Verse 42: “And he will stretch forth his hand against countries, and there will not be any escape in the land of Egypt.”

Escape: Deliverance.

Egypt: Associated with the kingdom of the South.

Verse 43: “He will rule over the treasuries of gold and silver, over all the delightful things from Egypt. Libya and Ethiopia at his heels.”

Egypt: Egypt is sometimes used symbolically as a reference to the world. Many of the scholars say that this verse alludes to the fact that the antichrist is going to be very wealthy. He is going to have the gold, the silver and all the desirable things of the world because of his victories and power over the nations.

Libya: Referring to the Northern part of Africa.

Ethiopia: Could also be translated Sudan. The Eastern part of Africa.

At his heels: The antichrist is going to be ruling over much of Africa once he has defeated the king of the South.

Verse 44: “But he is going to hear news from the East and from the North that will trouble him, and he will go out with great anger to utterly destroy many.”

News: A change happens here. He hears rumours and they trouble him.

He will go out: He has conquered the South. He is from the North and as he heads back to the North he is going to conquer, in wrath, all of these places who are in opposition to him.

Utterly destroy: Annihilate

Verse 45: “And he will plant the tents of his palace between the Sea and the glorious Holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.”

The tents: Tents are very temporal structures. What this is revealing to us is that his stay in this place is going to be temporary. He is not going to endure there for much longer.

Palace: A very plush and lavish place. Also alluding to his administration or government.

Between the Sea and the glorious Holy mountain: The antichrist has destroyed all the kingdoms of the South, those from the North as well as those from the East. He has destroyed everything, and is now, in his eyes and in the eyes of the world, firmly established. It is interesting to note that after his victory he set himself up in this place. Although he has defeated all people and nations he has got one thing left to do – to win over the Jewish people. He sets himself up here for a final attempt to get the Jewish people to receive him so that he can establish his kingdom there.

Note: The last days are going to be a time of great confusion, instability and chaos (just like in the days of the first creation – Genesis 1). The Holy Spirit is going to move mightily in these last days in order to bring order out of the chaos as He moves to establish the Kingdom of God – a kind of second creation, if you will (Zechariah 12:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17)