Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Daniel 11:36-45 | Date: October 27, 2019 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

The Career of Antichrist

Of the North and the King of the South, that is the King of Syria and the King of Egypt and their rivalry between them and with Israel caught in the middle. We saw that climaxing in the career of Antiochus IV, Antiochus Epiphanes, and that horrible time of persecution that came on Israel. All that prophesied in amazing detail in the first 35 verses of Daniel chapter 11. Now, this morning, we come to verse 36, then, and we’ll go to the end of the chapter. The title of the message is, The Career of Antichrist. The Career of Antichrist. Daniel 11, beginning with verse 36:

“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the god of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the god of his fathers or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses and with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him, he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

At the time of the end, the King of the South shall attack him, but the King of the North shall rush upon him like a whirlwind and with chariots and horsemen, with many ships. He shall come into the countries and shall overflow and pass through. He shall come into the glorious land and tens of thousands shall fall. But these shall be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab, the main part of Ammonites. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become the ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Kushites shall follow in his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. He shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end with none to help him.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, again, we are grateful for the self-revelation that you have given in your word. We’re thankful for this marvelous portrait of yourself that we see in it. We are grateful for the prophecy, the predictions of the future that you’ve given that now, as we’ve seen last Sunday, have already come to pass. We marvel at your rule over history. We ask that you will help us this morning. Now, again, as we look into the remainder of this prophecy, we pray that you will make it clear to us. Give us a right understanding of it. May we be encouraged by it and the rule of God over all. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As I mentioned, chapters 10 through 12 form a single unit. In chapter 10, we saw the introduction to this prophecy, the background to it, when Daniel’s praying and the angel Gabriel comes and tells him what is to come. And then beginning in chapter 11, verse 1, he begins to lay out the prophecy, letting Daniel in on what is to come. We saw in verses 1 to 20 in chapter 11, the succession of kingdoms. We have Persia, who of course toppled Babylon, we saw in chapter 5. And then we saw that he said that Greece will come after that and topple Medo-Persia. And he speaks of the kingdom of Alexander the Great, which came with such great force and overwhelming strength.

But then he said that that kingdom, that is Alexander the Great’s kingdom, Greece, would be broken up into four. Actually, it was more than that, but there are four prominent ones that he has emphasized throughout Daniel. We’ve seen it in other places as well. And he mentions these four, and then of those four, there’s two especially that become prominent. And that is the King of the North and the King of the South. These are successors to Alexander the Great. These are his generals who have fought over their own piece of the kingdom. And as it falls out, Ptolemy is the general who takes control of Egypt. And Seleucus is the general that takes control of Syria. So we have the King of the North and the King of the South. The kings of the south are all named Ptolemy—one, two, three, four, or whatever. Kings of the North are either Seleucus or Antiochus, with a number behind their name as well. But that’s what he’s outlined for us in chapter 11, verses 1 to 20.

As we saw last time, it’s really an amazing detail that he gives. Beginning with verse 21 of chapter 11, he emphasizes this arch enemy of Israel who was to come, and that is Antiochus IV, or Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria. And again, he outlines for us in amazing detail the kinds of things that he would do and the affliction that it would bring on the people of Israel. All of that prophesied some three centuries in advance.

Now, when we come to verse 35, we have a puzzle. Or verse 36, we have a puzzle. Verses 21 to 35, as we saw last time, we have presented for us Antiochus IV there, Antiochus Epiphanes, the arch enemy of Israel. And he gives us an exact foretelling of history that would transpire this time up to the year 168 BC. All of that was exact in telling. It’s amazing, as we saw last time, to see how the details that were told centuries in advance came to pass just as God in this prophecy foretold.

Now in verse 36 and following, we still have the King of the North in view, but then again, we don’t. Now that sounds like doublespeak. Hang in there with me. The problem is, beginning with verse 36, the historical correspondence with Antiochus Epiphanes breaks down. Up to verse 35, verses 21 to 35, we have that exact telling of the history with what we know now as history to us, the activity in the career of Antiochus Epiphanes. Verse 36 continues speaking of the King of the North, but it does not correspond with what we know happened with Antiochus Epiphanes. After all the detailed prophecies that fit so exactly in the preceding verses up through the second century BC with Antiochus, now suddenly we have many stated details that do not fit with what we know of Antiochus Epiphanes. Well, this matter of the king against religion, the king becoming apostate, the king forsaking his own religion, going to war against North Africa, called back to the north, dying in Palestine—none of that fits with what we know of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Now various interpretations have been given then. What’s he talking about here? If it’s not Antiochus, is there another Antiochus to come? We don’t know of any historical correspondence with this at all. Some have tried to interpret this with reference to Mohammed, some have tried to make it the Pope, some have tried to make it the exploits of Herod, and just nothing fits with the detail that is given us here in verses 36 and following. That is nothing historical to us that we know about.

However, we do have indicators, beginning in verse 35, that the purview here has broadened. And that is, it points us to the end of the age. So look at verse 35. It says, “and some of the wise shall stumble,” that is, during this time of oppression, “so that they may be refined, purified, and made white until the time of the end. For it still awaits the appointed time.” Now that expression there, “the time of the end,” usually has connotations of the end of the age. That is, it’s looking then beyond Antiochus, the persecution of the Jews in the second century BC, but looking ahead to the time of the end.

So it seems to me that verse 35 is a transition verse that now points us ahead to something further. By the way, we were given a clue to that in chapter 10 and verse 14, where it speaks of the “latter days.” That is an expression that consistently has eschatological or end of this age kinds of connotations. And so we’ve been set up to expect that this prophecy looks further ahead than just what we’ve had detailed for us in the first 35 verses. And in fact, if you’ll look ahead to chapter 11, verse 40, it says, “at the time of the end, the King of the South shall attack him” and so on. The “time of the end” there sounds like end of the age kinds of things.

And in fact, if that doesn’t convince you, look at chapter 12, verse 1. Remember the chapter divisions are artificial. They’re not part of the original, but look at chapter 12 and verse 1, and there we find: “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never been since there was nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” So already we are clued in, at least by now, that we are looking at end-of-the-age events. It’s a time of resurrection. A resurrection from the dust of the earth. And in fact, chapter 12 and verse 4 accents that as well: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.” It seems to suggest that this is looking ahead to the end of the age.

Now, all of that is broad and general, but if you back up again to verse 36 and following, what we find is language that lines up with language that is picked up by the New Testament writers with specific reference to Antichrist. So, for example, in verse 36, we have all of this exalting himself, magnifying himself above other gods. That is picked up exactly in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 by the Apostle Paul with reference to the Antichrist who will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus by the breath of his mouth at his coming. And then again, if you look at all of the kinds of exploits that he has that are described in verses 36 and following, it rings just like what we’ve already been told to expect back in Daniel chapter 7 with that little horn that rose up from among those ten horns and overthrew three of them and then finally was judged in the time of judgment when the Ancient of Days took his seat at the throne and all of that. It takes us to the end of age kind of language. It’s picked up in Revelation chapter 11. It’s picked up in Revelation 13 with regard to the beast out of the sea and his eventual destruction by the coming of Christ in Revelation chapter 19.

So in all of this we see that suddenly the purview has moved way out to the end of the age. He has told us about the succeeding kingdoms after Babylon. There’s Medo-Persia. There’s Greece. Greece will be broken up into four. There are two of those that are very prominent. Those two will have rivalries. It will culminate in Antiochus IV out of Syria who rivals against Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty there. And Israel’s caught in the middle and it’ll be a terrible time of devastating persecution for the Jews in 168 BC. And we saw that that was fulfilled exactly.

And now suddenly, verse 36, there’s another King of the North coming. Another Antiochus Epiphanes, if you will. In other words, all of these events of 168 BC that he’s outlined with Antiochus Epiphanes become typical or foreshadowing of another figure, another opponent who will come against the people of God. Now that, by the way, if that sounds odd to you, it shouldn’t. That is a common feature of Old Testament prophecy where reference to a given person or event, suddenly the language moves beyond that historical person or event to look ahead to another that’s coming.

We have, I suppose, the best example of that would be Genesis 3:15, the first promise of salvation. There can be little doubt that that promise in Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled at the cross. There, Satan’s head was crushed. Or is it fulfilled thereafter? It’s fulfilled finally in the book of Revelation with the coming of Christ when he’s destroyed. And you see that that is standard issue in biblical prophecy—that a prediction is made and suddenly the reference is to something further out. We have that, I suppose, most famously in the Old Testament over and over again when the prophets give messianic prophecies where, with just in the same breath and sometimes just connected by an “and,” we have spoken of Jesus’ incarnation and Jesus’ return. We have Matthew 1 and the birth of Christ, and we have Revelation 19 and the return of Christ all put together in a single breath in prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament.

So this is something that happens quite frequently in Old Testament prophecy. There has been some terminology that’s developed to try to capture all of that. I think my favorite is probably “prophetic perspective.” Some call it “telescoping,” something like that. It’s like looking ahead at a mountain range, and you see one mountain and the other, and you don’t see all that lies between them. That’s kind of how biblical prophecy often works. And by the way, one of the reasons for the difficulty in interpreting biblical prophecy is there’s so much like that to take in. And one of the reasons for mistakes, I think, in interpreting biblical prophecy is that too often interpreters are too quick to take a part of the prophecy that’s fulfilled here and assume it’s the whole. When it’s not the whole, there is more to come.

Well, that prophetic perspective is something that’s already evident in Daniel. We’ve seen that before. For example, in Daniel chapter 2, we saw that this stone coming out of the mountain would come and crush that metallic image. And that metallic image was a succession of kingdoms, and now this stone cut without human hands comes rolling down the mountain, crushes the image and grinds it to powder. All of that will happen in the days of those kings. And yet the whole perspective is the final culmination of the kingdom of God at the return of Jesus. The same thing happens in Daniel chapter 7. The fourth beast in view is clearly Rome, but it’s not named, and I think it’s probably not named because it is picturesque of not just Rome, but finally the kingdom of this world that is picked up in the book of Revelation. But it clearly takes us to the end of time. Well, all of that kind of thing is just to give you a broad overview of how biblical prophecy so often works. And we have that here in Daniel chapter 11. In verses 1 to 35, we have this succession of kings culminating in Antiochus Epiphanes around 168 BC. Now in verses 36 and following, we have a sudden shift. And now he’s looking long range to the future, a future Antiochus, if you will, whom John names for us as Antichrist. In chapter 11, verses 36 and following then, I think we should understand in terms of the career of the coming Antichrist.

The Character Of The Coming Antichrist

All right, I hope that wasn’t too much too quickly. Let’s look now in verses 36 and following and see how the career of Antichrist is described. Verse 36, here we have an expression at the beginning that we’ve seen several times in the book of Daniel: “the king shall do as he wills.” Now that is a frightening kind of statement when it comes to these kings who are accountable to no one. They do as they will. That was said of Nebuchadnezzar. It was said of Alexander the Great down in verse 3. We find it of Antiochus IV, Antiochus Epiphanes back in chapter 8. That expression was used: this king does as he wills. He’s in a bad mood, he takes it out on any country he wants to. And if he comes back from Egypt, we saw last week, comes back from Egypt in a foul mood because the Roman army sent him back without his victory that he was so sure to get, and he’s in a foul mood, he can take it out in Jerusalem and in Israel if he wants. And he did. He does as he wills.

And what he’s saying here in verse 36 now is that the character is, that’s a characteristic of this Antiochus, or King of the North to come, this Antichrist who is coming. He will have wide authority, very influential, he’ll do as he wills. And it says he’ll exalt himself and magnify himself above every god. Now that’s not quite what happened with Antiochus. He did call himself “God Manifest,” as we saw last time, but at the same time, he did erect a statue of Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem. He didn’t forsake the gods of his fathers. He didn’t exalt himself above Zeus, but Antichrist here, now he’s speaking, will do that. He’ll arrogate to himself a position that demands a religious-like devotion. He exalts himself, magnifies himself above every God.

And it says he shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. That is, he’s blasphemously opposed to the true God. Of course, that’s necessary in order for him to garner this godlike status for himself. And so he blasphemes and rails against the true God. This is not hard to imagine for us today. We see the same kind of thing already happening today where the God of the Bible is often faulted. For the kinds of views that we have in the Bible, Christianity itself is faulted. “What, are you telling me that God would actually send people to hell because they’ve done some things wrong? What an awful kind of—that’s not the kind of God I would want to worship.” We hear that kind of thing constantly. “You mean to tell me that your God condemns someone who loves someone else of the same sex?” We see this kind of thing; you can see this happening. The Antichrist will come and he will speak astonishing things about the God of gods. “What an awful God he must be,” he will say.

And then it says he will prosper, again verse 36, he’ll prosper until the indignation is accomplished. That is, God has appointed a time when he will have his time, and the Antichrist will have his time, “for what is decreed shall be done.” He will have his time, but God will certainly end that rampage in his own time.

And then verse 37: “He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers.” Again, that was not true of Antiochus. It will be true, he says, of this coming king, this Antichrist. He’ll be marked by apostasy. He’ll turn away from his own religious heritage and he’ll forsake it. The idea here that he’s called the god—he will not pay attention to the gods of his fathers or the god of his fathers—that has a ring that sounds Christian or Jewish, maybe Muslim. Many have conjectured here that the coming Antichrist will have that kind of religious heritage behind him. We’re not given enough specifics here to be sure about that. But he will pay no attention to the gods of his fathers. He’ll be marked by apostasy from the religion behind him.

And then it says he’ll have no regard, or “he will not pay attention to the one beloved by women.” Now, that’s a difficult phrase. The NIV, I think, has it, “he’ll pay no attention for the one desired by women.” And in that case, it probably would have a messianic kind of connotation, an allusion to the Messiah, because Jewish women desired to be the mother of Messiah. He’ll have no regard for that. Some have taken it that way. The New American Standard Bible and the King James Version translate it differently, that he will have no regard for the “desire of women,” which leaves it open for other kinds of interpretations. He’ll have no regard for the desire of women. Some have taken that then to mean that he’ll take on the characteristics that have been true of many tyrants, where they mistreat the women in their lives, their wives, their mothers; they’re brutal to them, and so on. It could mean that. Others have taken “has no regard for the desire of women” to mean that he’ll be a homosexual. Not hard to imagine that either, especially in our climate today. But I don’t think we can be sure.

And then it tells us in verse 37, he shall—often in these prophecies, they are vague enough that you can’t predict it ahead of time and see it coming. But then as soon as it happens, you can say, “Oh, that’s what that meant.” And I think this is one of those kinds of things. Then in verse 37, “he shall not pay attention to any other God, for he shall magnify himself above all.” That is, he seems opposed to all recognized religions, entirely apostate. He himself is the greatest and he is to be worshiped. Now what would that look like under the reign of an Antichrist? That might be some kind of Marxist totalitarianism. We’ve seen that in history. That kind of thing is what we are seeing here with this. He’s got a religious-like devotion. He does what he wills. There’s no crying against him. And he has no time for religion.

But, verse 38, he is religious in some sense. “He shall honor the God of fortresses instead of these. A God whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.” Now what does that mean? He shall honor the God of fortresses. Maybe it’s just a religious expression to say that he’ll rule with an iron fist because might makes right. It could be that. That would fit in the context. Don’t know. Again, I think this might be one of those that when it comes to pass, we’ll say, “Yep, there it is. That’s what Daniel prophesied.”

Verse 39, we have more of his conquests. “He’ll deal with the strongest fortress with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him, he’ll load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.” That is, he builds and buys support and loyalty to bolster his own position. So here we have a coming ruler that says he’ll be marked by arrogance, apostasy, aggression, religious defiance, and persecution of anyone who would get in the way.

The Military Career Of Antichrist

And then we get to verse 40. And now in verses 40 to 45, we have a description of his military career, a series of wars that will be pursued by Antichrist. Again, none of this that’s described in verses 40 and following has any historical correspondence with Antiochus at all. So we have to say that it’s looking ahead then to this coming one, since that’s the way the New Testament writers pick it up. And some of the details here in verses 40 and following obviously, I think, must be taken as symbolic or figurative in some way. For example, the chariots and the horsemen—I doubt that’s what will be used in battle in the end times. I think that’s language fitting to Daniel’s day to foretell what will happen in days to come.

Also then, if that’s the case, how are we to understand “King of the North”? Is this really going to be King of Syria? Or could this be another king from the north? Or has it now, in prophetic foreshortening and extended reference, just become a symbolic term for this ruler who is to come, who is like Antiochus Epiphanes? That may be the case. The end-time opponent to the people of God, whatever his place of origin.

Then we have the same question when we come to verse 43, when it names these countries involved that will follow the Antichrist and escape his wrath. Edom, Moab, Ammonites, Egypt, the Libyans, the Cushites—these are age-old enemies of Israel, and it says they’ll be spared the wrath of the Antichrist. So are we intended here to understand these nations exactly in view, or have they now become symbolic of those areas of the world that will fall in line with Antichrist’s rule and escape his wrath? That’s probably, I think, what’s in view.

But what about verse 41 then? This rage against the “glorious land.” That’s clearly a reference to Israel. And in fact, there are many Old Testament prophecies that speak of end-time opposition and end-time trouble and end-time warfare against the people of Israel. We find it in Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah. We find it everywhere in the Old Testament. Or can this be just a broader reference to the opposition that will come against the people of God?

Another question: how this military conflict language is to be understood. Does this mean tanks and missiles and airplanes and attack helicopters, soldiers on the ground with guns? Or is it simply speaking in more generic terms of the aggression and the opposition that he’ll bring against anyone who opposes? Is it just all-inclusive then? At the very least, I think what we have described for us here is a totalitarianism of some kind. It’s probably got financial dimensions to it, like all totalitarian regimes do. It’s probably got intellectual dimensions to it, like they all do. It’s probably got moral dimensions to it, like they all do. But of course it has to be imposed somehow and might does make right. And so it’s difficult to imagine that there’s not some kind of guns involved in enforcing his agenda here. And that might again then be a reference back to verse 38, the “gods of the fortresses.”

Well, in any case, the larger picture I think is clear. We have this end-time leader who is coming with wide influence, and he has determined opposition against the people of God. We were warned about this in Daniel chapter 7, that this little horn is coming. And there the language is graphic as well, that this little horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them. And then in Daniel 7 verse 25, it says, “he wore out the saints.” It’s an awful time of opposition, he says, to come when he will actually have authority over the people of God in exercising rule over them.

Well, then in verse 45, finally, the last part of the verse, the end of Antichrist is made clear also. “Yet he shall come to his end with none to help him.” And that brief mention of his undoing, and the fact that the narrative is cut off so abruptly, I think suggests the suddenness with which it’ll happen. His time will be up. In terms of other prophecies in Daniel and in Revelation, three and a half years are up, 42 months are up, the three and a half days are up. Use the language you like. His time’s up. The Lord will return, and that will be that. We find that described, you remember, in the 70 Weeks Prophecy in Daniel 9, verse 27: “On the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” And we get this idea that when his time’s up, his time’s up, and that will be that.

And what we have then pictured for us, as we’ll see again in chapter 12 later, is that this is the climactic arrival of the kingdom of God that has been anticipated throughout Daniel’s prophecies. Chapter 7, again, we saw that, when the Son of Man will come, he’s taken the authority and he’ll share the rule with the saints. And all, every nation and kindred and tongue will worship him. Paul picks this up, as I said, in 2 Thessalonians 2, and actually it echoes the language of Daniel 11:36, where Paul says: “now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,” that is, don’t misunderstand that that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

That, of course, is exactly what is in view in even more graphic language in Revelation chapter 19, when Christ is portrayed as coming on a white horse, and you remember a sword coming out of his mouth. I’ve said it many times before—I just love that picture that it won’t be much of a fight; he just speaks, and it’s over. As one writer put it: “Antichrist will go out not with a bang, but with a whimper.” I thought of this this morning as we were singing “A Mighty Fortress”: “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him.” Well, that’s what we have here. His time will be up, and his time will be up. And so we have here in this passage, in summary, an end-time leader with wide influence, awful, determined opposition against the people of God, and then finally put down at the coming of Jesus.

Lessons For Us

All right then, why this? What are the lessons for us from all of this? I have just three.

Number one, God’s people must learn to live as a minority in dispersion. God’s people must learn to live as a minority in dispersion. And we must learn how to do so faithfully. We live in Babylon, metaphorically speaking, but we live in Babylon. We’re the ones carried off from captivity, we’re the minority, and we’re against the system. The Jews in exile were living as minorities in Babylon, and we do the same. Jesus refers to this in John chapter 15: “You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Because I’ve chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. They hated me before they hate you, but because they hate me, they’ll hate you.” We must learn to live as a minority in dispersion. This is the familiar pilgrim theology of the New Testament, where we learn to sing, “this world is not my home.” And I’ve said it several times through this series, we need to recognize in the last several hundred years in the West, we have lived in something of a historical bubble where Christianity has had enormous freedom and very little opposition. And we have to recognize that historically speaking and globally speaking, that’s an anomaly. And we have no right to expect that that will continue. We have every reason to believe that it won’t. We have to recognize and we have to learn to live as a minority in dispersion. And most of all in that, not be ashamed of the gospel. Now living as a minority in dispersion, we ought also, as Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29 wrote to the exiles in Babylon—he said, seek the good of the city. Seek the good of the city. Try to be a good influence. Promote freedom. Promote human flourishing. Do all that you can. But recognize that we’re in the minority.

Number two, because the people of God will be a despised minority, we must be willing to suffer for no other reason but our allegiance to Christ. We must be willing to suffer for no other reason but our allegiance to Christ. That’s Daniel chapter 3, the fiery furnace. That’s Daniel chapter 6, the lion’s den. And again, that’s John chapter 15: “I’ve chosen you out of the world.” And that’s a great favor. But because I’ve chosen you out of the world, Jesus says, the world will hate you and they’ll oppose. This is what it means to bear the cross of Jesus. Being sick is not bearing your cross. Bearing our cross is living faithfully so as to endure faithfully the opposition that comes against Christ and so against us.

Let me say there, with reference to number two, there’s more that we have to recognize: that we must be willing to suffer for no other reason but our allegiance to Christ. We have—I’ve mentioned this before through this series, but it bears repeating because so many of us were taught it in our backgrounds—we have been taught, and it’s particularly an American doctrine, to think that God would never allow us to go through that final tribulation, that we will be spared and raptured up ahead of time before the tribulation begins. It’s particularly an American doctrine. I think it grows out of the unusual blessings that we’ve had in the last several hundred years here. I think you would have a hard time convincing many people in many areas of the world throughout history that we should expect to be exempted from suffering. In many areas of the world, many people have suffered in a way that certainly will not be exceeded by the end-time tribulation. If that’s the case, then there’s no real rationale for a pre-tribulation rapture either. Throughout the Bible, the Christian hope is not exemption from suffering. Throughout the Bible, the Christian hope is the climactic arrival of the kingdom of God, Christ coming, destroying Antichrist, and bringing relief to his people.

Number three then, we must cultivate a sense of hope. We must cultivate a sense of hope and draw strength and encouragement from knowing how it all ends. We must cultivate a sense of hope and draw strength and encouragement from knowing how it all ends. That is, God’s people have been called to live in hope. Abraham lived in hope. He was seeking a city. All throughout the Old Testament, the people of God lived in hope, waiting for the Messiah. We live in that wonderful day when Messiah has come, but we’re in that transition period in between where he is still coming. He has come. He has ascended. He will return again in glory and in might, and then all of this suffering and all of the awful reign of wickedness in this world will be ended.

Paul speaks of that in 2 Thessalonians 1 in wonderful language, that at that time, Christ will return in flaming fire and in glory, and he will trouble those who trouble you. The early church—we learn this from Paul’s Corinthian letters—the early church evidently had a marvelous greeting that we would do well to pick up ourselves. They would say to one another, “Maranatha.” It’s an Aramaic term: “The Lord comes.” What a wonderful Christian greeting, isn’t it? We might say “the Lord bless you” or whatever, and all of that’s good. But what a wonderful greeting: “The Lord comes. The Lord comes.” And that’s the hope.

And so, Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.” This is written to the church at Smyrna. “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested. And for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” That is to say, you may suffer for now, but God has given you a glimpse of glory. And God will set everything right. Your reward will be coming. In God’s appointed time, the Lord Christ will return, and then all of the kingdoms of this world will become his. And at last, faith will become sight, and we’ll see the glories of the kingdom that he’s promised. Amen.

Let’s pray. Our Father, you have shown us where you have foretold history and it has been fulfilled with exactness. You have given us a glimpse of the end times and we are encouraged by what you have done in the past to trust you with regard to the future. We ask that you would make us faithful in living as a minority in this world. Help us, Lord, to be faithful to you at all costs. And help us always to live in anticipation of the great day of our Lord’s return. Oh, Father, how we look forward to that. Send him soon, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.