KEY TO THE FUTURE
All told to us in Daniel 11
by Keith Hunt Daniel chapter 11 and up to about verse 30, the old well known Bible Commentaries like Adam Clarke, Albert Barnes, and others, have the historical events pretty well right on the bull's eye. The reader is referred to those such Commentaries for the understanding of verse one to thirty. Verses 29-30 hold the KEY to who the king of the NORTH is in verse 40. Syria has been the king of the north up to v.29. But what happens in v. 30 is missed by nearly all students of Bible prophecy. For there is a CHANGE in who is the NORTHERN KING from v. 30 to the end of the chapter. In modern language, Rome told him to stop his invasion against Egypt - OR ELSE! Antiochus put his tail between his legs like a whipped dog and bowed down to the dictates of Rome. The ROMAN EMPIRE from this point in history became the "king of the north". There's never any change in the "king of the south". It is EGYPT for the entire chapter. Without understanding what the significance is in v. 30, the rest of the chapter cannot be understood. V. 33-35 Covers the Christian era from the time of the New Testament Church to 313 A. D. (in its first fulfilling) and to the second return of Christ in its second larger fulfilling. These verses cover the martyrdom of true followers of Christ. ".......BUT MANY SHALL CLEAVE TO THEM WITH FLATTERIES." Compare this with 2 Pet. 2. Notice v.l-3, 13-14, 18,19. The New Testament church was in Peter's time being corrupted from within by persons who eventually went out and formed the great apostate church, Babylon Mystery Religion, the Mother of Harlots (Rev. 17). V. 36-39. Here is depicted a GREAT king - as the king of the north is now the ROMAN EMPIRE, this king here mentioned must be a king of that Empire. Let's note what is said of him: 1. He exalts himself above every god. 2. He speaks AGAINST the true God. 3. He prospers. 4. He rejects his ancestors' god - (He then chooses another). 5. Rejects the desire of women. 6. He honors with gold, silver and riches a god that his former ancestors did not. 7. This god he honors is called a 'strange' god - not the true God then. And this strange god rules over many. The event and KING here depicted must be a FIRST of a kind - a king who is different than all other kings of the Roman Empire. He has to be a LANDMARK-type person, someone who does so many changes in the Empire and himself that he will stand out as a unique king of Rome. There is only ONE king who fits all seven of the aforementioned points - King CONSTANTINE of Rome. See the following pages: FROM "A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY" by Laterette. QUOTE: One of the factors to which is attributed the triumph of Christianity is the endorsement of Constantine. But, as we have suggested, the faith was already so strong by the time when Constantine espoused it, that it would probably have won without him. Indeed, one of the motives sometimes ascribed to his supposed desire to enlist the cooperation of what had become the strongest element in the Empire, the Christian community.... CONSTANTINE ESPOUSES CHRISTIANITY What must have seemed an unequal contest between naked ruthless force and unarmed, passive resistance, it was not the imperial government which emerged victor. Presumably this would have been the eventual outcome, for Christianity was clearly proving itself the stronger. As it was the individual who was preeminent in the surrender of the state was Constantine. Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine, was governing Britain; Gaul, and Spain as Caesar when the persecution broke out. He seems never to had any stomach for it and to have been at best half-hearted in his enforcement of the anti-Christian edicts. When, after the abdication of his two superiors, Diocletian and Maximian, he became one of their successors under the title of Augustus, he appears to have allowed the anti-Christian measures to lapse. On the death of Constintius Chlorus, in 306, Constantine, then in York in distant Britain, already his father's known choice for the succession, was proclaimed Emperor by his troops. He was confronted with rivals and a prolonged struggle followed. He did not become sole Emperor until 323, when he defeated his last competitor, Licinius. Constantine took the decisive steps in his relation with Christianity in the year 312. He had invaded Italy on his march towards Rome and was faced with the army of his first formidable opponent, Maxentius. Apparently he knew that Maxentius was relying on pagan magic and felt the need of a more powerful supernatural force to offset it. Years later he told his friend, bishop Eusebius, the most eminent of the early Church historians, that, after noon, as he was praying, he had a vision of a great cross of light in the heavens bearing the inscription, "conquer by this," and the confirmation came in a dream in which God appeared to him with the same sign and commanded him to make a likeness of it and use it as a safeguard in all encounters with his enemies. How accurately Constantine remembered the experience we do not know, but Eusebius is usually discriminating in his evaluation of data, and he declares that he himself saw the standard which was made in response to the vision- a spear overlaid with gold, with a cross which was formed by a transverse bar and a wreath of gold and precious stones enclosing a monogram of the letters Chi and Rho for the name of Christ. The staff also had an embroidered cloth with the picture of Constantine and his children. Constantine was victor, the winning battle being at the Milvian Bridge, near Rome, and he therefore took possession of the capital. Presumably his faith in the efficacy of the Christian symbol was thus confirmed. In the following year Constantine and Licinius, between whom the realm was temporarily divide, met at Milan and action was taken which was later looked back upon as having ensured toleration for the Christians through precisely what was done at Milan remains controversial. Some, declare that an edict of toleration was issued. On the other hand it is contended that Constantine had already granted religious freedom and that whatever was done at Milan was by Licinius and was intended only for the eastern portions of the Empire where Licinius was in control. Whatever the details, it seems clear that important measures on behalf of the Christians was taken at Milan and that Constantine was consistently friendly. The policy of Constantine was one of toleration. He did not make Christianity the sole religion of the state. That was to follow under later Emperors. He continued to support BOTH paganism and Christianity. In 314, when the cross first appeared on his coins, it was accompanied by the figures of SOL INVICTUS and MARS CONSERVATOR. To the end of his days he bore the title of PONTIFEX MAXIMUS as chief of the pagan state cult. The subservient Roman Senate followed the long-established custom and classed him among the gods. He did not persecute the old faiths. As time passed, Constantine came out more pronouncedly in favour of Christianity. Whether he was a Christian from political motives only or from sincere religious conviction has been hotly debate. Perhaps he himself did not know. However, it is clear that he granted to members of the Christian clergy the freedom from all contributions to the state which had been the privilege of the priests of other religions which were accorded official recognition.... Wills in favor to the Church were permitted. Christian Sunday was ordered, placed in the same legal position as the pagan feasts, and provincial governors were instructed to respect the days in memory of the martyrs and to honor the festivals of the churches. The manumission of slaves in churches in the presence of the bishop and clergy, was legalized. Litigants might bring suit in a bishop's court and the decision tendered was to be respected by the civil authorities. Constantine forbade Jews to stone such of their co-religionists as chose to become Christians. He had his children instructed in the Christian faith and kept Christian bishops and clergy in his entourage. He built and enlarged churches and encourage bishops to do likewise and to call on the help of civil officials. When he removed head-guarters to Bayzantium, on the Bosporus, and enlarged that city and renamed it Constantinople, he built in it many churches. He prohibited the repair of ruined temples and the erection of new images of the gods. He forbade any attempt to force Christians to participate in non-Christian religious ceremonies. He took an active part in the affairs of the church, thus establishing a PRECEDENT,which was to be followed by his successors. The fashion in which he sought to promote Christian unity by calling the first general council of the Church and presiding at it will be noted to the next chapter. While Constantine did not receive baptism until the latter part of his life, the deferment of that rite seems not to have been from indifference to it, but from the conviction, then general, that it washed away all previous sins and being Unrepeatable, had best be postponed until as near death as possible. The CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY UNDER THE SONS OF CONSTANTINE The three sons of Constantine who followed him successively in the imperial purple were much more positive furthering the Christian faith than heir father had been. In 341 the second of them ordered that pagan sacrifices be abolished in Italy. The third, Constantius, commanded that the "superstition cease and the folly of sacrifices be abolished" and removed from the Senate the statue of Victory which had been placed there by Augustus after the battle of Actium. He ordered temples closed. Yet of the pagan rites only sacrifices were forbidden, and processions, sacred feasts,and initiation to the mysteries still permitted, presumably continued. Under this prolonged patronage by the Emperors the Christian communities grew rapidly. The momentum acquired before Constantine was accelerated. Many now sought admission to the Church from other motives than purely religious conviction. Official favour and even wealth could be hoped for where formerly persecution, always in the background, tended to give pause...." END QUOTES We can note: 1. To the end of his days he bore the title of Pontifix Maximus as CHIEF priest of the pagan cult - he thus exalting himself above every god. Rome classed him among the gods. 2. He followed both paganism and a so-called 'Christianity' which was not the Christianity of the New Testament. He was never truly converted. He thus spoke AGAINST the true God. 3. He became very rich and wealthy as king of Rome. 4. As time went on, he rejected more and more the pagan cult to follow his new-found life with the church of Rome. He thus rejected the god of his fathers. 5. By accepting the Roman Catholic religion, he accepted and approved of the doctrine of "celibacy" for the clergy - an unmarried priesthood; thus rejecting the desire for women. it did become in time the Church of Rome's teaching. Jesus said a time of trouble like no other in man's history would come on earth. When all flesh could be destroyed. That time was not until 1945. The atomic bomb brought in that time. But that time is continuous. The events Christ gave was to happen when that time arrived, but the time is whatever the Lord gives within that time, after that time arrived. But the time is continual, so the events come within that time, but no specific time is given. WE ARE TO WATCH FOR THE SIGNS JESUS GAVE. We have come well into that time, but it still could be years or decades yet after the time started in 1945. The king of the NORTH - Europe - has a ways to go before it is equal to any other power on earth. It still must get atomic bomb power. Yes Donald Trump is helping to push Europe into that mode, by stating Europe must become more self-sufficient in its own defence power. And Germany is already talking about nuclear bomb power. Yet that will take some years to come to fruition, maybe a decade or more. The Egyptian king of the SOUTH, though starting to form in about 2015, it also has a ways to go before it can have enough confidence to "push at" the king of the NORTH. What all that pushing is we are not told, and how long before that pushing starts is not told us, could take a long time before they push at the king of the NORTH. THEN the king of the NORTH maybe at first a friend of the State of Israel, so surrounding Jerusalem with armies may not be thought of as some bad omen, and the armies may be there for a long time before prophecy comes to pass. YET JESUS SAID His disciples were to flee when they saw the armies around Jerusalem. WHAT I'M SAYING IS THE TIME FRAME FOR ALL THIS IS NOT SPECIFIC. WAY BACK IN THE 1960s WHEN EUROPE WAS UNITING, 1,2,3,4,5,6 NATIONS, IT LOOKED LIKE TIME WAS MAYBE SHORT. BUT WE WERE WRONG! LOOK AT ALL THE YEARS THAT HAVE GONE BY SINCE THEN..... AS I TYPE THIS IN THE YEAR 2025. DO YOU SEE HOW THE FATHER CAN STRETCH PROPHETIC TIME OUT; TIME WITH HIM IS NOT AS TIME WITH US. 70 YEARS FOR US IS A LIFE TIME [AVERAGE LIFE] WHILE TO GOD IT IS AS NOTHING. WE ALL ARE TO PRAY FOR GOD'S KINGDOM TO COME. BUT WE ARE GIVEN SIGNS BY JESUS TO WATCH. IT IS GOD THE FATHER WHO DECIDES THE COMING OF THOSE SIGNS-- COULD BE LONG, COULD BE SHORT. WHEN I WAS 20 YEARS OLD I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD STILL BE IN THE FLESH AT 83 [IN THIS YEAR 2025] BUT A NEEDLE IN THE FLESH PROVES I AM, IT STILL HURTS! WE MUST BE LIVING AND WORKING FOR GOD EVERY DAY. WE MUST LET HIM LOOK AFTER TIME, KNOWING IN HIS TIME ALL PROPHECY ABOUT THE END TIME AND JESUS' RETURN WILL COME TO PASS, JUST AS THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS FIRST COMING CAME TO PASS. LET'S GET ON WITH TEACHING THE SALVATION AND KINGDOM OF GOD TO THE WORLD.
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