Daniel 11:44

"But the tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to sweep away many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

THE END OF THE HOSTILE KING (Daniel 11:44-45)

We are not given any details about the "end" of this evil king, except what may be inferred from the fact that his success continued right on up to the very end itself. The planting of his tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain indicates that at the very last he shall stand near the "holy place" itself as a contradiction of everything true and faithful. Apparently also, his end would come at the very zenith of his presumptuous and arrogant power. This harmonizes with what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The Second Advent of Jesus Christ would be the occasion of his utter destruction.

Thus, right down to the end of this passage, it is obvious that no reference whatever is found here that can be applied to Antiochus Epiphanes. Despite this, many have tried to harmonize this with the end of Antiochus, including that Master Infidel Porphyry who is the father of all the critical denials encountered even today regarding this chapter.

"The glorious holy mountain ..." In the days of Daniel and later this would have indicated the city of Jerusalem; but in the frame of reference in which the Antichrist will appear, such an expression has reference to the Church. In some disastrous manner not revealed to us the Antichrist will in large measure checkmate and destroy the witness of the Church during those final days. Now, none of this can apply to Antiochus. He met his destruction, not near the city of Jerusalem at all, but far away in the Persian city of Tabae on his return from Persia to Babylon.

Again, for those interested in the further pursuit of this subject, please see our Excursus cited above.