Daniel 11:40

Finally the very end time of the seventieth week will arrive (cf. Daniel 11:27; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9). Then this king will be the focus of attack by the king of the South (cf. Daniel 11:42-43), a power south of Palestine, and the king of the North, a force to its north. Evidently these two rulers will attack him simultaneously. Apparently this king is neither the king of the South nor the king of the North himself. In view of Daniel 9:26, he will probably be a western ruler, the little horn arising out of the Roman Empire (i.e., Antichrist; Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:24). [Note: Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 279; Pentecost, "Daniel," p. 1372; and Leupold, p. 521.] Other interpreters believe the king of the North is the Antichrist. [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 148; and Young, p. 251.] Still others hold that this king was not the Antichrist but only a minor ruler. [Note: E.g., Ironside, pp. 222-23.]

The conflict will be great, but he, apparently the ruler described in Daniel 11:36-39 (i.e., Antichrist), will invade many countries, overwhelm them, and pass on to conquer others. The Nazis were able to do this early in World War II.

"Presumably the warfare will be carried on by armored vehicles and missiles such as are used in modern warfare-though in order to communicate with Daniel’s generation, ancient equivalents of these are used here. Likewise, the ancient names of the countries or states occupying the region where the final conflict will be carried on are used in the prediction, though most of those political units will no longer bear these names in the last days." [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 147.]

Ezekiel described a great military force descending on Israel from the far north in the future (Ezekiel 38-39; Ezekiel 38:15). Ezekiel did not mention a power from the South. Part of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy is probably the same invasion Daniel recorded here. I believe part of what Ezekiel prophesied to take place in his description of the battle of Gog and Magog will find fulfillment at the end of the Tribulation and part of it at the end of the Millennium. This aspect of the fulfillment will probably occur in the second half of the Tribulation, when Israel is suffering intense persecution. One writer argued that this king of the North will be a ruler from the area that Assyria formerly occupied, not someone from farther north in the area of Russia. I believe "Gog" is a code name (meaning "Dark") describing two similar invaders who will descend on Israel at two different times: at the end of the Tribulation and at the end of the Millennium. The first of these invaders is called the King of the North here. [Note: Carl Armerding, "Russia and the King of the North," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:477 (January-March 1963):50-55.]