The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

HIS BEGINNINGS
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THE THREE KINGS:
Although Antichrist will enter the world stage peacefully, yet we are
told that he shall “subdue three kings.” (Dan 7:24) This is presented to
us symbolically in this manner, “After this I saw in the night visions, and
behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly;
and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the
beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns,
and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before
whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and,
behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth
speaking great things.”(Dan 7:7-8) The little horn is no doubt no other
than Antichrist, and the three horns that were plucked out by the root
are the three kings whom he will subdue. (Dan 7:24) Here is how Saint
Hippolytus characterizes these three kings:
“Another little horn shall rise, which is that of Antichrist. And it shall
pluck by the roots the three others before it; that is to say, he shall
subvert the three kings of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, with the view of
acquiring for himself universal dominion. 1
Saint Hippolytus bases his view on Daniel 11:42-43, where we are told
that, “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the
land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the
treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt:
and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” We have
previously alluded to the fact that “Ethiopia” is a misnomer, for it is a
translation of the Greek “Kush,” which is defined for us by most text
books as “the land to the south of Egypt,” which is present day Sudan.
Why would Antichrist single out these three countries for military
invasion? None of the ancient writers of the Church tells us. So, let us
speculate! Lybia and the Sudan are the only two countries today with
a truly Islamic government. They are considered as trouble making
countries. It would seem that such activist governments should be out
of the way if Antichrist is to have dominance in the middle east, and by
virtue of the money and petroleum in the area, on the world. But Egypt
1
Hippolytus: Scholia on Daniel