Time Watcher said in post 2:
Egypt will be the core kingdom of the "the king of the south" during the coming tribulation
By the time of Daniel 11:40-45, which will be right near the end of the Antichrist's time, the U.S. could be included as part of the "king of the south" which will rebel against him. For the U.S., as well as other countries such as Russia, China, India, and Japan, may not ever come under the same level of control as the Bible lands will during the Antichrist's worldwide reign. But the U.S., as well as all other countries of the earth, will still come under the hegemony of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:7-8, Matthew 24:9).
What could happen is that during the Antichrist's worldwide reign, the U.S. will be under complete martial law, still controlled by U.S. soldiers, but under the economic thumb of the Antichrist. For during the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the U.S. government could go bankrupt and the U.S. dollar could become next to worthless in world markets, so that the U.S. will eventually become completely dependent on the Antichrist for its finances and trade.
The way that the U.S. could be considered a part of the "king of the south" in Daniel 11:40 is through the U.S.' current hegemony over Egypt, which is the king of the south in Daniel 11:5-17. At the start of the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, Egypt could be completely defeated and occupied, along with Israel, by an Iraqi Baathist General leading a huge Iraqi Army (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17 the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath"). After this happens, the U.S. could take up the mantle of Egypt and Israel and attempt a counter-attack to liberate them from Baathist control. But this counter-attack could fail so miserably that the U.S. could forego any further attacks.
It's at this point that the Antichrist could arise on the world stage (Daniel 11:21) and "cut" a peace treaty with a future, ultra-Orthodox Jewish false "Messiah" (Daniel 9:26a,27a) ruling Jerusalem, after the Antichrist has defeated that Messiah and his followers (Daniel 11:22-23a). About 7 years later, sometime after the legal end of the Antichrist's literal 3.5-year worldwide reign (Revelation 13:5-8), not only could the U.S. as the "king of the south" try to attack the Antichrist (Daniel 11:40), but so could Russia, China, India, and Japan. For "tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many" (Daniel 11:44).
Time Watcher said in post 2:
This region will be come part of "the king of the north's" [the little horn of Daniel's other visions] confederated Middle Eastern kingdom [Daniel 11:36-40]
The Antichrist's kingdom could include more than just the Middle East. For in Daniel 7, the first 3 beasts (Daniel 7:3-6) represent the ancient empires of Babylon (lion), Medo-Persia (bear), and Greece (leopard). And the 4th beast, or 4th "king"/"kingdom" (Daniel 7:17,23), represents the ancient Roman Empire. And the 10 horns/kings which come out of it (Daniel 7:7,24) could represent 10 major kingdoms/nations today which came out the former territory of the Roman Empire, which consisted not only of Western Europe, but also the Middle East and North Africa. These 10 nations could be Germany, the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, and Syria. The 10 part-iron/part-clay toes of Daniel 2:42 could represent the same thing as the 10 horns of Daniel 7:7. The Europeans could be the iron, and the Arabs and Turks could be the clay. In Daniel 2:43, the inability of the iron to mix with the clay could represent how, for example, there are many Turks living in Germany, but they remain separated in ghettoes within German cities. Similarly, there are many Algerians living in France, but they remain separated in ghettoes within French cities.
But despite this social separation, which could endure indefinitely, the people of Western Europe on the one hand, and the people of the Middle East and North Africa on the other, could still one day put aside their political separation and become united into one confederation. For Daniel 2:42 refers to the 10 as a singular "kingdom". The person who brings this about could be the Antichrist. The arising of the "little" horn (Daniel 7:8, Daniel 8:9), which is "diverse" from the 10 major nations (Daniel 7:24), could mean that the Antichrist will arise from a little country.
And the little horn arising from "among" the 10 major nations (Daniel 7:8) could mean that the Antichrist's country's territory used to be part of the Roman Empire. And before that, it was part of one of the 4 Diadochian Greek kingdoms which succeeded the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:8-9,21-25). The territory of these 4 kingdoms stretched from Greece over to Iran, and down into Egypt. So the Antichrist could come from the Middle East. He could be an Arab who will come from the little country of Lebanon, from the modern city of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
The Antichrist could start out by claiming to be a Baathist. After becoming the leader of Lebanon, he could peacefully gain control of a Baathist confederation of 3 of the 10 major nations (Daniel 7:24): Egypt, "toward the south" of Lebanon (Daniel 8:9), and Iraq and Syria, "toward the east" of Lebanon (Daniel 8:9). This confederation could also include the minor nation of a United Palestine, i.e. a defeated Israel, "the pleasant land" (Daniel 8:9).
This Baathist confederation could be put together in the future by an Iraqi Baathist General who could completely defeat and occupy Israel and Egypt with a huge Iraqi Army (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17 the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath"), but who could then mysteriously disappear (Daniel 11:19) shortly before the Antichrist arises on the world stage (Daniel 11:21-45). Years later, when the Antichrist gains control of all 10 of the major nations, he could appoint kings over them (Revelation 17:12) who will defer to him (Revelation 17:13), like when Napoleon gained control of different nations, he appointed kings over them who would defer to him.
Time Watcher said in post 2:
This same region was the southern "thigh" of the image of Daniel 2, and will be the same region of the southern "leg" of the image at the time of the end
The two iron legs in Daniel 2:33 could represent how the ancient Roman Empire eventually split into two parts: Western and Eastern (i.e. Byzantine). The territory of the latter was eventually conquered by the (Islamic) Ottoman Empire.
Also, Daniel 2's image isn't meant to be interpreted as indicating the
location of all its parts/empires in relation to Israel. It's only meant to indicate a relative progression
in time, from one empire to the next, beginning with its head (Babylon) and moving down through time to its 10 toes (the future empire of the Antichrist).
The image's thighs of brass represented ancient Greece's Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms, which were north and south of Israel. But if the image is thought of as standing astride Israel, the relative positions of its other parts/empires wouldn't match their relative locations in relation to Israel. For the image's two arms of silver represented the ancient Medes and the Persians, both of whose homelands were located east of Israel, not further north and south from Israel than the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms, like the image's arms would be further north and south from Israel than its thighs.
Also, while the image's two iron legs represented the ancient Roman empire, which did include the Middle East, land both north and south of Israel, the ancient Roman empire wasn't limited to the Middle East, but also included Western Europe and North Africa, which are also north and south of Israel, in latitude. Similarly, the Persian empire (the silver part of the image) wasn't limited to the Middle East, but included a part of Europe (Thrace) and North Africa (Libya). And the Greek empire per se wasn't limited to the Middle East, but included a part of Europe (Greece and parts of the Balkans) and North Africa (a part of eastern Libya).
Also, even if the image is thought of instead as laying across a map of the Middle East, with its head toward the east, if its thighs were laying north and south of Israel, then the relative positions of its other parts/empires still wouldn't match their relative locations in relation to Israel. For the image's head (Babylon) would then be further east from Israel than the image's chest (Medo-Persia), which of course isn't the case. For Medo-Persia was further east from Israel than Babylon. And how could the image's chest be above its head? But the image's iron legs (Rome) would correctly lie west of the Middle East, in Europe and North Africa, and the image's 10 toes (the future empire of the Antichrist) would correctly be on both the north and south sides of the Mediterranean, and so on both the north and south sides of Israel, in latitude. But the Antichrist's empire will also include the Middle East, just as all the image's former empires, including the Roman empire (iron legs), included the Middle East.
