The Fall of Egypt (No. 36)

The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of a pivotal prophecy in world history. It concerned the nation of Egypt. Egypt was used as a key nation in world history for a number of reasons. Firstly it was one of the most ancient of kingdoms and secondly because it represented the conflict of world systems, which were typified in Daniel under the headings the king of the North and the king of the South. The prophecy concerning Egypt is found in Ezekiel 29:1 to 32:32. This prophecy is followed immediately by the warning of the watchmen in Ezekiel 33:1ff. This is a warning to Israel following on from the prophecy concerning the fall of Egypt. This is done to reinforce the point that the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning Egypt is pivotal to the last days. The prophecy has been held up to be a failed prophecy for reasons that shall be explained.

The real reason behind such assertions is because the meaning has been hidden in a key, which is understood in the last days and revealed to the nations by explanatory warnings. This is of itself a prophecy given in Jeremiah 4:15f., as coming from the mountains of Ephraim.

This prophecy interrelates to a series of other prophecies. Any of the well-known prophecies, for example Daniel chapters 2 and 7, could have been chosen to illustrate the sequence and this work could have formed an explanatory rather than a framework text. This was not done in that manner precisely because this text is considered by modern scholarship to be the weakest of the prophecies. For that reason it is used to show the power of prophecy and the far reaching nature of the word of God.

The prophecy concerning Egypt follows on from the prophecy concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1ff. This prophecy relates to the fall of the anointed Covering Cherub (Ezek. 28:14), the Morning Star Azazel or Satan (the RSV etc. attempts to make it appear that the entity was placed with a guardian cherub, but the KJV is correct; see also The Interlinear Bible). Thus the fall of Satan is preliminary to the problems of Egypt, but also becomes interrelated to the fall of Babylon as we will see from Isaiah 14:1ff. below.

Phase 1 – Part 1

The interrelated nature of the prophecies is perhaps exemplified by the placement of the text of Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21 between Exodus 9:35 and 10:1 in the Soncino commentaries. There are a number of important observations to be linked with this text. Ezekiel 28:25-26 talks of the restoration of Israel and the restoration is seen as being linked to the fall of Egypt from these texts. The commentaries by Kimchi on verse 25 hold that it declares the retribution of the Lord on those who had harmed Israel. Rashi holds verse 26 to My servant Jacob to refer to:

Exiled Israel who will be restored to their land, a land spacious and ample with undefined borders, as promised by God to the patriarch Jacob (cf. Gen. 28:14).

The warning to Egypt commences in Ezekiel 29.

Ezekiel 29:1-3 In the tenth year [of the reign of Zedekiah (Kimshi)], in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; ³ speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it.'

The great dragon was held to refer to the king of Egypt with the Nile representing Egypt itself (by Rashi and Kimshi, Soncino). We are thus dealing with the concept of rulership of Egypt. The real rulership of Egypt stemmed from the angelic Host as they were given dominion over the nations by God (see below). The rulership of Egypt rested in Prince Mastema according to the midrashim and traditions (see esp. Jubilees 48:13ff.). Thus Yahweh fought the battle between the forces of God and the forces of the fallen Host under Mastema. The Canaanite rulership was in Prince Yam and the battles in the wilderness and for Israel occurred between Yahweh and the Host on behalf of God.

The concept of the El Elyon as Yahovah (Jehovah) of Hosts being superior to Yahweh (or Yahovah) is a very old concept from the Pentateuch and which is painstakingly disguised. Hayman, Monotheism: A Misused Word in Jewish Studies, Journal of Jewish Studies 42, 1991, pages 6-7 and also Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God, Harper, San Francisco, 1990, page 7, both note the texts in question. Smith contends that the original God of Israel was El. This is because El is not a Yahwistic name. Hence El was the original chief God of the group named Israel. Smith finds support from Genesis 49:24-25, which presents El names separate from the mention of YHVH in verse 18. Also he notes that Deuteronomy 32:8-9 casts YHVH in the role of one of the sons of El here called El Elyon:

When the Most High (elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance, when [H]e separated humanity, [H]e fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of divine beings. For Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage (Smith, p. 7).

The Soncino translates the Masoretic Text (MT) as according to the number of the children of Israel. Thus the nexus is confined to the twelve tribes and the Canaanite territories.

Rabbi Rashbam holds that The Most High assigned to the peoples their allotted territories separating them after the death of Noah. No mention is made of the size of the territory belonging to the other descendants of Noah. Thus, the extensive nature of the allocation is acknowledged even by the MT and commentaries. However, the text appears to have been altered. The MT reads bene yisrael where the LXX reads aggelon theou and the Qumran reads bny 'ilhym [or beny eliym] (cf. Smith n. 37 noting also Meyer, and Skehan BASOR 136 (1954): 12-15). Hayman also (p. 6) in claiming support for a transition from Yahweh to Elohim holds the original text to have probably read:

When the most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the gods (-!*1" / .*-!*1"). And Yahweh's portion was his people Jacob, Israel his allotted heritage.

Hayman notes that:

… the MT has removed the reference here to the gods or the angels and substituted 'the sons of Israel'...

Footnote 23 has the assertion that it identifies the number of the nations (Gen. 10) with the number of Jacob's (Israel's) sons (Gen. 46:27).

That is not the interpretation of the commentaries. The number of the sons of Israel was 12. The number was also that of Canaan and his eleven sons (Sh). From above, Rashbam clearly distinguishes the other territories. Hayman is thus in error. Hayman also holds verse 9 of the MT to identify Yahweh with Elyon by reading %&%* 8-( *, whereas the LXX presupposes a Hebrew text which had %&%* 8-( *%*&. Hayman notes Lemche as saying:

The Hebrew text identifies the "Most High" (Elyon) with Yahweh, while the Greek version apparently ranges Yahweh among the sons of the Most High, that is, treats him as a member of the pantheon of gods who are subordinate to the supreme God, El Elyon (Hayman, p. 6, quoting Lemche Ancient Israel, p. 226).

Hayman sates that:

In post-exilic and later Jewish sources, of course, there is no awareness that El Elyon [used only in Deut. 32:8; Gen. 14:18 and Num. 24:16] was ever anything other than Yahweh himself, but the pattern of belief revealed in this text persisted.

Hayman thinks the idea that God assigned the nations is of Canaanite origin having similar ideas in Greek religion. He supports this by reference to the seventy sons of Athirat in the Baal/Anat epic, (J.C.L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends, Edinburgh, 1977, p. 63). The association with Greek religion is drawn from Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, London, 1974, Vol. I, p. 187. This idea that God assigned each of the seventy nations of earth to one of the angelic Host is not Canaanitic in origin. From the references the Greeks also held the view. The Israelites also used the structure to establish their system of government at Sinai before they entered Canaan. The entire system was designed as a copy of the celestial structure as we see from Hebrews 8:5. The seventy elders were modelled on the concept of the outer council of the Host. This number itself forms the basis for the allocation of the nations. The idea is also exilic being found in Daniel. Michael was held to be one of the chief princes (Dan. 10:13). Messiah is prince of princes (Dan. 8:25). Hence if Messiah has a name in the OT it is Michael.

There was held to be a prince of the nation of Persia who withstood the Angel of God for twenty-one days (Dan. 10:20). These princes are part of the fallen Host as they fight against the Lord's messengers, establishing in sequence the empires prophesied to occur in Daniel 2 and 7. Daniel 10:20 states there was also a prince of Grecia that would come after the prince of Persia. The being that spoke to Daniel had only Michael in support.

Hayman says the knowledge of who these angels originally were is lost in the tradition, although Enoch seems explicit enough. He seems to incorrectly limit the concept. Moreover, the use of Yahweh is not confined to one entity as we have seen from the texts above. There is also a superior Yahweh of Hosts and a subordinate Yahweh of Israel. This subordinationist concept runs throughout the Bible. It is expressed in the terms Son of God or Sons of God. There is no doubt that the God Most High is held to have had sons from Genesis 6:4 and Job 2:1 where Satan is among the Sons of God. Job 38:7 shows the elohim were in ranks of Morning Stars and Sons of God generally. Certainly from Proverbs 30:4, God has a son in particular. From Proverbs 30:5, God is identified as Eloah. From Job 40:2, Eloah is the Almighty. From Job 37:22-23 Eloah, the Almighty is terrible majesty. Thus the word for God in the singular refers to God the Father. Job 37:14 appears to relate El and the works of El to the disposition of Eloah who caused the light of His cloud to shine. Thus the El here is the El of the cloud who is subordinate to Eloah. Hence El who is the cloud of Israel (and hence the Angel of YHVH) acts at the disposition of Eloah or Elyon.

Thus the later rabbinical commentaries appear to seek to elevate the Yahweh of Israel. Hayman translates the text on the Shema from Oxford MS. 147 as edited by Saul Lieberman (Midrash Debarim Rabbah, Jerusalem, 1940, p. 65):

Hear, O Israel (Deut. 6:4). This refers to Lam. 3:24 - 'the portion of the Lord, says my soul'. What is 'the portion of the Lord'? When the Holy One, Blessed be He, shared out his world to the nations of the world, as it says, When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance (Deut. 32:8), and they each chose their own god, one chose for itself Michael, one Gabriel, yet another chose the sun and the moon. But Israel chose for itself the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is said, For the Lord's portion is his people, etc. (Deut. 32:8).

Two points follow from this text. The first is that from the text was understood the allocation of the nations to the Host as being beyond the twelve tribes where it is attempted to be confined by a superficial view of the MT. This seems to show that the MT has been altered post-Qumran. Also the commentary seems to reverse the allocation from the nations to the princes to that of the nations choosing whom they would worship and more particularly that Michael and Gabriel would allow such activity in areas of their concern. Hayman points out the danger of the identification of Michael and Gabriel with pagan gods. The text in Daniel clearly states that Michael stands for Israel; hence, the rabbinical commentary may perhaps be an observation of an aberrant practice elsewhere.

Also the Midrash (and also from Deut. R cf. Lieberman, p. 68; cf. P. Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen, Berlin, 1975, pp. 47f.) as quoted by Hayman noted that Holy One as descending to Sinai. Thus the Holy One of Israel is confused with the subordinate Yahweh (Yahovah) of Israel that is being discussed.

When the Holy One, Blessed be He, descended to Mount Sinai, says R. Ammi from Jaffa, there descended with him 22,000 of the ministering angels, as it says 0!1: *5-! .*;"9 .*%-! ",9 (Ps. 68:18). What is 0!1:? The most beautiful and praiseworthy amongst them, namely, Michael and his group and Gabriel and his group. And Israel looked at them and saw that they were praiseworthy and beautiful and they were struck dumb. And when the Holy One, Blessed be He, saw them, he said to them, Do not go astray after one of these angels who came down with me; they are all my servants. I am the Lord your God.

Hayman considers that there was a real and practicing Jewish system of angel worship mentioned in non-Jewish texts. Hayman notes (30) the Kerygma Petrou quoting:

Neither worship him in the manner of the Jews; for they also, who think they alone know God, do not understand, worshipping angels, the months and the moon (cf. E Hennecke (tr. R. McL. Wilson), New Testament Apocrypha London, 1965, Vol. II, p. 100) (Hayman also quotes Col. 2:18 in support of this contention).

The purpose of the midrashim was considered to downgrade the angels and stress Israel's superiority over them. The concept is like that of the fundamentalist sects of today that lay stress on the inferiority of the angelic Host and their subjection from the misuse of 1Corinthians 6:3 ignoring Christ's comment in Luke 20:36 regarding their equality. Moreover, there is a requirement to be confessed before the angels of God from Luke 12:8-9. Thus they could hardly be considered of inferior status from the NT. Hurtado (One God One Lord, SCM Press, 1988, p. 39) ably refutes the contentions of Jewish angel worship from the Kerygma Petrou (p. 33; aimed at refuting the feasts). He argues correctly that divine agency operates where God is a unique figure over beings who act at His behest as for example the grand vizier of the imperial court and that this concept operated within the traditional Jewish concern for the uniqueness of God. In other words the Angel of Yahweh acted as vice regent at the behest of God and all angels acted as rulers under divine agency. None of the chief agent figures were seen as sharing the unique veneration due to God alone, or that Jewish Monotheism was fundamentally modified by the interest shown in these figures (Hurtardo, p. 19).

Ezekiel 29 continues:

Ezekiel 29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your scales.

Rashi and Kimshi hold that the words the fish of thy rivers refers to the fact that the princes and the common people will perish with the king (or the ruler here represented as a dragon; see Soncino). Job 41:15 states quite categorically of Leviathan that his scales are his pride. Thus the removal of the dragon is also the downfall of his Host who adhere to him in pride, perhaps of his strength or self-reliance or elevation of will in rebellion (there is no softness in the scales of his underbelly (Isaiah da Trani)).

Ezekiel 29:5 And I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall upon the open field, and not be gathered and buried. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food.

The text into the wilderness is held by Kimshi to refer to the fact that the people are to fall in land battles. Fish cannot live on dry land and thus the removal of their basis of support underlies this concept. The spiritual nature of the support in that the river is a spiritual system and the fish are representative of people is not fully developed, but is nevertheless understood by the great Jewish authorities.

Ezekiel 29:6 "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;

Israel had, throughout its history, looked upon Egypt instead of God. Generally this was when they were to be dealt with for their sins using the nations, which God had chosen to raise up from the north (see also Soncino; and cf. Isa. 36:6).

Ezekiel 29 continues:

Ezekiel 29:7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to shake;

Once a man's support is gone he is forced to stand alone so says Rashi and Kimshi (Soncino).

Ezekiel 29:8-11 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast; ⁹ and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,' [pride is an offence to God punished by humiliation cf. Soncino] ¹⁰ therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia [From Migdol or the fortress near Pelusium on the northern border (cf. Ex. 14:2; Jer. 44:1)] to Syene or Sewneh or Assouan on the border of Ethiopia. ¹¹ No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years (emphasis added).

This period of forty years (cf. Ezek. 4:6 where the desolation of Judea is predicted for a similar period) is a key to understanding the prophecy. There is also an understanding that this period relates to the promised famine in Egypt. Egypt was prophesied (according to tradition; the Midrash) to have forty-two years of famine in the days of Joseph; but at the end of the second year (cf. Gen. 45:6) Jacob migrated to Egypt and the famine ceased. Rashi and Kimshi held that the remaining forty years would be suffered over this period; see Soncino. The significance is that this text was always understood to have a split meaning or dual application. The concept is that Israel is a deliverer in the form of Messiah in the last days, as the seed of Jacob. The recovery of Egypt was foretold through other prophets (cf. Isa. 19:24; Jer. 46:26).

Ezekiel 29:12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries.

The state of desolation in Egypt will be so extreme that it will appear patently so even in comparison with other lands which have been ravaged by an invading army (Soncino).

Ezekiel 29:13 "For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered;

The Soncino makes the following comment on this text: After forty years Egypt will be restored, though only to rank as a weak kingdom with its former pride shattered. The restoration at the end of the period named probably coincides with the decline of the Babylonian empire. The end of both systems is thus coincidental – one being used to destroy the other.

Ezekiel 29:14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.

I will restore the fortunes is rendered in the Soncino: I will turn the captivity (the dual meaning is noted in Ezek. 16:53). Land of their origin is rendered by Rashi and Kimshi as the land of their sojourn. Pathros or the south land was the name of Upper Egypt. Herodotus considers it to be the place from where Egyptian rule developed (Soncino).

Ezekiel 29:15-16 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord God."

Kimshi notes this as a lack of trust in God by putting their trust in Egypt (Soncino). Because Egypt was a source of pride and stumbling to Israel, they would be made so low that they would never again be equal to other nations. They would not only be low but also inferior to all (Soncino; see also Ezek. 21:28 and Num. 5:15). The phrase they will know is taken (by Metsudath David) to be the nations in general.

Ezekiel 29:17-18 In the twenty-seventh year [from the Seder Olam this is understood as the twenty seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar or 578 BCE, modern scholars note this as from verse 1 i.e. 586 BCE hence 570 BCE], in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labour hard against Tyre; every head was made bald [by carrying loads (R, K)] and every shoulder was rubbed bare [by heavy burdens; they were worn out by the length of the siege (R, K)]; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labour that he had performed against it [The spoil of Tyre was carried away by inundation from the sea (R, K)].

The ancient system is to be removed and no trace is to be left. This will become obvious as global warming and the wars of the last days coupled with earthquakes and tsunamis wipe out the civilisations of this world.

Ezekiel 29:19-20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil; it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. ²⁰ I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he laboured, because they worked for me, say the Lord God.

The text they wrought for me or because they worked for me is curiously interpreted as because of the evil they wrought unto Me in becoming the unreliable support of Israel (R, K following the Targum). These commentators, following the Targum, thus transpose the concept of God using the nation, which is of itself a Gentile system, as a punishment on Egypt. A.J. (Soncino) thus does not understanding that all nations were God's instruments, including Babylon.

Ezekiel 29:21 "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Kimshi understood the text to refer to Cyrus who is termed God's anointed, i.e. the Messiah (cf. Isa. 14:1; see Soncino). Kimshi understood that the restoration of Egypt was to coincide with the dawn of Egypt's release from captivity. Thus the rabbinical commentators understood that this was a dual prophecy, which related to the restoration. The Soncino notes that:

Ezekiel predicts in general terms that in the future Israel will be restored to his former glory.

Thus the sequence was understood to go beyond the Babylonians. Here we have the pivotal point of the prophecy being established. This attack on Egypt can be established with absolute historical accuracy and of itself forms the commencement of the dating system. The year in question is 605 BCE. Egypt had in fact been given into the hands of the Assyrians from 669-663 BCE. This Assyrian invasion was to be taken up in the prophecy but did not of itself form the pivotal date and thus was mentioned after the subsequent invasion by Nebuchadnezzar and not before that invasion as one would have expected. The explanation will become obvious later. Again and importantly from these conflicts it is highly unlikely that an Israelite resettlement from 667-665 BCE would have taken place with a major campaign under way in the south.

More importantly it is from these invasions that a horn springs forth in Israel (Cyrus to the rabbis; but as the Lord's anointed it was sequential over the nations) and speaks so that the nations know that God rules (v. 21). Ezekiel was dumb and his speech was held for prophecy. God was also silent until He dealt with Israel (from Ezek. 3:26-27 and 24:27). The prophecies concerning other nations were from Ezekiel 29 to 32. Ezekiel 33 then is the Watchmen chapter for the warning of Israel. The warning of Israel in the last days and the subsequent restoration is the major subject of Ezekiel's prophecies. It is absurd to suggest that the prophecies of the nations from Ezekiel 29 to 32 are confined to 669-525 BCE and are incomplete, and then suggest that Ezekiel deals with End-Time and Restoration or Millennial prophecies. Ezekiel is by this reasoning rendered meaningless. Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:1-3 The word of the Lord came to me: ²"Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Wail, 'Alas the day!' ³ For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

No date is assigned for this prophecy. This text is similar wording to Joel 2:1-2 speaking of the last days. We are dealing here with the time of doom for the nations. This passage does not refer to a nation but to nations. God dealt with Egypt but this prophecy is expansive and refers to the time when God will deal with the world nations and their system of which Egypt was archetypal. Hence the prophecy refers to the time of the end. Thus the prophecy extends over a long period and not just over the immediate conquests from 605 BCE as might have been supposed. Egypt, a world power and centre of pagan worship, is to lose both attributes. Babylon is the instrument (see Soncino).

The day of the Lord in verse 3 is understood to be:

… the occasion when God's judgement will be passed upon the world (Soncino) a day of clouds. As the clouds herald a storm, so will the day of the Lord bring drastic punishment upon those who deserve it.the time of the nations. All heathen peoples will be involved Egypt among them (Soncino).

Ezekiel continues:

Ezekiel 30:4-9 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down. ⁵ Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud [see also Ezek. 27:10], and all [the mingled people cf. Jer. 25:24] Arabia, and Libya [actually Cub a nation that has not been identified], and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. [Here we are dealing with an extended league of nations who stand with Egypt in those times, the identity of some being only guessed at]. ⁶ "Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, say the Lord God. ⁷ And she shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries and her cities shall be in the midst of cites that are laid waste. ⁸ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. ⁹ "On that day swift messengers shall go forth from me to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, lo, it comes!

Lofthouse comments: God speaks as though He had come in person into Egypt, like another and more terrible Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish commentators more correctly explain that it is at My will, on My orders (Soncino).

The consensus appears to be also that the tidings of the approaching doom will be of as much concern to the Ethiopian as it was at Egypt's collapse. The Ethiopians and the lands to the south will not escape this terror.

This prophecy then relates directly to the Babylonian invasion of 605 BCE – thus establishing the concept of an extended time-frame pivotal to that invasion. Ezekiel continues:

Ezekiel 30:10-12 Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ¹¹ He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations [cf. 28:7; 31:12; 32:12], shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. ¹²And I will dry up the Nile, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I, the Lord, have spoken [The Nile has not been known to be dry to date].

Egypt is thus sent into captivity because it has been a source of religious stumbling to Israel and the world.

Ezekiel 30:13:16 "Thus says the Lord God: I will destroy the idols, and put an end to the images, in Memphis [Ptah and Apis]; there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ I will make Pathos a desolation, and will set fire to Zoan [Tanis or San on the eastern bank of the second arm of the Nile (cf. Num. 13:22; Ps.78:12,43)], and will execute acts of judgment upon [No] Thebes [Termed No-amon in Nahum 3:8, cf. Amon of No, Jer. 46:25, being associated with the worship of Amon]. ¹⁵And I will pour my wrath upon [Sin] [probably] Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes. ¹⁶And I will set fire to Egypt; [Sin] Pelusium shall be in great [convulsion] agony; [No] Thebes shall be [rent asunder] breached, and its walls broken down [literally Noph the adversaries of by day].

The actual wording of the text is found in the Soncino. The concepts are not understood by the commentators because the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs was not available to them. The Book of the Dead is as we now know: The Chapters of the Coming Forth By Day. Thus the adversaries of by day had a religious significance not understood at that time.

Ezekiel 30:17-19 The young men of On [or Aven; Heliopolis the centre of sun worship, hence Beth-shemesh or the House of the sun; see Soncino] and of Pibeseth [or Bubastis, Tel Basta, the city of the cat shaped idol, near Cairo] shall fall by the sword; and the women shall go into captivity. ¹⁸ At Tehaphnehes [see also Jer. 2:16; 43:7 ff] the day shall be dark, when I break there the dominion of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters [Targum renders the inhabitants of her towns] shall go into captivity. ¹⁹ Thus I will execute acts of judgment upon Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord." [Thus vindicating the Sovereignty of God].

All the cities enumerated from verses 13-18 were centres of different forms of idolatry. The reference here in verse 18 is to the covering of Egypt by a cloud and her daughters shall go into captivity. Specifically it states there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. But there were princes after the fall of Egypt. This is either a false prophecy or it deals with an extended time-frame involving the last days. Bearing in mind that we are dealing with the sequence from the fall of the Covering Cherub symbolised by Tyre, and that Egypt, which is symbolic of the world systems, was destroyed as the wages of the labour involved in the destruction. The symbolism develops and should be interpreted to be the sequence leading up to the Messianic advent, where he would preach deliverance to the captive etc. and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18) as a primary activity within the period involved and finally take captivity captive (Eph. 4:8). Israel under the cloud, which was and is Messiah, would be set in its own land and joined with aliens who will cleave to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take captive those who were their captors and they will rule over those who oppressed them (Isa. 14:1-2). This action commenced from the invasion of the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, but the end result will be also the final destruction of the Babylonians and their religious system (Rev. 17:5 and 18:2), and the whole world will be at peace (Isa. 14:3-7).

This prophecy in Isaiah 14 is the well-known prophecy that relates not only to Babylon but also to the destruction of Satan, the current Morning Star or Lightbringer, in the Messianic advent (Isa. 14:8-21). The city referred to in Josephus, Acts of the Jews XV, II, 2, was another city on the Tigris adjoining Baghdad, both of which were also later referred to as Babylon. When Revelation 18:2 was written Babylon had been long destroyed yet it was referred to in latter-day prophecy. Similarly Peter wrote from Babylon (1Pet. 5:13) where Satan's seat was. Thus the prophecies connect the entire structure of Daniel's statue of Daniel 2 as extensions of the Babylonian system. Revelation could hardly be referring as a future event to something that had happened some 600 years beforehand. That is hardly prophecy. Moreover, we are talking about world religious systems, which are conjoint with the civil empires. There is no doubt whatsoever that the empires referred to in Daniel 7:3-8 are explanatory to the structure in Daniel 2 and that they embrace the Roman system as the empire of iron and that the empire of iron and clay was its successor. That empire can only have been the Holy Roman Empire. Moreover, Daniel 7:9 shows that these systems proceed into the last days and the casting down of the thrones before the Ancient of Days and the subsequent judgment.

Daniel 7:11 also interprets who the horn of Israel was as referred to in Ezekiel 29:21. The little horn of Daniel 7:8,11 was the false prophet at the last days and the destruction of the beast. The other beasts or nation systems of Daniel 2 were allowed to live a little longer, but their dominion was taken away. This is the millennial restoration of Messiah.

Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:20-22 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²¹ "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. ²² Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.

The key to the prophecy is given here. The arms of the Egyptians are broken. Both arms are broken and one arm was broken beforehand to weaken Egypt. The symbolism is given this way to make it evident that the prior break under the Assyrians was not the pivotal invasion to which the prophecy referred. It is axiomatic that a nation’s arms are broken by the defeat of its forces, which are themselves referred to as arms of that nation's force. Thus we are looking at three invasions of Egypt; the first one being a preliminary action. Egypt was conquered by the king of Nubia in 750 BCE, who became the first pharaoh of the 25th dynasty. (See Colin McEvedy, World History Fact Finder, pp. 20ff. for easy references.) Thus the Nubians were involved.

The Soncino holds that the prior break was the advance of Pharaoh Hophra to relieve Jerusalem, while it was besieged by the Babylonians. The Egyptian army withdrew and the Babylonians renewed the attack (Jer. 27:5 ff.). Egypt's decisive defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in 2Kings 24:7. The scope of the prophecy is larger than this would allow. The prophecy involves the Assyrians who were defeated and absorbed by the Babylonians, hence the break, which was irreparable, probably preceded the minor defeat of Hophra mentioned in Soncino.

Egypt had become a powerful kingdom after Ahmose, prince of Thebes had defeated the Hyksos (c. 1600-1500 BCE) and expelled them from Egypt and thus founding the so-called 18th dynasty, which marks the beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom. Pharaohs Tutmoses I and III of Egypt (1500-1400 BCE) took Egyptian power to its greatest extent by conquering Palestine and Syria up to the Euphrates and Nubia up to the fourth cataract in the Nile (McEvedy, p. 16). The 18th dynasty lost Syria and petered out with the religious reformations of Akhnaton and his son Tutankhamen. The 19th dynasty was commenced by Rameses (Ramesses) I. Ramesses II attempted to reconquer Syria in the 13th century BCE but was rebuffed by the Hittites. In the 12th century BCE the Egyptians under Ramesses III, first pharaoh of the 20th dynasty, rebuffed an invasion of the Pereset or Peoples of the Sea who then settled in Israel. Israel had to recognise their supremacy as the Philistines. Their success seems to have been due to iron weapons. Thus the iron-age began.

In the 11th century BCE Egypt became divided between the pharaohs of the 21st dynasty ruling from Tanis in the Delta and the High Priests of Thebes ruling Upper Egypt. Nubia was independent. This period saw and perhaps enabled the emergence of the monarchy under Saul in Israel. Saul's task was formidable as he had to unite Israel and free it from the overlordship of the Philistines. The task was thus set by God as being one of systematic consolidation of the Levant, firstly by Saul and then by David, so that the Temple could be built by Solomon.

The period under David and Solomon saw Israel at its greatest. However, the unity could not exist without sound leadership. In 924 BCE Shishonk, first pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty, extracted tribute from Judah and Israel. Egypt's weakening of Judah and Israel in fact sowed the seeds of its own destruction.

The 9th century BCE saw Assyria make a new bid for supremacy under Shalmaneser III who fought a coalition under Hadad of Hadad of Damascus, Irhuleni of Hamath and Ahab of Israel.

In 879 BCE Assurnasirpal II built the second Assyrian capital at Kalah (modern Nimrud) replacing Nineveh.

In 841 BCE Shalmaneser III takes tribute from the Levant including Israel. In 806 BCE Adadnirari III took Damascus but Assyrian supremacy in the Levant collapsed because of the war with the kingdom of Urartu or Ararat, north of Assyria, which had formed as a power in the 9th century BCE (see McEvedy, p. 19).

Thus we return to the conditions that set the scene for the emergence of the major power struggles between North and South in the 8th century BCE. As we said, in 750 BCE, the king of Nubia conquered Egypt establishing the 25th dynasty. In 732 BCE the Assyrian Tiglath Pileser III annexed Damascus making Israel and Judah tributary states. In 729 BCE Tiglath Pileser III annexed Babylon and Shalmaneser V (from 724-721 BCE) annexed Israel in 722 BCE. His successor Sargon II deported the ten tribes.

In 710 BCE the Cimmerians invaded trans-Caucasia from the Russian steppes. They devastated Urartu and the kingdom of Phrygia in Anatolia. In 705 BCE Sargon II was killed fighting the Cimmerians. In 701 BCE Sennacharib's army unexpectedly withdrew from a punitive campaign in Judah. In 720 BCE Sargon II had established the Assyrian capital at Dur Sharrukin or Fort Sargon. In 701 BCE Sennacherib abandoned Fort Sargon and made Nineveh the capital again. There is thus a seeming reconcentration on the prophecies concerning Nineveh.

In 669-663 BCE the Assyrian empire reached its furthest extent with the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. A satellite 26th dynasty was established at Sais in the Egyptian Delta.

During the 7th century BCE with the rising power of Assyria the Phoenicians recognised the suzerainty of Carthage among the western colonists. The Scyths also invaded trans-Caucasia during this period. The Assyrians were also under threat from the Elamites, one of the tribes to the east in Persia.

In 646 BCE Assurbanipal crushed Elam which was occupied by the Persians on their retreat.

In 626 BCE the downfall of the Assyrian empire began with the revolt of Babylon on the death of Assurbanipal.

In 614 BCE Assur was sacked by the Medes. In 612 BCE Nineveh was sacked by the Babylonians and Medes. In 610 BCE the Babylonians overthrew the last Assyrian army at Harran and ended the Assyrian state.

This phase marked the pivotal point in the empires of history. The prophecy of Daniel 2 deals with the emergence of the new world kingdoms commencing with the Babylonian head of gold under Nebuchadnezzar. The background to the later empires was emerging from behind the scenes. During the period 750-701 BCE there had been waves of Greek immigrants to southern Italy and Sicily founding Syracuse, Catania, Reggio, Tarentum and Sybaris. In the 7th century BCE they emigrated to the shores of Propontis or the Sea of Marmara: this period saw the foundation of Chalcedon, Byzantium, Abydos and Lampascus.

Rome had been established, traditionally, from 753 BCE being associated with the emergence of the Etruscan city-states to the north. Thus the stage is set for the emergence of the empires of Daniel 2, the four great beasts of Daniel 7 and 8. The sequence is first set by the detailing of the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. This kingdom was to be bound as a stump and left until seven times had passed over it (Dan. 4:25) so that it could be demonstrated that the Most High rules the kingdom of men (Dan. 4:26).

This prophecy was kept in the first instance for seven years, but the time sequence of seven times refers to the period of seven times 360 days (a prophetic year) or 2,520 years. This prophecy is important and will become evident as we progress.

The major or key battle for the prophecy then begins from Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BCE. Thus, the first arm of Egypt was broken by the Babylonians, having been broken previously by the Assyrians. Pharaoh Necho had marched to support the Assyrians at the battle of Harran in 610 BCE being subjugated by them in 669-663 BCE. He was opposed by Israel and killed King Josiah at Megiddo (609 BCE). Thus the significance of Megiddo is established in the last conflict.

In 605 BCE Necho of Egypt was defeated by the Babylonian king at the battle of Carchemish. Thus, Egypt was conquered but was not entered by the army. This key battle marked the invasion by the Babylonians, which then involved a structured period of some forty years. Egypt then began to build its independence again. In 567 BCE, some 38 years after the first defeat, Nebuchadnezzar again defeated Egypt. Thus the first forty-year period of the broken arms was completed.

In 598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and deported Jews to Babylonia but left the Jewish state intact. In 587 BCE he again took Jerusalem and destroyed the first Temple. Thus the significance of the prophecy can be seen to have direct relation to the Temple and cover the key nations involved. The full significance will emerge as we develop the prophecy.

Babylon was itself conquered by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus whom God raised up for the purpose not only of destroying the Babylonians, but also of restoring Israel and establishing the basis for the reconstruction of the Temple.

This activity involving Cyrus was also pivotal in the understanding of the sequence of the last days. From this restoration and reconstruction, the period for the ministry of Messiah was to be determined and interlinked to the Sign of Jonah and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

The restoration and the destruction of Jerusalem followed on from the prophecy of the seventy weeks of years (Dan. 9:25). The seventy weeks of years ceased with the destruction in 70 CE. It did not end in 27 CE as is wrongly taught by modern Christianity.

The forty years, from Messiah's death to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE, thus completed the second element of the first phase of the sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). The phases of the Sign of Jonah span the last forty jubilees of the 6,000 year period, a cycle of some 2,000 years. The symbolism of the three periods of forty jubilees totalling 6,000 years was identified in the life of Moses as outlined in the paper Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105).

Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:23-26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. ²⁴And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. ²⁵ I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know that I am the Lord. When I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, she shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt; ²⁶ and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Thus the power of Egypt was to be broken. From Ezekiel 30:26, their power was broken so that they might know that God is the Most High God. Assyria, itself proud and the example of self-exaltation and arrogance, was held up to Egypt as the example or prototype of Egypt's doom. Ezekiel 31 continues.

Ezekiel 31:1-4 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude; "Whom are you like in your greatness? ³ Behold, I will liken you to [the Assyrian was (MT)] a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, [the term ashshuris emended into te'ashshur, the tree mentioned in Isa.41:19 translated larch; see also 27:6]. ⁴ The waters nourished it, and the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow round the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the forest

This text refers to the subterranean reservoir of waters from which the trees drew their nourishment. The Soncino continues this thought process that the great rivers not only filled the great rivers for the cedar but also filled the smaller canals which nourished the other trees. Thus Assyria received an exceptionally large supply so that its might was increased above theirs. Thus the allocation of the strength of the nations is being discussed. The concept of the nation systems is not the thing being discussed; it is the rulers of those systems which derived their power, originally, from the Spirit of God.

Ezekiel 31:5-14 So it towered high above all the trees of the forest; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots. ⁶ All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters. ⁸The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, not the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees in Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God. ¹⁰"Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds and its heart was proud of its height. ¹¹ I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ¹²Foreigners, the most terrible of the nations, will cut it down and leave it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches will fall, and its boughs will lie broken in all the water courses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth will go forth from its shadow and leave it. ¹³Upon its ruin will dwell all the birds of the air, and upon its branches will be all the beasts of the field. ¹⁴ All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height; for they are all given over to death, to the nether world among mortal men, with those who go down to the Pit.

The confusion caused by this text is significant. Assyria is used as a prototype of the fall of Egypt and yet the inheritors of the Assyrians, namely the Babylonians, whom the Greeks termed also Assyrians, were to be the instrument. Furthermore the Babylonians were to be the head of gold of Daniel 2 which was the start of a series of empires, which themselves would be destroyed and replaced by the Messianic kingdom. The significance is thus difficult to follow in the simple terms of nation against nation. It must be understood that God appoints the Host and allocates power and punishment.

This text shows a much deeper meaning to the prophecy than at first might be supposed.

The significance of the rebellion of the Host is clearly alluded to by the bracketing of the key texts with direct references to the anointed Lucifer or Lightbearer – the current Morning Star. The drinking of water is a direct reference to the allocation of the Holy Spirit from Jesus Christ to mankind. The Host had that Spirit and rebelled, attempting to overthrow God. The Spirit, channelled through the elohim of the Host, caused the trees or stars of the Host to grow great. Mankind will be given that Spirit and will be guided by the horror of the results of the rebellion. The fact that the Spirit was given to the Host and caused them to grow great should not be misconstrued as contributing to the pride of Satan and hence a cause of evil. The greatness of the Host attributed to the Holy Spirit is not a cause of evil. The fact that the elect can sin in spite of their possession of the Spirit is the same concept. The Spirit is not a cause of evil. Free moral agency does not cause sin; it merely permits the misuse of power even in those who have the Holy Spirit. Thus Satan and Christ could sin and Satan did sin.

The elect are to partake of the waters of the Spirit, which is referred to as waters.

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation (KJV).

God's promise to Jacob was given at Isaiah 44:3 where God said:

Isaiah 44:3 I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit out upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring (KJV).

The Spirit is poured out being likened to water. These springs of water are noted in Isaiah 49:10 which is quoted in Revelation 7:16 where the Lamb shall lead the elect to living fountains of water. This is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit and the fact that it is channelled through the intermediary elohim of the Host. The Lord is the fountain of living water (Jer. 17:13). This is the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1). From God it is then channelled to each of the Host through His intermediary elohim, in our case Jesus Christ. Christ said that from him living waters flowed (Jn. 4:10-14; 7:38; cf. Isa. 12:3; 55:1; 58:11; Ezek. 47:1) speaking of the Spirit (Jn. 7:39). Christ developed the concept of the perennial waters of the restoration from Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13 where God was the fountain of living water, and also Zechariah 14:8. Christ's voice is as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15). In the restoration those fountains of living waters shall flow from Jerusalem (Zech. 14:18) issuing from the sanctuary (Ezek. 47:12). There is an angel of the waters from Revelation 16:5.

The comments in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation have a literal and a spiritual connotation. Israel is spiritually cleaned by water from Ezekiel 36:25. The elect partake of the water of life without price (Rev. 22:17). This is the foundational understanding of baptism and rebirth in the Holy Spirit as referred to in Matthew 28:19-20.

The struggle of the spiritual powers is also noted in Zechariah 9:9-17 in direct reference to Messiah. Messiah will liberate Israel and establish it forever. The significant references in this text are in verse 11:

Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit where there is no water (KJV).

The reference to the pit where there is no water is again a reference to the waters of the Spirit, which is withheld from the pit and the fallen Host; thus giving emphasis to the concept in Ezekiel. The conflict that is specifically mentioned in Zechariah is that of Israel and Greece in verse 13. We are referring to the spiritual battle that was to ensue for the minds of the elect using Greek systems to undermine the spiritual understanding of the elect through theological structures, which impugned the nature of God and the biblical position. Trinitarianism is directly the result of Greek philosophical structures, which have no biblical basis.

The end result of this struggle is seen from Zechariah 9:15.

Zechariah 9:15-16 The Lord of Hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as though with wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. ¹⁶ And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His People: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as the ensign upon His land.

They will be full of the Holy Spirit and they will be points of safety as were the horns of the altar. They will be the priesthood of Israel.

This time at the end sees the absence of shepherds (Zech. 10:2). The anger of the Lord is kindled against the shepherds and against the goats (Zech. 10:3). The war of the last days is detailed also in Zechariah 10:3-12. The houses of Judah and Ephraim are made as mighty men and the Lord will call Ephraim. The Lord says in Zechariah 10:8-12:

Zechariah 10:8-12 I will hiss [signal; RSV] for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. ⁹And I will sow them among the people and they will remember Me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. ¹⁰ And I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. ¹¹ And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. ¹² And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith the Lord.

The concepts in this passage refer to the wars of the end and the restoration of the millennial or Messianic Kingdom. The new exodus and gathering of Israel takes place with the destruction of the world systems, which are typified by Egypt and then Assyria. The “deeps of the river drying up” is a direct reference to the Nile being dried up as it is stated in Ezekiel 30:12. The desolation of Egypt from Migdol to Syene refers to the stretch of the Nile to Assouan or Assawan at the dam site. This has yet to occur.

The struggle of the spiritual powers of the Host is further detailed in the analogy that is used between Israel, Egypt and Babylon. The prophecy of the destruction of the world powers, and their angelic overlords, is shown to be replaced with the Messianic Kingdom. This can be seen also from Ezekiel 17:1-2.

Ezekiel 17:1-2 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: ² "Son on man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

This riddle (or perplexing problem put forward for solution) is combined with a parable (which is the comparison of one thing with another). Thus this text is a divine mystery which demands solution and which compares type against anti-type. This text refers firstly to Great Eagles. This is traditionally inferred as the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon is not just a physical king. It refers also to the prime type of the supernatural rulers. The Great Eagles are the Cherubim (Ex. 25:20; 37:9) or Archangels of the Elohim. The Great Eagle of Israel was Jesus Christ the Angel of Yahweh upon whose wings Israel was brought out of Egypt (Ex. 19:4) and which helped Israel as the church in the wilderness (Rev. 12:14). Similarly, when the Son of Man comes in glory, there will the (angelic) eagles be gathered (Mat. 24:28; Lk. 17:37). The punishment for idolatry and disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:49 was to have a nation brought against Israel as swift as the eagle flies. These nations under the angelic Host are used to punish nations. The meanings of the text are examined below.

Ezekiel 17:3-4 And say, 'Thus saith the Lord God; "A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: ⁴ He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

Traditionally this refers to the captivity of Jehoiachin whom he took to Babylon (Jeconiah or Coniah) (see also v. 12 and Jer. 22:23-24).

Ezekiel 17:5-6 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. ⁶And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him; so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

This text traditionally refers to the establishment of Zedekiah as the vassal king of Israel.

Ezekiel 17:7-8 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. ⁸ It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

This refers to Egypt and Pharaoh Hophra. Zedekiah had given his oath of allegiance to the Babylonians but turned to Egypt. Ezekiel 17 continues:

Ezekiel 17:9-21 Say thou, 'Thus saith the Lord God; 'Shall it prosper? shall He not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. ¹⁰ Yea, behold being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew.'" ¹¹. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ¹² "Say now to the rebellious house,'Know ye not what these things mean?' tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; ¹³ And hath taken the kings seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: ¹⁴ That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant and be delivered? ¹⁶ As I live, saith the Lord God, 'surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons: ¹⁸ Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. ¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. ²⁰ And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me. ²¹ And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.

The destruction of Zedekiah is recorded in Jeremiah. Israel did not want to obey the directives and punishment of God. They had sinned and God had punished them; yet He would have spared the Temple and the position of Judah if they had kept His statutes and obeyed those whom He had raised up.

They did not obey and turned to the Egyptian system for aid in overcoming the empirical system which God had allowed to be established and which He had shown through Daniel that He would allow to continue until the restoration under Messiah, which is the event depicted in Daniel 2. The great figure has differing parts of the body in different metals representing different qualities of the empirical systems. But they are all part of the same body, which continues over the entire period of the Gentiles until that empirical system is destroyed by Messiah. Thus the stump of the Babylonians was bound for seven times. However, the stump was a composite of the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar. That Aryan system which had taken over from the semitic Babylonians entered Europe as the Roman and then the Holy Roman Empires, in the north, in Central Europe.

The body of Daniel 2 is not composed of separate bodies; it is one body comprised of different parts. Its greatest power is achieved in the last days when the greatness of the Assyro-Babylonian system is again restored to deal with Israel who became again an apostate people. The restoration of Israel occurs through the Branch (which is also referred to in Zech. 3:8 and 6:12).

This Branch is himself the cedar or spiritual ruler of Israel. Ezekiel 17:22-24 continues:

Ezekiel 17:22-24 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: ²³ In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing: in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: "I the Lord have spoken and have done it."

This end result is the taking of the highest branch of the cedar that is Israel. This royal lineage is to become Messiah who is the goodly cedar. Under Messiah shall dwell all living things. The systems of the world are to be destroyed. The cedar that was the original Morning Star (the covering Cherub Azazel or Satan) is replaced by the line of David, the new Morning Star who is Messiah (Rev. 22:16). Those who dwell under his branches are given to share in the Morning Star (Rev. 2:28).

The sequence of this transition is given in the parables of the fall of Egypt and the ultimate use and destruction of the Babylonian systems. Satan's rebel systems are used against Satan's systems.

It is then easier to see the symbolism of the cedars and the use of the analogy of the Pit and of Sheol or the Grave and the ultimate sequence of the resurrections. The watercourses deal with the control of the nations through the channelling of the Spirit, as it is available to the Host. Ezekiel 31:15-18 thus has greater significance.

Ezekiel 31:15-18 Thus says the Lord God: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn for it, and restrain its rivers, and many waters shall be stopped; I will clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field shall faint because of it. ¹⁶ I will make the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water will be comforted in the nether world. ¹⁷ They also shall go down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yea, those who dwelt under its shadow among the nations shall perish. ¹⁸ Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether world; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God."

There are a number of concepts here. The trees of Eden referred to are those who once were partakers of the divine nature but rebelled. They went down to the Pit. All of the nations likewise go down to the Pit, to Sheol, in death. Eden is not used here in reference to Assyria on the basis that Assyria encompassed the areas of Eden. Eden was the Levant. It fed both the Tigris-Euphrates systems and also the areas of the South into Egypt and North Africa. Eden is not and has not been used to refer to Assyria. The drinkers of water will be comforted in the nether world.

Thus we are dealing with the concepts of the various stages of the resurrection determined by the Holy Spirit. The allocation of waters is also allocated to, and is stopped from being accessed by many. Thus the uncircumcised and the trees of Eden lie with the world's system and their rulers both physical and spiritual. It should be obvious that physical trees are not comforted in the nether world.

Our battle is against spiritual wickedness.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not contend against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It should thus be obvious that we are dealing with a major spiritual struggle for the restoration of the Kingdom of God. That struggle involves supernatural powers, which are the powers that actually rule this world. The prophecies thus deal with those entities as actual realities. Modern Christianity seeks to deny the reality of the fallen Host as rulers of this world. They have the words of the faith but deny its power. There is going to be a titanic struggle for the restoration of this planet, which will almost destroy it. That work is not for the faint hearted. We have seen already some who seek to deny the reality of the prophecies and who hope to avoid the struggle by pretending that it will not happen. We saw this attitude pandered to in previous Churches, where the various strategies employed involved places of safety or raptures or earthly kingdoms of the Church.

God is our strength and the rock of our salvation. For the elect's sake He will intervene to save this planet and for no other reason. He has declared His will and He will accomplish it. The reason that people will not repent over this process is that they deny the reality of what is happening to them. It was for this reason that they sought to kill the prophets. They shot the messenger in the mistaken belief that if they pretended that it was not going to happen then it would not happen. They shut their ears so that they would not hear and so God will shut His over that period.

Phase 1 – Part 2

We are now able to see the significant battles that are being waged in the Host over a continual period. The war we face is not a physical battle, but is rather against principalities and powers that are in rebellion to the will of God. The wars are detailed for us in Bible prophecy and we have a responsibility as stewards of the Mysteries of God to understand and expound those mysteries. As previously explained this prophecy was chosen as the central framework precisely because it is held up as failed prophecy and precisely because it is not understood by mankind. The framework could as easily have been Revelation or Daniel or Isaiah using all of the others to explain the sequence. The fact of the matter is that they are all interrelated and point to the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom will be established on this planet in power and glory. It is however, necessary to warn the world of the process. As explained in the paper The Warning of the Last Days (No. 44) God does nothing before He warns those concerned through His servants. This prophecy was given in a sequence over 2,000 years ago. It is being fulfilled on a continuing basis. Nothing will stop that.

Ezekiel 32:1-8 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: ² "Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers. ³ Thus says the Lord GOD: I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples; and I will haul you up in my dragnet. ⁴ And I will cast you on the ground, on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you. ⁵ I will strew your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass. ⁶ I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood; and the watercourses will be full of you. ⁷ When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. ⁸ All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness upon your land, says the Lord GOD. (RSV)

In this text we are given the same sequence as that for the last days. Christ says much the same thing in Matthew 24:29-31.

Matthew 24:29-31 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; ³⁰ then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; ³¹ and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (RSV)

The expression from one end of heaven to the other is not to be taken to infer some heavenly rapture. The text refers to the four corners of the earth. They will be gathered to Zion.

Luke 21:24-27 states that Christ will come in a cloud in power and great glory after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The people will be led into captivity from Jerusalem, and it will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled:

Luke 21:24-27 they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ²⁵ "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (RSV)

The texts here reflect the sense of Revelation 5:12-13.

Revelation 5:12-13 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!" (RSV)

Also Isaiah 13:10 says:

Isaiah 13:10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. (RSV)

God is specifically detailing the day of the Lord here. The build up to the prophecy in Isaiah 14 is thus for the end of the age and Messianic. Isaiah 14 has direct application to Ezekiel 28. The sequence in Ezekiel 29 to 32 relates to the period between the times of the Gentiles and the days of the Watchmen in Ezekiel 33. These chapter groupings are not without significance. The periods of these prophecies are the same periods dealt with in Daniel 2 which shows beyond question that the sequence commences with Nebuchadnezzar but ends with the destruction of the ten king system of the empire of iron and clay in the last days, thus beginning the millennial reign of Messiah.

Also Joel 2:10 states of the day of the Lord at this end time:

Joel 2:10The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. (RSV)

Also Zephaniah 1:15 states:

Zephaniah 1:15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, (RSV)

Daniel 7:13-14 reflects Luke 21:27.

Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴ And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (RSV)

Ezekiel 32:9 continues - concerning Egypt.

Ezekiel 32:9-16 "I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I carry you captive among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. ¹⁰ I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder because of you, when I brandish my sword before them; they shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall. ¹¹ For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹² I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most terrible among the nations. "They shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish. ¹³I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; and no foot of man shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them. ¹⁴ Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord GOD. ¹⁵ When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is stripped of all that fills it, when I smite all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the LORD. ¹⁶ This is a lamentation which shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, says the Lord God. (RSV)

The reference at verse 14 to making the waters clear and their rivers run like oil refers again to the Holy Spirit using the analogy of the pouring out of the oil into the lamps of the elect. Here it is to the nations after the restoration and the Spirit is poured out on mankind.

We are looking at the nations, the Gentiles chanting over the demise of the Egyptian system. This is thus not an ordinary captivity or an ordinary destruction.

The Lord delivers the second judgment in Ezekiel 32:17, which details the nations involved in the destruction. The nations are mentioned in this prophecy, which was actually given before the first half of the chapter and had been arranged in the later order, perhaps because it seemed that was more logical an arrangement. However, the extended time-frame involved is disguised further by this arrangement.

Ezekiel 32:17-23 In the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁸ "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the nether world, to those who have gone down to the Pit: ¹⁹ `Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.' ²⁰ They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword, and with her shall lie all her multitudes. ²¹ The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: `They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.' ²² "Assyria is there, and all her company, their graves round about her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword; ²³ whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living. (RSV)

Here the prophecy commences to include other nations not part of the early groupings. Elam went into Egypt also when the Medes and Persians had conquered Egypt. This conquest was the second phase or the other arm of the conquest. This occurred in 525 BCE under Cambyses. In 550 BCE Cyrus of Persia (The Lord's anointed, Isa. 45:1) defeated the Medes and became paramount king of Iran (hence Persia). In 546 BCE he defeated Croesus and took Lydia. He annexed Babylonia in 539 BCE and established the supremacy of the Persian Empire in the East. In 525 BCE Cyrus' son Cambyses succeeded him and invaded Egypt. Thus the second arm of the first prophecy was fulfilled.

Ezekiel 32:24 continues.

Ezekiel 32:24-25 "Elam is there, and all her multitude about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the nether world, who spread terror in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit. ²⁵ They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, their graves round about her, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain. (RSV)

The question arises as to why Elam is distinguished in the prophecy and made to stand distinct when the nation formed only part of the Medo-Persian Empire. Elam was the oldest of the kingdoms and had not been annexed to the Assyrian empire. With the demise of the Assyrians, Elam fell prey to the Persians under Prince Sispis, or Teispes of the Achæmenidæ, who placed himself on the throne at Shushan (Historian's History of the World, Vol. 1, p. 437). Thus Cambyses inherited the throne of the Elamites.

The answer as to why Elam is distinguished in the prophecy is, more probably, that it has dual application and refers to an extended order of peoples outside of the Medo-Persians or Iranians proper, as there is some question as to the extent of the Elamites.

The Median hordes were undisciplined and no match for the Assyrians. Cyaxares the Mede remodelled the army based on the Assyrian. The Medians then invaded and besieged Nineveh. The siege of Nineveh was forced to be abandoned by the invasion of Media by the Scyths from the north. Thus a second siege had to be made from 609 BCE. The Median army under Cyaxares besieged Nineveh with the aid of the Babylonians (according to Berosus the Chaldean). The Babylonian king's son Nebuchaddrezzar (or Nebuchadnezzar) had married the daughter of the king of the Medes. Thus the Medes were the major force in the destruction of the Assyrians and not the Persians, who were not involved in this siege and indeed told Herodotus nothing of it.

With the fall of Assyria, the dominion of the north and the countries of Asia Minor as far as the Halys passed to the Medes. All other provinces of the Assyrians as far as the Mediterranean Sea, including Asshur, Harran and Carchemish fell to Babylonia (Historian's History of the World, ibid., p. 444).

Thus the Babylonians themselves were the inheritors of the Assyrian and the Greeks referred to them as Assyrians (ibid., p. 445).

The semitic empire of the Assyrian‑Babylonians could only be propped up by the force of the power of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors were inadequate for this task. They could neither prevent the spread of the Medes nor the Persians. With the Persian conquest of the Elamites and under the genius of Cyrus who had been selected and named by God, an empire was founded which embraced the four ancient empires – the Median, the Elamite, the Assyrio-Babylonian, and the Egyptian. Thus the sceptre of western Asia passed to the Aryans (ibid.).

At this point the prophecies found in Nahum (see esp. Nah. 3:19) and Zephaniah 2:13-15 were completed in their first application. These prophecies have a latter day application.

It is also worthy of note that the prophecies of Nahum regarding the fall of Assyria were seen, by the first century Jewish community, as involving Ephraim and Manasseh in the last days. Manasseh was held to be referred to as Amon (Nah. 3:8a) with the rivers being or referring to its great men. Manasseh was to go into captivity (from Nah. 3:10) before the wicked of Ephraim (Nah. 3:11a). Their men would die by the sword (see Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, pp. 232-234).

The prophecy in Ezekiel appears to break down here as the next text involves nations, which were not remotely on the scene during the period of the first two forty-year periods. The next group is that of Meshech and Tubal. This nation group did not occupy Egypt in the invasions from 605-525 BCE, and had no part in Egypt until the 20th century.

Ezekiel 32:26-28 "Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves round about them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread terror in the land of the living. ²⁷And they do not lie with the fallen mighty men of old who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose shields are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. ²⁸ So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. (RSV)

This sequence of nations is a later grouping. The failure of the text as a completed prophecy has led some biblical scholars, in the face of the claims of the sceptics, to rationalise the text away by attempting to explain the nations referred to as being subsidiary groups allied to the ancient nations. The concept that this prophecy is pivotal and ongoing is far too uncomfortable for most Bible students.

The text reads that they do not lie with the fallen mighty men of old. Thus we are dealing with a later aspect of the prophecy. The concept of not lying with the mighty men of old clearly has the implication that they went to the pit in two stages. We are also dealing with a distinction between the types of warfare involved. The mighty men of old went down to Sheol with their weapons whereas this seems not to be the case in these later groupings.

The assertion that the mighty men of old refers to the Nephilim or the giants of Genesis 6:4 does not solve the problem, but rather compounds it and opens up the argument to the application of the offspring of the fallen Host being separated in the process of the resurrections. Isaiah 26:13-14 in fact denies the resurrection to the Rephaim or Nephilim. Rephaim was in fact interpreted as deceased or dead.

Isaiah 26:13-14 O Lord our God, other Lords beside Thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. ¹⁴ They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish (KJV).

See the papers The Nephilim (No. 154) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

Isaiah 27 goes on to discuss the slaying of Leviathan in the day of the Lord. This Leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent, the dragon that is in the sea shall be slain or bound as in Revelation 20:4. Then shall Israel take root throughout the world. In that day the Lord will beat off or harvest as one would olives, the Children of Israel from the channel of the River, or the Tigris-Euphrates, to the stream of Egypt.

Isaiah 27:13 says:

Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish which were in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Isaiah 28 then goes on to talk of the crushing of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim. Thus the end days involve war in Ephraim. The prophecy is clearly interrelated to that of Ezekiel and the destruction of Egypt. Moreover, the last days are indisputably involved and developed.

The nations that are involved in the fall of Egypt and seem to be distinguished from the earlier groupings involve, as we have seen, Meshech and Tubal. Meshech and Tubal were the sons of Japeth (Gen. 10:2). They were identified with the Gomerite peoples of the steppes now known as the Russians. Included in this group of Gomerites was the Ashkenazi who formed the later Khazar Jewish kingdom. The song of ascents spoke of the problems with these people in Psalm 120:5. Ezekiel 38:2 identifies Gog and Magog as chief princes of Meshech and Tubal yet Magog was their brother from Genesis 10:2. We are thus dealing with a nation that absorbed the Magogites as their chief tribe.

These groups extended into Asia Minor as did the Elamites. The next group of people to be listed are the Edomites.

Ezekiel 32:29 "Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit. (RSV)

The Edomites did not go into Egypt and the only national groups that could be said to have become involved with this group were that of the Ottoman Turks. The time-frame is thus well into the last days.

The next group to be dealt with confirms this view. This group is comprised of the princes of the north.

Ezekiel 32:30-32 "The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sido'nians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit. ³¹ "When Pharaoh sees them, he will comfort himself for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord GOD. ³² For he spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD." (RSV)

The group here is a composite army comprised of the princes of the north and also the Sidonians. The princes of the north are not simply an aggregation of the northern kingdoms of the Medo-Persians.

This section deals with a much wider and later basis. The fact that the prophecy deals with a group listed after those of Meshech and Tubal in the later times as we see above, which is after the complete demise of the early empires, indicates the relocated powers of their systems. Thus the power of the European system is combined with the remnant of the Phoenician system, which was based on or descended from Tyre and Sidon. In 1000 BCE these systems and the Israelite alliance traded with the Americas. We know that they imported tobacco and cocaine into the Middle East (cf. recent research on mummies in Germany and Britain ca. 2000).

The Phoenician systems were in the last great aggregation based from Carthage and their power was broken in the Mediterranean by the Punic wars. There is little doubt, however, that the Carthaginians had spread west into the Atlantic and had been mining Britain and trading with Ireland for centuries. According to Edwards (Christian England, Vol. 1, p. 20), Carthage understood the spread of Christianity to be beyond Rome to those areas. Tertullian of Carthage in Against the Jews boasts that:

'parts of Britain inaccessible to the Romans were indeed conquered by Christ'.

We are thus dealing with a spread of the Sidonians, which is extended to and joined with the Princes of the North. The extent of the Sidonians also takes in the original areas, from Sidon extending throughout the Lebanon, which takes place in the wars of the end.

The fact of the involvement of these national groups in their entirety for example of Meshech and Tubal rule out any minor mercenary activity with the Babylonians and Medo-Persians in the first phase of eighty years. Coupled with the other incomplete aspects it can only be concluded that this is a failed prophecy and Scripture has been broken or it has the wide ranging application over the period of the Gentiles as has been identified from Daniel and the other prophets.

The next task is to identify the phases because that process will establish the sequence of the wars of the last days.

Phase 2 – Part 1

The fall of Egypt figured as a major factor in the Book of Ezekiel following on from the fall of the Anointed Covering Cherub in Ezekiel 28. In the section on Phase 1 we saw that there was a distinct sequence of events and that there were a number of aspects of the prophecy, which could not have been fulfilled in the time-frame traditionally allocated to the prophecy. The prophecy from this factor has been held up to be a failed prophecy and hence evidence of the erroneous nature of Scripture. However, Christ said that Scripture cannot be broken (Jn. 10:35). The prophecy must therefore have an extended time-frame.

Identifying the time-frame

Assuming that there was a break in the prophecy, such conclusion being, as we have seen, inescapable; what is the key? The answer lies in the orientation around the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE. This forms the pivotal point of the texts of the prophecy and therefore must be examined. Nebuchadnezzar was also noted to be removed and his kingdom bound as a stump for the period of seven times from Daniel 4:8-37.

Daniel 4:8-37 At last Daniel came in before me -- he who was named Belteshaz'zar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods -- and I told him the dream, saying, ⁹ "O Belteshaz'zar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is difficult for you, here is the dream which I saw; tell me its interpretation. ¹⁰ The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and its height was great. ¹¹ The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. ¹² Its leaves were fair and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the air dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. ¹³ "I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. ¹⁴ He cried aloud and said thus, `Hew down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven; let his lot be with the beasts in the grass of the earth; ¹⁶ let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven times pass over him. ¹⁷ The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men.' ¹⁸ This dream I, King Nebuchadnez'zar, saw. And you, O Belteshaz'zar, declare the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you." ¹⁹ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshaz'zar, was dismayed for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, "Belteshaz'zar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you." Belteshaz'zar answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! ²⁰ The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth; ²¹ whose leaves were fair and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all; under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the air dwelt -- ²² it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. ²³ And whereas the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, `Hew down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field; and let him be wet with the dew of heaven; and let his lot be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him'; ²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, ²⁵ that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will. ²⁶ And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be sure for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you; break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your tranquillity." ²⁸ All this came upon King Nebuchadnez'zar. ²⁹At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ and the king said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" ³¹ While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, "O King Nebuchadnez'zar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, ³² and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox; and seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will." ³³ Immediately the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnez'zar. He was driven from among men, and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. ³⁴ At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnez'zar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives for ever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; ³⁵ all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What doest thou?" ³⁶At the same time my reason returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnez'zar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase. (RSV)

This period appears to be seven years. However, the term times is used for years and has a prophetic significance. A time is usually a period of 360 years based on the lunar calendar. The period in question is not simply seven years. As we see above the period involves some 2,520 years from 605 BCE. Thus we are looking at the calendar year 1914-16 to complete this section of the term and begin again the sequence of events, which complete the prophecy concerning the subjugation of Egypt by the Semites and the Aryans symbolised by the Babylonians, Assyrians and the Medo-Persians. The use of the date of 1914 by the Jehovah’s Witnesses appears to be a misapplication of the key aspects of the texts and the seven times prophecy of Daniel. The understanding of the interrelationship with Ezekiel is not apparent from some of the comments attributed to them.

What, if anything, happened in 1914 to Egypt? The answer is that it was occupied by the armies of the British Commonwealth under Allenby. More importantly that period commenced the great wars of the last days. The period has specific demarcation points and shifts of power by prophetic direction.

The shifts of power could not occur until the times were reached. Hence the wars had the results they did so that prophecy and Scripture would not be broken. However, the results of those wars were used in such a way as to prepare the planet for the maximum impact when the prophetic times had been fulfilled. Let us look at some of the sequence from 1914.

On 28 June Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo with Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. On 1 August 1914 Germany declared war on Russia and France and invaded Belgium. On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany invoking Belgian neutrality as a reason.

On 5 August 1914 Austria declared war on Russia. Russia, Britain and France declared war on Turkey.

On 26-28 August 1914 Germany inflicted a great defeat on the Russians at the battle of Tannenburg. The Germans also invaded France and their advance on Paris was halted at the battle of the Marne. Britain entered France and the Battle of Ypres was fought over October-November 1914. This began trench warfare on the western front. Thus we are looking at a major pivotal point in the history of warfare and of the world in 1914 as was the period leading up to the battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE some 2,520 years or seven times previously.

Another factor, which was to enter world affairs although seemingly minor, was that the Bank of England was authorised to issue paper money in excess of the statutory limit. This act introduced the process of financial instability, which will reach its full consequence in the financial indebtedness and servitude of the English-speaking peoples. The consequences of Deuteronomy 28 (see the paper The Blessings and the Curses (No. 75)) will only then be seen.

World War I developed the concepts and methods of modern war. These were not like the mighty men of old who go down to the Pit with their swords and their shields. A short summation of the history will be enlightening.

18 February 1915. In retaliation for the naval blockade of Germany by Britain, Germany retaliated with a submarine blockade of Britain.

22 April - 25 May 1915. The second Battle of Ypres saw poison gas used by the Germans for the first time.

Warfare was about to undergo its major modification from this war. Just as the American Civil War was the commencement of modern warfare with the use of automatic and breech loading weapons, so too was World War I the testing ground for weapons of even greater horror and mass destruction. The development of the weapons will be evident as we progress.

Also the formation of national groupings and alliances was born. The central Semitic nations were reorganised, not the least of which was Israel. The Israelite-Aryan wars had begun again.

25 April 1915. Allied forces land on the Gallipoli Peninsula but fail to gain control of the Dardanelle Straits. ANZAC is born.

Italy joined the war on the allied side.

Britain formed a coalition government under Asquith.

The British-French offensive failed.

On 6 September 1915 Bulgaria joined the central powers.

21 February to 16 December 1916. The Battle of Verdun saw the German offensive on the western front with appalling losses on both sides.

20 March 1916. The secret Anglo-French or Sykes-Picot agreement was struck on the partition of the Turkish Empire, which up until the war had included Palestine. Egypt was part of that empirical system.

24 April 1916 saw the Easter rising in Ireland marking the change of power within the British Isles itself.

31 May to 1 June 1916. The Battle of Jutland, the only major naval battle between British and German fleets saw British losses exceed German losses.

The Russian Brusilov Offensive failed.

1 July 1916. The Battle of the Somme saw the first use of tanks by Britain. There were more than a million casualties.

27 August 1916. Romania and Portugal joined the war against Germany.

The USA, perhaps advantaged by the war, purchased the Virgin Is. It landed troops in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and stayed until 1924.

February 1917 sees the revolution in Russia and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas.

11 March 1917. The British captured Baghdad from Turkey.
The Ghuz Turks, named for the line of the Seljuks, had been in Baghdad from the 12th century and had defeated the western Byzantine forces at the Battle of Myrio-cephalum in 1176. This put an end to the revival of the Byzantines commenced from the defeat of the Seljuks of Rum in the first crusade at Nicæa and Dorylæum. This victory had allowed the crusaders to march through to Syria and take Edessa and Antioch in 1098 and Jerusalem in 1099.

The determination of the outcome of this phase was commenced in 1917.

6 April 1917. The USA declared war on Germany.

31 July to 10 November 1917. The gains of the Battle of Passchendale, the major British offensive, were offset by the German counter offensive.

24 October 1917. The Battle of Caporetto saw the heavy Italian defeat.

The October Revolution saw the Bolsheviks overthrow the provisional government. Lenin became the chief commissar and Trotsky the Commissar for Foreign Affairs.

The victories of the British Commonwealth in the Middle East saw Palestine regained for Israel. The well of the oath, Beersheba, had been taken by Australian Light Horse in the last great mounted charge of the English-speaking people. From this the Balfour Declaration (1st) was made supporting the Jewish State in Palestine.

9 December 1917. British Commonwealth forces captured Jerusalem. The city was again in Israelite hands after 1,847 years.

This was the key factor and high point of the war from a prophetic point of view. The remainder of the war is focused in the following key points.

3 March 1918. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany saw Russia withdraw from the war.

15 July to 2 August 1918 saw the last major German offensive fail in the Battle of the Marne.

16 July 1918 saw the execution of ex-Tsar Nicholas II and family.

18 July 1918 saw the Allied offensive begin. Germany was forced into retreat.

The Italians won the victory of Vittoria Veneto and Austria-Hungary surrendered.

9 November 1918 saw the revolution in Germany and the abdication of Wilhelm II. The Republic was declared.

11 November 1918. Germany agreed to the Armistice and World War I ended.

The Civil war in Ireland began.

Lenin concentrated the power of the Bolshevik government and the civil war lasted until 1920.

These matters illustrate how this pivotal point in history involved the nations mentioned in the prophecy and many more. The obvious point from the list is that we are looking at a new system of warfare develop which differed from all previous systems. More particularly this sequence in the last days was to initiate the establishment of the wars of the end and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

The sequence is recapitulated as follows

750 BCE. Nubia consolidated in Egypt under Nubian domination.

732 BCE. Assyrians under Tiglath Pileser III annex Damascus and make Israel and Judah tributary states.

729 BCE. Tiglath Pileser annexes Babylon.

724-721 BCE. Shalmaneser V annexes Israel. His successor Sargon II deports the ten tribes. This deportation was beyond the Araxes into the steppes.

710 BCE. The Cimmerians invade devastating Urartu and Phrygia. Sargon was killed fighting the Cimmerians in 705 BCE and was succeeded by Sennacherib.

696 BCE. The Assyrians sack Tarsus.

687 BCE. The throne of Lydia in western Anatolia is usurped by Gyges.

Assyria is now poised to conquer Egypt and become the supreme empire of western Asia.

669-663 BCE. The Assyrians invade Egypt and establish Egypt's subordination.

Egypt's arm is thus broken in the preliminary sense.

605 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar defeats Necho, who had gone to assist Assyria, at the battle of Carchemish. Egypt's army is pursued to the borders of Egypt but Nebuchadnezzar does not enter it or the kingdom of Judah (2Kgs. 24:7). The time scale of the seven times begins.

The Egyptians managed to reconquer Gaza after the battle of 601 BCE and because of this their influence increased at Jerusalem despite the warnings of Jeremiah.

In 599 BCE Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Arabs to the east of Syria and Palestine.

In 598 BCE he set out to besiege Jerusalem and conquered it on 15-16 March 597 BCE.

He again laid siege to and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

c. 567 BCE. Egypt attempted to re-establish its position and its Pharaoh Amasis, the successor to Hophra was engaged by Nebuchadnezzar in his thirty-seventh year (567 BCE).

525 BCE Cambyses invades Egypt and breaks its other arm.

The end of the first phase saw the transfer of power from the Semites to the Aryans represented by the Medo-Persians. The two groups were consolidations of power, which became shifts in control. Egypt was subjugated by both groups. The end of the period of consolidation of the two forty-year time spans was in 525 BCE with the invasion of Cambyses. The seven times cycle applied to this terminal date leaves the year 1995 as the end of Phase 2. In 1995 we should see the major realignments of power groups come to finality. From 1995/6 the empire of the last days should be in place pursuant to political, financial and social upheaval, which results in a series of military conflicts leading up to the return of Messiah. The end days will not be a series of quiet observations. Nor indeed has the human dating system from the erroneous date of the birth of Christ anything to do with the time-frame of the end sequence. God works according to Jubilees not according to man-made dates. Thus the year 2000 has no significance other than its place in the seven-year or Sabbath cycles. [The second millennium from the birth of Christ must logically be from 1996 or earlier seeing that Christ could not have been born later than 4 BCE (given Herod’s known death in 4 BCE). Thus he must have been born 5 BCE or earlier. Look at the paper the Significance of the Year 2000 (No. 286).]

The end sequence was set into place by a number of preliminary activities. These are as follows.

The first activity we should understand is the formation of the beast power and the destruction of the religious whore of Revelation.

The persecution of the time, times and half a time or the 1,260 years occurred from the establishment of the religious system under the Holy Roman Empire. This occurred in 590 CE with the declarations of Pope Gregory the First. The period ended in 1850 with the Italian Republic and the destruction of the power of the Roman Church within the papal-states and the formation of the Republic. This was made possible from a series of preliminary events. The preliminary wars of Europe, which break the whore of Revelation, were from the French Revolution. The first sequence of the beast turning on the whore is seen to occur from Revelation 17:16.

Revelation 17:1-18 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." ³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; ⁵and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. ⁹ This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. ¹¹As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; ¹⁴ they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." ¹⁵ And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth." (RSV)

The whoredom of the woman was with the kings of the earth and the power systems of the world were mixed with what purported to be Christianity. The nations of the seven heads and ten horns are reflected in Daniel. The sequence of the system is set up from Daniel 2:31-45.

Daniel 2:31-45 "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³² The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; ³⁵ then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. ³⁶ "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷ You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸ and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, making you rule over them all -- you are the head of gold. ³⁹ After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰ And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes, it shall break and crush all these. ⁴¹ And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the miry clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; ⁴⁵ just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure." (RSV)

The dream was certain and the interpretation was sure. In other words the matter would be made to come to fruition and the understanding was correct. The end result was to be the coming of the Messiah. Thus the dream covered the entire period until the establishment of the millennial Kingdom under Jesus Christ. This has not yet occurred. The prophecy is still ongoing. Nebuchadnezzar is fundamental to this prophecy as he is to the others. In other words the prophecies are interrelated.

The story of Daniel 3 relates to the idolatry set up under the false religious system. This chapter shows the elect what is expected of them. Daniel 4 deals with the time span of the prophecies and the times of the last days.

Daniel 5 deals with the judgment of the system from the writing on the wall.

Daniel 5:1-31 King Belshaz'zar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in front of the thousand. ² Belshaz'zar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnez'zar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. ³ Then they brought in the golden and silver vessels which had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. ⁵ Immediately the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand; and the king saw the hand as it wrote. ⁶Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. ⁷ The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chalde'ans, and the astrologers. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." ⁸Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. ⁹ Then King Belshaz'zar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed; and his lords were perplexed. ¹⁰ The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall; and the queen said, "O king, live for ever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. ¹¹ There is in your kingdom a man in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him, and King Nebuchadnez'zar, your father, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chalde'ans, and astrologers, ¹² because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshaz'zar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation." ¹³ Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, "You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. ¹⁴ I have heard of you that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. ¹⁵ Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. ¹⁶But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ¹⁷Then Daniel answered before the king, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnez'zar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty; ¹⁹ and because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him; whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. ²⁰ But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him; ²¹ he was driven from among men, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of men, and sets over it whom he will. ²² And you his son, Belshaz'zar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, ²³ but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. ²⁴ "Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. ²⁵ And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ²⁷ TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; ²⁸ PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." ²⁹ Then Belshaz'zar commanded, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put about his neck, and proclamation was made concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very night Belshaz'zar the Chalde'an king was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. (RSV)

The system set up under the Babylonians used the artefacts of the Temple of God for profane purposes. The whore is referred to as Babylon because the whore uses what is holy for profane purposes. The end of the system is tied up with the writing on the wall and the pronouncement of the vision.

The writing was MENE MENE TEKEL uPHARSIN. The word MENE means numbered. The repetition of the words implies duplication in the numbering. There has been no adequate explanation of the repetition other than as Epizeuxis for great emphasis. The replication more probably has prophetic significance for the time-frame involved. The word TEKEL means to weigh being derived from the word shekel. uPHARSIN is the Chaldean term which is a combination of two words. The u means and; PHARSIN is derived from PARAS meaning to break. Hence the term was interpreted as meaning being divided and given to the Medes and Persians. This is however an addition of the prophecy to Belshazzar. The breaking referred to may be cross-referenced to Daniel 2 and the breaking of the statue by the stone uncut by human hands, which is Messiah. The empires themselves were destroyed in the end by Messiah, after the allocated time-frames.

The system that God had set up through the Holy Spirit is explained in Daniel 6. The excellence of the spirit and its effect on Daniel is seen from Daniel 6:1-3.

Daniel 6:1-3 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; ² and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. ³ Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. (RSV)

The destiny of the elect is seen from verse 3. The fallen Host set about through humanity to destroy the elect.

Daniel 6:4-5 Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom; but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. ⁵Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God." (RSV)

The area to be attacked was in the nature of worship of the elect and the fact that the system of worship set up under the world’s system was to be such that the elect would be at constant odds with the system and thus in continual conflict with the authority of the world. They would thus be persecuted and killed.

The explanation of the nations involved was given in Daniel chapters 7 and 8. The time-frame in relation to the temple and the dispersion was given in Daniel 8 (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)).

The wars of the end are explained in the struggles of the wars of the kings of the North and the South in Daniel 11 (see the papers WWIII Part II: The Whore and the Beast (No . 299B) and 2012 and the Antichrist (No. 299D)). Daniel 12 shows the end times and the revelation of the last days. The end is accompanied by the scattering of the power of the Holy people.

The wars are related to the wars within the angelic Host. The nation of the Persians and then the Grecians are shown to be sequential from Daniel 10.

Daniel 12:1-13 "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book. ²And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. ⁴But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." ⁵ Then I Daniel looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. ⁶And I said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, "How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?" ⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven; and I heard him swear by him who lives for ever that it would be for a time, two times, and half a time; and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished. ⁸I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, "O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?" ⁹ He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand. ¹¹ And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. ¹² Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. ¹³ But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days." (RSV)

The prophecy of the 1,290 days and the 1,335 days will be dealt with separately. What we are concerned with here is the establishment of the time-frame of the seven-times, which commenced again in 1914-16. We will see what significance this has for 1995/6 in the following section.

Phase 2 – Part 2

In the previous section we looked at the identification of the time-frame of the end and the relationship to Daniel. The seven times was seen to recommence in 1914-16 and the eighty- year period ends with the sacred year in 1995/6. The new sacred year commences the period, which sees the destruction of the nations and the destruction of a third of mankind occasioned by the release of the four angels that are bound at the Euphrates to kill a third of mankind (Rev. 9:15). The wars may or may not build up to the Third World War quickly from 1995-7 but the thirty-year sequence of the Wars of the End is commenced. (Look also at The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No. 219).) The destabilisation of the existing power systems reaches the watershed. The sequence is coupled with natural disasters and consequence of previous errors, which combine to destroy the planet by increasing pollutants.

Revelation 9:13-21 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphra'tes." ¹⁵ So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the colour of fire and of sapphire and of sulphur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur issued from their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, with heads, and by means of them they wound. ²⁰The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk; ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts. (RSV)

Thus the wars that are commenced by these angels in the last days involve some 200,000,000 armed men and through modern weapons they will kill a third of mankind. The destruction by modern weapons is not only nuclear. The extent of chemical weapons even from World War II, where supposedly they were banned, is starting to cause serious problems now. Japan has been requested to remove vast quantities of chemical materials from Manchuria that it stored there in World War II. The chemicals include mustard gas and cyanide in leaky drums and in vast quantities. What the end result of the contamination is anyone’s guess.

There are significant numbers of nuclear submarines now sunk on the bottom of the world oceans. The abomination that makes desolate has new meaning.

These angels will be judged by their actions here. The prophecies show that they are allowed to utilise the weaknesses of the nations to effect the war. Yet when faced with the result of this process mankind still does not repent. This is the war of the sixth trumpet. After this the remnants are then dealt with by Messiah.

The destruction of the last days is done by an earthly power set up by Satan called the beast. This power kills the saints and the prophets (Rev. 16:6). This was at first done at the behest of the whore. The ecclesiastical power was used to force the civil power also to kill the saints and the prophets (Rev. 17:6). The repetition here uses the number of man to show that man’s power was used in this matter and not God’s power or Spirit. Babylon the Great was tied up and the kingdom was kept for seven times that it might appear and be used in the last days.

The kingdom extended over 2,520 years and five continents. At the return of the Messiah the seven vials of the wrath of God are revealed. The beast is destroyed. The destruction is preceded by that of the whore. Thus the sequence of Revelation 16 and 17 can be misleading.

Revelation 16:1-21 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God." ² So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. ³ The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea. ⁴ The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of water say, "Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. ⁶ For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!" ⁷ And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!" ⁸ The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; ⁹ men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. ¹⁰ The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹ and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds. ¹² The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra'tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. ¹³ And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; ¹⁴ for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ ("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") ¹⁶ And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armaged'don. ¹⁷ The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" ¹⁸ And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰ And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21 and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague. (RSV)

A common misunderstanding is that the religious whore of the Babylonian system and the last days controls the beast for the entire process. That is not true. The whore helped to create the beast seeking to obtain advantage from it by ecclesiastical direction. However, the beast turns on the whore and destroys her.

Revelation 17:1-18 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." ³And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; ⁵ and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." ⁶And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marvelled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. ⁹This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; ¹⁴ they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." ¹⁵ And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth." (RSV)

The build up to the beast power

We now turn to look at the beginning of the end. That begins with the formation of the beast which destroys the whore. The union of the ten horns or ten kings is the union of the last days. The ten kings were the union of the nations, which band together in the last days. The only such union to be supported and developed from the Roman system and become a union of kings was the Holy Roman Empire. The ancient Teutonic system was governed by five sets of twins under the parliament or Thing. The failure to understand the history of Europe and the Teutons has resulted in a serious misunderstanding of what is happening and what is to happen in Europe in the last days.

The sequence of the formation of the beast, which is no longer controlled by the whore commenced in France with contemporary activity in the Americas. The system was repressed in England otherwise the period would have advanced ahead of prophecy and perhaps destroyed the world much sooner. Thus Satan’s allotted times would have been shortened here and lengthened at the end of the Millennium. The consequences may have been far too serious. All of the actions over the last 2,000 years from the French Revolution have been geared to the formation of the end time power systems and the war machines of the nations so that the demons can destroy the nations. Christ used the British Commonwealth to limit and control the rate of expansion and destruction of the nations. Let us examine the sequence.

1789 CE. Estates General is convened at Versailles. The third estate names itself the national assembly. The fall of the Bastille marks the beginning of the French revolution. The beast forms.

George Washington (to 1797) becomes the first President of the USA and the USA declares itself an economic and customs union.

1791. Declaration of Pillnitz. Emperor Leopold II and Frederick of Prussia attempt to reintroduce the monarchical system in France.
British Church and King riots in Birmingham saw an era of harsh repression to prevent revolution in England.

1792. France declares war on the Austria and Prussia coalition against France. France defeats them in the Battle of Valmy. The National Convention rules France to 1795. The Marseillais saved the revolution and France became a republic.

1794. The reign of terror reached its climax in March-April. The French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Fleurus and conquered Belgium.

The Middle East was also beginning to reorganise.

Aga Muhammad also founded the Kajar Dynasty in Persia in 1794.
France subjugated Holland thus assisting the consolidation under the British.

1795 saw France establish the puppet Batavian Republic in Holland. This enabled Britain to take the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon from the Dutch. Napoleon was made Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army in Italy.
Expansion in the USA was assisted by European power changes.

The treaty of San Lorenzo saw the USA and Spain settle the boundaries of Florida and the USA gain rights of navigation on the Mississippi.

1796 saw Napoleon invade Italy and destroy the existing state system, defeating the Austrians at Lodi and Arcol.

The French invasion of Ireland failed.

The British capture Guiana.

Agha Muhammad of Persia made Teheran his capital.

1797 saw the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. The British navy defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet.

The British then captured Trinidad from Spain.
Napoleon invaded Austria. They occupied Venice and established the Ligurian Republic at Genoa and Austrian Lombardy became the Cisalpine Republic.

These actions resulted in the treaty of Campo Formio where Austria made peace with France.

The activities in Egypt began to involve Europe. Europe began a race to control the world powers and thus direct the course of human activity in the 20th century.

1798. The second coalition against France was formed. Napoleon invaded Egypt. The Battle of the Pyramids saw the defeat of the Mamluks (or Mamalukes). The French navy was defeated in Aboukir Bay by Nelson in the Battle of the Nile.

There was a separatist rebellion in Ireland. The French invaded Switzerland and established the Helvetic Republic.

Britain made Ceylon a Crown Colony. While these actions were being dealt with Tipoo Sahib of Mysore renewed the war against the British.

· 1799. Napoleon invaded Syria. Britain, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Naples and the Ottoman Empire unite against France. The French were driven from Italy and Napoleon returned to France, overthrew the Directory establishing a Consulate with him as First Consul.

Britain suppressed the trade union movement at home with the Combination Laws (passed also in 1800). The Third Kaffir War saw the London Missionary Society begin work in South Africa. With the defeat and death of Tipoo Sahib of Mysore, British control was extended over most of southern India.

The discovery in Egypt by the French of the Rosetta stone in 1799 made it possible for the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Only from this point could the past be properly understood.

1800. Battle of Marengo and Hohenlinden. French defeat the Austrians.

Russia withdrew from the Coalition against France and the Tsar revived the Armed Neutrality of the North against Britain. This was premature and perhaps assisted the march on Russia.

1801. The Act of Union formally unites Great Britain and Ireland. Nelson destroyed the League of Armed Neutrality in the Baltic. French army in Egypt surrenders to the British. The Treaty of Luneville was signed between France and Austria. France kept the left bank of the Rhine and most of Italy.

1802. The Treaty of Amiens ended the war between Britain and France. Napoleon is made First Consul for life.

The expansion of the USA was directly assisted by the wars between Britain and France.

1806. War between Britain and France breaks out again. This was to force the Louisiana Purchase where Napoleon sold the areas to the USA making possible the continental expansion of the USA. Thus Manasseh fed off Ephraim in the first instances as Isaiah prophesied at Isaiah 9:21.

Isaiah 9:21Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. (KJV)

These actions involved the redistribution of power groups as had occurred prior to the commencement of the prophecy in its pivotal date of 605 BCE. The destruction of the whore by the newly emerging system in Europe enabled the expansion of the English-speaking peoples so that they might inherit the birthright promises. What they will eventually do with the birthright is of significant interest.

Napoleon disbanded the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. All Hapsburg estates became part of the Austrian Empire with German as the official language. This situation remained until 1815 when Napoleon was finally defeated and the empire was reconstituted.

Between 1806 and 1815 the instability of the war enabled a number of nations to achieve independence. France annexed Holland in 1810 and the empire was at its peak. The French were, nevertheless, held in Portugal by Wellesley at Torres Vedras. Buenos Aires, Mexico and New Granada were able to overthrow Spanish rule and Simon Bolivar emerged as a nationalist leader. Britain was also able to annexe Mauritius and the Seychelles.

In 1811 after George III was declared insane and the Prince of Wales was declared Regent, the French were driven out of Portugal and Wellesley invaded Spain.
Paraguay and then Venezuela were able to declare independence of Spain.

1812. Napoleon invaded Russia and retreated after fighting the battle of Borodino and burning Moscow.

1812 also saw the Anglo-American war over British policy towards neutral shipping. This war lasted to 1814 and the Treaty of Ghent.

1812 also saw Muhammad Ali massacre the ruling Mamluks of Egypt.

From 1813 the French were driven from Spain at the battle of Vittoria. This enabled the USA to seize West Florida from Spain.

Prussia then launched the war of liberation against the French. Napoleon defeated the allies at the Battles of Lutzen and Bautzen. The Austrians then joined the alliance against the French. Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig.

These activities in Europe perhaps enabled Bolivar to become dictator of Venezuela and Mexico became independent.

During this time also two British ships broke into Nagasaki Harbour to dislodge a Dutch trader. The attempts at tying Japan into the world system began to take real force.

After the French defeat of 1814, Britain retained the Cape after the Congress of Vienna following on from the first exile of Napoleon to Elba. Pope Pius VII returned to Rome and restored the Inquisition and the Society of Jesus.

Thus the destruction of the whore was not complete. Napoleon escaped and was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. After his final defeat the Holy Roman Empire was restored by the European powers. The restoration of the Holy Roman Empire in 1815 enabled the Inquisition to proceed from 1823 to 1846. The details are contained in the paper General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122). The 1,260 years of the persecution ended in 1850 as detailed in the paper No. 122.

In 1827 the Turks entered Athens and Ibrahim captured the Acropolis. A combined British, French and Russian fleet destroyed the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Navarino.

During the last Inquisition, England was opened up to toleration. In 1828 the repeal of the Test and Corporation Act allowed nonconformists to hold public office. In 1829 the Catholic Emancipation Act allowed Catholics to hold public office in Britain. Suttee was also abolished in India.

One of the final phases in the establishment of the birthright promises of the Israelite people was the establishment of colonies over all of Australia and then New Zealand. In 1829 Fremantle took possession of Western Australia and began colonisation.

The treaty of Adrianople also in 1829 ended the Russo-Turkish war with Russia gaining free navigation of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. There followed revolts in Europe in 1830 and the agitation continued. Parliamentary reform was agitated for in Britain. The Belgians revolted against the Dutch.

In the east Mysore was incorporated into British India. The French conquered Algeria.

In 1832 at the Battle of Koniah the Egyptians under Ibrahim defeated the Turks in Syria. This once again involved the nations of the prophecy including the Edomites.

In 1836 South Australia became a British province and Texas won independence from Mexico at the Battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. In 1838 the Boers defeated Dingaan and massacred the Zulus at Blood River. Power was thus consolidated.

In 1839 the Turks invaded Syria but were defeated at Nesib. The British occupied Aden.

In 1839 the Boers founded the independent republic of Natal and in 1842 the Orange Free State.

During this time the British were fighting the first Opium war with China (1839-1842). The treaty of Nanjing (1842) ended the war. Britain took Hong Kong and opened the Chinese ports to foreign trade. France also occupied Tahiti in 1842.

Britain annexed Natal in Africa in 1843 and the Sindh in India. In 1844 after the Anglo-Sikh war Britain annexed the Punjab.

The British consolidation of India allowed the establishment of a consolidated power on the sub-continent. The significance of this fact will become evident in the wars of the last days.

In 1840 the Act of Union joined Upper and Lower Canada. In the same year New Zealand became a British Crown Colony with the treaty of Waitangi. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 settled the boundary dispute between Canada and the USA.

1840 also saw the question of Egypt and the rule of Muhammed Ali discussed at the Quadruple Convention of London between Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria.

France supported Muhammad Ali as ruler. In 1841 this situation was finally formalised in the Convention of Alexandria when the Turks recognised Muhammad Ali as hereditary ruler of Egypt.

In 1845 the USA-Mexico war over boundaries saw Florida and Texas join the USA. In 1846 USA annexed New Mexico. The Oregon Treaty fixed the boundary west of the Great Lakes as the 49th parallel. In 1847 the Americans captured Mexico City.

In 1849-50 the revolutions broke out in Europe and the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed in 1850 with the papacy limited by statute.

In 1845 the manufacture of breech-loading artillery with rifled barrels was commenced in Piedmont. Modern weapons warfare was being made possible. The start of the build up to World War I had begun.

Over the period between 1850 and 1914 there were a series of power struggles between the major players for the division of empires. The USA was faced with a civil war to ensure its power as a single nation. In 1867 the USA purchased Alaska from Russia and the British North America Act established the Confederation of Canada. Israel had inherited its lands.

The scenes were thus set for the modernisation of the world systems into a giant open arena, which would force extended empires and then ultimately one giant system. This had yet to be achieved and it would only be achieved by force of arms.

In 1875 Britain, France and Germany embarked on a military re-armament program. In 1877 Britain annexed the Transvaal and Russia invaded Turkey. In 1878 the Treaty of San Stefano between Russia and Turkey saw Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania become independent. The Russian gains of the Treaty of San Stefano were reversed by the Berlin congress and Britain was given Cyprus. The Anglo-Afghan war of 1878-1880 saw Britain gain control of Afghan affairs.

In 1876 Britain and France had established dual control of Egypt's finances. This control of Egypt forced the abdication of Ismail in 1879.

In 1881 the Nationalist revolt in Egypt occurred under Arabi Pasha. France established a protectorate over Tunis. This period began the Mahdi revolt against Egyptian rule in the Sudan. In 1882 the Mahdi proclaimed himself the Messiah in the Sudan taking Khartoum in 1885.

In 1887 the Italians were defeated at Dogali. However, Ethiopia was made an Italian protectorate by the Treaty of Ucciali in 1889. In 1896 at the Battle of Adowa Italian claims to Ethiopia were ended (at least until Mussolini).

In 1888 the Convention of Constantinople opened the Suez Canal to ships of all nations.

In 1899 the Anglo-Boer war broke out and is halted in 1900 by the British annexure of the Orange Free State and Transvaal and the Boers commence guerrilla warfare in 1901.

The Boer War ended in 1902. Thus the Cape was consolidated to the British and the USA gained control of the Panama Canal in the same year. It was not however finally opened until 1914.

Thus Britain and America possessed the gates of the nations by 1914 (see the prophecy to Abraham in Genesis 22:17).

Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (KJV)

This consolidation was later to assist the development of the world trading system under the beast. However, the retention of the gates will be by the descendants of Abraham.

The Entente Cordiale between Britain and France reached accord over Egypt and Morocco. Although Morocco was to precipitate a crisis between France and Germany in 1905, the rights of France were recognised in the Algeciras Conference of 1906. In 1905 also, the Russians were defeated by the Japanese with the destruction of the Russian fleet at Tsushima.

1906 saw the launching of HMS Dreadnought the first turbine driven battleship thus escalating the naval race between Britain and Germany.

In 1907 Sun Yat-sen announced the program for the Chinese Democratic Republic.

In 1908 Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1909 the liberal revolution in Persia overthrew the Shah. In Turkey the Young Turks deposed Abdul Hamid II. Russia and Bulgaria concluded a secret treaty of Alliance against Austria and Germany.

In 1914 some seven times after the defeat of Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish to which the prophecy was tied the British Commonwealth forces entered Egypt. They had frustrated the French aims there in the Napoleonic wars. Egypt was to become a key player in the control of world trade through the Suez Canal but more particularly it was the gateway to the establishment of the state of Israel. The Balfour Declaration itself in 1917 was an historic occasion.

The build up from 1914-1918 saw Israel regained by the Commonwealth. The next period saw the European system gear up to destroy the Commonwealth and stop the establishment of the State of Israel. The extermination of the Sabbath-keeping Churches and Judah was commenced from the end of WWI – especially from the extermination of the Armenians and then among the Turks from 1927. (Look also at the paper The Last Pope: Examining Nostradamus and Malachy (No. 288).)

In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the British declared war. The Commonwealth was thus back in Egypt fighting the Axis forces. The most intensive part of the harvest of Judah referred to in Hosea 6:11 was to occur over the last three years of the 2,520 years from the destruction of Jerusalem. This destruction commenced in 597 BCE and finished in 586 BCE. This period equated with the same time-frame from 1933 to 1944 over the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

1945 saw the seven-time cycles end with the cessation of the three years harvest. This is derived from Hosea 6:2.

Hosea 6:2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. (RSV)

The establishment of the state of Israel then began from 1945 onwards.

Egypt also developed according to the prophecy of the arms. In 1953 Egypt declared independence under Gamel Abdul Nasser. In 1956 the Suez crisis occurred. The next sequence of the forty years saw the continual attempts at the destruction of Israel.

The prophecy saw the effective fall of the Egyptian Coptic Church and its reunion with Rome in 1996. The Egyptian state is effectively an increasingly fundamentalist Islamic state. This ends the 2,520-year periods of the prophecy. This action does not complete the demise of Egypt but rather commences the final sequence of the wars of the end. This can also be understood from the text in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137).

The time cycle also extends through the rise of Cyrus and the invasion of Cambyses. The time-frame for the reconstruction of the Temple extended from the second year of Cyrus. Cyrus annexed Babylonia in 539 BCE and he issued the order to commence the reconstruction of the Temple in his first year at Babylon, which was in 538 BCE. This proclamation was the fulfilment of Jeremiah 29:10 and 2Chronicles 36:21 under divine direction (Isa. 44:28; 45:1-3). The Temple however was not completed until the reign of Darius II over 100 years later.

Thus the build up to the end of the prophecy has a number of subsidiary messages. The dates of Cambyses invasion could extend through the sacred year of 525 BCE and thus the time-frame extended into 1995/6 sacred year. The significance of these dates is that they are the key times to the build up to the return of Messiah and the times of the end. This time-frame extends to the Jubilee 2027/28. Key dates are:

669-663 BCE – Preliminary break – 1798-1811-1876

610-609 BCE – Attempted restoration – 1831, 1881

605 BCE – Broken arm (key date) – 1914-16

567 BCE – Attempted restoration – 1953-56

525 BCE – Second break – 1995/6 (end 80 years)

1997 end of the Time of the Nations.

1997 – Commencement of the last phase of the wars of the North and South.

Another key factor is that the nations in control of Egypt become the kings of the South for the purposes of Daniel 11. This is examined in detail in the papers World War III: Part I The Empire of the Beast (No. 299A) and WWIII Part II: The Whore and the Beast (No . 299B)). However, it is necessary to note that the last phases of Daniel 11 are concerned also with the Libyans and the Ethiopians. The wars of the end will commence from the fall of Egypt and the establishment of the fundamentalist alliances that will ensue from that action. The North-South wars of the end will commence from the fall of Egypt as a result of these prophecies.

The activities of the last days are explained through a multitude of interrelated prophecy. The wars and the activities are known. The watershed period appears to relate to the end of the seven times period which commenced the dual phase in 1914-16 some seven times from 605 BCE. The sequence of the two forty-year periods in their second phase ended in 1996 with a new re-orientation of power. The obvious power groupings in the world today are those of Europe and Islam. The other group that is developing is that of the kings of the East.

The wars that ensue in the Middle East make it possible for the kings of the East to move into the Middle East through a devastated land. The throne of the beast is in darkness through the wars in the Middle East and that of the east and north of Jerusalem, i.e. the Central Asian Steppes. This sequence then makes way for the kings of the East to move on Jerusalem.

Revelation 16:10-16 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds. ¹² The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra'tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. ¹³ And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; ¹⁴ for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ ("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") ¹⁶ And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armaged'don. (RSV)

The wars of the end are shown in part in the Seven Trumpets. The Seven Vials of the wrath of God are specifically to deal with the nations of the last days and to destroy their capacity to wage war and to remove from the earth the mind-set that makes war. The sequence of the end is made possible by the release of the four angels at the Euphrates and the consequent wars they enable.

Just as the Spanish Civil War was prelude to World War II so too is the Balkan War a prelude to World War III. The racism and barbarism seen there with the ethnic cleansing and the religious orientation of the states and the continual deceit and dishonour are indicative of the conflicts of World War III. The horrors of the types of weapons seen developed from Vietnam and the Middle East have shown that World War III will be more horrific than could previously have been imagined. Over one-third of the planet will die in this war of the sixth trumpet. A quarter of mankind will die of famine and pestilence leading up to and following from this war. Because the planet will not repent, another third will die from the pestilence and disease that follows it and in the battles that ensue when the east is brought down to Armageddon.

Because of its reliance on the Military-Industrial Complex the Israelite nations are dealt with according to prophecy (Ezek. 5:1-17). We deal with World War III in the papers 299A-299D.

Whatever the key commencement date of the last sequence concerning Egypt from the end at 1996 and the start of the Thirty Years from 1997, the sequence is known and is sure. We have a job to do so that our people are called to repentance.

We continue with the Fall of Egypt in the paper Fall of Egypt Part II: The Wars of the End (No. 36_2) along with the Audio.

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