CROSSING THE BRIDGE FROM DANIEL’S TIME AND ARRIVING AT “THE TIME OF THE END” A verse-by-verse analysis of Daniel 11 The Time of the End: Have We Arrived Already? Expectation of Antichrist appearing suddenly in Jerusalem is currently very popular. Antichrist—according to this popular view—is expected to demand worship by setting up an “abomination that maketh desolate” in a restored Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Based on a key prophecy in the book of Daniel (11:31), Christians are taught that Antiochus Epiphanies—living in the second century B.C.—was a prototype of this coming momentous antichrist event. After Antiochus Epiphanies had offered swine on the brazen altar in the courtyard of the Second Temple and sprinkled its blood in the Holy of Holies—he rededicated the Temple to Jupiter! Until the Nineteenth Century, however, Christians generally believed that Antiochus Epiphanies actually completely fulfilled the prophecy. If that interpretation were true, Daniel’s prophecy would have been irrelevant to Christians (STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, “Thy Kingdom Come,” 24-26). But our Lord Jesus pointed to a future time from his day when a sign of his return would be seeing the “abomination of desolation.” In fact, Jesus cautioned regarding understanding this prophecy—as though it would be particularly difficult to understand: “. . .And then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand [having stood, Diaglott] in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. . .” Matt. 24:14-16 But today many Protestants and Catholics alike are mistakenly looking for an abominable desolation to desecrate a Third Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. Acknowledging Jesus’ statement that there was to be a future event, those Christians now ascribe Daniel 11:31 to Antiochus Epiphanes as merely a pantomime— while still looking for a future fulfillment. “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” (NIV) The prophecy of Daniel 11 is a bridge between ancient Israel and End Times. End time prophecy has three principal sources: the Book of Daniel, our Lord Jesus’ Great Prophecy (Matthew 24) and the Book of Revelation. There are also many other key prophecies in the Old Testament— especially about the End Time regathering and restoration of Israel.