With this overview done, let’s discuss Daniel 11 in more detail.
When Jesus was discussing the abomination of desolation referred to by Daniel, he is referring to a future event in Daniel 9:27, Dan 11:31, and Dan 12:11.
Dan 11:29 At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first. 30 Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
In Numbers 24:24, we see these ships of Kittim attack the Assyrian (and Hebrews in the Eber reference).
But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Assyria and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”
This event will take place in the ‘latter days’ (Num 24:14).
This ‘he’ in Dan 11:29-31 is the Assyrian. This individual has literally nothing to do with Antiochus Epiphanes which happened a few hundred years prior to when Jesus is speaking. It literally has nothing to do with the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 AD – unless you think that we have experienced ‘great tribulation’ for almost two thousand years…
This ‘Assyrian’ (the ‘he’ who is placing the abomination) is the Daniel 8 Little Horn. And he is not ‘suddenly arriving’ in the chapter here at verse 29 – the Daniel 8 Little Horn starts showing up at Daniel 11:21.
Dan 11:21 In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
He is the ‘despicable person’ who doesn’t get legitimate political power. He illegitimately seizes the kingdom via political intrigue. He is seizing the ‘kingdom of the North’ which is out of the kingdom of Greece that split into four component parts: North, South, East, West (Daniel 8:8 and Daniel 11:4).
Let’s focus for now on establishing that the Daniel 8 Little Horn is the despicable ruler of the Kingdom of the North described in Daniel 11 by comparing the two chapters.
Dan 8:8 Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
[The goat’s great horn, representing Greece, splits into four parts.]
Dan 11:2 Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3 Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. 4 But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.
Dan 8:9 From one of these horns a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land.
[The Daniel 8 Little Horn/ the illegitimate ruler takes over the Kingdom of the North (Dan 11:15-20 describes his two predecessors, one who invades Israel and the next who is described as a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom). He moves to south and east to arrive in Israel.]
Dan 11:21 In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
He casts some of the host/ army to the ground. This event is the 4th Trumpet's 'a third of the stars fall' in Revelation 8:12.
Dan 8:10 It grew as high as the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the earth, and trampled them.
[The Hebrew word for ‘host’ is ‘tsaba’ which can also mean ‘army’. The king of the South can also mean Israel as ‘south’ is the Hebrew word, ‘negeb’, which can refer to the Negev which is part of the land allotment of Judah.]
Dan 11:25 And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him. 26 Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
He magnifies himself and overthrows the sanctuary.
Dan 8:11 It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host**; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary.**
He magnifies himself and overthrows the sanctuary.
Dan 11:29 At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first. 30 Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
36 Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.
Dan 8:12 And in the rebellion, the host and the daily sacrifice were given over to the horn, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in whatever it did.
[When it says, ‘in the rebellion’, this is sort of a placeholder for when the Daniel 7 Little Horn, the Rev 10 Mighty Angel, has confirmed the covenant to create a pause in the war that was taking place in Daniel 11:29-45 (which is Rev 9:13-21) (the covenant is ending hostilities). Remember that at the end of the war and killing taking place in Rev 9:13-21, the survivors ‘do not repent’ (Rev 9:20-21) which indicates that the rebellion is still going on.
When the ‘dragon’ (the Daniel 7 Little Horn, the Rev 10 mighty angel) breaks the covenant and goes into heaven to make himself like God at the 7th Trumpet, he subsequently gives his throne over to the beast from the sea and a mortally head wounded individual (Rev 13:2). In other words, the ‘dragon’, the Daniel 7 Little Horn is giving the daily sacrifice over to the Daniel 8 Little Horn.
It is the same situation as described here in Ezekiel 44:
Ezek 44:6 And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, 7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.
Dan 8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.”
[2300 days describes the time amounts of Revelation: 5 months (Rev 9:5) + an hour, day, month, year (Rev 9:15) + 1260 days (Rev 11:3) + 3.5 days (Rev 11:11) + 70 weeks to ‘finish the transgression’ (Dan 9:24).]
[…]
Again, the little horn arises out of the four parts of Greece.
Dan 8:18 While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet, 19 and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.
Dan 8:20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
The little horn arises out of the four parts of Greece.
Dan 11:2 Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3 Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. 4 But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.
He is skilled in intrigue.
Dan 8:22 The four horns that replaced the broken one represent four kingdoms that will rise from that nation, but will not have the same power.
Dan 8:23 In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.
He is skilled in intrigue.
Dan 11:21 In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
Dan 8:24 His power will be great, but it will not be his own.
[It will not be his own because he is not the legitimate ruler of the kingdom of the North as described in Dan 11:21.]
He destroys the mighty men and the holy people.
Dan 8:24 He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people.
He destroys the mighty men and the holy people.
Dan 11:25 And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him. 26 Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
Dan 11:29 At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first. 30 Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
He arises during a time of peace.
Dan 8:25 Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many,
He arises during a time of peace.
Dan 11:23 After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; for he will rise to power with only a few people. 24 In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.
Dan 11:27 And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.
He stands against the prince of princes.
Dan 8:25 and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.
He stands against the prince of princes, Michael.
Dan 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
end part 1
