The WilFul King (AntiChrist)

About Persia (v1-2)

Kings of Persia:

Cyrus – Ezra 1

Cambyses (529-522)

Pseudo Smerdis (522-521)

Darius I Hystapes (521-486)

Xerxes (496-465) – the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther

About Greece (v3-4)

A mighty King is referring to Alexander the Great

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great defeated Persian.

In 323 BC, Alexander the Great died, and his kingdom was divided among four of his generals.

About Egypt and Syria (v5-20)

Kingdom of the South is Egypt

Kingdom of the North is Syria

Israel was caught between these two great powers

About Antiochus Epiphanes and Syria (v21-35)

Ephiphanes means the “glorious one”

In Dec 14, 168BC, Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and by offering a pig as a sacrifice. Gabriel called this “the abomination that causes desolation” (v31).

The future antichrist will put his own image in the Jewish temple when he breaks his covenant with the Jews in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period.

v33-35 could be referring to the Maccabeus flight back

Maccabues was one of the five sons of Mattathias. He and his brothers flight back Antiochus and reclaimed the temple in Dec 14, 165 BC. Jews celebrate that day as the Feast of the Lights, or better known as Hanukkah.

Prophecies yet to be fulfilled (v36-45)

About the Tribulation and Antichrist (v36-45)

v35: [..the time of the end] signals the rest of the chapter was referring to end time events.

v36-39: The rise of antichrist

v36: [The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods]. The wilful king is the antiChrist.

v40-43: War and invasions

v44-45: The battle of Armageddon

v45: The return of Christ to defeat antichrist

12:2: The resurrection of the dead

12:3: The glorious kingdom