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2025-03-182025-05-05

The Antichrist in Daniel 11 is not Antiochus IV.

The Liberal View

In the Liberal view, Daniel was written after the things it ‘predicts.’

According to the Book of Daniel, it was written in the sixth century B.C. However, it explicitly predicted the Greek Empire (Dan 8:20-21; 11:2), which rose to power only some centuries later.

Critical (liberal) scholars do not accept that such accurate predictions of future events are possible. Consequently, they believe an unknown writer wrote Daniel AFTER the events that can be verified from secular history. Specifically, in this view, Daniel was written AFTER the Greek empire was established. In this view, Daniel is a history book written as a prophecy.

In the Liberal view, the Antichrist in Daniel 11 was Antiochus IV.

The main character in Daniel 11 is the “vile person” (Dan 11:21 – KJV), understood as the Antichrist.

After Alexander the Great died, his Greek empire was divided into four parts. One of these was the Seleucids of the Middle East. Antiochus IV was one of the Seleucid kings, reigning in the middle of the second century BC.

Liberal or Critical scholars claim that the events described in the first half of Daniel 11 fit known history until a point in time during Antiochus’ reign, but events described later in Daniel 11 do not fit known history. For that reason, they propose that:

(1) The Book of Daniel was written during the reign of Antiochus IV and in response to his persecution of the Jews,

(2) The Antichrist ‘predicted’ in Daniel 11 is Antiochus IV, and

(3) The events described later in Daniel 11, which do not fit the history after Antiochus IV, are the erroneous guesswork of Daniel’s uninspired writer. (For example, see – Wikipedia.)

This is called the Maccabean thesis. For example, one scholar wrote:

Daniel was written during the period of the Maccabees, in the middle of the 2nd century B.C., or about 400 years after the events it describes. Its origin is betrayed in chapter 11 when Daniel supposedly prophesies the future.

All interpreters agree that the “vile person” of Daniel 11 is the same as the Antichrist in Daniel 7 and 8.

This can be shown as follows:

(1) As a general principle, later prophecies in Daniel elaborate on the earlier ones. Daniel 11, therefore, although it does not use beasts and horns to represent kingdoms, but a series of individual kings, still describes the same kingdoms as in Daniel 7 and 8.

(2) The Antichrist Horn in Daniel 7 and 8 and the Vile Person in Daniel 11 do the same things. Both:

(a) Persecute God’s people (Dan 7:25; 11:32-34)

(b) For “a time, two times, and half a time” (Dan 7:25; 12:7) [Show More]

(d) Set up “the abomination” (Dan 11:31; 8:13); [Show More]

(e) Remove the continual sacrifice (the tamid) (Dan 8:11; 11:31);

(f) Use deceit (Dan 8:25; 11:21-24); and

(g) “Magnify himself” (Dan 8:11; 11:36-37).

Daniel 11, therefore, covers the same ground as Daniel 8 but provides additional detail.

Liberal scholars identify the Antichrist in Daniel 7 and 8 also as Antiochus.

Since the Antichrist in Daniel 7 and 8 is the same Power, and since Liberal scholars identify the Antichrist in Daniel 11 as Antiochus, they also identify the Antichrist in Daniel 7 and 8 as Antiochus IV.

Conservatives interpret Daniel 11 based on earlier chapters.

While Liberal scholars base their interpretation of all of Daniel’s prophecies mainly on Daniel 11, Conservatives base their interpretation mostly on the earlier and easier-to-understand prophecies in Daniel 2, 7, and 8, but often find Daniel 11 challenging to explain.

11:1-13 describes the transition from the Persian to the Greek empire.

There are no animals in Daniel 11. The prophecy names the Persian kingdom (Dan 11:2) but does not name any of the later kingdoms or kings. Instead, it uses the titles “king of the south” and “king of the north” to describe entire kingdoms, each consisting of a series of kings. The reader must identify kings by comparing the prophetic events with recorded history. [Show More]

11:14-20 describes Antiochus III, the father of Antiochus IV.

Verse 14 refers to the “breakers of your people.” Here, interpretations start to diverge. However, most interpreters agree that verses 14 to 19 describe Antiochus III, one of the Greek kings and the father and predecessor of Antiochus IV. To quote a critical scholar:

Daniel 11:2-20 is a very accurate & historically corroborated sequence of events from the third year (Dan 10:1) of the Persian era up to the predecessor of Antiochus IV: some 366 years! Only the names and dates are missing. Most details are about the conflicts between the kings of the South (the Ptolemies of Egypt) and the kings of the North (the Seleucids of Mesopotamia / Syria). The Seleucids are shown to become stronger and stronger (despite some setbacks) … Of course, Jerusalem was in the middle and changed hands (197, from Egypt to Syria).

The strong word links to Daniel 9 imply that the Prince of the Covenant in 11:22 is Jesus Christ.

A “vile person” (Dan 11:21) overflowed “the arms of the flood” and broke the “prince (nagid) of the covenant” (Dan 11:22). The following words and concepts in 11:22 appear elsewhere in Daniel only in 9:24-27:

Flood – The word “flood” as a noun (Dan 9:26)

Nagid – The word ‘sar’ (translated “prince”) occurs 11 times in Daniel (Dan 8:11, 25; 9:6, 8; 10:13, 20, 21; 11:5; 12:1). But the word ‘nagid’, which is also translated as “prince,” occurs only in 11:22 and in 9:24-27, namely in “Messiah the Prince” (Dan 9:25) and in “the prince who is to come” (Dan 9:26).

Nagid killed – The nagid-prince will be “cut off” and ”broken” (Dan 9:26; 11:22).

Prince of the Covenant – The word “covenant” also occurs elsewhere in Daniel, but only in 9:24-27 and 11:22 is a prince connected with the covenant. In other words, only a nagid prince is associated with the covenant:

The nagid-prince makes strong the covenant for one week. (Dan 9:27, See here)

The nagid-prince of the covenant is broken (Dan 11:22).

Furthermore, elsewhere in Daniel, “covenant” always refers to the covenant between God and His people (Daniel 9:4; 11:28, 30, 32), implying that the covenant in Daniel 11:22 is also God’s covenant with Israel.

Based on these facts, the current article proposes that the Prince of the Covenant in 11:22 is the same as the Prince who makes strong the covenant in 9:27, whom this website identifies as Jesus Christ (See here). Consequently:

(A) The Prince of the Covenant in 11:22 is Jesus Christ.

(B) The shattering of the Prince of the Covenant in 11:22 refers to Christ’s death on the Cross, 200 years after Antiochus.

(C) Since verse 22 describes Jesus Christ, 200 years after Antiochus, the Antichrist (described as the “vile person” (11:21), who ‘broke’ the Prince of the Covenant (11:22)), cannot be Antiochus IV.

These links to Daniel 9 imply further that the ‘vile person’ (11:21) is the Roman Empire.

The current article proposes, similar to the article on Daniel 8 (see here), that the evil power in Daniel 8 and 11 symbolizes both the Roman Empire and its Antichrist successor:

Since 9:24-27 and 11:22 describe the same event, and since the word “flood,” as a noun, occurs only in 9:26 and 11:22, the two floods are the same. In other words, the flood that floods away another flood (11:22) is the same as the flood that destroys the city and the sanctuary (9:26), which is the Roman Empire.

The Abomination of Desolation (11:31) is after Christ, as Jesus also confirmed.

Since Daniel 11 describes events chronologically and since the abomination (Dan 11:31) and the persecution of God’s people (Dan 11:32-34) are described AFTER verse 22, these events occur after Christ’s death and do not describe Antiochus IV, 200 years before Christ. Jesus confirmed this when He put the abomination in His future:

“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet (Daniel 11:31 and 12:11), standing in the holy place …“ (Matt 24:15)

Jesus, therefore, also interpreted the “vile person” as an Antichrist that will arise AFTER His time, not as the Greek king Antiochus IV, who died about 200 years earlier.

Therefore, Daniel 11 can be compared as follows to earlier prophecies:

With this conclusion, and with the assistance of the previous articles in this series, we are now able to compare Daniel 11 with the earlier prophecies:

DANIEL 11	DANIEL 9	DANIEL 8	DANIEL 7
Persian kings (Dan 11:2)	Persian decree (Dan 9:25)	Ram (Dan 8:2-4)	Bear (Dan 7:5)
Greek king (Dan 11:3)		Goat (Dan 8:5-7)	Leopard (Dan 7:6a)
Kings of North and South		Goat’s four horns (Dan 8:8)	Leopard’s four heads
Roman flood breaks Nagid of the covenant (Dan 11:22)	Nagid cut off (Dan 9:25-27)	Horn’s horizontal expansion (Dan 8:9)	Fourth beast (Dan 7:8, 23)
Vile person profanes temple, sets up abomination, persecutes for 3½ times (Dan 11:31-34; 12:7)		Horn casts temple down, removes daily, transgression of desolation (Dan 8:8-13)	Little horn: persecutes God’s people 3½ times (Dan 7:25)

Possible Objections

This section responds to possible objections to the interpretation proposed above.

Objection 1: The emphasis on Antiochus III identifies the next king as Antiochus.

Daniel 11, in verses 14-19, emphasizes Antiochus III, the father and predecessor of Antiochus IV. Daniel provides more information about Antiochus III than about any previous king. Critical scholars argue that this emphasis identifies the next king (the Vile Person) as his son Antiochus IV.

Response: The prophecy emphasizes Antiochus III because his reign shifted the power to Rome.

This article explains the purpose of this emphasis differently:

The reign of the fourth Persian king (Xerxes) was also emphasized earlier in Daniel 11:2, not to identify the Persian king that would follow after him, but because his unsuccessful wars against Greece were a key turning point in history that shifted the balance of power from Mede-Persia to Greece. After Xerxes was mentioned in verse 2, the prophecy immediately jumps over the next 150 years, during which seven Persian kings reigned (Artaxerxes I, Darius II, Xerxes II, Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes Ill, Arses, and Darius III), to the first Greek emperor; Alexander the Great (Dan 11:3).

Similarly, Antiochus III is emphasized, not to identify the Greek king that would follow after him but because his unsuccessful wars against the Romans were a key turning point in history that shifted the balance of power from the Greek Empire to Rome. Consequently, Antiochus and his sons had to pay penalties to the Romans, and their empire was left subject to the growing dominance of Rome. After Antiochus III’s unsuccessful war against Rome, the prophecy jumps over the next 170 years, during which several Greek kings reigned, to the next empire (Rome).

Therefore, both the reigns of Xerxes and Antiochus III were key turning points in history that shifted the balance of power to the next empire. It is for that reason that Daniel 11 emphasizes Xerxes and Antiochus III, not to identify the next kings. Once the key turning point has been reached, the prophecy jumps over the remaining kings of the empire to the next empire. Read this way, while Daniel 11:19 describes the death of Antiochus III, Daniel 11:22 describes the death of Christ 200 years later. [Show More]

In summary, the prophecy emphasizes Antiochus III because his unsuccessful war against Rome was a turning point in history, not to identify the next king.

Objection 2: Daniel 11 does not mention the Roman Empire.

A second possible objection is that Daniel 11 does not mention the Roman Empire. Without an intervening empire, it continues from Antiochus III to the vile person.

Response: The vile person is the Roman Empire.

Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11 forms a unit:

Daniel 2 does not mention the Antichrist at all. The focus is entirely on the political powers.

In Daniel 7, the political powers are still mentioned, but the Antichrist has become a major emphasis. It describes the fourth empire in only two verses but allows six verses for the Antichrist.

In Daniel 8, the political powers begin to fade. It mentions political Rome only indirectly in the initial horizontal expansion of the little horn (Dan 8:9), symbolizing the Antichrist phase by the subsequent vertical growth of the horn. In other words, it uses the horn-king for both the Roman Empire and its Antichrist successor.

Daniel 11 continues this pattern. It represents both the Roman Empire and the Antichrist with a single symbol: the “despicable person” (NASB). Political Rome is seen only as the flood that flows away the “overflowing forces,” and that cuts off the Prince of the Covenant (Dan 11:22). The focus is almost entirely on the Antichrist successor of the Roman Empire.

The sole purpose of these prophecies, including the descriptions of the first four kingdoms, is to identify the Antichrist. Moving from Daniel 2 to 7 to 8 to 11, the political powers progressively fade into the background, while the focus on the Antichrist keeps increasing.

Objection 3: Antiochus IV fits the description.

A third possible objection is that Antiochus IV fits the sequence of kings in Daniel 11. Studies by the current author (comparing Daniel 11 to the history of the Seleucid kings) concur with the majority interpretation up to Daniel 11:19, where Antiochus III dies. The description of the vile person begins in Daniel 11:21. Therefore, if Daniel 11:20 describes Seleucus IV (and not Heliodorus), Antiochus IV fits the sequence of kings.

Critics also correctly argue that the description of the “vile person” in the verses after Daniel 11:21 fits the actions of Antiochus IV. These include his double invasion of Egypt (compare Dan 11:25, 29) and the persecution of God’s people.

Critics believe these are conclusive evidence that the vile person is Antiochus IV and not some later ruler.

Response: The description of the “vile person” exceeds Antiochus IV.

The ‘vile person:’

- - Gain authority and rule through deceit (Dan 11:21).
  - Distribute the plunder (Dan 11:24).
  - Magnify himself above every god.
  - Have no regard for the god of his fathers nor any god (Dan 11:36-37).

These things were not true of Antiochus. And, as all agree, the events of the “time of the end” (Dan 11:40-45) do not fit history at all. A separate article shows that Antiochus IV does not fit the profile. As Desmond Ford noted:

“Verses 21-35 fit his (Antiochus’s) time perfectly, but let it be noted that this interpretation by no means exhausts the passage.” [Desmond Ford, Daniel and the Coming King, p 144]

Conclusions

Antiochus IV was a partial fulfillment of the Antichrist.

Daniel 11 may, therefore, be understood as two stories intertwined: The first story starts with Persia and continues until Antiochus IV. But while discussing Antiochus IV, it jumps to the second story, which is about the Antichrist. This second story continues until Michael stands up (Dan 12:1-3). We see other examples of a double meaning elsewhere in Scripture:

- - Joel describes a local locust plague but unexpectedly jumps to the Day of the Lord.
  - Isaiah 14 similarly jumps from the king of Babylon to Lucifer without interruption (Isa 14:4, 12).
  - Ezekiel 28 moves from the king of Tyre (Ezek 28:12) to an “anointed cherub who covers” (Ezek 28:14).
  - Jesus combined the description of the temple’s destruction in 70 AD and the end of the world into a single story (Matthew 24).
  - As another example of a double meaning, John the Baptist was the first representation of Elijah to come.

Therefore, Antiochus IV was only a partial fulfillment and a type of the ultimate Antichrist.

Other conclusions:

The “vile person” is a symbol and not a literal person, just like the little horn in Daniel 7 and 8 is not a literal horn.

The “vile person” of Daniel 11 symbolizes both the Roman Empire and its Antichrist successor.

God is in control. He knows the future.

This article, therefore, supports the view that the book of Daniel was written before the time of Antiochus IV, that the prophecies are real predictions of future events, and that God is in control of history:

“There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days” (Dan 2:28).

“The Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes” (Dan 5:21).

The Church’s Final Message (Rev 10:8 to11:2)

As discussed in the previous article:

God gave Daniel several prophecies of future events but also told him that those prophecies would only be understood in the Time of the End (Dan 12:4, 9), which is the period leading up to the End of the Age, when the dead will be raised (Dan 12:13, 2).

In the first seven verses of Revelation 10, a mighty angel brings a little open book from God to earth. This symbolizes the church receiving that understanding of Daniel’s prophecies. Therefore, this is the Time of the End.

However, an aspect of those prophecies remains hidden, symbolized by the sealed words of the seven thunders. That aspect is when the End will come, namely, when Christ will return and the dead be resurrected (Dan 12:13, 2).

The angel swore: “Time no more” (Rev 10:6). This means that the “time, times, and a half” in the angel’s oath in Daniel 12, which is the time of the 11th horn of Daniel 7, has passed. This confirms that this is the Time of the End.

That horn symbolizes the Church of the Roman Empire. (Read article) Therefore, the “time, times, and a half” is the period when that church reigned, which was the Middle Ages. (Read article) [Show More]

Revelation 10:8-10

8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.”

9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

10 I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

John takes an active role.

Up to this point in the Book of Revelation, John has been a passive observer. In these verses, he begins to take an active role, symbolizing the Church’s witnessing function.

Who is speaking?

In these verses, John first hears a voice from heaven and then the angel holding the scroll. The speaker of 10:11 and beyond is not specified. The exact identity of the speaker(s) makes no difference to the interpretation.

John must speak to the people.

Verses 1-2 give a much longer description of the angel, but here he is briefly identified as the one “who stands on the sea and on the land,” probably because the sea and land symbolize the people of the world, and John is now going to receive a command to speak to them.

The book tastes as sweet as honey.

John does not literally eat the book. Eating the book means accepting God’s special message. Not all are willing to ‘eat’ this book. The sweetness symbolizes the extreme joy with which the special revelation is received. [Show More]

But made John’s stomach bitter.

John’s bitter stomach symbolizes the bitter consequences of preaching the little open book, namely, of preaching the prophecies. It is proposed that the silence of the seven thunders (Rev 10:3-4) caused John’s bitterness. As argued in the previous article, the thunders addressed the question of WHEN the End would be. That the church did understand, even after ‘eating’ the little book. Therefore, the bitter stomach symbolizes the disappointment when the church mistakenly understood the prophecies to teach that Christ would return at a certain point, and He did not.

As discussed, the “time, times, and a half” ended more or less at the end of the 18th century. (Read article) In the early 19th Century, there was an increasing focus on the nearness of Jesus’ Second Coming. A significant Advent movement in America predicted His coming in 1844, causing a bitter disappointment when it did not happen. [Show More]

Revelation 10:11

And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

Prophesy Again

The message that John has to “prophecy again” is still the renewed understanding of the prophecies (Dan 12:4). Since Revelation is based on the Book of Daniel, that includes a renewed understanding of the Book of Revelation.

Since the little open book is brought down to earth in the End Time, the “prophesy again” will be done in the End Time.

The word “again” implies a previous prophesying, which was the one that resulted in the bitter experience (Rev 10:9-10). God’s people must, after that bitter experience, continue to teach the message of the little open book.

Verses 8-10 describe the first command John received and his execution of that command. Verse 11 describes the second command but not his execution of that command. We must search for that “prophesy again” under the symbolism of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11. This will be discussed in the next article.

Concerning Peoples, Nations, Tongues, and Kings

Revelation frequently uses such lists of four words to refer to all the people of the world. [Show More]

The text can be translated as that John must prophesy “to” or “concerning” many peoples, nations, languages, and kings:

If it is “to,” it would be a call to repentance, parallel to Matthew 24:14, where the gospel of the kingdom must be preached “in” all the world before the end would come.

But prophesying “concerning” many peoples, nations, languages, and kings fits the context better because the book that the angel brought to earth symbolizes an understanding of Daniel’s prophecies, which are “concerning” kingdoms.

Revelation 11:1

Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.

Part of “Prophesy Again”

The division of the two chapters is unfortunate. Revelation 10 and 11 (to 11:13) form a unit between the sixth and seventh trumpets, but the chapter division tends to obscure the continuity. [Show More]

More specifically, measuring the temple is part of and required for the task of “prophesy again.”

The Temple is the Inner Shrine.

The Greek word for “temple” in verse 1 is naos, which can refer to the entire temple complex, including the outer court, but is normally used for the innermost part of the temple, what is called the “Most Holy Place.” In 11:19, the ark of the covenant is seen when the naos is opened to view. This implies that naos here refers to the Most Holy Place, the inner shrine of the temple. [Show More]

There were two altars in the Jewish temple. Since the altar of burnt offering (for animal sacrifices) was located in the outer court (Exod 27:1-8, etc.), and since John had to measure the temple but not the court, the altar which John had to measure is the altar of incense (Exod 28:43; 30:1-10, etc.), which was inside the temple. [Show More]

The Temple is on Earth.

The temple in Revelation is in heaven (Rev 11:19) and is where God is (Rev 7:15-17; 8:3-5; 11:19; 15:5-8), but the worshipers in the temple are on earth. The reason for this ‘anomaly’ is that Revelation consistently describes God’s people on earth as in heaven (Rev 13:6). [Show More]

The temple is not a literal temple but symbolizes God’s salvation—how He deals with this world of sin. It also symbolizes God’s presence with His people. So, we can also think of the temple as on earth. In Revelation, heaven and earth are very close.

Measuring implies Restoration.

In Ezekiel 9, God abandoned the temple and it was destroyed. Later in Ezekiel, the new temple is measured (Ezekiel 40-42) in order to be restored (Ezek 43:7-9; cf. 40:3-5) so that God may return to it (Ezek 43:1-7). Measuring the temple showed God’s commitment to continue as Israel’s God in spite of their failures. John must measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it for the same reason, namely, to restore the true worship of God.

Revelation 11:2

“Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.

The Court with the Altar of Burnt Offering

The temple in which Jesus and His disciples taught, which was built by Herod in Jerusalem and which is not mentioned in the Old Testament, had an additional outer court in which Gentiles were allowed and where no ceremonial activities were performed. However, it seems as if our text refers to the outer court of the temple mentioned in the Old Testament, which was the court with the altar of burnt offering. [Show More]

The 42 Months are the Middle Ages.

This period is discussed in a separate article which concludes as follows (Read Article):

The 42 months during which the nations trample the holy city (Rev 11:2; cf. 13:5) and the 1260 days during which the two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth (Rev 11:3; cf. 12:6) are the same period and also the same as the “time, times, and a half” (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14). This period is very important because it is mentioned in five different chapters (Dan 7, 12; Rev 11, 12, and 13.)

Contrary to what many believe, the 1260 days do not describe the End Time but precede the End Time in all five chapters it is mentioned.

This period is first mentioned in Daniel 7:25 as “a time, times and half a time,” during which the 11th horn of the fourth animal will “wear down the saints of the Highest One.” That 11th horn has been identified as the Church of the Roman Empire, which ruled the nations of Europe during the High Middle Ages. Daniel 7 identifies the beginning of the Roman Church as Justinian’s wars in the mid-sixth century. More or less 1260 years later, the French Revolution was another significant turning point for the Roman Church. Therefore, this period is more or less the Middle Ages – the period between the Fall of Rome and the modern era of religious freedom. [Show More]

Why the Trampling is in the Future Tense

As argued above, the little open book is brought to earth in the Time of the End, after the 42 months/ 1260 days have come to an end. That seems to be contradicted by the statement, after the book has come down, that the nations “will” (future tense) trample the holy city during the 42 months (the Middle Ages). However, the tenses do not indicate whether events in the past or future:

John describes things he saw in visions in the past tense because he is describing what he saw in his past, not because they describe events in his past (e.g., “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven.”).

A prophet may describe something heard in a vision in a past, present, or future tense because the prophet is simply quoting verbatim what has been said. [Show More]

Since the 42 months / 1260 days (Rev 11:2-3) are in the future tense, it is something John heard rather than saw. Therefore, the future tense does not necessarily indicate that it is future relative to the things John saw, which are described in the past tense.

Specifically, the nations “will trample” (future tense – 11:2), but that is future relative to the event in the preceding phrase, namely, that the court “has been given to the nations.” In other words, from the perspective of the time when the court was given to the nations, they will trample the city. But since the court was given to the nations before the angel brings the little book, the nations began to trample the holy city before the angel brings the book. [Show More]

Overview

An angel told Daniel that his prophecies of future events would only be understood in the Time of the End (Dan 12:4, 9), the period leading up to the resurrection of the dead at the End of the Age (Dan 12:13, 2).

In Revelation 10, a mighty angel brings a little book to earth. The angel swore by Him who lives forever and ever: “Time no more” (Rev 10:6). Given the strong allusions in Revelation 10 to Daniel 12:

This book symbolizes the insight into Daniel’s prophecies that the Church was promised to receive in the Time of the End.

The “time no more” means that the “time, times, and a half,” which the angel in Daniel 12 said must pass before Daniel’s prophecies would be understood, has passed. This confirms that Revelation 10 describes the Time of the End. The “time, times, and a half” symbolizes the Middle Ages, the time between Justinian in the mid-sixth century and the French Revolution at the end of the 18th.

John eats the book, symbolizing the Church receiving this insight into the prophecies.

It is sweet in his mount, symbolizing the joy with which the special revelation is received.

But it made his stomach bitter. An aspect of Daniel’s prophecies remained hidden, symbolized by the sealed utterances of the seven thunders, namely, WHEN Christ will return. John’s bitter stomach symbolizes the disappointment when the church mistakenly understood the prophecies to say that Christ would return at a certain time, and He did not. Soon after the Middle Ages, in the early 19th Century, a significant Advent movement in America predicted His coming in 1844, causing a bitter disappointment when it did not happen.

After that disappointment, John is instructed to “prophesy again” (Rev 10:11). Since John ate the book, John’s message is still a renewed understanding of the prophecies (Dan 12:4).

He is also told to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshipers (Rev 11:1). But he must not measure the court outside the temple because the nations will trample the holy city for 42 months (Rev 11:2).

The court is given to the nations, but they do not trample it; they trample the holy city for 42 months. In other words, the court is a symbol of the holy city during the 42 months (the Middle Ages).

The holy city includes not only the city’s people (God’s people) but also all the buildings, streets, and bridges (God’s laws and principles). [Show More]

In other words, when ‘the nations’ trample the court, they not only persecute God’s people but also trample God’s laws and principles. The Church’s teachings became corrupted during the Middle Ages. The holy city has become filled with rubbish.

The “temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it” symbolize God’s system of worship. That John has to measure it means that the Church has to investigate and study it after the ravages of the Middle Ages.

To leave out the court and not measure it means to unlearn the corrupted doctrines of the Middle Ages.

The command to measure the temple is part of the command to “prophesy again.” It must restore God’s message and people after they have been trampled during the Middle Ages.

Tag: Book of Daniel