning the believers ruling the earth, Jesus Himself taught this same truth. In Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” The antichrist, as well as any others who gain power in the earth since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, have gained their power though lust, and fighting, and deceit, and the strong selfish will of man. They follow the pattern set by Nimrod in Genesis 10:8-10 that says, “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. [9] He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.[10] And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” But they only gain power for a limited time. Jesus will give power to those who do not seek their own will, and who do not selfishly pursue the rule over others. In other words, Jesus will give it to the “meek.” The word “meek” does not refer to a milk-toast that lets others run over him or her, but it refers to someone who does God’s will instead of his or her own will.

These prophecies are very amazing in their detail when we remember that Daniel lived a couple of hundred years before Alexander the Great came on the scene. God knows the end from the beginning. The Bible says in Daniel 8:1-21, “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.[2] And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.[3] Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.[4] I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.[5] And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.[6] And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had there seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.[7] And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.[8] Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.[9] And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.[10] 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.[11] Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.[12] And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.[13] Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?[14] And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.[15] And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.[16] And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.[17] So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.[18] Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.[19] And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.[20] The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.[21] And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”

Two animals are seen in this vision: a ram and a goat. We do not have to guess which two kingdoms are represented by these two animals. We are told very clearly in verse 20 that the ram represents the kingdom of the Medes and Persians; and we are told in verse 21 that the goat represents the Kingdom of Grecia. If we know a little bit about history, we can fill in some of the other details. Notice what it says about the goat in verse 7, “Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.” The “great horn” was Alexander the Great. As soon as Alexander died, his kingdom was divided into four parts. That is why it says, “for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.” “for it” means “in its place.” It is a well-known fact of history that no one inherited Alexander’s kingdom, and that his kingdom was immediately divided into 4 parts: the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon.

This passage in Daniel chapter 8 makes it very clear that the goat defeated the ram. The goat defeated the ram, because Alexander the Great conquered the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. Once we see the division of Alexander’s kingdom, we are getting to the important part of this prophecy because out of one of the four divisions came a less powerful ruler, but who has a significant place in the history of the nation of Israel, and who has an important symbolic meaning in regards to the last days and the antichrist. Daniel was told about his dream in verse 17, “for at the time of the end shall be the vision.” The main focus of Daniel’s dream was the last days: “the time of the end.” God wants His children to know enough of what is going to happen so that we will be comforted and confident in God’s purposes that will be fulfilled.

Make sure that you understand Daniel 8:9. It says, “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” “Out of one of them” means “out of one of the four divisions of what was left over from Alexander’s kingdom.” It is called “a little horn” because this particular leader was not greatly significant compared to some of the other leaders that are mentioned here. He was significant, though, in regards to Israel, and that is why the little horn is given so much discussion here. The “pleasant land” mentioned in verse 9 is Israel. This little horn did exercise power over Israel. What did he do with his power over Israel? He committed one of the great irreverent acts ever performed by a human leader on this earth. The sacrilege that he committed was prophesied by Daniel and took place in the person of a ruler named Antiochus Epiphanese, foreshadowed an even greater fulfillment that will occur in the last days in the person of the antichrist. The antichrist will also gain control over “the pleasant land,” and the antichrist will also perform the terrible deed that is called the abomination of desolation.

Daniel is the person who coined the phrase “the abomination of desolation,” and Jesus referred to it in His great prophetic teaching in Matthew chapter 24. It says about the little horn in Daniel 8:11-13, “Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.[12] And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.[13] Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” The sanctuary is the temple in Jerusalem. So, obviously, as least one more temple will be built.

As recorded in Daniel chapter 8, this seems to be what happens: the antichrist gets control of Israel, and then at some point he gets control over the temple and stops the “daily sacrifice,” and then at some point the antichrist commits the desecration of the temple, an event that is called “the abomination of desolation.” This event that the antichrist will perform will identify him as the antichrist, and will be the same event committed by Antiochus Epiphanese: the desecration of the temple. The event is described in verse 12 as being “against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression” and in verse 13 as “the transgression of desolation.” From the standpoint of the Jewish people, that is a very terrible event that will take place, to say the least.

A very good question to ask about this situation involving the taking over of the temple area, and then eventually committing the abomination of desolation in the temple is the question that was asked at the end of verse 13, “just how long will that situation have to be endured?” The answer to this question is given very clearly in Daniel 8:14. It says, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” That is a period of time that is slightly less than seven years. So, we are seeing how this fits into the timeline of the last days, especially of the last seven years of the last days that is called the period of the Great Tribulation. The antichrist will come into power somewhere near the beginning of the 7-year period, and he will immediately take over Israel and take over the temple area. Then, half-way through the Tribulation at the 3 ½ year mark, the antichrist will commit the Abomination of Desolation in the temple, and after another 3 ½ years he will be destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ. Seven years is not a very long time in relation to the history of the human race and some other leaders who have had a lot of power. It is a good thing that this Tribulation will be short, otherwise no one would survive it. One reason for the troubles that will come is to give the survivors one last motivation to turn to Jesus before it is too late. It says in Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

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