Page 348 - Daniel

Although all expositors must use their judgment in determining the
identification of this king, what will be completely different about the
world religion at the end time will be (1) the total subjugation of all
previous religions; and (2) the worship of the world ruler without
reference to any other divine power except that of Satan. For this world

ruler to acknowledge something as supreme while already claiming to be
God clearly indicates that “the god of fortresses” is not a person but the
power to make war, symbolized by the term fortress.

Examining all other passages relating to the end time, it becomes
evident that the final world ruler’s sole confidence is in military power,
personified as “the god of fortresses.” In other words, he is a complete
materialist in contrast to all previous religions and all previous men who
claimed divine qualities. This is blasphemy to the ultimate, the
exaltation of human power and attainment. He is Satan’s masterpiece, a

human being who is Satan’s substitute for Jesus Christ, hence properly
identified as the Antichrist. In keeping with his complete materialism,
his activities are characterized by warfare and honoring those who
honor him. Those cooperating are given subsidiary rule expressed in the
statement, “He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the
land for a price”—that is, he will reapportion territories in keeping with

his desire for conquest. There is no record that Antiochus divided lands
among those who defected to him, and nothing of this sort is indicated
in the passages that report his briberies (1 Macc. 2:18; 3:30ff.). This
would be an important omission if Antiochus Epiphanes is the subject of
this prophecy. Taking Daniel 11:36–39 as a whole, it is apparent that the
revelation provides an incisive analysis of the combination of
materialism, militarism, and religion that will characterize the final

world ruler.
This portion of Daniel, in the light of contemporary trends, becomes

an illuminating prophetic commentary on the ultimate end of these
present forces in the world that will unite the political, religious, and
materialistic philosophies of our day in one man who is Satan’s
nomination for king of kings and lords of lords. The apex of this
development will be reached in the last half of Daniel’s seventieth week,
the three and a half years of the great tribulation, immediately preceding
the second advent of Jesus Christ. However, his world government will