Welcome to a Revelation of Jesus. In this video we will explore the identity of the Locust army that comes out of the Bottomless pit in the fifth trumpet by comparing it with the final king of the North in the book of Daniel.

In video 30 we examined the links that show that the Locust army war of Revelation 9 is the same war that is described in the book of Joel.

We also saw that the locust war in the book of Joel is the same as the final battle between the King of the North and the King of the South in Daniel chapter 11. This means that the last battle in Daniel 11 is the same as the seven trumpets war in Revelation 9.

In this video we are going to highlight key points in the long war between the King of the North and the King of the South in order to identify the end-time combatants in this terrifying war that lies just ahead of us.

It would be helpful for you to review video 3 which looks at all of Daniel’s visions. There we learned that the visions of Daniel are parallel. They all begin in Daniel’s time and proceed to the final judgment and establishment of the eternal kingdom, covering the world history that had an impact on God’s chosen representatives. Let’s look at the highlights of these visions to give a context for Daniel 11.

The first vision in Daniel chapter 2 sets the pattern.

A massive, multi-metal image with its head of gold symbolizes the Babylonian empire that took Israel captive.

Babylon was defeated by the Medo-Persian empire, symbolized by the arms and chest of silver, which ruled over God’s chosen people during the time of Esther.

The belly of bronze symbolized the Greek Hellenistic kingdoms that ruled Israel during the time between the Old and the New Testament.

The Roman Empire, symbolized by the waist and thighs of iron, ruled during the time of Christ until its breakup in the fifth century.

Rome evolved into a hybrid empire consisting of European nation-states bound together by Roman Catholicism, symbolized by legs and feet of iron mixed with clay.

Finally, at the end of time, God brings the oppressive kingdoms to an end and fills the earth with His eternal kingdom.

The other visions in Daniel follow the same outline with increasing details. In Daniel chapter 7 the prophet saw four wild animals rising out of the sea: a lion, a bear, a four-headed leopard and a fearsome beast, symbolizing Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Ten horns emerge out of the head of the fearsome Roman beast, followed by a dominant horn with eyes and a mouth. This symbolizes the union of European nations and corrupt religion that severely oppressed God’s faithful followers during the dark ages. Finally, “a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” (Daniel 7:22).

The vision of Daniel 8 covers the same historical outline under the symbols of a ram, a goat, and a huge evil horn. The oppression would continue “for two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14). Video 3 gives a lot more details about these three visions, which set the stage and give the context for the vision of Daniel 11.

This vision covers the same overview of the history, but instead of symbols it uses a detailed, literal narrative.

It begins “in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia” (Daniel 10:1). Cyrus led the Persians in their conquest of Babylon.

The vision continues with the history of the powers that oppressed God’s people until “the time of the end” when there will be “a time of trouble such as never was,” and “[God’s] people will be delivered” (Daniel 11:40, 12:1,2). Throughout the narrative are landmarks that will allow us to correlate this vision with Daniel’s other three visions.

The angel messenger starts the narrative by informing Daniel that “three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all… he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece” (Daniel 11:2).

The fourth king, who would “stir up all against the realm of Greece” was the immensely wealthy Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus, the husband of Queen Esther. He launched a series of disastrous attacks against Greece, just as the prophecy specified.

The narrative then skips over the remaining eight kings of Persia down to the time of Alexander the Great, “a mighty king who shall rule with great dominion” (Daniel 11:2-4). This sets the pattern for the rest of the vision. As the narrative progresses from one empire to the next, there is quite a bit of detail about the first few kings, enough to clearly identify who the vision is talking about, and then it skips over long periods to the next landmark.

Notice the details about Alexander, the first king of the Greek empire. The “mighty king… shall do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, not among his descendants but… for others besides these” (Daniel 11:3,4). History tells us that at the peak of his power Alexander died and his empire, instead of going to his descendants, was divided among his four generals.

Let’s compare this passage with the other visions of Daniel to show how the parallel visions confirm the meaning of each other.

In Daniel chapter 8 Alexander, “the first king… of the kingdom of Greece” is symbolized by “a large horn” on a powerful male goat (Daniel 8:20,21). “But when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable horns came up toward the four winds of heaven” (Daniel 8:8). We already read that the mighty king in chapter 11 also had his “kingdom broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven” (Daniel 11:4). In chapter 7 the leopard that symbolizes Greece had four heads and four wings. The division of the Greek empire into four is a major landmark.

Competing Hellenistic kingdoms evolved out of the divisions of Alexander’s Greek empire. The most prominent and the focus of Daniel 11 are the Seleucid kingdom, called the King of the North, which was centered in modern Syria and Turkey, and the Ptolemaic kingdom called the King of the South, which was centered in Egypt.

The wars and intrigues of the first few kings of the North and South are presented in Daniel’s vision with such remarkable accuracy and detail that many commentators insist that it must have been written after the fact. God’s chosen representatives lived in the land of Palestine between the two powers and were oppressed by both of them.

Although this section is highly detailed, it tends to be confusing, mentioning he, his, they, she, without making it clear who it is talking about.  Historians have spent years combing the historical records to correlate this passage with the people involved. We could go along verse by verse and try to pinpoint the people and events, but the point is that Daniel 11 uses detailed descriptions at important inflection points to allow us to know where in history we are.

The next important landmark is in verse 16 when a new power comes into the scene. “He who comes against [the king of the North] shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power” (Daniel 11:16).

The destructive power that defeated the Seleucid king of the North and took over the Glorious Land of Palestine was Rome, both in history and in the previous visions of Daniel. Notice how Rome is described in the wild animal vision of chapter 7: “Behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong… devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet” (Daniel 7:7).

Similarly, in the metal image of Daniel 2 “the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others” (Daniel 2:3).

That is exactly what happened. Rome conquered the Seleucid kingdom and became the new king of the North. Rome destroyed the Ptolemaic King of the South in the Battle of Actium in BC 31, and the King of the South disappears from the narrative for the next 10 verses.

The first of the new Roman Kings of the North are described in detail, in particular, Julius Caesar with his conquests, relationship with Cleopatra, and assassination in verses 17-19,  and Caesar Augustus, whose worldwide census is mentioned both in verse 20 and in Luke 2:1.

After this “a vile person shall arise” (v. 21), highlighting the vilest deed of the Romans and providing an important landmark, the murder of the Son of God: “The prince of the covenant… shall be swept away from before him and be broken” (Daniel 11:22).

The next transition that we expect is the evolution from the pagan Roman empire to the apostate Christian empire of the dark ages.

The essence of the destructive iron and clay legs of chapter 2, and the persecuting horns in chapter 7, is the oppressive union of church and state. This union is called “the league” in chapter 11. “And after the league is made with him, [the king of the North] shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people” (Daniel 11:23).

Although the Roman Catholic papacy was a small organization with no army, it became a uniting and even ruling influence among the European nations. “He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places… and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds” (Daniel 11:24).

A word count shows that in Daniel’s visions the oppressive church/state union gets the most attention. This is because the medieval union of church and state is a model for the final persecuting power that will arise during the time of the end.

Thus we see that:

  • the horn with a mouth and eyes in Daniel chapter 7,
  • the great evil horn of Daniel chapter 8,
  • the medieval king of the north of Daniel 11:23-39,
  • and the beast from the sea in Revelation 13

all refer to the oppressive medieval church/state union.

This allows us to get a complete picture of how apostate religion manipulated ruthless and corrupt political powers during the dark ages. This is vital because, as we will see in Revelation chapter 17, the final oppressive power will share the same characteristics and strategies, but with a worldwide scope.

Continuing in Daniel 11, we see in verse 25 that the king of the South is back. “[The king of the North] 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” (Daniel 11:25). The southern power that threatened the very existence of papal Europe was militant Islam, which had conquered the Middle East, parts of Spain, and was threatening the Christian Byzantine Empire.

The last straw was when the Seljuk Turks began to interfere with pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. Pope Urban II energized the European leaders to carry out the first crusade starting in AD 1096. The Turks opposed them “with a very great and mighty army” but ultimately they were conquered; in line with the prophecy, “[The king of the South] shall not stand”.

The Muslims gradually regained control of the Holy Land over the next two hundred years despite two more crusades that are not mentioned in Daniel 11. But the fourth crusade is an important landmark and gets quite a bit of attention. “At the appointed time [the king of the North} shall return and go toward the south, but it shall not be like the former or the latter. For ships from Kittim shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage… they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:29-31).

You may find it interesting to read about the history of the fourth crusade in which European crusaders conspired with the Venetians with their “ships of Kittim” to destroy the Christian Byzantine capital of Constantinople instead of the Muslims in Jerusalem.

I will put a link in the description of an article that gives some of the relevant details. Most importantly, after the disastrous fourth crusade, Pope Innocent III “in a rage against the holy covenant” initiated the Inquisition—the “abomination of desolation” of the dark ages. It was a preview of the universal abomination of desolation that will enforce the Mark of the Beast as described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 13.

Consistent with the long decline of the Turkish Ottoman empire after the Crusades, the king of the South again disappears from the narrative, and the focus of verses 30-39 is on the power politics of the persecuting religious power of the Middle ages. It was a dark time, but also a time when God’s faithful followers let their lights shine.

“The king [of the North] shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper… but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. Now when they fall, they shall be aided… to refine them, purify them, and make them white” (Daniel 11:36, 32-35). It was during this time of darkness and persecution that courageous reformers illuminated the world with the light of the gospel.

At this point the narrative skips down to the time relevant to our study of the Seven Trumpets. “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships” (Daniel 11:40).

Here we see the return of the king of the South, which marks the beginning of the final war.

Let’s review some important points from this brief overview of the history of the kings of the North and South.

First of all, these kings have evolved over the course of history. The king of the North began as the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom, was replaced by the pagan Roman empire, and evolved into the medieval Holy Roman Empire.

We should note that in the other three visions of Daniel the union of church and state that was established during the dark ages is the final empire before God intervenes.  This means that the end-time King of the North is simply a modern, more universal version of the medieval union.

The king of the South begins as the Hellenistic Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt, is destroyed by Rome and disappears, reappears as militant Islam during the time of the crusades, and then disappears again until the time of the end.

We also learned that the king of the North starts with its center in Syria, shifted to Rome, and then to Europe.

The king of the south begins in Egypt and later takes over North Africa and the middle east. But wherever they were centered, the king of the North was always geographically north of the king of the South. This would make it difficult to consider the final king of the South to be eastern countries like China or northern countries like Russia, as some commentators have postulated.

The fact that the final king of the North is a continuation of the medieval union of church and state suggests that the final king of the South will also be a continuation of the power that opposed him, in other words, militant Islam.

This would also fit geographically, as the traditionally Christian nations are to the north of the Islamic powers. It also fits politically now when radical Islam is extremely hostile toward the northern powers.

With this in mind let’s see how the final battle of the war between the kings of the North and South correlates with the trumpet war in Revelation 8 and 9.

“At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack [the king of the North]; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships” (Daniel 11:40). Here is predicted the resurgence of militant Islam, the final king of the South, with a powerful, coordinated end-time attack against the king of the North that provokes a massive counter-attack.

Who will the final King of the North be?

The parallel visions of Daniel showed us that it will be a continuation of the medieval union of church and state that ruled in Roman Catholic Europe. When we study Revelation chapters 13 and 17 we will see that this union, symbolized by a seven-headed beast, has a major ally at the time of the end, a beast with two horns like a lamb that arises from the earth.

We will have to wait for another video to show that this beast symbolizes Protestant America. Corrupt Protestant and Roman Catholic leadership will unite with the military might of America, Europe, and no doubt a global network of other allies.

Putting all that we have learned together, we can predict that the time of trouble will begin when militant Islamic powers launch an attack, probably nuclear, on Europe or the United States. This attack constitutes the first four trumpets, and the chaotic conditions that result are called the opening of the bottomless pit.

The king of the North alliance will carry out a massive counterattack with an army that John described as locusts in the fifth trumpet. In the next video we will see the emergence of the angel from the bottomless pit and the fearful continuation of the war in the sixth trumpet.

But what about God’s faithful followers?

Will they be collateral damage in this war or even targets as they were during the dark ages? The short answer is that the locust war is just an introduction to the real and glorious focus of the Seven Trumpets in Revelation 10 and 11.  It will be a trying time for everyone, but just as in the medieval time of persecution, “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32). The best is yet to come!

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And to find out in advance where this is all going, you can order the book A Revelation of Jesus by David Lackey, available from online bookstores.

Order the book “A Revelation of Jesus”

A Revelation of Jesus by David Lackey is available from Barnes and Noble (free shipping), Amazon, and many other bookstores.
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