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The Future Context
of Daniel 11 -
By Tim Czapiewski
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Those familiar with the classic
interpretation of Daniel 11 wonder how I can jump over 2100 years to our
day and apply recent events formerly associated with the power of Greece
to this chapter. Below is my explanation. |
- A sealed
prophecy -
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the
time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased." (Daniel 12:4) The prophecy the angel is referring
to specifically says that the 11th chapter of Daniel would not be fully
understood until the time of the end. Yet the classic view of Daniel 11
has been taught by the church for at least 1800 years. The explanations
given by the early church fathers indicated that the anti-Christ of
Daniel 11 was Greek ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes who in 168 B.C.
proclaimed himself as a god in Jerusalem and abolished the worship of
Jehovah by the Jews. The early church believed that Antiochus Epiphanes
was that wicked man of Daniel 11 and it was settled in the minds of the
early Christian church that they were living in the time of the end.
Obviously the early church fathers were not living in the end of days.
They just hoped that they were.
The end of days has been the hope of
the righteous since the fall of Adam. The human mind can easily
spiritualize events into a "We are living in the last days" mentality.
This may sound like a bad thing but the teachings of Jesus does not seem
to condemn this kind of thinking at all. Note how Jesus describes the
evil servant who says in his heart "My
lord delayeth his coming". (Matthew 24:48) There seems to be
great wisdom in the mind of God to keep his followers aware that the day
of the Lord is near. By doing so, the church over time has accumulated
valuable information that adds to a profile that compounds over time and
has aided His servants in a fuller understanding of Daniel 11 for it is
written, "Many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall be increased." This means that the wicked
acts conducted by Antiochus Epiphanes can be used as a type of the
anti-Christ along with other rulers who, over time, have acted
similarly.
The prophecy of Daniel eleven describes in
specific detail the actions of
two key powers. 1)
The king of the North, and
2) the King of the South. The
times, faces, and places are vastly different between the old
established interpretation that focuses on Antiochus Epiphanes and what
I am about to present. Let me re-emphasize that I am not
requiring that you must throw away your old interpretation for you will find
that there exists many valuable parallels that will support our
understanding of the new. I am asking
that the seasoned prophecy student see how the new interpretation fits without
first considering his traditional biases.
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The King of the North -
I am now going to draw your attention to
the system of Roman Catholicism along with her Papal heads as the
symbolic King of North. This power is notable because the actions of the
Popes have paralleled and in many ways surpassed the iniquities of
Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus forbade the keeping of the 7th day
Sabbath, so did the Catholic church. Antiochus outlawed the practice of
Judaizing and so did the Roman Catholic church. Antiochus set himself up
to be a god to be worshiped and so has the Pope. Antiochus set out to
destroy any who would not worship Him as a deity and so has the Pope.
Antiochus was identified as the King of the North in the prophecy of
Daniel 11 and we will hold to this form and symbolize the Papacy as
King of the North.
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The King of the South -
Catholicism has been struggling
for the past two centuries against its chief nemesis, the ideology of
atheism. As strange as it may seem today, the ideology of atheism in a
political and religious form had
never been adopted by a society until the French
revolution in 1795. Over a century later, atheism took hold in
Russia and flourished into
the power of Communism. Our western society has felt the
influence of this ideology in its variant forms of humanism and
secularism in our court systems, in our schools, and even in our
governments. I will symbolize this
ideology and the nations who have adopted it as spiritual Egypt or in
the terms of Daniel 11, the South. Let me summarize:
The Papacy
= The North
Atheism = The South
Now do I have the authority to make
ideologies symbolize whatever I please in order to suit my purposes. No.
However I am justified because the the scriptures have translated these terms into symbols long ago. "Spiritual Egypt"
was specifically mentioned nineteen hundred years ago when John wrote
the book of Revelation.
"And their (the two witnesses)
dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which
"spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt" where also our Lord was
crucified." (Revelation 11:8) In the classic view of Daniel
chapter 11, the south has been identified as Egypt. But we see
that another application must be made to Egypt in a symbolic sense. In
order to gain an accurate understanding of symbolic Egypt, the
historical context that led to the fulfillment of Revelation 11:8 must
be examined.
The time frame for this event was to terminate at close of the 1260 day
prophecy "And I will give power unto my
two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
threescore days," (Revelation 11:3)
Prophetic scientists over three centuries ago applied
spiritual Egypt to France. They also believed that the 1260 days of the
prophecy could be translated into 1260 years based on the prophecy
rules found in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 and many
prophetic scientists were
anticipating its collapse. Once again, the church forefathers were wide
awake at the time and have helped greatly in the further development of
our understanding of the prophecies.
In 1789, these watchers were
rewarded! The French revolution was
under way just as they had their calculations had predicted. The endearing bonds France had shared with the Papacy
(France was considered the eldest daughter of the papacy) were abruptly
severed. Man's hatred was so great towards the religious authority of
Rome that the citizens of the new France arose and annihilated the Catholic clergy.
Anything having to do with religion was
abolished. This included marriage and even the weekly day of rest. At
this time, it was declared in their new constitution that there was no God.
Human reason without the consultation of religion became the new god of
the people.
The fulfillment of this prophecy validated the day for year theory. Yet
the rise of French revolution brought to light much more. It revealed
the identity of another prophetic Beast which prophetic scientists
rarely mention in their discourses today. "And when they
(the two witnesses) shall have finished
their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit
shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."
It is here that we must closely observe what rose up out of
France near the close of the 1260 years. A Beast had
indeed arisen which had fully cast off the restraints of religion and the fear of
God. It was and is an ideology that strikes fear in the heart of the
Papacy. Out of this revolution the Pope was led into captivity by
an ideology that had no fear of God and is actuated against ideologies
which exercise belief in a higher power. So we can see that
Atheism was the Beast that arose out of the
bottomless pit and it did so at the time of the
French revlolution.
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Prophetic scientists
have emphasized four political powers composing the image
which would manifest themselves in the western world through
the course of time. Beginning with the Kingdom of Babylon
around 600 B.C. Many have focused on the age when Iron (the
Papacy) shall mingle unsuccessfully with Clay.
(click illustration on left)
This Kingdom would eventually form a forbidden image.
Classic interpreters have rightly focused their attention on
the power of the Papacy. Yet there is a fifth element in
this image that must also be understood. It is the element
of clay which is Atheism in its variant forms. Note that this clay is
moist and not baked when its builders foolishly attempt to
mingle it with iron and hastily prop up it up for all of the
world to follow. When this begins to occur, the citizens
composing everlasting Kingdom will come, and with the help
of the God of Israel, they will grind this unholy structure
into powder.
(see Isaiah 41:7-16) |
The Papacy
= The Iron
Atheism = The Clay
Let us now apply the theory. When anti-Christ
performs his seemingly miraculous wonders, the notion promoted by
secular societies that God does not exist will be temporarily eradicated through
the miraculous wonders wrought by Papacy. But the lies of the Papacy
will be exposed by God's chosen people. All who are sensitive to the
spirit of God will perceive that the miracles he performs are lying
wonders. These upright ones will realize that all nations have been made
drunk by her inebriating potion. They will take to heart the second angels
message of Revelation 14.8. They will realize that they must expatriate themselves
from these corrupted systems. These disheartened men and women will seem
to have nowhere to turn
but heavenward. Then their hearts will rejoice when they see the
restoration an ancient system rising higher and higher in their
view. It is the long anticipated Kingdom of God designed to serve as a
shelter to protect the meek of the earth.
"In the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the LORD
will be established in the tops of the mountains, and it shall be
exalted above the hills; and many people shall flow unto it. And many
nations shall come, and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of
the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of
his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of
Zion" (Micah 4:2)
The exodus of these upright ones
who flee this unholy system will create a vacuum within the
new structure.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation"
(Proverbs 14:34) The image will collapse because the righteous were integral parts
in holding this fragile image together. Those who remain within the
system will be liars and lovers
of rebellion. They will try to keep it together but to no avail. The Kingdom of God
represented by the great mountain of Daniel 2:34-35 will cover the earth
and crush the unholy structure until it is reduced to powder.
"Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for
I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou
shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto
the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." (Micah
4:13)
History, the predictability of
sinful human nature, and the prophecies of Daniel
11 work together and can help us to better understand the life cycle of the
Papacy. When God gives her full control of a specified domain and once
her domain has been systematically purged of true righteousness, then
her bastard child (Atheism) will arise and bring her to ruin. After
three and a half years, those who have sold their souls to the Papacy
will no longer be deceived. Yet she, the Papal Whore, will have
masterfully done her work by contaminating
the hearts or her constituents so that they are no longer fit for the
Kingdom of Heaven. In their anger for the devastation she caused, the
wicked nations will arise and complete the cycle,
"The
ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore,
and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn
her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and
to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God
shall be fulfilled." (Revelation 17:16-17)
The Papacy
= The Whore of Revelation 17
Atheism =
The scarlet colored Beast
"That which hath been
is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requires
that which is past." (Ecclesiastes 3:15)
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