94    The Bible and the Future of the World 

Antichrist Loses a Battle 

      `At the appointed time, he will return, and he will approach the South, 

but the latter time will not be like the former. And the Greek warships and 

the Romans will  come upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat, 

and will have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will act. 

And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who have forsaken the 

covenant of the sanctuary.'   (Dan 11:29 30). 

    Previously, in A.D. 2430, the Antichrist defeated the king of the South in 

a war, but by means of treachery, not merely by force of arms. But  at  this 

time, about halfway through his reign of nearly seven years, the Antichrist 

gathers a huge fleet and makes a plan to crush the South in outright warfare. 

He does this because the South (which includes Israel, the Middle East, and 

northern Africa) is still the strongest area of the world in the Christian faith. 

The South has been rebellious against the pact to abandon all religion to 

worship the Antichrist. Not only Christians, but faithful Jews and Muslims 

also rebel and reject the worship of the Antichrist. Many Jews and Muslims 

live in the kingdom of the South. So the Antichrist prepares a huge fleet to 

utterly crush them for their rebelliousness. In response, they have no major 

army or forces to bring against him. It seems as if it will be a slaughter 

instead of a battle. 

    But things are different this time. Greek ships come against the Antichrist. 

In the Book of Daniel, Greece and the Greeks represent democracy because 

democracy first began in Greece. These ships are from a democratic area of 

the world. The Greek ships are manned by Roman Catholics. The Greek 

ships have a new weapon that is able to pierce the defenses of the ships of 

the Antichrist's fleet. The Antichrist becomes afraid and is forced to retreat. 

This is the Antichrist's only major defeat in battle. 

    The Antichrist becomes enraged at his humiliation by the Greek ships and 

the Roman Catholics. He decides to destroy the Christian faith utterly. But 

he cannot defeat Christianity through warfare since the Greek ships were 

able to force his retreat. Neither can they defeat the Antichrist utterly, for 

they have but a small force that cannot conquer the Antichrist's worldwide 

forces. So the Antichrist consults with the adversaries of the Christian faith, 

those who have forsaken the teachings of the Church: heretics and apostates. 

They inform him that the Eucharist and the Mass is the strength and the 

center of the Christian faith. They also inform him about the abomination of 

desolation, a false Eucharist devised by unfaithful Christians. He decides to 

support the abomination and to use it to destroy the Church from within. He 

changes the laws (and perhaps the calendar) to promote the abomination. 

(Previously, only the worship of the Antichrist was permitted. All other 

religious practice was banned.)