Daniel 11: King of the North vs King of the South

But here in Daniel 11, and throughout the course of the book of Daniel, you see the phrase, the time of the end. That phrase is used on many occasions in the book of Daniel. The time of the end, according to Daniel and other prophets, is the time immediately preceding Christ's second coming. So that's a time factor. And what we are going to focus in on today is something very specific. We're going to focus in on a situation between the King of the North and the King of the South. What we have between the King of the North and the King of the South is basically a story about a clash of civilizations between traditionally Christian Europe and the Islamic culture based in the heart of the Middle East, much like we saw in history with the Crusades. For many years, the dream of Muslims everywhere has been the restoration of a respected, influential caliph, a successor to Mohammed. Mohammed, also known as a prophet, established the Islamic religion in the 600s AD. They have been looking for a caliphate. They greatly desire a caliphate. A caliphate is an Islamic empire, an Islamic kingdom that they hope would bring stability to the whole world, not just to the Muslims, but to the whole world. After the death of Mohammed in 632 AD, four great caliphates successfully governed the Middle East and North Africa. The last caliphate was the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which collapsed shortly after the First World War. So now, today, many Muslims yearn for a future appearance of a powerful, authoritarian Islamic Messiah. We look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Muslims look forward to their Messiah, the Mahdi by name. They believe that this individual will be divinely led and will lead Islam to become the predominant religious force throughout the world. I would think that this Mahdi may be a very charismatic individual, much like I believe that the person we call the Antichrist may as well be a very charismatic individual. So people talk about how Christ can come at any time. Well, do we see a Mahdi today on the world scene? Do we see a charismatic Islamic leader, the Muslim world falling into line to follow him, and basically reverence him? Do we see that today? We don't see that today. Do we see an Antichrist today? Well, he may be on the world scene. The Mahdi may be on the world scene, but neither one is recognized right now. Neither one has come to the fore. So these are two things we need to be looking at in terms of Bible prophecy. An Antichrist, somebody who is eventually going to claim to be God. He's not going to claim that at the very beginning. He'll probably just be a charismatic individual who does all sorts of miracles, and then as time progresses, when he feels the time is right, he'll say, well, you know what? The truth needs to come out of the bag. I am Christ. Of course, he won't be, but that's what the world will believe. Now, the 11th chapter of Daniel is a phenomenal prophecy. A phenomenal prophecy. The date for that chapter is 536 B.C. And the prophecy in the 11th chapter of Daniel spans more than 40% of human history. More than 40% it starts roughly 500 years before Christ. And that prophecy goes all the way down to the time of the Second Coming of Christ. So 500 years before Christ to the Second Coming of Christ, or roughly 2,500 years. The new open Bible says, and I quote, Daniel 11 alone contains over 100 specific prophecies of historic events that literally came true. This is why a number of people want to question the validity of the prophecies of Daniel. When you've got a chapter that has 100 prophecies that have already come to pass, they are now history. People say, they must have written that book after all those things took place. Well, that's not the case. You know, God inspired those things before they happened, and they did come to pass.

Now, if you turn your Bibles to Daniel 11 and put a marker there, because we're going to be going to other places. Let me get over there myself. Daniel 11.

We are not going to cover the entire chapter. As a matter of fact, we are only going to cover the last few verses in this chapter. The first 35 verses of Daniel 11 give an account, written years in advance, of the intrigue between the King of the North and the King of the South. In secular history, the King of the South is often referred to as the Ptolemaic Empire. This was one of the generals of Alexander the Great. You know the very last Ptolemaic ruler, a very well-known person in history. The last Ptolemaic ruler was a woman by the name of Cleopatra. She was the last in that line. The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled from Alexandria and Egypt. The King of the North at the first 35 verses of Daniel 11. King of the North ruled from Antioch and Syria under the name of Selukis, again one of the generals of Alexander the Great.

So we're going to cut right to the chase, to the time that affects our age today, the time of the end. And that will begin in Daniel 11 and verse 40. Daniel 11 and verse 40. Let's read that. At the time of the end, perhaps our day to day, I think very likely our day to day, at the time of the end the King of the South shall attack him, and the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, horsemen with many ships. He shall enter the country's overwhelm and pass through. So again, who are these two today? You know, we saw who those two kingdoms were in ancient times. A location in Egypt, a location in Syria. That is not the case today. The King of the North, the Selius dynasty, was overthrown in 64 BC by the Roman Empire. So starting in 64 BC, the Roman Empire became the King of the North. The King of the South, we believe, is a confederation of Muslim nations. I'm not going to turn there, but if you put in your notes Psalm 83. If you go to our Bible reading program online, the United Church of God's Bible reading program, the online commentary, and you look at Psalm 83, Psalm 83 will identify various Muslim nations that may well be a part of this confederation. So why do we have, in verse 40, the King of the North and the King of the South attacking one another? The Bible doesn't really explain as to why the King of the South launches this aggressive action against the King of the North. There are some speculations, and I will give you some speculations. Label them properly as such. Perhaps, as you're probably aware, there are sections, fairly significant sections in Europe right now, where the governments do not control property within their own borders. Muslims control some of those areas.

In Brussels, for example, a large portion of the city, or a significant portion of the city, and they don't let just anybody come in. They don't let the police force come in, they've got their own police force, and they take care of their own business. Europeans are getting sick of this. It may well be that Europeans are going to start doing something about the Muslim situation in Europe. That may anger the Muslims in this confederation. They may feel they've got to go protect their own. And that may be a reason for the King of the South to push against Europe, the King of the North. Or, and or, it could be that this Mahdi has arisen, and he wants holy war. And he wants to attack the King of the North, because it's a major power block in the world. And they are after total world domination.

So let me go back and read Daniel 11.40 with a little more understanding. At the time of the end, the King of the South, probably an end-time Muslim leader, shall attack him, the King of the North, the final, the beast power, the individual who is in charge of the political entity in Rome of Europe. So you've got this these two powers here clashing. You've got a number of personalities, not only the the Mahdi, the King of the South, but the beast, the person who's in charge of the political power in Europe. And also, there's going to be an Antichrist. So you'll have three individuals there that are going to be trying to get after one another. And the King of the North, the beast shall come against him. In other words, after the the King of the South pushes against the King of the North, King of the North is going to retaliate. King of the North is going to move into the Holy Land. It's going to move into the Middle East. Like a world with chariots, horsemen, many ships, and the beast power shall enter the countries of the Middle East, overwhelm them, and pass through. Now, in your notes, you might want to jot down Daniel chapter 9, Daniel chapter 11, and Daniel chapter 12 that talks about the abomination of desolation. Because when the European power enters the Holy Land, the one that we would call the Antichrist will proclaim himself God at whatever kind of a temple or religious structure there has been erected. We don't know whether there will be a temple or just an altar, but this individual will claim to be God. And that is the third fulfillment of the abomination of desolation. The first was under Antiochus Epiphanes. The second was when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the third fulfillment will be in our day-to-day, with the King of the North coming into the Holy Land with the probability the Pope. Okay, let's go down to chapter 11 of Daniel verse 41. And he, referring to the beast power, shall enter the glorious land, this is the modern state of Israel, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape his hand, Edom Moab, in the prominent people of Ammon, or Ammon. Those three territories constitute the modern country of Jordan today. So it's talking about Jordan there in Daniel chapter 11 verse 41. Other descendants besides the Jordanians would be peoples of the various Palestinians, Turks, and various other Middle Eastern peoples. Chapter 11 verse 42, and he, referring to the beast, shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. Now, let's pause for a second. How do you think this confederation of Islamic peoples is going to take all of this? You know, right now the King of the North is possessing an area that has the temple or the altar, but we don't know that they're possessing everything. There's a lot of nations that are Muslim nations that would be very mad at seeing a Christian occupying force in their part of the world. And so there will be more conflict that takes place. Daniel chapter 11 verse 43.

And he shall power over the treasures of gold and silver and all the precious things of Egypt, and also the Libyans. So this would be the modern nation of Libya, also parts of North and Western Africa.

The Ethiopians, including the people of Ethiopia today, probably Sudan, Southern Africa, shall follow at his heels.

Chapter 11 of Daniel verse 44. And here's where it gets even more interesting. And here's where we're going to start branching out into other areas of prophecy. But news from the east and the north. Now, in Bible prophecy, directions always come from the Holy Land. So if you go east from Israel and you go northeast from Israel, where are you? What directions? What nations are you pointing toward? Verse 44. But news from the east and the north shall trouble him, trouble the beast. Therefore, he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate them. If you go from the east and the north from the Holy Land, you're going to head toward nations that we know as India, China, Russia. You've got two power blocks that are wrestling for world domination. You've got the king of the north, Europe, and you've got the Eurasians. And they're going to be wrestling for world power. Now, put a marker here in Daniel 11.

And let's go over to Revelation 9. We're going to be in Revelation for a bit. Revelation 9.

Revelation 9. We see three stages of world war. Starting here in Revelation 9. Let's just read this section and then we'll make comment on it. Then the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth. To him was given a key to the bottomless pit. Now, in your notes, you might want to jot down verse 11 at this point because let's read verse 11. And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek his name is Apollyon.

So the one who's running this particular army is none other than Satan the devil. Much like it is believed that Satan and his demons were running the Third Reich during World War II. Here we see a army coming out of this bottomless pit and it's being run by, being generaled by, pastored, if you will, by none other than Satan the devil. Verse 2, when he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

Very ominous setting here. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. So here we're going to see an army that has power, going to go to war, going to do lots of damage. Verse 4, they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

So here we're seeing in verse 4 something about the state of the earth at this point. At this point in human history, the earth is doing all it can to sustain human life. You know, we've gone through some of the other prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, but at this point, toward the close, just before the return of Jesus Christ, after all the things that have happened upon the earth, the grass of the earth is essential. There's not that much of it left. There's not that many green things that can help scrub the atmosphere.

So, you know, this army is told to leave those things be. They understand. They can't just go through and kill off all the green things with, you know, more thermal nuclear bombs or whatever, because then no one would be able to survive. Verse 5, and they were given, and they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. So perhaps here we're looking at some sort of a chemical or biological agent that is being used.

It makes perfect sense if you want to have world domination. You don't nuke everything. If you nuke everything, then you can't go there for generations. But if you kill off the people and just kill the people, then you can take their land, you can take their infrastructure, and you've got that as a prize. Middle verse 5, their torment was like a torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it. They'll desire to die, and death will flee from them.

So just a horrible situation here in terms of human health. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. These are all, we think, symbolic of various types of weaponry. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of wings was like the sound of cherries with many horses running into battle.

So whether we're talking about jets, jet engines, whether we're talking about the appearance of helicopters prepared for battle, these are something that John saw but didn't know exactly how to describe to the modern ear. But this is the way it appeared to him. And of course we read verse 10, it says, and they had tails like scorpions, and their stings were in their tails. Their power was to hurt men for five months. So maybe he's seeing the launching of various weaponry to do its job. Then in verse 11 we see that Satan is in charge of all of this.

So from this beginning stage of World War III, if you will, you've got the Europeans who want world domination fighting against the Eurasians. Okay? Now let's take a look at Revelation chapter 17. Learn more about this army that comes out of the bottomless pit. Revelation chapter 17.

So you would want to connect Revelation chapter 9 and Revelation chapter 17.

Revelation chapter 17 and verse 7. So here we're going to learn more about this European power block. Seven heads, ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and to go into perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. In other words, Christians are not written in the book of life. They are not written in the book of life. They are not written in the book of life. From the foundation of the world. In other words, Christians aren't marveling. Christians should know prophecy. Should understand what they're looking at here. When they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. So this phrase was and is not and yet is, is talking about the Holy Roman Empire. It was, historically, and came to an end in 476 AD. So that's the and is not and yet, and says there at the very end of verse 8, and yet is. So there's going to be a resurrection.

Verse 9 and 10 of Revelation 17. Here is the mind which has wisdom talking to God's people today, talking to the converted today, talking to those who have God's Holy Spirit who can understand these deep things. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. So this woman is a church, the false church, the great false church. She sits on these seven nations, the seven resurrections, if you will. She has a great deal of influence on them.

There are also seven kings. Five have fallen. One is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. So who are the seven heads at this point? And this is where the world doesn't understand prophecy because it can be very complicated. At this point, the seven heads are beginning the restoration of Rome. The first of the restoration that took place in 554 AD was Justinian's empire. Justinian. Second head is Charlemagne. Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800 AD. Third head, out of the great's empire. This was a German resurrection out of the great crowned in 962 AD. After that comes the Hapsburg, number four, the Hapsburg dynasty under Charles V. He was crowned in 1520 AD.

It says, five have fallen. So the fifth resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire was under Napoleon of France. He was crowned in 1805 AD. So the Bible says, five have fallen. But notice very carefully how it says, one is. One is. Five have fallen. One is. One is is present tense. So from the book of Revelation's point of view, we've speculated, and I think properly so, that this prophecy is set during a time of the sixth resurrection which took place during a time of Hitler and Mussolini.

So talking about our time in general terms, you know, God looks at time in great swaths. And so this prophecy is present tense in our day. And then number seven, it says, there's one yet to come. One yet to come. Revelation 17, verse 12.

And the ten horns, now we talked about the seven heads, the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they've received authority for one hour as kings with the beast. So for a very short time, there is going to be not only a grouping of Muslim nations, there's also going to be a grouping of European nations. Now notice I'm saying nations. I'm not saying countries. It could possibly be ten countries in Europe, but more than likely it will be ten nations. And a nation is different than a country. A country has geographical political boundaries. As an example, you can take Germany and parts of Austria. And we with you, that is two nations. I mean two countries, two countries, excuse me. But biblically, that might be only one nation. Those two countries, according to their geographical boundaries, may be two countries, but they may be one nation. So again, this is something for us to be looking for in terms of Bible prophecy. You've got the Muslim leader, the Mahdi. You've got the Antichrist. You've got a political figure with great power. You've got this coming together of these nations in Europe.

So all these things we don't see on the world scene yet. We may see vestiges. The European Union right now is very weak. Now they want to establish a strong military.

You know, that's something else we'll be looking for. We're watching to see what happens there. A strong military presence, and they certainly can do that very, very quickly.

So now we know who this king of the north is, a little more in detail. Let's take a look at who they're going to be fighting. Let's go over to Revelation 9.

These are the people that come from the north and the east.

Revelation 9, we've read through verse 11.

Verse 12 says, Revelation 9, 12 says, One woe has passed.

Behold, two woes are coming. So one woe is when this European power block attacks the Eurasians, much like Adolf Hitler decided he needed to get into Russia. We're going to see much of the same kind of repeat of this.

But now we're going to have stage two, which is the second woe, a second stage of war. And this is where the Eurasians counterattack. Verse 13, Revelation 9, 13. Then the six angels sounded and heard a loud voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before the Lord, saying to the six angel, who has the trumpet, released the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.

The Euphrates River, back in ancient times, was the outermost boundary of the Roman Empire.

So we see a power block coming into what used to be the Roman Empire, and will be the Roman Empire of new times. Verse 15, so the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and a day and a month and a year were released to kill a third of mankind.

Lots of loss of life here. In your notes, you might want to jot down Amos chapter 5 and verse 3.

Let me read that to you. Amos 5, 3. For thus says the Lord, the city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel. So as all these things are taking place, only one person and ten of Israel will be left alive. And we believe that Israel is not just talking about the land in the Middle East, but all of Israel. Now if that's true for Israel, it may well be true for all of mankind. It may well be true for all of mankind. Again, we are seeing through a glass darkly, but this is a reasonable explanation. When you take a look at all the various chunks of humanity that are being killed in the book of Revelation, a quarter here, a third there, lots of loss of life. Lots of loss of life. So we're seeing very clearly here this clash between cultures again, the European culture and the Asian culture. So as we... Now let me finish verse 16 here. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. Big army. You don't get an army that size out of Luxembourg. You know, an army that size you probably would have to have China and India and Russia, those large population areas, combining their forces to defeat Europe. So I want to give you now three possibilities what might be taking place. Three possibilities. And again, this is this is speculatory, based upon what we believe we see. Possibility number one. It is possible that this massive army is a multinational Islamic force formed from some or all of the Islamic countries along from to the north and the east of the Euphrates. This would include nations such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India. India is the second largest Muslim population in the world. Indonesia, which has its share of Muslims as well as Hindus. Further north and east from that point, you've got the old Soviet Union, you've got Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and all those various nations that once were a part of the Soviet power bloc. So all of those things are in that general direction. So possibility number one was a multinational Islamic confederation that's coming up against the Europeans. Possibility number two. Possibility number two. This would narrow the focus a little bit. The possibility would be the forces of Russia and China, two major world powers that often share common interests. They see Europe coming into Middle East. What do we have in the Middle East? We've got those rich oil fields. If you want world domination, now Russia's got its share, but you want it all. You don't want the enemy to have anything in terms of oil. You want to take it all.

And so Russia and China may be the real threat there. They don't like the idea of Europe coming into the Middle East, so they want to expel the Europeans. Possibility number three. All of the above. All of the above. Mankind is struggling for all out domination of the world scene. All of the above. Let's go back to Daniel chapter 11 one more time. One last time.

Daniel chapter 11. This will be the last time we read in this series from the book of Daniel. Incidentally, I'm planning on starting the Isaiah series in church, in church services, like we've gone through the book of Daniel once a month. I'm planning to do the same thing with the book of Isaiah, but we will not start that until June. There's some some sermons I want to get to you, delivered to you, that I've given over in Chicago. I want to catch up with that. And then in May, I'm going to take in May, I've got one week, well, I'll be at the general conference of elders, and I've got one week where I'm going to be going over to Michigan to see my little grandkids. In July, on 7-11, there'll be two. I've seen them twice, so I need to get over there and see those little ones before they are off to college. So, I will not, unfortunately, I will not be here in Beloit at all in the month of May. So, I don't want to get any further behind than I have to. So, we'll start Isaiah in June. Now, for those who go to our in-home Bible studies, after we're done, and we finished the Nemets study with the book of Mark, we're done with Mark and the Nemets study and the Morrison study, we're coming along nicely, we're not done with Mark. When we're done with Mark, in all the studies, we'll get into the book of Acts, and we'll be going through that for some period of time. Okay, Daniel chapter 11, after my long commercial there, Daniel chapter 11, verse 45, He shall plant the tents of his palace between the two seas and the glorious holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end and no one shall help him. So, verse 45, again, let's read this with understanding, and he, who's he? The king of the north, the beast shall plant his tents, plant his tents in the palace between the seas, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, in the glorious holy mountain, talking about Jerusalem. Yet the beast shall come to his end and no one will help him. Why does he come to his end? He comes to his end because of the return of Jesus Christ to put down all of this murder and mayhem. Let's go back to Revelation chapter 9.

You know, as you go through and wade through the prophecies of Revelation, you see why it says in Matthew 24 that God has got to make an end to this, otherwise there would no flesh be saved alive. We've read through Revelation 9. Let's read verse 17. And thus I saw the horses and the vision of those who sat on them and the breastplates of fire, red, halosanith, blue, and all this various colors. And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. Now their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed by the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. So again, we're looking at this horrible loss of life that takes place at the end of the age. Chapter 16 of Revelation. People want war. God will give them plenty of war. God will give them what they want. They want a shot at Jesus Christ as he returns. God's going to give them that shot. He's going to prove to them once and for all like he had to do with the Egyptian army who's in charge. Revelation 16. Verse 12. Then a six angel poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. So God is going to take this Eurasian army and allow them to come into the Holy Land where the king of the north is perched.

Verse 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. So again, a time of tremendous satanic spiritual power here influencing the situation in terms of the human being so they would fight against Christ, returning Christ. Verse 14. For they are the spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them together to that great day of God Almighty, to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Now verse 14 gives the name of the final battle before Jesus Christ returns and sets up the kingdom of God on earth. It's not the battle of Armageddon. It's the battle of that great day of God Almighty. That's the name of the battle.

Verse 15. Behold, I am coming as a thief, blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he is he walk naked and they see his shame. So again, a reminder to us as Christians. We have been told what to look for prophetically, but we've also been told Sabbath after Sabbath what to look for in us spiritually so we can make sure that we are prepared for the return of Christ. We don't want to be like those armies duking it out. We want to be fighting against Christ in our own hearts and minds. We may not be a part of an army, but we don't want to be rebelling against God and Christ in our own individual ways. Verse 16. And they gathered them together to the place in the Hebrew Armageddon. Armageddon. This is the mountain of Medigo, hill or mountain of Medigo, ancient town, 55 miles to the north of Jerusalem. It's 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. So 55 miles north of Jerusalem, 15 miles inland from the sea, overlooking the valley of Jezreel, is a staging ground for these armies. After they are set, they're staged, they're ready to go as any military commander would want to get everything together. After they have gotten together, they will move south to Jerusalem, and that final battle will take place in the environs of Jerusalem. Let's look at the prophecy in the book of Joel.

The minor prophecy, you've got Hosea, you've got Daniel, Hosea, then Joel. Joel chapter 3.

For behold, in those days, and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them on account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided my land. So here we see a reaffirmation of where this battle is going to take place.

verse 10 Joel chapter 3 verse 10. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong.

Assemble and come all you nations, and gather together around. Cause your mighty ones to go and come down there, O Lord. Let the nations be awakened and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for they all set the judge all the surrounding nations. So just as God had judgment upon Pharaoh and his army, God's going to do the same thing at the end of the age. This will take place right around Jerusalem. Okay, we go back now to Revelation chapter 19.

Revelation chapter 19. You thought I was just going to go through five or six verses at the end of Daniel 11, covering a little more than that. Revelation chapter 19 starting in verse 11. Good news. Verse 11. Now I saw heaven open, behold, a white horse, and he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Now we've seen plenty of unrighteous waging of war. We've seen people being murdered and slaughtered in ways that the world had never seen before. But Jesus Christ is now returning. This is a picture of Jesus Christ on a white horse. This is the true white horse, the true second coming. That's what we see earlier in Revelation chapter 6 with somebody sitting on a white horse that was a counterfeit. This is the real deal here. This is Christ. Verse 12. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Verse 14. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. So all this is a picture of righteousness. Jesus Christ is coming and waging righteous war, righteous battle. Verse 15. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and his thighs a name written, King of King and Lord of Lords. So here we've got the triumphal return of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ is going around the earth as he's wanting to approach the Mount of Olives, he's gathering the saints. All the saints are being resurrected. Now, if you are alive at this time, I can guarantee you that you're going to die. It's appointed unto all men to die. Now, when Christ returns, you may die just for a moment and then be resurrected, but you and I, we all will face death. And as I was saying to a Bible study, I think the Nimitz Bible study here recently, just last week, or maybe it was over in Chicago. I'm having a senior moment, you'll have to forgive me. Those happen.

We think so many times about what it's like from our point of view to be resurrected. You know, when you're resurrected, you realize, I've made it. I don't have to worry about that old body of mine. I don't have to worry about death. I'm going to live for all eternity with God and my brothers and sisters in the faith. And life is going to be absolutely unbelievably wonderful. And we're going to do all sorts of wonderful things for all eternity. That's our thinking. But think about Jesus Christ and God the Father. Think how excited they are. All of us in this room have lost people we love. All of us. How excited would you be if a husband or a wife or a son or a daughter or grandkids walk through that door in the back? How excited would you be? And you think about the fact that how much God the Father and Jesus Christ loved listening to all the saints' prayers over the years. And then they died. And they couldn't hear Moses anymore. And they couldn't hear David anymore. And they couldn't hear Peter and Paul anymore. But now, all those people are resurrected. And Christ can have conversations with his family. Just think how wonderful that's going to be from God's point of view, from Jesus Christ's point of view. So it's going to be a tremendous, tremendous time. But here we have Christ. He's gathering his saints. He's coming down to the Mount of Olives here. Let's take a look at the book of Zechariah there in the Old Testament.

Zechariah chapter 14. Okay, Zechariah chapter 14. Again, I always think of a movie when I read this verse.

Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 12.

And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets. Their tongue shall dissolve in their mouths. So if you happen to be a moviegoer from time to time and you saw the Raiders of the Lost Ark, you saw that German fellow just melting away, that's exactly the kind of situation we're going to have here. Were people who want to rebel? Sure, go ahead and rebel. You're going to pay a price for that rebellion. But peace finally comes at last. After all the death, after all the destruction, after centuries, after millennia of war and woe in this planet, Jesus Christ comes to rule. And you will be a part of that. You will be a part of bringing sanity to an insane world. You'll be a part of helping people. You know, you wonder why you've gone through the various trials you've gone through. You know, we've read an announcement about the Brock family. You may or may not have known, but early on in our little teen film thing here, you saw Samara's brother, Logan. Logan Brock. He was one of the first ones. They had his name under there. It was just named Logan, but that's Samara's brother. Just think what it's going to be like for a family that has gone through all those things. The things you've gone through, but the things they're going through and the things you've gone through prepare you to help those people who have suffered so much in this world.

You know, when people who have suffered along similar lines to you, when God uses your name and says, would you please go over and counsel with that person? And they begin to say, well, here's what I went through. And you realize, hey, I went through that too, but now I'm a spirit being. Now I've got perfect wisdom and perfect love, and now I can really take what I've learned and use that as a teaching tool. So all the suffering you've gone through, as I've told people in the past, I gave a sermon. Maybe I'll give it here.

Don't let good suffering go to waste. Don't let good suffering go to waste. Learn from it. I see a lot of smiles. Learn from your good suffering. Don't let it go to waste.

Okay, Isaiah chapter 9. Still have a couple more scriptures. I still have a few more minutes. Isaiah chapter 9. Positive things here. Good things. Wholesome things. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6.

For unto us a child was born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Verse 7. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. No end. We've speculated. And I use that as a speculation. That perhaps not only will we rule forever, but maybe the plan of God will take on other proportions in terms of maybe God creating more human beings. We don't know. That's a speculation. There's an awful lot of planets out there. What are they out there for? As I said in one movie, it'd be an awful waste of space, not to populate those planets. There'll be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Micah chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. You don't need to turn there. I'll read it for you. Micah chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people will flow to it. The mountain of the Lord's house will be established on top of all the other countries. Big countries, the mountains, little countries, the hills, and people will flow to it. After what? Those people who are left. Those people who have lived through the end of the age, from our day through all of the holocaust of the time of the Gentiles that last three and a half years before Christ comes. People who survived that, they'll be dysfunctional. They're going to need a lot of love. They're going to need a lot of attention. They're going to need your loving care. But at that point, their human nature will have learned something. And that is the old way of life only brings woe. They will have witnessed that in their lives. Micah 4, verse 2, Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up into the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways. We will walk in his paths, for out of Zion a law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Now for all those Christians out there, quote, unquote, Christians who want nothing to do with anything Jewish, notice. Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways. We shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law. So there's going to be an awful lot of relearning done in the world tomorrow. An awful lot.