The Beautiful Land

Daniel 11:

"11:40b-43. When the Antichrist hears of this invasion, he will move his army from Europe into the Middle East, sweeping through many countries … like a flood (v. 40). He will move quickly into the land of Israel, the Beautiful Land (v. 41; cf. v. 16; 8:9). His first strike will be against Egypt (11:42-43a), for Egypt and her Arab allies (Libyans and Nubians, v. 43) are the ones who will initiate the invasion on Israel. ['He will also invade the Beautiful Land' - Daniel 11:41, NIV]. On this occasion the king will not conquer the territory of Edom, Moab, and … Ammon (v. 41), now included in the present kingdom of Jordan. But he will gain control over “many countries.”
11:44-45. Then the Antichrist will hear alarming reports from the east, probably referring to an invasion by a massive army of 200 million soldiers from east of the Euphrates River, Rev. 9:16 (I strongly disagree Rev 9:16 refers to an actual human army of 200 million soldiers, see NOTE below) and from the north (perhaps another attack by the king of the North; cf. Dan. 11:40). Enraged, the Antichrist will set out to destroy … many of the invaders. Then he will occupy Israel and will pitch his royal tents between the seas, that is, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, at the beautiful holy mountain, probably Jerusalem. Posing as Christ, the Antichrist will set up his headquarters in Jerusalem, the same city from which Christ will rule the world in the Millennium (Zech. 14:4, 17). The Antichrist will also pose as Christ by introducing a one-world government with himself as the ruler and a one-world religion in which he is worshiped as god. But God will destroy the kingdom of this king (he will come to his end; cf. Dan. 7:11, 26) at the personal appearance of Jesus Christ to this earth (Rev. 19:19-20)."
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Da 11:40–45). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Although I've never visited Jerusalem, I've seen plenty of pictures of Israel, "The Beautiful Land" or better known as "The Land of Promise".  I look upon Jerusalem almost every afternoon; having a great view of the location where the 2nd Jewish Temple once stood.  Alas,....my perfect view is that of a panoramic poster stapled to the wall in my little tiny closet sized break room; where I eat my lunch just about every day.  And on these days I look upon where God's temple will stand from the Mt. of Olives; or better yet, I imagine that I'm standing on the Mt. of Olives where I assume; there's a view of the Kidron Valley below.  Stuffing my lunch down, I'd say to myself, "This will be my home one day".  I imagine Jesus returning in a cloud of glory; bringing with Him, His armies of the saints.  The Bible says Jesus will set foot on the Mt. of Olives (Zechariah 14:3) again.  Jesus spent a lot of time here on the Mt. of Olives when He was here the first time around.  All of you who had the privilege of stepping upon the Mt. of Olives during your visit have truly experienced a unique blessing indeed!  It is also written; I believe in the book of Ezekiel [according to Beth Moore of Living Proof Ministry; in her Bible study of the life of Jesus our Messiah] ... in the ancient days of the Israelites, when God left the Temple for good, He passed through the East gate of Jerusalem; through the Kidron Valley; and hovered above the Mt. of Olives before disappearing for good; or until...the birth of Jesus, the Messiah.  Oh, I believe, just this thought would bring about much debate.  So, I shall wait until Jesus, my Lord, returns ... before I make the "Beautiful Land" my permanent home.  (You have to do some serious reading about Biblical prophesy to understand what I just wrote about...I pray God will bless you with much knowledge and wisdom)

NOTE:  In the book of Daniel (e.g. Daniel 10:13) the angel explained his tardiness for 21 days was because of a spirit prince, principality unseen by the human eye, who blocked the angel's way.  I believe it when the Bible says that the 200 million soldiers mentioned in Revelation 9:16 are troops under the command of four angels of Revelation 9:15; therefore, concluding that verse 9:16 are actually spirit warriors.  They are NOT likely human warriors from China.  As Christians, we are taught (albeit difficult to enact and uphold at times) that we are in a spiritual warfare; but not against flesh and blood with our fellow human beings, but instead, all of us here are at constant odds with the principalities of this world who are under Satan's command:

• "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12
• "for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.  Everything was created through Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16
• "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love." Romans 8:38
• "Now Christ has gone to heaven.  He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority." 1 Peter 3:22

So, constant studying of God's Word is so crucial.  If you were to "google" this on the internet, you will see a lot of scary suppositions and theories about Revelation 9:16 and pointing their fingers at China's vast population; therefore, jump to the conclusion the prophesy is about a Chinese military.  But, one must look at all the verses leading up to 9:16.  In the previous verses, there's mention of four angels.  Angels are spirit, heavenly beings; capable of appearing between the heavenly and the earthly realm.  The prophesy indicates these four angels, once bound at the Euphrates river, were released to carry out their mission.  These four angels command an army of 200 million troops.  Angels are typically invisible to the human eyes.  Therefore, it's unlikely, the 200 million troops described in Revelation from the east are from China.  If you were to read further into Revelation 9, you will also discover that the mission resulted in three plagues that killed 1/3 of the world population.  And the Bible prophesy reveals that the Godless people of the future continued their wicked ways even after being struck down by three plagues. 

We are in a spiritual battle (even before God created the earth and mankind) both here and now; and it would seem, also in the future as well.   If experts can accurately shed more light on this, then praise God, that's terrific!  Pray that the Lord reveals His truth to them; and that when they do receive and accept God's revelation to them; they will have the courage to teach their discoveries to others.  To scare churchgoers with false teaching is just a blatant disregard of God's warning.  Just like during the "Cold War", someone or something introduced a controversial topic into some churches about the U.S.A (aka:  the eagle) being at war with the Soviet Union (aka:  the bear) at some time in the future; and that it's been prophesied in the Christian Bible.  And what a cart load of goat dung that was.  There were some who were falsely led to believe it as true.  The eagle-bear imagery was a distorted illustration probably taken from the book of Daniel (or Nostradamus, who is not mentioned in the Bible nor was he a Biblical prophet).  In the book of Daniel, the "lion with eagles wings" was actually ancient Bayblon; and the bear was the ancient Medo-Persian empire.  Both empires did battle each other - Babylon fell and the Medo-Persians took control.  But, all that took place around 2600 or 2700 years ago...or there abouts.  I only hope and pray such false teachings did not lead others astray.  Biblical prophesy is from God.  The Bible also says in Revelation 22:18 and 22:19 "...If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book.  And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described."  We've all been through a lot here on earth.  I for one, certainly do not want to miss out on my rewards when rewards are being handed out at God's appointed time.

God is truly wonderful and merciful indeed!