"Spoken of by DANIEL the Prophet!"
Let's do as Jesus said — let's go to the prophecies of DANIEL to understand this strange warning!
Daniel was given specific visions of events to occur in OUR TIME! He told Nebuchadnezzar, ". . . there is a GOD IN HEAVEN that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the later days" (Dan. 2:28).
Daniel was told his prophecies were for the TIME OF THE END — NOW! (Dan. 12:4).
The answer to Christ's warning is found in the 11th chapter of Daniel, the longest and most clearly detailed single prophecy in all the Bible.
Notice! "And at the TIME OF THE END (this prophecy, then, is absolutely DATED as pertaining to OUR DAY, NOW)
shall the king of the south push at him (the "king of the north") and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over" (verse 40).
Bible scholars have recognized the FIRST, TYPICAL fulfillment of this surprising prophecy, but have failed to see its LITERAL application to OUR TIMES!
It is known, for example, that the ancient kings of the north" were the Seleucidae of Syria, warring against the Ptolemies of Egypt. But what of the MODERN powers meant by these designations?
Remember — the Bible is written, SPIRITUALLY and GEOGRAPHICALLY, from the point of view of PALESTINE!
If you were to look on a map, and try to find two powers fitting this description, you would have a fairly easy task — if you KNEW the "king of the North" COULD NOT BE RUSSIA!
How can you know this? Because Russia is to the NORTH and EAST of Palestine — and is mentioned as yet a THIRD power in this same prophecy — and one that challenges the power of the KING OF THE NORTH (verse 44).
Who else could this be, then, except the coming UNITED STATES OF EUROPE, a resurrection of the ancient ROMAN EMPIRE, just as we have been fearlessly proclaiming for nearly THIRTY YEARS over the WORLD TOMORROW program, and in the pages of this magazine!
A rearmed GERMANY, heading up a final union of TEN NATIONS IN EUROPE — THIS is the Biblical KING OF THE NORTH!
The King of the South? EGYPT, of course. But not Egypt of today. Egypt of a few more years from now — Egypt as she continues to expand the U.A.R., bringing more and more of the North African Mohammedan nations into the same Afro-Arabian power bloc!
Daniel's prophecy shows the TIME when Christ's prophecy of ARMIES AROUND JERUSALEM WILL BE FULFILLED!
Notice! "He shall enter also the GLORIOUS LAND, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand [the REASONS for this were covered in Dr. H.L. Hoeh's article in the last issue — on a way of ESCAPE for God's true people!], even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon" (Daniel 11:41).
Notice further, "And HE SHALL PLANT THE TABERNACLES OF HIS PALACE BETWEEN THE SEAS [MEANING JERUSALEM] IN THE GLORIOUS HOLY MOUNTAIN . . ." (verse 45).
Speaking in modern language, then, when YOU, yes YOU, YOURSELF, SEE a revived, remilitarized Germany, at the head of a UNITED STATES OF EUROPE the coming third power bloc of the world in central Europe — MARCHING INTO PALESTINE — then you had better realize THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION IS BEGINNING!
Why in the "HOLY PLACE?"
But what about the REST of this stern warning from Jesus Christ?
He said, "When you see the Abomination of Desolation . . . stand in the HOLY PLACE . . . then . . . FLEE . . ." (Matt. 24).
Remember, the HOLY PLACE is an actual room in the TEMPLE!
Herein is the great "RELIGIOUS" fulfillment of Christ's warning!
The very FIRST WARNING JESUS GAVE, and His most oft-repeated warning, was that of false ministers, false christs — religious BABYLON!
Many parts of the Bible make this warning really PLAIN!
The great pagan religions of the world, nearly always stemming from EGYPT and BABYLON, have always had one major thing in common — IDOLATRY!
It seems each major babylonish system in its turn has had a single GREAT STATUE to which it looked — a chief idol — whether of an actual "deity" or supposed replica of its "founder."
Don't forget this remarkable prophecy has had a previous, TYPICAL fulfillment! While the REALLY IMPORTANT fulfillment is to take place in our time — there has been a forerunner of this prophecy.
In the times of the Seleucidae of Syria, the most dreaded and notorious of all the Syrian kings, Antiochus Epiphanes, succeeded in setting up an actual IDOL, a statue IN THE HOLY PLACE! It was the statue of "JUPITER OLYMPUS" chief deity of the pagan Hellenists of Macedonia and Greece! According to profane history, the statue finally found its way to Rome, and, through the ages, disappeared. If anywhere in existence today, the statue would be of great antiquity — darkened and worn with age!
Modern "mystery" religions are no exception! They, too, have their favored idols — cherished as something almost "sacred," and bound up in ages of tradition and history!
But NOT JUST AN IDOL is to become an abomination in the very Holy Place — but a living human being! One who is ALIVE, TODAY! One who will rise to GREAT OFFICE AND POWER, and will make GREAT CHANGES on the world scene — one who will SPEAK GREAT WORDS!
Jesus Christ, the Revelator, revealed to John the picture of a great fallen WOMAN who had made the world spiritually drunk on the "wine" of FALSE DOCTRINE!
Read it! "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast (our free booklet, "Who is the BEAST?", and the article appearing in the last issue fully explain this Bible symbol of a revived ROMAN EMPIRE in modern day Europe!), full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev. 17:3).
These heads, representing governments in Biblical language, show the continuous stages, or phases of this babylonish system which was to continue from the time of the first Roman Empire until the second coming of Christ. (Dan. 7th chap)
But what power RULED over these successive stages or revivals in Europe? Read verse 4! A great harlot WOMAN is described! The Bible speaks of this woman as a GREAT FALSE CHURCH! She, in the female gender, commits spiritual "fornication" with the kings of the earth (Rev. 17:2), having political relations with this world!
Instead of COMING OUT of this evil world, and being totally SEPARATE from it, as God commands to every true child of His (Rev. 18:4; I John 2:15; Jas. 4:4; Rom. 12:2) this great false woman became very much a part of THIS WORLD!
"And upon her forehead was a NAME written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH!" She is, then, a great MYSTERY religion! "Mystery, Babylon the great" merely means BABYLONIAN MYSTERIES! Her doctrines are the identical SAME doctrines of the ancient pagan religions of BABYLON and EGYPT, started by the mother-wife of Nimrod, Semiramis, and perpetuated in the first century by Simon Magus and his henchmen!
Notice — she is called the MOTHER OF HARLOTS! She has many DAUGHTERS, then, WHO ALSO MIX WITH THE POLITICS OF THIS EVIL WORLD — FOLLOWING their fallen mother in her basic evils — yet having come out of her!
She is called the MOTHER, not only of HARLOTS — but of the ABOMINATIONS of the earth!
The GREATEST SINGLE ABOMINATION OF ALL will be fostered by this SAME BABYLONIH SYSTEM!
The Apostle Paul was inspired to give the whole story! He fearlessly foretold of a single man who was to ascend a great religious throne, and begin to make wholly BLASPHEMOUS and HIDEOUSLY ABOMINABLE proclamations — even appropriating to himself titles that belong only to GOD! He would eventually begin to claim that he, himself IS GOD!
"Let no man deceive you by any means," begins Paul (II Thess. 2:3), just as Jesus began His prophecy of the SAME TIMES — with a stern warning about false doctrines — "for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the SON OF PERDITION (DESTRUCTION) " (II Thess. 2:3).
Notice he is called a MAN OF SIN! But the DEVIL is called the very author and beginner of sin (John 8:44 with Rev. 12:9), the father of lies! This human being, to ascend a great religious throne, will be a SON OF DESTRUCTION! And Satan is called the DESTROYER! (Rev. 9:11 — margin).
This man will be a son of SATAN, spiritually, and perhaps even directly POSSESSED by SATAN HIMSELF!
Notice the great POWERS he will wield! "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God (acting AS IF HE WERE GOD HIMSELF!) sitteth in the TEMPLE OF GOD . . ." (II Thess. 2:4).
IN THE TEMPLE! OF COURSE! IN THE HOLY PLACE!
Just as Jesus Christ warned, this MAN, a human individual even now alive, and perhaps even NOW Satan inspired, WILL PLACE HIS THRONE IN THE VERY TEMPLE OF GOD, CLAIMING TO BE GOD!
Could ANYTHING be MORE of an evil, foul, dirty, slimy, blasphemous ABOMINATION in God's sight?
Read the rest of this alarming prophecy! ". . . sitteth in the temple of God, chewing himself that he is God . . . for the mystery of iniquity (a babylonish MYSTERY religion!) doth ALREADY work (yes, Paul said it had its insidious beginnings even then!) only he who now letteth (an old word meaning "restrains") will let, until HE BECOME TO BE!" (The original Greek verb, "ginomai" has this sense, rather than "taken out of the way," as it appears in the King James translation)
"And then shall that WICKED (A WICKED ONE — ONE EVIL PERSON IN HIGH OFFICE — is the whole subject and content of this passage of scripture!) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" (II Thess. 4:8).
There it is! This great false spiritual leader will make UNPRECEDENTED changes in the whole religious pattern of the WORLD!
He will ascend a HIGH SPIRITUAL OFFICE, claiming to be the spiritual leader of the WHOLE EARTH — finally claiming HE IS GOD! Think of it! He will say THERE IS no God in heaven — that HE, HIMSELF, IS GOD!
Jesus warned YOU to watch! He said, when you SEE this great ABOMINATION beginning to develop, when you see these frightening signs in weather, in the political climate of the world, and in religion, then you can KNOW that His return to this earth is really NEAR!
This great false god will have the very power of Satan! He will deceive MOST of the world, and only the VERY ELECT will not be deceived by the tremendous MIRACLES he will perform (Matt. 24:24).
Jesus warned, "whoso readeth — LET HIM UNDERSTAND!"
You have been warned!