TIME OF THE END!

4- The Southern and Northern Kings

By Jeff Pippenger

IN this article we will identify the two kings in Daniel 11:40-45. In our last article we briefly reviewed the complete vision of Daniel 11, and we found that prophetically the northern and southern kings were identified in the historical record by locating which earthly power controlled the area of either Egypt or Babylon. The power which controlled Egypt was recognized in the prophecy of Daniel 11 as the king of the south, while the power which ruled Babylon was understood to be the king of the north. This rule will allow us to identify those kings throughout Daniel 11.

In order to apply this rule to Daniel 11:40-45 we will apply two rules of prophecy which impact the identification of these kings from 1798 onward.

Louis F. Were was an Adventist author who focused many of his writings on the understanding of prophecy. Though now deceased, his books are still available. We will consider these two rules as set forth in one of his literary works. The first rule is called "Worldwide Symbolized by the Local."

"All the prophets employed the principle of the worldwide symbolized by the local." Some examples of its use are as follows: " 'His [Zephaniah's] prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ.' Prophets and Kings, 389. 'Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world . . . hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God.' 'The Saviour's prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, . . . the doom of a world.' The Great Controversy, 22, 36.

"Numerous examples could be cited of the use of the local which is employed as a symbol of worldwide occurrences at the end of time--this principle runs throughout the Bible. As stated by Dr. Angus: 'From the typical character of ancient dispensations arises another peculiarity of prophecy. It not only speaks their language, but it often has a double application.' Bible Handbook, 285." Bible Principles of Interpretation, 25. Italics in original; all bold emphasis added unless otherwise noted.

The second important and closely related prophetic rule which we use in order to identify the kings in Daniel 11 is titled, "The Things of Israel Now Belong to the Church." This rule draws the dividing line for determining whether we are to understand the names or places of prophecy as literal or symbolic.

"This principle is positively fundamental to the understanding of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation--it is the foundational principle of God's last-day message. The Lord gave Paul the special commission of showing how the church became 'the Israel of God,' that the promises to literal Israel were to be fulfilled in the experiences of the church:

" 'They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.' Romans 9:8. 'If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.' Galatians 3:29 . . . .

" 'We are numbered with Israel. . . . All the promises of blessing through obedience, are for us.' The Ministry of Healing, 405. 'I was shown that those who are trying to obey God . . . are God's chosen people, His modern Israel.' Testimonies, vol. 2, 109. . . . The principle that Israel's history is typical or prophetical of the experiences of the church is continually employed in the Spirit of Prophecy." Bible Principles of Interpretation, 11-12.

We will now apply the rule previously cited to identify the kings of Daniel 11. The king of north was the power which controlled Babylon. The king of the south was determined by the power which controlled Egypt. As 1798 was well after the cross, it is spiritual Egypt and spiritual Babylon that we must seek to identify. We must also identify the kingdoms which control them.

We will begin with the king of the south. In the Bible the word south comes from a Hebrew word associated with Egypt. The word means "the south."

"south--5045: from an unused root meaning to be parched; the south (from its drought); specifically the Negeb or southern district of Judah, occasionally, Egypt (as south to Palestine): south (country, side, -ward)." Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Revelation 11:8 figuratively identifies France as "the great city," and calls it "spiritually," "Sodom and Egypt."

" 'The great city' in whose streets the witnesses are slain, and where their dead bodies lie, is 'spiritually' Egypt. Of all nations presented in Bible history, Egypt most boldly denied the existence of the living God and resisted His commands. No monarch ever ventured upon more open and highhanded rebellion against the authority of Heaven than did the king of Egypt. When the message was brought him by Moses, in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh proudly answered: 'Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.' Exodus 5:2, A.R.V. This is atheism; and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God and would manifest a like spirit of unbelief and defiance. 'The great city' is also compared, 'spiritually,' to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of God was especially manifested in licentiousness. And this sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfill the specifications of this scripture.

"According to the words of the prophet, then, a little before the year 1798 some power of satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God's two witnesses should thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh and the licentiousness of Sodom.

"This prophecy has received a most exact and striking fulfillment in the history of France. During the Revolution, in 1793, 'the world for the first time heard an assembly of men, born and educated in civilization, and assuming the right to govern one of the finest of the European nations, uplift their united voice to deny the most solemn truth which man's soul receives, and renounce unanimously the belief and worship of a Deity.'--Sir Walter Scott, Life of Napoleon, vol. 1, ch. 17. 'France is the only nation in the world concerning which the authentic record survives, that as a nation she lifted her hand in open rebellion against the Author of the universe.' Blackwoods Magazine, November, 1870." The Great Controversy, 269-270.

The identification of the "king of the south" in the prophecy of Daniel 11 is determined by which power controls Egypt. In 1798 the nation which is identified in the Bible as possessing the spiritual characteristics of Egypt is France. France was the king of the south in 1798.

Daniel 11:40 states that at the time of the end, the king of the south would push against the king of the north. The word translated push means to war against.

"push--5055: to but with the horns; figuratively to war against: gore, push (down, -ing)." Strong's.

Daniel also uses the word push to describe the military conquests of Medo-Persia.

"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great." Daniel 8:4.

In Daniel 11:40, the word push signifies a war which starts at the time of the end--1798. This war would be directed against the king of the north and would be initiated by the king of the south--France. What power controlled the spiritual domain of Babylon in 1798? Just as south is associated with Egypt in the Bible, north is a direction associated with Babylon.

"Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations." Jeremiah 25:9.

"For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people." Ezekiel 26:7.

Sister White identifies which power controls the domain of spiritual Babylon:

"The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is described as 'arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness . . . and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots.' Says the prophet 'I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.' Babylon is further declared to be 'that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.' Revelation 17:4-6, 18. The power that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome." The Great Controversy, 382.

The harlot of Rome is the power which controls modern or spiritual Babylon. Therefore, the Papacy is the king of the north. When depicting France in Revelation 11:8, John identifies France as "the great city." Babylon is also set forth as "that great city," in Revelation 17:18. A city in prophecy represents a kingdom.

"The marriage represents the reception by Christ of His kingdom. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is the capital and representative of the kingdom, is called 'the bride, the Lamb's wife.' Said the angel to John: 'Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. . . . He carried me away in the spirit,' says the prophet, 'and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.' Revelation 21:9-10. . . . He will receive the New Jerusalem, the capital of His kingdom, 'prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.' Revelation 21:2. See Daniel 7:14. Having received the kingdom, He will come in His glory, as King of kings and Lord of lords." The Great Controversy, 426-427.

In 1798, France, portrayed in Daniel 11:40 as the king of the south, began a war against the Papacy--portrayed as the king of the north. The Papacy received its deadly wound in 1798 when Napoleon, emperor of France, had the pope taken captive. The Papacy ceased to be a kingdom at this point in time, for it was stripped of its civil and political powers. The Papacy, however, did not cease to be a church. She simply lost her power and authority as a kingdom. The wound she received in 1798 will finally be healed when she regains her former position as the dominant geopolitical kingdom.

In the book, The Keys of This Blood, Malachi Martin sets forth his belief that there is a three-way race between the Papacy, the Soviet Union, and the United States to rule the world. He believes that the Papacy will return to the throne of the world by the end of this century. He states that this race is a battle between these three powers to determine who will control the geopolitical structure which will rule the world. He also defines what the Papacy lost in 1798:

"The term 'geopolitics' is a relatively recent invention. It is composed of two Greek words, meaning 'earth' and 'political system,' which the ancient Greeks never combined. . . .

"At the close of two thousand years since Paul expressed the worldview of a genuine georeligion, the 263rd successor to the obscure Great Fisherman reigns and governs in Rome as the titular head of that georeligion housed in a genuinely geopolitical structure. For John Paul II is not only the spiritual head of a worldwide corpus of believers but also the chief executive of a sovereign state that is a recognized member of our late-twentieth-century society of states. With a political goal and structure? Yes, with a geopolitical goal and structure. For, in the final analysis, John Paul II as the claimant Vicar of Christ does claim to be the ultimate court of judgment on the society of states as a society." The Keys of This Blood, 371, 374-375.

The deadly wound will be healed when the world comes into agreement with Malachi Martin's point of view. Prophecy says it will happen, and the Papacy is simply biding her time.

"And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy. Let the principle once be established in the United States that the church may employ or control the power of the state; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured." The Great Controversy, 581.

Another reason to recognize the king of the north as the Papacy is the Bible rule that later prophecies amplify, expand, and confirm former prophecies. This rule is called, "Repeat and Enlarge." Louis F. Were addresses this principle:

"God selected the Hebrew nation to proclaim His truth, and they expressed themselves by repetition--the repetition being an enlargement of that which preceded it. . . .

"The Rev. W. F. Wilkinson, M.A., in his 'Personal Names in the Bible,' page 17, says:-- 'According to the genius of Hebrew poetry, when words or phrases of substantially the same import occur in two parallel or antithetical clauses, the variation of the second from the first consists of its being explanatory, or expansive, or augmentative of the notion which the first contains.' . . .

"The Bible is not only full of enlarging repetitions in individual verses, but it is full of explanatory repetitions in parables, sermons, prophecies, histories, etc.

"Bible themes are written upon the crescendo plan. The earlier books lay the foundations for later developments. The details accumulate until, like an artist dipping his brush in different colours, a complete picture is produced." The Certainty of The Angel's Message, 110-111.

Because of this principle the vision of Daniel 11 should repeat and enlarge Daniel's previous visions. In the book of Daniel there are four prophecies. Within these four prophecies we find strong evidence that the king of the north is the Papacy. This evidence rests squarely on the rule of repeat and enlarge.

The first prophecy of Daniel 2, describes five successive kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the final kingdom, which is portrayed as the stone which is cut out of the mountain "without hands," which destroys all the other kingdoms and fills the whole earth. The final kingdom is the kingdom of God, which is ushered in at the end of the world.

The next prophecy of Daniel is found in chapter seven. The same four successive kingdoms are identified, but this prophecy repeats and enlarges upon the previous information. Then in Daniel 8 the third prophecy covers the same history, once again repeating and enlarging.

In the vision of Daniel 11, Babylon, the first kingdom, is not mentioned, for it had already left the scene of history. The prophecy begins with the Medes and Persians, followed by Greece. Would some say that the final kingdom is not Rome? All three of the previous prophecies of Daniel place Rome at the end of the world when she receives her punishment. Two of them refer to her judgment as a supernatural punishment--"without hands" and "broken without hands." Likewise the final earthly power in Daniel 11 "comes to his end, and none shall help him."

It would be inconsistent for us to study these four messages and not to see them as complementing, building, and agreeing with one another.

Babylon is the head of gold and the lion.

Medo-Persia is the shoulders of silver, the bear, and the ram.

Greece is the thighs of brass, the leopard, the he goat, and the mighty king.

Rome is the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay, the ten-horned beast, and the little horn. And in harmony with the previous prophecies the weight of the evidence is that Rome is also the king of the north of Daniel 11:40-45.

Using the principle of repeat and enlarge, we see papal Rome as the subject of Daniel's final prophecy.

There is yet another way to identify the king of the north as the Papacy. Sister White directs our attention to the Papacy in connection with "the last features plainly revealed in this earth's history."

"The scenes connected with the working of the man of sin are the last features plainly revealed in this earth's history." Selected Messages, book 2, 102.

The sequence of events in Daniel 11:40-45 begins in 1798. But the sequence of events set forth in these verses does not end with verse 45. The scenes portrayed continue on until Daniel 12:4, where Daniel is told to "shut up the words, and seal the book." Daniel 12:1 is a continuation of the previous verses, for its opening phrase demands that it be included within the previous sequence: "And at that time shall Michael stand up." What time? The time just described in the preceding verses. "At that time," points back to the previous events. That time is the close of probation.

" 'And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.' Daniel 12:1. When this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is upon His people." Testimonies, vol. 5, 212-213.

The king of the north "shall come to his end" some time after the close of probation, for "at that time" Michael will stand up, ceasing His mediation in the Most Holy Place.

The king of the north is the man of sin, the pope of Rome, the head of the last earthly kingdom portrayed in all of Daniel's prophecies. The Papacy is the power which controls spiritual Babylon, which France, represented by the king of the south, pushed at in 1798. The war initiated in 1798 between these kings continued until the fall of the Soviet Union within the recent past.

In the previous article we focused on a passage in which Sister White taught that scenes and histories similar to the history which had transpired within the vision of Daniel 11, particularly verses 30-36, would be repeated. We noted also the history of pagan and papal Rome's rise to power. Both had to overcome three kingdoms in advance of their assuming dominion over the world. The little horn of pagan Rome had to conquer the south, the east, and the pleasant land. See Daniel 8:9. Papal Rome had to uproot the three horns--the Vandals, Goths, and Heruli. Before the wound preventing the Papacy from exercising civil power over the world will be healed, it must also subdue three entities. These three entities are three walls.

As we proceed through our study we will see that when the Soviet Union fell in fulfillment of Daniel 11:40, the symbolic wall of the Iron Curtain was removed. A milestone in its collapse was the destruction of the Berlin Wall. In Daniel 11:41, the next area of conquest is identified as the glorious land. The glorious land is the United States which bows to the Roman power when its legislators form an image to the beast, through the passage of a national Sunday law. When this happens the symbolic wall of separation between church and state will have been removed.

Revelation 13:11-12, teaches that immediately after the United States speaks as a dragon, (which the Spirit of Prophecy identifies as the passage of the national Sunday law), then the United States will force the entire world to do the same. The world will follow America in erecting an image to the beast. The definition of the image of the beast involves the enforcement of religious laws through civil power. For the world to create an image to the beast, they must have a world government which can create and enforce law. Without this ability, the definition of an image to the beast cannot be accomplished.

After the king of the north enters the glorious land in verse 41, he then takes control of Egypt, which represents the entire world. Before the entire world can be controlled by a world government, which will enforce religious laws, the governments of the world will be forced to surrender their rights as individual nations. When this happens, the symbolic wall of national sovereignty will have been removed. These types of laws are already under development within the United Nations.

Just as pagan Rome conquered three kingdoms as it took the world captive, papal Rome also conquered three kingdoms. Pagan Rome used its own military to accomplish its task, whereas papal Rome will use outside military power in order to ascend to the throne of the earth. Both their wars were literal wars fought by literal armies.

The king of the north will also defeat three powers as it returns to the position of dominance which it lost in 1798. The three obstacles which the Papacy will surmount will be confronted in the battlefield of spiritual warfare as opposed to literal warfare. The fight will rage in the realm of ideologies and doctrines. The first symbolic wall in this battle is now past history, as the battle of the ideology of atheism versus Catholicism, which began with the French Revolution, has been reversed.

The next two walls of conquest are also spiritual battles which revolve around true and false doctrines. As the Papacy symbolically stretches forth its hand to the glorious land and then to Egypt, first the United States, and then the world, will fall prey in the final battle for the throne of the world. When these last two walls are removed, the healing of the wound will be complete, as verse 43 describes the king of the north bringing the economic structure of the world under his control. This represents his full return to the position which he lost in 1798--his position as the dominant geopolitical kingdom.

As we continue to study these final movements we should remember that although all three of these symbolic walls will fall, there is also a separating wall given us by the Creator, which will stand, and whereby we may find safety and refuge.

"And I saw that if God had changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day, He would have changed the writing of the Sabbath commandment, written on the tables of stone, which are now in the ark in the Most Holy Place of the temple in heaven; and it would read thus: The first day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. But I saw that it read the same as when written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, and delivered to Moses on Sinai. 'But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.' Exodus 20:10. I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints." Early Writings, 33. 

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