1. Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
About 550–486 BCE.
2-4. And now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
It was Alexander the Great that ruled the Middle East from 336 BCE to 323 BCE. His empire was in Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, and India. The four Nations given to the four generals after his death would be Greece, Turkey, Iran and Egypt.
5-6. And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.
Hellenistic Syrian Empire from 223 BC to 187, and Egypt.
7-10. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: and shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
245—241 BC.
11-13. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
Syria was defeated by Egypt in 217 BCE.
14-16. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
About 200 BCE Syria defeated Egypt. The Jews took different sides.
17-29. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
This is where this prophecy gets blurry in the time continuum. This prophecy has been fulfilled 193-191 BCE. But history repeats itself and prophecy is multi dimensional. These Isles are the Greek islands but also can be the British Isles in the future. However names change, but not the flow through the timeline. Today Egypt has the canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Neom is being built in Northwest Saudi Arabia. The King of the North will want this for himself.
King Antiochus Epiphanes, of Greece reigned over Syria from 175 BC until 164 BCE. He brutally persecuted the Jews and conquered Egypt. The Jews called him Antiochus Epimanes insinuating he was mad or insane. There was a division between Jewish theology. To avoid the infighting, Antiochus outlawed Judaism altogether. He set up Zeus to be worshipped. Jews was killed, inslaved or ordered to eat pig flesh. Pork was not kosher. Antiochus set up the abomination of desolation. However that is a foreshadowing of the future.
Antiochus invaded Egypt in 169 BCE.
30-32. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the Holy Covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their Elohiym shall be strong, and do exploits.
164 BCE Greece became a Roman province. 64 BCE Syria becomes a Roman province. 58 BCE Chittim/Cyprus became a Roman province. Today Cyprus belongs to the Southern Republic of Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, and Britain. Cyprus is part of the European Union. Turkish Cyprus is not recognized as a Nation. This is to say that the European Union in the future will go against the coming Antichrist. This is when Antichrist, the false Messiah will betray the Nation of Israel.
33-35. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be aided with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
This is a transition between history and the future.
36. And the king 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, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
This does not fit Antiochus Epiphanes. Judea was not freed at his end. They became a provence of Rome after the fall of Antiochus Epiphanes. Antichrist, the False Messiah will fulfill these verses.
37. 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.
To be a Jewish Messiah, you don't need to be Divine. You need to be a son of Joseph for one, or a son of King David for the other. Your mother must be Jewish, not your father. With your father having a Jewish mother, your ancestry is Jewish. This false Messiah is not a practicing Jew. He will not be a Christian also. He will not be Muslim. He will be full of pride like that of Satan. Antiochus Epiphanes worshipped the Greek pantheon, especially Zeus.
38-39. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor 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: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
The god of the false Messiah will be power. What kind of god that can be placed everywhere and is manmade? That is the Artificial intelligence of a computer. It can look and acted human. It will even kill.
40. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
According to the verses in this chapter, south will be Egypt and north was Syria. However it is not Syria, but north of Syria, beyond Turkey. That would be the Ukraine. This false Messiah's kingdom will last 42 months. Western Europe will have made an attempt at the beginning to control the Middle East. The question is, what is the outcome of the Ukrainian Russian war? Another question is, was that war created to give Antichrist space to build his empire? In this verse we see a coalition from the far north and from Egypt and Saudi Arabia going against Antichrist.
41. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
It's interesting how Jordanian area is not conquered and Judea is. I believe the Antichrist kingdom will look like the Roman empire on steroids. It's interesting that Rome never conquered the Ukraine. Other nations not touched by Rome is the Scandinavian country and Scotland.
42-43. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
The Antichrist Empire will have victories in the south of Jerusalem. This Empire will spread like cancer.
44. But 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.
North and East of Jerusalem is the Ukraine to the shores of the Pacific coast. This includes Russia, China, Korea, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia.
45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
This last verse is interesting how it stands alone. Antichrist will plant his own temple on the Temple Mount having no regard for Judaism, Christian theology or Islam. The question is, what happened to the Third Temple? Before the 42 months there was one. When the 42 months is about over, we see what could be desolation of everything there today. A man that wants to be worshipped would place his palace and temple on the Temple Mount.
This is the end of this study. As time moves towards the end, things become more clear in what will happen.
