Bibles, please, the Genesis 3, that's where we'll start. And then we're going to Isaiah 14, and then we're going to the book of Daniel. We'll start at chapter 7, we'll finish up there. Before we begin our journey tonight, let's bow and look to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you so much for your precious word and those here to partake of it tonight. We realize that we are living in exciting times, times in which many of these events are about to be revealed. I pray that you would give us knowledge and growth. I pray that we would be stable people as we wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture the church. Help us to be wise to the point that we can give a defense of what we believe and why we believe it. We pray that you would use these studies to help accomplish that. In Jesus' name, amen. We are certainly living in unprecedented times of moral and social chaos, a time of turbulence the likes of which has never been seen before in the world. There are situations that are taking place that we would never dream of 25 years ago. For example, who would have imagined 25 years ago that you'd be afraid to fly, fearing that somebody might blow up your airplane? Who would imagine that we would live in a time when if a little child is murdered, the first place you look is to the parents? All of this is setting the stage for a very unique man to surface who can calm things down and bring some pseudo sense to this world that's very troubled, especially the Middle East world. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if a man surfaced right now who could bring harmony between the Arabs and the Israelis, a man who could bring harmony between the Americans and Iraqis. Imagine what it would be like if a man could rise to power who could seemingly end all terrorist threats all over the world. I believe there is such a man in existence tonight. He's probably alive. And immediately following the rapture of the church, the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit will cease and he will be revealed. He's known as the Antichrist. There's a great deal of information in the Bible given about the Antichrist in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and of course in the book of Revelation. The study here tonight is designed to track him through the Old Testament. Now the Old Testament is filled with many, many passages that discuss this diabolical agent. In fact, with the exception of Revelation chapter 13, there's much more information given about him in the Old Testament than there is in the New. And for good reason. You see, although the satanic spirit of Antichrist is operative during the Church Age, the Antichrist does not surface until after the Church Age is over and God's program once again swings back to Israel. When that happens, the Antichrist will make his primary target the nation Israel. And since the Old Testament gives us much data and information regarding God's program for Israel, it stands to reason that we would learn much about the Antichrist in the Old Testament. There are six passages I'd like to take you through tonight that give us a great deal of insight as to who he is and what he's going to do. The first one is Genesis 3.15 which says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. In this text, God is speaking to Satan. He says that there's a seed that would come through the woman. That seed is identified in Galatians as none other than Jesus Christ. But he also says that Satan has a seed that one day will come into existence. That is the Antichrist. Dr. Louis Perry Chaffer said that if you start in Genesis and you track Satan, there are four milestones that are in the progress of his plan. He wanted to be like the Most High God Himself. That's what got him kicked out of heaven. Then when he was kicked out of heaven, he decided to go into Eden and try to tempt Eve and he said, if you eat this fruit, you'll become like God. Then when he met Jesus Christ up in the mount in Matthew chapter 4, he tempted him and he said, if you fall down and worship me, I'll give you the kingdoms. He couldn't say you'll be like God because he knew he was talking to God, the second member of the Trinity. But his final act will be he'll produce a man who will claim he is God, that is the Antichrist. That's where Satan's plan is headed. And even though at the present time there are those emissaries of Satan who are doing the diabolical work, his ultimate production, the Antichrist, will occur after the rapture of the Church. The second text I want you to go to tonight is Isaiah chapter 14. And I'm going to read the verses then comment on the verses. Isaiah 14 verses 16 to 20. All of these things are in your notes so you can take them and peruse them yourself. In verse 16, those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities? who did not allow his prisoners to go home. All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch, clothed with the slain, who are pierced with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse. You will not be united with them in burial, because you have ruined your country. You've slain your people. May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever." Now the particular prophecies that are given here in Isaiah 14 have to do with the king of Babylon. That's clear from verse 4 of Isaiah 14 and verse 22. However, there's language used in this 14th chapter that would indicate somebody is being discussed far beyond just the king of Babylon. This language often is used in prophetic language. According to Dr. Wolvard, you have an immediate connection to the historical background, like a king of Babylon, but then when God wants to reveal prophecy, he'll drop in some things that take you way beyond the norm of the context. For example, you'll notice in verse 12 that whoever he's talking about fell from heaven. That's certainly not the king of Babylon. This is an angel. This was Satan who was kicked out of heaven. And then you'll notice in verse 16, this man made the earth tremble. So what you have described here is a satanic man. Now as we go down through this text, there are five facts brought out about Satan and five facts brought out about the Antichrist. Number one, he'll make the earth tremble. That particular Hebrew word, tremble, regits, means agitate, excite, enrage the entire world. It's ironic because he'll surface as a peacemaker, but he'll end up being a world agitator. Secondly, he'll make world kingdoms shake. That word shake, reesh, refers to literal trembling or quivering. People all over the world will be afraid of him and they will literally shake in fear because of him. I knew a dear woman one time who married a man that she thought loved her, but he turned out to be vicious and she turned out to be deathly afraid of him. That's the way the Antichrist is going to operate. He'll surface and the world will seem to think that he really loves the world, but the whole world will end up shaking in terror for this man. The third fact that's brought out about him is he will conquer the whole world, overthrow cities, and take many prisoners. That's what verse 17 says. He makes the world a wilderness. He'll kill so many people that populated areas will become, just like it says, a wilderness. Now every now and then Satan produces a power crazed madman who wants to rule the world and slaughter people to do it. Men like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or Saddam Hussein. But this man is going to geographically accomplish his goal. He will rule the whole world and everyone in the whole world will be deathly afraid of him. He will be a ruthless dictator who not only controls his own little corner of the world, he will in fact control the world. Which brings us to the fourth fact. He will ruin his own originating country and kill his own national people. Verse 20 gives us that information. That he's going to kill his own people and make them lie like a trampled corpse. Now there have always been traitors in history who've turned against their own country and their own people. For example, ten years into his reign, Nero set Rome on fire. History tells us that he played a harp and sang a song about destruction as he watched Rome burn. He realized that some people were becoming very disturbed about his leadership, and rightly so, so he decided just to burn people out, burn the city down. To divert suspicion from himself, he accused Christians and started killing them. In all reality, Nero was a traitor against his own people, but he didn't want his people to know he was the traitor. That's far different than the way the Antichrist is going to be. The Antichrist will be a real person with a real nationality. His nationality will initially love him, they will probably elect him, they'll give him allegiance, but he will eventually turn against his own national people and he will kill them. He will not try to divert suspicion away from him. In fact, he'll take full credit for it. The fifth fact is he will not be buried like a normal person but will be cast into hell. Now this is something that you will see tonight over and over again. You are not going to be in a tomb like a normal person. And the reason why this point keeps being reiterated is because the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ himself will come back and take the Antichrist and cast him, body and all, into hell. He's not going to go the normal route of a death and then a funeral and then a burial. He's going to be cast into hell, body and all, by Jesus Christ. And you'll notice this language, you'll especially see it as we go through passages that pertain to him in the New Testament. Now the third text I would like you to turn to is Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. I'd like to read verses 7 and 8, then I want to drop down to verse 11. I'll point out what's in verses 9 and 10. In Daniel chapter 7 and verse 7. The rest of the text we're going to look at tonight are in the book of Daniel. In Daniel chapter 7 and verse 7 we read, After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong, and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts that were before it. It had ten horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it. And behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boast. Now you'll notice in verses 9 and 10 you have this description of this kingdom being set up by God, so that tells us that in the chronology of when this Antichrist is really going to be at the pinnacle of his power, it'll be just before Jesus Christ comes back to establish his kingdom. Now drop down to verse 11. Then I kept looking, because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking, I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. I want you to drop down in the same chapter to verse 19. Then I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the tenth 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boast, and which was larger in appearance than its associates, I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them. until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Thus he said, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise. and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones, and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the Most High, and wear down the saints of the highest one, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, that's one, times, that's two, and half a time, a total of three and a half, but the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated, and destroyed forever." Now there's no doubt that this book of Daniel contains the most graphic detail about the Antichrist, and we're going to look at four texts tonight, and there are 23 facts that we glean from this chapter right here. Fact number one, he is a dreadful, terrifying, extremely strong beast. Now, according to Brown, Driver, and Briggs, who are three of the better Hebrew lexicographers, this noun, beast, refers to an unclean, vicious beast that's young and strong and is so vicious that it destroys all other beasts that are around it. That is a graphic fitting noun that describes the Antichrist. He will be a relatively young man as opposed to old. He's going to rise to power and he will quickly destroy anyone that's around him. Secondly, he's a beast who has iron teeth. That does not just describe how he rules with an iron fist. It describes what he does metaphorically. He chews up people and spits them out with his iron teeth. Thirdly, he is a beast who devours and crushes and tramples with his feet. What you're getting here is a glimpse of what's really making him go. He is really operating as a vicious individual who's designed to tear people to shreds and crush them and stamp out any who gets in his way. The scariest thought, perhaps, about him is fact number four. He is different from any other beast who's ever existed. In fact, he's so different from any other beast who's ever existed that the entire world will acknowledge that nobody has ever existed who's ever been like him. Two weeks from tonight when we're in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, the whole world looks at this beast and says, who is like this guy? We've never seen anybody who's even come close to him. Now that's a staggering thought when you consider some of the terrible beasts who've ruled in history. When Edward Gibbon wrote his famous book, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, back in the 1700s, he used various adjectives to describe the beastly emperors who ruled in the first century of Rome. For example, he called Caligula furious Caligula. He called Nero cruel Nero. He called Vitellius beastly Vitellius. He called Domitian inhuman Domitian. In fact, when Gibbon wrote of all of those emperors, he called them all monsters. And when you think of them and others like Mussolini and Hitler and Stalin, And you consider this one is different than any other beast that's ever existed. This one will be worse than all of these combined. We must admit, he will be the most evil, scary man to ever live on this earth. The fifth fact is this is a beast who has 10 horns. When most empires dissolve, they are replaced. For example, when the Egyptian Empire dissolved, it was replaced by the Babylonians. When the Babylonian Empire dissolved, it was replaced by the Medes and the Persians. When the Mede and the Persian Empire dissolved, it was replaced by Greece. And when Greece dissolved, it was replaced by Rome. But when Rome dissolved, nobody replaced it. It's like those Roman people just kind of migrated into various places that were comprising the Roman Empire. Now you can pretty much see that on the map that we've published for you because we have a map that shows you what the Roman Empire was and then we have a map of present day life and present day geography and that shows you pretty much those countries that make up today the Roman Empire. Now, according to Daniel chapter 2, there are going to be 10 political powers who are going to rise to power. They're going to stand toe-to-toe, side-by-side as a united force. This Antichrist is going to be a key player in all of this. He's going to be one who will unite these European powers and ultimately have total control of them. The sixth fact is he initially surfaces as one of the 10 kings. Verse 8 tells us that. That's a critical key to spotting him. He will surface as one of the 10 leaders who unite together in a European Union. And that little phrase, European Union, is in your newspapers every day. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a critical key. When he first surfaces, he'll appear to be just one of the ten, but he's not just one of the ten. He will end up leader of the world. It kind of reminds me of when Michael Jordan first joined the Chicago Bulls. He appeared to be, when they first drafted him, just another player, just another basketball player out of North Carolina. Turns out, he stood way above and beyond the others. So it will be in an evil sense with the Antichrist. He'll start out looking like one of the ten, but when all is said and done, he'll stand out in total evil above all the others. Now, the Roman Empire, in the zenith of its power in the first century, included what is now, generally speaking, all of Europe, which is England. Spain was in the empire, West Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, Belgium, and Holland. They were all in there. But then something key prophetic happened on April 4, 1949. There was a formation of what was called NATO. And that was a major eschatological moment. Because those who knew these passages in Daniel said, you know what? That Roman Empire is starting to regroup. And when NATO originally got together to form their pact, they featured 12 nations. There was Belgium and Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey were added. In 1955, the Republic of Germany was added. In 1982, Spain was added. So by 1982, you have all of the players in place for this new world leader, and then something dramatic happened in 1989. The Berlin Wall fell, and Germany was reunified, and a new European economy, called the Euro, was introduced as a means of controlling commerce, and the process of reuniting European nations was fully underway. And more than likely 10 of these are going to join together. And if you read the headlines in the paper right now, you will see that the European Union is deciding to try to provide backbone peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East. The time is ripe for him now. The seventh fact is he will initially surface as a dictator and take control of three nations. This point keeps being re-stressed. You're going to see it several times tonight. God wants us to understand that this will be a key to spotting him. He's going to surface as a leader of three nations. He's going to take over three countries. We don't know specifically what those nations are, but something fascinating did happen in 1958. There was a rise in Arab nationalism in which, ironically, three countries united together to form an Arab federation to distance themselves from NATO, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. Just recently, if you're following contemporary events, there seems to be an alliance forming between Russia, Syria, and Iran because of Middle East tension. Two countries right now that are working very close to the Middle East situation are France and Italy. Sooner or later, three of these countries are going to get together and one guy is going to take charge of it. And he starts out as a little horn, which would indicate it could be three small countries of the revived Roman Empire, maybe Austria, Hungary, Romania, maybe Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia. It could be any one of them. But he'll take charge of three countries. The eighth fact is he will possess the look of a normal man, but he's not a normal man. He'll be intelligent, charismatic, persuasive. He'll be a wonderful politician. He'll talk peace, prosperity, and plenty. He'll appear to be a great humanitarian, but he's a vicious, satanic, ruthless monster. When he surfaces, the world will soon discover that. The ninth fact is he'll boast about great things. He'll boast about great things that relate to himself. He'll boast about things and take credit for things God did. He'll make impressive claims. He'll take credit for Israel being able to build their temple and restart our worship services. The 10th fact is he will eventually be judged and cast into the lake of fire, body and all. That's what you see there in verse 11. God wants us to keep reminding ourselves of this. I'm going to take his body and throw it in burning fire. And over and over again he keeps bringing this point up. The 11th fact is he's different and he's more dreadful and devouring than any other beast. That's seen there in verse 19 of chapter 7. Now there have been some dreadful beastly humans who've lived in this world. Right in our lifetime we've seen some beastly people, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Gacy, David Berkowitz, the Antichrist, is going to make all of them look like nice schoolboys who sing in a choir. The twelfth fact is, he will exist at the same time the other key ten nations exist. Now again, that point keeps being reiterated. God's saying, this is what I want you to know. He's going to be one of the ten. Ten powers are going to unite. He's going to be one of those ten powers. It's interesting to me that one of the main purposes of NATO is military defense. And once the Antichrist surfaces and gets his hand on that power, he's going to use that power as his own militia for his own purposes, and he'll go to war with the whole world. There is a European military force being formed right now, and I can tell you from what I've been reading, the big player in all of this is France. Keep your eye on her. The 13th fact is he will rise when three nations fall. Again, the nations aren't stated, but the point keeps being brought up. Keep your eye on this person who will come out of the ten, and he's going to take charge of three nations. Maybe it'll be France, Germany, Italy, or Bulgaria, Greece, or Turkey. I don't know. The 14th fact is he will look like a normal man. Now that's important. You see, there's nothing about his look that will initially give you the impression he's the Antichrist. He'll have eyes like the eyes of man. He'll be a suit-and-tie kind of guy. He's not going to be a Satan worshipper dressed in a black robe chanting bizarre things. He'll look like a real successful type of individual. The 15th fact is he will make arrogant boasts. He'll exalt himself above every so-called God or object of worship. He'll actually call himself God. The 16th fact and Verse 20 is he'll be larger than the other horns. No world leader will come close to the magnitude of this one. Now I find something interesting here, ladies and gentlemen, that has just come to light in my thinking. He starts out as a little horn, which means when he initially rises to power, he's not one of the big political players. In other words, when he originally surfaces, he's not like a Tony Blair, or a President Bush, or a Mr. Putin, or perhaps even a Mr. Chirac, or a Mr. Gorbachev. Those are big name world players. He starts out as a little horn. It's somebody that's in the backdrop. It's somebody that you would never suspect. He starts small, but he will end up the ultimate satanic monster. The 17th fact is he'll wage war with God's people and overpower them. During the first half of the Tribulation, he'll go after anybody who's trusted Jesus Christ shortly after the Rapture. During the second half of the Tribulation, he's going to search out every single Jew all over the world. In fact, Zechariah predicts that only one-third of the Jews will survive when the Antichrist is in power. The 18th fact is he will devour the whole world. He will have unlimited geographical power and resources. And I want you to notice from verse 17, these great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings. He is a king. This is critical. Because what he's established is a dictatorial kingship of the world. This is not an elected president who's interested in some form of democracy. What's going to exist when the Antichrist reigns will not be a democracy in which the people rule. And at that point in time, it's not even going to be a theocracy in which God is ruling. It's going to be a satanic dictatorial monarchy in which the Antichrist is ruling the world. The 19th fact is he will arise again by subduing three kings. That point is brought up again in verse 24 that he's going to subdue these three kings. We come back to this point because God's saying, I want you to get this in your minds. This is what will show you who he is. He's one of the ten powers. He's going to take over three of those ten powers. And that's what shows you initially his identity. The 20th fact is he will speak out against God. He'll start out by saying things that are just a little off, just a little contrary to the Word of God. They're not sound in doctrine, they're not sound in thought. He'll end up turning against God. 21, he will stamp out God's people. And again, notice how God keeps coming back to this. Here's his goal. He's trying to rid the world of anything connected to God because Jesus Christ is coming back to reign and he knows it. The 22nd fact is he will be the law of the world for three and a half years. It's identified in Revelation as 1260 days or 42 months is none other than three and a half years. That's how long this Antichrist is going to have the peak of his power. He will be the law of the world for three and a half years. It's interesting that when you see this, God is still sovereign and still time regulating this man. And when the time of his three and a half years is over, he's going to come back and cast him right into eternal fire. The 23rd fact is God will judge him and destroy him. That's what you learned there in verse 26. He will be annihilated and destroyed forever. His power and his existence will be brought down by God. So just prior to Christ reigning, God's going to bring him down. Now the fourth text I want you to turn to is Daniel chapter 8. And I want you to see verses 23 to 25. Daniel chapter 8. verses 23 to 25 we read in the latter period of their rule when the transgressors have run their course a king will arise insolent and skilled in intrigue his power will be mighty but not by his own power and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will He will destroy mighty men and the holy people, and through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence, and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the prince of princes, but will be broken without human agency." Now there are 11 more facts that we learn about this guy right here. Fact number one, he is insolent. That's what verse 23 says. This king will arise who's insolent. That means he's a guy who loves to fight. I had a friend who, before he came to faith in Jesus Christ, loved to do this on a Friday night. He told me, I used to like to go into a bar, pick out the biggest guy, get in a fight with him. He usually would end up in jail. He came to faith in Jesus Christ. God turned his life around. He's back in the same city. He has an amazing relationship with the police department. They stand in awe of what God has done in his life. But he only liked to go one-on-one against another guy. The Antichrist is going to want to fight the whole world. He's an insolent man. He's going to go to war against the whole world. Secondly, It is said he'll be skilled in intrigue. Now what that means is this guy's going to have a high IQ. During World War I, psychological tests became an important part of life to try to determine the emotional stability of a soldier. So in 1943, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was developed. And by the late 1980s, 700 true-false questions were developed to try to measure a person's IQ. Then colleges came up with an SAT test with its maximum 2,400 points, which the state of Michigan right now is toying with giving to its high school students. And they also came up with the AC test, which has a maximum of 36 points. Those two exams are designed to try and tell scholastic people whether or not a student has the scholastic aptitude to make it in college. The Antichrist will have an IQ that is off the charts. If you tested him, he will test brilliant. In fact, the very number that we'll see two weeks from tonight connected to him, 666, is just shy of the divine trinity number 777, which means he will be the smartest man the world has ever seen. He will have a brilliant mind capable of solving difficult crisis problems, and the first problem he'll solve when he comes to power will be the Mideast mess. The third fact that's brought out in this text is he will have unusual power, not his own. He will be directly empowered by Satan himself. Satan will take up residency in this man. It will be Satan who will be possessing him and using him. This will be the ultimate satanic man. And I want you to notice, ladies and gentlemen, how the ultimate satanic man looks. He's respectable. He's political. He's successful. He's smart. He's an entrepreneur. This is not a guy burning candles, using weird words and wearing pentagons. This is a man who looks sharp to the world. The fourth fact is he will be unusually destructive. He will destroy things at a very unusual level. He's a destructive person. Now we gasp at destructive people and destructive programs. When Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma, when Islamic radical fanatics flew jet airplanes into the towers of New York, we were devastated and we wept. And who of us have not shed tears? When we listen to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust share their heart-wrenching stories, we cry. Those same kinds of things will make the Antichrist happy. He's the kind of guy who will glory in destruction. He'll love it. The bigger the destruction, the better for him. In fact, he will be unusually destructive. The fifth fact is he will be very prosperous. He will prosper in everything that he has and everything that he does. No person on earth will be able to stop his prosperity. He'll say that's the proof that he's right. That's the proof that he's blessed because he's so prosperous. The sixth fact, he'll destroy God's people. Now next week, when we're tracking through the New Testament text, Jesus says something about him. If his time were not regulated, none of the elect would be saved. That's how ruthless this diabolical agent will be. If God did not regulate the time of his existence, he would kill anything related to God. He will be the most evil tyrant to ever live. The seventh fact is he will be a skilled liar who can deceive the whole world. A skilled liar, deceptive. He'll be able to look at cameras and face people and he'll look to be a caring man who wants peace and safety and prosperity for all when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Now we're seeing right now what lying can do. We've just brought a nut back from Taiwan, and they're trying to figure out whether or not he's even telling the truth, or whether or not he's lying about JonBenet Ramsey. When the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped and killed back in 1932, before Richard Haltman was caught and convicted and executed in 1936, police said that 200 people came forward and confessed they did it. The police said, we knew most of them were lying. We could just tell by what they were saying that they were lying. The Antichrist will be such a skilled liar that nobody will have any idea he is lying. He'll be able to pass any polygraph test in the world. And the normal indicators that you would expect to see in a liar, such as rapid pulse or dilated pupils, will not be detectable in this one because he'll be so skilled as a liar. The eighth fact is he'll elevate himself in his own heart. People will not initially see or detect this. He won't tell people initially, I want you to worship me, but that's where it'll end. The ninth fact is he'll destroy many who think they are secure. Especially those who are in Israel will think he is their friend. You see, he will have allowed them to regather and regroup and worship. He will appear to be Israel's friend when in all reality, this Antichrist is her worst enemy. The tenth fact is he will oppose the Prince of Princes. He will oppose Jesus Christ, his name is fitting, against Christ, anti-Christ. And the eleventh fact is he will be destroyed but not by any human means. No human can bring this one down. He's possessed by Satan. This one will be brought down by Jesus Christ himself. Now the fifth text is Daniel chapter 9 and verse 27. There are two key facts I want you to see from verse 27 in Daniel chapter 9. The Antichrist, beginning at verse 27, he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and grain offering, and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate. There are two very important realities brought out here about the Antichrist. Number one, at the beginning of the tribulation period, he's going to make a covenant with Israel at the beginning of that seven-year period, and part of that covenant will sanction her worship of God. He's going to pretend to have a real caring interest for the Israeli people. He'll pretend that he's a real friend of the Jews. It's all a big lie. His heart's goal is to kill them. but he will make a peace treaty with them, and they're going to, for the most part, buy into it and believe him. But the second fact that's brought out there is in the middle of that thing, he's going to put a stop to that worship. In the middle of the seven-year tribulation, he's going to demand that that worship be stopped. He will set himself up in the temple and demand that he be worshipped. That's the abomination being referred to here. That's what Jesus said when he said, when you see that abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet, you get out of Jerusalem as quick as you can. Because this Antichrist is going to be there and about to turn vicious against the Jew. Now the final text I want to show you from the Old Testament tonight is in the 11th chapter verses 36 to 45. Now from this passage, there are 10 facts I want to draw to your attention. First of all, he will do as he pleases all over the world. Look at verse 36. Then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself among every god and will speak monstrous things against the god of gods. And he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. He will do as he pleases all over the world, concerning himself no restraints. Whatever he wants to do, he will do. He will do what he pleases concerning God. He'll blaspheme the true God. He will do as he pleases concerning prosperity. He'll take what he wants and he will flourish in any way he wants. The second fact that's brought out about him is he'll show no regard for anybody himself. Notice verse 37. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god, for he will magnify himself above them all. He'll show no regard for anybody himself. When he says he'll show no regard for the gods of his fathers, apparently he's going to be raised in a religious home. He'll probably have been taught you respect religions. He won't respect any religion. The only thing he'll respect is himself. The text also says he'll show no regard for women. That means a couple of things. It means that he's going to kill women. He'll stamp out them. It won't matter to them if they're pregnant, according to what we're taught in Matthew 24. In fact, Jesus warns, I hope a woman's not pregnant when this Antichrist surfaces, but that won't stop him. And it's also possible he's a homosexual. He has no regard for women at all. That would not surprise me in light of what's happening right now in the world, people trying to figure out who should marry whom. A third thing that will show us that he has no regard for anybody but himself is he'll magnify himself, he'll deify himself even above God. Now the third fact that's brought out about him is he'll worship war. Look at verse 38, but instead he will honor a God of fortresses. The Antichrist is going to worship war. That is his God. He loves war. He loves killing. Now other political leaders have gone to war, but this one worships it. It was said of Alexander the Great that when he had conquered the world as he knew it, and there were no more worlds for him to conquer, he cried. Just emotional about that. The Antichrist is not going to run out of things to conquer. He'll wage war against more and more and more because that's his God. The fourth fact is he will go to war against the strongest of military powers. Verse 39, he will take action against the strongest of fortresses. This Antichrist is not going to be intimidated by the military of the United States. This Antichrist is not going to be intimidated by Russia or any military power. The bigger the better will be his philosophy. He will honor those who follow him. He'll support them. He'll restructure the world. In fact, the verse tells us that he will parcel out land for a price. so those people that are on his side he's gonna give portions of the world to and say there that's your land you can have it the fifth fact is he'll be attacked from a king of the south and north verse 40 says and at the end time the king of the south will collide with him and the king of the north will storm against him with chariots and horsemen and with many ships and he will enter countries overflow them and pass through now just to the south of the promised land is Egypt and just to the north is Syria and Lebanon. And I do not believe that this is any coincidence that the problems in Lebanon are happening right now before our eyes because this stage is being set right now for the future hostilities that are going to play right into the hands of the Antichrist. More than likely, eventually, those two powers that are Arab powers, Egypt and Lebanon, are ultimately going to move against Israel. And because the Antichrist entered into a priest's treaty with her, Arab fanatics are going to probably try to destroy Israel and take Israel. And he's going to move right into the land, which is the next point. He will ultimately move into the promised land of Israel. Verse 41, He will also enter the beautiful land. He'll move into the beautiful land. That's Israel. When the Antichrist learns that there are Arab forces moving into Israel's land, he's going to take his European headquarters and move it right into Israel and make that his base of operations. Now some have argued based on this that the Antichrist must be Jewish in order to be able to move into a land and be received by the Jews, but that's not true. Because he entered into a peace agreement with Israel, he allowed them to worship. Maybe he even tore down the dome of the rock and said, put your temple up and worship. I don't care what the Arab powers think. She probably is going to welcome him into her land with open arms. And there have been those who are non-Jewish who've been welcomed into Israel's land. For example, Oskar Schindler. There is a memorial that has his name on it. He's honored by Jews today for helping them during the time of the Holocaust. And in the last couple of weeks, it's been an eerie thing to see those UN vehicles in the Middle East trying to stop the problems between Israel and Lebanon. The European Union just voted to put 15,000 soldiers on the border between Lebanon and Israel. There's military movement that's happening right now. It's taking shape for the rise of this Antichrist. The seventh fact is he will go to war against other countries, but he'll be based in Israel. Verse 42, then he will stretch out his hand against other countries. He'll use Israel as his base. He starts in Europe, goes to Israel. He starts launching out against other countries. He'll meet his end in Israel. The eighth fact is he'll gain control over the treasuries of many Arab nations, verse 43, but he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. I want to tell you he's initially going to incite many Arab nations and that probably will cement his relationship with the Israelis. They'll think he's a great guy because he's out there just running through Arab lands and taking what he wants. Israel will be duped in believing that the Antichrist is her friend when in all reality he's out to destroy her. The ninth fact is he will learn of rumors of major powers moving against him, verse 44, but rumors from the east and from the north will disturb him and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. Probably he's going to hear people from China and India are starting to move. There's a lot of military practices that are taking place right now between Russia and China. And if it's a power from the East and a power from the North, and it's coming down to this part of the world, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that you have China that starts to move from the East, you have Russia starting to move from the North, So he goes right back to Israel and he's prepared to fight, which brings us to the final fact. Verse 45, he'll pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain, yet he will come to his end and no one will help him. He's going to set himself up in Jerusalem in the temple. He will demand that he's worshipped as God, but ultimately he'll be executed by God. These are 52 facts about the Antichrist that you can count on happening. Now of course one logical question that I would ask in view of this is why would God permit this power crazed satanic madman to even come into existence? Why would he allow him to rise to power? Well there's an answer in Ezekiel 39. I'd like you to go there tonight. That's where we'll close this. Ezekiel 39. Just go left in your Bibles a few pages to Ezekiel. Ezekiel 39. And verse 21, I shall set my glory among the nations and all the nations will see my judgment which I've executed in my hand which I've laid on them and the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward. The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against me and I hid my face from them so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries and all of them fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions, I dealt with them and I hid my face from them. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, now I shall restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I shall be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against me when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of many nations." God said, I'll tell you why. I'm going to let this guy come to power. I'm gonna let him have a ruthless existence over my people Israel because she acted treacherously against me. When did she do that? When she killed his son. You see, God sent his son to Israel to be her king. God sent this one to Israel to give her land, to give her a kingdom. The Antichrist fulfills a role in that he's part of filling up the indignation and wrath of God because he came unto his own and his own received him not. They rejected him and ultimately were responsible for nailing him to a cross. See, if you reject Jesus Christ, In any dispensation, whether it be in the economy of the Old Testament or the Church Age, you become the recipient of the wrath of God. God permitted his son to come to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of Israel and for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He took on the form of a human body. He went to the cross. He took our sin. He bore God's wrath against our sin. But if you reject him, you experience the wrath of God. And that's why the Antichrist is going to be permitted to come into existence. But ladies and gentlemen, if you reject Jesus Christ, You too will be the recipient of the wrath of God. That's the way it works. But if you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will enjoy freedoms in this life. You never have to worry about seeing the Antichrist. You never have to worry about experiencing the wrath of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're the freest person in the world. May we pray. If you're here tonight and you've never trusted Christ as Savior, right now in this moment, You can take care of that by simply praying something like this, God, I know I'm a sinner, I acknowledge it. I thank you that Jesus Christ came here to be my savior. And right now I invite him into my life. Father, we are grateful for your precious word. We believe things are stirring right now in the Middle East and in Europe, this European Union that is setting the stage for the very things we've seen here tonight. I pray that we would be people who would be found faithfully living our lives for you. I pray that we would not be fearful, but faithful. And I pray we would use the knowledge that we have to defend the truth and be stable in our witness for thee. For anything you've accomplished here tonight that's been of you, we thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.