DANIEL 11-C
The Latter Days
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Amazing Panoramic History Vision Daniel 10-11-12
Papal Rome’s Rise to Power:
“And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily {sacrifice}, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” Daniel 11:31
This concise history shows us the method by which Papal Rome rose to world dominance, replacing Pagan Rome; ‘Arms shall stand on his part’. This happened in the year 496 AD, when Clovis, king of France, pledged himself to fight for the Pope, and the nations of Europe soon followed his example, except for the Huruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths, which were finally defeated and wiped out. Notice that when Pagan Rome rose to world dominion, it had to conquer 3 geographical areas; when Papal Rome rose, it had to conquer 3 nations.
“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.” Daniel 11:32, 33
This is describing the 1260 years of Papal rule from 538 AD to 1798. Here we are shown the ‘church in the wilderness’, the true believers who had to flee to the mountains in those days. It says in verse 32 that they ‘know their God’. What a wonderful tribute to those faithful ones!
Our verse tells us how those faithful ones worked hard to teach others and keep the Word of God alive during those terrible years. It also tells of the many ways that wicked men, under Satan’s control, took the lives of those dear, faithful believers.
Daniel 7:25 says, ‘they (the faithful) would be given into his hands’ for these years. Have you ever wondered why God allowed this cruel power to do all this in the name of religion? Well, God has a purpose; He has allowed Satan to show what his kind of government is like. All the angels that remained in heaven and the other worlds that did not sin, can see just what Satan’s rule brings. He can’t fool them any more.
But why is Satan still fooling people on earth? It is taking a longer time for people on earth to learn the lesson, because, sadly, most of them, still choose to believe Satan’s lies and enjoy his so-called pleasures. God’s true people will know that Satan is a liar and a murderer. I hope it can be said of each one of us that ‘we know our God’.
“Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Daniel 11: 34, 35
These verses deserve special consideration, because they show that although God allowed Satan to have his own way in the world for a while; it was for only a certain time period, the 1260 years. The ‘time of the end’ that this verse talks about, is the end of that time prophecy of the 1260 years.
The warning is seen here that some of the faithful would be fooled by people who pretended to be their friends and flattered them, and were tricked and killed. This happened to the Waldenses; and in France at the time of the St. Bartholomew’s massacre. It also happened in Ireland near that same time. When Rome seems friendly; watch out!
The angel tells about some help that God would send to His dear ones. This ‘little help’ was the reformation, which began hundreds of years before the end of the 1260 years. It slowed down the persecution a bit at least.
Another thing that happened in the middle ages and ‘helped’, was that the forces of Islam, the Mohammedans, began to attack the areas occupied by Papal Rome, and often forces assembled to attack the faithful true believers had to be called back to defend against the ‘Saracens’ and the ‘Turks’.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:22 “except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days
shall be shortened.” Again, it was the reformation that ‘shortened those
days’.
When sad, bad days come, we can know our Heavenly Father is in charge
and will ‘shorten the days’ in love.
“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” Daniel 11:36, 37
Some think that this could not still refer to Papal Rome, because they
claim to honor God. But, we also know that Rome claims to be able to
change God’s very Law, which even God says He won’t do! (Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.)
Is it not ‘magnifying himself above every god’ to tell the people to
ignore God’s Holy Word and obey him instead? Calling himself the one who
speaks for God on this earth, this power certainly speaks ‘against the
God of gods’.
This verse also mentions ‘the Desire of women’ which likely refers to
Christ, as faithful women down through history until the birth of Jesus,
longed to be the one chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. The Papacy
shows Jesus nearly always either as a wafer in a box, or in a
monstrance; a baby in Mary’s arms; or hanging dead on a cross.
So this power doesn’t regard the ‘God of his fathers’, or Jesus, or any
God, because he sets himself above all Divine authority.
He shall continue in this attitude until the ‘indignation be accomplished’. What is this indignation? We learned about this when we looked at Daniel 8:13, which references the ‘last Indignation’. Here we see the first Indignation which ended in 1798. These verses refer to the two periods of 2520 years, or the ‘Seven Times’ that came upon Israel from breaking the covenant. (See Leviticus 26:14-39)
The first Indignation, or Seven Times on the Northern Kingdom began in 723 BC and ended in 1798. The Second, or Last Indignation on the Southern Kingdom, or Judah, began in 677 BC and ended in 1844.
So this power continued to exult and magnify himself and do according to his own will until the end of the 1260 years and the first Indignation, both of which ended in 1798.
“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. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.” Daniel 11:38, 39.
To understand this verse we need to look at the Hebrew words. ‘God of
forces’ in this verse can also mean ‘goddess of fortresses.’ Here you
see a picture of the goddess Diana that Paul talks about; you will see
that she has a castle on her head. Yes, she wears a tower for a hat. She
was called Goddess of Fortresses. This went back in time to the first
‘goddess’ Semeramis, the wife of Nimrod, who first built a city with a
wall around it to protect it. The goddess Cybel is also depicted this
way.
It was the city of Ephesus that was especially attached to worshipping Diana. And it was at the council of Ephesus that the Roman church decided to declare Mary the ‘Mother of God’ and ‘Queen of Heaven’. The early Roman church needed to bring in a Mother and Child symbol into the church as the sun-worshippers loved their ‘goddess of fortresses’ and her child, the sun-god, Apollo. So they changed the name to Mary, mother of Jesus. They created a new god, ‘whom his fathers knew not’, and honored her with riches and so on.
Remember, prophecy is given to show us that God loves His people, and we can have faith in Him. What He said would happen, has happened, exactly.
Rome starts its 3rd & Final Rise to Power
The ‘Deadly Wound’ Healed
“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: 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.” Daniel 11:40
Now when Daniel says ‘time of the end’, he means the end of a time prophecy. What time prophecy tells us about Papal Rome and what it will do? Well, it is the 1260 year time prophecy, ending in 1798.
If what we said about the ‘king of the north’ being Papal Rome is true, we should see something happen in 1798, somebody should ‘push at him’. This word translated ‘push’ means to wage war against, like we see the Ram in chapter 8, ‘Pushing westward, and northward, and southward’. This meant he was attacking and making war against those areas. We can know that the power that pushed, is the power the Bible calls ‘King of the South’. Atheism, the attitude expressed by Pharaoh, king of Egypt who said: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2
Did it happen? Yes; France, after declaring there was no God, (the word for this is Atheism) sent a general and captured the pope; taking away all his power to rule as a king. (See Revelation 11)
The next question is when did Papal Rome strike back against ‘atheism’? Well, we have a long period of time that passes between the King of the South pushing, and the King of the North coming like a whirlwind. But down through the years they have been conflicting with each other.
The first event happened in 1798; the next part happened in 1989 when the Pope with the help of USA brought about the fall of the ‘Atheist’ power, the USSR.
Just like in 496 when Clovis King of France, pledged himself to help the Papacy, and the prophecy says, ‘Arms shall stand on his part’, so in 1982, ‘arms’ chose to stand on the part of the rising King of the North power, the Papacy; when secret agreements were made between the Pope and the USA president.
“With chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” ‘Chariots and horsemen’ mean military strength; ‘ships’ refers to economic sanctions. This is just exactly what was used to bring USSR down. He entered into the ‘countries’, plural, the USSR was made up of several countries, not just one, and indeed, the joint power of the Vatican and the USA certainly did ‘overflow and pass over’.
And just as when first Pagan and later Papal Rome came to rule the world and had to conquer 3 areas; so as the King of the North begins his last rise to power, he has 3 areas to overthrow also. And the first one is already conquered.
What was it? It was the bastion of Atheism, the ‘wall’ between communism and the west, the geographical area of USSR. It ‘fell’ in 1989.
What are the other 2 areas that have to be overcome before the deadly wounded beast again rules the world? They are the ‘wall’ between Church and State in the USA; the Constitution must be overthrown, then will fall the geographical area of USA; and the third is the ‘wall’ of national sovereignty among nations, the geographical area of the United Nations of the world.
Have you noticed the pressure to put forward religious laws and repudiate the Constitution lately? Have you noticed the move to do away with separate nations and have a One World Government and a World Court? These walls are tottering to ruin. What happens when they fall?
A law will be passed to force all to keep holy the Sunday of Rome, and desecrate the Bible Seventh Day Sabbath. First the law will be passed in the USA. Then it will force the world to follow and do the same thing. Does the United Sates now have power to force nations to do what she wants? Oh yes, indeed it has.
In 2001 another event happened to shed light on end time prophecy; in the destruction of the twin towers attributed to radical forces of Islam, we see the 3rd Woe of Revelation 11:14 starting to bring perplexity to the nations, especially USA. This will lead towards a confederacy of powers to deal with Islam, and will help bring in the Sunday Law. We will look at this more deeply in the Revelation.
What happens then? It quickly leads to the close of human probation, this is a very important fact. One of those walls is already down and the other two are crumbling fast; are you ready? Are you sure?
“He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many {countries} shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” Daniel 11:41
It is important to realize what is meant here by the Glorious Land; it is not literal Israel, as these are end-time prophecies and apply to ‘spiritual’ Israel; (before the cross prophecy is local and literal in application; after the cross prophecy is world-wide and spiritual in application) and it is not the same as the Glorious Holy Mountain which represents God’s truth and His true and faithful ones.
The Lord provided a ‘goodly’ or ‘glorious’ land for ancient Israel, and He provided a ‘goodly’ or ‘glorious’ land for modern Israel. The purpose for both was the same. It was an asylum for His people, and a depository for His pure truth.
glorious-6643: in the sense of prominence; splendor (as conspicuous), beautiful, goodly. Strong’s.
The Lord has done more for the United States than for any other country upon which the sun shines. Here He provided an asylum for His people, where they could worship Him according to the dictates of conscience. Here Christianity has progressed in its purity. The life-giving doctrine of the one Mediator between God and man has been freely taught. God designed that this country should ever remain free for all people to worship Him in accordance with the dictates of conscience. He designed that its civil institutions, in their expansive productions, should represent the freedom of gospel privileges.
‘Glorious Country’ in this prophecy points us to the nation of the United States. When a national Sunday law is passed in United States, this country will symbolically have fallen to Papal Rome. It will also, symbolically march, or follow, in the steps of Rome. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3. (See Revelation 13)
Those Who Join Hands
In this verse the word ‘countries’ is supplied. Many ‘countries’ will not be overthrown at the time of the national Sunday law, just many people. The previous verse refers to many ‘countries’, as the Soviet Union was made up of several countries, which became prey for Rome. The next verse correctly speaks of ‘countries’, as it describes the whole world coming under the dominion of Rome. However, this verse is dealing only with the national Sunday law in the United States, and at this point, only many people will be overthrown, not many countries. Who are the people that will be overthrown?
They are those who have professed to believe in the messages of the 3 angels of Revelation 14, but they have been influenced by the world. Now they give up the faith and follow with those making void the law of God. We see many overthrown, but we see some that escape.
“Servants of God, endowed with power from on high, with their faces lighted up, and shining with holy consecration, went forth fulfilling their work, and proclaiming the message from heaven. Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as Lot was hurried out of Sodom before her destruction.” Spiritual Gifts, 1; p. 196.
Ammon, Moab, and Edom are used to symbolize those who did not know about God’s true message before, but they respond to the loud-cry message and stand for the truth, refusing to obey man-made laws that conflict with God’s Ten Commandments. Moab, Ammon, and Edom were close relatives of ancient Israel.
It is interesting to note that the word ‘escape’ in this verse is different than the word translated ‘escape’ in the very next verse. The people who escape this ‘national Sunday law’ escape by ‘slipperiness’, and the verse says, escape out of his hand. The definition of this word brings to mind the type of slipperiness when one cannot hold onto a bar of soap in a tub of water. It slips right out of one’s hand.
“He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” Daniel 11:42
Here we see it telling us that Egypt is not going to escape. Egypt is used in prophecy to mean 2 things: the secular world at large and atheism in particular. So he controls the world, not just the churches. There are many who say, “Well, I am not involved with all this religious stuff, so it won’t affect me.” We are assured here that he is going to control all the countries of the world, not just religious people, but all.
“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.” Daniel 11:43
This verse is full of symbolic meaning; ‘power over the treasures’; this shows the despotic power will control the financial world; economic sanctions and control on a level never before possible!
‘Libyans and Ethiopians’ likewise have symbolic meaning; Libya was very poor in Bible times and Ethiopia was very rich. So here it is saying that both the rich and the poor of the earth are going to be in step with him. They are all going to go along with him.
“But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” Daniel 11:44
The message that brings God’s Seal to the faithful is the message from the east. The righteous man from the east and north is Christ. The message of Christ that comes from the east and north is the good tidings of the “Lord our Righteousness,” which is, of course, the three angels’ messages. (See Revelation 14)
It is the message by which, first the church, and then the world, will be tested. Moreover, it is this message that will enrage the King of the North, whom we have seen, in the end time events represents modern Papal Rome.
Once again, the final scenes will be rapid ones. The beginning of the Latter Rain will occur just before the time of the national Sunday law in the United States, but it will continue to accelerate and to grow until the close of human probation. The preceding verses illustrate the final steps of the Papacy; they have not focused specifically on what God’s people are doing while the pope is taking control of the world, but verse 44 does.
The tidings which come from the North and East are the glad tidings of Christ’s righteousness that are swelling into a Loud Cry, and giving the world its final message of warning to obey God and keep His Commandments including the fourth, in the power of Jesus. This message will go forth as the resurrected papal power takes control of the world. As he does so, he will begin to deal with the troublers in his midst, eventually leading to a worldwide death decree that all who refuse obedience to the man-made laws are to be put to death; to utterly make away many.
“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” Daniel 11:45
We want to take a close look at this final verse of chapter 11 and see the picture-story God has placed there for us. After the time of the cross, the prophecies have a spiritual meaning and apply world-wide rather than to the literal nation of Israel.
First we want to notice a very subtle symbol here; it says ‘the tabernacles of his palace’. Now a tabernacle is primarily a religious symbol; a church. But a ‘palace’ refers to a king; a state power. So here we see an indication of church and state power combined.
We see the King of the North taking a stand here. The words ‘plant the tabernacles of his palace’, in the Hebrew can mean that he will pitch his war tents. He is going to take a stand; and where is he standing?
Now people get all confused when they keep looking to the literal land of Israel for something to fulfill these words, when it has a spiritual and a world-wide meaning. The King of the North is spiritual Babylon; who’s that? It is Rome and all the churches and world powers who join with her.
What are the ‘seas’? Seas represent people, nations and so on. (Revelation 17:15) What does the ‘Holy Mountain’ mean? It means the true people of God. The ones that really believe the Truth and obediently live by every word out of the mouth of God.
Truth as it is in Jesus, is like a Mighty Mountain. You may not like it, and you may try to get rid of it. You may ignore it or fight against it in every way, but it just stands there immovable. You will only wear yourself out and smash yourself to pieces, if you keep attacking it.
There is an interesting text in Luke 20:18 “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Jesus is here explaining something very important to our salvation. He talks about ‘falling on a Rock’. Who is that Rock? It is Jesus and His Word. Jesus identifies Himself with His Word, so much that he calls Himself ‘the Word’.
So what does it mean to ‘fall and be broken’? It means that we come to Jesus through His Word, and when we really get a glimpse of Him, we see our own wretchedness. We repent fully; we die to self; and this is falling on the Rock and being broken. But Jesus lifts us up and gives us a new life in Him. We are born again with Christ living in us His obedient, victorious life.
But the verse says that some don’t fall on the Rock, and on these the Rock will fall, grinding them to powder. These are the ones who reject and refuse every effort God makes to get them to surrender and cooperate with Him in their salvation.
The King of the North in this prophecy has done this, and here he stands, defying the Holy Mountain, and the Rock; and it is about to fall on him. None shall help him; no one can help him. He has chosen his own wicked ways until even God Himself has no more that can be tried. Finally the Rock falls.
In verse 44, it talks about ‘tidings’ that make this power angry. This is a message that comes from the people of God to the nations of earth. It warns against what this power is trying to do, and tells people to come out of her. And it also tells that Jesus is about to return.
Hebrew scholars say the verse should read ‘between the seas and the glorious holy mountain’. So here sits this wicked power, between the nations of earth and God’s holy people, trying to stop the message of God’s Holy Truth from reaching earth’s millions. But he comes to his end; glorious promise!
In the 1260 year prophecy, God’s people were ‘given into his (Rome’s) hand’. In the final time of trouble they will not be; instead the power comes to its end, as it tries again to wipe out God’s faithful children.