Would you go as far to say that this is the type of figure (see the linked article) we are looking for to fulfill the role of the Anti Christ?
This is indeed the ‘kind’ of fellow who could “come up and become strong with a small people” (Dan 11:23; rejecting the translations that arbitrarily supply the word, “number” that completely skews the meaning). What other ‘small people’ is more strategically positioned to be exploited as a means of the Antichrist’s rise to power than the Palestinians?
I believe a new Palestinian state could be a prime candidate for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Already, Dahlan is “scattering among them the prey, spoil, and riches,” even before the ‘time of tranquility’ that follows the league made with the Antichrist (Dan 11:21, 23-24). So could such an one move into the position of the despicable person (little horn) of Dan 11:21? Whether Dahlan or one like him, I certainly think such a scenario more than possible; I would say it is likely. This is the ‘kind’ of thing I expect.
There is only one thing that doesn’t seem to fit, which could easily change. It is the present support of the enormously wealthy gulf states, whom I see as represented by Sheba and Dedan in Eze 38:13. You will note that these nations are none too happy with the AC’s move to overrun the Land and violate the covenant. For me, this is a real key as to how we should conceive of the Antichrist assault on Jerusalem with his ten nation alliance. My reasons are not only exegetical, but based on a principal of irony in God’s judgment of the whore.
Note the context: By the time of the Antichrist invasion, Israel has become what I expect to be the ‘jewel of the Middle East,” a coveted prize, not only strategically and religiously, but also economically (Eze 38:12-13).
You know my view that the covenant that the AC confirms is not only with many Jews, as usually interpreted, but more probably with many nations, and the view I take that these protectorate powers are represented by the ‘ships of Kittim’ in Dan 11:31, which appears to be either the U.S. or some NATO alliance that is committed to guard the peace arrangement that has included the necessary recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and we may infer provisions for Jewish access to the temple mount, etc.
i believe we might be surprised as to how many of the world’s nations will unite in common support of this agreement. These stand to gain great economic advantage through the peace. I believe this cooperation of nations is very nearly compared to what many think of when they speak of a New World Order. In contrast are the Arab / Islamic powers that are most incensed against the covenant (Dan 11:28-30) and seek opportunity to countermand the power and influence of the west in his bid for absolute power over Israel and the surrounding territories.
“These (the ten kings) shall hate the whore and burn her flesh with fire …” (Rev 17:16). You know that my view of the whore, though implying a much more ubiquitous world-encompassing phenomenon, at least includes Jerusalem in its alliance with the western powers that are pledged to guarantee the security of the covenant.
Contrary to the most popular views on prophecy, the Antichrist is God’s judgment on the NWO (humanistic west) with their vision for ecumenical and international cooperation in policing a peace that will safeguard the desired flow of the world’s economy. I see the scourge of the final AC in much the same way that Islam was the scourge of the west in past history. I see his ten nation alliance as a strategic countermeasure that will, in an unexpected moment, act like a bowling ball that scatters the pins. He will break up, not put together, the cohesion of the nations that aspire to a western dominated NWO.
His sudden and unexpected move against Jerusalem as a resurrected man will position him to wrest the economic advantage from the west (the woman and the ephah returned back to its original base at Shinar; Zech 5). This will be the great shift of power by which he will be able to dictate economic terms to the west, requiring compliance with his policies, chief among which will be his aim to rid the world of the Jewish menace. Those who refuse to comply will be deprived of the basic necessities of life, so that not only those who support him, whether through worship or terror, but all who wish to survive will accommodate his pursuit of the woman through the wilderness of the countries.
What I am suggesting here is a fresh reading of Eze 38:13-14 in light of international support for a peace that works to the advantage of the west and the rich gulf states. It is this balance of power that the AC will seek to reverse through his ten nation union. His sudden invasion of Jerusalem, backed now by the ten nation alliance, and perhaps, even probably, such world powers to the north such as Turkey or Russia, will meet with what is represented in scripture as a helpless protest from the oil rich gulf states. We may infer the same is true of those western nations that are represented in scripture as the ‘ships of Kittim’ (Dan 11:30). Between verse 30 of Dan 11 and Dan 11:31, a tremendous shift in power has taken place that can only be explained by the resurrection of this man at the middle point of Daniel’s seventieth week.
At the point of Dan 11:30, he can still be checked in a second southward advance that is intercepted and turned back by the ships of Kittim. In the very next verse, Dan 11:31, “arms stand on his part.” From this point, he can no longer be checked by even the formidable power of the western alliance. In contrast to the events of Dan 11:30, the question now to be raised in Dan 11:31 is, “who can make war with the beast?”
From this point, the nations are made to look on while he has his way with Israel and from Israel on to the regional conquests that continues to the end (Dan 11:40-45). From the time of his resurrection, he is able now to unite all of those whom he had been courting to unite with him in his secret designs against the holy covenant (Dan 11:27-29).
This will not sit well with many, but in my view, the whore that the ten kings hate and burn with fire may well be a combination of U.S. (the great Satan) and Israel (the little Satan), particularly Jerusalem. Never understand me to suggest that Jerusalem is all there is to the whore, but a considerable case can be made that Jerusalem is spiritually contemplated as part of the whore, and the principal target of the first part of the war that begins with the invasion of Jerusalem and ends with Armageddon.
Jeanne T.
