REVELATION 9

REVELATION 9T: REVELATION 9:1-219:1,2 THE BOTTOMLESS PIT9:3, 7-9 THE LOCUST ARMY9:4-6 A REAL WARKINGS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH9:4 PROTECTED BY THE SEALWITNESS OF THE 144,000THE RAPTURE—WHEN?9:4,5,10 FIVE MONTHS—LITERAL OR PROPHETIC TIME?9:13,14 SIXTH TRUMPET, SECOND WOE9:15-21 A THIRD OF MANKIND KILLED

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KINGS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH

The same identifying points that Joel uses to describe the end of the "northern army" are also found in Daniel 11:40-45 describing the fate of the “King of the North”.[1] At the “time of the end” (Daniel 11:40) he will invade “the Glorious Land” (Palestine, v. 41) and he will “plant the tents of his palace between the seas (the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean). But he “shall come to his end, and no one will help him” (v. 45). Comparing these developments with the description of the defeat of the northern locust army of Joel described in the previous section, we see that the final King of the North is the same as Joel’s northern locust army (which is the same as the locust army of the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9).

Apparently the first five trumpets represent the beginning of the last battle in a fierce contest that has been ongoing for nearly 2500 years: the war between the Kings of the North and the Kings of the South. The details of this war are presented in the vision of Daniel 11, which is analyzed in Appendix 3. Although it is written in a style that is difficult to understand, there are a number of “landmarks” which will make it possible to identify who these antagonists are through the progression of history and at the end of time.[2] Keep in mind while reading the brief analysis of Daniel 11 given here or the fairly extensive analysis in Appendix 3, that the previous discussion showed that the last army of the King of the North is the same as Joel’s locust army, which is the same as the locust army of Revelation 9. Thus the last battle of the King of the North and the King of the South is the same war that is described in the seven trumpets.

The vision of Daniel 11 begins with the kings of Persia and shows their defeat by Alexander the Great (vs. 1-3). His Hellenistic (Greek) Empire was divided after his death and two of the divisions were the King of the North (the Seleucid Empire in Syria), and the King of the South (the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt, vs. 4-15). Both of these Hellenistic kingdoms were defeated by Rome, which became the new King of the North, first under the Caesars and then ruled by the papacy (vs. 15-24). The King of the South, who is not mentioned during the pagan Roman era, reappears in the Middle Ages as the Islamic Ottoman Empire and the war resumes with the Crusades (vs. 25-30).

Consistent with the parallel visions in Daniel 7 and 8 there is a major focus on the doctrinal compromises of the medieval papacy (taking away the daily sacrifices) and the persecution of God’s faithful remnant (the abomination of desolation). During this time the King of the South disappears again, consistent with the long decline of the Ottoman Empire (vs. 31-39).

The major focus of Daniel 11 (vs. 23-39) on the King of the North as the medieval papacy is consistent with the focus of the visions of Daniel chapter 7 (the “little” horn which “shall speak pompous words against the most high” and “shall persecute the saints”),[3] of chapter 8 (the “little” horn which “cast down some of the host”, takes away “the daily sacrifice” and sets up “the transgression of desolation”)[4] and of Revelation 13 (the beast which rose out of the sea and “opened his mouth in blasphemy against God” and “made war with the saints”)[5]. All of these refer to the persecuting papal power of the Middle Ages. A comparison of the four visions show that they have many elements in common, confirming their identity and filling out details not found in any one vision by itself.

DANIEL 7 LITTLE HORN	DANIEL 8 LITTLE HORN	DANIEL 11 KING OF THE NORTH	REVELATION 13 FIRST BEAST
Another horn, a little one …whose appearance was greater than his fellows (vs.8,20)	A little horn which grew exceedingly great (v. 8)	He shall come up and become strong with a small number of people (v. 23)	I saw a beast rising up (v. 1)
He shall speak pompous words against the Most High (v. 25)	He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host (v. 11)	He…shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods (v. 36)	He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God (v. 6)
He shall persecute the saints of the Most High (v. 25)	It cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them (v. 10)	They shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering (v. 33)	It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them (v. 7)
He shall persecute…for a time, times and half a time (v. 25)	It refers to many days in the future v. 26	For many days they shall fall by the sword… (v. 33)	He was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (v. 5)
He shall intend to change times and law (v. 25)	By him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down (v. 11)	Shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices (v. 31)	To blaspheme… His tabernacle (v. 6)
The same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing (v. 21)	An army was given over to the horn…He did all this and prospered. (v. 12)	The king shall do according to his own will…and shall prosper (v. 36)	All the world marveled …saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? (vs. 3,4)

The point of these comparisons is that since these four powers are obviously the same, it is possible to learn details about one from the activity of the others. You may have wondered why the visions of Daniel and Revelation 13 seem to spend such an inordinate amount of attention on the medieval Papacy. The reason is because it is from Daniel and Revelation 13 that we learn the characteristics and strategies of the end-time persecuting power. In particular, in Revelation 13 we see that “the beast rising out of the sea” recovers from a "deadly wound" and forms an alliance with the “beast coming up out of the earth” which sets up the image, mark and number of the beast. In chapter 13 and 17 we will see that this alliance consists of the United States of America with oppresive religious leadership, acting as the military arm of a "reborn" Roman Catholic Papacy with "the beast from the bottomless pit" at its head and supported by an international alliance of "10 kings." This alliance is also the last King of the North, Joel’s “northern” locust army and the locust army of Revelation 9.

At the “time of the end” the King of the South will reappear (“the King of the South shall attack him”), and it will be this offensive which provokes the extreme reaction of the King of the North who “shall come against him like a whirlwind” (Daniel 11:40). Since the last-days King of the North is an evolution of the medieval papal King of the North, it is most likely that the last-days King of the South will be an evolution of the islamic powers that fought against Europe during the Middle Ages. With this in mind, this verse seems to predict the resurgence of militant Islam (the King of the South) with a powerful, coordinated end-time attack against the King of the North (the United States, Europe, and other allies) that ushers in the time of trouble.[6]

This is the attack that is described in the first four trumpets and the retaliation that is described in the fifth trumpet. As Daniel puts it, their armies “with chariots, horsemen and with many ships shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through” (Daniel 11:40). The part of the world where this takes place is specified— “Edom, Moab, and…Ammon” (present-day Jordon) (v. 41), and Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia are mentioned (vs. 42, 43). A crushing defeat will take place “between the seas and the glorious holy mountain” (in Palestine, v. 45). Apparently this is World War III, fought in the Middle East, and it will be the beginning of a period of inconceivable suffering— “At that time Michael [Jesus][7] shall stand up, 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” (Daniel 12:1). But God will save His people—“at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book”.

This scenario for the “trumpet war” has mentioned elements from a number of prophecies. To summarize:

· The seven trumpets describe a war during the first portion of the time of trouble.

· One of the main combatants is described in the fifth trumpet as an army of locusts.

· This locust army is the same as the locust army of Joel 2.

· The Locust army of Joel 2 is the same as the last-days manifestation of the King of the North of Daniel 11.

· The King of the North changes identity through history, but from the Middle Ages is the same as the “little horn” of Daniel 7, the “great horn” of Daniel 8 and the “beast from the sea” of Revelation 13.

· The “beast from the sea” of Revelation 13 is the papacy, supported during the time of trouble by the United States of America (the beast from the earth) and "10 kings".

· The King of the South of Daniel 11 who fights against the King of the North also changes identity through history, but from the Middle Ages is militant Islam.

· Thus the major combatants in the war described in the seven rumpets are papal Europe and the United States with their allies, opposed by militant Islam.

· The fact that the United States is the sole world superpower and radical Islam is extremely antagonistic toward both the US and Europe indicates that the stage is now set and the trumpet war could start at any time. It will apparently begin with a series of attacks, probably with nuclear weapons, by Islamic militants against Europe or the United States.

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