3. The Roman Empire was an “Intermix” of Races BEFORE 70 AD.

                                    (“the [ multi-racial ] PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE who is to come” Dan. 9:26)

William Graham Scroggie

“..the Empire embraced all men...The intermixture of all races…”

William Graham Scroggie, The Unfolding Drama Of Redemption, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1982, Vol. 1 p.38, Vol. 2 p.65, 77.

                                RACE MIXTURE IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

            TENNEY FRANK

(Tenney Frank (May 19, 1876 – April 3, 1939) was a prominent ancient historian and classical scholar; He wrote periodically for the American Historical Review, including a paper on the demise of the various ancient Italian peoples that comprised the Roman ethnicity in Julius Caesar's day... that over time changed the ethnic make-up of the Roman populace...

https://www.toqonline.com/archives/v5n4/54-Frank.pdf

The following article by Tenney Frank originally appeared in the American Historical Review (July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708). Frank (1876–1939), an American historian, was professor at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the author of several books, including A History of Rome (1923), Economic History of Rome (1920), Catullus and Horace (1928), and Roman Imperialism (1914).

Tenney Frank refers to:

This Orientalizing of Rome’s populace …[is] why the spirit and acts of imperial Rome [began with Emperors, Augustus being the first, 27BC] are totally different from those of the republic [600s BC to 27BC]... the fact that the people who built Rome had given way to a different race.

Tenney Frank, American Historical Review, July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708, p65 (705).

            Tenney Frank refers to:

“... the city of Rome, since, as we have seen, the whole [racial] stock there had so changed [by the start of the Empire in 31-27 BC]

Tenney Frank, American Historical Review, July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708, p65.[707])

            Tenney Frank refers to:

“... people of Oriental [EASTERN ROME] extraction who had temporarily fallen away from native ways in the western world [ITALIAN ROME].  

Tenney Frank, American Historical Review, July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708, p67)

“... the vast herd of Easterners in the West...the conglomeration of Europeans, Asiatics, and Africans that filled the western Roman Empire in the second century [AD].

Tenney Frank, American Historical Review, July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708, p67)

            REVIEW OF TENNEY FRANKS SCHOLARSHIP ON ROME

(By E. Christian Kopff, Associate Director of the Honors Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, a Fellow in Classical Studies of the American Academy in Rome.)

The theme of “race mixture due to slaves” tolls like a bell through Frank’s narrative ...

(Tenney Frank, The History of Rome, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1923; last reprinted 1961; p.609.)

             The Life And Epistles Of St. Paul

It should be remembered, in the first place, that the Romans had already become Greek to some considerable extent, before they were the political masters of those eastern countries...How early, how widely, and how permanently this Greek influence prevailed...”

Conybeare & Howson, The Life And Epistles Of St. Paul, Eerdman’s Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1856, 1974, p.13.

 4. The Roman Empire “bred up a new race” as early as 100 years before the birth of Christ.

            John Harrison Sims, historian

By the early empire [31-1 BC ], all that was left of the original [ Italian ] Roman stock were a few patrician families.

http://www.unz.com/article/what-race-were-the-greeks-and-romans/

            Tenney Frank refers to:

“the Punic War [The Punic Wars, 264 BC—146 BC. 140 years BEFORE the Time of Christ ], when the city was still Italian.”

Tenney Frank, American Historical Review, July 1916, vol. 21, no. 4: 689–708, p66. [707])

            Tenney Frank refers to:

“the early first century B.C. [when] the replacement of native Italians “by hordes of slaves who bred up a new race”

Tenney Frank, The History of Rome, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1923; 242–243.

            Tenney Frank refers to:

“ the demise of the various ancient Italian peoples that comprised the Roman ethnicity in Julius Caesar's day [ 50 years BEFORE the Time of Christ ] ...that over time changed the ethnic make-up of the Roman populace ... replacement of the original founding stock ... rapid introduction of new stocks from below due to Rome’s over-generous gift of citizenship to so many slaves...betray[ing] the strong-fibered stock …”

“Could these men, mostly of excitable eastern races ... the new stock which was taking the place of the old… that devastated the race which had built the Republic” [the Republic of Rome— 50 years BEFORE the Time of Christ].

Tenney Frank, The History of Rome, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1923; 178-179 & 526–527.

 5. Seventeen (17) Roman Emperors were non-Italian, reigning for a total of 207 years.

                                    (Almost as long as the United States has been a nation!)

Some of the NON-ITALIAN “Important" Roman Emperors

UNGER’S BIBLE DICTIONARY

This period [70AD & era of Revelation 95AD] was followed by an era of expanding [Roman Empire] power [Trajan to Arelius, 98-180AD]

1. Trajan (98-117)                          [ SPAIN, modern Seville, Spain ]

2. Hadrian (117-138)                     [ SPAIN ]

3. Antoninus Pius (138-161)         [ Rome ]

4. Marcus Aurelius (161-180)       [ SPANISH heritage, raised in Rome ]

Succeeding important rulers include...

1. Commodus (180-192)              [ Rome ]

2. Septimus Severus (193-211)   [ LIBYA, modern Khoms, Libya ]

3. Caracalla (211-217)                   [ GAUL, modern Lyon, France ]

4. Elagabulus (218-222)                [ SYRIA, modern Homs ]

5. Severus Alexander (222-235)  [ SYRIA ]

6. Decius (249-251)                        [ SERBIA ]

7. Aurelian (270-275)                     [ SERBIA, modern Sremska Mitrovica Serbia ]

 UNGER’S BIBLE DICTIONARY, Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1966, p.936.

NOTE ABOVE: 9 (in bold) of the 11 "important" Roman Emperors came from non-Italian territories, and 3 of them were what would be considered "Eastern-Leg" realms of the Roman Empire.

BELOW: Seventeen (17) non-Italian Roman Emperors. Note those who came from the Middle East--the "Eastern Leg."

6. (see map ABOVE) Six (6) Roman Emperors were non-European, 3 of them Eastern-leg born,

                                                                       reigning for a total of 56 years. (Equal to the time of 7 two-term U.S. Presidents)

 7. The [Italians...NO] Romans were the “people” of the Apostle Paul, who was an 'EASTERN' Roman.



            Arno Froese

Rome conquered nation after nation...offering them Roman citizenship…They had a chance to become Romans, to be integrated into the world’s greatest society...Paul was born under Roman rule...He was a Roman, he had inherited his citizenship by birth. [Paul was born in Turkey]

Arno Froese, How Democracy Will Elect The Antichrist, The Olive Press, 1997, p.159.

            PAUL was a ROMAN-National, of JEWISH-Ethnicity, of the HEBREW-Race

“And the commander came and said to him,

‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’

And [Paul] said, ‘Yes. “

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia [EAST Roman Empire]…’” (Acts 22:27-28; 16:37-38; 23:27; Acts 22:3); [I am ALSO] “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phi. 3:4-5).

 8. Like the Roman Empire, America opened its borders to the ‘Irish’, Germans and Italians, etc.,

                                                                                                        and extended its borders to the Alaskans and ‘Hawaiians’, etc.

(Irish-Americans are still Americans, as are Hawaiian-Americans, etc. ;

Likewise, an Assyrian-Roman is still a Roman, just like a Jewish-Roman—Paul—was still a Roman)

        6. HERE’S WHY I EXPECT TO SEE…

                                                                       the Antichrist arise...

                    1)  in the Revived Roman Empire,

                    2)  specifically, the Eastern-leg,

                    3)  more specifically, the “Land of the North—”

                    4)  particularly, from “Assyria.”

1.“The Assyrian,” Micah 5:5-6, in a Literal reading, in the context of the classic prophetic “flash-forward,

              flash-backward” mode, specifies that the Assyrian from the Land of Assyria will invade Israel at the End Time.

 

ABOUT ARTHUR PINK—”the classic work on the end times”

Dictionary Of Premillennial Theology

“[Arthur] Pink...wrote what is considered the classic work on the end times, The Antichrist. This could easily be called the most complete work on the subject. The book sweeps both the Old Testament and New Testament and handles with exceptional merit all the passages about the coming Man of Sin.

(Dictionary Of Premillennial Theology, Mal Couch, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1996, p.306.)

            David Reagan on Arthur Pink

“One of the most detailed studies of the Antichrist ever written is the book by Arthur W. Pink entitled, The Antichrist. It is thoroughly biblical and very thought provoking.”

(David Reagan: http://christinprophecy.org/articles/recommended-books-on-bible-prophecy/)

             Arthur W. Pink (“the classic work on the end times” -Dictionary of Premillennial Theology )

For example, it is our firm conviction that the Assyrian of Isa. 10, the king of Babylon of Isa. 14, the Little Horn of Dan. 7, the Little Horn of Dan. 8, and the first Beast of Rev. 13, each and all view the Antichrist himself in different relationships.

Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, I. C. Herendeen, Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, PA, p.50.

            Arthur W. Pink (“the classic work on the end times” -Dictionary of Premillennial Theology )

Micah terms him “the Assyrian,” …”thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian” (5:5, 6).

Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, I. C. Herendeen, Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, PA, p.86.

Arthur W. Pink (“the classic work on the end times” -Dictionary of Premillennial Theology )

Isaiah mentions him: first as the “Assyrian,” “the Rod” of God’s anger (10:5);

Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, I. C. Herendeen, Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, PA, p.4.

            Arthur W. Pink (“the classic work on the end times” -Dictionary of Premillennial Theology )

“...it would seem that the country from which Antichrist will first be manifested is Syria...This is confirmed by the fact that “the king of Assyria” in Isa. 10:12 is clearly none other than the Antichrist. We may say this was the current view of Christian writers on prophecy through the first ten centuries A.D.

Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, I. C. Herendeen, Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, PA, p.53.

            Henry M. Morris

“...the Antichrist is specifically called ‘the Assyrian’ in a number of passages (e.g., Micah 5:5, 6; Isaiah 30:31; 31:8)."

Henry Morris, The Revelation Record, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL, 1983, p.340.

            Chuck Missler

“It is provocative that the Prophet Micah refers to this final conqueror as the “Assyrian.”

Chuck Missler, Personal Update, October, 2002, p.8.

            Chuck Missler

“If we carefully examine the many references in the Old Testament, we discover a surprising number of allusions to the “coming world leader” as “the Assyrian.” This would seem to focus on the region that we know today as Syria and Iraq…”

Chuck Missler, Personal Update Magazine, Nov. 2002, Koinonia House, p.1.

            Clarence Larkin

“The Antichrist shall come out of Syria (which includes Assyria), and which was a part of the Old Roman Empire which is to be revived and cover again its former territory.”

Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1920, Chart p.67.5.

            Clarence Larkin

“...it is clear that the Antichrist is to come from Syria...We are to understand therefore by the “King of the North” the King of Syria, which also included Assyria. This fixes the locality from which the Antichrist shall come (Isa. 10:12; 14:25)...This, however, does not prevent the Antichrist being a Roman citizen, and a king of the revived Roman Empire, for Saul of Tarsus was both a Jew and a Roman citizen.”

Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1920, p.118.

            Clarence Larkin

“These “Four Horns” stood for the four Generals of Alexander’s army who divided his Kingdom among themselves...Seleucus took the remainder of Asia Minor and the East, including Syria and Assyria...These Four Kingdoms were in time all absorbed into the Fourth World Kingdom, the Roman Empire.”

Clarence. Larkin, Dispensational Truth. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1920, p.70.

            S. Maxwell Coder

He [Antichrist] may first arise in the Near East, for the “little horn” of Daniel 8:9 represents the Antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes came out of Syria to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy. Syria was a part of the Empire, and that is also where the prince of Tyre came from. This prince was representative of the coming prince. The Assyrian of Isaiah 14:25 likewise came from that area.

S. Maxwell Coder, , The Fined Chapter. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1984, p.103.

            Zane Hodges

And as the past history of the Roman Empire shows, the King of the North will not be the first emperor to reign elsewhere than in Rome itself. In this light we can understand the cryptic prophecies of the Old Testament about a figure known as “the Assyrian.” The prophet Isaiah spoke of him ...Isaiah 14:24-25… Micah also prophesied about this figure. After giving his great prophecy concerning the birth of our Lord (Micah 5:2), Micah goes on to speak of Messiah and to say...for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace” (5:4-5). But then he adds,

“When the Assyrian comes into our land, and when he treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances…(5:6)”

This clearly refers to the end times. At no time in the past have Israelite leaders (“seven shepherds and eight princely men”) been instruments of God’s judgment on the land of Assyria itself. This awaits the Second Advent of Christ.

The following words in Micah make this clear: “Thus He (the Messiah of verse 4) shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders” (5:6). Thus it is plainly taught that when Christ returns He will find Israel and its land under an Assyrian yoke.

The persistent use of the singular here (Assyrian rather than Assyrians and he rather than they) is significant...Only the coming of Messiah will deliver Israel from the oppressive dominion of “the Assyrian”! [emphasis mine]

Zane Hodges, Power To Make War, The Career Of The Assyrian Who Will Rule The World, Redencion Viva Publishers, Dallas, TX, 1995, p.113-114.

            Grant Jeffrey

Micah prophesied the future rule of the Messiah, who will rule “in the majesty of the name of the Lord” (5:4) and will defeat “the Assyrian” (Micah 5:5), a symbol of all the enemies of God’s people. Note that this title is also sometimes applied to the antichrist because of his role as the King of Babylon (Isa. 10:5; 14:4, 25). The antichrist will invade the promised land and will be defeated by the Messiah at the Battle of Armageddon…

Grant Jeffrey, Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, Zondervan, 1998, p. 1025.

            Grant Jeffrey

“The prophetic title of the “Assyrian” (Isaiah 10:5) also refers to the antichrist, who will come against the nation of Israel in the last days during the tribulation.”

Grant Jeffrey, Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, Zondervan, 1998, p. 749.

            Grant Jeffrey

“The final punishment of the antichrist, “king of Assyria” (Isa. 10:12), will come at the end times.”

Grant Jeffrey, Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, Zondervan, 1998, p. 752.

            Grant Jeffrey

“Isaiah also refers to this wicked ruler as “the Assyrian” (Isaiah 14:25), a title used earlier to refer to the antichrist (see Isaiah 10:5)”

Grant Jeffrey, Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, Zondervan, 1998, p. 755.

            Joseph Chambers

The Scripture has left no doubt that this beast of a man will be from Assyrian nationality. Three times Isaiah called him by this name [“the Assyrian”].

Joseph Chambers, A Palace for the Antichrist, New Leaf Press, 1996, p. 137.

            Zane Hodges

He will be an Assyrian by race.

Zane Hodges, Power To Make War, Recencion Viva, 1995, p.3

            Grant Jeffrey

The Bible foretold that Babylon would rise again in the last days to become a center of the Antichrist’s satanic power in the Middle East. In Isaiah 14:25 the prophet described the defeat of the Antichrist under his prophetic title, “the Assyrian.” Babylon occupied the same geographical territory as Assyria.

Grant Jeffrey, The Prince of Darkness, Frontier Research Publication, 1994, p. 215.

            Paul Lee Tan

"The Antichrist’s other names in Scripture are: The Assyrian (Isa. 10:5-12

Paul Lee Tan, A Pictorial Guide To Bible Prophecy, Bible Communications, Inc., Dallas, TX, 1991, p.137, 140.

            Arnold Fruchtenbaum

(doesn’t make reference to “Assyria”, but demonstrates the end-time universal context of the “Assyria” passage of Isaiah 14:26 when he says that “other usages of the word [Hebrew ‘erets’, “whole world”] in the Old Testament clearly teach universality (Isa. 14:26 [“Assyria” used here]).

Arnold Fruchtenbaum The Footsteps of the Messiah, Ariel Ministries Press, 1983, p. 35.)

            TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE

The king of the north is the king of Syria...it seems quite clear here that Antichrist must come from Syria.

The New Treasury Of Scripture Knowledge, Jerome H. Smith, ed., Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1992, p.963.

            Sir Robert Anderson

That Antichrist is to arise from the eastern part of the Roman Empire, and from that part of the east which fell under the rule of Alexander’s successors, is rendered unquestionable by this chapter (Daniel 8)...it leaves no doubt what ever that he will appear within the territorial limits of the old Grecian empire [Greek-Seleucia, i.e., Syria-Assyria].

Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984, p.191-192..

                    MICAH 5:5-6 “ASSYRIAN” NEVER FULFILLED IN HISTORY

            The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“The events described here [Micah 5:5-6] are difficult to place historically...if the passage is understood to describe a coalition of leaders who would successfully withstand the Assyrian invasion, the difficulties remain because the Jews offered no successful resistance at that time.”

Gaebelein, Frank E. and Polcyn, Richard P., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 7. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985, p.429.

            J. Barton Payne

[Micah 5:5-6] “such a Messianic deliverance has never been accomplished in the past….Assyrian people, and in particular the Assyrian district, do exist to this day.”

J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1973, p.83.

            J. Barton Payne

“Yet the undeniable need for cultural reinterpretation has led some to a disparagement of basic teachings that are found within the prophetic message... [They are] unwilling to concede a place for Assyria in Biblical eschatology... It would appear best to recognize that while the particular people, the Sargonid dynasty of the 8th-and 7th-century B.C. Assyrians, may come to an end, the land still remains; and it is the land which will experience precisely these events which Scripture forecasts in its regard.”

 J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1973, p.81.

                        THE ISSUE on The “ASSYRIAN”

When Bible Prophecy says that Jesus Christ will deliver “the remnant of Jacob” from “the Assyrian,” who is from “the land of Assyria,” which is in “the land of Nimrod,” can we take “Assyria” literally?

J. Dwight Pentecost, one of this generations most respected Bible prophecy commentators, places Micah 5:5-6 in the timeframe of the Antichrist

(Pentecost, Things To Come, p. 352).

Tim LaHaye does also. 

(Tim LaHaye, Tim LaHaye’s Prophecy Study Bible, p. 960).

C.I. Scofield seems to agree in his Isaiah 14:26 comment on Assyria, saying, “This universality [v.26] is significant...referring...to the end of the age.”

(C.I. Scofield, Scofield Study Bible, Isaiah 14:26)

Even with the correct time context, some commentators still symbolize the designation “Assyrian.”

                        David Reagan (on the importance of Literal Interpretation)

1. “...I stopped playing games with God’s Prophetic Word. I started accepting it for its plain sense meaning. I decided that if the plain sense makes sense, I would look for no other sense, lest I end up with nonsense...I challenge you to interpret God’s Word—all of it—for its plain sense meaning.”

David Reagan, God’s Plan For The Ages, Lamb & Lion Ministries, McKinney, TX, 2005, p.39, 44.

2. David Reagan uses what he calls “flashbacks and flash-forwards” (commonly known as “time-gap” prophecies) extensively in Wrath And Glory in order to keep the plain sense of Revelation intact.

David Reagan, Wrath & Glory, New Leaf Press, Green Forest, AR, 2001, p.35-37.

I am in agreement with him on both of these interpretive principals. And Micah 5:5-6, taken literally, is a “flashback.” This common prophetic mode resets the apparent Millennial context of Micah’s “Assyria” into its proper “flashback” context of the Tribulation. Taking a break from the Millennial context, the text takes a “flashback” look at the invasion of Israel by one called the Assyrian during the Tribulation. Many prophecy teachers drop this clear flashback in favor of spiritualizing the passage.

But here is why “the Assyrian” should be seen as a literal term:

                        1. “Assyria” is used side-by-side with a literal “Egypt” in Micah 7:12.

                        2. In Micah 5:2 we have the famous Messianic prophecy about a literal “Bethlehem”. Three verses later we find mention of Assyria 3 times. One literal, the other not? Why?

                        3. In a two-verse span (5:5-7) we see “Assyria,” “land of Nimrod,” and “remnant of Jacob” interwoven with one another. The last two are clearly literal terms. It is purely arbitrary to call the thrice-mentioned “Assyria” symbolic.

                        4. The “land of Assyria” is equated with the “land of Nimrod.” This could not be plainer than pointing your finger to a map of Iraq, which IS the “land of Nimrod”—and Assyria.

                        5. In view of the above, Micah 5:5-6 says Christ will deliver the remnant of Jacob from the Assyrian, of the land of Assyria, which is the land of Nimrod. CLEAR LITERALISM.

The stretch that is required to wrench the term “Assyrian” into something other than what it says would be admirable—except this is the Bible.

But the term “Assyrian” is literal and it is future. The Assyrian invades Israel at the end time. He attacks her cities and tramples her land. And it is at that climactic time when “He [Christ] will deliver us [Israel] from the Assyrian.” (5:6) The Assyrian is none other than the Antichrist, with headquarters in modern-day Syria-Iraq.

QUESTION:

In light of Daniel 9:26— ”...the [Roman] people of the prince [Antichrist] who is to come…” Can an Assyrian Antichrist be considered “of” the Roman people?

Yes—in the same way that the Syrian Antiochus is considered “of” the Greek people in Daniel 8:22!

And the broken horn [Alexander the Great of the Greek Empire] and the four horns [Kings,

including the King of the Syrian portion of the Greek Empire] that arose in its [Alexander’s] place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation [Greece]…(emphasis mine).

In light of this quote from Daniel 8:22, if the Daniel 9:26 prophecy had said, speaking of Antiochus—...the [Greek] people of the prince [Antiochus] who is to come…—it would have been correct in relating him to the Greek people even though he was the King of Syria! (a 6th generation Greek-Syrian)

The same holds true for an Antichrist-King of Assyria and any racial/ethnic/political/cultural relationship he may have to the Revived Roman Empire.

                        The Roman Empire Included Assyria

            G. H. Pember

“In the days of Augustus, [27-14BC] the Roman Empire extended from the Atlantic in the West to the Euphrates in the East... while the emperor Trajan [98-117 AD] acquired the vast tract of Dacia, and organized as provinces Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. In the reign of Diocletian [284-286 AD], Persia was forced to a formal surrender of Mesopotamia, together with five provinces beyond the Tigris. Such was the greatest extent of Rome in her first, or iron development. In the brief time of her second, or clay-iron power, the prophecy seems to require that her boundaries should be pushed still farther in more than one direction.”    

G. H. Pember, The Great Prophecies of the Centuries, p.212, as quoted in Lehman Strauss, The Prophecies Of Daniel, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, 1969, p.73.

2. The Land of Assyria is the same as the Land of the North, which is Syria-Iraq,

                                                                                                                             which gives rise to the “King of the North.”

            Arthur W. Pink (“the classic work on the end times” -Dictionary of Premillennial Theology )

(Dan. 11:40) The Antichrist, here termed the king of the north, i.e. Assyria...

Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, I. C. Herendeen, Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, PA, p.61.

            Zane Hodges

It is clear as we look at Paul’s words (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), that the apostle is referring to a statement made by Daniel (Daniel 11:36)...Both Paul and Daniel have the same person in mind.

What we must note right here is a striking fact. Daniel’s words in 11:36 actually refer to a king of the North. This is obvious if we follow his words carefully down through Daniel 11:40. It is also clear if we trace them upward through verse 28… Thus the “King of the North” described in Daniel 11:36-45 is one and the same as Paul’s “man of sin” [the Antichrist]...the coming world-ruler begins his career in the Middle East. His initial appearance in prophecy is as the King of the North.

Zane Hodges, Power To Make War, The Career Of The Assyrian Who Will Rule The World, Redencion Viva Publishers, Dallas, TX, 1995, p.7-8.

            John Phillips & Jerry Vines

“Those old rivals, Egypt and Syria, are to come back on stage in the last days, united in a hatred of the antichrist...Throughout Daniel 11 the king of the north and the king of the south always are identified as the rulers of Syria and Egypt respectively. There seems no reason to suppose something else here.” (John Phillips)

John Phillips & Jerry Vines, Exploring The Book Of Daniel, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, 1990, p.192.

            Philip R. Newell

“...We must regard Daniel 8 therefore as a definite source of information as to the particular quarter of the globe in which Antichrist will arise. It will be, as we have seen, from one of the four divisions of Alexander’s empire, and the identity of the little horn as Antiochus Epiphanes indicates that this will be that which was the Syrian division [ King of the North ], first headed by Seleucus. We have already noted that this domain became part of the Roman Empire in 64, B.C., so that Antichrist, when he appears, can thus arise in this particular locality and still be the last head of Gentile rule, since this area was included in that [Roman Empire] which will dominate the earth in its final form”

Philip R. Newell, Daniel, the Man Greatly Beloved and his Prophecies. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1982, p.118-119.

            Philip R. Newell

“In reading Daniel 11:40 it may be well to interpolate slightly in order to establish the identity of the willful king as the last “king of the north,” which it seems apparent he must be…”

Philip R. Newell, Daniel, the Man Greatly Beloved and his Prophecies. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1982, p.180-181.

            Gleason Archer

“It seems much simpler and more convincing, however, to take the ‘king of the North’ in this verse [Dan. 11:40] to be none other than the latter-day little horn (Dan. 7 8,24), the Antichrist.”

Gleason Archer in “Daniel,” Gaebelein, Frank E. and Polcyn, Richard P. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 7. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985, p.147.

            Clarence Larkin

“This vision of the “King of the North”...revealed to Daniel that Antichrist would arise in the “Syrian” division…”

Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth. Glenside, Pennsylvania: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1920, p.70.

            John Phillips

“One of the titles the Antichrist will wear is “king of the north” .... In the context of Daniel 11, the “king of the north” is always Syria.”

John Phillips, Exploring The Future, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, p.54.

            John F. Walvoord

"...there will be an alliance between the Middle East ruler (the Antichrist) and the apostate world church of that time."
"[The 10 kings]...are contemporaneous kings who are heads of the countries which will form the original alliance in the Middle East that will support the future world ruler."
"When the ruler in the Middle East [the Antichrist] takes on worldwide political power..."
John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1983, p. 972.

            Chuck Missler

In Daniel 11:40-45, the passage continues by looking forward to the final "king of the north," to the person we commonly call the Antichrist...the final world leader will emerge from this region which comprised the Seleucid empire, rather than from the western regions as commonly assumed.

October 2002 Personal Update News Journal

            TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE

The king of the north is the king of Syria...it seems quite clear here that Antichrist must come from Syria.

The New Treasury Of Scripture Knowledge, Jerome H. Smith, ed., Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1992, p.963.

3. A consistent Literal reading of Micah 5 also reveals that

                                                                                              the One born in Bethlehem will also be Israel’s “Peace” at that time.

If we vacillated between Symbolic and Literal interpretation of this passage, we could never be quiet certain that Bethlehem was to be the birthplace of Christ or that He would be Israel’s “Peace” by His victory over a “symbolic” Assyrian. CONSISTENT Literal interpretation is key. Otherwise, without a clear symbolic-indicator, the passage says whatever we want it to say, for we can insert our own symbols intermixed with the literal words wherever we want.

                7. WILL THE ANTICHRIST BE A MUSLIM? (click HERE...

Will the Antichrist be identified as a Roman? Daniel 9:26 says yes. Will he be from the Assyrian sector? Micah 5:6 says yes. That is no different from these propositions—Will Paul be Jewish? Acts 22:3 says yes. Will Paul be a Roman? Acts 22:27-28 says yes. Will Jesus be from the City of David (Bethlehem)? Micah 5:2 says yes. Will Jesus be a Nazarite? Matthew 2:23 says yes. Will Jesus be a Galilean? Isaiah 9:1-2 says yes? Likewise, the fact that the Antichrist will be Roman doesn’t make him Italian, as we have seen above.

SUMMARY

The Assyrian Connection musters the Biblical evidence, with supporting historical evidence, that the Antichrist will be from the Revived Roman Empire, as Daniel 9:26 says. Then we ask the same question we would ask the Roman Paul: From what part of the Roman Empire will he come from? Paul would tell us he was born a Roman in Tarsus, in eastern Rome. The Antichrist, according to Scripture, could legitimately say he comes from eastern Rome also, but from the Assyrian sector, the same realm from which his spiritual antichrist-ancestor, Antiochus Epiphanes, came. Daniel 9:26, as well as all of the Assyrian passages, are satisfied.