This study is setting a foundation
for the last few verses of Daniel 11 and addressing Daniel 12 clearly and
decisively. The verses that we’re looking at should be nothing more than review
for Seventh-day Adventists, but unfortunately, they aren’t review for us, very
few of us seem to be studying these things. If we were studying them, there
would be a better understanding of the last 6 verses of Daniel 11.
Some of the ideas about the symbols
and truths of the last 6 verses of Daniel 11, are distinctly different and many
of those ideas at best leave you with the understanding that the last 6 verses
of Daniel 11 are not that relevant and are not that important.
I’m hoping that with this study,
we’ll see that the last 6 verses of Daniel 11 are Present Truth for this hour;
serious Present Truth!
If so, then the ideas that take a
different approach to the symbols in these verses and end up placing these
verses in a lesser category of importance are serious. It is a necessary and
important part of Present Truth to clearly defend these verses and to do this,
you have to look at the entire story in Daniel 11, and that includes Daniel 10
and Daniel 12.
In our last presentation, we made
it up to verse 14. This study we’re going verse 29.
TWO UNDERSTANDINGS
In Adventism for some time there
have been two different understandings of the flow of events described in verses
14 to 29. They both come to the same historical point at verse 29, so it’s not
as if it challenges prophecy overall.
One approach, used by Uriah Smith,
teaches that when Rome comes into this narrative in verse 14 and finally verse
16 onward it’s all about Rome. Both approaches agree that from verse 16 onward,
it’s all about Rome.
Uriah Smith suggests the story from
verse 14–22 is telling how Pagan Rome came to rule the world as the supreme
ruler. Then Uriah Smith says, in verse 23, the prophecy drops back into that
same history and the emphasis from verse 23-29 is not so much how Rome came to
control the world but it’s how Rome dealt with God’s people during that same
history.
In the ‘Story of Daniel the
Prophet’, Stephen Haskell, does as many modern interpreters do with this
chapter, he tries from verse 22 onward, to maintain the sequential flow of
historical events on to verse 29 but they all come together at verse 29 at the
same point in history.
I agree with Uriah Smith, but Uriah
Smith, arriving at this understanding doesn’t have the same reasoning for
supporting that position. His reasoning may have been sounder than mine, but I
see a specific literary technique used by Daniel when Rome is mentioned in
Daniel 11.
ESTABLISH THE VISION
You’ll remember verse 14 in our
last presentation:
14. And in those times there shall
many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people
shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
Adventist commentators will tell
you that the ‘Robbers of Thy People’ means Rome and the subject of Rome is what
establishes this vision that we find in Daniel 10, 11, 12. Some go so far as to
say that it establishes all the visions of Daniel because the primary focus of
these powers of Bible prophecy in the book of Daniel is Rome. That’s how I
understand it.
From verse 14 onward, that Rome is
the focus of this prophecy. But I found that there are three different
identifications of Rome and when you get to verse 29, you’re going to begin
dealing with the history of how Papal Rome came to control the world.
Uriah Smith takes a different
approach in verse 40 and onward but I would suggest that in verse 40 and onward,
you have the third history of Rome, the history of modern Rome.
Rome from verses 14-29 is the
history of Pagan Rome and then verses 29–40 is the history of Papal Rome, the
first time around, and verse 40 and onward is modern Babylon, the Papacy of
today. There is a literary technique that Daniel uses in all three of those
scenarios, he first describes how Rome comes to control the world, then he drops
back into that same history and describes how Rome dealt with God’s people
during that time period.
Recognizing these three times that
Rome is addressed in Daniel 11 and seeing this literary technique, isn’t
anything that Uriah Smith found to confirm his reasoning in this chapter,
because he has a different understanding of verses 36 and onward. But looking at
Rome in these three settings, you see evidence that first Daniel shows how Rome
comes to control the world and then drops back into that same history and
describes how Rome dealt with God’s people during that time.
Uriah Smith supports this at least
for Pagan Rome’s scenario here in verse 14-29. He says that at verse 23 it drops
back into the year 161 BC when there was a confederacy formed between Israel and
Rome, and then he takes that point in history and starts through the very same
history in verses 14-22. Many commentators, including Haskell, take verse 23 and
continue to identify historical events that take place after the historical
events of verse 22 and they try to weave a sequence of events that lead us to
the same place that Uriah Smith arrives at in verse 29.
LITERARY TECHNIQUE
For myself, because I see this
literary technique illustrated every time all three of the Romes are identified
in Daniel 11, I believe it is sound from that point of view. One of the things
lost when you try to place the story of Rome from verse 14-29 as sequential, is
that you loose the ability to address the time prophecy that was given for Pagan
Rome in verse 24. We’ll show you how Uriah Smith and many of the pioneers
understood the very last phrase of verse 24. Speaking of Pagan Rome, that they
were going to forecast their devices for a ‘time’, this ‘time’ was understood as
Biblical time, a prophetic year; 360 days.
The pioneers understood that Pagan
Rome was going to rule the world for 360 years and they marked the starting
point for that in 31 BC, from the Battle of Actium that finally subdued fully
the nation of Egypt—the last obstacle that Pagan Rome needed to overcome before
it was the true fourth power of Bible Prophecy, and they would continue in that
place until the year 330 AD, 360 years later. Remember of course that there is
no ‘0’ year, you go from 1BC to 1AD in your calculation of prophetic time.
In the year 330 AD, Constantine
moved the capitol of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople and historians
mark that as the end of the dominance of Pagan Rome and the disintegration began
then that turned them into the ten horns.
If you run these verses in a
sequence from verse 14 to verse 29, it’s very difficult to make any emphases
about this time prophecy being associated with Pagan Rome, because by the time
you’re trying to explain verse 24 you’ve already went past the battle of Actium
in 31 BC.
Let’s look at how we should
understand verses 14 and onward. I haven’t been taking the time to hang the
names on all these different Kings of the North and Kings of the South—this
information is difficult enough to understand the first time through without
trying to memorize the names. I would encourage you to get the book Daniel and
Revelation and look at that history—all the kings are there.
But if you remember in verse 13 it
says: "For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a
multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years
with a great army and with much riches."
That verse was describing a time
when Egypt’s king had died and left the kingdom of Egypt to his five-year-old
son and his daughter Cleopatra. The next verses talk about Rome coming into the
picture. Verse 14 says that there would many stand up against the king of the
south in this time period. Uriah Smith points out that not only was there a
struggle in Egypt itself going on trying to take control immediately after the
king died leaving his kingdom to his children, but Phillip of Macedon and the
Assyrian kingdom, the King of the North decided they would come together and
attack Egypt and divide up the geography connected with that kingdom among
themselves.
Verse 14 is following in that
scenario and says in this time period that the ‘robbers of thy people’ will
stand up and sure enough, historically during that situation, Rome who had began
to make moves towards being a kingdom in the world, had already been to some
wars in northern Africa and they accepted the responsibility of being the
protectors of these children. They let it be known that if Syria, the King of
the North and Macedonia were going to come after Egypt that they were going to
have to deal with Rome as well.
15. So the king of the north shall
come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the
south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any
strength to withstand.
If you look at history, the King of
the North begins to make his march on Egypt, on the child king. The
protectorate, Rome, that was managing Egypt during that time, hired an army. In
verse 15 this is the ‘chosen people’, the protectorate of Egypt selected this
army. The King of the North came against them and he just wiped them out.
There’s more to the battling that went on there but this hired army of
mercenaries, as we would call them today, those ‘chosen people’ couldn’t stand,
they didn’t have any strength to withstand and the King of the North came almost
all the way into Egypt but they don’t quite get there. Then we see verse 16:
ACCORDING TO HIS WILL
16. But he that cometh against him
shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he
shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
This was Pompey. And as the King of
the North, Assyria, decides to make its move on Egypt, even though the Romans
had said, "leave Egypt alone", Rome goes into battle against them and Pompey
goes through Assyria and levels it.
So who is the King of the North and
who is the King of the South? at this point in the first part of this verse,
when Rome overcomes Assyria, Rome becomes the King of the North. Because the
rule of thumb is the power that controls the geographical area of Egypt is the
King of the South, and the power that controls the geographical area of Babylon
is the King of the North.
The centre of the Assyrian kingdom
was Babylon, and when Rome in verse 16 came in and the Assyrians could not stand
against him and they took control of that area by the rule established here in
Daniel 11, they became the King of the North. They did that as they swept
through Assyria, then they followed on in and took the ‘Glorious Land’ of Israel
as well.
It’s important to see that when
Pompey is making this move against Assyria and then the Glorious Land, what
Uriah Smith says about it. This term the ‘Glorious Land’ is used twice by
Daniel, he uses the term ‘Pleasant Land’ as well and I don’t have a problem with
equating the pleasant land with the Glorious Land. Glorious Land is used twice
in chapter 11 by Daniel and the first time here in verse 16, everyone
understands that it’s describing when Rome comes in and conquers the LAND of
Israel. But when we get to verse 41, some insist that the ‘Glorious Land’ is
God’s church.
In Daniel and Revelation by Uriah
Smith, although certainly the sanctuary is impacted by Rome coming in and
conquering Israel, he is talking about the Roman army taking control of the
country of Israel.
In page 247 of Uriah Smith’s book,
coming to the very close of this commentary on verse 16; speaking about
responding to a quarrel for power among the Israelites themselves, it talks
about Pompey coming back to Jerusalem to deal with those who were resisting his
power. "At the end of three months, the breach was made in the walls sufficient
for an assault and the place was carried at to point of the sword. In the
terrible slaughter that ensued 12,000 slain. It was an affecting sight, observes
the historian, to see the priest engaged at the time in the Divine service with
clam hand and steady purpose pursue their accustomed work apparently unconscious
of the wild tumult until their own blood was mingled with that of the sacrifices
they were offering.
"After putting an end to the war,
Pompey demolished the walls of Jerusalem, transferred several cities from the
jurisdiction of Judea to that of Syria and imposed tribute on the Jews. For the
first time, Jerusalem was by conquest placed in the hands of Rome. That power
which was to hold the Glorious Land in its iron grasp until it had utterly
consumed it."
When Rome conquered the
‘Glorious Land’ in verse 16, they weren’t just overthrowing the religion of
the Jews, or destroying the temple, they were taking control of the country
of Israel, the Glorious Land. We must keep that in mind if we’re going to
correctly divide the Word of God when we get to the end.
17. He shall also set his face to
enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus
shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but
she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 18. After this shall he
turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own
behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own
reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 19. Then he shall turn his face
toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be
found.
All Adventist commentators as far
as I know, say that what is described here initially in verse 17 is that Rome at
this point determines that it’s going to use its strength to conquer the entire
kingdom, and in verse 17, this is the entire kingdom of Alexander the Great.
Rome has already taken the kingdom
of the North when Assyria fell, and then it has taken the kingdom of the
‘Glorious Land’ and now it decides it’s going to take the King of the South and
when it does that, it will have taken the whole kingdom of Alexander the Great.
LITTLE HORN
In Daniel 8:9 it says, "And out of
one of them came forth a little horn," And this ‘little Horn’ has been correctly
understood by Adventists for years as Pagan Rome. "which waxed exceeding great,
toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Rome had
to overcome 3 geographical obstacles, before it would become the fourth
kingdom of Bible prophecy. Daniel 11 is simply building upon that truth.
Verse 16, it takes Assyria, to the
east of Rome, then it takes the Glorious Land or the Pleasant Land in chapter 8,
and its next point of attack is the King of the South which in verse 17 is when
Julius Caesar goes into Egypt. Julius Caesar was heading to Egypt and somewhere
in this flow of History, he and Pompey, who was also Roman, got crossways of one
another and Julius Caesar was coming to deal with him.
When Pompey came into Egypt, the
son of the King of Egypt that the Assyrians and the Macedonians were going to
take advantage of, who was initially five years old, had reached an age where he
was willing to struggle for his kingdom. So he had Pompey murdered and Pompey
had been placed in the protectorate of the children, of Cleopatra and Ptolemy.
So when Ptolemy had Pompey killed, then Julius Caesar continued his pursuit that
began after Pompey, right into Egypt and he then takes the position that since
Pompey is removed from the protectorate, he’s the protectorate. He starts to try
to settle some of the dissent going on in Egypt between whether Ptolemy is going
to rule the kingdom or Cleopatra is going to rule the kingdom.
You can find some variations
according to what historian you read, even though they all identify this as
Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They might tell you Cleopatra was Julius Caesar’s
mistress; some will say that he married her. A very interesting insight by
Leslie Harding was that the royalty in Egypt was passed down through the female
side of the family, and the reason Julius Caesar, and later Mark Anthony married
Cleopatra, was because that made them the King of Egypt.
If you understand that the blood
line passed down through the female side in Egypt, then this verse that says,
"and he shall give him the daughter of women, (which the commentators will tell
you is Cleopatra) corrupting her:" You can see it could have been Julius Caesar
who was initiating this marriage to take control of Egypt, then he would be the
corruptor of her. But most of the commentators try to turn this around to where
Cleopatra corrupted him and later on corrupted Mark Anthony—but that isn’t what
the verse says.
The most important theme through
these verses is that Rome has come to control the world at this point, and as
the Bible wants to be very clear about this sequence of leadership in
Rome—Julius Caesar, then Caesar Augustus then Tiberius Caesar—because this
sequence of Caesars so clearly identified in these verses, is what places Rome
as the only possible entity that could fulfil this prophecy. Remember that this
vision is about Rome. There is some very clear history set forth here and to
cover these verses for yourself, just pick up Uriah Smith’s book and read
through this.
In these verses, Julius Caesar
comes into Egypt, finds all kinds of problems to resolve and after he fought
some of the battles there and seemed to have brought it under control then he
turns to the islands in verse 18 and this describes his march through the
Mediterranean where he very quickly brought those islands and sea-coasts that he
attacked under the authority of Rome. By verse 19 he returns to Rome a Hero,
only to be assassinated at the foot of the statue of Pompey.
RAISER OF TAXES
20. "Then shall stand up in his
estate (after Julius Caesar is assassinated) a raiser of taxes in the glory of
the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in
battle."
Augustus Caesar clearly is the
raiser of taxes. He called for the taxing that brought Joseph and Mary to
Bethlehem, one of the most easily recognisable events in the Bible. These verses
in Daniel 11 are saying that this is the history that can’t be mistaken;
therefore the kingdom under discussion here, if we’re going to understand the
Bible correctly, is Rome, the Pagan Roman Empire. After Augustus, the raiser of
taxes dies in peace, we see verse 21:
21. "And in his estate shall stand
up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he
shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22. And with the
arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken;
yea, also the prince of the covenant."
History says that Tiberius Caesar
was the son of the wife of Augustus Caesar, he wasn’t Augustus’ son. She
petitioned for Augustus Caesar to proclaim her son to be emperor when Augustus
died. He refused and picked another person who died before Augustus did. Then
Tiberius’ mother came back and pled with Augustus Caesar and in his old age, he
agreed to let him take control of the kingdom at his death. This is how he took
the kingdom by flatteries.
But no one in Rome ever had any
respect for him, history shows he definitely was a vile man and finally died as
some of his own men executed him by suffocation with pillows. This is what verse
22 is symbolizing; that with all his wickedness, using his arms, his military
power to work his own will, finally a revolt overthrows him.
But in the last phrase it says
"yea, also the prince of the covenant", would be broken during his reign in
Rome. This is not Daniel 9:25-27, the Prince of the covenant will be cut off in
the midst of the week. This information in these verses clearly identifies this
kingdom that in verse 14 is going to establish the vision, this kingdom called
the ‘robbers of thy people’, that will exult themselves and ultimately fall—as
Rome.
This is the focus of this vision,
what establishes it, and Daniel in chapter 10 said he had understanding of the
vision and the vision was about what was going to befall God’s people in the
later days. This truth about Rome being the power that establishes the vision,
in connection with the truth that this vision is about what would befall God’s
people in the later days, impacts the incorrect presentation of the last 6
verses of Daniel 11 that Uriah Smith makes.
This vision is about the last days
and according to verse 14, it is about Rome. So when Uriah Smith came up with
this conclusion that this King of the North that is portrayed in the last six
verses of Daniel 11 was not Rome, he was came up with an understanding that
isn’t in agreement with what the vision is about according to verse 14. It’s not
in agreement with what was going to befall God’s people in the last days.
According to Smith’s reasoning in the book, ‘Daniel and Revelation’ on those
final verses in Daniel 11, verse 44 is supposedly already fulfilled, and the
fulfilment of it and of the previous verses had virtually no consequences for
God’s people. His understanding of verse 40–44 just doesn’t fit with the
emphasis that’s established in chapter 10-11 by the Holy Spirit.
What does fit in agreement with
Uriah Smith is that in verse 23, Daniel drops back into the history of Rome just
covered from verses 13, 14-22, he drops back into that history to a time period
when Israel was under constant attack by Syria and Israel entered into a league
with Rome in order to get some protection from Rome. If you’re going to
understand these verses clearly, you need to take them in sections.
23, 24. "And after the league made
with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become
strong with a small people. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest
places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done,
nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and
riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even
for a time."
These two verses are giving us the
starting place of the league with the Jews that Rome made in 161, so it places
us back in the history of the previous verses. Then it begins to describe the
characteristics of Rome shown earlier in Daniel, that this fourth kingdom would
be different.
One of the differences all the
pioneer commentators bring out is that Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece
conquered through their military might and Rome conquered through it’s military
might as well but Rome also conquered through what I’ll call ‘politics’. They
formed ‘leagues’ and it starts here in verse 23 with the league they formed with
the Jews.
They made agreements with countries
to be their protector, like they were watching over Egypt, to protect the young
King of Egypt; they formed a league with Greece to protect Greece from the
Macedonians and the Assyrians. They took control of countries through politics
and military might and this was one of the ‘differences’ of this fourth kingdom
that it becomes ‘strong with a small people’. They began as a small people, but
if you’re going to conquer a country by signing a truce with it, a peace treaty
that ultimately brings that country under your control, you don’t need a large
army, you just need a diplomatic chore. These characteristics of the fourth
kingdom carry on in the second phase of the fourth kingdom.
But in verse 24 it’s simply
carrying on this description, ‘he’ll enter peaceably upon the fattest places of
the province’. When it took control of Greece it was through peaceable measures
and ‘he’ll do what his fathers have not done or his father’s fathers’. This is
saying, according to Uriah Smith and others, Alexander the Great, or the Medes
and the Persians or Babylon, being the ‘fathers, the grandfathers and the great
grandfathers’, never conquered this way. They never conquered through politics,
they conquered through warfare.
SCATTER THE SPOIL
‘He shall scatter among them the
prey and the spoil and riches’, and this was one of the characteristics of Rome
when they conquered a place, the booty was divided between the members of the
participating army also some of the countries that would come along with them
and form the treaties, were also given initially some of the riches. Ultimately
they came under the slavery-type dominance of Rome, but one of the techniques
was to share the wealth as they took the wealth and this is the technique that
historians clearly identified with the Roman power as it rose to conquer the
world.
Now if you look at the last couple
phrases of verse 23 it says that Rome shall ‘forecast his devices against the
stronghold’ and you can see much discussion about this. It can be understood
that Rome will forecast his devices ‘from’ his stronghold; this seems like the
clearest understanding of this verse. Those that understand the Hebrew, say that
the ‘stronghold’ that Rome forecast it’s devices from, was the city of Rome and
it says ‘even for a time’. What it is saying is that Rome would prosecute its
taking control of the world from the city of Rome for 360 years.
So when you have a starting point
31 BC and you put this time prophecy into play and the time prophecy comes to a
conclusion in 330, you’ll find that in 330 the capitol of the Roman Empire was
moved from the city of Rome to the city of Constantinople. They were going to
forecast their devices from the city of Rome for 360 years and when the 360
years was up this stronghold of Rome was no longer going to be a stronghold.
I believe verses 25–28, is a
passage that needs to be understood in a block, in a broader way than simply
verse by verse.
25. "And he shall stir up his power
and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of
the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but
he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him."
Verse 25 is describing the final
conquering of Egypt which included the battle of Actium in 31 BC and the King of
the South at this time in verse 25 isn’t one of the lineage of Ptolemy, it’s
Mark Anthony, who had come together with Lepidus and Caesar to form a
triumvirate, a three-party rule in Rome and one of the reasons was to avenge the
assassination of Julius Caesar and they all three began to go after things in
their own ways.
Ultimately, Mark Anthony ends up in
Egypt and depending on which point of historical testimony you want to believe,
he either falls in love with Cleopatra in such a way that he can’t control
himself, or if you take the reasoning set forth by Leslie Harding in his
historical references, he realized, ‘Well, if I marry Cleopatra, then I become
the king of Egypt.’ There’s a logic to that, which seems to make sense. But at
this point in verse 25, the King of the South that the king is going to come
against is Mark Anthony and verse 26-27 just builds upon this story.
26-27. "Yea, they that feed of the
portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many
shall fall down slain. And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and
they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end
shall be at the time appointed."
What Uriah Smith and others will
tell you is being described here is that the Triumvirate, the 3 man rule in Rome
that was set up after Julius Caesar—Lepidus, Augustus Caesar and Mark
Anthony—they had come together to accomplish their task of controlling the world
and working revenge against Julius Caesar’s enemies. They sat at the same table
and talked about doing mischief together but they were lying to one another and
their lies weren’t going to prosper.
Ultimately when Caesar comes into
Egypt to deal with Mark Anthony, he is destroyed and when he is destroyed, he
has his army in place to battle against another Roman army—they’re both Roman
armies, but he also has the Egyptian army of Cleopatra with him and as they see
the folly of fighting with Mark Anthony, one by one the Egyptian army and his
army itself, switches over to the other Roman army, the Egyptian army fled and
Mark Anthony is totally wiped out. This is what’s being described in verse 25;
he’s not able to stand.
When Caesar comes back to Rome with
all the booty from Egypt and all the human trophies, he would have had Cleopatra
but at this time, Cleopatra commits suicide. So she isn’t carried back into
Rome.
In verse 26 it says ‘they that feed
of the portion of his meat shall destroy him’, it’s talking about how Mark
Anthony’s army turned on him so that his troops instead of coming to his aid,
saw the position he was in and switched over back to Rome. That’s what’s being
discussed in these verses.
These verses are significant
because this battle where the King of the South, Mark Anthony, is finally dealt
with, is the Battle of Actium 31 BC, the starting point of the ‘time’ of verse
24, the 360 years that Rome would rule the world, and verse 27, ‘yet the end
shall be at the time appointed’ is just a concluding thought to this time
prophecy.
Now if you don’t take this concept
of first the verses tell how Rome conquered the world and then drop back in
history and show how Rome related to God’s people; you’re forced to continue
verse 23 onward in a sequence that follows the death of Christ on the cross and
you don’t have as much historical evidence of your sequence of events as Uriah
Smith and others set forth.
Up to verse 27, we see Rome
described as different from other powers that have come to control the world;
they’re going to use politics as well as military might; they’re going to rule
the world for a ‘time’, 360 years, from the stronghold of Rome and the starting
point for this is the battle where Mark Anthony and his supporters are
overthrown and the end will be at the time appointed.
END AT THE TIME APPOINTED
This term, ‘the end will be at the
time appointed’, in the book of Daniel is a very important understanding to the
conclusion of this vision in Daniel 12.
Let’s move on to verse 28:
28. "Then shall he return into his
land with great riches;"
Then Caesar comes back to Rome
after this battle of Actium, and he has all the booty that he has taken from
Egypt and he parades it through the streets of Rome and historians testify this
is just what he did.
"and his heart shall be against the
holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land."
Uriah Smith points out correctly in
verse 28, that there are two ‘returnings’ in this verse. The first ‘returning’,
is when he returns from conquering the King of the South, when he returns from
being established as the king of the earth, the fourth kingdom of Bible
prophecy, in the year 31 BC. Then it says, "his heart shall be against the holy
covenant and he shall do exploits and return to his own land"; and this
‘returning is the returning from the next conquest, that military campaign where
Rome undertakes going down into Israel and ultimately destroying Jerusalem and
the temple in AD 70. This is why his heart is against the holy covenant. After
he conquers Egypt and becomes the king of the world, his next military campaign
ends up in Israel and his heart is against the holy covenant in the sense that
he’s going to destroy the temple and Jerusalem and the people that formerly had
been God’s people.
29. At the time appointed he shall
return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the
latter.
Now the ‘time appointed’ jumps
forward in history because verse 27 says ‘the end shall be at the time
appointed, and that Rome would forecast its power from the stronghold of the
city of Rome for 360 years. The next couple verses are describing the starting
point, 31 BC. Verse 27 is letting us know that the end of this time period of
verse 24, the end of the 360 years, will be at the ‘time appointed’, and verse
29 is carrying this thought forward saying ‘at the time appointed’, in the year
330, he shall return and come towards the south, but it shall not be as the
former, or as the latter.’
The ‘time appointed’ is the end of
the time prophecy of the 360 years and in 330 when the capitol of the Roman
empire was moved from the city of Rome to Constantinople by Constantine, that
was the end of the supremacy of Rome. The 360 years of prophetic time had come
to a close and from that point on, the ability of Rome to control the world at
will, through its military might and its political prowess ceased.
So in verse 29, it says at the time
appointed—in 330 AD—when he moved the capitol, then all the problems begin for
Rome. It was immediately divided into east and west and the western empire
immediately comes under attack from the Barbarians out of the north.
The islands of the Mediterranean
that Rome had formerly controlled suddenly become the launching points for some
of the powers designed by God to bring Rome down and contribute to the
environment that needed to be developed for Rome to turn into the ten horns and
then the three horns to be removed. (Daniel 7)
Verse 29 says ‘At the time
appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the
former, or as the latter.’ The ‘former or later’ means this; when Rome
attempts to defend itself and maintain its authority from Constantinople, the
changed capitol of the kingdom, he won’t have the ability to be successful in
his military campaigns from that point on. It won’t be as the former; it won’t
be like when he went into Egypt and dealt with Mark Anthony and had such great
success, nor will it be as the latter; when he went into Judea and destroyed the
temple in AD 70 and wiped out Israel. He had success then, but in 330 on his
military successes just weren’t going to be the same as the former or the
latter.
This point in history is where both
Uriah Smith, and other commentators, both come to verse 29 and agree that this
is the year 330. They have a different understanding of verse 23 up to verse 29
and as I said earlier, I think Uriah Smith is accurate because he provides the
prophetic historical understanding that allows you to deal with this time
prophecy for Pagan Rome.
This is important to understand,
because in the time prophecy for Pagan Rome, you get some of the pieces to the
puzzle that lets you understand that in the Book of Daniel, the phrase ‘time of
the end’ meant something very specific. The ‘time of the end’, the ‘time
appointed’ means the end of the time prophecy. When the time prophecy is finally
come to the point in history where it is fulfilled—that is the time of the end.
This has great bearing on how you understand Daniel 12.
You’ll find those in Adventism that
want to re-apply these time prophecies in Daniel 12, the 1260, 1290 and 1335, at
the end of the world. They go to great lengths to teach that the time of the end
is a special time period at the very end of earth’s history and in doing that
they’re not only denying the definition of what the ‘time of the end’ is in the
book of Daniel, but they’re also opposing Sister White.
Sister White does not simply call
the time of the end 1798, as she does in the Great Controversy, but there’s
other places where she says 1843 and 1844 were the time of the end. So was
Sister White speaking against herself, or confused? Well no. Sister White was
using the reasoning that is established in the book of Daniel—the ‘time of the
end’ is the end of a time prophecy. 1798, 1843, and 1844 were all the ends of
time prophecies. So she was more accurate than we might see at first glance.
Manuscript Releases volume 13, pg.
394; "We have no time to lose. Troublous times are before us. The world is
stirred with the spirit of war. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the
prophecies will take place. The prophecy in the eleventh of Daniel has nearly
reached its complete fulfillment. Much of the history that has taken
place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be repeated. In the thirtieth
verse a power is spoken of that "shall be grieved, and return, and have
indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and
have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant."
Then she quotes verses 30-36 and
says, "Scenes similar to those described in these words will take place." To
understand the last 6 verses, of Daniel 11, according to this passage in
Manuscript releases, it must line up with the history portrayed in verses 30-36.
Understanding that clearly, is something that has an impact on those last 6
verses which come to a conclusion just as probation closes. Daniel 12:1 says
that’s when Michael stands up. When Michael stands up, probation closes.