Two-Pronged Prophecy
Daniel was referring to Antiochus, a leader in the Syrian army, who was working havoc in the near east. However, that this prophecy is also about the Antichrist is proven by Christ's words, as we will see later.
But news out of the east (in a modern setting perhaps Iraq or Iran) and out of the north (Turkey/Russia) shall trouble him (Antiochus and/or Antichrist). Then he will go out with great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction. Fearing that he has "spread his army too thin" he will call back his troops, concentrate them in Israel and He will attack and kill many Jews.
Interestingly Antiochus means to be against and to possess something. This is the picture that the Bible also paints of Antichrist. He will be against regular citizens possessing anything, as the Communist Party did in Russia.
he shall plant his palace tents between the seas (believed to be The Mediterranean and the Dead Sea), in the glorious holy mountain (Mount Zion, Jerusalem). 11:44-45.
And at that time Michael shall stand up, 12:1. O Wow! This verse opens up a weighty bag of theological disagreements: Is Micheal Christ or isn't he?
1. The Archangel, who has all the angels of heaven under him, and at his command, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ; who is as God, as the name signifies, truly and really God, and equal in nature, power, and glory, to his divine Father: "he shall stand up". Gill.
2. Christ is that great prince, for he is the prince of the kings of the earth. Matthew Henry.
3. God will send his angel to deliver it, whom he here calls Michael, meaning Christ. Geneva.
Speak of conflicting teachings in the church! We have been taught that all angels are created beings. We have also been told that Christ, as the second person of the Godhead, is eternal; not created, but if all angels are created how is it possible that Christ is God and a created angel both?
4. Since Michael is called the archangel (Jud_1:9), he is Satan’s true opposite. Satan is not the opposite of Jesus; he is the opposite of Michael, this high-ranking angel. Guzik. So according to him, Jesus is not Micheal. Besides that, there is nothing in the Bible that teaches that Michael is Christ!
5. An archangel, not the Lord Jesus; for he (Micheal) is distinguished from “the Lord” in Jud_1:9. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown. Again, Jesus isn't Micheal, an angel.
6. Another proof that Micheal is not Christ is found in Daniel 10:13, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Micheal is one of a group of chief princes and if Christ is God, He would be superior to that group and not belong to that group. On the other hand, if He is not God then He did not exist before His miraculous conception.
Christ is a problem for people who believe that God is a Trinity because they don't know what to do with Jesus before He was born.
- Was He an angel - or wasn't He?
- Was he the wisdom of God (John 1:1) or was He God, the second person in a triune God? He can't be both!
- Was He a phantom that appeared to certain people whenever it was appropriate.
Those Christians who do not believe that God is a Trinity, have no problem with this whole matter.
Normal theology does not teach that God ever had a beginning but the Bible plainly says that Christ was begotten; to be "begotten" means to "have a beginning"; therefore He did not exist before He was begotten and He was not present in the Old Testament except in prophecy.
Tribulation Then The Rapture
the great ruler (Micheal) who stands for the sons of your people. 10:13. He is the archangel whose distinct area of operation is the people of Israel. If, as the Trinitarians say, Christ is "God of very God", why would He, Christ, stand only for the Jewish race; why not for every race, after all, He died for all the people of every race?
And there shall be a time of distress, such as has not been from the being of a nation until that time. This also is a double prophecy according to Haydock's Catholic Commentary; Antiochus Epiphanes, ... What is here said of this prince, is accommodated by St. Jerome and others to antichrist, of whom this Antiochus was a figure. ... He lived and died basely; as the origin and end of antichrist will be ignominious.
As we learned earlier, it is estimated that Antiochus killed 100,000 Jews. It may well be that the Jews experienced a time of distress worse than any they had ever endured since they became a nation.
The prophecy does not end there. Christ referred to Daniel's prophecy, He placed it into the future, and said, For there will be great affliction, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Mat 24:21.
Does this not sound like the slaughter being carried out by the modern day terrorist groups? It is a totally new kind of warfare - and it will get worse as long as soldiers think they are pleasing their God by committing suicide while they are killing innocent bystanders.
Christ clearly said, immediately after the affliction of those days ... the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. Mat. 24:29-30. Where, then, did some Bible scholars get the idea that the rapture of the Church would happen before the "great tribulation"?
I can tell you where the problem may have come from. It probably came from those who used the Scofield, or any other, "chain reference" Bible. Following that kind of a chain can lead a person way off topic which inevitably leads to wrong theology.
Christ also said, He (Jehovah) shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Mat.24:31. Notice that His elect (the Church) will be gathered after the affliction of those days.
Dr Findley writes The pre-tribulation rapture theory is not plainly taught or directly stated in any place in Scripture, cannot be deduced from biblical teaching, contradicts the general teaching of the Bible regarding Christ’s second coming and was never taught in any branch of the church prior to 1830.
Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. When Christ returns, the battle of Armageddon will soon be over and he (the antichrist) shall come to his end. 11:45.
For more on this very exciting topic I recommend:
http://wwwthinkagai.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-return-of-christ.html
http://wwwthinkagai.blogspot.com/2012/07/no-pre-trib-return-of-christ.html
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