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Readings in the Book of
Daniel
As we carry on in our reading of Daniel chapter 11 we shall pass from prophetic verses regarding the past and present, and begin to look into the future.
One cardinal rule regarding futuristic prophecy is that we cannot be dogmatic regarding its meaning! As we have seen very clearly, we cannot always base the future interpretation on what we have understood of the past interpretations, because in this case, the meaning which was at first literal and geographical, then changed to become spiritual and worldwide. But that should not stop us from prayerfully and carefully reading and asking the Spirit of God to tell us what it means to us. If we wish to know so that we can benefit others, then we will be told. Keep in mind that although the “names” and “places” of the players are symbolic, their actions will be described in literal language because we use the same words for spiritual conflicts as we do for physical wars; e.g. we “fight the good fight of faith”. 1 Timothy 6:12.
So let’s begin and I’ll share my understanding with you.
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Daniel 11:
40 And at the time of the end [1798 onwards] shall the king of the south push at him:
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Gabriel carries on in his prophecy with the news that the king of the south would attack the king of the north at the time of the end. Because of the spiritual nature of prophetic declarations after the crucifixion, we need to look for an anti (openly against God) system around 1798.
From my library:
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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. Plenty of blasphemers, plenty of infidels, there have been, and still continue to be, in England, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere; but France stands apart in the world's history as the single state which, by the decree of her Legislative Assembly, pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere, women as well as men, danced and sang with joy in accepting the announcement”. – Blackwood's Magazine, November, 1870.
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Thus history shows us that in the latter part of the eighteenth century the recently formed French Republic which had just officially cast off its “divinely appointed” king by beheading him, and had turned against Roman Catholicism through its Parliament in the “Reign of Terror” of 1793-97, was then firmly atheistic. It legally embraced atheism as its official religion, the only country in the world ever to do this, and in 1798 its army attacked the centre of Roman Catholicism in Italy and deposed the ruling pope. That particular person died in exile and of course, a new one was elected, but ever since then the Roman church has not had any POLITICAL power among the nations. Yet, after that, France gave up its atheism and reverted mainly to Roman Catholicism! How Satan loves to confuse, and how he is, in turn, confused!
But now we look into the future:
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Daniel 11:
40b And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
Dan 11:40 (MSG)
40 " 'In the final wrap-up of this story, the king of the south will confront him. But the king of the north will come at him like a tornado. Unleashing chariots and horses and an armada of ships, he'll blow away anything in his path.
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We should take note of the fact that Gabriel says that when the king of the north retaliates, he will come back “like a whirlwind”, fast and furious. He has not done that yet, for we still live in a materialistic, mostly God-ignoring, world which worships the almighty dollar. Early in the 19th century rationalism began to gradually spread over all of Europe and the rest of the western world, and touched every phase of intellectual life such as education, science, philosophy, literature, and even theology. Human reason was made the measure of all things. In place of the certainty of the Bible came the “theory” of evolution to explain the existence of life! What can change this?
Some more questions:
Who is “the king of the north” today? Is it still the Papacy? Or has the mantle of deception passed to another group?
Surely it has, for the deception of the Roman Catholic system has been well known and documented since the days of the Reformation when it began to receive its mortal wound. Certainly the “deadly wound” which the beast received in 1798 has now been healed and the Roman church is accepted today by many as a “Christian” church. But that wound occurred to only one of the beast’s heads, the fifth. There has been another “head” ruling the world since 1798, an atheistic, indifferent to religion, one, which men call “the industrial age”. But there is a seventh head to come yet which is obviously the new king of the north. “And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman [the Roman church] sits. And there are seven kings [the ruling powers of the beast]: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he [the seventh] comes, he must continue a short space”. Revelation 17:9-10.
We won’t be in any doubt when he does surface, for a tornado is hard to miss! There will be a “storm” of religious feeling emanating from the Protestant churches of the United States of America, sweeping the world and extending even into the church of God (Israel). Although, as stated earlier, we cannot be too strong in our assertions of unfulfilled prophecy, I believe that there are two things (and possibly a third) that can rouse the hackles of many professed Christians. If these were taught with any vitality, then there would certainly be a “hurricane” of protest from those who love their errors.
How will he fight? If we take a principle from the Bible and apply it to him we will find out.
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2 Corinthians 10:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [earthly], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
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Satan copies God, and therefore he will cause the king of the north (his religious arm) to START with doctrines, and then ENFORCE them with the power of the state, for he knows that the battle is for control of our minds.
The first of these doctrines is; which day should we worship on? Sabbath or Sunday?
I put this first because it is something that all can see whether they believe or not. There are no Bible proofs for the keeping of Sunday – its observance rests entirely on the authority of the Roman Catholic church, backed up by the leaders of the Protestant churches! Those who cling to the Bible will want to observe God’s seventh-day Sabbath and will therefore disregard any church authority, for they are “not defiled with women [churches]”. Revelation 14:4. However, resisting the authority of a church has caused many to suffer death in the past, and so not many will want to go right down that path. But history records that there are multitudes who will fight and persecute for the sanctity of Sunday. These two days will be the flags for the two opposing groups.
The second area of controversy is the gospel. Consider this: John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world”. John 1:29. Then this is often interpreted in this way: “Because we are sinners by nature, when we sin we need to take a lamb (representing Jesus) into the courtyard of the sanctuary (representing us approaching Christ), confess our sin over it, kill it (representing Christ dying for us), and then its blood is taken into the building as a picture of our sin being forgiven”.
This story also has no foundation in the Bible! Never at any time is the blood of a lamb taken into the sanctuary, and Christians are not sinners “by nature”. We need to face the reality that Christians sin by choice, while sinners sin by compulsion.
What actually is pictured in the Bible is that a lamb was killed OUTSIDE the courtyard, in someone’s backyard, and its blood was applied to the doorposts of the house in which its body was to be eaten. This represents the Lamb of God as our Saviour, and His blood (the evidence of death) is shown as a protecting power over us in our normal life.
The ceremony depicting this is called the Passover. (Exodus 12.) It is written, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us”. 1 Corinthians 5:7. A prerequisite for it was circumcision. (Exodus 12:43-48.) These two rituals picture the cleansing of the person and the change from “sinner” to “saint”.
Thus it is written:
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Exodus 12:
2 This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you [as a picture of the beginning of your Christian experience].
3 Speak you to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them [choose] every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: 4 and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb . . . 6 And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it [thereby making the sign of the cross] . . .
43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance [law] of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44 but every man's servant that is bought for money [and become part of the family], when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45 A foreigner and a [daily] hired servant shall not eat thereof . . . 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with [live among] you, and will [desires to] keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
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Only after this experience, first a removal [circumcision], and then an infilling [the lamb], could a person approach the courtyard with an offering for sin. Then it was a GOAT, a FEMALE goat that was expected.
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Leviticus 4:
27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he does somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; 28 or if his sin, which he has sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned.
29 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering [in confession], and slay the sin offering in the [same] place of the burnt offering [which was NOT a sin offering]. 30 And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering [in the courtyard], and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar . . . and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32 And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering [as a second choice], he shall bring it a female without blemish [and do the same rituals].
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Note carefully that the blood of this animal was NOT taken into the building at all. A small amount was put on the horns of the brass altar in the courtyard and the rest poured away down the drain. This was because the animal’s body was to be ritually eaten by the priest who helped in the ceremony. In this way the “death” that was the result of the sin that had been transferred to it was ritually placed in the priest, showing how Christ takes our sins upon Himself. (Other ceremonies show other aspects of Christ’s work, but this should be sufficient to show how salvation (not redemption) works.)
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Leviticus 6:
25 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy. 26 The priest that offers it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, [a special area] in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation . . . 29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
30 And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.
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The last statement makes it plain that at certain times some blood was taken into the building, but it was NEVER the blood of a lamb, nor the blood of an offering made by the common person. My point in all this is, that the gospel preached by so many today is based on a myth. It is not Biblically inspired and is just as unreliable as the Sunday teaching. It eliminates the very heart of the good news – that the Son of God will take from us the CAUSE of sinful actions – the sinful “heart”, and replace it with a “heart” like His.
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Deuteronomy 30:6.
“The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live”.
Acts 13:22.
“He raised up to them David to be their king; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, which shall fulfil all My will’.”
1 Kings 15:5.
“Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”.
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The result of these two doctrines will be that each individual will come down on one side or the other. Either they will accept a God who loves and forgives His enemies, or they will worship a god who loves his friends but destroys his enemies. Then their actions will reflect those beliefs! There will be a “controversy such as never was” because EVERYONE in the world will be active in “the war” – there will be no neutrals.
Gabriel continued:
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Daniel 11:
41 He [north] shall enter also into the glorious land [spiritual Israel], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief [but not all] of the children of Ammon.
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This new antichrist, who looks Christian but is not, will obviously fool many people. Gabriel warns that many in the church will be taken in, and Jesus confirmed that for us. He said, “And many false prophets [teachers] shall rise, and shall deceive many . . . then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened”. Matthew 24:11-22. (That’s the SECOND persecution of Daniel 7:22.
But three groups escape.
Edom, Moab and Ammon were respectively, Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother (aka Esau) and Lot’s two sons by his daughters! Genesis 25:30; 19:35-38. All three are shown in the Bible to be less than obedient to God and harassed His people often, so why should they escape with Israel? When, as they say, “push comes to shove” these three will react with their independent natures and resist the king of the north’s ideas. All three are closely related to Israel, and because they are nominal seventh-day keepers already, they will, under persecution, enthusiastically accept God’s protection and embrace the Sabbath “rest” principle. The phrase “escape out of his hand” simply means not being fooled by his doctrines. They will not escape his murderous force.
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Daniel 11:
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries [the rest of the world]: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
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The antichrist will think that he has the whole world at his feet and will rejoice. However, those who are loyal to God and His Sabbath will have been protected by Him and overlooked by Satan’s agents during the first three or four universal Sunday laws. But then . . .
Gabriel finished with:
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Daniel 11:
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him [during his “whirlwind” attack]: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain [“I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow”. Revelation 18:7.]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him [internal strife will destroy him].
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Note the geography carefully. The king is in “Libya” and “Ethiopia” on the other side of “Egypt”, having passed through “Israel” on his way there, and the loud cry comes from the north-east. That places it (geographically) in Israel. So, at the height of his apparent success, the king of the north’s attention will be drawn to the spiritual people of God as they give a “loud cry”. He will attack them and apparently defeat them (as Satan did with Christ on the cross), but at the very pinnacle of his power his system will collapse from within!
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Ezekiel 28:
1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 Son of man, say to the prince of Tyrus [who was Satan’s agent at the time], Thus says the LORD GOD; Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas [the people of the world]”; yet you are a man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God . . . 10 You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised [the unsaved] by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the LORD GOD . . .
17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you. 18 You have defiled your sanctuaries [your inner being] by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your traffic; THEREFORE WILL I BRING FORTH A FIRE FROM THE MIDST OF YOU, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you. 19 All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you: you shall be a terror [a source of horror], and never shall you be any more.
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“And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour”. Zechariah 14:13.
Bye for now,
Ron
P. S. The Jewish economy is not yet fully comprehended by men today. Truths vast and profound are contained in Old Testament history. The gospel is its interpreter, the key which unlocks its mysteries. The plan of redemption is unfolding these truths to the understanding.
Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own
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