96
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1938
Exaltation of the prin ciple of physicial and military might is noth ing new under the sun. But the Willful King will actually en throne and w o rsh ip the principle of phy sic a l fo rc e as em bodied in himself and the forces he is able to control by his own word.
The Final Conflicts of the End-Time Powers By ALVA J. McCLA IN Akron, Ohio I N A former article entitled “ The Four Great Powers of the End-Time,” which appeared in the February issue of T he
blasphemous attempts to blot out the ancient Jewish religion with its sacrificial system and completely to paganize the nation, be came in Old Testament history a very fit ting type of the final Antichrist. There fore, we should not be surprised that, at verse 36, the prophetic vision leaps from the type to the antitype, from Antiochus to the Man of Sin. Such a leap across the centuries is a quite common phenomenon of prophecy, and is clearly indicated in verse 35 by the significant phrase, “ even to the time of the end” which is intended to warn the reader of the shift in time. “The king” who does “ according to his w ill” of verse 36 cannot possibly be iden tified with the historic Antiochus Epiphanes for several reasons: First, he is placed by the prophecy very definitely at the “time of the end” (v. 40). Second, while An tiochus was one of the kings of the north, this final king will fight against the “ king of the north” (v. 40). Third, not by any process of interpretation can the descrip tion of verses 36-39 be applied to Antiochus. The details simply do not fit. Fourth, An tiochus could not be called an irreligious man, since he was very careful to honor the various gods of his day, but the final king will not regard “ any god” (v. 37). Fifth, the king of verse 36 will “ prosper till the indignation be accomplished,” and “ the indignation” is a technical Old Testament term used to describe the judgment period of the last days of the age. The aforementioned shift in time at Daniel 11:36 introduces a new person and begins a different subject, both of which belong to the “ time of the end.” The per son is undoubtedly the final Antichrist of Scripture, and also, I believe, the head of the Revived Roman Empire. Whether these two positions will be filled by one person or by two persons (as some hold) is not essential to the main purpose of this article. For, on the supposition of two per sons, they certainly work together as one political •unit. At any rate, in verses 36 to 45 we have recorded the methods and
conflicts of this Roman power, whom I shall designate hereafter as the Willful King to distinguish him from the kings of the North and the South. With this by way of introduction, we are now prepared to discuss their conflicts. Worship of Impersonal Physical Forces I. The international stage for these final conflicts will be set by the Willful King through his adoption, as a working phil osophy, of the principle of the absolute su premacy of physical Force. This is made very clear by the description of verses 36 to 39, especially in the “strange god” that he honors. The statements o f the prophet on this point seem almost contradictory. On the one hand, we are told that the W illful K ing speaks against the “ God o f gods,” exalts himself alcove “every god,” and does not regard “ any god.” Yet on the other hand, verses 38 and 39 declare that this king honors the “ god of forces,” a “ strange god,” one “ whom his fathers knew not.” As a solution of this apparent contradic tion, some have suggested that the W illful King only denies all known gods and then sets up a new god of his own, hitherto un known. There is some plausibility to this interpretation, but the important idea seems to be found in the phrase “ god of forces.” The American Revision translates it “the god o f fortresses,” doubtless because the same Hebrew word is used in verses 7, 10 (last clause), and 19, where it unquestion ably refers to military forces. Thus it would seem that the W illful King, while denying all known gods including the true God, will nevertheless himself worship at the shrine of impersonal physical “ forces,” preeminently those of a military nature, which he can control and direct in the in terest of his own evil and limitless am bitions. In the W illful King there will ap pear at last a dreadful figure who will ac tually enthrone and worship the principle of physical force as embodied in himself and the forces he is able to control. Thus he will exalt himself above all known gods,
K ing ’ s B usiness , I discussed three general facts: First, that divine prophecy sees in the final days of the present age at least four great political powers which are dis tinguished as the Revived Roman Empire, the King of the North, the K ing of the South, and the Kings of the East. Second, that these predicted powers seem to be emerging in their proper respective geo graphical locations in relation to the land of Palestine—Fascist Italy on the Mediter ranean to the west, Red Russia to the north, British control to the south, and Japanese dominion in the east. Third, that all four of these powers, although differing widely in political theory, are actually moving to gether toward the goal of Collectivism, or Totalitarianism, which is the infallible road to war and its inevitable ruin. The initial purpose of the present article is to outline briefly those final conflicts which, according to Biblical prophecy, will involve the four great powers, and also to discuss some o f the present-day factors and tendencies which seem to be driving the world to the predicted holocaust. Prophecy, as some one has well said, was not given to enable us to prophesy. And undoubted ly there are many details regarding the fu ture which are omitted from the divine record. Nevertheless, in the prophetic Word we may find at least a general out line of coming events, sufficient for us to discern the face of things as they begin to come to pass. The most important Biblical source of information regarding these predicted con flicts is Daniel 11:36-45, which should be read once more as a preface to this discus sion. It should be noticed carefully that verses 5 to 35 describe the conflicts of the now historic kings of the “north” and the “ south,” that is, the Seleucidae of the an cient Syrian Empire and the Ptolemies of Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes, “ the vile person” of verses 21 to 31, by reason of his
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker