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Original Message
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Daniel Chapter 11
Daniel chapter 11 gives us a few other attributes of the Antichrist or other characteristics of the Antichrist. The Antichrist's character is outlined in Daniel 11:21-45, which gives us some detail about what he will be like.
I have outlined more attributes of the Antichrist in the preceding links on the End Times Topics Page you will not want to miss.
Look at these verses in Daniel chapter 11.
Daniel 11:21-45: NKJ
21. "And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22. "With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23. "And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.
24. "He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25. "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him.
26. "Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
27. "Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
28. "While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29. "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter.
30. "For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
31. "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
32. "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33. "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34. "Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35. "And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purge them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
36. "Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
37. "He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above them all.
38. "But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.
39. "Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
40. "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
41. "He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
42. "He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43. "He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
44. "But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.
45. "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
The first attributes described as to the Antichrist's character is that he will be a vile person. But, looks may be deceiving. He may not look like a vile person on the outside. Another translation of the Scripture uses the word 'despicable' instead of 'vile.'
The Antichrist will not be of royal bloodline or will not be seen as a person of royalty. He will claim a motto of peace, yet he will take the kingdom by intrigue which simply means a covert underhanded scheme, by mystery or to arouse one's interest (according to The American Heritage Dictionary, 1976). I would say he will be one who is a smooth talker who will share a plan that will appeal to nearly everyone. The main schemes of the Antichrist will go against God and Christians. These will be his main focus, eventually and perhaps right up front.
One thing the Antichrist will do that his forefathers did not do, will be to distribute the plunder among those who help him in his exploits, mainly conquering the whole world and stamping out Christianity. Those who help him will share in the spoils, but beware, this covenant will be to the loss of your soul if you join with the Antichrist.
He will flatter people, but Christians who will be made aware of his schemes will recognize them. They will recognize his schemes and stand against him. Notice that an important description in verse 27 is that the Antichrist and a king from the South will be bent on evil. One of the key attributes or characteristics of the Antichrist is that he will be evil and will promote evil.
His actions may seem good, but the core root character of the Antichrist will be evil by doing away with laws, God and Christians.
God's people who are aware of the Antichrist's activities will go and "carry out great exploits" says verse 32. Verse 33 says that, "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many." God's people will tell many others who the Antichrist is and will make many people aware of the Antichrist's evil schemes, although to many people his schemes may seem innocent and good.
Then verse 32 speaks of how Christians will suffer during this time in history, as has been the same in the past 2000 years under the rule of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. Daniel 11:32 says, "...yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering." Christians will be killed by the sword and burned to death. They shall be captured and plundered; their material possessions shall be confiscated and distributed by the Antichrist or his organization to those who help him in his evil schemes against Christians.
This time in history will be the worst attack on Christians the world has ever seen. The reason is that every Christian on the earth will be found and killed according to Revelation chapter 13. This has never been done before. Many times in history evil men have persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ, but never to this extent that every Christian will be found and killed for the sake of Jesus Christ.
To accomplish this, the Antichrist will have an accomplice whom the Bible refers to as the false prophet, the Antichrist's right hand man, so to speak. The false prophet will be the enforcer who seeks out all Christians as spoken of in Revelation chapter 13 verse 15.
Revelation 13:15: NKJ
15. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Another main attribute of the Antichrist, written in verse 36 is that he "shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods" which is the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.
In Daniel 11:37 is a verse that gives us light into how the Antichrist feels about the "gods" of his fathers or the gods that his predecessors worshipped. I am quoting below from the NIV translation that perhaps better translates from the Hebrew word. Instead of the word "God" as is used in the New King James version, the New American Standard and the New International versions use the word "gods."
Daniel 11:37: NIV
37. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.
The Antichrist will not have any use for the gods of his predecessors because he will exalt himself above all gods.
So, we can deduce from this that the Antichrist's predecessors worship many gods, and they do. They are a kingdom who are filled with the worship of pagan gods, and have worshipped them from their very conception, although they claim to be and are seen by many as a Christian organization.
I will describe this organization in great detail when I cover Revelation chapter 17 when I speak on the harlot system.
One thing the Antichrist will do is setup the abomination of desolation in the "sanctuary fortress" Daniel 11:31 states. The Antichrist will place himself or his image in the sanctuary fortress and shall demand the worship of himself and the worship of his image. This will happen during the middle of the 7-year Tribulation Period in which the Antichrist will rule the earth for seven years.
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