The king of revived Judah, which is now called Israel, is first seen in Daniel 11:36-40. Many think this blasphemous "king" is the Roman "prince" of Daniel 9:26. But the language of Bible prophecy is very precise. Every detail has meaning. The Hebrew word translated "prince" in Daniel 9:26 is nagiyd (word number 5057 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary). This Hebrew word means leader or commander. But the Hebrew word translated "king" in this passage is melek (word number 4428 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary). This word literally means a king. Even such an apparently small difference as whether someone is called a melek or a nagiyd is important. This "king" is not the same person as "the prince."
We notice that "the king" shall not regard "the God of his fathers," (Daniel 11:37) but shall instead honor "a god which his fathers did not know." (verse 38) The term, "the God of his fathers," is not just a generic reference to a god worshiped in past generations. Some form of this term is used of the God of Israel fifty-eight times in the Old Testament. When the Lord sent Moses to the children of Israel He told him "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." (Exodus 3:15) Thus we see that the God this king shall ignore is none other than the God of Israel; and that in calling Himself "the God of his fathers," the Lord was identifying this "king" as an Israelite.
Most modern translations render this clause "the gods of his fathers." This is a possible translation because the Hebrew word for God (elohiym, word number 430 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary) is plural. But the Hebrew scriptures use elohiym for the one true God of Israel about two thousand four hundred times. (Including Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:") While it was used of the gods of the heathen only about two hundred times. Whether elohiym should be translated God or gods can only be determined from the context. Nothing in Daniel 11:37 implies a plural sense for this word. But if "the gods of his fathers" were correct, this would be the only place the Holy Spirit used this formula in speaking of false gods. Translators did not begin to use the plural word gods in this verse until the notion that "the king" is "the prince" became popular. So we realize this idea is the basis of the plural translation. Thus we understand that using the plural translation to prove this idea is only reasoning in a circle.
Elohiym has a singular form, elowahh (word number 433 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary). But the fact that it is not used never justifies translating elohiym as gods. Elowahh is used only sixteen times outside of the book of Job. But it is used in every reference to false gods in the passage we are considering (the word rendered "any god" in verse 37 and the "god" worshiped by "the king," mentioned twice in verse 38 and once in verse 39). This adds strength to the conclusion that the term "the God of his fathers" in this passage refers to the one true God of Israel, for a different word is used of all gods that are unquestionably false.
Having seen that the reference to the God of his fathers identifies the king as an Israelite, we now need to notice several other things about him. The first of these things is the way he is introduced. Up to this point in this prophecy, every reference to a king includes a reference to what king is being referred to. But now, suddenly, we read simply about the king. This, in and by itself, is significant. It is a standard rule in essentially every language and culture that when someone is suddenly mentioned as the leader, the reference is to the leader of whatever group is under discussion. So if we simply say the boss, we mean the supervisor of the working group that is being referred to. In like manner the President, when mentioned without any modifier, always means the president of the company, the organization, or the nation that is being discussed. It is the same with the Prime Minister." So when the king, is suddenly mentioned without any modifier, it means the king of the nation being discussed.
But what people is the subject of this long prophecy? No specific people or nation has been mentioned previously anywhere in this chapter. But we need to remember that the chapter and verse divisions were added by men. They are not inspired by God. The angels message to Daniel had begun in the previous chapter, where he specifically stated who it is about, saying, Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. (Daniel 10:14) So the people under discussion is Daniels people, the Jews, even as the time under discussion is the latter days. Thus we see that the king is the person who will be the king of the Jews in the latter days.
The first thing God says about this king is that he, shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods. (Daniel 11:36) Compare this with 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, where we read of that man of sin, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This shows us why the worshippers of this evil king are charged with adultery in Isaiah 57:7-9, where we read, "Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell." This passage graphically shows Jehovah's jealousy at this false worship. But it also names the evil seducer. The object of this adulterous worship is none other than "the king."
In Daniel 11:40 "the king" is attacked by "the king of the South" and "the king of the North." The result is that "the king of the North" overruns many nations, including Israel, "the glorious land." (verses 41-45) But "the king" continues to prosper "indignation be accomplished." (verse 36) How does he escape? We learn this detail in Zechariah 11:17, where, as "the idol shepherd," he "leaves the flock!" We see this again in the missing shepherd of Zechariah 10:2, in the missing king of Micah 4:9, and the king whose heat perishes in Jeremiah 4:9. For this crime "the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." (Zechariah 11:17)
Our Lord contrasted himself to this "idol shepherd" by saying "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:11-15)
We have already noticed that Isaiah 57:7-9 charges the worshippers of the king with adultery. And we have noticed the pointed similarity between the behavior of the King in Daniel 11:36 and that man of sin, the son of perdition in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. Now we need to notice that in so contrasting Himself to the idol shepherd, our Lord was pointing him out as the Antichrist, the one who will come "in his own name," whom the Jews "will receive." (John 5:43)
The Antichrist is one of the most misunderstood of all end time individuals. He is not just an exceedingly evil person. Nor is he just someone that opposes the program of Christ. He is the great false messiah who rises in imitation of the true Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has to be a Jew, for many scriptures show that Messiah is a Jew. Though blinded to many prophecies, the Jews know that their Messiah will be one of themselves. It would therefore be impossible to convince them that a gentile was their Messiah.
The Antichrist is mentioned by this title only in 1 John 2:18; "ye have heard that antichrist shall come." Many, if not most, seem to have completely missed the significance of this title. The Greek word transliterated Christ is Christos, (word number 5547 in Strong's Greek Dictionary) meaning the anointed one. It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word mashiyach, (word number 4899 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary) which is transliterated Messiah. This title, though it applies to our Lord Jesus, does not mean God. Its literal meaning, the anointed one, means He is God's chosen one. Jesus said "I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." (John 8:42) Even so, the Antichrist will claim to be the chosen representative of God.
But, like the true Messiah, the Antichrist will claim to be more than just a messenger of God. In John 1:1 we read that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." So in imitating Jesus, the Antichrist makes a similar dual claim. As the king of Judah, he will exalt himself above all gods, yet he will honor another as God.
"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory:" (Daniel 11:37-39)
