Basic HTML Version
Medo-Persian empire, through the
reign of Alexander the Great and his
successors in Syria and Egypt, and
on through to the second coming of
Christ!
Beginning in verse 40 we read of a
conflict between two great powers:
"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 ...."
This is an important "end-time"
prophecy. Following the chronologi–
cal progression of the chapter, it be–
comes a pparent that t he phrase
"king of the north" had at first re–
ferred to Syria under the Seleucid
dynasty, and later, in the New Tes–
tament times, to, the Emperor of the
Roman Empire. (For a detailed,
verse-by-verse examination of Dan–
iel 11, write for the free reprint ar–
ticle "The Middle East in Proph–
ecy" by Herbert W. Armstrong).
Thus, in its final end-time applica–
tion, the "king of t he north" is the
prophesied strong man who will
Jead a coming union of ten Euro–
pean nations-the seventh and final
reviva! of the ancient Roman Em–
pire prophesied by Daniel and in
the book of Revelation (see Revela–
tion 17:12-13).
But who is the " king of the
south"? In the earlier portions of
Daniel JI , the phrase refers without
question to ancient Egypt under the
rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty, later
including Ethiopia which was an–
nexed to Egypt. But in verse 40 we
skip to "the time of the end"- this
present century. The verse undoubt–
edly found at least partial fulfillment
in the offensive in 1896 of Emperor
Menelik 11 of Ethiopia ("king of the
south") against the Italian armies of
King Humbert I ("king of the
north")-and in the air, land and sea
invasion of Ethiopia 40 years later by
Mussolini's forces.
But Mussolini did not finish the
prophecy. He did not, for example,
enter into the "glorious land" or Pal–
estine (verse 41) . Its greater fulfill–
ment is
yet future!
Just as there is yet to be a final
"king of the north"--<:alled in Bib1e
symbolism "the beast"- who will a–
rise as superdictator over an end–
time European confederation, there
12
may very well emerge in the same
manner a final " king of the south"–
an overallleader of an Arab-Moslefu ·
confederation, possibly even bearing
the very title
Mahdi!
And these two
individuals will eventually find them–
selves in a head-to-head confronta–
tion- possibly over oil-which will
ultimately lead to devastating war in
the Midd1e East!
Crisis In Palestlne
What does prophecy reveal, then,
about the
successio~
of events
in
.the
Middle East in the coming months
and years? And what part will the
Arab world play in them?
The Bible does not give an exact
sequence of coming events. We must
watch wor1d events to discover how
and when the ,prophecies will happen
{Luke 21 :36). But in piecing together
prophecies scattered throughout the
Old and New Testaments, a general
picture becomes clear.
As
all students of Bible prophecy
know, the city of Jerusalem is the
focal point of all prophecy. Since the
Arab-Israeli War of 1967, o1d Jeru–
salem has been in the hands of the
State of Israel.
lt
is with that nation
that we must begin our overview of
prophecy for the region.
An important key to understand–
ing prophecy is to realize, first, tbat
the present Jewish state in Palestine
is
not
the triumphant final retum of
Israel to the promised land men–
tioned so often by the Old Testament
prophets.
Anciently, Israel was colbposed
of 12 tribes, descended from the 12
sons of the patriarch Jacob. Follow–
ing the death of King Solomon, the
nation of Israel split into two
sepa–
rate
nations {1 Kings 12): the south–
ern " house of Judah"--<:omposed of
the tribes of Judah, Benj amín and
part of Levi, with capital at Jerusa–
lem-and the larger, ten-tribed
"house of Israel" to tbe north, with
capital at Samaria.
The house of Is rael was con–
quered and carried away into cap–
tivity by Assyria in 721-718
B.c.
{11
Kings 18:9-12), pever.to return. The
house of Judah {the " Jews") was
carried off in slavery to Babylon
over a century later, in 604-585
B.c .
(11 Kings 25). Judab was laid
waste. Thereafter, no independent
Israelitish nation existed anywhere
in Palestine for over 2500 years.
Thougb a remnant of the house of
Judah returned to Jerusalem under
Zerubbabel 70 years later in 534
s.c.,
Judah remained under subjec–
tion as a Persian, and later a Ro–
man, province. Finally, in
A.D.
70,
Judea was invaded and Jerusalem
destroyed by Roman troops. The
Jews were forcefully driven from
their homeland.
In 1948-after nearly 19 centuries
of being dispersed-a part of the
tribe of Judah forged a new nation in
Palestine, calling it the "State of Is–
rael." Though this end-time physical
restoration of tbe Jews as a nation
was forecast by many Old Testament
prophets, it was not the much-proph–
esied great restoration of the entire
nation of Israel. The vast majority of
the Israelitish tribes-tbe so-called
" lost ten tribes"-have not yet re–
turned! (See " Jews Are a Nation
Aga in- Prophecy Fulfilled?" by
Herbert W. Armstrong in the Febru–
ary 1979
P/ain Truth) .
The prophe–
sied return of all Israel to tbe prom–
ised land in peace and security is yet
future.
But what does prophecy say of the
present Jewish "State of Israel"?
Will the Arab nations make further
efforts to "drive it into the sea"? Will
there be a fifth Arab-Israeli war?
And if so, what will tbe consequences
be?
Numerous prophecies speak of
various "calamities" yet to befall
Judah in the months and years
ahead. A great crisis is yet to occur
in Palestine. The Arab arrnies are
today better equipped and better
coordinated for the waging of war
than at any time
in
the past three
decades. A future Mideast war
could very well place in danger the
very existence of the State of Israel.
Moreover, the most sacred religious
sbrines of the world's three major
· religions, located in Jerusalem,
could become jeopardized. The "Big
Powers" may be forced to intervene.
Troops may even be dispatched to
Palest ine as a "peace-keeping
force" to patrol and police the vola–
tile region.
King David of ancient Israel, in a
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1979