The Short Reign of the Future Evil King
The last King in the real-life Game of Thrones
A king needs a kingdom.
In a real-life game of thrones, an evil king will take possession of a kingdom in a final conglomeration of kingdoms. The Bible forewarns of an evil king who will reign over ten weak rulers. His reign will be devastating, terrifying, and cruel. But his time in power will be short-lived.
At an appointed time, in mankind’s future, a mysterious figure known as the Antichrist will become king of a confederation of nations. Once he does, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will swat him out of power. The One and only True King, The Lord Jesus Christ will swat him like a bothersome fly before his reign reaches four years. This man and his rule are predicted in many Old and New Testament passages.
This passage, Daniel 7:11-14, gives a synopsis view of the last evil king who will reign over the world’s last empire. It’s good to know his time will be short because the world, literally, could not survive if his reign was any longer.
The evil King meets his successor
In his swift rise to power, the evil king will crush three leaders who oppose him and then assume leadership over a group of ten kingdoms. His power and cruel reign will surpass all the evil rulers ever written about in the annals of history. Currently, the history of mankind appears to have left kings and kingdoms far in the past. Not yet, though. The Bible predicts a final round of clashing kingdoms and oppressive kings. Appropriately, King Jesus will take out the last and worst cruel king.
In these four verses, we are allowed to leap forward in time to see the defeat of the last beast-kingdom. The last evil tyrant is crushed in defeat. His reign will be so brutal, bloody, and bad-ass evil that it’s good to know he will face a crushing and final defeat in the end. (Sorry for the “R” rated language but the last evil king will have us all cursing his existence.) The True King will send him where he belongs.
Dan 7:11-14
The conspicuous horn is conquered by the Son of Man.
I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
The sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking:
The Apostle Paul referred to this passage when he wrote to the Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 2New International Version (NIV)
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
The Little Horn is the Antichrist
This “little horn” on the fourth beast speaks pompous words. The final king, the person we commonly call the Antichrist, will use boastful, blasphemous words to ridicule God (Revelation 13:5-6). Throughout history, men have shaken clenched fists at the sky and cried out against God. They reject God’s rule. The final human leader will do the same from a throne he hopes will take power away from God.
God laughs at the pride of mankind and this final earthly king. Psalm 2
Why Do the Nations Rage?
…3“Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,…
Humility is always a better option.
The beast is a kingdom and a king
There is a distinction between the fourth beast and this “little horn.” The horn represents a final leader who will take control of a ten-nation confederacy. That future confederacy is foreshadowed by the ten toes on the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter two. We need to understand that the beast of Revelation 13 is not the Antichrist but his government or administration. As this verse makes clear, the evil king will face defeat but his government will continue for a short time.
I watched till the beast was slain…
In Daniel’s vision, he sees the beast, the “little horn,” killed. The leader dies, and his body is thrown into a burning fire. We’ll explore this more fully in future posts, but this allows us to see clearly that the King is distinct from his kingdom. The Antichrist, the human embodiment of Satan, will die at the hands of the True Christ–Jesus. The evil king’s body will be disposed of and the mop-up of the mess he made will continue. The Book of Revelation details a lot of that mop-up. The Trumpets and bowls of wrath in particular.
They had their dominion taken away:
This synopsis passage in Daniel describes the transition from mankind’s rule on earth to the reign of Jesus Christ. The ten kings who ruled with the Antichrist will remain for a short season. Later in his book Daniel hints at how long this short season lasts. The transition of power happens as the Son of Man comes and takes dominion over the earth. The Son of Man succeeds the reign of the fourth beast.
Once the fourth beast is destroyed, the others continue but without the dominion, they had for a short time. When Jesus sets up His kingdom, the empire of the Antichrist will be completely crushed, yet some nations will continue into the Millennium.
One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven:
The title Son of Man was one of the preferred titles for Jesus. The authors of the four Gospels in the New Testament used it more than 80 times. It signifies a close association with humanity. Though Christ was fully divine, He was also fully human. It’s crazy to imagine and harder still to explain so we’ll leave that for another time.
While the Lord was enduring his rushed trial before his crucifixion, he referred to this “Son of Man” title. His enemies when crazy when he associated himself with this title because they knew the implications. Jesus claimed to be the divine Messiah and Son of God when he linked this passage with himself.
Luke 21:27
The Return of the Son of Man
…26Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.”…
His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away:
The reign of Jesus will last beyond one thousand years. His reign will be permanent, glorious and so crazy-good you’ll be pinching yourself for the first 10,000 of those years. However, Jesus will rule over this earth before it is remade, with Satan bound for 1,000 years.
Revelation 11:15
More from the prophet Daniel
The escape route for those who live during the time of this future evil king. Click here
Find out in this book what the early Church believed about the Antichrist
Let me know what you think.