Lent day 20

 The King Who Exalts Himself

35Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

36Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished. 37He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.

38And in their place, he will honour a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches. 39He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honour those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.h

40At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle,i but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood. 41He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall. But these will be delivered from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.

42He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape. 43He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushitesj will also submit to him.

44But news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out with great fury to destroy many and devote them to destruction.k 45He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him.

So far the angel has delivered a message about what is going to happen throughout history from Daniel's time and taken us up to the Roman era. Now we move into discussing 'the time of the end....the appointed time..... the time of wrath'  This is different. Commentators tend to agree that this part of the scripture refers to things we have not yet seen actually happen.  Those who want to see this as an extension of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes cant find any historical evidence to link that ruler to what is actually written here.  This 'king' seems to be in another league of pride and self aggrandizement.

This particular figure comes under several titles in the Bible. In Daniel 7, he is called the little horn. In Daniel 8, he is called the king of fierce countenance, which has to do with his face, old fierce face. In chapter 9, he is called the prince that shall come. In 2 Thessalonians 2, he is called the man of sin and the son of perdition, which is a Hebraism meaning he is doomed to destruction. In Revelation 13, he is called the Beast.

This guy thinks he is god. (2 Thessalonians 2, “He will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped so that he is god, sits in the temple of god, showing himself that he is god.”)  He will reward those who flatter him as a god and give them power and influence - but at a price.  (Revelation 13 says that God will allow this to go on for 42months -  3.5years of blasphemy and outrage and then God will act. ) He is profane, perverse and proud. He is also extremely powerful. He has military might and will ride roughshod over many nations - his god is 'a god of fortresses' ie he worships warfare and military might and he puts vast resources into funding it. He will go unchallenged for a while but eventually will be attacked by forces from the south (Africa) and the north (Russia along with an alliance of Iran Ethiopia and Lybia -see Ezekiel 38) but he will push back and cause these huge alliances to retreat before sweeping into ' the beautiful land' ie: Israel  Only the small countries in the southeast will avoid being overwhelmed by his forces.  God gives these details so that when this stuff happens we will see and remember and know that this is what He has decreed beforehand. 

By this time he will be vastly and obscenely wealthy. He has plundered the wealth of the nations and, in effect, rules the world. But then he hears news from the east and the north which will cause him to go on another terrifying rampage (who knows if it will be nuclear or biological or technological warfare at this point?) And he will set himself up 'between the sea and the holy mountain (Zion) as his headquarters. BUT.....

BUT....

He will meet his end.

Hooray!