Click on above link to read the article on Doug Hamp's Website (with pictures)
By Douglas Hamp
Researcher and Teacher of God's Word From Creation to the End Times
Published April 18, 2012
By Douglas
In Daniel chapter 8, Daniel sees a vision of Alexander the Great coming and attacking with great velocity the Medo Persian Empire. In the vision, Alexander is represented as a male goat: “the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven,” (Daniel 8:8).
The angel explains that out of the one, four come up. We know that after Alexander’s death his four generals took over the Empire. We of course need to keep in mind that behind each of these kingdoms is a spiritual ruler, per Daniel 10. Nevertheless, out of one of the horns would come Antiochus IV (Epiphanes): “And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. (Daniel 8:9).
Thomas Constable in his commentary states “almost all scholars recognize that Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled what Gabriel predicted in these verses (cf. 1 Maccabees. 1:10).” He notes that many students of the verses in question “have noticed striking similarities between Antiochus Epiphanes as described here and another political leader predicted to appear in the future.” He concludes that he (and other students of Daniel) take the verses to be prophetic of Antiochus and the Antichrist.
It seems that Antiochus did on a smaller scale what Antichrist will do on a larger one. Apparently in the much later period of the rule of these kings, namely, the end times, transgressors will have run their course even more completely. The Antichrist will oppose the Prince of princes, God the Son, who will break him without human agency (Ps. 2; Rev. 19:19-20).[i]
Thus we conclude as well that the passage of Daniel 8 was true in many aspects of Antiochus IV but will be completely fulfilled through the person of the Antichrist. The little horn, in Daniel 8:9, therefore, is the same horn as in Daniel 7:7. We then continue reading concerning this little horn:
And it grew up [vatigdal וַתִּגְדַּ֖ל] to the host [tzevah צְבָ֣א] of heaven; and it cast down some of the host [tzavah צָּבָ֥א] and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered, (Daniel 8:10-12).
The Hebrew[ii] word vatigdal (וַתִּגְדַּ֖ל) comes from the lexical form gadal (גּדל) meaning to “grow up, become great, to be magnified”. The idea is that the Little Horn goes from a lesser state to a greater state. He becomes so great that he even grows up to the angelic/demonic realm which the Bible commonly refers to as the “host of heaven.” The host of heaven refers to the army of heaven – which is to say the angelic and/or demonic host. However, the word “host” simply means “army”, which refers to either human or angelic/demonic. We first note that God is commonly referred to as YHWH tzevaoth (LORD of hosts/armies).
Isaiah 34:2-3 states that: “For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; Their stench shall rise from their corpses, And the mountains shall be melted with their blood,” (Isaiah 34:2,3). We then find this contrasted in the next two verses with the host of heaven – which is referring to the demonic armies (which we learned about in Daniel chapter 10).
All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment, (Isaiah 34:4,5).
On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished, (Isaiah 24:21-22).
Angels as Stars
The next phrase of Daniel 8:10, reiterates and expands upon that with a parallel statement that he will cast some of the host and stars down to the ground. Scripture frequently refers to angels as stars. We know that it must not be referring to what we call stars today i.e. burning balls of gas in space for that would require him to move many of them and of course the entire earth and all therein would be instantly dissolved. In the book of Job, stars represent angels where the term “morning stars” is in parallel with “sons of God”, which we have already studied in depth: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7). This same imagery is used of Lucifer himself in Isaiah 14:12-13:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north,’ (Isaiah 14:12, 13).
Likewise in Revelation 12:4, 7 the dragon took a third of the stars with him to the ground which we see in verse seven is a reference to angels.
His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. […] And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, (Revelation 12:4, 7).
The reason angels are so often referred to as stars is because they literally shine. We can see this proven when the disciples went to the tomb and found Jesus’ body missing. They were visited by two men in shining garments (Luke 24:4) – the word used to describe the “shining” garments is astrapto (ἀστράπτω) which is the same linguistic root as a “star” – that is just as a star shines, so too do the garments of angels. Thus, we see graphically why the angels are referred to as stars occasionally in the Bible.
Exalted to the Heavenly Host
Next we note that this king will be exalted as high as the prince of the host (sar-hatzavah שַׂר־הַצָּבָא). This could be a reference to Michael, who is referred to as the chief prince (sar שַׂר) though it could also refer to the Lord Jesus. In any event, this king will be exalted[iii] or will exalt himself up to the spiritual realm. Again, the impression is that this king somehow goes through a transformation from a lower state to a higher state. The angel then gives the interpretation of this coming king.
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; Therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future. (Daniel 8:23-26).
The keys aspects of this coming king as seen in the vision and the interpretation of the vision given by the angel are the following:
Therefore the composite we draw is that this person will be exalted though not by his own power to the level of the demonic realm (the stars, host, and horns). He will share some common features with the horns (demons), first of all because he is known as the little horn. Secondly, he will rise up to the host of heaven and will even cast down some of the host and some of the stars (demons). Therefore, we see that the man will rise up to the level of demons; he will become part horn, which we have seen, is demonic. Therefore, he will be a hybrid which points us back to Genesis 3:15 where we saw that Satan’s seed will become the Antichrist (Beast). The man known as the beast will take on the DNA (seed of Satan) and will go from being a regular human and will become a hybrid (Nephilim).
Son of Perdition
End times researcher Tom Horn reaches a similar conclusion that the Antichrist/Beast will be the progeny of the demonic realm based on his reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:3. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition [apoleia],” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). He notes that Greek word apoleia (perdition) is the same root as Apollyon/Apollo all of which mean “perdition” or “destruction.” Horn states:
Antichrist will be the progeny or incarnation of the ancient spirit, “Apollo.” Numerous scholarly and classical works identify “Apollyon” as the god “Apollo”—the Greek deity “of death and pestilence,” and Webster’s Dictionary points out that “Apollyon” was a common variant of “Apollo” until recent history.
Revelation 17:8 also ties the coming of Antichrist with Apollo, revealing that the ‘Beast’ shall ascend from the bottomless pit and enter him. “The Beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, and go into perdition [Apolia, Apollo]: and they that dwell on the Earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the Beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Revelation 17:8).
Abaddon is another name for Apollo (Rev. 9:11), identified historically as the king of demonic “locusts” (Revelation 9:1-11). This means among other things that Apollo is the end-times angel or “King of the Abyss” that opens the bottomless pit, out of which an army of transgenic locusts erupts upon earth.[iv]
Horn’s idea has tremendous merit and would appear to corroborate the evidence that we have examined concerning Genesis 3:15. Thus, if the linguistic connection is correct,[v] then the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to confirm the Genesis 3:15 prophecy, thereby further substantiating that the Antichrist/Beast will be a hybrid or the ultimate Nephilim.
We conclude therefore that the little horn (Antichrist/Beast) will begin as a man and then become the genetic son of Satan. It is important to note that he will begin as a regular man: Though the Lord will use him to in part judge the world, he was not predestined to be the Antichrist but he will choose to become a hybrid (Nephilim) with Satan to fulfill his purposes.[vi] He will have free choice all the way until the Lord Jesus returns to destroy him. We know that he begins as a man from several clues in Scripture:
The beast rises out of the sea (Revelation 13:1).
Waters (like sea) are defined as peoples multitudes, nations, and tongues (Rev 17:15).
Satan gives or bestows his power and authority to him (Revelation 13:2).
He demonstrates that he is a god in 2 Thessalonians, thereby suggesting that he needs to prove it because he was not always so.
The ten horns which are ten kings receive authority and then give it to the Beast. We recall that Satan would give all of his power and authority to the Beast – thus the horns/kings (demon kings) receive authority from Satan and then give it to the Beast (who did not begin as a hybrid).
Satan will give all of his authority and power to this individual but just what would cause Satan to give anyone all of his authority, his throne, and his power? Conservative scholars frequently refer to the unholy trinity wherein the role of the Father is Satan, the role of the Son is the Antichrist, and the role of the Holy Spirit is the False Prophet. However, rather than this unholy trinity merely being a relationship of mutual interest, the Antichrist (the argument could be made for the False Prophet as well) will in fact share genetic information with Satan and thus will truly be the son of Satan.
Therefore, just as God the Father committed all authority to Jesus (“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” Matthew 28:18), who is of like substance to the Father (homoousios), in like manner will the Antichrist be given all authority and power of his father and he will take on Satan’s traits.
The coming of the [lawless one] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9)
The dragon gave him [the Beast] his power, his throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the Beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who [is] like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4)
Nevertheless, we are left with the question of how this could be. If our conclusion is correct, then just how could Satan mingle his seed with a grown man? The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was truly one of the greatest miracles in the Bible – even today the concept of the virgin birth is just too much of a stretch of the imagination for many people. How then could Satan perform that same miracle? Just as with the many plagues in Egypt Satan was able to empower the Egyptian magicians so that they could mimic the miracles, so too Satan will mimic the virgin birth. However, as we have discovered, no woman is necessary for this genetic transfer.
Therion
The fact that the Antichrist is referred to as the Beast (exclusively in Revelation) ought to cause us to pause and consider that this person will not be an average human. The Greek word for beast is therion (θηρίον) and according to the Liddell Scott Jones Classical Greek Lexicon, it generally means an animal as opposed to men and a “beast, esp. as hostile and odious to man; monster, creature, of sharks.” Aristotle used the word to signify “either above or below the nature of man.”[vii]
Lastly, in Sophocles’ Ichneutae the term therion (θηρίον) was used to refer to mythological creatures known as satyrs, which according the Encyclopedia Mythica “are deities of the woods and mountains. They are half human and half beast; they usually have a goat’s tail, flanks and hooves. While the upper part of the body is that of a human, they also have the horns of a goat.”[viii]Though the Beast in Scripture may not be classified as a satyr, the usage of the word to describe a human-like entity is extremely significant – that is, the Antichrist will not be fully human and today we have the technology to make this happen. We will look at the technology that makes this possible in the next post in this series.
[i] Constable Daniel 8.
[ii] Only Daniel chapters 2-7 are in Aramaic, the rest of the book is in Hebrew.
[iii] The Hebrew text employs the hiphil form (stem, binyan) which is causative signifying that someone makes him great.
[iv] (Horn) http://www.newswithviews.com/Horn/thomas114.htm.
[v] I wanted to double check the linguistic association that Horn is making and after searching several lexicons and commentaries and not finding anything definitive, I decided to call to my Greek friend Costas (in Greece), to inquire if apoleia can be thought of as identical to Apollyon/Apollo. He replied that it is plausibly true though not an absolutely necessary relationship.
[vi] ”The LORD works [pa’al פָּעַל] everything for its own ends – even the wicked [rasha רָשָׁע] for the day of disaster,” (Proverbs 16:4 NET). This verse is commonly interpreted in a Calvinistic sense which is to say that God has predestined even the evil people for destruction (hell). We need to note that the word for “wicked” here is not in the plural (though that does appear in the Bible frequently) but is singular. This could also be translated “wicked one,” that is, the Antichrist. The same word is also used in Isaiah 11:4 in reference to whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His lips (just like 2 Thessalonians 2:8) – thus the verse is not speaking of God predestining some to eternal damnation but to how even the Antichrist (the Wicked One, the Lawless One) the Lord will use according to His own ends. The day of disaster is presumably the Great Tribulation.
[vii] Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon of Classical Greek θηρίον.
[viii] http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/satyrs.html.
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