Oh, how few know the time of their visitation! How few, even among those who claim to believe present truth, understand the signs of the times or what we are to experience before the end! We are today under divine forbearance; but how long will the angels of God continue to hold the winds, that they shall not blow? {6T 426.2}

We need to understand the time in which we live because if we do not understand it, we will have serious problems. The Jews did not understand the time in which they lived.

Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

Jesus is crying over Jerusalem. He is weeping over the religious centre, burdened and sorrowful. Why is he sorry? Christ is sorry over this religious centre. He sees with his prophetic eye the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem. The Jews thought they would win the battle against the Romans. They were sure the Lord would not leave them. They did not understand the prophecies when Rome came and destroyed the city with the women, children, widows and elderly. Why did that happen to such a religious centre? It happened to them because they did not know the time of their visitation. There was the problem. Is it possible to do the same thing with the harvest? Is it possible to miss the harvest thinking it is still future?

Jeremiah 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Is it possible for us to do the same thing in the time of the harvest? Absolutely it is! God’s professed people cry, ‘Oh the harvest is past, and we are not saved. We missed the time. We thought it was coming. We put everything into the future. We justified there would be tares in the church and we used that to excuse all the wrongdoing.’ The following verse sheds more light on the sifting process of the harvest than what we just read.

Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD [are] upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.

God will not destroy the whole house; some of it is good, but a lot of it is bad.

Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

They say yes there is sin in the church and it is there because the Bible says the wheat and the tares will grow together. It will not prevent us or overtake us. Is that such a reasoning today. What does the Bible say? It says the sinners of my people shall die who say this. They excuse an error because the parable that says it will continue until the time of the harvest. They put the harvest off till the future and then say we should not try and pull up tares because it is must not be done as God says do not do it so just get on with worldly activities. Such a people will die by the sword but not one grain or pure wheat will fall upon the earth. We need to understand this. In Matthew 13 Jesus explains this parable.

Matthew 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

When is the harvest? The harvest is the end of the world. Who are the reapers? They are the angels.

Matthew 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his [God’s] kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

In the kingdom of heaven there are many names. The angels will gather out of the kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity. This will take place. We want to understand when it will happen so we can take part of it.

When Jesus talked to the Jews about not knowing the time of his visitation, he said they neglected to study the details spoken by Daniel the prophet.

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

They were to know the time through the study of Daniel at the fulfilment of the prophecy written in Daniel they were to escape. Is that a practical application of the prophecies? Having understanding and involvement in prophecy is practical Christianity. Was it the will of God to flee Jerusalem at that time? Yes it was the will of God. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will not necessarily be saved unless he does the will of God at the appointed time. Whosoever reads the book of Daniel let him understand. The Jew’s did not recognise the time of their visitation because the book of Daniel was to give them their understanding and it is no different today. Daniel 2 is a basic overview of world history.

Revelation 10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go [and] take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take [it], and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey:and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

What is it called when a book is opened and eaten? Digestion. Readers Digest? One takes the information from the book and assimilates it and as one makes it his or hers and he or she will start proclaiming it. Verse 11 it says he was prophesying. This little book was a prophetic book. According to the book of Daniel a proclamation was made but were they to get it wrong or right? They were to get it wrong. It was bitter or a disappointment for the sweetness to turn bitter in the belly. It was a great disappointment. An angel said shut the book until the time of the end. What was to occur in the time of the end; the harvest? When this little book was open and proclaimed by early Adventists, they taught that Jesus was coming in 1844.

Where did they base their prophecy; from the book of Daniel? They thought the cleansing of the sanctuary was the coming of Jesus. They were incorrect in their understanding. The cleansing of the sanctuary is separating the wheat from the tares. God is identifying who is following him or not. The hour of God’s judgement is to come is a judgment to decide between one and the other. What message did these early Adventists share? What did they preach?

Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

According to the time of the end we need to have the following waymarks. It had to be after the breaking up of Rome, the setting up of the papacy, after the persecution the papists made against God’s people and 1798. Then there had to be the revelation of the book of Daniel because the book was sealed till the time of the end. There also had to be a great disappointment. This disappointment was based on an error in understanding the event in prophecy. They were told to prophesy again. If they had understood the event correctly in the first place, they would not have needed to prophesy again. We also note that an angel gave the message of Revelation 14 verse 6. The time of the end is the harvest and the reapers are the angels. How many angels are there?

Revelation 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

We see three angels giving their messages Notice the work of the third angel;

Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,

Does that sound like weeping and gnashing of teeth? If you drink of this error you will be destroyed.

Revelation 14:10 …which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;

When is his indignation; it is right at the end?

Revelation 14:10 and he shall be tormented with fire [what happened to the tares in the parable;] and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

When the angels reap they throw the tares into the fire. The angels are watching as this is their work.

Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever:and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Here are all the tares. According to the parable who did the angels collect first? The tares?

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints:here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

What does the third angel do? He identifies those who follow the world and the beast and who drink from the wine-cup and those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Does this separating happen in the last 5 minutes before Jesus comes or does it take some generations before Jesus comes? What does it say in verse 13?

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Will people die? The harvest begins and people pass away so there was to be a period over multiple generations.

Revelation 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap:for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.

After reading these verses people say it is the harvest. What was to happen? There was to be a time of harvest where they were to gather the wheat and bound in bundles. Where is the wheat to go now? After the completion of the harvest what is to take place? The wheat was to go into the barn, in heaven. The Son of man took the wheat to heaven and the other bundles were gathered and burned. To which bundle are we binding?

The Three Angels Messages

The three angel’s messages are to distinguish the two classes to start this separating process. It has already begun. Can we use that as the reason why there should be wrong in the church? When we say the wheat and tares must stay together until the harvest, it is missing the time. Judgement has started, it has not finished yet. The harvest has not yet been completed but when it is complete people will cry, “The harvest is past and the summer ended and we are not saved.”

There is a principle that like attracts like. We automatically are being drawn to people with whom we are naturally comfortable. To whom are we being drawn and in what bundle are we being bound? These are serious questions. Are we being drawn to people who love the Lord with all their heart and rely on every word that proceeds from God’s mouth? Or are we joining with the half hearted in their walk? Are we connecting with people who are only lukewarm? We cannot use the excuse the wheat and tares must stay together till the harvest any longer. The harvest has not finished but by the time it has, many people will still be waiting for it to begin. Just like the Jews are still waiting for Jesus’ first coming, they did not know the time of their visitation.

The liberality of the Jews in their offerings for religious purposes might well be imitated by Christians. If tithes and offerings were required thousands of years ago, they are much more essential now. The labors of God’s servants were then confined almost wholly to the land of Palestine; but the apostles and their successors were commissioned to preach the gospel throughout the world. The people of this dispensation are favored with greater light and blessing than were the Jews. {ST, January 10, 1884 par. 19

You may marvel that the Jews killed Christ and you may marvel that the Jews were allowed to see and talk to Christ and have the prophets such as Moses and Elijah. We have greater light and therefore greater damnation if rejected. Speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, they had great light, they had the prophets and they did not know that it was the fullness of time. They did not know the time of their visitation. Do we know the time of our visitation?

Terrible were the calamities that fell upon Jerusalem when the siege was resumed by Titus. The city was invested at the time of the Passover, when millions of Jews were assembled within its walls. Their stores of provision, which if carefully preserved would have supplied the inhabitants for years, had previously been destroyed through the jealousy and revenge of the contending factions, and now all the horrors of starvation were experienced. {GC 31.2}

Watch

Those who are not watching or vividly appreciative of these things will lose their way as did the Jews. If we have a false comprehension of anything of God’s word that is necessary for the time in which we will live, we will not be saved. Our salvation is manifest via prophecy. Our time as in the first advent is a time of darkness. We are looking for Jesus to come and yet it has delayed so long. Let us learn from the Jewish church the importance of Daniel 12:10. The wise will understand. Let us understand the importance of Revelation 1:1-3, the revelation of Jesus Christ. As you plough through the seven trumpets, churches and seals to you will be revealed Jesus Christ where you stand with him today and the hope you have of salvation. May God add his blessings to these things and we may continue to keep a mind focused to the pure reading of prophecy and all of God’s word so we may have salvation.

The word of God should stand as the highest educating book in our world and should be treated with reverential awe. It should be placed in the hands of the children and youth as the great lesson book, that they may know Him whom to know aright is life eternal. {CT 427.2}

To know aright is life eternal. You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to have eternal life. You must have Jesus in your heart to have eternal life and to have him you must know the scriptures so you can know him a right. It is so important.

Seek most earnestly to know Him whom to know aright is life eternal. {FE 484.1}

To believe in Jesus you must know him a right.

You need wisdom from heaven to read the Scriptures aright. {GW92 386.3}

I must be saved by believing in Jesus but I may believe in Jesus in a way that is not right. It is that serious. How many people will come up before Jesus and say Lord, Lord, have we not? He will say depart from me I know you not. But Lord, you are our Lord, we have heard you preach in our streets, we have crowded around you. The casual touch merely. To know Jesus aright is life eternal and to read the scriptures aright is needed to have eternal life. What is required to do that a right? What is required of you and me to be saved by knowing Jesus a right? To read the scriptures aright, what is required?

2 Peter 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

How will we be assured of a place in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ? If we are diligent. What is required to read the Bible aright and to come to know Jesus a right? It is to be diligent. The casual contact differs from the touch of faith.

He could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual touch of the careless throng. Someone had touched Him with a deep purpose and had received answer. {MH 60.5} 

How diligent was the woman who had the issue of blood? She was so determined she pressed on as she was diligent. In the midst of the confusion of all the different teachings of the scripture today with the casual touches upon Jesus there is a need of diligence to touch Jesus aright. We saw in our last study how the crucial understanding of prophecy was related to our salvation and our scripture reading spells it out. We once again enlarge the scripture for our salvation. As the hymn says:

“These eyes have never seen, I hear and see thee not yet art thou oft with me.”

1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [that should come] unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13 Wherefore (because of this) gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Is Prophecy Important?

Jesus must be revealed to us by the preachers of the gospel who gain the ministry via the prophets. The book of Revelation says it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. If I am going to be saved I must have Jesus Christ revealed to me although I do not see him with my eyes. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Your eyes can deceive you. People today see and hear things and they are deceived. When Satan comes as an angel of light they will be deceived and will see him and will think it is Jesus but we have a more sure word of prophecy.

The disciples and Pharisees of Christ’s time saw Him but they had wrong concepts and it took the disciples painful experiences to see the real Jesus. It was prophecy. You and I today are called upon to gird up the loins of our mind to be sober, look to the prophets and study the Bible aright. The prophets searched what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Beforehand the sufferings of Christ were testified of by the prophets. To know him aright is salvation and it was the prophets before he came that manifested that salvation that saves you. Explore with me the prophecies by which we may come to know Jesus aright so we might be saved from our sins.

How important is prophecy? It is more sure than the reports of the disciples than the preaching of any person. If you study the prophecies what will come up inside of you? Jesus Christ. The day star will arise in your hearts. How will it arise? Through prophecy. The entire prophecy of Daniel were to do with the wise and the foolish. What were the words of Jesus in reference to the last days?

Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Identify the prophecies so you won’t be caught unawares when probation closes and he finishes his work. That is what people will be caught out by. The wise will understand and the foolish won’t.

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Through it out my life in upholding the old realities of the prophecies of Daniel, when it comes to this solid hard work of studying to be approved of God, people have said consistently to me, ‘why do you worry about all that detail? It won’t save you, Jesus saves you.’ I shrivel within myself and say wait a minute, Jesus gave the prophecies. According to what I have read, Jesus will arise in my heart when I am in harmony with his interpretation. Prophecy of no private interpretation. Any aspect of the prophecy must be truth. We hear today of such a variety of interpretations of prophecy that if you want to find truth you will not find happiness because where is it? Jesus is the one who has revealed the importance of prophecy because when he gave the picture of the ten virgins, five virgins were without what? Oil.

What is that? Without the Holy Spirit. They were worshiping but not in spirit and in truth. When the bridal party came past who went with the bridal party? The wise virgins. How were they able to understand? Prophecy. They were not confused. They knew exactly what the prophecy was and they followed according to the light that rose in their hearts. If I believe in Jesus yet heed not the Spirit of Prophecy can I be saved? Could the foolish virgins be saved? No they could not. Can I be saved if I do not give close heed to the Spirit of Prophecy? What is prophecy?

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand.

What must they do? They must keep the things written therein. In the book of revelation is the open book of Daniel and there is not one item in Daniel or Revelation that is not important as it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Do we have Jesus? Not if we do not see ourselves as sinful and helpless as totally in need of his enlightenment. With those three points we have a huge field of consideration already displayed to us in long years of the past. We are to believe in that which has once been delivered to the saints.

One minister told me when preparing people for baptism, not to burden these simple minds with the detail of prophecy as some of the dear old ladies can’t comprehend what you are sharing with them. What is so important about the 2300 days or the 1260 days for their salvation? Babylon, medo Persia, Greece and Rome what is that going to do save you from sin? The king of the north and king of the south from Daniel 11, the seven trumpets, the seven seals, the seven churches, is this important for our salvation?

I scratched my head at these kinds of suggestions as there is a scripture which does place prophesy apparently into a secondary position. Apostle Paul spoke of the gifts of the church.

1 Corinthians 12:29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.

Prophets are important but it says I show unto you a more perfect way.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

We might know all the prophecies and we might have all faith, but is prophecy secondary here? It seems to suggest that. If I have all that but if I do not have love, I am nothing. Many people read this and say what is all that to you if you don’t have love? What do they suggest? Love is more important than this. There is a suggestion in reading this that if I don’t have love, there is no point understanding prophecy. It came to me over the years and I pray we can get it clear.

The subject of prophecy was important enough that angels were commissioned by the Father and Christ to come to the prophets and explain these things. The problem in prophecy is not that it is not important, but that there are so many contradictory interpretations of prophecy that it leads to long drawn out arguments to prove that what I believe is right. Have you had to sit through long studies as people are in disagreement on a subject and it goes back and forth in debate? I can’t see any value here, it takes away my enjoyment in Jesus Christ. Is prophecy the problem? It is man’s laborious proof that I am right in what I’m teaching. That is wearisome. What is needed is that it needs to be shared with love.

If I have love I will not make the study of prophecy tedious. I will seek to make it sparkle and shine as it does if correctly researched. The problem in the early Seventh Day Adventist church when the 1888 message came, there was a need of Christ’s righteousness. They had been preaching the law and the prophecy till they became dry as the hills of Gilboa. I have watched how dry you can become if you study prophecy merely for getting facts straight it is exciting for the moment but after a while it goes dry. Pick up in prophecy the love of an angel that came to Daniel and the love that was shining out of the Revelation. Daniel is very discomforted to learn of Israel and the future.

If I say the King of the North is the papacy and the tidings of the north are the pope, what time does that happen? Can they put a date on when the tidings of the north were the pope? When you understand the King of the North is the Arab world and the tidings of the north is Russia do you have a date? Are you living before or after that text? If we get our eschatology wrong we can’t read the rest of the details of the events. If we get the timing wrong, we will misapply the event and the experience to be made in that event. It is very important that we keep the words of prophecy. Not just the prophecy of Daniel and Revelation but the prophecies in the last days.

When the sanctuary has been fully cleansed, the time when the king of the north shall come to his end.

Daniel 12:1 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. 

When Jesus has finished pleading for his people there will be the completion of mercy and grace.

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

When Rome, the power that “shall do according to his own will” in verse 16, pushed itself into the area of the “glorious land” – Palestine, it found the king of the north” – to the north of Palestine and “the king of the south” – Egypt, in conflict. These two powers, one to the north and one to the south of Palestine, are geographically set in Scripture. Within a few decades Rome had destroyed them both, and absorbed their territories. Thus they drop out of the prophetic picture, and we hear no more of them until the prophecy brings us to “the time of the end.” Thus we learn that these two powers, that prophecy geographically sets north and south of the Holy Land, again enter the prophecy. That the kings of “north” and “south” did disappear completely for nearly two millenniums, is one of the outstanding and remarkable facts of history .

Throughout the history of “the iron monarchy of Rome there was no room for north, south, east or west. All was swallowed up within its iron grasp. With the break up of pagan Rome, the power of papal Rome ruled the Middle East until the seventh century when the great Moslem power arose and swallowed up all. Now at “the time appointed” – the time of the end – they again leap onto the stage of prophecy with France’s move into-Egypt in 1798. France wanted to cut the life line between Britain and India. France moved into Egypt, and the “Battle of the Nile” was fought in 1798. Two thousand years before divine prophecy declared: “At the-time of the end shall the king of the south push at him.” The efforts of Egypt were feeble but out of the north came the hoards of Turks. As the prophecy foresaw they-came “like a1wind” as again the prophecy says “with horsemen and with many ships”. The French defeated the first onslaught of the Turks, but thousands more Turks from the “North” turned Napoleon. Now notice carefully: In 1798 we have a triangular war between France and the king of the South and the King of the North, but pray tell me when did the Papacy fight Egypt? What three sided war did the papacy engage-in, in 1798? NONE.

Daniel 11:6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement:

The King of the North was Antiochus Theos. He agreed to put away his wife whose name was Laodice, and her two sons. He was already married, he already had two sons but he put his wife away and her two sons and married Berenice the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus who was the King of the South. The King of the South would cause to unite by marriage the King of the North. Ptolemy gave a huge dowry for Antiochus Theos to marry Berenice.

What happens? We read the intent, but will God permit this to happen?

Daniel 11:6 … but she shall not retain the power of the arm;

The arm that the King of the South reached up to unite with the King of the North but would not be retained.

Daniel 11:6 … neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.

Antiochus Theos and Laodice

According to these words what actually happened? We read that she shall not retain the power of the arm. In other words the Southern King will not retain the power of the arm with Antiochus. Why? What actually happened is Antiochus in a fit of love returned to Laodice his former wife. As he returned in that fit of love, Laodice thought this is not a safe union. What did she do? It said, he – Antiochus – would not stand. Why? Laodice poisoned him.

Not only did Laodice poison him but the scripture says nor his arm. His arm was Berenice from Ptolemy. Neither did she stand. What did Laodice do? She murdered Berenice and as it says there not only his arm which was Berenice but also and he that was born of her. So Berenice’s son was also destroyed by Laodice as well as all that supported them. That’s the actually history that actually transpired.

The King of the South wanted to unite with the North by marriage but this all went badly wrong. Laodice has murdered Berenice and the result of this continues in verses 7 to 9.

Ptolomy Euergetes

Daniel 11:7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: 8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.

What happened here? The branch of her roots – the roots of Berenice was her father; the branch of her father was her brother. When the father died he was succeeded by Ptolemy Euergetes, which was Berenice’s brother. What do you think her brother would do to the King of the North for what has happened to his sister? He gathered an army to avenge her death.

Can you see the interplay here of the two families from all written before it happened? God was orchestrating people in their corrupt ways and using it all to gain His ultimate result.

The army that he [Berenice’s brother] gathered came to the King of the North, who was now the son of Laodice (who had killed Berenice). His name was Seleucus Callinicus [the King of the North]. He was the son of Laodice. Ptolemy the brother of Berenice comes with his army to conquer Seleucus and he prevailed.

What did he do? He [Ptolemy] took over Seleucus’ territory and excited everybody against him. Finally Seleucus was exiled. Having done his terrible work, taking all the goods with him that he had conquered he returned to his own land exiling Seleucus. The reason why he went back to his own land was because he heard of the seditions that were rising up in Egypt. He had to take care of his Egyptian up-risings there.

In short, he plundered Seleucus’ kingdom and took all his treasures back with him. The idols and so on to Egypt. These idols incidentally had been taken by the previous King of the North up to Egypt so they recaptured all the things that had been taken beforehand. Just as according to the prophecy that we read Ptolemy would survive Seleucus who was in exile. He died four years before Ptolemy did.

This is the detail of the actual realities that took place written in prophecy.

The Grecian Empire was teetering back and forth between the King of the North and the King of the South. They tried to unite and they couldn’t and it became a terrible conflict between the two of them. The King of the South had come and returned back to his land, Egypt.

The King of the North

Daniel 11:10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.

You can imagine the conflict that is taking place here is like tit-for-tat. The King of the South had avenged the death of Berenice and now had come and taken all the goods out from the King of the North. Now what does the King of the North do?

Seleucus Callinicus, who we remember had died in exile had two sons. The first of these sons was Seleucus Seranus. As he came to power he was as very cowardly and incapable King and he was finally poisoned. His brother Antiochus Magnus was more capable. He [Antiochus Magnus] came down to the King of the South and stirred up everything against him. He assembled a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come and overflow and pass through. The first brother gathered them and then the other one came down and succeeded to conquer him [The King of the South], because Seleucus Seranus was poisoned. Antiochus Magnus took over and conquered Egypt. He took everything that Egypt had previously taken back home again.

The Grecian Empire was having a lot of in-fighting. As you follow through carefully this is all orchestrated for one objective.

Daniel 11:11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.

The King of the South (Egypt) is moved with choler because of what the King of the North done. He had come down and stirred up against the King of the South and now there was a tit-for-tat again. He was moved with choler and came forth to fight with him even with the King of the North. The King of the North to resist the King of the South rises up a multitude. As he rises up the multitude to resist the King of the South what does the King of the South do? The multitude shall be given into the hand of the King of the South.

Ptolemy Philopator

What actually happened? The King of the South was now Ptolemy Philopator. He had great luxurious wealth and power and he was filled with choler – he retaliated against the King of the North. The King of the North tried to resist Ptolemy. As Ptolemy advanced Antiochus with his great multitude to resist the King of the South was defeated very powerfully. The North was defeated again by the South.

This back and forth situation is laid out. What is written in verse 12 is very interesting;

Daniel 11:12 And when he hath taken away the multitude…

The King of the South had taken away the multitude that was resisting him

Daniel 11:12 … his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.,

He’s trying to strengthen himself but all this power that he exhibited was not going to help him. What was the problem with this man? He was a very passionate man who loved to live in luxury. He loved to exercise his passions and he was a very vicious person – that was the character of Ptolemy Philopator. As he managed to conquer the King of the North which was Antiochus he thought, I managed so great. Instead of holding this victory he began to indulge himself in his passions. He had such a victory that he could have conquered the entire realm and become one king over the Grecian Empire. What has his demise? It was his passions and his luxurious living.

The Egyptian Kingdom was getting dissatisfied with him because of his wrong ways of living and they began to rebel against him from Egypt. Before he suffered that he was moving back down from the North coming through Israel. There he passionately and viciously came into the realm of Jerusalem. He entered into the temple and began to violate the temple. You can imagine how God felt about that so the Jews were persecuted by him as it said he shall cast down many ten thousands. As he was doing all this exercising his vicious character persecuting the Jews and absolutely disgusting the Egyptian people he did not strengthen himself at all. It says this did not strengthen him.

Daniel 11:13 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.

As Ptolemy does all his dirty work and is not strengthened by it he returns back to Egypt. After certain years the King of the North who had restrengthened himself again comes down with a large army. What happened? Ptolemy was again dealt a blow. As he [the King of the North] came down with a great and rich army just before he arrives there Ptolemy dies as a result of his passions.

Who does he leave as his successor? A child king. Here is a child king and Antiochus who is coming down from the North thought, wonderful – now we can strengthen ourselves. He came down and here is a very interesting history as he comes down with his large army and with his riches.

Daniel 11:13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former. 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.

We see a very interesting turn of events. As the King of the North (Antiochus) comes down he thinks, we can conquer Egypt because now there is only a child king there – let’s see what we can do. We shall gather a few other helpers to make sure we do a good job of it. What was written in Daniel 11:14? There shall many stand up against the king of the south.

DANIEL 11:40 “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and-with horsemen, and-with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.”

When Rome, the power that “shall do according to his own will” in verse 16, pushed itself into the area of the “glorious land” – Palestine, it found the king of the north” – to the north of Palestine and “the king of the south” – Egypt, in conflict. These two powers, one to the north and one to the south of Palestine, are geographically set in Scripture.

Within a few decades Rome had destroyed them both, and absorbed their territories. Thus they drop out of the prophetic picture, and we hear no more of them until the prophecy brings us to “the time of the end.” Thus we learn that these two powers, that prophecy geographically sets north and south of the Holy Land, again enter the prophecy. That the kings of “north” and “south” did disappear completely for nearly two millenniums, is one of the outstanding and remarkable facts of history .

Throughout the history of “the iron monarchy of Rome there was no room for north, south, east or west. All was swallowed up within its iron grasp. With the break up of pagan Rome, the power of papal Rome ruled the Middle East until the seventh century when the great Moslem power arose and swallowed up all. Now at “the time appointed” – the time of the end – they again leap onto the stage of prophecy with France’s move into-Egypt in 1798. France wanted to cut the life line between Britain and India. France moved into Egypt, and the “Battle of the Nile” was fought in 1798. Two thousand years before divine prophecy declared: “At the-time of the end shall the king of the south push at him.”

The efforts of Egypt were feeble but out of the north came the hoards of Turks. As the prophecy foresaw they-came “like a1wind” as again the prophecy says “with horsemen and with many ships”. The French defeated the first onslaught of the Turks, but thousands more Turks from the “North” turned Napoleon. Now notice carefully: In 1798 we have a triangular war between France and the king of the South and the King of the North, but pray tell me when did the Papacy fight Egypt? What three sided war did the papacy engage-in, in 1798? NONE.

Yet the world is asleep. The people know not the time of their visitation. {COL 302.6} 

The world is asleep, and as watchmen they are to ring the warning bell to awake the sleepers to their danger. The churches know not the time of their visitation. Often they can best learn the truth through the efforts of the canvasser. Those who go forth in the name of the Lord are His messengers to give to the multitudes who are in darkness and error the glad tidings of salvation through Christ in obeying the law of God.–Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 315. (1900) {CM 10.2} 

The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and His apostles,–the precious last years of grace to the chosen people,–they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord’s messengers. Earthly ambitions absorbed them, and the offer of the spiritual kingdom came to them in vain. So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God. {DA 235.2} 

Alas for those who knew not the time of their visitation! Slowly and regretfully Christ left forever the precincts of the temple. {DA 626.5} 

God speaks to nations and to cities, sending them messages of mercy, which, if accepted, would save them from great calamities. If they would be guided by his voice, he would be their protector, their front guard and their rear ward. But like the Jews they know not the time of their visitation. In their pride of heart they refuse his guidance, and are left to walk in their own counsels, and, like God’s ancient people, to reap the harvest which they have sown. {HS 206.5}

The judgments of God are in our land. The Lord is soon to come. In fire and flood and earthquake, He is warning the inhabitants of this earth of His soon approach. O that the people may know the time of their visitation! We have no time to lose. We must make more determined efforts to lead the people of the world to see that the day of judgment is at hand.” {LS 412.3}