False Messiahs, Part 3

Daniel 8:9-14, 20

     Let's look at Daniel chapter 8.  We're running a little late tonight, and didn't know if I was ever gonna get to preach, but I think I will.  But Daniel chapter 8...So wonderful to see a full, packed church on Sunday night, and so thrilled that the Spirit of God has laid it upon our hearts to be together for this tremendous study.  What a wonderful, glorious occasion it is when we can open the Word of God and meet the prophet Daniel and hear the message that the Lord gave to him. 

     Now, as you remember, as we approached Daniel chapter 8, Daniel's vision cover the sweep of history.  They cover the time from Daniel till...till the return of Christ to set up His Kingdom.  And you will recall that, as it is outlined in the Book of Daniel, both through some visions that came to Nebuchadnezzar and some visions that came to Daniel, there will be four great world empires until the time of Christ.  The Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greek, and the Roman.  And the Roman Empire will drift into some kind of an abeyance, and then it will resurge itself at the end in a ten-nation confederacy over which the antichrist will rule, and he will be destroyed and that final form of the empire with him by the return of Jesus Christ. 

     We've been noting as we look at Daniel, that Daniel focuses quite extensively on this final personality called antichrist.  That he sees the last great world empire being the Roman world empire, and we know that, as far as history is concerned, the Roman Empire faded away.  But it is being revived again today in the...the modern Europe...the European economic community...the European Common Market, which is a resurgence, really, of what was territorially the Roman Empire.  And this is as the Bible indicates.

     And so we learn then from reading the Book of Daniel, that Europe will rise again.  Europe, which was the area of the Roman Empire, will come to the fore in the end times in a ten-nation confederacy.  And that is precisely what has happened today in the Common Market.  I was interested the other day when they said there were nine nations in the Common Market, so we made some phone calls, and some of the nations aren't too sure whether they're in or out yet.  Some are on the way in, and some are the way out.  The best we could ascertain is that there would be ten, except Norway dropped out.  But by May of 1981, Greece will be in, so there will be ten again.  But I told you there would be some in and out and some fluctuations.  But in the final form, Europe would rise again in a ten-nation confederacy, and over that would rule this one we call the antichrist. 

       Now, there have been other attempts in history to unify the world under European domination.  There have been other attempts to bring all the fragmented pieces of the Roman Empire back together.  I believe Charlemagne tried to do that in 800 AD.  I believe Napoleon tried to do it and failed.  I believe Hitler tried to do it and failed, as you well know, miserably.  But coming in history will be one man who will not fail, who will be able to bring together a cohesive Europe, a ten-nation confederacy that will stand as a formidable foe to all other powers in the world.  And he will head what we might call a United States of Europe, which, in effect, is a revival of that which was at one time the old Roman Empire. 

     Now, the Bible tells us this individual is the antichrist.  He is the false Christ, the one who comes to try to hold the world so that Christ can't take it back.  He is Satan's man, to capture the world with such power and such force that Christ Himself can't wrest it from his control. 

     Now, Daniel speaks about this individual with great detail.  In chapter 9, he will speak.  In chapter 11, he will speak.  And, here, we find he is speaking in chapter 8, and we've already heard him speak of this individual in chapter 7.  So history is moving toward this final ten-nation confederacy with this antichrist ruling.  And, of course, if you watched the recent developments in history, you find yourself being amazed, I trust, at how accurate the Bible is as we can see Europe moving this way with such a tremendous force.  The pressures to produce a unified United States of Europe are greater than they've ever been.  In rapid-fire succession, for example, in a single week back as early as 1975 in the month of May, Mexico opened talks to explore the possibilities of economic ties with the Common Market.  China agreed to send an ambassador to the European economic community or the Common Market and, thus, becoming the first communist nation to recognize the Common Market countries.

     And so we see that the Common Market is being recognized by the free world, such as Mexico.  By the communist world, such as China, even back as early as 1975.  They have already been able to link up somewhat with the Arab world in the need that they have for oil and so forth.  And so they are being recognized now as a coalition, even though they are not finally welded together as such.  And I don't guess they ever will be until the antichrist himself comes to pull it all together, because the Bible tells us, as we remember in the 7th chapter of Daniel, that out of this multiplicity of ten kings, one will rise up, subduing three others, to take control of the whole thing.  And so I think there will be kind of a loose affiliation in the Common Market until the final antichrist finally comes.  And he will put down the three strongest leaders and assert himself as the ruler and the only ruler, and pull the whole thing together, and we'll see the United States of Europe. 

     Now, unfortunately, Europe will rise again, but Europe will rise again at a terrible price.  For while the antichrist will definitely be a political savior, he will be a spiritual devil.  While he may salvage Europe economically, he will damn the souls of all those who listen to his message.  So Europe will again know its tremendous power that it once knew in the time of the Roman Empire.  But at the same time, it will be in the process of losing all moral and all spiritual values...For seven terrible years, the Bible tells us, this man will dominate the world, and he will seem well nigh invincible.  His power broken only by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

     And so Daniel makes a tremendous point of this individual.  To let the reader and the people of his own time know that there is coming a day in human history when Gentile power reaches its climax, and it will be under this charlatan, this fraud called antichrist.  And he, like all the rest, will come to his own demise.  His Waterloo will be the battle of Armageddon.  And in the battle of Armageddon, the plains of Megiddo in the north of Israel, he will lose the battle.  He will be destroyed.  It's interesting, though, that, even now as you look at the Common Market, they are calling out for such a man to lead them.  They realize the fragmentation of their system, and they know they can't really survive unless they all get together.  They sense the tremendous external pressure being applied to them from the Middle East.  They also feel the pressure of the Russian bear and its allies in Eastern Europe, and they are moving very rapidly toward consolidation.  One of the major factors in their favor is the discovery of oil in the North Sea, which could give them, theoretically, a measure of independence from the Middle East, which they might need someday should Russia totally seal off the Middle East to them.

     But it's amazing how, in all of the things that are happening politically in Europe, the one thing they don't have is a great leader...And some time ago, Belgium premier by the name of Spock made this statement, which I thought was very interesting, and I quote, "The truth is that the method of international committees has failed.  What we need is a man, someone of the highest order of great experience, of great authority, of wide influence, of great energy.  Let him come, and let him come quickly.  Either a civilian or a military man, no matter what his nationality, who will, out of all who will cut all the red tape, shove out of the way all the committees, wake up all the people, and galvanize all governments into action.  Let him come quickly.  This man we need and for whom we wait will take charge of the defense of the West."  End quote.

     They're looking for a man, and Satan will give them a man to take charge.  And the Bible gives us explicit information as to the character and the nature of this man.  Let's look at Daniel chapter 8 again and see what Daniel has to say about him.  Now, as Daniel perceives the coming of this individual, he wants his readers, and he wants his hearers to understand as clearly as possible what he will be like.  He is trying to give us the full sweep of human history, culminating in the return of Christ, and he focuses in on this final great world ruler, who will be crushed in the power of Christ.  But, along the way, before he really explains all there is about this final individual, he gives in the eighth chapter two other prophecies related to men who will live before antichrist, but who will be a demonstration of the kind of man that antichrist will be...

     And so you have, then, in this chapter, first the big horn.  Secondly, the little horn, and then the final horn, who is antichrist.  Now, I really believe there are three reasons, and I shared them with you last time.  I'll just remind you.  Three reasons why Daniel gives this prophecy.  Number one, he wants to prepare God's people for persecution.  They don't wanna be under any illusion that things are gonna get better and better and better, when they're gonna get worse and worse and worse, so they'll misunderstand the fact that God is still in control.  So Daniel wants the people to know that it's gonna get worse before it ever gets better, and he wants them to be aware of persecution.  So he tells them that along the path of Gentile dominion till antichrist, there will be some horrible things that'll take place. 

     Secondly, I think Daniel wants to warn them of the general trend of history.  By giving them God's Word on the general trend of history, they will see God's hand at work as they watch the way of the world.  And, thirdly, I believe that, in spite of all of this, Daniel points to the Kingdom of Christ to show that when Satan releases all of his power, he still falls infinitely short of a victory.

     Now, if you look at the first two verses, you get the setting or the scene for this, the second vision Daniel received.  It was in the third year of reign of King Belshazzar.  That is before the Medes and Persians had conquered the Babylonian kingdom.  A vision came to him, and in the vision, he saw himself in Shushan or Susa, a city in the east, which is in the area of Elam.  And he was in the vision by the river Ulai.  He sees himself at Susa, which at this time was an insignificant city, as I pointed out.  But soon after this would become a very, very significant city.  And he has this amazing vision.  And in the vision, he sees three figures.  The first one is Alexander the Great, although he's not even born yet.  The second is Antiochus Epiphanes, and the third is the final antichrist. 

     Lemme remind you of the first one, in verse 3.  "I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram that had two horns; and two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last."  And here he sees the Medo-Persian Empire in the figure of a ram with its two parts, the Medes and the Persians.  And he sees "the ram pushing westward and northward and southward," which is exactly where the Medes and the Persians went to conquer.  And nobody could stand before them.  Nobody could deliver...be delivered out of their hand.  "He did according to his will and became great."  The Medo-Persian Empire swept over Babylon, swept to the west, the north, and the south, and conquered the world. 

     Now, as he was watching the Medes and the Persians, "Behold, a hegoat came from the west."  And the hegoat, you remember, signifies the third world empire, Greece.  This ties in very well with the vision in chapter 7, and also Nebuchadnezzar's vision in chapter 2.  So from the west came the Greek Empire, and it came rapidly and speedily, not even touching the ground.  And this hegoat had a notable horn between his eyes.  And this horn refers to the ruler of the Greek Empire.  It tells us that very clearly in verse 21.  In fact, in verse 20, it says the ram with the two horns is Mede and Media and Persia.  And the hegoat or the riugh goat is the king of Greece.  And the great horn is the first king.  The first king was Alexander the Great. 

     So Daniel, first of all, predicts the coming of Alexander the Great.  And he comes with tremendous force and tremendous power.  And in verse 7, he comes against the ram, or the Medo-Persian ram.  He destroys and shatters and crushes and stamps into the ground.  And then in verse 8, the hegoat grows very great, very strong, and so forth.  And, yet, in the middle of his strength, his horn is broken.  Alexander the Great died in a drunken orgy at the age of 33.  And out of that Greek chaos in the death of Alexander, four generals split up the kingdom.  And that's the end of verse 8.  Four notable ones will take over.  Amazing Biblical accuracy.  Medo-Persia would rise.  Greece would conquer it with Alexander the Great, who would move speedily to conquer the world.  At the height of his power, his horn would be broken, and out of that four would take over, and that is exactly what happened.  Exactly.

     Now, 22 years after the death of Alexander, the generals of Alexander fighting and skirmishing in all of that time for those 22 years.  But, finally, 22 years later, the kingdom of the Greeks was divided among those four generals...And so we have met already the big horn.

     Let's look at the little horn.  Verse 9, out of one of those four horns, from the area of one of those four generals, we meet the little horn.  And out of one of them, one of the four, and the one that you need to keep in mind, is the Seleucus.  There was Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus were the four, and they were given sections of the air...of the land in the empire of the Greeks.  Seleucus is the one in mind here.  "Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleasant place," or the pleasant land or, as it calls it in chapter 11, the glory.  And that refers to Israel. 

     Now we meet a little horn.  From one of the four divisions of Alexander's kingdom, and mind you now, none of these people were even alive when Daniel prophesied.  This is all the omniscience of God.  "Out of one of those four...namely Seleucus...would rise a little horn who would grow exceedingly great," and his power would be expressed to the south and the east and the pleasant land.  And, actually, he did express some power toward the north in taking over the area known as Armenia.  But his great extension was to the south and the east and the west to the land of Israel.

     Now, notice something about him in verse 9.  It's a little horn which grew exceedingly.  Literally, the Hebrew says he went out from littleness.  He began in a small way, but expanded in an amazing fashion.  Now, the little horn of chapter 8, make a mental note, is not to be confused with the little horn of chapter 7.  The little horn of chapter 7, which started out little and grew, was the antichrist.  And don't be confused by that.  Horns on animals were always the symbol of power and dominion.  And so they are used very commonly.  We shouldn't be surprised that Daniel would speak of two horns starting out little, and he would mean two different people, because it's obvious that the antichrist would start out and grow very powerful, and so would this particular one out of the reign of Seleucus. 

     But you must keep a distinction for this reason.  The little horn in chapter 7 comes out of the Roman Empire.  The little horn in chapter 8 comes out of the Greek Empire.  And so they are to be kept distinct.  One is the antichrist, and the other is one that prefigures the antichrist.  Now all of the commentators who study the Bible, with almost little or no exception, see this individual as a man named Antiochus.  Antiochus Epiphanes.  He was the eighth ruler of the Seleucids from General Seleucus' area.  And he reigned from 175 to 164 before Christ, BC, in what is known as the intertestamental  period.  The Old Testament shut down at 400 BC.  The New Testament picked up at AD, the time Christ.  In those 400 years, you have a Biblical time of silence.  And it was in that time that this Greek power dominated the land of Israel.  And at that time, this man Antiochus rose to a place of prominence. 

     Now, up until his time, the land of Palestine had been under the control of the Ptolemys.  One of the four generals was a man named Ptolemy.  And out of him came a...a series of rulers called the Ptolemys.  And they occupied Egypt.  And up until the time of the father of Antiochus, Egypt ruled Palestine.  But at around 195 BC, Antiochus' father, a man who was apparently a very powerful man, defeated the fifth in the line of the Ptolemys and took Palestine into the possession of the Seleucids.  So when Antiochus came to reign, it belonged to the Seleucid territory...

     Now, lemme just give you a little bit of an insight on what that means.  This basically means that the Seleucids, who were extremely Greek in their culture, began to impose upon the land of Palestine a very Greek approach to life.  They wanted to do everything they could to destroy their Jewishness.  Everything they could to destroy and break their backs, so that they would be willing members of the dominion of the Seleucids.  One of the things that conquerors often do when they take over a new land is to destroy the religion of the people that are there, so they don't hold to the traditions of the past.  The Japanese attempted to do that in Korea.  That's very common in history.

     And so the Seleucids began to really put the pressure on the Jews to become Hellenized, or to be made into Greek-thinking people in terms of culture.  And when Antiochus became the king after his father, he pushed even harder at this.  In fact, there's some resource that we have to look at this period, and I'm gonna be quoting from it, so keep it in mind.  We have several books called the Maccabees.  If you have come from a Catholic background, you've seen in the middle of your Bible a section of books called the Apocrypha.  Have you ever seen that?  The Apocrypha includes some books that were written to comment on that intertestamental time.  They are not Biblical books.  They are not inspired by the Spirit.  But they do give us some interesting historical insight.  And some of them are known as the Maccabees.  And if we look at the Maccabees, we get some insight into this man Antiochus, because they comment on what he was involved in.  Lemme quote you from the first chapter of 1 Maccabees.  "When Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes reigned in the 130 and 7th year of the kingdom of the Greeks, and Jason labored underhand to be high priest."  In other words, Jason, a man who became the high priest, did it in an underhanded manner under Antiochus.  "He forthwith brought his own nation to the Greekish fashion."  Now get this.  Antiochus moves in.  The first thing he does is get a Greek, Jason is not a Jewish name, get a Greek to become high priest, and then he tries to dominate the Jewish people with Greek culture. 

     Now, it may be that Jason was a Jew.  But the fact that he had taken a Greek name is indicative of where his commitment was.  Further, it says, "He built gladly, a place of exercise under the tower itself and brought the chief young men under his subjection.  Now, such was the height of Greek fashions...say the Maccabees...an increase of heathenish manners through the exceeding profaneness of Jason, that ungodly wretch, and no high priest at all, that the priests had no courage to serve anymore at the altar, but despising the temple and neglecting the sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowances in the place of exercise after the game of discus called them forth."

     Now, that's out of 2 Maccabees chapter 4.  Lemme tell you what that means.  Jason got, by subterfuge, got into being high priest and, immediately, he wanted to Hellenize everybody.  He wanted to stop the Jewish religion.  And one of the things that he did was, right outside the tower where the Holy of Holies is located, right under the shadow of the Holy of Holies in the temple, he built a place of exercise.  "Well," you say, "well, what's wrong with that?"  Well, the place of exercise literally means a gaming place, or a gaming house, a sporting stadium is what it is.  He built a sports arena right there...

     Say, "Well, I still don't understand the point.  Why are they so concerned about it?  What's such a big deal if the priests wanna go out on their lunch hour and have a little exercise?  What's the deal?  Why should God be so displeased with the discus throwers?  Is this something wrong?"  Well, the issue was simply this, folks.  It was the custom of the Greeks to participate stark naked.  Only covering they had on their bodies was a thin coat of oil.  That was the Olympic pattern.  Now, nakedness was a major issue with the Jewish people.  Especially next door to the Holy of Holies...Nakedness itself certainly was regarded by all orthodox believers in Judah as a...as an affront to God who had clothed man in the Garden.  And they firmly believed in the corruption of human nature...They firmly believed that there was sinfulness connected with the human body, and that this would only bring lust.  And it was impossible that true Jews could tolerate all this nakedness running around in this arena right in full view of the Holy of Holies.  That was an outrageous insult.  And to think that it was all accomplished by this man Jason. 

     In fact, if you&#