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tion. He will also be the "king of
the north" mentioned in Daniel
11:40-45.
Why will this king of the north
become involved in the Middle East?
Because the Mideast is of great stra–
tegic importance. l t is at the very
geographical center of the earth–
the vital crossroads between three
continents. Also, it is very important
because it boasts over 50 percent of
the world's proveo oi l reserves.
Now let's pick up that part of thi s
prophecy that has been fulfilled in
just the last 80 years: "And at the
time of the end (thi s was in 1895-
1896] shall · the king of the south
[Ethiopia] push a t him [Italy in Eri–
trea]: and the king of the north [Italy
under Mussolini] sha ll come against
him like a whírlwind [from the air
with fighter planes and bombers],
with chariots, and with horsemen,
and with many ships; and he shall
enter into the countries, and shall
overflow and pass over" (verse 40) .
Mussolini fulfilled verse 40- but not
verse 41 . Mussolini as "king of the
north" did not enter into Palestine.
He was stopped in Egypt.
Which countries will the prophe–
sied king of the north enter? Which
nations will he conquer? Verse 41
shows that he will move into what
has been called Pa lestine: " He shall
enter a lso into the glorious land [the
Holy Land], a nd many countries
shall be overthrown: but these shall
escape out of his hand, even Edom,
and Moab, and the chief of the chil–
dren of Ammon."
What about Egypt? Will it be sub–
ject to the coming king of the north ?
" . . . And the land of Egypt shall not
escape" (verse 42).
Verse 43 says that "the Libyans
and the Ethiopians [meaning the
Cushite peoples of the Sudan and
probably Ethiopia] shall be at his
steps [borders] ."
Beast and False Prophet
But at this point in time, the king ofthe
north is going to hear sorne alarming
news-probably a military threat
from Russia and those nations allied
with her. "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 ma ke
away many" (verse44) .
Notice how this king will move bis
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1979
headquarters to J erusalem: " And he
sha ll plant the tabernacles of bis pal–
ace between the seas in the glorious
holy mountain; yet he shall come to
bis end, and none shall help him"
(verse 45).
He will set bis palace in Mount
Zion, which is situated between the
Mediterranean and Dead seas.
We have already seen that the
beast of Revelation 17 and 19 will
fight the Messiah at t he valley of
Jehoshaphat- near Jerusalem. But a
"false prophet," a great false reli–
gious leader, will also move bis head–
quarters to Jerusalem. This is indi–
cated in
11
Thessalonians 2:1-8.
This same "false prophet" is called
the "man of sin" and the "son of
perdition" (Il Thess. 2:3). He is de–
scribed as one "who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshípped; so
that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, shewing himself that he is
God" (verse 4) .
Under the Gentlle Heel
The king of the north is going to
move to Mount Zion, and he will be
joined there by the false prophet who
will work great miracles. T his king of
the north {also called the " beast")
will at a later date take half of the
people of J erusa lem into captivity
(Zech. 14:1-2}.
The beast and false prophet will
both be in Jerusalem to oppose
Christ when He returns to this
earth in dazzling power and glory.
The horrible punishment of these
two evil leaders is described in
Revelation 19:20.
Now notice J esus' prophecy re–
garding J erusalem at the time j ust
before His second coming: "And
when ye shall see Jerusalem com–
passed with armies, then know that
the desolation thereof is nigh. Then
Jet them which are in Judaea flee to
the mountains.. .. For tbese be the
days of vengeance. . . . For there
shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people" ( Luke
21 :20-23).
Verse 24 has certainly not yet been
completely fulfilled-even though it
was partially fulfilled in A.D. 70
when Jerusalem was destroyed by
Roman armies: "And they shall fall
by the edge of the sword, and shall be
led away captive into all nations: and
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled ."
God tells of a coming great battle
to occur near Jerusalem: "For
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will
gather all nations against Jerusalem
to battle; and the city shall be taken,
a nd the houses rifled, and the women
ravished; a nd half of the city shall go
forth into captivity, and the residue
of the people shall not be cut off from
the city. Then shall the Lord go
forth, and fight against those nations,
as when he fought in the day of bat–
tle" (Zech. 14:2-3) .
When will this take place? It will
be at the second coming of Christ.
" And bis feet [Christ's] shall stand
in that day upon the mount of 01-
ives... . And the Lord my God shall
come, a nd all the saints with thee"
(verses 4, 5). (Compare I Thessalon–
ians 4:14-17,
1
Corinthians 15:51-54
and Revelat ion 11:15- 18.)
Then occurs the terrible destruc–
tion which will befall those who fight
against Christ at Jerusalem: "And
this shall be the plague wherewith
the Lord will smite all the people that
have fought against Jerusalem; their
flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet, and their eyes
shall consume away in their boles
[sockets], and their tongue shall con–
sume away in their mouth" (Zech.
14:12) .
The mighty power of God will
bring about this instantaneous
death. It even sounds somewhat like
what happened at Hiroshima and
N agasaki!
Lasting Peace for Our
Time
Prophecy reveals that there will con–
tinue to be further strife and blood–
shed in the Middle East. Neither the
United Nations nor any other power
or nation will be able to find a work–
able solution to today's vexing Mid–
east impasse. There will be more
talks, truces , and peace treaties–
and more bloodletting. Bíble proph–
ecy shows that no human government
will ever be able to bring to an e}ld
the hostilities in this part of the
world. Only the ushering in of the
ruling Kingdom of God under the
leadership of the returning J esus
Christ-the Prince of Peace- will
bring a permanent peace to the Mid–
dle East-and the world. o
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