/All of this setting the stage for the world leader to come. That one that's called the Antichrist./
21 - And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility (peace agreements?) and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22 - And the overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant.
23 - And after an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. (Dan 11:23 - NASB)
The words "force of" are in italics so they were added later.
Some believe he will start out small with a small people much as Hitler started out preaching to a very few people at a time in beer halls. He will have great and swelling words but will be practicing deception and intrigue. Some type of ten king alliance will throw in with him ("give their kingdom to the beast") but this will last only a brief time (one hour) as the career of the AC will be brief but intense.
12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
13 These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast.
14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, becasue He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are the called and chosen and faithful.
14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And he *said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot (a humanistic system at least including Jerusalem) and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.
18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
(Rev 17:12-18)
In the days of these 10 kings,
40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.
41 In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.
43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
The Divine Kingdom
44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Ten toes and ten horns and ten kings - the connecting symmetry in the word of the Lord is something to behold! In the days of these ten kings is when things will come to their final culmination.
But the AC, practicing intrigue and deception, may start off with small beginnings with a small people.
One can't be overly dogmatic of course but the prophetic word of the Lord leaves us far from being in the dark because it's supposedly impossible to garner and understand anything from the prophetic word. If the word is as clear as it is in some places then it's impossible to not have a degree of insight beforehand.
Blessings. The true Church will have to get through coming times TOGETHER.
