The
By Herbert W. Armstrong
The astounding background to the crisis in the
THE MIDDLE EAST is seething with crisis
after crisis. Few people realize the true significance of this turmoil. They
seem to have no conception of the danger it threatens — eventual danger to the
whole world.
It's time we woke up to the facts! It's
time we knew what prophecy reveals. It's time we knew the background — the
vital factors that have led up to this world danger — the significance of this
series of crises!
There is only one way to know the answer.
The God who made the world — who makes and unmakes nations — he reveals the
future before it happens so we can know and take warning.
The time has now come to reveal a most
amazing prophecy!
Unveiling the Future!
What is the real significance of this
seething unrest? To understand it, we must study a marvellous prophecy, never
before understood — a prophecy that has been closed and sealed until now — a
prophecy that foretold, 2,500 years ago, this very series of crises and the war
that shall finally draw in all the nations of the world!
It is one of the most amazing prophecies
in the Bible. It is most specific, describing historical events, up to the
present, in more detail than any other prophecy. It is the longest prophecy in
the Bible. It is found in Daniel, chapter 11. It describes the impending war!
The prelude is found in the 10th chapter
of the book of Daniel. The prophecy came to Daniel in the third year of the
reign of Cyrus, king of the
The "King of the North" and the
"King of the South"
The first verse of the 11th chapter is a
continuation from the last verse of the 10th chapter. The angel says to Daniel,
"Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in
Actually there were 12 more kings in the
Then King Philip of
Notice now verse 4 of the prophecy:
"And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be
divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor
according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up,
even for others beside those."
How marvellously — how accurately — that
came to pass. We quote from one of the authoritative English-language histories
published in the last century, A Manual of Ancient History (Student Series) by
Rawlinson: "Cut off unexpectedly in the vigour of early manhood [the 33rd
year of his age, June, 323 B.C.], he [Alexander] left no inheritor, either of
his power or of his projects" (p. 237). The Empire was left leaderless and
in confusion, but out of this emerged, by the year 301 B.C., four divisions,
just as prophesied, as a result of a division of the Empire into four divisions
by Alexander's generals. They were:
1. Ptolemy (Soter), ruling
2. Seleucus (Nicator), ruling
3. Lysimachus, ruling
4. Cassander, ruling
Thus was the prophecy of verse 4
fulfilled to the letter.
Now notice what follows. From here the
prophecy foretells the activities only of two of these four divisions:
"And the king of the south [
Verse 6 says, "And in the end of
years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south
shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement [margin,
"rights" or "equitable conditions," or "marriage
union"]: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he
stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and
he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times."
Fulfilled to the Letter!
At the end of 50 years, this occurred
exactly as described!
The prophecy says "he that begat
her" shall be given up. Also that she shall not retain the power of the
arm, neither shall the king of the north, whom she married, stand. All three
are to come to their end. Notice how accurately this came to pass.
Says Rawlinson's History, pages 251 and
252: "On the death of Philadelphus [he that begat her], B.C. 247,
Antiochus repudiated Bernice, and took back his former wife, Laodice, who,
however, doubtful of his constancy, murdered him to secure the throne for her son Seleucus (II) B.C. 246 ... Bernice ... had been put to
death by Laodice."
Nowhere in all the
Bible is there so literal a prophecy, giving so many details of future history.
And to read an ancient history of these kingdoms is simply to see unfolded
before your eyes, step by step, verse by verse, this marvellous prophecy. There
can be no doubt of its right application!
The
Next let us notice verse 7: "But out
of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate [margin, "in his
office"], which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress
of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail."
"Out of a branch," or
"shoot," of her roots. Her parents were her roots. Hence, this must
be her brother, who next should occupy the throne of king of the south and
fulfil this prophecy. Now listen to this accurate fulfilment, quoted word for
word from the same page of Rawlinson's work (p. 252):
"Ptolemy Euergetes [the III, eldest
son of Philadelphus (p. 272) and therefore Bernice's brother, a branch of her
roots] invaded Syria, B.C. 245, to avenge the murder of his sister, Bernice ...
.In the war which followed, he carried everything before him."
The eighth verse of Daniel 11 says this
king of the south would carry captives and vessels of silver and gold into
When he died, his two sons took over the
kingdom of the north; first Seleucus III, 226-223 B.C., who ruled only three
years, and then his brother Antiochus III, called "the Great,"
223-187 B.C. Both of these two sons of Seleucus II assembled immense forces to
war against
And this was accurately prophesied in
verse 10: "But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a
multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass
through: then shall he return and be stirred up [margin, "be stirred up
again"], even to his fortress."
"And," continues verse 11, "the
king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight
with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great
multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand."
In fulfilment of the latter part of verse
10, Antiochus the Great, after 27 years, recovered his fortress,
"For," as verse 13 continues,
"the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude
greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a
great army and with much riches." It was "after certain years,"
or 12 years later, 205 B.C., that Ptolemy Philopator died, leaving his throne
to an infant son, Ptolemy Epiphanes. Then Antiochus assembled a greater army,
and won great victories.
He then made a treaty allying Philip of
Macedonia with him, and others, against
"And in those times there shall many
stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall
exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall" (v. 14).
Read It in Your Own Bible!
To save space, the reader is asked from
this point to read each verse of the prophecy from his own Bible, thus saving
us reprinting the prophecy in full here. We give here only the facts in
history.
Verses 15-16 — "the glorious
land," of course, refers to
Verse 17 — "upright ones" (see
margin) in Hebrew means "equal conditions, or marriage," but the one
he marries will not stand on his side. In 198 B.C., Antiochus arranged a
marriage between his daughter, Cleopatra (not the Cleopatra of 31 B.C. in
Says Rawlinson, page 254,
"Coele-Syria and
Verse 18 — and so Antiochus turned his
attention in another direction and tried to conquer, 197 to 196 B.C., the
islands and coasts of
Verse 19 — Antiochus next turned his
attention to the fortresses of his own land, in the east and west. But,
attempting to recruit his dissipated wealth by the plunder of the Oriental
Temple of Belus, in Elymais, he was killed, 187 B.C.
Verse 20 — Seleucus IV Philopator
(187-176), his son, in an effort to raise money, sent a tax collector,
Heliodorus, through
Verse 21 — he left no heir. But his
brother, a younger son of Antiochus the Great, named Epiphanes (Antiochus IV),
a contemptible reprobate, came by surprise and through flattery took the
kingdom. To his aid came his assistant, Eumenes. Rawlinson says, page 255,
"Antiochus [Epiphanes], assisted by Eumenes, drives out Heliodorus, and
obtains the throne, B.C. 176. He astonishes his subjects by an affectation of
Roman manners" and "good-natured profuseness [flattery]."
Antiochus Epiphanes
Verse 22 — "the prince of the
covenant" does not refer to Christ. This was the attempt of Antiochus to
replace the Jewish high priest by another who would be subservient to him.
Verses 23-24 — although only a few were
with him at first, yet by this "Roman manner," by deceit and
flattery, he crept into power and prospered. He also invaded
Verse 25 — Rawlinson, pages 255-256, says,
"Threatened with war by the ministers of Ptolemy Philometor [now king of
the south], who claim Coele-Syria and
Verses 26-27 —
continuing in Rawlinson, page 278: "After his victory at Pelusium,
Antiochus advanced to
The Abomination of Desolation
Verse 28 — in 168 B.C., returning from
Egypt with great plunder, Antiochus set himself against the Jews, massacred
many, and then returned to Antioch with golden vessels from the Temple at
Jerusalem.
Verse 29 — the same year, he again invaded
Verse 30 — the Roman fleet came against
Antiochus, he was forced to surrender to the terms of Popillius, commander of
the Roman fleet, and retire from Egypt and restore Cyprus to Egypt. Returning
through
Verse 31 — then, 167 B.C., the next year,
came the climax of the horror. Antiochus sent troops to the
The Prophecy Comes to Christ and the Apostles
Verse 32 — Antiochus tried to end the
religion of the Jews. He took away the daily sacrifice, forbade the
ministration at the
But — right here, the prophecy cuts off
from the continuation of events in the history of those ancient north and south
kingdoms. Up to this point, the prophecy was unfolded, step by step, in the
actual history of the northern kingdom of the Seleucidae, or
Now let us notice verse 32 in detail, and
particularly the last part:
"And such as do wickedly against the
covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries." This, Antiochus Epiphanes did
do. But now notice the last part of the verse: "but the people that do know
their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
So our question now is,
when, beginning with, and following, 167 B.C., did people begin to know God,
and to be spiritually strong, and to do exploits in the Lord's service? The
answer is, at the time of the Maccabees, beginning in 166 B.C., and, two
centuries later, at the first appearing of Jesus Christ and in the days of the
apostles!
Verse 33 — "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."
Jesus and the apostles did instruct many.
But Jesus was put to death, and history indicates that all the early apostles
were martyred, except John. And this continued, many days, even into the Middle
Ages, when millions were martyred for their faith.
Verse 34 — "Now when they shall fall,
they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with
flatteries. And [verse 35] 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."
Here is described in general the whole
course of God's people, from the days of Christ to the present. Compare with
such passages as Rev. 12:6, 11, 13-17. And notice the vision carries on down to
this present time of the end.
Verse 36 — The
king of the north — who is he, now, in the early and middle New Testament
times, to which our prophecy has come? In 65 B.C.,
Verse 37 — his fathers had worshiped
idols, but the Roman emperors set themselves up as gods.
Verse 38 — the Roman emperors honoured the
god of forces, or (margin) munitions, and developed the greatest war-making
power the world ever knew. "And a god whom his fathers knew not shall he
honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant
things." After setting themselves up as gods, before A.D. 476, the
emperors who followed, beginning with Justinian, A.D. 554, began to honour with
gold, silver and power a god in a high religious office never known to their
fathers. (Compare this prophecy of Daniel with Revelation 17:4, 5, and 18:3,
16.)
Verse 39 — the emperors did acknowledge
the supremacy of religion, increased it with material glory and caused it to
rule over many.
Prophecy Skips to Present
Now we come to the very present century.
Verse 40 — "And at the time of the
end shall the king of the south push at him ...." Who is today the
"king of the south"? It cannot be the king of
But, in the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes
(verse 7), 247-222 B.C.,
At the time of the end — our time — this
king of the south was to push at the king of the north, now at
In 1895 King Menelik, of
North of Ethiopia was
In 1896 General Baratieri with 13,000 men
tried to defend
In a later engagement the Italians were
cut to pieces because of their inexperience in fighting in mountainous country
and because they were greatly outnumbered. This defeat was disastrous to
Italian expansion in
Ever since,
1935 came. The hour struck! Mussolini
attacked! Now notice verse 40: "... 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."
A whirlwind comes in the air, sweeping all
before it. Mussolini did send a great air force into
And, notice it, Mussolini's forces were to
pass over — in the air! It is at this precise point in this astounding prophecy
that Mussolini's struggle in
Verse 41 — "He shall enter also into
the glorious land ...” — the
When the coming revival of the Roman
Empire takes the Holy Land, then the nations will be plunged into the initial
phase of the great, last and final crisis at the close of this age! Other
prophecies reveal that this revival of the
"And," continues verse 41,
"many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his
hand, even
Verse 42 says
Verse 43 says the Libyans and Ethiopians
(observe that after its conquest by
Verse 44 — but news out of the east and
out of the north —
Verse 45 — the coming
And now what is the time of this end, at
the close of this marvellous prophecy? The next verse, Daniel 12:1 says at the
time of the resurrection of the just — at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!
This prophecy begins with the kingdoms of
Are you ready for that event? It is fast
approaching. Now is the time to get ready, for Jesus said, "Be ye also
ready"!