Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
36And the king will do according to his will and he will exalt himself and he will magnify himself above every god and upon the God of gods. He will speak things being amazing and he will succeed until the fury is accomplished according to what is decreed shall be accomplished. 37And he will not regard upon the gods of his forefathers, nor upon the desire of women, nor will he regard upon any god because he will magnify himself upon all.
At this point, commentators differ over whether the angel is still talking about Antiochus Epiphanes or if he has morphed ahead to anticipate the Antichrist himself. I will come back to that discussion, but first, I want to note what is a particularly cryptic portion of v. 37. We’re told “He will have no regard for the gods of his forefathers,” then the next phrase is variously translated. The old KJV (and many others) translates it “nor the desire of women.” The NIV translates it “or for the one desired by women,” while others say something like, “or for the God women love.”
The problem, as is often the case in Hebrew (and especially in prophecy), is that Hebrew is a picture language. There are actually only two Hebrew words that make up the phrase, which then explains the wide variety of translations. In Hebrew, you just have to “get the picture.” Things are almost never “spelled out” like we do in English – hence the variety of translations of these two Hebrew words. Notice that the old KJV had to use five words, while the NIV uses up seven! They’re all trying to express “the picture” presented in two simple words.
Just to make life interesting, I’ll throw my own translation/interpretation into the cacophony. What is the picture obviously being presented by these verses? Is it not clearly trying to present to us an extremely unusual man? Especially in the ancient polytheistic world, it would have been unheard of that any man had no regard for the gods of his forefathers. Each nation had their own god, and I’m sure each family only further reinforced that practice. It goes on, in fact, to say he won’t regard any god, but magnifies himself above them all! Especially in that ancient culture, the picture is a man who doesn’t fit anyone’s mold.
Right in the middle of all of this we’re told he’ll also think himself above something like “the desire of women.” As we saw above, that can be translated many ways, but what fits “the picture?” In regard to something to do with “desire” and “women,” what would make him shockingly unusual? …that he would have no desire for women. When was there ever a king who didn’t want a harem? When was there any man who gained riches or power and didn’t immediately use those things to secure to himself a beautiful woman (or women)?
I personally think this person will be shockingly unusual in that he rejects his own people’s “god,” even claiming to be God himself, and that he exhibits absolutely no desire for women. These things (and especially the latter!) would mark him out, so that, knowing this beforehand, believers will have no doubt recognizing him whenever he does appear.
I try to always be warned by John Eadie’s observation, “Interpretations are generally false, in proportion to their ingenuity.” In this case, I am certainly vulnerable to the accusation of ingenuity – since I don’t think I’ve found anyone else who proposes it. However, I also have to study the Bible, know what exactly it does (and doesn’t) say, consider what others suggest, then make my own final decision what makes sense to me. I freely acknowledge that others can draw their own conclusions, especially when we’re all talking about how to translate two Hebrew words and then offer an interpretation of them. So, I may be wrong, but I personally think that the best understanding is that this man will stand out as unusual in that he gains riches and power, then exhibits no desire at all for women.
What I’d like to do now is stray into an excursus which, in my mind, only further reinforces this understanding. Again, I acknowledge that others can differ with me and their thoughts are certainly worthy of consideration, but I offer the following as a man who has been studying the Bible for nearly fifty years.
That thought – “He has no desire for women” – reminds me of I Tim. 4:1-3, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons…They forbid people to marry…”
“They forbid people to marry.” “Things taught by demons” Why would demons forbid people to marry? Because demons hate babies. People are God’s creation. God’s desire is that we should be “fruitful and multiply.” God loves people. God loves babies. In God’s world, He would say, “The more the better!” Satan hates God’s creation. He hates people. If he could, he would kill us all in a heartbeat. Obviously, the Lord won’t let him, so he turns to a thousand other strategies of how to destroy us.
What happens if people don’t marry? One of two things. You either then get no babies, or you have children being born out of wedlock. God’s plan from the very beginning was for one man to marry one woman, to commit themselves to each other for life, then to bring babies into a world where their parents love each other and their parents love them. God’s plan is for children to grow up in a wonderfully secure world of love and nurturing and guidance, where their parents model for them all that a person should be.
I am no psychologist, but I believe the majority of them would say that any other model will be brutal for the children. It is very hard on children to grow up with no father, or in a home where every month or two there is another “man” in the house. Most of the time, they struggle in “step” families. Obviously, in our fallen world, the Lord can help any “family,” but would we not all agree that the Lord’s basic plan is the best for babies?
So Satan and his minions discourage marriage because he hates people and he hates babies. We have before us a man who has “no desire for women.” What would happen if that were true of all men? The entire human race would be extinct in a single generation! In this case, Satan’s man is the ultimate baby hater. Demons would teach people not to marry and Satan’s man has “no desire for women,” precisely because they all hate us humans and they hate babies.
Just to keep my excursus going, if we all understood this, we would understand a LOT of what else goes on in this world. We believers shudder at even the thought of abortions. How could any mother want to kill the baby in her own womb? Why is it that people of faith tend to have more children, while, in a godless society, the birthrate dwindles to nothing? Why is it invariably the case that when a nation forsakes the Lord, the young people stop marrying and just “move in” together? Why is there suddenly an explosion of “single mothers?” Why does the divorce rate skyrocket? Why is there suddenly so much child abuse and neglect? How could America ever become a nation where there is any such thing as child sex trafficking?
Satan hates babies. We live in the very crossfire of a massive but unseen spiritual war. The Bible would tell us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” And why is that? Because, whether we realize it or not, He is our only hope. “My enemies are too strong for me!” (Ps. 142:6). If we would care at all about our children, about their happiness, about their own futures, then we cannot recognize enough, “We need the Lord!” Without Him, everything about our country, our culture, even our families are doomed to devolve into baby-hating, to providing an environment that destroys our children’s lives, even before they know why. Solving the problem is not about some new government program. We live in the crossfire of a massive, swirling spiritual war!
So, back to our text, Satan’s man is “the exact representation” of his father. What characterizes him is the ultimate attack on the human race – a man with no desire for a woman, when God’s plan was for us to “be fruitful and multiply.” Once again, if only Satan could get all men to that point, the human race would be extinct in a generation and the devil could celebrate the victory of his malevolence.
In this sense, I don’t think it matters exactly who this man is -- what we all need to recognize is that he will be the very picture of evil. When he appears, one of the very unusual qualities he will possess is his complete disinterest in women.
I again allow for the fact we’re trying to understand the meaning of two Hebrew words. Maybe I’m wrong and, even for myself, I would want to simply remember the words which are literally just “nor for the desire of women.” However, I believe my understanding “fits the picture.” Even if I am completely wrong, I hope anyone reading this realizes that what I have written is true. While God loves babies and just wants us to have more, every expression we see of baby and child hating comes straight from the pits of hell. Every expression we see of baby and child hating should only remind us we live in the midst of a spiritual war.
Oh, how dearly we need to pray for our families! Oh, how dearly we need to pray for revival across our country, when the Lord “turns the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers.” In the end, we believers live in the wonderful confidence that “the rock, cut without hands, … will become a huge mountain and fill the whole earth.” However, in the meantime, may we all be the more committed to prayer for our families, our nation, and our world. May we take every opportunity to encourage people to love babies, to build strong families, and do all possible to provide for our children a world that encourages them to worship the true and the living God!
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