Who is the God of forces?
“But in
his estate
shall he honour the God of forces:
and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and
silver, and
with precious stones, and pleasant things.”
“But in
his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom
his fathers
knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious
stones, and
pleasant things.” (Daniel
11:38).
Is this ‘the
God of forces’ just another ‘god’ or as the title suggests, is it
‘God’?
DO
CAPITALS
REFER TO DEITY?
To draw a
parallel, let us look at the term “Son of man”. We see
a big “S” and so we think that this refers to
Jesus Christ. However, we find Ezekiel 3:17 that Ezekiel is also called
Son of man (albeit at the start of a
sentence).
Furthermore,
we find the title of the son of man also refers to
ordinary
man (Numbers 23:19), but there is only one the
Son of man (Matthew 8:20) who is Jesus Christ.
Now,
almost without exception, in the
scriptures, when the term ‘God’ or ‘god’
is written, the reader can very
easily distinguish what or which God is being referred to.
There is the
god of this world (satan)
(2Corinthians 4:4) and then there is the
God of heaven (Genesis 24:3) who is the
God of truth (Isaiah 65:16).
THE
DILEMMA
In the
Scriptures, capitals mean the name of
a person or the Deity of God. For example, there is the one true God eg
for I am God, and there is none else
(Isaiah 45:22).
However,
the problem arises when the title of
‘the God of forces’ is used as it
has a capital “G”. Does this
necessarily refer to “God”?
In
scriptures, satan is addressed with a
small “g” and never a big “G” eg the
god of this world (2Corinthians
4:4). So it is a little confusing as to who this “the God
of forces” is.
GOD’S
TITLES
These
titles explain themselves - the God of heaven, and the God
of the earth
(Gen 24:3); I am the God of Abraham (Gen
26:24); the God of Isaac (Gen
28:13); the God of my father (Gen
31:5); the God of Bethel (Gen 31:13); the
God which fed me all my life long unto this day (Gen 48:15); I am the God of thy father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex 3:6); The God of the Hebrews (Ex 5:3); the God of
Israel (Ex 24:10); the God of the spirits of all flesh
(Num 16:22); the God of Jeshurun
(Deut 33:26); The LORD is my rock, and
my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock (2 Sam 22:2-3); the God of the land (2 Kings 17:27); The God
of the whole earth (Is 54:5); the God of David thy
father (2Kings
20:5); the God of their fathers
(1Chron 5:25); the God of Jerusalem
(2Chron 32:19); the God of Hezekiah
(2Chron 32:17); the God of my salvation
(Psalm 18:46); the God of glory (Ps
29:3); the God of my life/strength
(Ps 42:8, 43:2); The God of my mercy
(Ps 59:10); the God of gods (Ps
136:2); the God of hosts, the God of
Israel (Jer 38:17); the God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:28); the God
of Daniel (Dan 6:26); the
God of judgment (Mal 2:17); God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt 22:32); the God of patience and consolation
(Rom 15:5); the God of hope (Rom
15:13); the God of all comfort (2Cor 1:3); the
God of peace (Rom 16:20); the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17); the
God of all grace (1Peter 5:10).
SATAN’s
TITLES
These
titles also explain themselves - Chemosh the god of the
Moabites
(1Kings 11:33); the god of the children
of Ammon (1Kings 11:33); the god of
Ekron (2Kings 1:6); the god of this
world (2Corinthians 4:4)
We know
who he is. Firstly, the antichrist of
Daniel 11:38, honours the God of forces
with gold silver and stones. Now we know that God is to be worshipped
in spirit
and in truth (John 4:23) and with a broken spirit and contrite heart
(Psalm
51:17) not with the physical of gems and precious metals.
Secondly,
the verse states that the God of forces
as he speaks against the God of gods - And
the
king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and
magnify
himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the
God of
gods, (Daniel 11:36).
Thirdly,
nowhere in Scripture is the term God of forces used as
a title for God.
Fourthly,
it’s a god who his fathers know
not. This “God” is definitely not God.
THE KEY
The word
estate can mean ‘condition’ or
‘status’ meaning the estate of someone is their status. It can also
mean
‘position’, ‘rank’, ‘place’, ‘standard’, ‘circumstances’ and ‘domain’.
Various
places in the scriptures this word is used are –
I
communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate,
and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in
Jerusalem:
yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
(Ecclesiastes 1:16)
I said
in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men,
that God
might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are
beasts. (Ecclesiastes 3:18)
Whom I
have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate,
and comfort your hearts; (Colossians
4:8)
Now, it
would seem that a person’s estate is
connected with their heart or someone else’s heart.
The
transgression of the wicked saith within my heart,
that there is no fear of God before his eyes. (Psalm
36:1)
the heart
of the wicked is little worth (Proverbs 10:20)
The heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah
17:9)
The vast
estate of
his physical wealth, blinds the antichrist (an actual man) as he
communes “in his estate” which is his own heart,
and he comes up with another “God” which is not God. It is the God of
forces.
It is called “the God of forces” to reinforce
this deity of his own mind. It just looks like “God”. The God of
forces is
satan himself that masquerades as God.
The
deception and the
lie that he believes, is such, that he believes that his ‘God’ (to
which he
ascribes deity), in reality is only another god, but he can’t see this.
So
desperately wicked is his own heart!
THE END OF
THE ANTICHRIST
However in
his own
mind and realm of experience, the God of
forces is far superior to the God of
gods which he speaks out against “…
the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself,
and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things
against the
God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished:
for that
that is determined shall be done.” (Daniel 11:36)
Generally
speaking,
such is the estate of the wicked. Such is the mind of the Christ
rejecter. Such
is the mind of people headed for hell having rejected the one true
Saviour. And
such is the end of the antichrist (the beast), the false prophet and
satan
himself. Looking out the rear window, they wail and cry for future
relief but
all to no avail.
We are to
be reminded
of the end that awaits the antichrist (the first beast of Revelation
13:1) and
all Christ rejecters “… If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead,
or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is
poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he
shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in
the
presence of the Lamb: (Revelation 14:9-10).
And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented
day and night for ever and ever.”
(Revelation 20:10).
Harley Hitchcock
**** ****
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
Australian
Bible Ministries, PO
Box 5058, Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com
