The Willful King

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[Prayer] Father, we are thankful to Thee for the opportunity to open again this great prophecy from the Old Testament. We thank Thee for the apocalypse that Thou didst give to Daniel. We thank the Lord that we are able to study after our Lord Jesus who as far as his human nature was concerned was a student of this book.

We pray that our thoughts may be directed by the Holy Spirit to the truth, give us understanding and also may the things that we study have their proper purifying effect in our lives. Enable us Lord to give a good testimony to the grace of God shown to us in the generation in which Thou has placed us. We commit this hour to Thee and the hours that follow in the institute.

For Jesus sake. Amen.

[Message] The subject for tonight in our study of Daniel chapter 11 is “The Willful King.” Now let me just for a moment, in case there two or three of you who have not been following along in all of our studies, outline the progress of the argument of this point. Remember in Daniel chapter 2, I’m laying special attention on the prophetic sections of the book. Nebuchadnezzar was given a great vision in which he saw a giant image. The image was constructed of four different metals and we studied that image and we saw from the interpretation that God gave to Daniel that that was a vision of the times of the Gentiles, i.e., the times when human government would be in the hands of the gentiles, beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem around 605 B.C. and extending on into the future to the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. World government since that time has been in the hands of Gentiles.

We saw that according to Daniel and from the standpoint of his own chronology, four great world empires were to be expected upon the earth. The Babylonian, which was in existence when Daniel was given his interpretation of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar. The Medo-Persian Empire, then The Grecian Empire, these were world empires, and finally, the Roman Empire. And we saw that there was indication from that vision in chapter 2 that the Roman Empire is an empire that is persistent and that even today we still live in that particular age.

Then after a few chapters in which the stress rested upon more practical things, in the seventh chapter, Daniel was given a vision again of world empire. And this time his vision was a vision of four wild beasts. That was the lion and the bear and the leopard and then the indescribable beast or the nondescript beast, and we saw from the study of Daniel chapter 7 that these four wild beasts correspond to the four metals of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, the image. So, that the lion represented the Babylonian Empire; the bear which was lifted upon it side, the Medo-Persian; the leopard, the Grecian and the nondescript beast, we saw corresponded or was parallel with the fourth of the metals of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar. We identified them as Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

In the Eighth chapter, incidentally we also made the point that when man looks at world empire, he sees it as a great imposing majestic image, but when God looks at world empire in the hands of the Gentiles, he sees the kings and the kingdoms as four wild beasts. The difference being of course, the divine viewpoint sees man as a sinner whereas when we look at things, we tend to glorify the exploits of humanity.

Then in the Eighth chapter, we saw that Daniel in the vision that was given to him by the Lord saw a picture of a goat and also a ram, we saw that in that particular prophecy, the ram was identified as Medo-Persia and the goat as Greece and that out of this goat there arose, just as there had arisen out of the fourth of the beasts of chapter 7, a little horn. The goat overcame the ram and that was suggestive of the Grecian Empire which followed the Medo-Persian, overcoming that empire. And we studied the little horn and identified that little horn that arose out of the fourth of the wild beasts and then out of the goat, as being a reference to the antichrist who is to come.

Now, I made the suggestion to you that the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 is the same as the little horn of chapter 8 and that the purpose of Daniel in attaching the little horn to the fourth of the beasts in chapter 7 and then of the male goat or the he-goat in chapter 8 is to enable us to identify the antichrist. In Daniel chapter 7, he is simply said to come from the fourth empire, from that fourth wild beast. But in Daniel chapter 8, since the little horn is identified with the he-goat, representative of the Grecian Empire, we are told there that not only will the antichrist be from the fourth empire but he will be from the Grecian part of the fourth empire. For the Grecian Empire was included within the Roman.

Now in Daniel chapter 10, Daniel was given a great vision and then Gabriel — probably Gabriel we said — has come to interpret and give him an understanding of the Scripture of Truth. Will you notice again, verse 21, and Gabriel says, “However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth” or as the Authorized Version renders it, the Scripture of Truth.

Now “The Scripture of Truth” is the title of the last of the great visions of the prophet Daniel and so we are to think of Daniel chapter 11 as the Scripture of Truth. But the key character of Colossus The Willful King. And, what we are to be told in Daniel chapter 11 when the Scripture of Truth is unfolded is that this Willful King, to be identified with a little horn of Daniel chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 8, he is to be located in a specific part of the Grecian Empire.

Remember when Alexander, we’ve gone through this. When Alexander’s empire came to an end after his sudden death, it was divided into four parts and four of his generals took rule over certain sections of his empire. The two important sections are the sections that were ruled by one of his generals named Ptolemy, who ruled over the southern kingdom inclusive of Egypt and the other Seleucius, who ruled over the northern part of his empire inclusive of the land of Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. So that was inclusive of Babylon. So, Seleucius and Ptolemy are the two of the four generals that are really important.

Now, we will read in Daniel chapter 11 of the king of the North and the king of the South. And the king of the South will be a reference to the territory over which Ptolemy ruled. And the king of the North reference to the territory over which Seleucus ruled as the successor of Alexander. Now the purpose of Daniel in this, you see, is to narrow down the identity and the place or local of origin of the antichrist. He has in effect told us in the beginning in chapter 7 he will come from the fourth of the great world empires, he will be identified with the Roman Empire.

In Daniel chapter 8, he said he will be identified with the fourth of the empires but he will be identified with the Grecian division of that fourth great world empire.

Now here, he will tell us in Daniel chapter 11 that he has to be identified with the northern division of the Grecian empire within the worldwide Roman Empire. So, he is identifying the place of origin of the antichrist, and so we learn from this that he will be identified with that area of the land inclusive of Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Palestine. And from other passages in the word of God we will learn in the Book of Revelation that he will be associated with Babylon. So, we should expect that his kingdom one day will have as its headquarters, the City of Babylon, which other prophecies tell us is to be rebuilt. So, the purpose then of the Book of Daniel is to identify the Antichrist, and that’s why in verse 36 we read simply, “Then the king.”

Now you’ll notice there is no description given of the king, there is no anticipatory statement, because he expects that his readers will be very concerned about what they’ve been reading and will be saying to themselves, well where is the king to come from? And so he says the king, no identifying statement, because he expects you to understand but the king is a reference to The Willful King or The Little Horn or The Antichrist. So, that is in general the progress of thought in the Book of Daniel.

Now the immediate connection with — between chapter 11 and the preceding, is found in chapter 10 verse 21, in the expression, the Scripture of Truth, I referred to this a moment ago but noticed that Gabriel says, “However I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth.” Now notice verse 2 of chapter of 11 and now, I will tell you the truth. So, Daniel chapter 11 is really entitled by Gabriel, “The Scripture of Truth.” If you were looking for a perfect scripture title then you could call Daniel chapter 11, the Scripture of Truth. I started to call this the Scripture of Truth when I gave the title to Mrs. Ray, but then finally decided to call it The Willful King, largely because I’d called it that ten years ago. So, the Scripture of Truth that is what we will be undertaking.

This is one of the great chapters on the reliability of the word of God because it has been estimated by someone who is tried to count the prophecies that are referred to in the opening parts of Daniel chapter 11, it has been estimated that there are 135 prophecies in this first part of Daniel chapter 11 which have come to pass exactly as Daniel wrote them in history.

I read, not long ago of someone who spoke of a student, who was taking a course in which the subject of Daniel came up in a theological seminary. The professor taught as it is commonly taught in many of our liberal schools that the Book of Daniel was written during the Maccabean period, i.e., the 2nd Century B.C., long after the time of Prophet Daniel. And the Daniel, of course, therefore did not write the book, which has the name Daniel.

A student asked the teacher, how I could say when Christ said, Mathew chapter 24 in verse 15, that the Prophet Daniel wrote it and the professors reported to it replied rather sharply I know more about the Book of Daniel than Jesus did. [Laughter] Well, many of our theological professors really think that, they think that modern scholarship has enabled them to understand things about the Book of Daniel that the Lord Jesus himself did not understand. That of course is something that we shall see will be quite otherwise when we get to heaven. It’s going to be very interesting to find some of the things that the prophets and the apostles will tell us and tell us, I hope about modern scholarship too. It’s going to be very good.

I remember the story of Robert Ingersoll and the errors in Moses. He used to run around the country lecturing on the errors of Moses. There was a man who heard about it and said to a friend of his, would you like to go to hear Robert Ingersoll? He is going to speak on the errors of Moses, come on and let’s go hear Ingersoll on Moses. He said, “No, I’m not interested, but I sure would like to hear Moses on Ingersoll.” [Laughter] That’s what we are going to hear when we get to heaven and it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be great fun when we get there.

Porphyry, a 3rd Century AD philosopher was one of the first who took the position that the Book of Daniel was historical fiction written by someone in Judea about a 165 B.C. and he said that it was written in order to encourage resistance against Antiochus Epiphanes, the notoriously mad ruler of Syria. And his conclusion was based on the presupposition that predictive prophecy was impossible, and that since chapter 11 of this book, speaks so accurately of events in the inter-testamental period — i.e., the period of time between the Old Testament and the New Testament — that therefore it must be history and not prophecy because no one could prophesy accurately. Why of course you can see that that depends upon a philosophical priest opposition that we who believe the scriptures could not possibly accept. That’s a philosophical position, that’s not anything that is demonstrable by good sound evidence; it’s just a philosophy that you cannot have prophecy. Now, I know its difficult to prophesy as I think the Chinese proverb says, it’s difficult to prophesy especially regarding the future, well it is, its difficult its very — in fact its impossible for a men to prophesy. But we are not talking about men, we are talking about something that is ultimately written by the Lord.

Now this is a lengthy chapter and you’ll notice of course it has had 45 verses and fortunately four hours I think in our more cursory studies of the Book of Daniel is not an important that we deal with all of the phrases and clauses of the first part of this book, of this chapter; that is particularly the first 35 verses. Because these verses largely have to do with matters that are history now and we are interested primarily in the prophecy concerning the Willful King, which is — which begins in verse 36. So, if you will, I’ll just give you a brief review of the contents of the earlier part of the chapter and then we’ll concentrate our attention on verses 36 through 45.

Now, if I were looking for a heading for verses 2 through 20, which is the first section, I would call it concerning Persia, Greece or Grecia and the historic kings. In verse 2, the prophet writes about some things that happened in Persia and the days of Xerxes and then in verses 3 and 4, he writes about Alexander and the division of the empire. Let me just read those two verses so you can see that what this has to do with is history now,

“And, a mighty king, (this is verse 3), a mighty king will arise, (that of course is Alexander, who arises after Medo-Persia) and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases but as soon as he has arisen his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass.”

Now, we all know that Alexander lived very short life about 33 years. He was born in 356 B.C. and died in 323 B.C. in Babylon of marsh fever. And, here we have a representation of that very fact, as soon as he has arisen his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out. And notice toward the four points of the compass, this is a reference to the four generals into which his kingdom or to whom his kingdom was given. “Though not to his own descendants nor according to his authority which he wielded for his sovereignty will be uprooted and give to others before them.”

And then in verses 5 through 20, we have an account of the wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids because Seleucius, of course established a dynasty and Ptolemy established a dynasty in Egypt and wars took place between these two dynasties from 533 B.C. to 175 B.C. Now this particular section of the prophecy verses 5 through 20 is one that has many, many fulfillments of the word of God. One of the commentators has said that the history is so minutely accurate that rationalists have been utterly unable to discredit their correspondence with the facts and have from the days of Porphyry then forced back upon a hopeless attempt to prove that the prophecy must have been written after the events.

Now beginning at verse 21, the prophet moves on to speak concerning a King of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes. Now Antiochus Epiphanes was a very evil ruler. In fact, he is the one I think I made reference to him previously who behind is back was called Antiochus Epimanes or Antiochus the Mad rather than the Antiochus the Illustrious. He took the name Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus the Illustrious; they called him Antiochus the Madman behind his back. Now in verse 20, we read — well let me read verse 21,

“And in his place a despicable person will arise.”

If you have a King James Version, it says a vile person will arise. Now that is a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes. He is one of the two great personages in this chapter. The other great personage is the antichrist. Now Antiochus Epiphanes was such an evil man and also had such an evil influence on Palestine and Jerusalem that he stands in this chapter as a type of the antichrist who is to come, and Daniel gives the story of Antiochus here in these verses. And it’s in these verses also that we have the mini-prophecies that have been so minutely fulfilled.

We read then in verse 21 that he was a despicable person and I’ll not read on the rest of the chapter here, the rest of the section in which we have the wars between the north and the south spoken out, but notice particularly the concluding verse, verse 35,

“And some of those who have insight will fall in order to refine, purge, and make them pure until the end time, because it is still to come at the appointed time.”

Now the thing to notice in that particular verse is this. This is really a verse that bridges the distance between the 69th and the 70th week. Let me remind you if the weeks are Daniel chapter 9, remember he said 70 weeks of years are determined upon the Nation Israel, 490 years. We put that on diagram and we saw that 483 years was the period of time from the edict to rebuild the city to the time of the Messiah when he made his entrance into the City of Jerusalem in his untriumphal entry, 483 years. The last week of the year is the 70th week of yeas, we saw was a future time. And, we have identified it broadly with a tribulation period, which precedes the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus to the earth.

Now in the prophecy of Daniel in verse 35 here, we read of what is going to take place in that period of time between our Lord’s untriumphal entry and the Second Advent. Notice, how he is describes it, “Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure until the end time.” Now those three words are very important in verse 35: refine, purge, make pure. Now the first word refers to the expulsion of dross by the smelting fire. The second refers to the separation or removal of the dross that is already expelled, and the third to the polishing and brightening of the metal after it has been freed from its impurities.

Now these three words, to refine, to purge, and to make them pure, describe what god is doing with the Nation Israel between the 69th and the 70th week or the period of time in which we are living today. They have been sent out to the four corners of the earth in divine discipline. That is why Israel is everywhere today. They have been sent out to South America, they have been sent out to Asia, they have been sent out to America, North America. They have been sent all over the earth, to the four corners of the earth because god is disciplining them. He is causing them to pass under the rod and his aim is to purify them until the end time.

Now that is why Israel has been suffering down through the centuries. Now of course, she doesn’t recognize that. Other people who do not study the Bible do not realize that, it is those who study Scripture who understand what is really happening. So, in this period of time, which is not set forth specifically in Scripture in years, this period of time is a time of divine discipline, which is Israel’s discipline.

Now notice the expression until the end time, because it is still to come at the appointed time. So, in effect then this verse fills in the gap between the 69th and the 70th week and so we read in verse 36 concerning The Willful King, then the king will do as he pleases.

Now, I want to stress that right here we have to do with that which is future and I want to try to prove this. So, I want you to turn back to chapter 10 and verse 14. For when Gabriel was speaking with Daniel explaining things to him, he says in verse 14 of Daniel chapter 10, “Now, I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.” So, you see the Scripture of Truth, while it had that historical introduction of 35 verses, in which the past is recounted, the things that had to do with Persia and Greece and the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae, and Antiochus Epiphanes as a type of the Antichrist, its primary thrust is toward the future. So, from Daniel chapter 10 verse 14, we would expect this great revelation of the Scripture of Truth to pertain to the future.

Notice also verse 36, then the king will do as he pleases, this is Daniel 11,

“And he will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods and he will prosper until the indignation is finished.”

Now the indignation is a term used to refer to the tribulation period. Now that we know is future. Notice verse 40,

“And at the end time, the king of the South will collide with him and the king of the North will storm against him.”

So, notice the expression, at the end time. So, what we are looking at now at verse 36, when he says, “Then the king will do as he pleases,” is the 70th week, the last week, the time of the indignation. We call it broadly the 70th week of Israel or the tribulation — not the Great Tribulation, which is the period of time from the middle of that week to the end. So, this is then prophecy concerning the future. Dividing up, Daniel chapter 11 then, we’d say the first 35 verses have to do with the 69 weeks of Daniel chapter 9. Verse 36 through verse 43 has to do with the 70th week. We are dealing now with the future.

Well, who is this king, who is just announced as the king? Then the king will do as he pleases. Now, I would like to suggest to you that this particular person is the king of the North, or the antichrist. Now notice verse 40 and at the end time, “The king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him.” Now that has been misunderstood by some that him is not a reference to The Willful King. See at the end the king of the South will collide with him and the king of the North will storm against him, the reference is to the king of the South that there will be a struggle between the king of the North and the king of the South. This is an another term, the king of the North for the king; this is the same individual as the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 and the little horn of Daniel chapter 8. And again I repeat, the fact that Daniel does not describe this king, just simply says the king, is an indication that he expected his readers to understand that this is an individual who has been referred to previously in the book. Now you can tell from the descriptions that are given of the king here and the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 and the little horn of Daniel chapter 8 that they are the same individual. For example, all of these flourish at the end. In Daniel chapter 7, it is said that the little horn there flourishes at the end time. In Daniel chapter 8, it is stated that the little horn flourishes at the end. Here we read that the king flourishes at the end. We read concerning the little horn in Daniel chapter 7 that he magnified himself. That’s characteristic of the antichrist, supremely characteristic of him and characteristic of all little antichrists who go around also magnifying themselves and even occasionally some Christians fall into that pattern to because it belongs to human nature. In Daniel chapter 8, the little horn there is set to magnify himself, and here the king is set to magnify himself. So, they all magnify themselves.

The only person who doesn’t magnify himself is the Lord Jesus Christ and we read concerning him and Philippians that he emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men. So, in stark contrast to men, our Lord Jesus humbles himself, empties himself. And here the king and all of the other of the great men of the earth and many, I say, even among believers, fall into this pattern of magnifying ourselves. If there is one thing the Bible teaches it is that one of the greatest of the sins that we can possibly commit is to magnify ourselves. We are simply dust, we are sinners, we are depraved. And sin has touched all of our being, our minds, our wills, our emotions all of our attitudes. All of our thoughts are affected by a sin.

Another thing that identifies these kings. In Daniel chapter 7 it is stated that the little horn there subjugates Palestine and Egypt. In Daniel chapter 8 it is said that the little horn there subjugates past Palestine and Egypt, and we read the same thing here of the king.

We read also that the two little horns in Daniel chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 8 and the king and Daniel chapter 11 are destroyed at the second coming of the Lord Jesus or at the period of time just before the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. So, I think then it’s safe to say that the king in verse 36 is a reference to the king of North and the antichrist.

Now I say this because there are some who have interpreted this as a passage that teaches that the king is to be distinguished from the king of the North. Let’s look again at that verse 40 and I want you to see the interpretation that I am putting on it and the interpretation that has been put on it, I hope you all agree with mine.

“At the end time, the king of the South will collide with the king of the North. (I am sorry) and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, with many ships.”

Now, if we were interpreting this as a reference, which indicates that the king of the North is different from the king, we would it read it this way: “And, at the end time, the king of the South will collide with him, i.e., The Willful King and the king of the North will storm against him, that is, the king. So, we would have the king of the South and the king of the North in collusion or in a kind of treaty against the king.

But now, the key point is the meaning of that second little “him.” You see verse 40 says, “And at the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him.” Now to what does that second him refer? Well, I suggest to you that the nearest antecedent is the king of the South and that what he is speaking about here is at the end time, the king of the South will collide with him and the king of the North will storm against the king of the South. And, the reason I say that and why I think that is true is not only from the grammar of the nearest antecedent, but also in verse 42 and verse 43 we see that the king of the North and the king of the South are not in harmony with one another. We read then he will stretch out his hand against the other countries and the Land of Egypt will not escape, but he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over the precious things of Egypt. So, the king of the North referred to here is inviolent opposition to the king of Egypt or the king of the South.

So, I think my interpretation is correct and therefore, we are to understand by the king of verse 36, The Willful King, we have to understand the king of the North. Therefore the king of the North, the Assyrian of prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, the antichrist, these are three different terms for the same individual. The antichrist is called the antichrist, he is called the beast, he is called the Assyrian, or he is called the king of the North because Assyria was part of that north country. Inclusive also our Babylonian, Babylon for that will be ultimately his earthly throne or his earthly capital.

Now, let’s read on. Verse 36 then, we notice the indignation, till the indignation be finished and that is a reference to the tribulation periods. You can look at chapter 8, verse 19 if you like. Verse 37, “And He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers.” Now, if you have a Bible with a marginal note, you’ll notice that the term gods may be rendered god, the reason for that is simple that the Hebrew word translated here is a plural form and sometimes this is difficult to know whether it should be rendered by a plural in English or a singular. I am inclined to think that it should be God, singular. So, he will show no regard for the God of his fathers.

Now, the God of his fathers would — it would seem the most naturally referred to Jehovah. And it is for this reason that many have thought that since it says the God of his father that the antichrist therefore must be a Jew. Now, that whether that is true or not, of course, we do not definitely know. We do know this that it would be very confusing, very deceptive for the Nation Israel, for the antichrist to be Jewish. And it would explain how they themselves might fall for his blandishments a whole lot easier, if he were also a Jew. So, we will just understand it that way. But we will understand also that it’s not something that we can be absolutely certain of at this point or at least I cannot.

“And he will show no regard for the God of his father or for the desire of women.” So, he will not only disregard his religious heritage but he will show no regard for the desire of women. That’s not an interesting expression, the desire of women. It has been understood by some as the Lord Jesus Christ, as the desire of women, and furthermore, as the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messianic hope and it has been understood in this way that all women would have wanted to be the mother of the Messiah. That is, a universal hope that women would want to have to be the mother of the Messiah and we do remember that when the angel came to Mary, he said Hail, Thou that art highly favored among women. It was a great blessing from the Lord for Mary to be the Mother of our Lord, as far as this human nature was concerned.

That is very difficult to understand this as a reference to the Lord Jesus for this reason. But as Scripture unfolded and in its earlier stages, it became evident that there was only one family that could possibly have this hope. This could not be a universal hope among those whose studied the scriptures because even as early as the Book of Genesis, it was said that the Messianic King would come from Judah. So, that eliminated eleven of the tribes right there and therefore only mothers who were from the tribe of Judah would have had the hope. And it was until long, after that in the course of Israel’s history when it was said that the Messiah would come from the family of David and so, even within Judah. Many, many of the mothers if they studied Scripture would have had no hope of being the Mother of the Messiah. So, you had to be of the tribe of Judah and then you had to be of the family of David.

Now ladies, it would have been all right for you to hope providing those particular requirements were met. So, I am a little doubtful of this being the interpretation of the statement, that he will have no regard for the desire of women as a reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. I am more inclined to think that this is a reference to worship of the Virgin. The deity, and it seems to be a deity intended because notice what follows. “Nor will he show regard for any other God that he will magnify himself above them all, but instead he will honor a God of fortresses.” So, we are talking about Gods in the context. So, I think our difficulties of interpretation are largely over if we remember the deity is intended is a deity and so, it cannot be a hope of motherhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is referred to here probably is the mini-name to goddess of nature who has been worshiped and at all times chiefly by a women – sorry ladies, but it’s true, chiefly by women, from the earlier stages to our own days by pagans and by apostates in every land. She is the Beltis, or Mylitta, of the Babylonians, the Ishtar of the Assyrians, the Astarte of the Phoenicians; the Queen of Heaven mentioned by Jeremiah; the Tanata of the Persians; the Isis of the Egyptians; the Sheng Moo, or Holy Mother of the Chinese; the Aphrodite of the Greeks; the Artemis, or Diana of the Ephesians; and the Venus of the Romans; the Freyja of the Scandinavians, the Amida with her son Yakka whom Francis Xavier found established as the goddess of Japan, the woman represented for worship a by Strauss, Comte, and theosophists and the Virgin Mary of the Eastern and Western Catholics. This is the goddess of whom we have heard so often as Our Lady of La Salette, Our Lady of Lourdes—to whom it seems there are temples erected even in China. So, from the early times of Babylon and Nineveh up to the present day. She has been almost universally represented as a young woman with a male child, the desire of women. It’s a remarkable fact that Isis was regarded as the mother of Horus and yet as the ever- virgin.

And I’m reading now from one of the commentators who said, “Mr. King in his Gnostics and their remains describes an interesting [indistinct] in his possession, and on which her figure is engraved and she is represented as holding a sistrum in one hand, [that’s a kind of musical instrument] and a wheat sheaf in the other with the legend he kurra Isis agne, or “Immaculate is our Lady Isis.” And you can of course sense that there is some connection here with the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

“If then we remember,” he goes on, “that in ancient mysteries, the sistrum with its crossbar stands for virginity while the wheat sheaf, the token fruitfulness or offspring, we shall see that these two symbols, when taken together with the legend, amount to an emphatic assertion of the immaculate conception of Isis. That’s the origin of dogma that was decreed by the Roman Ecumenical Council in 1870.” So, the desire of women then is most likely a reference to the worship of the virgin and the parts of it now found in the worship in the Roman Catholic Church.

He goes on to speak in verse 38 about a God of fortresses or a God of forces as it has been rendered, I think in the Authorized Version. Now, this is a reference to the fact that this individual who is the God of fortresses is a person who has confidence in his military strength and who also has authority over kingdoms and many of the interpreters feel that the God of forces is a reference to the dragon himself. It is he who has had delegated to him certain authority over the earth and so we have here an individual who is going to have no regard for the God of his fathers or the desire of women, but he is going to honor a God of fortresses. He is going to worship Satan himself.

Now, when we turn to the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, remember, what do we read about the beast? Or we read that it is the dragon who gives him his power and the dragon of course is a reference to Satan. So, the connection between the king or the little horn and Satan himself has established right here in the Book of Daniel, long before the Book of Revelation was written.

This is the origin, no doubt, and the fundamental connection with the worship of Satan that transpires in our day. That’s not new incidentally and the 19th century in France, there were individuals who worshipped Satan. There were Luciferian societies then and they spoke of their worship as the new religion. They worshiped Lucifer. They called him [Indistinct, French] i.e., the good god or the true god, Satan. So, the worship of Lucifer is really years and years old, that’s not something new. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we see Californians worshipping Satan.

Now, our time is just about to up and so we will stop with just a comment or two regarding the king of the North. The king of the North is mentioned in verse 40 and that is simply the reference then to the king over the area Syria, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylon and it is an attempt on the part Daniel to identify the origin of the antichrist. He will come from that part of that world and finally in verse 45, again, assurance is given that this great individual who will exercise worldwide authority is going to have his end.

“He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful wholly mountain referenced to Jerusalem and Mount Zion, yet he will come to his end and no one will help him.”

The prophecy ends on the note of the sovereignty of God and the sovereign victory of God through the second coming of the Messiah who will establishes kingdom at that time. Let me close with a word of prayer.

[Prayer] Father, we are grateful to Thee for these unfoldings of the prophetic word and we pray that Thou will give us enlightenment, enable us Lord also to recognize the trends and funs of the things that are happening in our society today, and Lord we pray that in our own personal life, we may be driven to a closer and deeper walk with Thee and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ whom to know is life eternal.

We pray in his name. Amen.