End Time Rivalry Between the Kings of the North and Kings of the South

I'm sure you've been watching the news. Some of the violence, the uprising that takes place around the world. The constant staccato of terrorism, of bombings here and there, globally. They are random, it seems, at times. Other times, there's nearly civil war that exists in several countries between various factions of either Islam or some of the enemies of Islam and some of its enemies. And one wonders, what is going on? And where does this fit in Bible prophecy? What should we be looking for? What should we be concerned about through all of this? Today I'd like to try to put some of this into a biblical context and also give you an idea of some of the things that you don't tend to hear in the mainstream news, which is typically about feeding advertising budgets and revenues and not necessarily conveying what's going on. A center for Islamic studies and various professors, individuals who write, will tell us that there are things that precipitate what we see in the news. And some of those things have a very strong historical context. It's not something that is just about today or some issue about today.

One says this, understanding what changed in the Islamic world, what went wrong, and why are keys to understanding why the current problems exist. This looks back to the 7th century AD. That's a long time back. But listen to these words.

Muslims in the Middle East experience their history as a current reality. The fact that something happened hundreds of years ago does not lessen its immediate impact and relevancy to them. We don't tend to think like that because we're often living in countries that aren't more than a few hundred years old.

Their religion teaches them that they are the recipients of the final and most perfect revelation from God. Their history teaches them that they were once able to outfight and outproduce everyone they encountered. Now, when you understand from that perspective reading an old document that dates way back in time, nearly 1,500 years, that you are the greatest, you are the smartest, you've done the most to a people who are impoverished because of the oil that pops up, goes to the sultans but not to the population. And so they often live in areas that are very arid, very difficult to eke out a living, they're very poor, they're limited in their education, their experience and their productivity. Think for a moment. Have you ever heard of a car, an automobile or an airplane manufactured in the Arab world?

Do you know of any device or anything sold of, let's say, a leading edge commodity of any type that comes from that part of the world? Any music, any instrument? Can you think of anything from a car to any convenience or anything that might be marketed that's been developed in what we might call the Islamic part of the world?

And yet there is a tension there of a people who were bright and certainly once dominated a section of the world.

And they feel that it is their time and some parts of their group believes in an end-time prophecy that they will ultimately trump triumph and everyone on earth will be Muslim. In fact, there is one part of the Muslim religion that believes every individual on earth must be forced to become Muslim. Everyone will bow the knee on Friday, as it were, to Allah and recognize Muhammad as the great prophet. Or they will be killed. And we're going to take a look at a little bit about that. History teaches them that they were able to outfight, outproduce every human on earth. And the fact that they are now not on top causes no end of discord and anger. The practical result in the modern era is jihad.

It's very difficult to fight against a jihad where the participants on that side want to die. If you watch what's going on in the streets this August of 2013 in Cairo, Egypt, you see on one side the army with live ammunition and automatic weapons.

And on the other side, unarmed people who are jeering at them and standing up in the way. And there's a belief that there's no greater thing you can do than to die in the cause. It's very difficult to bring any sort of resolution to individuals who are fighting with that in mind. This jihad is partially aimed inward, as I just mentioned. You have the descendants of Muhammad down through two lineages, either those of his original group or those of his original family. Both claim to be on top. And down through time, one has overwhelmed the other, and now the tables turn back and forth.

This is what we see often during the conflicts, like in Afghanistan or in Syria or in Iran or Iraq, the Shiites, the Sunnis, etc., etc. There's a volatility there, and there is a competition as well. The practical result of this modern jihad is that the people aiming inward seek to purify their fallow believers' religious doctrines in the expectation that the problems are partially a result of having strayed from the true path set down by God.

This jihad, however, is also aimed outward, a violent reaction against the perceived enemies of Islam who are responsible for colonialism and who are currently responsible for the cultural and political attacks on the Islamic way of life.

There comes from this mindset as well the desire to infiltrate all societies and ultimately change them into Islamic societies.

And so what we see in Europe and in Western civilization is also an attempted Muslim conquest of the West.

You might think that, well, that's ridiculous. The West has been around a long time. The Roman Empire and the modern revivals of the Roman Empire and Germany and the Europeans, the Great Britain, the United States, etc., etc. There's little chance of that happening.

Well, millions of Muslims have immigrated to European countries and to this country and other countries. And rather than assimilate in those countries, they are attempting and plotting to replace systems and governments there. Their numbers are increasing faster than those of their host countries.

Western civilization is coming under Muslim attack because Muslims are out to bring down Western civilization and replace it with Islamic civilization. Today in this sermon, what I'd like to do is review with you some information. I've been scanning articles for months in preparation for this particular message. There's no place to really begin or to end it because it's growing towards an end-time scenario where there will be a collision between the King of the North and the King of the South. In effect, that King of the North and King of the South in Daniel 11 represents all-out war. A subjugation by one of the other is attempted and then a reversal and a reprisal to subjugate to the other.

The cause for both of these sides is gaining ground all around us. Maybe not rapidly. And I'm not indicating here today that the end is near, run out and build a bomb shelter. This is just the world in which we live. And the pace of things that has been going on for a long time underground is getting more rapid and it's getting a little more desperate.

So I'd like to talk with you about that today in a sermon entitled, End-Time Rivalry Between the Kings of the North and the South.

I'd like to begin with an article written by Annette Burko, July 1st, this year. One would expect that Muslim immigrants whose children were born in the West would adapt, become part of Western society, and partake of its freedom. Otherwise, why did they immigrate? What we see, however, is the opposite, the beheading of a British soldier in London, the murder of a soldier in France. These things are only the beginning. It was followed by waves of riots and vandalism carried out by Muslim immigrants in France in 2005.

And that's just a hint of what was to come and yet is to come. The immigrants are taught in mosques, Islamic religious schools, and informal discussion groups, that the West, the West, Western civilization is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. And it must be replaced, must be removed. And so, consequently, Europe, in the face of Europe, is undergoing radical change. And it's rapid. If you go walking down the streets of London or Paris, Berlin even, you will see people that you do not expect to be there. If you go into the governments and the branches of governments around Europe, you will see people that you don't expect to be participating in the government. In an article by Sorian Kern from April 15th, entitled, Mosque Building Shifts into High Gear, From Belgium to Greece to Spain to Germany, 2013 is shaping up to be another banner year for the construction of mosques in Europe. Now, remember, Europe has gone the other way. Churches stand empty and idle throughout Europe. In the West, religion has become almost an archaic thing of the past, as people have gone into their hedonistic and evolutionary concepts and left behind, really, the reality of God in their life. In Ireland, you think of where Ireland is, city planners in Dublin have given the go-ahead for the construction of a sprawling megamask complex that will cater to Ireland's growing Muslim population. The rate of growth of the Muslim population in Ireland has surged exponentially, in fact exactly 1,170% in the last 20 years. Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the country. In Belgium, work is about to begin on the construction of a megamask in Liege. In Munich, there's debate about building a massive mosque complex designed to be a strategic platform for spreading Islam throughout Europe. Now, don't think that these are just things to come. There are massive megacomplexes that already exist, and I'll get into some details here in a minute. In Greece, which is effectively bankrupt, you know the riots that go on in Athens, they have no money, and yet they've agreed to spend $1.4 million to build an official mosque in Athens, which have 120 mosques operating already illegally. But you can see the pressure on when your government has to stop and spend $1.4 million to build a big megamask for them in Athens. In Luxembourg, there's a Muslim group that's collecting $2.3 million to purchase the ground floor of a building that's being used as a makeshift mosque. In Scotland, St. John's Episcopal Church in Aberdeen, now welcomes hundreds of Muslims praying five times a day in their building because the nearby mosque can't hold them all. In Spain, there are signs that Islam will dominate once again. Islam used to reach all the way to Spain, in fact, be a center of Islamic rule and brilliance.

Muslims inaugurated a new mosque on March 21st. In Valencia, Spain, the third largest city in Spain, the Amaidia Muslim community inaugurated a new mosque on March 29th. Near Barcelona, Spain, where Muslim immigrants now make up 40% of the population. Think of going to Barcelona. 40% of the population. Work has begun on construction of the two-story Salafi mega-mosque. Salafism, a branch of radical Islam based in Saudi Arabia, seeks to establish an Islamic empire across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and eventually the world.

That's the goal. The caliphate would be governed exclusively by Islamic Sharia law and would be applied to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Now, with this kind of background and what's happening, and the mental state, the mindset of the Islamists who feel like they have been shut out and need this resurgence and to really, in some cases, take over the world, let's consider what Islamism is. Salim Mansir wrote, July 23rd of this year, Islam is an ideology, fascist and totalitarian, an impulse in action, masquerading as religion. Islamism, not just Islam, but Islamism, which comes out of Salafism, is an ideology that masquerades as religion. Islamists are obsessed with power to the extent that such obsession becomes pathology.

In the streets of the Muslim world, the popular motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is, Allah is our objective, the Prophet is our leader, Quran is our law, jihad is our way. And that's directed towards securing total power wherever they are. So you can see what's happening right now. As that was pushed out of the streets of Cairo and out of the country and made illegal, there's a resurgence coming back in a type of jihad internally.

Islamism is defined as intolerant of others, including Muslims, and glorification of violence against all who disagree with the Islamist rendition of Islam. Muslims, without exception, seek the destruction of the West. Non-Muslims, without exceptions, are infidels. And Muslims opposed to Islamism are heretics and apostates. And that the global jihad is the genuine face of Islam in carrying out God's work of establishing his rule everywhere. You see what's on their minds, you see what's in their actions, you see what propels them. And this is where we're going. Annette Berko, Ph.D.

researcher for the National Security Council, wrote on July 1, 2013, entitled, Islam in the West. Islam rejects all the cultural and social aspects of the West that contradict Islam in its Sharia law, and all the immoral aspects of life in the Western world, which are all immoral because they don't follow that particular law.

There are two different movements heading in opposite directions. The West looks forward and seeks progress and seeks the welfare of the individual and scientific achievements. That kind of defines what the West is. We want better culture, nicer stuff, peace, and everybody to prosper. It's all come together and do the very best we can for families everywhere. The Muslim immigrants look longingly back to the days of Muhammad in 600 A.D. The gap is widening between this liberal Western approach, and that is in places where the Islamists are, it's collapsing along with hypocritical double standards, political correctness, and submission to the violence that the guests are creating.

It's amazing how so few can have such an impact because they are being catered to by the host countries. No one wants to offend them. They want to appease them, and so therefore they essentially let them do what they want. I'll give you an example. In various countries, violent attempts by guests are made to devour their host's whole, along with houses, property, culture, and legacy. From everyone who is not paying attention, Arab Spring has arrived in Europe, says this author. And yet, if you go to Europe and you listen, that's the last thing they want, and they do not want to appear as if they're not democratic and accepting of all people, and hope that you can get the Islamists to also develop a Western mindset.

Let's look at that, though. Gatestone Institute wrote on March 15, 2013, that Germany has banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups, which the Interior Ministry says wants to overturn democracy and install a system based on Islamic Sharia law. This is not some kind of a warning. I'm not trying to tell you this. Oh, you know, you've got to repel this and stuff. This is King of the North, King of the South, in infant stages, setting up to push at each other. And they've got to develop themselves pretty well before you can have a confrontation that's going to be as major as it's going to be in the future.

The ban from Germany comes amidst Islamist death threats against German politicians all the way up. And just days after, German intelligence announced that the number of Salafists in Germany has jumped over the past year. Also known as Wahhabi, Salafists believe that democracy must be destroyed and replaced with Islamic form of government. There are 4.3 million Muslims living in Germany. See what's brewing? The Salafist threat to Germany is rising. And unless the government takes decisive action, the Salafist groups will continue to grow and the threat of violence will increase.

They have distributed 25 million copies of the Koran to every household in Germany, free of charge. These are people with an ambition, with a goal, and they will not be held back. More recently, Salafists have issued death threats to German politicians saying, look back at the Arab Spring. We are looking forward to European summer. We want to see Obama and Merkel dead. There is a rap video that circulates in Germany. No one has the guts to turn it off.

But it says, no doubt about it. Islam will prevail. The victory is already very close. We warn you leaders, take heed when you go to sleep at night. In Germany, we will make the ground shake and only for Allah. War and death will come to Germany. You have been warned, but you have ignored. They will come from all over the world to die. They are the chosen. We are fighting democracy.

The noble sword of Sharia has come to win here. No end in sight. We bring war and death to your front door. Once again, you can see what is going on.

Revelation 13 There is a little pushback in prophecy coming. Revelation 13 In verse 7, we read about a beast that represents the West now, as opposed to the one we just read about. A king or a kingdom or a push. You might call it religion. You might call it a political push or some combination of the two. In verse 7, it was granted to this individual to make war with the saints. In the second verse, authority was given to him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. The authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. But you have Islamists who want the very same thing. In verse 8, all who dwell on the earth will worship him. Wait a minute. The Islamists say, all who dwell on the earth will worship Allah and the great Prophet Muhammad. What do we have here? We've got a push coming, don't we? And this push is going to come to shove. In the following verses, we find another beast who has influences over those who dwell on the earth. And it says in verse 14, he does signs telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast and worship him.

Now we see the Islamists say, you will convert to Islam and Sharia law or be killed. Everybody must convert or die. Here in verse 15, this individual is given power, and as it says in the end part of verse 15, and he will cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So as we can see here, prophetically, this world's societies, political systems, religions, if you want to call it that, masquerading as religion, are coming into a very sharp conflict.

Either side says those who do not worship this way must be killed. We can go back to March 19th from Gatestone Institute. Members of the newly established Islam Party in Belgium. Wait a minute. In the politics, in the parliament, you have a party, the Islam Party, vowed to implement Islamic Sharia law in Belgium.

Muslim politicians are creating isolated communities in parallel societies. It's very worrying to see what is happening, one reported. They're forming their own political party and demanding this law in Islamic State. Now they feel confident that we can establish our own party.

People cannot, these people cannot and will not adapt to our way of living in Western Europe. Two Muslim counselors now state, we are elected Islamists, but above all, we are Muslims. As elected Muslims, we embrace the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad. We believe Islam is the universal religion.

The Islam Party plans to field candidates next year in European-level elections.

He says his ultimate goal is creating an Islamic State based on Islamic law. It's a long-term struggle that will take decades or a century. Remember the history going back? It also goes forward. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It may take decades or a century, but the movement has now been launched. Switzerland has become a base for jihadists.

They want to establish their own parliament in Switzerland that will enable all the Muslims to speak with one voice and have Sharia law.

Now here's an interesting thing.

You would think there would be more pushback to this and more of a squashing of this. After all, this is Europe, and countries like France, Spain, and Switzerland of all places. However, Guy Millier wrote on March 28, Europe, the submission that dare not speak its name.

One year ago, a killer entered the court year of a Jewish school in France, shot cold a rabbi and three children.

Three previous days, he shot three French soldiers, and then he was located and killed.

A few weeks later, his statements to the police during the siege in which he was killed were leaked.

He defined himself as a soldier of Islam. He said he hated Jews. Jews had to be removed from the face of the earth. His only regret was the opportunity that he didn't have an opportunity to kill more Jews.

Sociologists began to say he had a hard childhood and that he had to face French prejudice for much of his life.

In the mutts that followed, he became a hero in France and a legend in all French Muslim suburbs.

His name, Mohammed Mera, appeared on leaflets and graffiti. He was quoted in rap songs.

The number of anti-Semitic, anti-Jew attacks increased across the country.

Members declared after their erase that all they wanted to do is die as martyrs and kill more Jews like Mohammed Mera showed us the way.

During all this time, the Muslim leaders asked French political leaders to make no reference to Islam about any of these reports or news stories.

They were obeyed. Nothing was mentioned.

The anniversary of the crimes a year later came from this young man.

And what happened was not surprising.

Reports were broadcast on French television concerning Mohammed Mera, his life, his acts.

Pictures of a smiling man were on the cover of magazines everywhere. Photos were shown of the travels he had made. One of the main French TV channels hosted a Mohammed Mera special evening.

Sociologists were invited. Mohammed's sister and mother were interviewed.

They said he was a sweet young man and a good Muslim.

In private, police officials say that there are hundreds of Mohammed Meras in France and many Islamic cells.

But French political leaders know perfectly well that even though there is a threat there, they are afraid to call it by their name.

They fear riots in the Muslim suburbs.

Anti-Semitism is rising, but they are afraid to say it. And the journalists are scared as well.

Every day, Jewish children going to Jewish schools are assaulted. Businesses are subjected to attacks.

This could spell the end of the Jewish presence in Europe if this is not quelched, is what the writer says.

Now, just to bring this home a little closer, in the United Kingdom, there is a rape jihad going on against female children.

It is a terrible thing to even say.

But on July 11, Sowen Kern wrote, The government estimates at least 2,500 children have been so far confirmed to be victims of Islamic grooming gangs, and another 20,000 children are at risk of sexual exploitation.

There are 54 alleged child grooming gangs across England and Wales.

They got six victims. Finally, they finally listened to six victims, between ages of 11 and 15.

They had been plied with drugs, alcohol, repeatedly raped, sold and trafficked as prostitutes, all the time when they were supposedly in the safekeeping of local authorities.

Police were told about the crime as early as 2006.

They were contacted at least six times by victims, but in every case they failed to act, failed to respond.

According to the House of Commons, despite irrefutable evidence that the girls were being sexually abused, no one acted due to fears by police and social workers that they would be accused of racism against Muslims.

All were Muslim, deliberately targeting vulnerable white girls whom they regarded as easy.

All the agencies of the state, the police, the social services, the care system, ignored the sickening exploitation that was happening before their eyes because they were terrified of accusations of racism.

They took no action against obvious abuse.

Another thing in the UK to show the cowardice is they do not ever call them Muslims. They, in turn, call them Asians.

So they speak of Asians, and that is a group, Chinese, Indian, maybe Russians, who are not offended by the term because it doesn't apply to them.

In the UK, they do not use the word Muslim. The ringleaders say that these girls are, because they're Western, they're evil.

And therefore, what is done to them is deserved punishment for their behavior by being exploited and degraded.

Britain's children minister, Tom Loughton, said, We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg now. For too long, it was something of a taboo in this country.

The Deputy Children's Commission for England, Sue Berlowitz, said, What I am uncovering is that sexual exploitation of children is happening all over the country.

As one police officer said to me, there isn't a town, village, or hamlet in which children are not being exploited sexually.

UK taxi rapes Great Britain is in the throes of a rape and pedophilia epidemic unlike anything the country has experienced.

They're being perpetrated by Muslim-grooming gangs. Another wave includes Muslim taxi drivers who are raping female passengers.

It is snowballing to such an extent that a British judge has issued a warning that no woman can expect to be safe while travelling in a taxi cab.

Each week, there are 22 reported assaults in London alone, and usually 90% do not report. They are also occurring in all parts of England, Wales, and Scotland on almost a daily basis.

I'll show you an example of how you can't push back.

BBC radio host Sam Mason, a lady, was fired after she called a taxi company and requested a non-Asian driver to take her 14-year-old daughter to her grandparents' home.

She insisted they send an English driver, preferably a female driver.

The operator refused. Mason responded, It's not your 14-year-old girl, is it?

The operator said yes, but it's racist to say you don't want an Asian driver.

The BBC was alerted. She was suspended and fired 24 hours later by the BBC for asking that her daughter be driven by a non-Asian taxi driver.

Muslims are attacking the police in France. Muslims are persecuting Christians.

This is not a concern about one religion on my part pursuing another.

But you might have noticed on the news that when you have a violence breakout in Egypt, for instance, in the short span that violence has been going on, some 63, I believe, schools, Christian churches and schools have been burned.

They have been burned and destroyed very rapidly. So you can see the disposition, the predisposition against the religion of the West. It tends to pop up when things get going.

In 2004, the EU added two member states, primarily from Eastern Europe. Pope John Paul II responded, If the unity of the European peoples is to endure, it cannot be merely economic and political. Its identity would be incomprehensible without Christianity. With those words and the trashing of Christian schools by the Muslims and the supplanting of Christianity throughout Europe, you can see pushback here from the Vatican. He says, wait a minute. We have to found the EU and our Europe based on religion. It's unthinkable not to do so. He says, only a Europe that does not eliminate but rediscover its Christian roots will be able to take up the challenges of the third millennium. All believers in Christ of the European West and East are required to make their own contribution through open and sincere econ-munical cooperation. That statement drew a line in the sand from the Vatican. As you see here in Revelation 13, verse 11, we believe it will be a revival of the so-called Holy Roman Empire. The call for that revival has taken place. I personally, just as an individual, don't see any religion being revived, but rather continuing to be watered down to just a secularism. And yet, we see another religion asserting Friday worship and demanding it throughout Europe and trying to supplant it. There's always the possibility, and I've told you this before, there's always the possibility, the pushback to this may be a requirement, as we read right here, to worship on Sunday. And anybody who doesn't worship on Sunday, as we read in the end of verse 15, this beast, this image, must be killed. How else could you ethnically cleanse or repopulate or get rid of a certain population, an immigrant population, to get them to move away if you did not declare the opposite of what they've declared on you? However, my logic may well not stand the test of time, because things change in the world, and things have changed so much in the last few decades that this is merely just a current viewpoint. April 4th, Europeans' immigration and asylum laws, which granted refuge to many jihadist ideologies, who were persecuted in their home countries, were allowed to set up shop on the continent. Now we ratcheted up a little more. We've brought in these Islamic cells, who are now devising ways to destroy the West.

Europe's Muslim areas provide target-rich environments for the jihadist preachers. The issue of disaffected Muslim populations has persisted, and it's made it very difficult to mitigate the threat against Europe. If anything, based on the tempo of attacks, plots, and arrests, the threat is growing more acute. The jihadist activity on the continent is increasing.

In April this year, Mr. Kubik reported that the deputy ambassador to Iraq, David Kottle, spoke to the Batavia Rotary Club, in which he is a member. The deputy ambassador said, The Middle East is beyond anything that can be negotiated. You see why? I think we can see why you cannot negotiate the issues that are there, when one side will ultimately declare, you must obey and serve this or die, and the other side, no, you must obey and worship this or die.

On top of this, we see a new Iran crisis looming by Yaakov Lapin June 12, 2013. Iranian engineers are constructing a reactor at the heavy water plant in Iraq, in Iran, which could enable the production of a plutonium-based atomic bomb. The Israeli minister said, Time is running out. We have only a few months.

The danger is a global one, which will change the face of history. Iran could have hundreds of atomic bombs and hundreds of long-range missiles. This danger is many times bigger than that of North Korea.

So, I hope that what I've been able to show today gives a background, an overview, in a way.

of what is shaping up and why it is shaping up. Now, I am not some expert on Middle East, Islam, or even this world's Christianity, for that matter. I keep my nose in the Bible. Let's go back to Daniel for a moment, as we conclude Daniel 11 and verse 40.

I'm going to read Daniel 11, verses 40 through 45.

At the time of the end, in the preceding verses, Daniel was given a vision that was so specific that all the people mentioned here, you can write their name next to it.

The name and the country, the ruler, sometimes just a person that wasn't even in leadership.

In the next breath, in verse 40, he says, At the time of the end, are we at the end time? I can't say we're at the end time. It depends on what you say the end is. To me, the end is when Satan's rule is abolished, when the seventh trumpet blows. There is a time of the end.

There's three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. Part of that is when the seven last plagues and Christ is ruling, and those things happen. So it depends on what you say is the end. Are we in the end time? Well, there is a time also when you're approaching that. It's the end of an age, an end of what we would call a six thousand year reign of Satan.

In the beginning, the end is also a beginning. It's the beginning of our salvation. It's the beginning of the millennial phase of the kingdom of God. Now, at the time of the end, whatever time that exactly is, the king of the south shall attack him. And him has just been referenced to the popes and the Holy Roman Empire in the previous verse. So at the time of the end, the king shall be attacking some reorganized state of nations, but kings, this first beast that Revelation 13 speaks of.

And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind. Now, you can see in the old days of warring that one army drew up, suited up on one hillside, and the other suited up on the other hillside, and they marched down in the valley and crunched through each other. And this is written in such a time. Modern warfare is very different. Modern warfare can involve a lot of deception and people who have flipped side, infiltrators. It deals a lot in camouflage, so you don't know where a person is, or where their submarine might be, or where their airship is, because they can't be seen in radar.

There's a lot of mixing in and mixture. You have plants on both sides. But even more, as we can see, if you define the king of the south as being an Islamic movement and the king of the north as being a European movement, what do we just cover today? Those two are intermixing to a large degree. There is an intermixing. So this push doesn't necessarily mean that somebody's got to send an army up through the desert, but nevertheless, that king of the south pushes with all things available to it against a civilization called the king of the north.

And the king of the north responds by coming against him like a whirlwind with many chariots. Now, the king of the south, do you read any chariots there? Any whirlwind? Any armaments? But the other one is a more defined, structured king of the north with horsemen, ships.

And he comes and enters the countries, overwhelms them, and passes through. He shall also enter the glorious land, what we would call Palestine, or modern place where it's named Israel today. Many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand, Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. Those particular peoples used to live in an area that today is called Jordan.

Evidently, right across the Jordan River, the king of the north comes through there, but does not cross the river. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt, and over the Libyans and Ethiopians, they will follow at his heels. But news from the east and the north shall trouble him. Who is the Arab world, and much of that Arab world, aligned with right now? They are aligned with Iran, they are aligned with India, more importantly Russia, and by alliance China.

So you can see that that pushback has consequence from allies that are currently defending. And that's the current state of affairs. We don't know what the state of affairs will be when this takes place. But we can see it building, and the very fact that the news from the east and north troubles him.

And we see an alliance with those nations today from the east and the north, and we see this buildup of tensions between the two. The birth pangs of the development and establishment of the kings of north and south seem to be underway. These powers, the Bible tells us, are going to seek their own ends through force, which is anything but benevolent. We cannot begin to influence the decisions and actions of the leaders or citizens of the countries we live in.

You and I are witnesses of what is happening in the world today. And we should come off of this perch of, well, our president should do this, or somebody should go do that, or this would solve the problem. There is nothing that we can begin to do to influence the decisions of anyone. If we were to create a solution to what's going on, to defend our own way of life in the countries in which we now live, any solution, it might be a great solution, would be totally thwarted by the God of this age and undermined by human nature that would flip to be self-serving and not follow rational logic or especially God's laws.

That's what our logic is based on. Remember, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Jeremiah 17.9 says, so by any of us thinking we could sort of put out a philosophy that would solve the problems, and the receivers have hearts that are deceitful and desperately wicked, just like the ones that you and I fight, is highly illogical.

Now, what is the solution to all of this that we've talked about today? The solution is the fall feast days of God. And this isn't just sort of a church-speak, casual ending to a sermon. They are the fall feast days. Because without the return of Jesus Christ and the armies that come with Him and the decimation of evil in the human form, followed by the removal of the God of this age, the very mind source that's created this mess, nothing could ever be done. And it is through these fall festivals in which you and I, if we are truly first fruits at the resurrection, at the second coming of Christ, we will participate in a real solution.

We will be given direction, we will be given knowledge and understanding, and opportunity to actually go in and make the difference that ends up with a thousand-year reign looking a lot like the Garden of Eden did, when God made that and put Adam and Eve there.

It's through these fall Holy Days that we learn the fix that requires Jesus Christ's return, that requires the removal of Satan.

What country are you and I to be concerned about right now? Well, Jesus gives us our country to be concerned about in the model prayer outline. He says, our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. That is our focus. That is our country. That is our identity. That is our champion. That is our mindset, the source of our mindset.

It's only when we are focused on the daily work of becoming part of that kingdom, becoming first fruits in that kingdom, and the things that it takes to alter our mindset to be like God's, that we are able to declare our citizenship is actually a heavenly citizenship. It's in a heavenly country right now.

Let's go to Hebrews 11 and verse 10. We'll conclude with this. Hebrews 11 and verse 10. It talks here about Abraham, waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. That's what he looked for.

That ultimate city, New Jerusalem, will be made by God, and its foundations are already being set by God. If we go to verse 13, it talks about these individuals, these pillars of faith, died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them far off. And there's a real critical aspect to your and my calling. We have to see things far off, not in the here and now, not with proof, but visualize things far off. They were assured of them. They embraced them, and they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. You and I have some growing to do, in many cases, to reach that point. Oftentimes, we're more concerned about which party is saying what and doing what and gaining power, which decision is ludicrous and which decision should be made, because we have this internal desire to straighten it out, to fix it, and to somehow continue on being able to provide for our needs. I'll mention a little more of this in the Sabbath, the pre-Sabbath letter later in the week. But if we go on, those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. Verse 16, now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. You and I have really a test that's coming on us that's going to be more and more, and that test is going to involve whether we will feather our bed now and comply with the world's pushing and shoving and get in the right place and try to fix and try to change and somehow protect that which we've come to know. We kind of feel as our God-given right. Versus walking around in goatskins and verse 35, not accepting deliverance, going through the persecutions and trials that lie ahead and being true to a different country, to a different mindset, a mindset of agape, love for God and fellow man, and being true to that throughout anything that might come. Only then can we declare that our citizenship is truly in a heavenly country and not a citizenship in the ones that we currently live among. So in conclusion, as local, regional, and global events display an increasing link to the dark God of this age, let's each aspire every day to better reflect the light of the family that we represent that's now in heaven.