Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Male): Right at the start, we see that he's only promoting himself. The king shall do according to his own will. This is the sign of a rebellious individual who does not want to submit himself to the authorities that God have brought. Such a contrast with Jesus.

Guest (Female): Jesus said, "I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things." What a comparison we have between the rebellious Antichrist, who would exalt himself above God, and Yeshua, divine yet submissive.

Yet on the subject of humility, we need to ask this question: Is it humble to ask that people follow our example, that they imitate our behavior? That is exactly what Paul spoke to the Corinthians: "Imitate me, as I imitate Messiah."

Guest (Male): Would you or I ever ask someone to follow our example? Why not, if we are in Messiah in our walk and we self-examine our motives daily? If we confess and get cleansed by God, why can't we be living examples to follow?

We must have a confidence in our own integrity, striving to lead a life that is holy, clean, and without fault. When Saul was chasing David, at some point, David turned to Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father that he seeks my life?"

David had integrity of heart. He knew there was no sin or iniquity that was attached to Saul's motive. Therefore, he was clean. Let's remember that David also asked at other times that the Lord would bring to the surface any secret sin so that he might confess it and be clean. The idea is it is not pride to set an example for others as long as all the glory goes to the Father, who by his grace enables us. If we honestly submit ourselves before God, we can with total humility set an example for others.

Guest (Female): What then should our attitude be in setting the example? 1 Peter 5:3 says, "Neither being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." We must have the right attitude of heart. This way, we grow in our responsibility to be tutors and trainers for others. As long as we are humble in our own self-evaluation, we can in that humility ask others to be imitators of our behavior. And there would be no pride in that.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Shalom Ariel and welcome to our continued study in the book of Daniel with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in and shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: And see how else the spirit describes Antiochus, who represents all pretenders. He will seize the kingdom by intrigue, that is through lies, through falsehood, and eventually through force. We're told in verse 23 that he will practice deception, for he only wants distraction. We're told in verse 32 that it will be by smooth words and flattery, very charismatic by the way.

And we are told who he is really. Back in verse 22, we're told that he will break away the prince of the covenant. Here it's referring to the high priest at the temple, but it goes further because the true prince of the covenant is Jesus, because they are after him. In verse 28, we're told that his heart will be set against the holy covenant, that is the scriptures, the word, the promises of God for Israel and for us. These are not yet fulfilled. God is still fulfilling his promises.

However, Antiochus IV's dominion will be short. It says at the end of verse 24, but only for a time. And we know how long that was. In chapter eight, it says 2,300 days. They knew exactly how long it would be. His end came when the ships of Kittim came into Egypt, just like verse 30 tells us. That is the Romans.

This is the Roman Empire when the Roman Empire began to rise. Who is Kittim in the table of the nation? In Genesis 10:4, Kittim is from Japheth, the son of Javan. Javan is from where the Greeks come from. So Greek and Romans are cousins. This is why the rabbis understood the kingdom of Greece and the kingdom of Rome as being just one kingdom.

And so the story goes that when Antiochus invaded Egypt, the Roman fleet came to Egypt and they asked him not to attack Egypt, but to leave the land. So Antiochus asked for a time to deliberate with his advisors, but the Roman leader, Popillius, drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and ordered him to summon his counselors and deliberate right now on the spot.

And he said if he stepped out of this circle without having agreed to return to Israel, the Roman officer would declare war. Antiochus backed down and went home, that is he went to Israel. Imagine he was so furious, and there he came to Israel. Look at verse 30 what it says: "Therefore he shall be grieved and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. And he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant."

This is what Israel inherited from this man. But do you see that from the beginning how a war between two generals degenerated into a war against Israel? Do you see how Israel was? There's a principle that Paul tells us in Romans 2:9: "Tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile."

Because of the holy covenant, the demonic forces will make sure that Israel always found herself surrounded with tribulations. This is why they are so few today. 15 million, less than half a percent of world population. And yet they are all against them. Why? Because of the spiritual aspect of all this.

The word "tribulation" in here conveys the idea of distress and oppression. This word means literally to press, to squash. And the other word "anguish" speaks of hardship and difficulty. This is what they were going through. This is what I believe they're going through and they will go through this until Jesus comes back.

This is why Paul went as far as saying in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." Today, I want to tell you it's almost forbidden to even suggest to go to the Jew first. They say, "Why should we go to the Jew first when it is not time to go to the Jew first?"

But if you don't want to go to the Jew first, go at least to one Jew, right? Paul, who was a Jew, he's called an apostle to the Gentiles. So why not go to at least one Jew? For so many avoid the Jews. I have seen it in Montreal. Maybe there are other churches who go to the Jews, but I don't know that. I think we're the only one.

Why is that? There are 100,000 Jews in here. They don't go to them either because they think they are saved or that they know more than they do, or just because they dislike them. If every Christian Gentile spoke to only one Jew in their lifetime, the Jews would be over-evangelized. But they are far from it. They need to hear the gospel, especially these days.

History tells us that Antiochus became insane and died in Persia. However, Josephus says that he fell from an elephant and died. In any case, death for evil men cannot be a good experience. This is when we reach verse 36, where the battle moves from earth back to the heavenlies. There is the introduction of another king. This one is the Antichrist.

From this point on, we are entering the last part of the book. I'll give you a bird's-eye view of the rest of Daniel. You have the rise of the Antichrist. We're going to see it from verse 36 to 39. In chapter 11, Armageddon is described in verses 40 to 45. The persecution and deliverance of the Jews are in chapter 12. Then verse two is the resurrection. Then verse three is the millennium. We're going to see some beautiful things, and the rest is more advice from God.

Some object and say that it's not the Antichrist that is spoken of in this part of Daniel, but the same Antiochus that is described. That is today's majority of views. But this is a new approach. I want to tell you, for from the very beginning, it was believed to be the Antichrist. Even the Church Fathers understood that.

Jerome, the second-century Bible commentator, wrote, "We too understand this refers to the Antichrist." And he quotes Paul saying that "he shall sit in the temple of God and shall make himself to be like God." Jerome expected the temple to be rebuilt because it wasn't there at his time.

Another one, Theodore of Mopsuestia, a pastor in Antioch in the second century, wrote, "These prophecies do not fit Antiochus in the least, but rather the archetype of Antiochus, referring to the Antichrist." Even rabbinical commentary understood the cut in the text. One of them, Ibn Ezra, thought that this king was Constantine, who gave rise to the Catholic Church who persecuted the Jews through this last 2,000 years. And they believed that the Messiah would come to deliver them from him.

Others have seen the Pope. But the most original, I have to tell you, is someone who said that it's Prince Charles. I don't really know how they got to this one. I think the Antichrist will be a little more charismatic. Now let us now see the description of this world leader that is described in verse 36 to 38. I believe he's alive and well on this earth right now and waiting to be revealed. Everything is ready. I think he's here.

"Then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god. He shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the god of his father nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above them all. But in their place, he shall honor a god of fortress. And a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things."

Right at the start, we see that he's only promoting himself. The king shall do according to his own will. This is the sign of a rebellious individual who does not want to submit himself to the authorities that God has brought. Such a contrast with Jesus. Do you remember what Jesus said? "I do nothing of myself, but as a Father taught me, I speak these things." This is the king of kings who's speaking to give us an example.

Furthermore, the Antichrist shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, including and especially the God of Israel. This is Satan personified who said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God" in Isaiah 14. He is the creature wanting to be superior to his creator.

We're told that he will blaspheme against God. Blaspheming is the loser's last resort. This same fallen angel in Matthew 4 asked Jesus to worship him during the temptation. He misread Yeshua's weakness and thought he was stronger. Evil blinds. At that point, Jesus told him to get away from him, Satan, and Satan could not but obey and depart. That was his chance to show his power over Jesus, but he had to obey the command and he left.

In verse 37 to 38, we're told that he has no god but the god of fortress. You know what that is? The god of war. Fortress, Ma'oz, which means domination, for he will use force and cause many wars. And this is what he will do, for we read in Revelation 13:4 people say, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" So violent he would be.

He also says in verse 37 that he will not have the desire of women. What does that mean? That's not easy to figure out, and interpretations abound. Since we can read this passage as he has no desire for women, many believe that he will be a homosexual. Maybe, but how relevant is this information?

Another popular one has to do with tradition, the tradition with Jewish women. There's a custom which says that at first pregnancy, if it's a boy, a Jewish woman had that wish that her firstborn is the Messiah. So by saying that he has no desire of women, they read it to say that he has no desire for the Messiah. Clever, maybe true, but it's a little stretch.

Guest (Female): Don't go away. We'll be right back with the second half of our program coming up just after this message. As we wind up for the second part of our program today, we would like to remind our listeners how blessed and privileged we feel to be part of your radio day. We pray that the messages you hear will instruct you, edify you, and encourage you to love the Lord more and follow him into obedience in even greater ways.

We are all changed by the challenges and transformed by the trials of life. And as we walk them together, we keep looking up to him who is mighty to break down the walls of Jericho that stand before us and to hand over to us the spiritual victories in life. Yeshua has broken down the greatest barrier, the greatest wall that has separated us from God the Father.

Thank you, listeners, for joining us in prayer and in financial support for this ministry. If you have it on your heart to give to this ministry, then you can by logging on to our congregation website at bethariel.ca. And if God leads you to contribute from the treasures that God has blessed you with for the continuation of this radio ministry, shalom, shalom as we begin part two of today's program.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Behind this massive amount of information, what we're told is that God will never leave us uninformed, never leave us to ourselves. He said a great passage, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servant the prophets." Want to know about the future? It's in the scriptures. Go dig and you'll find out.

Guest (Female): What stage are you at with your children? Have you just sent them off to daycare, elementary school, high school, college, or university? Some of you might have already sent them off in marriage with your blessings. Once you send them off in marriage, once that arrow is released from the quiver, your job is not to be with them in the same way that you once were.

We cannot be with them every moment, but as a child of God, he releases the arrow into this direction or that one, and then he will follow through with us. He is always by our side.

Guest (Male): While we should not promise our children to always provide for them, God will always provide for us. We cannot be there every moment of the day with our children, but our Abba promises to always lead us. And that is especially felt in bad times when the enemy puts fear into our hearts that we are alone in our trial.

Oh, how much power the word of God has to strengthen our confidence and dissipate our fears. And how much will these tribulation saints need to hear and appreciate these promises.

Guest (Female): From Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes before you. He will not leave you or forsake you." And for Romans 8:38 to 39, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Messiah Yeshua our Lord."

So let's remember that God's promises don't mean that we will not suffer trials, but these promises serve to be an anchor for our soul, keeping our trials in full view of God's total sovereignty over everything. And it is his will that we are seeking to be completed in our lives. We might not see his full and perfect will right now, but God promises to carry us all the way there.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Shalom Ariel and welcome to our continued study in the book of Daniel with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in and shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Let us try to understand these words through the context. See that between verse 36 to 38, it focuses on his unbelief and mentions many gods. He did not believe in the God of his fathers, it says, and in the desire of women, nor regard any god. He will honor a god of fortress, that is war, a god whom his fathers did not know. And it says a foreign god.

The text speaks of his belief or more the belief of himself only, because I think he will despise completely religion. And right with these things we have the desire of women. Is there then a religious element here since it is put in the midst of the other gods? In the context of the end times, these women may represent the religious system of the end times, which is spoken of as the mother of harlot and the abomination of the earth in Revelation 17, whom the Antichrist actually, we are told, will kill her.

Revelation 17 is religious Babylon, the woman, and Revelation 18 is political Babylon, himself. And he kills her at the end. The woman then could represent the religious system of the time. Furthermore, we read about the 144,000, it says, "the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins." This speaks of the religious purity in their case.

In the scriptures, idolatry is often compared to adultery. These were religiously pure, and women would represent world religions. For the Antichrist, he dislikes religion in its utmost. And all of these things tell us that he would be a hardened atheist and will look only to himself. That is atheism's contribution to the world history, the Antichrist.

His god is only force, violence, war. He believes in no one but himself. He is the ultimate unbeliever. He is the atheist Messiah. Beginning with verse 40, this willful king will go to war. From this point until the end of the chapter, we have 14 references of the thing he does. The pronouns he, him, his are mentioned 14 times as it speaks of carnages.

Verse 40 we read that he fights the king of the South and the king of the North. Here the geography changes. While the king of the South remains Egypt, the king of the North is now too powerful to be Syria, for since then and even today it is weak and divided. The king of the North is further North, or as Ezekiel says, the uttermost North and speaks of Rosh, whom we know as Russia, with many nations with him, of whom Turkey and Iran, who today are looking to unite against the forces of the West and Israel.

See Daniel speaks of our time today as well. He tells us who will be with Russia, Iran, and Turkey. In verse 33, he says Egypt will. And with Egypt, you have the Libyans and the Ethiopians. They will follow at his heels. Eventually, this gathering of nations will attack the West represented by the Antichrist. At first, they would lose the war, and this will give the opportunity for the Antichrist to enter the land of Israel as we read in verse 41.

"He shall also enter the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown," that is by war. This is when he will sit in the temple and proclaim himself as God. From being an atheist, he becomes god by the way. Maybe this is what all atheists want at the end, they want to become god.

But see who is with the Antichrist at this time in verse 41. "But these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon." That is the West Bank of Israel where you have the West Bank and Jordan. They will eventually invade Israel with the Antichrist.

This is what Yeshua said. You know what Yeshua said when these things happen. He said in Mark 13, "When you see the abomination of desolation," that is when the Antichrist enters the temple and sits as God. He says when this thing happens spoken by the Daniel the prophet, "Get out. Get out of Judah, go to the mountains."

This is what Daniel is speaking about. This is when the Antichrist enters the temple, and these things will not last. We read in verse 44 of another power coming in the area. "But news from the East and the North shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go out with great fury and destroy, annihilate many."

This must be in reference to the kings of the East John spoke about in Revelation 9 and Revelation 16. "And then the sixth angel poured out the bowl of the great river Euphrates and its waters were dried, and so that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared." These come from with a mighty army of 200 million soldiers. This is what John says. He says in Revelation 9:16, "I heard the number of them."

These things will lead to the final war of Armageddon. As we read in verse 44 of Daniel 11, "Therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many." So much so that Jesus said, "Unless those days were shortened, no flesh will be saved." This is how violent it would be.

See that when man is left to himself, he won't make it. Give him the earth and he won't make it at the end. The last verse of Daniel 11 tells us that the Antichrist will eventually make his capital in Jerusalem as to prevent the second coming. But at the end, it says, "He shall come to his end and no one will help him." No one will help him. That is the end of the story forever and ever. This is when Jesus comes back and establishes his kingdom.

Let me sum up the last six verses. The final wars begin in the middle of the tribulation, after three and a half years of the signing of the covenant, the times, times and half a time, like Daniel says, or 42 months, or 1,260 days. They begin with the king of the South, Egypt and the Arab countries and Africa, and perhaps the Gulf region along with the king of the North, Russia and its allies, and they will attack Israel.

At this time, the Antichrist will falsely come as if to rescue Israel with whom he would have a peace treaty. But it is false, and this events will allow him to enter the land and to establish himself there. At this time, the king of the East, the Asian nation will come. The Antichrist has good reasons to worry, and this is when the big wars will start.

All this is yet future and it's coming very soon. I believe Israel will be invaded. However, this will be the last suffering of this nation, for then the Messiah will come and as Paul says, "For if their fall is riches to the world and their failure riches to the Gentiles, how much more will be their fullness."

Even in their sins, in their rejection, persecution, suffering, we got the word of God. Now the best of Israel is yet to come. Paul's argument is if these nations have received the scripture of truth while Israel was in rebellion, imagine what you will receive when Israel will be established in the millennium. The best is yet to come.

To conclude, we have learned today about God's faithfulness. This is what comes out of this chapter. Behind this massive amount of information, what we're told is that God will never leave us uninformed, never leave us to ourselves. Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servant the prophets. Want to know about the future? It's in the scriptures. Go dig and you'll find out.

And we have so many prophecies for the end times. And as the believer of this difficult period of the 400 years had all these prediction, we have as many. I gave you at the beginning an illustration of a mother who seeing her child go, covers him with advice. However, when it comes to God, he goes with us. He is with us always.

He promised that he will never leave us. He is ever present as he says in Hebrews 13:5. He promises that he will be our shield. He's protecting us in Genesis 15:1. He promises us to give us power and might, as he did to the believers in Daniel chapter 11. He promises us that he will always provide for us, that he will always lead us. He is inside us. This is in Isaiah 41:10. He promises that he will always give us rest. The Shabbat, the divine Shabbat, is now available in Matthew 11:28. And he promises that he will always be faithful. He will never forsake us in 1 Samuel 12:22. These promises we should never forget. They are always there for us.

Now let's bow our head in prayer. I will begin with an ancient Jewish prayer.

Blessed are you, Lord God, and the God of our fathers, God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of Isaac, the God who is great, powerful, and revered, the God most high, the Lord of heaven and earth, our shield and the shield of our fathers, the God who increases our faithfulness. Blessed are you, O Lord, for you are the shield of Abraham. You are our shield. You are powerful, strong, living forever. You nourish the living and give life to the dead. Blessed are you, O Lord, for you bring the dead to life. You are holy and your name is to be revered.

And heavenly Father, we pray. I pray for this congregation. I pray that you will bless each and everyone. Give us the strength, give us the power that you promised for those who are seeking your knowledge. We are seeking you, Lord. We need your power. And to the congregation, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Amen. May the Lord bless you all.

Guest (Female): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel, nor will he renege any of the promises he has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal.

If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 1-888-685-5902 or you may write us at info@bethariel.ca. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Boulevard, corner of Madison in NDG.

The message is given in English, but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 AM. We have Shabbat school for children of all ages up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at bethariel.ca and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac.

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