Global SITREP B9-18: The Kings

"the kings"

15 June 2018: Our brother Nick posed a question to me via email the other day about the kings mentioned in the Book of Daniel. his question was in an Email because - for whatever reason - Nick simply couldn't get online to pose his question as a comment in the last SITREP. And I thought my plan of action of sending an Email back to Nick with my answer would be a simple thing to do; I thought my understanding of Daniel that has developed over many years is fairly solid, so writing an Email response would be not issue at all. 

Well, I'm here to tell you no sir and no ma'am, that plan of action was simply not going to happen. Firstly, every time I tried the words never got to be more than four or five and the train of thought would fizzle. Dead stop. Try again. Same thing. Forty-five minutes later I fully understood because the LORD let me know very clearly that my response had to be done here, in this manner. There was something important I had to learn anew and pass along to others who read here. 

Have you ever had the thought or wondered why God sent the angel Gabriel to provide the prophet Daniel the specific information that we read in Daniel chapters 10 and 11? I've never read an expose that speks to this question by any biblical eschatologist. Why was it important for Daniel, and, by extension, all of us, to learn about the kings of the north and south in chapter 10? What more important lesson could there be within all of the dialog foretelling a couple hundred years in advance specific details regarding two of the four empires that came out of Alexander the Great's Empire (i.e. the third beast empire)? This is directly related to Daniel 8:21-22, but we'll get to that shortly. So, for us this is ancient history; fulfilled prophecy, right? Or is it? Could it be a two-fold prophecy?

The two empires I'm talking about are the Greek Seleucid in southwest Asia, and the Ptolemaic Empire centered in Egypt and the Levant. The king of the north and the king of the south. Long story short, over hundreds of years and several successor kings of these two empires and umpteen battles between them, it finally came to pass that the king of the south emerged victorious over the king of the north. But not by his power did the king of the south be victorious over the king of the north. 

God sent another empire, another "king" to subdue the king of the north. The new king was Rome, the fourth (and final) beast empire which put an end to the king of the north's plan to conquer the Ptolemite throne in Egypt. I've written of this part before on Eschatology Today, but not in this manner. The king of the north was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and his encounter in northern Egypt with a Roman consul who drew a line on that sandy beach and informed the precursor of the coming Antichrist, if you cross this line you will be at war with the Roman Republic. Antiochus thought wisely and turned his army north, marching them to Jerusalem where the precursor of the coming "Abomination of Desolation" took place in the Second Temple in 167 BC. A hudred years later, circa 64 BC, Rome would complete the conquest of the Seleucid Empire, and thereby all of what had been the third beast empire because part of the fourth beast empire just as God had revealed to Daniel back in Daniel 2:36-45. 

The Daniel 2 prophecy is expounded upon in Daniel 7, but with an over 2,000 years twist. The fourth beast which consumes the third beast, which had consumed the first and second beast, is now send as a ten-horned beast. But Rome isn't to be a ten-horned beast until the time of Israel's 70th Week. In Daniel 7:7 we have it in plain text, absolutely unambiguously i would add, that ancient Rome, which was never a ten-headed beast, is the same as the fourth beast of the 70th Week. This beast will control territory in Europe and well as in southwestern Asia, exactly as ancient Rome did. Two feet representing two land masses, with five toes on each foot. those five toes are the ten horns. And (Daniel 7:8 and 7:24) the eleventh, the little horn, which rises up among the ten is Antichrist.

Hopefully, I haven't lost anyone yet and you're following this eschatological trail of bread crumbs. Like the Revelation of Jesus Christ the Book of Daniel bouces forward and backward in time as we understand it. So we come to Daniel 8 and Daniel 8 has a great deal to do with what follows in Daniel 10 and 11. Now we're launched back to Daniel 8:21-22. Greece, which we know all four horns, which stood up in place of Alexander's Empire, are conquered by Rome. And read verse 23: "And in the later time of their kingdom..." Here again is a 2,000+ year leap forward in time to the present era, to the era of Israel's 70th Week as detailed by the angel Gabriel in the subsequent chapter, Daniel 9.

Now moving along, Daniel 10 gets really, really interesting. It should be fresh in your mind, yet recall that Gabriel has just given Daniel the 70 Weeks prophecy that we read in Daniel 9:24-27. Yet in Daniel 10:10-21 we see the same over-arching prophecy tied-in directly with various angelic beings which are manifested as prices or kings over a couple of specific nations of interest: Greece and Persia. These angelic beings are engaged in fighting each other as well as manifesting in the events that directly affect these nations and their futures. There is also an incredible, little mentioned note here regarding what had been previously written in what gabriel refers to as "the Scripture of Truth" and which this angel intends to reveal to Daniel for the specific purpose of fulfilling what was stated in verse 14: "I have come to make you understand what will happen your your people (the Jews) in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come." 

The Bible, especially the Old Testament in which the Book of Daniel is a key part, has not yet been written as the time this meeting between Gabriel and Daniel takes place, i.e. the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia. So the "Scripture of Truth" Gabriel is referring to must be some Heavenly tome of the things that will be; an angelic book of God-breathed prophecy.

Daniel 11 begins with the warring kings of the north and south. This time is the first year of Darius the Mede which turns the clock back to Daniel 5:30 and the aftermath of the "writing on the wall." So Daniel 11 begins by recapping a foretelling of future events which we've also seen in Daniel 8:21-22, and the wars between the Seleucid Greeks (kings of the north) of Babylonia and the Ptolemaic Greeks of Egypt (kings of the south). At verse 20 the text begins speaking specifically about Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the forerunner of the coming Antichrist. At Daniel 11:30 we see Antiochus IV Epiphanes being turned back by Rome (western ships of Kittim that sailed from Cyprus). Again, this was fulfilled in 168-67 BC. And the blasphemous actions at verses 30-31 are an exact foreshadowing of the mid-70th Week 'Abomination of Desolation."

Suddenly as verse 36 the narrative Gabriel is giving to Daniel jumps forward in time, from discussing the forerunner of the future Antichrist, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and his battles against Greeks in Egypt, to the actual man who will be the coming Antichrist. An intantaneous forward leap of approximately, 2,100 years into the future, our present era, this generation. Instantly, we see in this prophetic Scripture that the king of the north and the king of the south are no longer fighting each other as they did for all of the 3rd and 2nd centuries before Christ- they are suddenly allies standing against the Western Antichrist of the 70th Week.

And it is here that some error has been made. In earilier eschatological works various writers had erroneously assigned the 'king of the north' nomenclature upon the coming Antichrist. Nowhere is the made more clear than in Daniel 11:40 where both a future king of the north and a future king of the south will together attack the Western Antichrist, and whom we know for certain is directly associated with both Greece and Rome, and a kingdom which begins wth ten horns, or kings of nations, among whom he was the eleventh to rise up among them and pluck a certain three of those ten out by the roots for himself. Those ten horns (kings) are represented in the image at the top.

In Daniel 11:40-43, as a direct result of the Western Antichrist being attacked by a king of the north (probably Russia) and a king of the south (North African nations), a great war erupts in the Middle East. This could very well be a world war as well, as we can see in Daniel 11:44 the king of the north and those from the east cause Antichrist to go on an even greater warfighting campaign. This I believe is the lead in to the final battle of Har Megiddo and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Global SITREP D10-14: Get Ready... Get Set... Big Changes Are Coming!

30 October 2014: On the calendar that we use the last two months of the year 2014 and the start of the year 2015 have taken on the appearance of being quite critical in the prophetic scheme of things. The Lord has many appointed times as one reads through the many 'last days' prophecies, and as has been discussed here over the past few years these prophetic appointments are stacked up and ordered in such a way that our world will become more and more unrecognizable from what we have known in the past few decades as each event comes to pass.

I have gotten the sense that the proverbial can has been kicked in complete darkness just about as far down the road as is possible. And it is now its hard to see where it will be kicked next because, as the image above so brilliantly illustrates, the sun has risen and is directly in our eyes. Just as the sun is low in the sky this time of year, it's glare making it that more difficult to see where one is going on foot or in a vehicle, that is the sense I am getting that what is about to occur around the world, but especially in the Middle East, will change all manner of things in ways that no one has anticipated with any accuracy.

That said, I am going to repeat what I have posted here before, and have recently reiterated privately to one of the readers here who had some significant questions about the sudden quietness that has come about in September and October after a very tumultuous spring and summer (Crimea, Ukraine and Gaza). I reminded this reader of the over-arching prophetic scenario that is occurring and we are eyewitnesses of; that we must constantly remind and reassure ourselves that these last days events are like the female's birth pangs exactly as Jesus foretold to us they would be in the Olivet Discourse.

There are finite spaces of time between each pang, but they are always increasing in severity and the space of time between the pangs gets narrower as we move forward. Then, just as in real childbirth, the amniotic sac bursts and a flood of water occurs as the travails of labor give way to the actual birth. This is precisely how the angel Gabriel described the coming event in Daniel 9:26c, and I quote, "The end of it shall be with a flood." I think we all understand the use of these "birth pangs" and "flood" metaphors very well indeed.

Here comes the kicker, and I have also stated this before as well, but probably not as clearly as I am going to say it this time. And for heaven's sake, this is not date setting, it is rather the stating of the understanding I have and am convicted of regarding the season were are in, and I'm using the inspired prophetic words of the Bible to do so as unambiguously as possible. 

Three Times I Say "I Believe"

I believe that the start of this generation commenced in 1948 with Israel's rebirth in a single day, as stated in the magnificent and critically important prophecy of Isaiah 66:8. 

I believe we are living in the last generation, and this last generation is a generation of strength, the precise number of which is 80 literal years as stated in Psalm 90:10. 

I believe the Harpazo will occur in a completely unknown microsecond prior to the start of the 70th Week as promised by our Lord Jesus Messiah in Revelation 3:10 to the faithful church.

Therefore, based upon these Scripture-specific beliefs, the 'last days' number crunching is a very basic matter in order to determine what portion remains of the season that Jesus told us to be watching for at all times. What I am talking about is the number of years left during which the sudden catching away of the Bride of Christ will occur. 

According to the ancient Jewish betrothal custom, which is our template and our teaching tool for a greater understanding of the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ, did the bride know the very moment when her groom was coming for her? Even though it was a surprise for the Jewish bride, she and her bridal party were always - always - at the ready in anticipation of the shout of the messenger whose task it was to loudly announce the coming of the groom. Then the groom arrived and away the all went!

The math that the Lord's word has provided:

1948 + 80 years of strength = 2028
2028 - the 7 years of the 70th Week = 2021
2021 - 2015 = 6 years

So, unless I really don't know His word as well as I think He has taught me... I believe the time to be listening for the shout of the voice of the archangel is between right now this instant and at some unknown and still surprising point during the next 6 years.

Now there will undoubtedly be some who will say this is all just some numerical mumbo jumbo which has no context with anything in particular, or that it's just a straw man for (insert your straw man purpose ____here____.) How can we be sure this is the season? By paying even closer attention to the signs that point to this being the season of which Bible prophecy is speaking, that's how. Here's where a couple of very specific events become signposts if not billboards along the road to The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 21:25 Jesus tells us "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring..."  I know this is an oft cited sign, but lately the sun, our solar system's massive ball of blistering hot ionized gases held together by an immense magnetic field, has been displaying signs that mankind has never before seen. Signs such as massive voids, holes, linear tears and other very weird activity which astrophysicists have no reference point in order to explain these phenomena. For example, at the present time there is a massive sunspot of super intense magnetic energy which is producing lots of really, really big solar flares, as is normal, but not a single coronal mass ejection (CME), which is absolutely not normal. Normally, when a solar flare erupts and reaches its maximum height above the surface it then snaps back into the sun due to the overwhelming magnetic forces pulling on it and that's the event which creates a full-blown coronal mass ejection. This is, by definition, is what a sign is, something very much out of the ordinary. And these type of out of the ordinary events of our sun are happening a whole lot these days in the explicit context of what this post is about, Bible prophecy. Here below is a NASA image of a flare that occurred this morning. Click on it; look at it closely. Have you ever seen anything like this image of our sun. i know I haven't and I am a passionate observer of this kind of technological imagery. This is truly the real deal.

Here's another prophetic sign straight out of the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 38:7 prophesies, "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them."  Have we been paying attention to the way Russia is a primary cog in the wheel that is the long-running Iranian nuclear weapons program? Are we not fully aware of how Russia has been running active interference for Iran at the U.N. and as a participant member state in the E3/EU+3 nuclear talks with Iran? Without question the Russian Federation is actively guarding the foremost of the Islamic Republic of Iran's nascent nuclear weapons program, precisely as the Lord spoke it to the prophet Ezekiel thousands of years ago. And here the Bride of Christ are witnesses to this very specific fulfillment of a very specific verse within the Ezekiel prophecy; it is occurring right before our eyes - if we take note of it and not allow it to pass us by unnoticed. Russian Federation expertise built the primary Iranian reactor as Bushehr and provided the enriched uranium hexafloride fuel to power its nuclear core. Last December, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin (a/k/a to myself as 'Gog of Magog') told the world that the Iranian nuclear program was going to be dismantled through the terms of the agreement being negotiated at the E3/EU+3 talks. Lest December he said this. Gog of Magog also said there would therefore be no need for a Western missile defense system to shield us from Iranian nuclear-armed missiles.

Gog of Magog would try to sell ice cubes to Eskimos. So, how many more specific signs do we really need to know what season it is and how through the literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy the world that will exist in the very near future will have only a passing resemblance to the one we see right now. And if you are one who has not yet decided that Jesus is the Son of God, the one and only Lamb of God whose shed blood covers and removes from the sight of God all sins and trespasses and guarantees you eternal life, then the time for a decision for Him is right now. Tomorrow may be too late, for who knows the future but Him who provides us with prophecies such as these being fulfilled before our eyes?

Marana'tha!

Addendum: One final historical and forward-looking observation regarding these United States of America. I also believe there are sweeping political changes that are coming to this country of the course of the next six years. The obvious preponderance of political power wielded by the radically leftist Obama Administration has all but run its course. From the mid-term election day of this coming Tuesday through to the November 2016 general election I believe we will witness a massive return to grass-roots Conservatism sweep into power at nearly every level of civil governance (federal, state, local) across this nation. The changes this political power shift will bring about are nothing short of massive in virtually any category imaginable. These changes will not occur without significant opposition from the Left which may not yet be ready to surrender their gains, real or perceived, of the previous 7 years.

As an aside, some Christian brethren are fond of saying that the election of Barack Hussein Obama II in November 2008 and again in 2012 was God’s way of bringing judgment upon this nation for its sins. Well, bringing national leaders to prominence is definitely within the Lord’s control, and Obama's time in power was to serve some purpose which may not yet be fully apparent to us all. However, I am all but convinced that political commentary maven Rush Limbaugh has gotten the basic reason for the political changes that have occurred between 2008 and the present spot-on correct. 

Simply put, the seven years of the “Obamination of America” was the direct result of both conservative Republican and Independent voters wanting to put to bed to the most pressing and divisive political issue this country has ever faced – race relations and everything that comes with that entire political "race card" paradigm. This bloc of America's enfranchised voted for Obama twice with the very best of intentions. The conservative and independent electorate cast their ballots along with a solid base of Democrat voters in believing that the election of the first 'black man' (actually, Obama is of mixed race parentage) to the highest office would bring the divisiveness of race relations in this constitutional republic to an abrupt end.

The unforeseen problem was that this electorate cast their ballots without one iota of consideration of the political and ideological baggage that Obama and his ilk would bring with them and then bring about through overwhelming political power. Perhaps they believed that America's strength lie in its ability to absorb or shrug off any detrimental effects brought to fruition through his leftist ideology? Whatever the case may be, Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike were aghast when they realized that Obama and his appointed administration's leadership was as anti-Israel as were his closest pre-election Chicago associates (i.e. the Palestinian terrorists Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi). 

These Americans were aghast when they realized the full-scope of the socialist agenda being brought to bear on healthcare, defense (OEF/OIF, Benghazi and the severe degradation of US military capabilities), foreign policy (pro-Islamist revolution designed to destroy Israel), and a plethora of Constitutional (Fast and Furious), states’ rights and economic (Keystone Pipeline) issues. The grassroots, non-partisan counter-revolution that began almost immediately in 2009 gave birth to the non-politically affiliated Tea Party which has been the tip of the spear in the changes that have been manifest in the last mid-term election and in the one we’re about to have. The American electorate has now seen seen and felt the pain associated with the costs of electing a president whose ideology and utter rejection of our checks and balances political system began to effect changes like a wrecking ball on the edifice of a basically sound structure.

Now, Obama is a liability to his political party like no political party has faced since Nixon and Watergate, and which pales in comparison to what Obama has wrought. In the coming several months after this mid-term election Obama’s penchant for ignoring the rule of Constitutional law could very well land him in the midst of an impeachment during his final year of office. Obama’s final months are likely to re-define what an American “lame duck” president is. A pendulum swing back to the right is already in progress, yet there are also indications that the violence-loving reactionary core of Obama’s Marxist-Socialist-Islamist base is still a threat to civil law and order, especially in places such as Ferguson, Missouri. This encapsulates my view that the struggle to control the world's preeminent power is just beginning against enemies both foreign and domestic and spiritual. For us there is much work to do and much more to endure for America and for Israel until He comes to take us home.