The King of the South

As I said, we're having a World News and Prophecy seminar next weekend. In fact, Mr. Rhodes is supposed to be down there with me, and I hope he recovers. Otherwise, I'll be doing this all by myself. We're going to be in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the Sabbath, then on Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee. And I was working up the presentations that I will do, and I'm going to do one on the King of the South, a coming clash of civilizations, as you can tell from the title here. So I thought I would cover the material with you and help me get some of it in my head as I wrap my mind around the subject. It's also timely, as I said, also, that I've not given a sermon on prophecy in either congregation for some time, and is an appropriate method of being balanced. I think it's perhaps time that we do that. And plus, there's one or two of you in this congregation that really do like prophecy. And others of us, we have varying degrees of understanding and appreciation for the subject, but Bible prophecy is a very important topic. And this one is particularly timely as well, as we consider this subject of the Middle East, the Arab world, and this particular subject, and the ongoing clash of civilizations. And even with what happened in the news yesterday with some explosives being found on two cargo airplanes coming out of the Middle East, FedEx and UPS were grounded, or at least investigated as a result of that, and put that scare up in the United States yesterday. It's an ongoing situation that, you know, just does not leave the news, and I think hopefully gives some information, understanding behind that out of the Scriptures from a larger point of view here as we move ahead. All right. Let's turn, if you will, turn to Daniel 12 in verse 1.

We'll read this to start out. Daniel 12 in verse 1, the end of the long prophecies here of the book of Daniel. Or it says, as Daniel has come to the end of a number of different visions and a lifetime, and chapter 12 kind of wraps it up, it says, At that time, and that's referring to the time of the end because that's the theme of, that it ends chapter 11, at that time, Michael shall stand up, one of the great archangels, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time, and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who was found written in the book. And so, at the time of the end, we are told here that there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since the nations had existed. But there will be deliverance for not just God's people, but ultimately all of humanity, as Matthew 24 tells us. All human flesh will not be obliterated, but it will be spared, but for the sake of the elect. But it is a hopeful, joyful promise that God gives us here at that particular time, but it will be preceded by a time of trouble. And that area from which so much of this trouble Bible prophecy focuses on at that time is this area that this map, this Google map shows to be the area of the Middle East. You would recognize this area here with Israel, Egypt down here, Libya, Turkey, and this area of the Middle East, Arabia, and Iran, and all that we know there. Bible prophecy is centered in this area, as well as in the area of Europe, as we'll talk a little bit more about. But one of the great themes of Bible prophecy is centered so much in this area in terms of what to happen and what is going to be looked for. Our booklet, The Middle East and Bible Prophecy, covers in great detail those prophecies from the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation as to what they will be. And of course, as we just talked about and we observed the headlines of today's world, the Middle East is a center of turmoil and problems that is seemingly unsolvable by human government and diplomacy. And it continues to be an area of unrest. As I said just yesterday, we see the continual threat that is there to the West. The United States, our citizens, as a result of forces and ideas that are contrary to our own Western ideals and an antagonism that has been set up that goes back millennia, and indeed does merit the term a clash of civilizations. We are in the midst of it, and it's important that we in the Church understand that and not let that drift from our mind as we go about our daily lives, as we marry, give in marriage, as we go through the seasons of life and all, and even the years in the Church go by, sometimes we can get jaded in regard to biblical prophecy and certain events. But whenever that seems to be the case, something happens in the world scene that kind of jerks us up short and makes us realize that we do live in a very, very compelling, dangerous world. And to understand that world in the light of Bible prophecy is an incumbent part of the elect people of God.

In Daniel chapter 10, just turn a page or so back in your Bible, there's an interesting part of the story that gets a little, not always as much attention as we discuss in the book of Daniel and some of these events. And I've been thinking about it a lot lately in Daniel chapter 10. As Daniel was looking again for understanding, and he'd been fasting for a period of about three weeks to gain understanding of certain prophecies. And down in verse 10 of Daniel chapter 10, it says, While I was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling, and he said, Daniel, do not fear. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, which was three weeks earlier, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. In other words, God heard at the beginning, but this messenger was delayed in bringing the message, and he tells why.

Verse 13, I haven't seen the movie, Prince of Persia. Maybe I will at some point, but I don't think it connects to this. But what Daniel is here is talking about is a very powerful, demonic force that is, in a sense, over the world.

And he is talking about this region, historically, encompassed by the area of Persia. He withstood Michael. And behold, it says, And behold, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. And I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days. The vision refers to many days yet to come. And so he delivered that message. And then down in verse 20, after it was done, then he said, this messenger, Do you know why I have come to you? Do you now know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come. And that's all we are told in this story, but it's an interesting matter to at least set. Here are two powerful spirit beings, described as the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece, that are in battling a messenger from God, sent from God, a righteous spirit being, a righteous angel, to deliver a message to Daniel. And what is described here is, in essence, a titanic struggle, a spiritual realm, between powerful angelic forces, good and evil angels.

And two of them are described, three of them, actually, Michael has a name here, the righteous angel, later mentioned again in verse 12. And we see a scene of a struggle. And we also can, I think, understand from this, and commentators realize this, that these prince of Persia, prince of Greece, represent, if you will, spirit beings that do have an influence over the affairs on earth in these countries or in these regions.

Now, these two regions that are set up here, Persia and Greece, essentially, represent the heart and the regions that are at the clash of civilizations that we are seeing today. Greece represents Europe. Greece is a European country, always has been. Persia was one of the great empires, as well as Greece that Daniel foretold would come.

But there are two entirely different regions of the world, Persia being Asia and Greece being Europe. And this conflict between, if you will, the East, represented by Persia, and the West, represented by Greece, is a millennia-old, multiple millennia. It's 2,500 years old conflict that's been acted out on the world stage between armies, kingdoms, powers of those two regions, driven by politics, driven by religion. They come down to us to this day. I'm reading a book called, about this very subject, and it is a very broad, sweeping study of this entire history of this region, and this clash between the East and West, historically, down through the years. And in a sense, this is what we are seeing played out as we look at some of the elements of Bible prophecy that come out of the Middle East, and that come out of Europe, and pertain to what is called the King of the North and the King of the South. And we could go into a lot more detail, historically, which is beyond what I can do here at this time, but with what we are told in the Scriptures, we do have certain markers to look at. Now, in Chapter 11 of Daniel, look at just verses 5 and 6, this very, very long chapter of prophecy in Daniel here. Verse 5 introduces these two called the Kings of the North and South, which are the remnants of the empire of Greece, headed by Alexander, to set that stage out of Daniel 7 and Daniel 4, the Greek empire that Alexander took and invaded Asia with, and set up, and that after his death, that his kingdom was divided up among his generals. And two of them gave name, or two of the regions gave name, to these characters called the Kings of the North and South. Verse 5, it says, The King of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes. And he shall gain power over him, and have dominion, and his dominion shall be a great dominion. The King of the South essentially was that region administered by one of Alexander's generals by the name of Ptolemy, and represented that area of Egypt, North Africa, up into what is now Israel and that area, and became and is, as we would look at it, the area that would be called the King of the South and beyond.

Verse 6 says, At the end of some years they will join forces, for the daughter of the King of the South shall go to the King of the North to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of her authority. And so a delineation of another one of the segments of Alexander's empire is called the King of the North, which took in the area that was, that included Greece, which was the base of Alexander's empire, and then ultimately becomes all of Europe.

And as you see this developed through history, through the prophetic scenario that we come to. So this is kind of just a representation of it. This area right up here would have been the historic King of the North, and this down in Egypt and this area would have been the King of the South out of that empire of Alexander, and developed to this day. Now, out of that area of the King of the South that in itself had a region of conflict going back, you know, through the centuries, through the time of the Roman Empire and, you know, consolidations there, that's a whole part of the story of Rome, as they came against Egypt and as they eventually swallowed up this entire area as part of another prophetic story.

Out of this region in the 7th century AD came the religion of Islam, which is with us to this day. Muhammad and his ideas came out of the Arabian Peninsula, and within just a few decades of his death, spread throughout the Middle East, what we call the Middle East, and actually up into Europe.

The Islamic armies taking the sword of Islam swept through this entire region and all the way up into here, within a hundred years of the death of Muhammad in the 6th and 7th century. It's quite a story in itself, but out of that setting, we have developed a long-held conflict that is described here in the scriptures, or at least the basis for this ongoing conflict that is with us to this day.

In chapter 40 of Daniel, it says at that time, in the time flow of this particular prophecy, at the time we get to verse 40 of chapter 11, we're at the time of the end, which is stated there at the very beginning of that verse, at the time of the end, shall the king of the south push at him, and that's referring to the king of the north, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships. The operative word in this prophecy here, in this verse, is the word push. We'll talk about it here because it is talking about, again, this clash of armies, of empires, and even of ideas.

To understand really the full meaning of this word push and its implications for prophecy are current time and to understand it from a historical perspective, recognize that it's talking about a clash that at times involves a clash of armies, at other times a clash of ideas, but an ongoing tension that, if you will, can be traced back to the conflict that we saw back in chapter 10, identified with these two powerful beings called the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece, to just reduce it down to those two regions of the world. That's what we are dealing with. And when we look at Bible prophecy and these regions, we see what is dominated here from a prophetic point of view.

We have the King of the South here, represented by Islam, the minaret with the crescent, and then up on the upper left, the union of church and state, represented by that image from Revelation of a woman riding the beast out of Revelation 17, which is centered in Europe, and that area that is prophetically called the King of the North, that has, down through, actually since the time of the rise of Islam, has created and been a source of conflict.

Daniel 10 says that the King of the South will push against the King of the North. At some point of the time of the end, set in motion, a series of events described here in Daniel 11, from verse 40 onward, that leads up to the crisis of the close of the age, and that this King of the North will retaliate in some form against this push and will come at him, as we just read, in some way into this region, as we will see as we move along.

Now, this is, again, a historic pattern that has taken place. We go back in history to, again, the decades after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the sweep of the Islamic armies out of Arabia through the Middle East, up into what is Europe. You are looking, when you see that event that took place over a period of time, and it really ended in the year 732 in a place called Tours, which is in modern-day France, in Europe, with this great battle that took place when a man by the name of Charles Martel, who is figured here by this particular image on the horse, he's fighting back the armies of Islam, which are more right over here, to the right.

This is a famous battle that took place in 732, and it stopped the spread of Islam in Europe. Charles Martel was the grandfather of another figure in history called Charlemagne, who is very prominent in the story of prophecy as well, but that's for another presentation. Charles Martel, in essence, he stopped, if you will, the first push of the king of the south into and against the king of the north, or in that region, again coming out of the Middle East, or Persia, if you will, just to use that delineation of a region, into the area of Greece and beyond the king of the north in this area of Europe.

Islam stayed in Europe for quite a number of centuries. They were in Spain. To this day, you can go to Spain particularly and see much of the architecture left behind by the centuries that Islam dominated Spain until they were eventually pushed back. In fact, that's still to this day. In strict Islamic thought, Spain is considered a part of the holy lands of Islam.

And there is a desire to reconquer the lost lands that were once dominated by the Muslim Empire at this particular time. So understanding at least this flow of armies back and forth in history, again, helps us to understand this prophecy that we read in Daniel 10 and verse 40. Now, 732 was not the last time that Islamic armies attempted to overrun Europe. It happened again in the 1500s. In 1529, a man by the name of Suleiman the Magnificent, who was the head of the Ottoman Empire based in Turkey, what is modern-day Turkey, Istanbul, at that time it was known as Constantinople, Suleiman, pictured here, brought his armies into Europe through Central Europe.

He sacked Budapest in the year 1526, and then he moved up against Vienna in Austria. And he besieged Vienna, but he did not succeed. And he had to retreat. They did not conquer. The Christian armies of Europe finally banded together. It's quite a story. This is during the period of the Holy Roman Empire.

Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Church, they were battling. This was during the time of the Protestant Reformation, the early 1500s is the time when Martin Luther and Lutheranism and Protestantism is on the swell in Europe. There's conflict. Christianity is in division, disunity. And you've got these armies coming out of the Middle East, out of the Ottoman Empire, attempting to subvert Europe under Suleiman, and eventually the armies of Europe come together and they make a last stand at Vienna, and they stop it in 1529.

Later on in that century, there's another attempt by the Ottoman Empire to come back, and they make a second effort to conquer Vienna, and they fail there. In fact, part of the story out of this is, this is where the Viennese discovered coffee, because the Turks, when they retreated, left behind bags of roasted coffee, and Turkish coffee. And that's, in a sense, they say how coffee was introduced into Europe, and to this day, Viennese coffee, Austria, this is a part of the culture, even, of Vienna quite strongly, but it was introduced by the retreating Turks when they left behind their coffee.

I don't know what they did the next morning, they didn't have their coffee, but they, I guess they had to grow some more. Anyway, that's just an aside, it has nothing to do with prophecy. But what this is, again, is to understand it as another historic push by the king of the south, this time as it was centered in the Ottoman Empire, in what is now Turkey, against the north, but it stopped.

It was not God's intent in the flow of nations and history for Islam and that king of the south and a power out of the east to overrun and dominate and essentially obliterate Western culture, Christian culture in that period of time. Obviously, you can understand, had this push succeeded and Islam, at any point, either from 732 to then or later, overrun Western Europe, all of Western history would have changed. You and I might be speaking a different language today. Of course, you and I wouldn't even be here today because so many other things would have changed. And our parents probably wouldn't have come over on the Mayflower, because there wouldn't have been a Mayflower or any of this when you really stop and think of the big what-ifs of history. God had His plan and His purpose, and it wasn't at this time for that to develop.

And so today, when we come back to the modern time, we look at Islam as religion and its influence throughout the world. These red dots represent the basic centers of Islamic demographics. There's over a billion people on the face of the earth who are members or are Muslim. It's a religion with a billion people. That's a lot of people. That's a very strong influence. And you'll see the band of influence that stretches from Africa through North Africa, the Middle East, all the way down through India and Southeast Asia quite strongly.

The most populous Muslim nation is Indonesia, down here in Southeast Asia. That's the most populous nation. That's important, at least, to remember in one sense. But you see that, and of course, you see up here in Europe, you see some red dots as well in France and the Netherlands and the area you do see pockets of strong Muslim population as well. But that represents kind of a graphic illustration of the Islamic population in today's world.

So, when we look at factors that could cause this push at the time of the end that is described in Daniel 10 and verse 40, what might we be looking at? All right, let's take for a moment and look at Europe today and look at the matter of energy, natural gas and oil, the lifeblood of the modern world.

Without it, our cars don't start, our homes are not heated, and industry shuts down. Europe is very, very dependent upon imported energy. They don't produce enough of it themselves. There's some North Sea oil wells, but it's a pittance to supplying their needs. They import a great deal of it. Their consumption grows 1 to 2 percent every year. They import 76 percent of the oil. That's more than we, you know, we import a great deal in the United States and we recognize the problems that creates. Europe, the European Union, imports 70 percent, 76 percent of the oil that it consumes. Now, their current situation, they use 15 million barrels of oil a day.

50 percent of what they use annually is imported from the Persian Gulf. 76 percent is imported. 50 percent comes from the area of the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, the king of the south. Natural gas is a substitute for that oil, but they import 40 percent of the natural gas that it consumes, and the majority of that comes from Russia. The European Union is going to import 90 percent of the oil that it uses by the year 2030.

90 percent as their needs increase through their production efforts. That's going forward, not backwards. And they will import 80 percent of the gas that they will need. Where's that going to come from? Well, most of it's going to come from the OPEC nations and mainly the Persian Gulf. Now, there are members of the OPEC that are not in the Persian Gulf.

Venezuela is one, a major oil producer in the world. They're not in the Middle East, but they're closely aligned with Iran. But most of those OPEC nations we know come out of the Middle East. And Russia is going to supply some of their natural gas and oil as well. And they've got pipelines running into Europe from Russia, and they're very heavily dependent upon those relationships remaining intact to keep these lines of natural gas and oil going into Europe. Forty-one percent of the natural or the reserves of the 41 percent of their oil comes out of the Persian Gulf, and 28 percent of their energy needs comes from Russia.

That's the way it's broken down for the EU at this particular time. This graphic shows that 57 percent of the known petroleum reserves of the world are found in this particular region, the Middle East. Again, just to illustrate the fact that it's energy that is very, very important. And certainly you'd have to include the United States in that at this time, because if this particular area, not there, but right over here where the slash and the percentage line is, what's called the Straits of Hormuz coming out of the Persian Gulf, that's ever blockaded. It blocks all of the tanker ships coming out of the Persian Gulf and delivering oil to the rest of the world.

Any number of events could create that kind of a problem. Or if the consortium of OPEC somehow throttled back on the oil exports, that would create a crisis as well. But when you have 57 percent of the known reserves there, you've got quite a big club to use over the world should that ever develop at any particular time.

And I should mention at this time, you know, when it comes to the oil politics and things that happen, you can read news reports, the economists, Financial Times, other analysis of the politics of the world, the oil politics and things like that. And recognize that, you know, on any given day, the sheikhs of the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, they depend on the money that comes in from the sale of their oil to keep their lifestyle going, to keep them in power.

It would work against their interests to throttle back on that oil as one looks at it logically. But when, again, you understand from a historic point of view how crises develop, it's never doesn't flow logically. Things happen that create wars, that create upheavals that don't follow logic. And when you factor in the spiritual dimension, again, going back to Daniel 10, the prince of Persia and Greece, and understand that there is a spiritual dimension to history that is never really talked about, little understood. Bible prophecy gives us that key. Things can happen that you're never going to read about or see develop as analysts would think the course of nations, diplomatic talks, and the interests of various nations would develop.

It never happens that way. And, again, prophecy doesn't indicate that it will. So as we look at this, by 2030, Europe's going to be importing at least 70 percent of its natural gas, and the logical answer to this question, who's going to make up the gap, it's going to have to come from the Middle East where the largest number of supplies are. So the dependency and the relationships are going to be even stronger, and should something threaten that, then you've got a crisis that cannot be tolerated.

Now, there's one other factor to consider in this current world scene of a factor that could create a push, if you will, and a crisis, and that is the growing concern of Muslim immigration into, particularly, Europe, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, especially. That is a growing concern. You hear about it occasionally, it kind of comes to the front burner, and then it subsides. But it never goes away, because over the last 40 to 50 years, there have been quite an influx of people from Turkey, from the Middle East, other Muslim nations, into Europe as workers.

The post-war boom, especially in Germany, created a need for workers that the German population could not provide.

They came from Turkey, and they stayed. About four years ago, I made a trip to Germany, and I flew into Bonn in Germany. And I was waiting for Paul Kiefer, our minister, there to meet me at the airport and pick me up, and we were going to get on a train and go to Berlin. I was there probably an hour waiting for him to show up, and I was sitting in the lobby there, and there were all these Turks around me.

They were coming and going from Turkey on flights. And I jokingly told Paul Kiefer when he picked me up, I said, I've been here, I've been sitting in Germany for an hour, and I haven't heard a word of German until you showed up.

There are a lot of them there, and they have not assimilated. They are still Turks. Part of the thought was, 30, 40 years ago, these people would either come, they would work, and then they would go home.

Well, they didn't go home, and they thought, well, they'll learn the German language, they'll assimilate into the German culture, they'll become German, or Dutch, or French, and they haven't.

They won't learn the language, they have their mosques, they pray in the street, they block traffic, they wear their headdresses, they do not and have not and will not assimilate.

It's quite a bit different from our own American experience. When the German immigrants came here, when the Irish immigrants, when the Italian immigrants came, you know what they did? They learned English.

At least the kids did. And in many cases, many families, the parents didn't want their kids to speak Italian or German or French, or not so much French, but Italian or German. They wanted them to speak English, they wanted them to become Americans, and they became Americans. That's why you have German families with German names, Italian names, but they're American. They became American.

In Europe, over the last 40, 50, 60 years, the immigrants from these nations did not become Germans, they did not become Italians, they did not become French. And it's a growing problem.

In fact, you see women in European streets wearing the traditional burka, the covered headdress, and that is becoming a real problem. They just passed a law in France that forbids this. It's going to take effect next year. It's going to create some problems.

They riot, as they did five years ago in Marseille. They want Islamic law in the Netherlands, and Netherlands is a very hotbed of this. We've written articles about it, World News and Prophecy, and talked about it, but this is an ongoing problem.

Just two weeks ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a speech before a group of young German political activists, and essentially she said that multiculturalism has failed in Germany. It's failed.

It was a very strong speech for any European leader, much less a German leader, to give, but she basically said that this experiment in multiculturalism has failed in Germany.

And it's created problems that have got to be addressed. Whether it's addressed by the typical German solution is a fear some people express. They don't like to even talk about that, but it was quite a speech for her to make.

The problem of Muslim immigration is quite strong. So it's another factor that creates tensions.

Another terrorist action happened in Europe that causes the whole fear in situations to reach a tipping point. Again, just think yesterday. These planes, these explosives that obviously came out of Yemen, they passed through Europe. It seems that they were bound for here. The intended target was maybe Jewish cenogards in America.

But European forces are always on alert. A month ago, when we went to France, just a few days before we went to France, they had shut down the Eiffel Tower because of a bomb threat. They'd also shut down a major subway area because there was a package left unattended there. We're reading this in Lisbon before we get on the plane to go to France. Well, we went on, and we didn't see any problems, but they went on a very high alert. They realized in France they're overdue for some type of a terrorist attack because of the tensions that they have within their culture. Now, all this fits into, let's say, an awareness scenario to realize that at some point something will happen that will galvanize political action, political opinion against these forces and this disruption of a way of life, European way of life, that will become intolerable. Perhaps it will be in such a way that will even create an economic impact if oil is impacted as well. Any number of factors could come to play to create a larger problem. Those of you that know your history, remember that World War I started in the Balkans because a deranged militant fired at a shot and killed the Archduke Ferdinand. And what they thought was just a minor incident eventually led to forces mobilizing in Europe and the beginnings of World War I within just a few weeks and changed the whole course of European history and the modern world. So it only takes one small event at various times for anything like this to happen.

So when you come back and you read through the rest of the prophecy then with these possibilities, then you read through it says in verse going on here. That he shall enter, as to speaking of the King of the North, into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land and many countries will be overthrown.

But these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon. Now these are some specific markers. We have the glorious land is speaking of the area of Israel, Jerusalem, the Holy Land. They will go into that and other countries will be overthrown. But we find that a description of Moab and Edom and the children of Ammon will be spared. Now that is a reference that can only apply to the modern nation of Jordan, if you look at it here outlined. The regions of Edom and Moab fall today within the modern boundaries of Jordan. The children of Ammon is a reference even to the capital city of Ammon. Ammon takes its name from that as well. So it would seem by this prophecy that this particular region will escape. Why?

I've discussed that in another Bible study and we'll go into that subject at this time. But the prophecy indicates that that region will escape the attack. But Egypt won't. Egypt would be occupied and other nations. It says, He shall stretch out his hand upon the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. The Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. So those three countries right there in Africa are delineated. Egypt, Libya. Libya right there. Egypt and Ethiopia down there are specifically mentioned. So this region is where this power will come in and have an influence at this time. But he shall have power over the hidden treasures of gold and of silver and over all the precious things of Egypt. So Egypt is mentioned specifically here as, in a sense, a prime nation that receives the attention of the king of the north in this period of conflict as he moves into this region and beyond.

But the tidings out of the east, it says in verse 44, Out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. And so at this time there's going to be other forces arise out of the east and the north. And he shall plant the tabernacle out of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain, which is Jerusalem. Yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. So this power is going to base it in what is Israel at that point in time. And tidings out of the east and the north from Jerusalem, those directional points in the area of Russia and the east. How and in what particular manner the forces from that area would come would be, again, another presentation.

We couple with Revelation 9, beginning in verse 13, where it talks about a sixth angel sounding and a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

And so again, a description of armies and forces that come out of a particular area. Now, the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million, and I heard the number of them. So a very large, populous area. And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. This is from Revelation 16 in verse 12, which picks up the same thought.

And this water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And so, if you look at this on a map with the descriptors that are given there in Revelation, there's going to be forces that will come out of the east across the Euphrates River, which is in modern-day Iraq, coming from the area, again, of Persia or Iran. And even further east, if you look at those, remember the map that I showed you of the Islamic countries going down in India and Southeast Asia.

Indicating that armies from these areas are going to converge. And again, the whole story of Revelation 16 even talks about these kings being mobilized by spiritual deception and spiritual forces that bring this to pass, and the armies that then create this convergence upon Jerusalem that other prophecies talk about at the end of the day of the Lord.

So, if you look at what is unleashed here in Daniel 11, beginning in verse 40, at the time of the end, when the king of the south attacks the king of the north and comes against him or pushes at him in this, what causes it? We talked about energy needs, which would keep us attentive to the Middle East and a focus of attention, which we've been riveted there for, frankly, all of our adult lives. Every time you fill up with gas or understand the price, gas goes up and down depending upon, at times, events. In this part of the world, you recognize how important it is. And energy, no doubt, will play a very key role. Religion is going to be responsible as well. And that goes without saying. The conflict that is set up, understanding some of the deepest radical thoughts of religious ideas that attack and create this fervor, especially in terrorist circles, leaves little to the imagination of what could be done to create these problems that create the scenario that we read about during this particular period in the future.

It's a region that has seen charismatic figures rise and fall. This is the Mahdi of the 19th century up here in the top left, a figure that arose in a Sudan, who claimed to be the leader of all Islamic countries. Britain put him down at that time. In the 1950s, out of Egypt, Gamal Abdul Nasser arose and attempted to unite the Arab states into what was called then the United Arab Republic. That has since gone by the wayside. Nasser's dead. Bin Laden has become another Islamic charismatic figure that still is probably on the loose, who has at least made some remarkable attacks upon the United States and the West, and is still at large and is a figure to be reckoned with. This individual, Mahmoud Ahmadiyyad, the president of Iran, is another interesting figure to think about. I'm not saying that he's the king of the South. That's not what I'm saying. But he certainly is the leader of Iran, which is the area of ancient Persia. He has made his own predictions and considerations and made his intentions quite clear as to how he looks at the West. Israel, in particular, and of course Iran is attempting and very close to having its own nuclear weapon. Egypt is an area to consider. I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but this particular man, who is the president of Egypt currently, Mubarak, is in his 80s, and at the end of his life, and therefore his term, his son down in the lower right, Gamal Mubarak, is considered to be a successor, but there are a number of social forces within Egypt that indicate that whatever secession comes when this man dies may not be that peaceful within Egyptian society. So it's an area of the Middle East to at least keep particular attention to, because Egypt is specifically mentioned in this prophecy of Daniel 11 as being mentioned for what it is. That's the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time there. I would spend a brief moment talking about Turkey a little bit. This is just another area that is probably long and neglected. Turkey sets the stride, Europe and the Middle East. Some wonder, is it an Asian country? Is it a Western country? It's been a member of NATO from the very beginning of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They have the largest. Turkey has the largest standing army in Europe. They have been tilting toward Islam. They have been a secular nation for the last roughly hundred years, but their recent leadership has been tilting them toward Islam. They have been making overtures of admission to the EU, but several prominent nations, Germany, France, Austria, being among them, don't want Turkey in the EU. What that would mean and where it would drive Turkey in the future, I don't know. But a lot of Turkish immigrants are in Germany. Should Germany ever retaliate against those Turkish immigrants, the government of Turkey is not going to take that very lightly. A number of interesting possibilities. I don't have time to talk about Turkey so much, but it could very well be a player in this whole scenario.

In the time I have left, what does this matter to you? Why is this important? We don't get interested in politics, world history, current events so much at times, and it's hard for us to relate to that. Let's go back, if you will, take your Bibles and turn back to Daniel 12. Let me take just a few extra minutes here just to try to pull our mind to something and inspire you to a little bit of your own thought and study. What's in it for me? Why does this make any difference to whether or not I can pay my light bill next week, or that doctor's appointment I've got coming up, or this other problem that I've got to walk out of here and deal with? What's this all about? How does this relate to me and my role as a Christian?

And the Kingdom of God and enduring to the end and getting through this life? Well, be patient. Put it all into a large context. Understand prophecy for what it is. The point that I always make when we do these prophecy seminars and try to always make this point is that the whole point of prophecy is not to figure it all out.

And not to figure it all out is to win, and even how. It's important to know the broad things, and that's what I'm trying to do with these here. Keep the broad matters in perspective to understand. Daniel did spend a lot of time fasting, praying, seeking understanding of his own visions, and we have it left as a record for us. But prophecy in any shape and any form has as its ultimate end for you and I to make us better people. Remember what it says in 2 Peter, chapter 3, 2 Peter, it says, knowing that all these things are going to happen, what manner of people should we be? Prophecy, the prophetic scenarios, the events that are going to culminate in the return of Jesus Christ should motivate us to be better people, better Christians, better servants of God.

And when you come back down to Daniel, chapter 12, and you read beyond this, you realize that Daniel was given some things that really do apply to us today. Verse 4 of Daniel 12, Daniel told, shut the words and seal the book until the time of the end. A lot of these things will gain... Daniel said, more understanding will be available to the people at that time than to you now.

Even though you have had angelic messengers come and give you understanding, it says...he's saying it's going to be sealed up, and at the time of the end, there will be probably more understanding available than what is even given to you. And in reality, that's true. When we look back at how history has developed from Daniel's time down to our day, we can say that that is true. And knowledge will be shut up, and knowledge will increase. And in terms of being able to understand the flow of prophecy, we do have an increase in that.

And so, again, in verse 6, the question is asked, How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? Daniel had the same question we, you and I, asked today. And he's told, well, you know, time times and half a time in verse 7. Then at the end of verse 7 it says, And when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things will be finished.

We looked at that verse, I've puzzled over it even in recent times, and believe me, the power of the holy people has been shattered. It has not been shattered completely, according to this verse, but it has been dispersed. And sometimes, as I look back at events in the church in our own lifetime, I recognize that our power has been dispersed. It has been dispersed. And every time we try to get to a point where we get our mission of preaching the gospel and the right perspective and on, events take place, things happen, to try to disperse that power even more to another level of thin, watery, gruel, meaningless.

There's no power. I don't think that's happened necessarily yet. You look at this, it says, When the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. I don't think it's been completely shattered. But I think it's been dispersed, and I think it's been watered down. Then he says these things will be finished. And then in verse 8, I heard and I did not understand, Daniel says. Then I said, My Lord, what shall be the end of these things? Again, he asked the same question. He said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are sealed till the time of the end. Many will be purified, made white and refined. But the wicked will do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

Now, I put before you and I this morning that we want to be among those who are the wise who understand. And not, and not, and listen very carefully. Those of you who like to get caught up in dates, timelines, and study too much on this subject. I don't think Daniel is being told to understand when Christ is going to return and every detail of prophetic understanding. That's not what, I don't think that's what's being talked about. The wise will understand. When I, again, study prophecies and try to teach an approach for us to have in the church today, it is in line with what Peter said in 2 Peter, chapter 2.

What manner of people shall we be? Not to be the smartest in terms of prophecy and to have it all figured out with our timelines and our charts and the margins of our Bibles. That's worthless. Prophecies will fail, ultimately. And in the end, it is love, Paul says, that we should be striving for. What manner of people should we be? We should be better Christians, having more love. And the wise will understand that.

The wise will understand that. Now, I don't discount knowing all this other stuff, but keep it in perspective. As I've told you many times, I grew up in this church, cut my high teeth on the ways and the why's and the wherefores of the church of the last 50 years, to use a round term.

I've had the charts. I've preached the charts. I've had the marked-up margins. I've seen and heard the dates. I've heard all the speculation. And it's all speculation. The prophecy is still there, and these events are yet to take place. And those people who start to make fun of prophecy or dismiss it or want to relegate it to a secondary status in terms of even Christian understanding make a mistake. Because I read the book of Daniel, and I see Daniel was a pretty righteous man. When I read other statements made about Daniel, I know how God looked at Daniel. He had a pretty good heart. And I see Daniel here being told several times in these last few verses, the why's will understand.

Go your way till the end, again in verse 13. For you will rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of days. The why's will understand. And it's not so much understanding all the headlines and all the timelines, but I think the understanding is in terms of what prophecy should motivate us to do, and that's to be better people, better Christians, more loving, more Christ-like. While we keep our eyes firmly fixed, in the here and now we're also looking with one of those eyes at the future and at the world around us, understanding the times in which we live and letting that motivate us to good works, to better works, to overcoming, and not escaping the here and now and our responsibility.

That's what difference it makes, and that's why it's important. So, I hope that gives you a little bit of an appetite, and I certainly hope a little bit of an inspiration or an understanding of times and where we are, and keeps us motivated looking out and beyond, as well as inside as well.