THE END OF DAYS
Daniel 7:25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. (3 ½ years)
The next few days I will try to help make as clear as possible what Daniel has to say about the end of days. In doing this we need to remember that 7:15 tells us that even Daniel was disturbed by his dream or vision, and wanted help. Evidentually an angel helped him understand it. Even with Al-this help it still holds much in mystery. I believe that God purposely wants this to remain a mystery at least in part as we see in Revelation 10:4, where John is told to not write down what he has heard. I believe that the reason for this is because we see in 7:25 there will be people that will try and outsmart God by avoiding God’s prophecy. The antichrist will be under the influence and possession of Satan himself. (Rev 13:2-5 & II Thess 2:9) While Satan may know scripture very well, he doesn’t know the mind of God! So my desire to help you comes from Matthew 24:24 that tells us that, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.” My hope is to help you not to be deceived. But even in this we must remember that I too am a work in progress as we all are. So this is only to be a guide as looking through a glass dimly. I will be starting with Daniel 7 today.
Daniel begins telling his dream or vision concerning the end of days. This isn’t to be considered the same as the dream King Nebuchadnezzar had regarding his empire and three that would follow his empire. In his dream he saw a statue with four separations in its make up. He had the head of gold for his Babylonian empire. From that came the Medes and Persians, from that the Greek and lastly we know the Roman and Ottoman empire. This last empire was the one of iron and clay. The Roman part was the dominate part, and later the Ottoman (Arab) empire came out of it and was less over all powerful. While many try to tie this dream of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2) into the same as Daniel's dream or vision (Daniel 7) by saying that the nations controlled by the antichrist will be the old Roman empire, I don’t necessarily think this is correct. The reasons for this is because of the preceeding countries or empires before the revealing of the anticrist or Beast. These are certainly different than those of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. I believe Daniel’s dream is about an end of days event all on it’s own, and should be not confused by mixing them.
In chapter 7 Daniel tells about four great kingdoms in the last days. He begins with a lion with wings of an eagle. Many believe this to be the British empire. The symbol for Great Britain even today is the lion. The United States that broke off of England has its symbol as an eagle. When the United States gained its independance, England lost its wings. The next beast that Daniel saw was that of a bear. Many believe this to be Russia or the old Soviet Union. Today Russia still has its symbol as the bear, and the three ribs in its mouth were the three countries of the Baltic being Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that it devoured.
The third beast or country is Germany whose symbol is the leopard or panther. It had four wings or two countries in alliance during World War II and this was Japan and Italy. Following WW II there were four countries that occupied Germany being the British, French, Russian and American, making up the four heads.
While these beasts have appeared, there is one yet to appear and it will become the most terrifying of them all! (Daniel 7:19) This kingdom will be the one lead by the antichrist, and will influence the entire world. Daniel points out in verse 23 that this kingdom will be different than all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth. In the Book of Revelation 13:11-18 the antichrist (called the Beast) will rule a league of nations called the Beast. This ruler speaks against the Most High, (I believe Jesus) and will wage war persecuting and killing Christians and Jews for 3 ½ years. Some people believe that this will come from the old Roman empire with the antichrist coming out of Europe and the false prophet being the Catholic Pope. Some believe that it will be the United Nations and it’s leader will be the antichrist.
The problem I have with this is Daniel 7:21,22. I can not see anyone from the United Nations or Europe waging war against Christians and Jews, when so much of the world is Christian and Jewish. I do see a common enemy for both Christians and Jews and this is the religion of Islam.
From 1900-1923 the Ottoman government or what we know today as Turkey committed genocide killing an estimated 4,300,000 Christians with many more deported. While they may try to deny it, it is accepted by the world as fact, and even today the evidence of it is seen in the very few Christians that live there. Once Constantinople or Istanbul was a center for Christianity, but today it is almost solely Muslim. Istanbul is also a port city that is built among seven hills. Revelation 17:9-18:24 speak of the destruction of such a city in the last days. Since there is no other religion or people that hate Christians as the Muslims do, I personally think that there is a very good possibility that the antichrist will be Muslim and the nations that he will lead will be the Arab nations that once made up much of the old Ottoman empire. The reason it will be able at have an impact on the other countries of the world is the potential for Muslims throughout the world to cause terror, much as they are threatening even today. Please remember that no person knows for sure who the antichrist will be, or the countries that he will rule. All we can do is to keep the prophecies of God before us. And seek wisdom from the Holy Spirit, so we will not be caught off guard.
In this chapter we also see another thing that is worthy to note and keep our eyes open on. This is because we see the antichrist come on the scene about 3 ⅓ years into the time of the seven years of tribulation. Because he will persecute and kill Christians and Jews, I must assume that the rapture must be after he takes rule in that he persecutes and kills them. This rapture or taking up of Christians to heaven can be see about mid-tribulation as we see it possibly in Rev 14:14-16, or post- tribulation as we see possible in Rev 19:7-10. Of course the rapture or taking up of the church as we see in Matthew 24:36-51 can happen any time. I don’t care what anyone says or how emphatically they say it, Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 that only the Heavenly Father knows! He did add in Luke 21:36 that we should always watch and pray that we might escape all that is about to happen, and that we might be able to stand before the son of Man. I think Jesus is telling us to pray so we can avoid the tribulation, and continue to trust in Jesus if we don’t get raptured before tribulation and the attacks by the antichrist. Something we might keep in mind is when we see the plagues of Egypt, we see that God didn’t make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Hebrews until about halfway through the plagues. So for those that say the righteous will not experience God’s judgment they need to remember all the times that the great prophets of God underwent the same attacks and was exiled as the Hebrews that had turned to idol worship. The reason I say this is so that you will not become discouraged if your have to go through the tribulation and won’t give up on Jesus. We can never give up on Jesus and expect to go to heaven. There is salvation in no one else!
The good news as we end chapter 7 is that the antichrist and his power is taken away from him and given to the saints of God.
One last thing I need to remind you is the books of Daniel 7-12 and Revelation are not written in consecutive or chronological order. Both skip around regarding the revelation of events. I believe that God purposely did this to frustrate those people, and certainly the antichrist who will try to change the set times by God as it says in 7:25.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your insight into the future, so we can be prepared. Please help us to be ever watching, and have the discernment to know what is of you and what is not. Please keep us close to you in these last days! We ask this in Jesus name.
