Verse 16: “And he does to him as he wants, and no one will be able to stand before him. He is going to stand in the Beautiful Land with destruction in his hand.”

He does to him as he wants: The king of the North does as he desires.

No one will be able to stand before him: He is going to have absolute power.

Stand in the Beautiful Land: The king of the North is going to have a great victory. This victory is going to give him the encouragement, the incentive he needs, to stand in the Beautiful Land. The scholars understand that this is a reference to the land of Israel. This gives us great insight – the objective of this kingdom (the kingdom that the antichrist is going to rise up within) is to destroy Israel. It is a kingdom that is opposed to the plans and purposes of God. Destruction in his hand: He comes (basically) threatening the Jewish people. He wants to bring an end to what God is building up.

Verse 17: “He will turn his face to come with great strength, with all of his kingdom. He will bring equitable terms with him. And he shall give him the daughter of women to corrupt it, but this will not stand, and she will not be to him.”

Come: Enter

Equitable terms: He is going to come with an agreement (treaty) – for all of those who will agree with him. In Daniel 11:6 we saw that a previous (weak) agreement had been made – brought about by the giving of a daughter from the king of the South.

Note: This verse teaches us that the antichrist will not want to destroy Israel completely (at least, not initially). There is nothing in Scripture to lead us to the wrong assumption that Israel receives/signs this agreement with the antichrist. It is their rejection of this agreement that leads the antichrist to want to, ultimately, annihilate them (Revelation 12:13-17). Israel’s rejection of the antichrist gives rise to what is known as ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7)

Daughter of women: Many commentators agree that this expression has to do with the children of Israel. The world is going to place Israel under the Northern kingdom’s control – in order to corrupt or pollute her.

Corrupt: Israel is far removed from the truth of God. If Israel is not obeying the Word of God then the Kingdom of God will not be established. Israel has to get to that place of repentance where they are able to say: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39).

The world does not want the kingdom of God to be established, and will do everything in its power to stop this from happening. 

She will not be to him: Israel is not going to agree with the antichrist; therefore, this plan is not going to be successful.

Verse 18: “Then he is going to turn his face to the islands and is going to capture many of them. A commander is going to bring an end to their disgrace. With the disgrace removed he shall turn back on him.”

Islands: The faraway places

Going to capture: He is destroying far removed places in is anger. This is a show of power, but is also a way of expanding his kingdom.

A commander is going to bring an end to their disgrace: 

There are two ways to understand this:

1. One of the officers rises up and brings an end to the king of the North’s reproach. Victory has always been short-lived. A gloriously successful campaign, against other nations, has led this commander/captain/ruler to put an end to the disgrace the king of the North has felt for not being completely successful with previous endeavours (against Israel etc).

2. Another view is that this commander stops the disgrace that the king of the North is putting upon all these other places. He does not believe it is the right thing to do, and counsels and causes the king of the North to cease his conflict and to go back to his capital.