THE FOUR PROPHETIC OUTLINES IN DANIEL

THE FOUR PROPHETIC OUTLINES IN DANIEL There are four prophecies in the book of Daniel whose main focus is on the king of the north. They cover the same events, except each vision adds more detail as we progress from Daniel 2 to Daniel 11. They all form part of a big picture, showing the rise and fall of nations, how they impacted God s work on earth, and how ultimately God s people... had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image... Revelation 15:2. DANIEL TWO In Daniel 2 we are given a picture of four great world empires represented by an image made up of four different metals. Beginning with Babylon, the vision progresses through the Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires. However, the feet and toes of the image are the most significant. We know they refer to the last phase of the Holy Roman empire. What is especially significant is the end-time mixture of iron and clay in the feet and toes. We usually interpret that to mean the relative strengths of the various nations of Europe that came out of the break-up of the Roman empire. And that is true. But that is not all that is typified by the iron and clay. In 4 Bible Commentary p. 1168-69 we read, The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. The mingling of the church with the state produced the papacy. And in Revelation 17:13-14 it tells us what the ten horn powers, which are the same as the ten toes, will do in the end-time. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. That is the mingling of churchcraft and statecraft. Then we read in Daniel 2:44, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed... That kingdom was represented by a stone which struck the image on its feet and utterly demolished it. That means God is going to set up a kingdom which will impact the iron and clay and bring it to dissolution. But how God s kingdom will be set up and who will make up this kingdom is not explained in Daniel 2. That will be explained in the next prophetic outline of Daniel 7. DANIEL 7 Daniel 7 follows the same track as Daniel 2. The four metals of the image are represented by the four beasts in this chapter. They represent the same empires as in Daniel 2, beginning with Babylon and ending with Rome. Again, the focal point of this vision is on the end-time developments, involving the ten horns which are the same as the ten toes. However, there is a special interest in the little horn that comes up among the ten and begins to dominate the world scene. The clues given in Daniel 7 regarding the little horn leave no doubt that it is speaking of the papacy, the king of the north, the mixture of churchcraft and statecraft. In Daniel 2 the scene ended with the God of heaven setting up a kingdom that would smite the mixture of iron and clay and bring it to its end. That chapter didn t explain how the kingdom would be set up and who would make up that kingdom. However, Daniel 7 gives us a detailed explanation. In Daniel 7:13-14 we see Christ receiving His kingdom in the end time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him. And to find out how this kingdom is set up and who makes up that kingdom, we need to go back to the investigative judgment scene in verses 9-10. The names of all who were at one time written in the book of life are brought up in review in the judgment. Early Writings p.280 describes the scene. Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living. Christ had received His 1

kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. This kingdom, which was represented by the stone in Daniel 2, struck the feet of the image and utterly demolished it. The same scenario is depicted in Daniel 7. The little horn is shown treading down God s people and prevailing against them until there was a big reversal. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High... Daniel 7:21-22. The big reversal came when the judgment was set and the verdict was declared in favor of the saints. The same truth is repeated in verses 25-27. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. When the judgment declares in favor of the saints, they (the saints) will be empowered to take away the dominion of the horn power. But how do they do that? We should keep in mind that the victory over the little horn is a spiritual battle. Those who in the judgment of the living are accepted as part of Christ s kingdom are the sealed 144,000. See 5 Testimonies p. 475-476. Testimonies to Ministers p. 234 tells us that The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous. Christ makes up the subjects of His kingdom and marks or seals them at the judgment, the antitypical day of atonement. Unfortunately, this crucial point is not usually understood. We are told that, Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed Ibid. p.445. Those who have had that experience will enlighten the whole world with a mighty revelation of truth and expose the sins of Babylon, which will be devastated by that penetrating light. They have been sealed by the latter rain (Ephesians 4:30) and are empowered to proclaim the loud cry just like the apostles were sealed by the former rain and empowered for their commission. The Holy Spirit was to be given them in its fullness, sealing them for their work Acts of the Apostles p.30. After all the faithful souls have been called out of Babylon, what then will be left? Only the vile, the unclean and rebellious who have received the mark of apostasy, the image of Satan fully reflected in them. With the last of the preserving salt removed out of Babylon, she disintegrates from within. The whole confederacy of evil will eventually turn upon itself according to Great Controversy p. 655-656. But God s people who delivered the last message of Revelation 18 will have precipitated the disintegration of Babylon. How will they do that? As the end approaches, the testimonies of God's servants will become more decided and more powerful, flashing the light of truth upon the systems of error and oppression that have so long held the supremacy 3 Selected Messages p.407. DANIEL 8 The vision of Daniel 8 was given in the last year of Babylon s tenure, so it begins with the Medo-Persian empire. The first eight verses take us through the Medo-Persian and Grecian empires, ending up with Alexander the Great and the division of his empire after his untimely death. Verse nine introduces the little horn power which we first saw in Daniel 7. It manifests the same characteristics. However, a new detail is added in 2

in verse 11, where it mentions that the horn power would take away the daily (sacrifice is a supplied word) and cast down the sanctuary. This tells us that Christ s daily ministry as our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary would be cast down by the horn power. How did he do that? By substituting his own priesthood as mediators between God and the people, and having them come to the priests for forgiveness. They also claimed to offer up the blood and body of Christ as a fresh sacrifice at the service of the mass. Then in verse 13 the question is asked about how long the daily would be taken away and the sanctuary and host of God s people trodden down? The answer is in verse 14 until the cleansing of the sanctuary. If we understand that the cleansing of the sanctuary is also the investigative judgment, the day of atonement, we can see that this is just a repeat of what we read in Daniel 7:21-26 where it tells us that the little horn prevailed against the saints until the judgment declared in their favor. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion... It is unfortunate that the vision in Daniel 8 had to be cut short because Daniel fainted when he heard the angel say it would be 2300 years before the daily ministry of Christ in the sanctuary would be restored and the host of God s people no longer trodden underfoot. It seemed to Daniel that instead of the 70 years captivity in Babylon as promised through Jeremiah, the time was now lengthened to 2300 years. See Prophets and Kings p. 554. We see him agonizing before God in Daniel 9 and confessing his sins and the sins of his people and pleading for God not to defer the time of the 70 years captivity. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. Thus far we can see the continuity of chapters 2, 7 and 8. They all begin with the rise and fall of world empires until we come to the ten toes and ten horns, to the king of the north, the papal system of churchcraft and statecraft. But there is one more chapter in this series of visions that will add some more significant details. DANIEL 11 This chapter spends much more space delineating political events and wars, beginning with the Medo- Persian empire in verses 1-2, followed by the Grecian empire, which occupies verses 3-15. It would be too lengthy to cover all those happenings, except to note that in verses 5 and 6 we begin reading about the king of the north and king of the south. The first mention of these two powers has to do with the two ultimate divisions of the Grecian empire into its northern kingdom ruled from Syria and the southern kingdom ruled from Egypt. When according to Daniel 11:16, Imperial Rome took over the Grecian empire in 168 B.C., it also became divided into north and south after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Mark Anthony became the King of the South with his occupation of Egypt and surrounding territory. Octavius became the King of the North with headquarters in Rome from which he governed the northern part of the empire. ( Please note that from verse 17 to 39, the king of the north is simply called by the pronoun he. ) Imperial Rome fell to the barbarian invasions by 476 A.D. and the Popes of Rome took over the authority abdicated by the Roman emperors....and the dragon (pagan Rome) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. At this point, Papal Rome became the King of the North. See Daniel 11:31-36 where the description of the king of the north is similar to the description of the little horn of Daniel 7 and 8. Verse 40 brings us down to the time of the end, which began in 1798. The king of the south by this time has changed from literal Egypt to symbolic Egypt, which manifests the same characteristics. In 1798, the king of the south is identified in Revelation 11:8 as the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt... This has reference to Paris during the French revolution and the enmity and disgrace which the people of Paris manifested against the Bible and Christianity, when the whole nation became atheistic. France also vented its 3

rage against the Roman Catholic church by slaughtering its priests and confiscating her churches and institutions. It was at the hands of atheistic France that Rome received its deadly wound when the French general invaded Rome and took the pope captive. This was the King of the South that pushed at the King of the North at the beginning of time of the end. However, the political ideology of the French revolutionists did not end when the revolution ended. The ideology of atheistic France lived on in the development of socialism as promoted by such men as Engels and Karl Marx. It also developed into communism, which was manifested in the Soviet Union and China. In America and Europe, the ideology of socialism with its atheism is manifested in the government and a large segment of society. The educational institutions are riddled with this ideology. We have the modern King of the South personified in the atheistic socialism that has become the ideology of governments and institutions in this country. The modern King of the South, which combines all the anti-christian forces of atheism, socialism, paganism and Islam, is now pushing at the King of the North, against the Christian-Judeo principals held by Protestants, Catholics and Jews. However, verse 40 indicates a dramatic turn of events as the king of the north comes against the king of the south like a whirlwind. This indicates a victory for the promoters of the Christian- Judeo principles espoused by Protestants, Catholics and Jews and may soon be realized in American politics. This end-time development is clearly depicted in Revelation 13:11-18. It will be a so-called Christian movement to establish its kind of Christian religion by the enactment of religious laws. From this point onward, the prophetic narrative becomes more intense and crucial to Seventh-day Adventists. According to verse 40, the king of the north and his allies will come like a whirlwind and impact every country on earth. Revelation 13: 12 describes it... and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Also in 6 Testimonies p. 395 it tells us that Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world. It is the United States that will restore the lost power of the papacy. Verse 41 should stir every Seventh-day Adventist to lay hold upon the strong arm of the Lord. This verse tells us that the king of the north alliance shall enter also into the glorious land, and many shall be overthrown. The glorious land has traditionally been the land of Israel. But in the Christian era, the church of Christ s followers has become the new Israel, the new glorious land. In these few words we have depicted the great, final crisis that will impact the remnant church so that it will appear to fall. When the king of the north alliance begins to threaten those who do not conform to the laws requiring homage to the beast and his image, it will overthrow many professed believers in the Third Angel s message. At that time, As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition... Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren Great Controversy p. 608. On the other hand, the crisis will affect genuine Seventh-day Adventists much differently. Note the following: Will they be carried away by the strong current of evil? Because so many rank themselves under the banner of the prince of darkness, will God's commandment-keeping people swerve from their allegiance? Never! Not one who is abiding in Christ will fail or fall. 2 Selected Messages p. 368. Verse 42-43 speaks of the universal power and authority that the king of the north alliance will have in their hands. The land of Egypt and all that it represents will not escape. And the big weapon used against them 4

is the economic clout by the king of the north alliance. It tells us But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The buy and sell decree will be the means by which the whole world will be brought into subservience to the king of the north alliance. However, verse 44 marks a dramatic turning point in the fortunes of the king of the north.... 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 make away many. What are the tidings that come out of the east and north which trouble him? The great, universal tidings that will stir the whole religious world in the end time are depicted in the loud cry of Revelation 18. Those tidings will lighten the whole world with the glory of God s character and will also expose the terrible sins of Babylon, the king of the north alliance. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power, all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these Great Controversy p. 606. As a reaction to these solemn tidings, it tells us... therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people are called to God's down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it Great Controversy p. 607. In verse 45 it tells us that... he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in ( and is a better translation) the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. Seas in Bible prophecy represents multitudes and peoples. The king of the north will do his utmost to block the tidings of the loud cry to reach the seas of people. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists and Protestants unite Ibid. p. 607. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him Verse 45. This demise of the king of the north was symbolized in Daniel 2 by the stone striking the feet and toes of iron and clay with a fatal blow. It was presented in Daniel 7:26 where it states, But the judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. In Daniel 12:1, which is really part of the same narrative, we see God s people delivered from the powers of earth. When Michael stands up at the close of His priestly ministry, the seven last plagues will be poured out upon those who worship the beast and his image. The king of the north and his allies will come to desolation.... he shall come to his end, and none shall help him Daniel 11:45. N.B. For those who would like to read what James White wrote about the King of the North, you will find an article by him which he wrote in the Nov.29, 1877 issue of the Review on the next page. Also included is what he wrote in Word To The Little Flock in 1847. 5

TAKEN FROM THE REVIEW, NOVEMBER 29, 1877 JAMES WHITE S STATEMENT ON THE KING OF THE NORTH DEPICTED IN DANIEL 11 PAPACY THE LAST POWER OF DANIEL 11 The year following White repeats his position at the General Conference of 1878 and, following his impressive succession of "if's," comes to certain emphatic conclusions. Differing from Smith's later views on the latter part of Daniel 11, he found a distinct parallel between this chapter and Daniel 2, 7, and 8. White's position in 1877 and his line of reasoning are as follows: "Let us take a brief view of the line of prophecy four times spanned in the book of Daniel. It will be admitted that the same ground is passed over in chapters two, seven, eight, and eleven, with this exception that Babylon is left out of chapters eight and eleven. We first pass down the great image of chapter two, where Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome are represented by the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron. All agree that these feet are not Turkish but Roman. And as we pass down, the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the beast with ten horns, representing the same as the great image, again all will agree that it is not Turkey that is cast into the burning flame, but the Roman beast. So of chapter eight, all agree that the little horn that stood up against the Prince of princes is not Turkey but Rome. In all these three lines thus far Rome is the last form of government mentioned. "Now comes the point in the argument upon which very much depends. Does the eleventh chapter of the prophecy of Daniel cover the ground measured by chapters two, seven, and eight? If so, then the last power mentioned in that chapter is Rome." And again, in a General Conference session sermon almost a year later, he said: "There is a line of historic prophecy in chapter eleven, where the symbols are thrown off, beginning with the kings of Persia, and reaching down past Grecia and Rome, to the time when that power 'shall come to his end, and none shall help him.' If the feet and ten toes of the metallic image are Roman, if the beast with ten horns that was given to the burning flames of the great day be the Roman beast, if the little horn which stood up against the Prince of princes be Rome, and if the same field and distance are covered by these four prophetic chains, then the last power of the eleventh chapter, which is to 'come to his end and none shall help him,' is Rome. But if this be Turkey, as some teach, then the toes of the image of the second chapter are Turkish, the beast with ten horns of the seventh chapter represents Turkey, and it was Turkey that stood up against the Prince of princes of the eighth chapter of Daniel. True, Turkey is bad enough off; but its waning power and its end is the subject of the prophecy of John and not of Daniel." WORD TO THE LITTLE FLOCK, PAGE 8 & 9 Michael is to stand up at the time that the last power in chap. 11, comes to his end, and none to help him. This power is the last that treads down the true church of God: and as the true church is still trodden down, and cast out by all christendom, it follows that the last oppressive power has not "come to his end;" and Michael has not stood up. This last power that treads down the saints is brought to view in Rev.13:11-18. His number is 666. 6