Competing For The Title “King of the North”

                   Competing For The Title “King of the North” 

This Week's Feature Article by Jack Kelley

"At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood." (Daniel 11:40)

According to Daniel 11 the End of the Age would see two Middle Eastern power blocks, which he called the King of the North and the King of the South, and both of them would challenge the anti-Christ for control of Jerusalem.  Today, although they appear to be allies, two countries from the former Seleucid Empire, the first King of the North, are openly competing for the right to be the Bible's End Times King of the North.  They are Turkey and Iran. 

The vision of the Kings of the North and South in Daniel 11 was given in 536BC and begins with an angel telling him what would happen to the Persian Kingdom, that had just conquered the mighty Babylon. He said after 3 more Persian Kings, a fourth would arise, an especially rich and powerful King. This Persian King, who we know as Xerxes I, took as his queen the Jewish woman Hadassah, called Esther in the Persian language (Esther 2:16-17). He put together a mighty army and mounted an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Greece in 480BC.  About 150 years later the tables would be turned and a King from Greece would conquer the Persian Empire. (Daniel 11:1-3) This prophecy was fulfilled by Alexander the Great.

After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the Greek Empire was broken up into four parts by the generals who had run his army (Daniel 11:4).  Cassander, who was Alexander's brother-in-law,  took the home lands, Greece and Macedonia. Lysimachus took Thrace and Asia minor, which is roughly equivalent to Bulgaria and Turkey today.  Seleucus got the area now occupied by Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Ptolemy took Israel, Jordan, the Gaza Peninsula, and Egypt. 

Within about 40 years Seleucus had  regained the lands of Cassander and Lysimachus and controlled everything but Egypt, Jordan Gaza, and Israel. For the next 200 years or so the history of the known world was composed of the ongoing battles between the Seleucid Empire in the North and the Ptolemies in the South (Daniel 11:5-35).  Looking back through history we can see that these 35 verses contain 135 prophecies, all of which were fulfilled by these two kingdoms just as the angel had foretold. Through out Daniel 11 they're called the King of the North and the King of the South.

                   History To Prophecy

Beginning in Daniel 11:36, the balance of the chapter is devoted to things that are yet future to us as the Kings of the North and South return to the world stage for the grand finale, also known as the Great Tribulation. 

Until recently it seemed like Syria and Iran would combine to take the title King of the North, but now there's a new kid in town due to Turkish PM Erdogan's vision of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire into the leader of the Moslem world. The Ottoman Empire ruled the region from the late 13^th Century until World War 1.

Next to controlling Jerusalem, which is the ultimate prize, there are three qualifications to meet in a bid for this title.   Being seen as the friend to the Palestinians and the enemy of Israel are the first two, and pushing the US around is the third.  That's why Iran muscled Saudi Arabia aside as the major supplier of money and arms for Hamas a few years ago, even though Hamas (Sunni) and Iran (Shiite) are not in agreement from a religious perspective.  That's  why Ahmadinejad makes his outrageous statements against Israel, and that's why Iran has positioned itself as the spoiler in any effort to achieve peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. One unintended consequence of American diplomatic policies toward Iran is that Pres. Ahmadinejad is now correct in saying that the only way for Pres. Obama to solve America's problems in the Middle East is to enlist Iranian support.

This also explains why Turkey has made such a dramatic change of course.  Signs of a coming change first appeared about the time of the war in Iraq when Turkey refused to allow US overflights for aircraft bombing Iraq.  It became more obvious when Turkey criticized Israel's retaliatory incursion into the Gaza strip to shut down the daily barrage of rocket fire into Israel.  Then came several subsequent and highly publicized diplomatic offensives against the Jewish nation. And now there's Turkey's support of the bid to break the Gaza blockade, something that was totally unnecessary given the humanitarian objectives that were used as justification.  Through all of this Turkey has had to defy US wishes and risk losing its long held status as the top western ally in the region, next to Israel. 

According to reports, support for Turkey is now at an all-time high in the Arab world. The last time Turkish flags were carried through the streets of Middle Eastern capitals was during the first world war, as people took to the streets in continued support for the Ottoman sultan-caliph against the western  powers.  Thanks to Turkish government support for the recent blockade-running mission, they are flying once again. Today, no ruling Arab leader is as popular as the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 

Not to be outdone, Iran immediately announced its intention to provide naval support for the next batch of ships who try to break the blockade.  Warships from Iran have already set sail to meet new blockade runners, due to arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean next week. Maybe the competition is heating up.

                   What About The Others?

At this point, no one is challenging Egypt's position as King of the South, but Arab leaders in the region are very concerned that Turkey and Iran, both non-Arab nations, are enjoying such popularity with the masses.  For several reasons they see Turkey as the lesser of two evils,  so following the Arabic principle that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” Saudi Arabia has taken the unusual step of publicly announcing it has opened an air corridor to help Israeli aircraft execute a bombing run on Iran's nuclear facilities.  The Saudis have even conducted air defense drills to make sure Israeli planes are not accidentally targeted when they pass through Saudi airspace.  They're all but begging the US and/or Israel to attack Iran, because as much as they dislike Israel, they are deathly afraid of a nuclear Iran.

According to Daniel 11:40, the King of the North and the King of the South will team up in an effort to prevent the anti-Christ from taking Jerusalem, which as I said is the ultimate prize. But he'll defeat them both and take up residence in the Lord's city as if to defy His right to it.  It's a losing strategy, of course, and the Lord will have him thrown into the lake of fire for it (Rev. 19:20).

Currently, the world still sees these two countries as part of the same team, and it's still too early to guess which one will come out on top.  But the first time I heard about PM Erdogan's vision of a renewed Ottoman Empire, I knew that Turkey and Iran would eventually be competing with each other for the title of King of the North.  You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 06-12-10

The Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 … Part 2

The Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 … Part 2
This Week's Feature Article by Jack Kelley

Conditions are quickly falling into place for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39. Turkey has all but declared itself part of the Moslem coalition after years of being one of Israel's most reliable allies. As for Israel's great protector the USA, our current leaders have withdrawn their support to a point where no one can say for sure how we would respond in case of an attack on Israel. Jewish officials suspect our recent pledges of support are just empty words, meant only for public consumption.

If so, all that remains for Ezekiel 38 to happen is for Israel to become confident enough in their military prowess to believe no one would attack them. The fulfillment of prophecies in Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 could prompt such a careless state of mind, and some informed sources are predicting that these battles could take place as early as this summer. Time will tell. But in the meantime, to freshen our prophetic perspective, we'll continue our review of Ezekiel 38-39.

" `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people-all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" ` (Ezek. 38:10-13)

Israel is described here as a country at peace in the idiom of Ezekiel's day, a land of unwalled villages. In Biblical times villages only built protective walls if they were concerned about being attacked. Israel won't be expecting war. When this enemy coalition suddenly and unexpectedly attacks, other countries not involved will take notice. They won't know what's going on either.

Sheba and Dedan are first mentioned as grandsons of Cush in Genesis 10:7. Later, in Genesis 25:3, we read of grandsons of Abraham named Sheba and Dedan as well, born to Jokshan, a son of Abraham and his 2nd wife, Keturah. From the passage it's not clear which pair of grandsons is being referenced, but commentaries none-the-less identify these two as representing the nations of the Arabian Peninsula, notably Saudi Arabia. According to archaeologists W. F. Albright and Wendell Phillips, Sheba was on the southwestern edge of the Arabian Peninsula across the Red Sea from present-day Ethiopia. Sheba is known in history as Saba in Southern Arabia, home to the Sabaeans of classical geography, who carried on the trade in spices with the other peoples of the ancient world. Dedan was probably the habitat of the Arabs in the northern part of the Arabian Desert, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia. The ancient capital of Saudi Arabia is still called Dedan on many maps today.

Tarshish was a son of Javan, who settled the area of Southern Greece. Some see his name as a reference to ancient Tartessus, a seaport in southern Spain, near Gibraltar. Others recall the sea going navies of the Phoenicians who sailed "the Ships of Tarshish" out of nearby Cadiz as far north as England for tin, a metal used in the making of bronze and other alloys, which they mined in Cornwall. Some believe that the name Britannia is actually derived from a Phoenician word meaning "source of tin." If so, since the ships of Tarshish brought tin to the ancient world, this reference could be to Great Britain making the "lions" (KJV) or "villages"(NIV) of Tarshish Great Britain's colonies, of which the US is the most prominent today. The fact that the Lion is a symbol of the British Empire lends support to this view.

This is the main reason I don't believe this battle is the Armageddon of Revelation 16:16. There are too many significant countries that aren't involved, when according to Zechariah 14:2 all the nations of the world will be gathered against Jerusalem for the final battle.

"Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezek. 38:14-16)

Here the Lord makes His intent unmistakably clear. He's orchestrating this event to reveal Himself to the world once again. The years and years of debate over God's existence, begun with the German School of Higher Criticism in the 1800's and continued in the modern rationalism of the 1950's will be put to naught as God uses this battle to poke His head through the fabric of the sky and shout, "I'm still here!"

" `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD . Every man's sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.' (Ezek. 38:17-23)

When the Moslem coalition attacks Israel, God will say, "You're the ones I had Ezekiel warn my people about so long ago." With signs reminiscent of all the Heaven-fought wars of the past, the Lord is aroused in anger to execute judgment against the invaders of His land and enemies of His people. And as He has done before, He sews confusion in the hearts of Israel's enemies so that they commence attacking themselves while He unleashes the classic weapons of divine retribution. Earthquakes, plagues, bloodshed, rain, hailstones, and burning sulfur; these are His signature signs. Neither Israel, nor the enemy coalition, nor those watching from afar will fail to interpret them correctly.

So ends chapter 38. Next time we'll see why some think this battle goes nuclear and get another good reason why it's not the last battle of the Age of Man. See you then.