GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DANIEL 7:24
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24 The ten horns are ten kings
that will rise from that kingdom.
After them another king will arise,
different from the earlier ones;
he will humble three kings.
The angel explains to Daniel that the ten horns are ten kings, but there is no indication about when they ruled, or whether this rule was a sequence, such as one ruling after another, and so on. The use of the number ten stands out above everything else we might say about the horns. Since ten is the number of completeness in visions and dreams, it might be best to take the idea of ten kings as the complete power of this tenth beast. Out of this total picture of government and authority (or kingdom, or empire) there arose another king.
So there is no need to count out any ten kings from any period of Roman history, nor ten kingdoms that came from Roman Imperial domination. No matter what century is chosen, or even the whole of Roman history, no group of ten kings or nations would serve as a better explanation for this passage than the spiritual and figurative meaning of “complete power,” or “out of all the kingdoms.”
But there is one king, the “other king,” that was different from the earlier ones. That king humbled three kings. And before we look more closely at this, we should at least attempt to understand what might be meant by “three kings.” The number three can stand at times for the Triune God, but this is always clear from the context. Three can also stand for a limited number of something; a few. Here it makes the most sense, indeed, the only sensible interpretation, is to take “three” as “some” or “a few.” As Baldwin remarks, the territory of the usurper “is gained at the expense of three kings. There is dissention within the empire.”
Who is this other king? Besides Daniel, the Antichrist is described more fully in the New Testament by the Apostles John and Paul. Truly the Antichrist is the “chief enemy to the people.” Since we are going to see more hints and visionary points about the Antichrist here and in chapter 11, it is time we considered the full list of all of the marks of this enemy of God’s church.
1, The Bible speaks of “The Antichrist” and of “antichrists.” The Great Antichrist is the singular and terrible opponent of the gospel and of God’s church. But anyone who denies Christian doctrine, such as that Christ is God in the flesh, is an antichrist or “little antichrist” (1 John 2:18; 2 John 1:7).
2, The (Great) Antichrist is clearly a religious teacher at work from inside the Christian Church. “He sets himself up in God’s temple” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
- The span of the Antichrist’s time stretches from Paul’s day until the end of the world. “You know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time” (2 Thessalonians 2:6).
4, When he rises up, the Antichrist uproots some of the authority of the earthly kingdom from where it came. “Another horn, a little one, came up from between them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it” (Daniel 7:8; also Daniel 7:24).
5, The Antichrist is not Satan, but an earthly, human power, not angelic or supernatural, since he has “the eyes and mouth of a man” (Daniel 7:8).
6, The Antichrist will wage war against the saints (the people of God) and will prevail over them for a time (Daniel 7:21).
7, The Antichrist will speak against God, oppress the saints, and try to change worship (the set times and laws). “He will say unheard-of things against God” (Daniel 11:36-37). “He will try to change the set times and the laws” (Daniel 7:25).
8, There will be a falling away (an apostasy) from the truth through the Antichrist’s preaching. “That day will not come until the ‘falling away’ (apostasy) comes first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Cp. 2 John 1:7.
9, The Antichrist will exalt himself as equal to God. “He displays himself as God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
10, This opposition to Christ was at work when Paul was alive, but God himself was the one who was holding it back from working openly. (2 Thessalonians 2:6; 1 John 4:3).
11, God permitted and still permits the Antichrist to work openly and be revealed as opposing God. (2 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 John 2:18; 1 John 4:3).
12, Jesus will overthrow the Antichrist with his word. “The Lord Jesus will consume him with the breath of his mouth” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
13, When he comes again, Jesus will completely destroy the Antichrist. “He will not honor the God of his fathers… Yet he will come to his end, and there will be no one to help him” (Daniel 11:37,45).
14, Satan will support the Antichrist with false miracles to mislead many. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, with every kind of miracle, that is, with false signs and wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
15, The Antichrist’\’s followers will deny the truth of salvation, because “they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
16, God will harden the Antichrist’s followers in the delusion that they are on the path of salvation when really they will be perishing. “And because of this, God continues to send them a strong delusion, so that they believe the lie, in order that all those may be condemned who refused to believe the truth but instead delighted in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
A difference between the (Great) Antichrist and other (lesser) antichrists is seen in the error made by the large Lutheran group called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Several years ago, they stated in convention and voted in support of this statement that there are paths to heaven outside of and apart from Christ and altogether outside the Christian church and the Bible. When members of that church objected, they were criticized as an embarrassment to their ecumenical endeavors. Since my wife had family members in that church body, I wrote a letter to the (then) Bishop of the ELCA. I said, among other things:
“Your Grace, you have made a grave mistake. ‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 3:11)… Jesus Christ said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14:6), as was pointed out on the convention floor. I urge you in the name of Jesus to reconsider the position you and your church have taken. Your Grace, you are leading millions into a sin, a sinful attitude about Christ our Savior, that will rest on your head in eternity. There is no path to heaven except by the blood of Christ. If your people are led to imagine that there is some other way, they will fall into idolatry….’” This letter, of course, went unanswered. But the position of that church remains unchanged to this day.
This denial of Christ by the ELCA is a momentary doctrinal error, and therefore Bishop Eaton and her fellow bishops of the ELCA are examples of an antichrist– an enemy to the gospel who pretends to believe in it. But the Antichrist who was already at work in Paul’s time, held back by God, but who has long since emerged from within the Church at Rome and who continues to oppose the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins by Christ alone apart from good works is at work now in the world. We pray that God will spare us and our people from his continued attacks, and from deluding any more minds with counterfeit miracles.
The best defense for Christians to overcome the seductions of the Antichrist or of little antichrists is to remain steadfast in God’s holy word. Be especially diligent in reading the Gospels and the Epistles. As Augustine says, “The Epistles were written not only for those who were listening at the time they were written, but also for us. You see, they are read in the Church for no other reason.” The main teachings of the Bible are summarized for us by Doctor Luther in the Small Catechism, and it is wise to study, read, and re-read the Catechism for a lifetime. Any study of the Scriptures will show the reason for this, and remind us that our hope for eternal life is based upon Christ Jesus our Lord. Praise his holy name for ever and ever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Daniel 7:24 Marks of the Antichrist