Another week had past and we are entering into this very important historical events prior to the Kingdom era. This week's Sabbath School Lesson, entitled "From North and South to the Beautiful Land", will reveal the mystery of the kings of the North and of the South and the Final events in the STONE-KINGDOM establish as Daniel 2:35, 44, 45 revealed.

Thoughts for Prayer: Testimonies Vol. 9, p. 14

“The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.”

Memory Text: Daniel 11:35

"And [some] of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make [them] white, [even] to the time of the end: because [it is] yet for a time appointed."

A Chain of Events up to the Time of Trouble

Beginning with the ancient Medo-Persian Empire (Dan. 11:2, 3), the chain of events of this prophecy reaches on to the time that the "king of the north" plants "the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain" (Dan. 11:45), and culminates, as the angel explained, with the events of Daniel 12: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12:1.

A synopsis of how to Identify "the king of the North through his actions"

(1) He defeats the king of the south, and takes his kingdom (Dan. 11:15, 16), after which he stands in the "glorious land" (Dan. 11:16) -- Palestine.

Pagan Rome

(2) In the glory of the kingdom, a raiser of taxes stands up (Dan. 11:20).

Succession of Leadership Rome until it was overflown

(3) His kingdom is "overflown" with arms of a flood from before him (Dan. 11:22), and he loses Egypt and Palestine.

Decline of Pagan Rome

(4) Afterwards he works deceitfully, and becomes strong with a small people (Dan. 11:23).

Christian Rome

(5) He flatters wicked ones for their wickedness (Dan. 11:32).

(6) He divides the land for gain (Dan. 11:39).

(7) He becomes strong the second time, yet is defeated by the king of the south (Dan. 11:25, 29, 30).

(8) Both kings speak lies at one table (Dan. 11:27).

(9) Having become strong the second time, and having engaged in an unsuccessful war with the king of the south, he sets his heart against the holy covenant (Dan. 11:28).

(10) He pollutes the sanctuary of strength, and takes away the daily (Dan. 11:31).

(11) He forsakes the god of his fathers (Dan. 11:37), acknowledges a strange god (Dan. 11:39), and disregards the desire of women (Dan. 11:37).

(12) In the time of the end, he again defeats the king of the south, enters into the countries, overflows and passes over (Dan. 11:40); then once more stands in the glorious land. Following this, Edom and Moab and the chief children of Ammon, escape out of his hand (Dan. 11:41); and the Libyans, also the Ethiopians, follow at his steps (Dan. 11:43).

(13) Tidings out of the east and out of the north trouble him. Therefore, he goes forth with great fury, destroys, and utterly makes away many (Dan. 11:44).

(14) He also plants the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, yet comes to his end, and no one helps him.

How are these two kings identified?

a. The Mediterranean is the point of compass which the territories of the two kings are reckoned.

b. Trace of successive rulers of Egypt and Palestine

c. King of the South rules the “glorious land” –Palestine along with Egypt

And the king of the North takes that land twice (Dan. 11:16, 41).

1^st – King of the South (Ptolemy)

2^nd – King of the North (Pagan Rome)

3^rd – King of the South (Turkey)

4^th – King of the North (England)

There are 6 regimes for the king of the North while only 2 regime for the king of the South and the longest to rule is the Ptolemaic Dynasty. And lastly, the King of kings will stand on Mount Zion and deliver his people (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 14:1 and Obadiah 1:17)

This SSLesson is divided into 6 parts:

1. Medo-Persia: Daniel 11:1-2

Gabriel showed Daniel how God was in control of that historical moment (10:13, 20; 11:1). Then, he explained what would happen next.

The three Persian kings after Cyrus were Cambyses, Smerdis and Darius. The fourth one was Xerxes (King Ahasuerus in the books of Ezra and Esther).

Darius tried to invade Greece, but he was defeated at Marathon. Xerxes got to Athens, but he was also defeated.

The Medo-Persian king provoked Grecia, and Alexander the Great came against and defeated him, conquering Medo-Persia.

2. Greece: Daniel 11:3-4

Background:

Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16.

The Hellenic states joined forces to confront Xerxes. Greece became a strong nation that defeated Persia 150 years after that.

Philip of Macedon brought Greece and Macedon together and was assassinated in 336 B.C., Alexander succeeded the throne at 20 - he inherited a strong kingdom and continue his father’s pan-Hellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia. But before that he already conquered Tyre, Egypt, Thrace.

Subdue Persia, he defeated Darius at the Battle of Gaugamela – he chased Darius as far as Mt Arbela.

The Medo-Persian Empire was to be subdued by the "mighty king" of Grecia (Alexander the Great), and subsequently be divided into four parts (to the south, to the north, to the east and to the west), "plucked up, even for others." Thus it was that after Alexander's death (11 of June 323 B.C.)

3. Alexander's 4 generals: Daniel 11:5-14

The empire was split up between is four generals:

• PTOLEMY assumed power in Egypt;

• SELEUCUS in Syria and Upper Asia;

• LYSIMACHUS in Thrace, Asia Minor as far as Taurus

• CASSANDER took Macedonia.

God is control of history. He foretold these events centuries in advance.

The 1st regime of the king of the South

Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 B.C. His dynasty ruled for 300 years.

The 1st regime of the king of the North

- Lycimachus has added to his dominion Macedonia when he defeated Cassander in 281 B.C.

The 2nd regime of the king of the North

- Seleucus defeated Lysimachus and seized his kingdom in 279 B.C.

verse 5 - Ptolemaic Dynasty: The prince of the kingdom of the south (Verse5) that was to have great dominion is symbolized by the “exceeding great horn” of Daniel 8:9 and shows that it came from the horn which symbolized the Ptolemaic Dynasty -- the southern division. Here is shown what history fails to chronicle concerning the origin of Pagan Rome.

verse 6 - the king's daughter of the South

Lysimachus was married three times and his wives were:

First marriage: Nicaea, a Greek (Macedonian) noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Regent Antipater. Lysimachus and Nicaea married in c. 321 BC. Nicaea bore Lysimachus three children:

(1) Son, Agathocles

(2) Daughter, Eurydice

(3) Daughter, Arsinoe I

Nicaea most probably died by 302 BC.

Second marriage: Persian Princess Amastris. Lysimachus married her in 302 BC. Amastris and Lysimachus’ union was brief, as he ended their marriage and divorced her in 300/299 BC.

Third marriage: Ptolemaic Greek Princess Arsinoe II. Arsinoe II married Lysimachus in 300/299 BC and remained with him until his death in 281 BC. Arsinoe II bore Lysimachus three sons:

(1) Ptolemy I Epigonos

(2) Lysimachus

(3) Philip

From an Odrysian concubine he had a son borne to him called Alexander.

verses 7-14 "branch of her roots"

Ptolemy I Epigonos (born and raised in Ephesus) - First son of Lysimachus and Arsinoe II (Greek Princess –daughter of Ptolemy I – Soter and Berenice I of Egypt - sister of Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Berenice I was the great niece of the powerful regent Antipater). Antipater is the Father of Cassander the Macedone

Arsinoe II got married with Ptolemy Keraunos – purely political to claim Macedonian – later Ptolemy 1 Epigonos brother Lysimachus and Philip were killed and Arsinoe and Ptolemy I escaped and back to Egypt.

In 279 B.C. Ptolemy Keraunos captured and ended his reign.

4. Imperial/Pagan Rome: Dan. 11:15-22

Verses 15, 16 - Gneaus Pompeious Magnus - September 106 B.C.-28 September 48 B.C. known as Pompey.

This scripture brings us to the time of the 3rd regime of the North – Pagan Rome, which completely overthrew the 1st regime of the South – Ptolemaic dynasty. Egypt and Palestine then passed from the hands of the king of the south (Ptolemy) into the hands of the king of the north (Rome):

"In the year 63 B.C. the Roman general Pompey... marched against Jerusalem....Syria...had become a Roman thing." -- The Battleground, by Helaire Belloc. And in 31 B.C. "Egypt became a Roman Province." -- New Student's Reference Book.

The 3rd regime of the king of the North

Daniel 11:17-19

Pagan Rome - —We are brought down to about 31 B.C., at which time Rome ruled not only the dominions of Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy, but also the dominion of Cassander - Alexander's entire empire.

verse 20: the following names are prominent people who fight against power to rule: Mark Antony, Augustus, Brutus, Cicero, Cleopatra, Clodius Pulcher, Crassus, Lepidus, Pompey, Sextus Pompey.

Verses 21-22: Invasions of the Roman empire which shows the break up of the empire at the hands of the barbarian hordes which swept down and, as a flood overflowed it.

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Many people ask why the Roman Empire ended, according to the historian, Gibbon, the question should be how did it last.

He wrote:

"The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness...... The story of its ruin (downfall) is simple and obvious; and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long." -Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Internal Causes for the Fall of Rome

Here is a brief list of Internal Causes for the Fall of Rome (causes from within the Roman Empire):

• Christianity was less tolerant of other cultures and religions. Example: Emperor Theodosius ended the Olympic Games because they honored Zeus.

• The split of the empire into two parts weakened the empire.

• Roman soldiers were loyal to their military leaders, not necessarily the emperor

• A failing economy

• High taxes

• Romans became lazy and comfortable

• Romans hired barbarian mercenaries to guard the borders

Verses 23-24 - Pagan Rome Changes Ecclesiastical Rome

5. Papal/Christianize Rome: Daniel 11:23-39

The 4th regime of the king of the North

Verses 23-24 - Pagan Rome Changes Ecclesiastical Rome

Roman Emperor Constantine, bronze statue in York, England Emperor Constantine the Great: Pagan, Christian, or First Pope?

This is a reply to the claim of some Protestant fundamentalists that the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great or Constantine I (born c. 280 - died 337 A.D.) remained a pagan, was never a Christian, and was the first Pope. Here is a typical false history believed by fundamentalists. The following was posted on the Catholic Answers boards:

When Christians were on the verge of growing, Satan's forces started to move. Persecutions, under Satan's command, hit the early believers in Christ. But instead of destroying them, they grew in numbers. The Force was ruling over Rome, using the Pagan Roman Caesars to slaughter the followers of Christ. The time was getting close for Satan then to give the world his own version of the 'Christian' church. And paganism was about to get a new face. When the Emperor of Rome died, two men claimed the throne: Constantine, and the other Roman General named Maxentius.

verses 25-30 - The Mohammedans defeats Ecclesiastical Rome

The 2nd regime of the king of the South

The 2nd regime of the south, the Mohammedans defeats the 4th regime of the north Christianized (Ecclesiastical) Rome.

By 814AD, Rome had already ceded Egypt and Palestine to the Mohammedans.

In verse 26, the army of the South overflows the North and caused many to "fall down slain." Those who “feed of the portion of his meet” and later destroyed him are the Protestants.

In verse 27, the one table at which both kings speak lies is figurative of the same people to whom they lied about their religion.

In verse 28, The King of the North returns to “his land with great riches” which he received from the converts of his religion. He, seeing the necessity of compromising with the heathen in order to make an easy prey of them, set his heart against the “holy covenant.” That is, he dropped The Sabbath of creation (Ex. 20:8-11).

In verse 29, the King of the North returns at the appointed time and comes toward the south for another battle.

In verse 30, the king of the north's having intelligence only with those who did “forsake the holy covenant,” clears two points: first that all did not forsake the Sabbath; second that the small people with whom he became strong, were not the faithful followers of Christ, but the unfaithful ones.

Verses 31-34 - Pollutes the sanctuary, removes the daily and sets up the abomination

These three links of Truth, the polluting of the sanctuary, the taking away of the daily, and the placing of the abomination, bring us several centuries into the Christian era. Christ referred to them in Matt. 24:15, 16.

A heathen sanctuary is already unclean, and therefore cannot be polluted. Clearly, then, the sanctuary of strength (not the heathen) was polluted by bringing into it a pagan priesthood and unconverted heathen. The "sanctuary" is the Christian church, for during the period in which the pollution took place there was no sanctuary in Jerusalem.

Verse 32 - reveals the character of each class:

a. first, of the unfaithful;

b. second, of the faithful.

Verses 33, 34, besides foreshadowing the martyrdom of the faithful followers of Christ, predict the Reformation, the "little help," and foretell that its present fallen state is caused by "flatteries."

Verses 35-36 - Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor. His rule changed the Church greatly. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they made the Edict of Milan. The edict said that Christians could believe what they wanted.

Constantine the Great (27 February 272 – 22 May 337 AD)

Constantine did not support Christianity alone. After winning the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he built the Arch of Constantine) to celebrate, but the arch was decorated with pictures of sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, or Hercules. It had no Christian symbolism. In 321, Constantine said that Christians and non-Christians should all join the "day of the sun" (the eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped him introduce). His coins also had symbols of the sun-cult until 324. Even after pagan gods disappeared from the coins, Christians symbols never appeared on the coin, either. Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, he was wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem.

Verses 37-39 - Disregard a god, the desire of women and divided the land

Christianized Rome is the only one that disregarded the god of her fathers, the Pagan god, honored “the god of forces,” and acknowledged a strange god, the God of the Christians. This scripture exposes the falsity of her professed acceptance of the Christian’s God.

Woman's desire is a home (Gen. 3:16) - a desire which the Lord placed in her heart. The Roman institution of nunneries is a disregard of the Desire of Women and therefore not in God's order.

He divided the land for gain through the Feudal System, a term used to express the manner in which the chiefs, who conquered by the aid of their armies, and settled in the conquered countries, divided the lands among their followers; and the liabilities and privileges growing out of this division.

6. The Present World/ End of Time: Daniel 11:40-45

The 5th regime of the king of the North

Great Britain Defeats Turkey

At “the time of the end,” in the eighteenth century, the King of the South (the Mohammedan Empire), feels strong and attacks the Christianized king of the north in his fifth regime (the Christian governments independent of the church). He nevertheless loses out and the king of the north overruns him and grows very great. He takes Egypt, “the glorious land” (Palestine) and besides taking many other countries, he also takes Edom and Moab and Ammon (the Arab countries) which nevertheless in time "escape out of his hand" -- free themselves.

For centuries the Ottoman Empire ruled these countries, and history records that the first Turkish reverses on land occurred about 1699. Ever since, Turkey has been declining and the Christian nations gaining, but it is Great Britain in particular that has taken the countries mentioned by name in this prophecy. She is the one who has taken many other countries besides these and has waxed great during the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Daniel 11:44 - Rumors caused Great Britain and her allies to enter World war II

These verses reveal that after taking Egypt and Palestine, the king of the north enters into another war, not on account of the king of the south, not with Turkey, but rather due to rumors from the east and from the north that trouble him. These cause him to go forth with great fury to destroy many. But he conquers nothing worth mentioning, and according to the verse that follows he is afterward threatened with coming to his end. This particular war, therefore, brings the first reverses to the king of the north since the reverses of the king of the south in 1699.

Germany and Russia from the north, also Japan from the east, the rumors which put Great Britain and her allies into World War II, are therefore the "tidings" which brought the war and which, though supposedly the war was won, weakened rather than strengthened the British Empire.

6th regime of the king of the North

Daniel 11;45 - Planting the tabernacles of his palace and coming to his end

Planting the tabernacles of his palace before he comes to his end does not necessarily mean moving his throne there. It could be taken to mean having a branch of his palace there. If he is to plant his tabernacles there while Michael stands up, though, then the only locality other than the Holy Land that we know of, is at Mount Sinai, between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

The thing that Inspiration makes altogether clear is the fact that the king's next stand is his end, while all look and listen, but none come to his help.

Note: Since the United States controls Egypt, Palestine and some of the other countries mentioned in verse 44, it is believed that the title “King of the North” is applicable to the United States today. Thus Egypt and Palestine will remain under the control of the United States until the complete fulfillment of verse 45.

Notice: Compare Revelation 14:1; Daniel 12:1 and Obadiah 1;17 with reference to the Establishment of Christ's Kingdom in Dan. 2!

1. https://sites.google.com/view/meatindueseason/5-mighty-stone-and-the-great-image-of-daniel-2?authuser=0

2. https://sites.google.com/view/meatindueseason/6-the-establishment-of-the-kingdom-of-glory?fbclid=IwAR37XHET9N_eH_n833Pao_IKyvKkV9bwFuQPUQpJdjI48p4AbKkbNo5fWbY

From the Pen of Inspiration:

“All that God has in prophetic history specified to be fulfilled in the past has been, and all that is yet to come in its order will be. Daniel, God’s prophet, stands in his place. John stands in his place. In the Revelation the Lion of the tribe of Judah has opened to the students of prophecy the book of Daniel, and thus is Daniel standing in his place. He bears his testimony, that which the Lord revealed to him in vision of the great and solemn events which we must know as we stand on the very threshold of their fulfillment.” (2SM 109)