Donald Trump and Daniel (4) Broken and Discarded

Donald Trump will have a dazzling rise like a bright shining shooting star, but will fade quickly and disappear. After several fiascos resulting from the overuse of international power that he does not have, he will be broken by failure.

Donald Trump will discover that he has immense power over the federal bureaucracy (great power in the nation) but that his power to control the nations of the world has evaporated. Too many bad economic decisions and the failure of too many foolish international adventures will shatter him. Trump will be a broken man, destroyed by the shame of failure. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he will collapse at the peak of his power (Dan 4).

Trump will be pushed aside by the powerful men who surround him. His VP will probably pushed out too. He has empowered these men, but they will disempower him.

Broken Trump will be succeeded by a despicable person, who will use the power techniques that his predecessor has developed to exercise immense power and control over the American nation. People who are scared of Donald Trump will applaud his collapse and embrace his successor, but this is a mistake, because they will be deceived into welcoming their betrayer.

A despised person will stand in his place (Dan 11:21a).

The people who dislike Donald Trump will praise his successor, but they will be surprised when he lasts longer and uses the power that Donald Trump has released to develop immense executive power. He might seem to be good at first, but according to Daniel, he will be around for a long time and will do great evil.

Donald Trump will only last for a short time, but is important, because he will open the way for another ruler more successful. The second ruler will use the same methods as Donald Trump to massively expand presidential power. He will do far more harm, because his power will last much longer.

The ruler who replaces Donald Trump will be dishonest from the start.

A despised person will stand in his place, to whom they had not given the respect of the kingdom: but he will come without warning and seize the kingdom by intrigue (Dan 11:21).

When he gains his place, this ruler will not have the respect of many in his nation. Some will recognise that he will be a despicable person and assume that he will not gain power, but he will engage in intrigue and seize control of his nation.

Once he gains power, this ruler is successful against strong opposition.

The forces of the overwhelmer will be overwhelmed before him; they will be broken (Dan 11:22).

Stated literally, this verse says that "overwhelming forces will be overwhelmed". Or a deluge of forces will be deluged. There is no reference to the King of the South, so the expression "overwhelmer" could have a different more local meaning. A perceived threat to the United States at the current time is the millions of refugees from Latin America who are travelling through Mexico and sneaking across the southern border into the southern states. So many were coming that they have been "overwhelming" the border control forces. Associated with this overwhelming flood of people is a flow of illicit drugs that are destroying the youth of America.

To distract the people of his nation from the pain of his losses overseas, the despicable ruler might attack Mexico to once and for all close the border to the overwhelming flood of people who are crossing every night and the flow of drugs that are striking the heart of his nation. Daniel might be warning that Mexico will be broken when the United States invades to secure its border and overwhelming flow of people and drugs.

Daniel also explains that

A commander of the covenant will be destroyed (Dan 11:22).

The despicable ruler will destroy a key military leader in Israel.

The full series can be read on Substack.

Donald Trump and Daniel (3) Limited Power

Donald Trump is not a good man, but he is arrogant and easily sidetracked, so he will not personally deliver as much harm as people fear. He loves power, but he does not have the wisdom needed to use it effectively. One reason he will fail is that he has vastly over-estimated his power over the nations of the world.

Trump’s big problem is that he understands presidential power, but he vastly over-estimates the power of the United States. He assumes that the nations of the world fear the military and economic power of his nation, but he does not understand that the nations no longer fear his nation’s power. He does not understand that American power is crumbling around him.

Donald Trump believes that he controls the greatest military in the world, but he forgets that the recent military efforts of his nation have ended in failure. The United States had to retreat from Afghanistan in embarrassment. The US proxy war against Russia is ending in defeat. The US efforts to subdue Yemen with a destructive bombing campaign has ended in an embarrassing failure (two F18s falling off an aircraft carrier is a sign). Too many unsuccessful military adventures and the economic boondoggles of the weapons industry have severely weakened the American military.

Donald Trump does not seem to understand that financialization and deliberate de-industrialisation by American financial leaders have massively undermined the strength of the US economy. America is no longer the great innovator. nor is it the world’s manufacturer. American industrial power has been destroyed along with many communities that depended on it. Imposing tariffs on imports will not instantly restore production in the United States. Donald Trump will not be able to restore US industrial strength, despite his many promises. A trade war may damage his perceived enemies, but it will also harm the United States.

Donald Trump has always been a bully. That worked in the business world that he came from because he could intimidate his opposition, while buying the support that he needed. He could use lawyers to do the bullying, while he pretended to be the nice guy coming to the rescue those they had beat down. Bullying might work against weaker nations, like Panama, Colombia, and perhaps even Mexico, Iran and Canada. However, when he tries to bully stronger nations like the UK, Germany, Russia and China, they will push back and he will have to make an embarrassing retreat.

Donald Trump’s attempts to bring peace in the Middle East will end in failure. Giving impunity to Israeli bullying will result in the destruction of thousands of lives. His support for Israeli bullying will undermine his credibility in the world when the ugliness of the Israeli heart is exposed. Trump will be accused of supporting and equipping a genocide in Gaza.

The blustering bully will be crippled by failure and disappointment.

Donald Trump and Daniel (2) Surprise

Many Christians are upset by the actions of Donald Trump’s presidency, but I believe that Donald Trump will burn out quickly. Unfortunately, the power he has accumulated will not disappear when moves from office, but will still be in place, waiting for a successor to pick it up.

The most dangerous thing that Donald Trump will do is show the way for a younger successor who will exercise immense executive authority to gain dictatorial power. The real danger for the nation and the world is not Donald Trump, but a successor, who will learn to use power in the same way as the Trump administration has been exercising it. His power will be greater, because he will hold it for much longer.

I have been studying Daniel 11 for several years as it seems to describe the season we are living through: the climax of government power. More detail can be found in All Whats Going On. If my interpretation of this chapter is correct, Daniel describes a strong ruler emerging in the western world following a series of tumultuous events. Donald Trump is a key person in a transition to autocratic power.

The ruler who precedes him became obsessed with the “borderlands” (Ukraine)

He will turn his attention to the coastlands and will seize many of them (Dan 11:18).

This is a good description of Joe Biden.

So he will turn his back face toward the strongholds in own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found (Dan 11:19).

He stumbles and falls, and then disappears from the stage. This is what happened to President Biden.

Daniel describes the ruler who emerges in his place (Dan 11:20).

He stands in his place and sends an extractor of tribute for the glory of his kingdom (Dan 11:20a).

This ruler sends out a tax collector. There was no income tax in Daniel’s time, so kings raised money by levying tariffs and duties on trade and by imposing the payment of tribute on other kings. The tariffs on imports and the sanctions being imposed by the US on various nations could be a fulfilment of this prophecy.

The United States has imposed more sanctions and tariffs than any other nation. It has destroyed numerous nations using economic sanctions, including Syria, Iraq, Iran and Libya.

Daniel explains that this king engages in "trade war" for the “glory of his kingdom”. This sounds like “Make America Great Again”. Using tariffs and sanctions to restore American power points to the second term of President Donald Trump.

This transitional ruler is powerful, but Daniel explains that within a short time, he will be broken.

In a few years, he will be broken, yet not in anger or in battle (Dan 11:20b).

If this is a reference to Donald Trump, it suggests that he will have great power, but it will not last long. Daniel explains that he will rise fast, but fizzle out. He will be broken, but not by war or plague.

Many Christian leaders are concerned that Donald Trump is undermining democracy and will become a permanent dictator. The reality is that he is too old and lazy to become a dictator (wielding autocratic power is a young man’s game). I believe that he will not last long enough to become a real dictator. His administration has started with a hiss and a roar, but Trump does not have the energy to sustain it, especially when the opposition to policies builds up.

I will explain how this could happen in my next post.

Donald Trump and Daniel (1) Source of Power

If we want to understand what is happening in the world, we need to understand the source of the immense power being exercised by Donald Trump. He is simply making very effective use the power that was accumulated by his predecessors.

Most recent presidents have struggled with power. GW Bush struck out in a war on terror, but his efforts failed. Barack Obama tried to bring change, he never mastered the power needed to bring change. Joe Biden was too intellectually deficient to control it; instead, his senior aides controlled him. Donald Trump was steam-rolled by the bureaucracy during his first term as president. The president of the United States has enormous power, but during most recent presidencies it has lain dormant and under-used.

Now Donald Trump has come back to the White House with a new understanding of presidential power and has gathered people around him who have worked out how power works. Trump is now using his executive power to accomplish his agenda (I don’t agree with much of his agenda, but this is not about that).

Many Christians are afraid of what is happening. Some say that Trump is evil. Others say that he is dictator. They might be partly right, but these ideas do not explain what is happening in the United States.

The reality that needs to be understood is that the US constitution and decisions by Congress give the president enormous powers that until now have not been fully used. Donald Trump has not had to discard the constitution to achieve massive power. Article II of the US Constitution says that “Executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States.” This gives the president control of the federal executive. This entrusted immense power to the president, especially at a time when the federal bureaucracy has grown very large.

In addition, political change has removed many of the constraints on presidential power established by the framers of the Constitution. They went to extraordinary lengths to achieve a dynamic, self-adjusting balance of power between three equal branches of government. In theory, the “executive” branch executes the will of Congress, as expressed through legislation that Congress alone can introduce and pass.

In practice, members of congress have handed much of their power over to the president. For example, the constitution gives congress control over taxes and appropriations, but it has largely abrogated this responsibility by passing omnibus spending bills that no one understands or controls. Congress also has the authority to declare wars, but it has also abrogated this authority by giving presidents a general authority to engage in wars.

Congress has given the president powers to act independently during an “emergency”. So by declaring a “fentanyl emergency” to be a public health emergency, Trump has been able to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico without Congressional approval. Trump and Biden both sent finance and weapons to Israel without congressional agreement using “emergency powers”. All that was necessary was for the Secretary of State to declare that it was an “emergency”. Rubio and Blinken both used this loophole. Congress is unlikely to take back the power that it has given to the presidency.

In 1977, Congress passed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act which grants the President broad authority to regulate international economic transactions following a declaration of a national emergency. This authority is triggered by a declaration of national emergency related to an unusual and extraordinary threat with a foreign source. Trump has declared that the US trade deficit is an emergency created by foreign actors taking advantage of the openness of the US economy. This gives him authority to apply tariffs and other controls on world trade without getting permission from the congress.

The Supreme Court is supposed to have independent control over the power of the president, but for most of the twentieth century, the courts supported changes that increased presidential power. The court has recently become more conservative, but it has very little to hold back presidential power. A few lower-court judges have attempted to put a hold on some of Trump’s executive orders, but it is quite likely that these attempts will be overturned on appeal.

Donald Trump is not seizing power illegally. He is just using the power that has been given to him by the Constitution and Congress, which previous presidents have not had the ability or energy to use effectively. Raising alarm at Donald Trump’s use of executive power is probably wasted energy, because the power that he is exercising was given to him by the constitution and the congress.

Vinnie Rotondaro explains how this has happened.

The central truth we keep missing — especially on the left — is that Trump is not an aberration. He’s a grotesque continuation. The playbook he uses was written by both parties over decades of eroding democratic norms, consolidating executive power, and circumventing meaningful checks on authority. Trump didn’t invent the impulse to rule by fiat; he just brings it out into the open.

If we want to stop the next Trump, or the next expansion of executive lawlessness, we can’t keep pretending he came out of nowhere. The removal of checks and balances didn’t happen overnight. It was built incrementally, piece by piece, under the banner of national security — with the cooperation and silence of the same liberal establishment that now acts scandalized by Trump’s every defiance.

Trump exposes the tools others helped create. He strips them of their moral veneer, revealing the ugly core. And rather than confront the system itself, liberals point at Trump as a singular villain — as if everything was working just fine before he came along.

The truth is harder to face: If we want to stop the next Trump, or the next expansion of executive lawlessness, we can’t keep pretending he came out of nowhere. We need to reckon with the fact that our democracy has been undermined from within — by both parties, for years. We need to challenge not just the man, but the machine.

I will explain why this is important in my next post.

Joseph/Daniel Calling (3) Authority Issues

The aspiration for a Daniel/Joseph type ministry is based on the assumption that Christians can contribute to the advance of the Kingdom of God by influencing political leaders and emperors. That is a misunderstanding. The Kingdom of God will come to fulness when human emperors, kingdoms and political powers collapse and shrink away. The Kingdom of God is established on the edge of society, so it will be ready to expand when the kingdoms of the world shake and fall. Political coercion cannot be used to establish a kingdom based on love and service.

God needs prophets to challenge and confront kings and political leaders. These prophets will sometimes rise up within the bureaucracy that serves the political system, as Daniel did. However, they will need to be marked by absolute allegiance to God and his word. Their role is not to comfort the king and help him to use his power better. Better policies will not produce the kingdom. Gods Kingdom cannot be built by coercive power. Their role is to expose the failures and follies of political power.

A key issue is authority. When a Christian has a relationship with a political leader, the leader holds all the authority. To be accepted, the Christians has to submit to them and to their authority. The political leader does not have to submit to the Christian or recognise their authority. They can pick and choose from the wisdom offered by the Christian, so they remain in control. Unfortunately submitting to the political leaders, leaves the Christian vulnerable to spiritual forces that control and manipulate them. Seeking access to political power can have a high spiritual cost.

Kings, Presidents or Prime Ministers are aware that their popularity is fragile, so they prefer to be surrounded by people who will boost their ego’s. Therefore, to get close to them, Christians will have to engage in flattery, but unfortunately, this reduces their ability to influence them. Too much flattery by Christians can make a King, President or Prime Minster Dangerous.

Joseph/Daniel (2) Daniel

Daniel’s situation was not much better than Joseph's. Nebuchadnezzar recognised Daniel’s wisdom and put him in charge of the province of Babylon after he interpreted his dream. However, Nebuchadnezzar did not change and become gentle, humble and kind. Instead, he built a statue of himself and made the people worship it. Daniel’s friends refused to worship the statue, because they preferred to honour God, but they had to obey Nebuchadnezzar in everything else. They had to use their God-given wisdom to implement Nebuchadnezzar’s plans and purposes. If they had refused to carry out his instructions, they would have been thrown out their roles.

When Nebuchadnezzar became too big for his boots and God spoke to him in a dream, Daniel was able to hell him what the dream meant, without a description of the dream. When he humbled himself, he recognised that God is right and just, but there is no evidence that he switched to doing what is right and good. Nebuchadnezzar continued to be a ruthless and powerful dictator.

When Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar held a banquet, Daniel was able to read the writing on the wall and warn him what would happen. However, Belshazzar did not repent and turn back to God.

When Darius the Mede invaded Babylon, Daniel’s wisdom was recognised and he was re-appointed to a position of authority. After he came out of the lion’s den, Darius acknowledged the greatness of Daniel’s god, and decreed that all the people of his kingdom must acknowledge Daniel’s god (Dan 6:26) but that did not mean they should stop worshipping their other God. They just added another god to their pantheon of gods. And they didn’t stop giving their allegiance to the emperor who controlled their kingdom.

Daniel prospered during the reigns of Darius the Mede and his successor Cyrus the Persian. Nevertheless, he continued to be a slave. God had given Daniel wisdom, but he had to use it to advance the plans of pagan emperors.

When Cyrus became king over the empire, he ordered that a temple be built in Jerusalem. Daniel may have had a role in this, but we must be careful about overstating the significance of the decision. The decree to rebuild the temple was significant for Israel, but that was what Emperors did in those days. They wanted to keep all the local gods in their empire happy, and one of the best ways to do that was to build a temple for each one. Cyrus was not choosing to follow Yahweh, he was just doing what emperors did to keep themselves on the right side of the gods they might have offended during their conquests.

So Daniel would have had a tough life working for a series of pagan emperors. He had to use the wisdom that God had given to support their plans and goals. If Daniel refused to do that, he would have lost his position.

Daniels most valuable contribution was the apocalyptic visions, prayers and prophecies recorded in Daniel 7-12. He prophesied the ministry of Jesus (Dan 9). He also described how the Kingdom God would come to fulness and how the governments of the world would collapse and disappear and be replaced by the government of God

The Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favour of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom... But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. (Dan 7:22, 27-27).

This is a wonderful promise. Maybe Daniel received his visions, because he was tormented by having a role where he had to use God’s gift of wisdom to prop up pagan emperors. This struggle probably caused him to press into God and ask why these rulers were so strong, when God was the creator of the universe. The pressure of serving at the heart of the empire forced Daniel into intense prayer that produced important insights into the workings of the empire. The tension of his role gave him the tenacity to receive a clear vision and promise from God.

Daniel’s prophecies were an amazing achievement for a person who was forced to serve a pagan king, but he is not a role model for Christians to follow.

Joseph/Daniel Calling (1) Joseph

Many Christians want to be Josephs or Daniels gaining access to political leaders to gain influence over them. They believe that by getting the ear of politicians, they will be able to influence political power in the direction that God wants it to go. The problem with this desire to influence political power is the nature of the relationship.

Joseph
Joseph was a slave, and he continued to be a slave of Pharaoh, even though the was his second command. Pharaoh took advantage of Joseph’s dream interpretation skills, but he used them for his own benefit. He could have told the people to save grain during the good years, so they would be safe during the famine years, but Pharaoh did not pass on the knowledge that he learned from Joseph’s interpretation on to his people. Instead, he bought up grain himself during the good years, when it was cheap. And then he sold it during the famine years when grain was scarce and expensive. By buying at the bottom, and selling at the top of the market, Pharaoh made enormous profits at the expense of his people.

Worse still, when the people ran out of money, Pharaoh took their land in exchange for grain. During the famine years, land was nearly worthless, whereas grain was valuable. Pharaoh gained ownership of all the land in Egypt. The people fell from being independent farmers to become tenant farmers reliant on Pharaoh. You could say that Pharaoh ripped his people off when he had a responsibility to care for them.

God used Joseph to provide food for his family during the famine. He used this situation to get Jacob and his family to Egypt. But Joseph was not able to change Pharaoh’s behaviour. He continued to be a wicked, and self-centred dictator, who enslaved his people. If Joseph had refused to implement Pharaoh’s wishes, he would have been turfed out of power, just like his predecessors who could not interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.

Therefore, Joseph is not really a good role-model for Christians wanting to influence political leaders. Rather he is an example of the danger of working with political power. Political influence always comes with a cost, and it usually overwhelms.

Donald Trump in Daniel

If the Times of the Gentiles are to come to an end during our time (I am not certain that they will) then Daniel 11 needs to be fulfilled in our time too.

I take a “understand, wait and see” approach to Daniel’s prophecy. I try to understand what Daniel was saying in terms of our context, and then wait and see.

Christians should be familiar with these texts, so that they will realise if they are being fulfilled. You will not “see”, if you do not understand.

Last week, I was updating my study of Daniel 11 (see What Is Going On). I was surprised to come across Donald Trump in Daniel’s vision. I am not completely certain, but the parallels are disturbing. Have a look at what I found here.

I may be reading to much into Daniel 11 when I thought I saw Daniel Trump, but even if I am wrong, it confirms one thing, which is really scary. When the detestable ruler eventually comes out on the world stage, he will be supported by many evangelical Christians. Some liberal Christians will oppose him, but plenty of prophetic Christians will honour him. They have supported a man like this once, so there is no reason why they will not do it again.

Ukraine

In a previous post, I suggested that Crimea could be the second rib in the mouth of the bear. After more reflection and study of the verse, I think I was wrong to see the ribs as sequential. Daniel saw four terrible beasts coming out of the sea. The first was an eagle attempting to get free from a lion. The second beast was a bear.

And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, “Get up and eat your fill of flesh!” (Dan 7:5).

In this series of visions, nations are represented by animals, so a rib is not a nation, but a region of a nation. The bear had three ribs in its mouth. This describes an empire taking control of three regions of another nation (or several nations).

A bear is a commonly used a symbol for Russian. For a long time, I thought that Russia was too weak to be a fulfilment of this vision, but that now seems to be changing. Russia is now growing in strength towards the west (one side). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia lost territory on its western flank. Some of the ribs that protect its central organs were ripped out of its side.

The boundaries between Russia and the neighbouring republics were formed quite arbitrarily by the leaders of the Soviet Union, so they do not reflect historical population and cultural patterns. For example, Eastern Ukraine includes areas, which were traditionally part of Russia. President Putin is leading a resurgent Russian culture. He will take every opportunity to restore these lands to Russia. Crimea is the current example.

As the Red Horse goes to work in the Ukraine, racial and religious differences will tear the nation apart. This disunity will present an opportunity for Russia to seize back the lands that Russians believe to be part of their nation. The provinces with the significant Russian population are Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk. I suspect that at some time in the future, Russia will get an opportunity to take these regions back. When we see these three ribs being chomped up at the same time, the vision will be fulfilled. This is still in the future.

In Genesis 2, Eve was formed from a rib taken from Adam’s side. The Russian Orthodox Church was established in the area around Kiev, so this area is like a rib of Russia. The bear will eventually want to get this rib back into its side.

Daniel heard the bear being told to “Get up and eat. The nations of the West should be careful, because God has given the bear permission to “get up and eat its fill of flesh”.

God will allow this to happen as judgement on the Western nations that have forgotten him and focused on feeding the flesh. He has allowed Russian control over a significant share of the world’s oil supplies to shake the western economy. This will lead to the third seal of Revelation. The solution is not belligerence towards Russia, but repentance towards God.

The regions of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk are not strategically important in themselves. The main issue is the impact on Western Nations. This Bear and the Leopard release the Terrible Beast of Daniel’s vision.

Bombardment of Syria

The key to understand what is going on in the modern world is Dan 11. Many Christians are wanting to see the fulfilment of Daniel 12, when the those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and lead many to righteousness, but they do not understand that Daniel 11 must be fulfilled first. I give an explanation of this passage in Whats Going On.

The last event that has occurred was the invasion of Iraq, by the King of the North. The King of the North represents the nations of the West led by the United States.

The next event is another military invasion of the middle east. It takes place a couple of years after a specific number of years.

The king of the North will return after a certain number of years and raise up a huge commotion, much greater than the one that went before (Dan 11:13).

This attack creates an even greater attack than the previous one. The nature of the attack is different too.

He shall come with massive forces and massive military equipment (Dan 11:13).

The previous attack involved a “great throng of military forces” (Dan 11:10). This suggests a huge army with many soldiers, like the army that invaded Iraq. This attack is different. It comes with massive forces and massive military equipment. The emphasis is on powerful military equipment. This suggests an aerial bombardment with bombs and missiles.

It is too soon to tell, but if the United States attacks Syria with stealth bombers and tomahawk missiles, it could be the fulfilment of this verse. On the other hand, it might be too soon, and the fuss will die down.

Gods OT Strategy (28) - Exile

When the empires took people from Israel into captivity, they bought prophets into their midst and gave them authority, which strengthened the power of the prophetic voice. Daniel was a prophet who ended up with immense authority within the empires that God planned to destroy. Protective judgments and the prophets continued to constrain political evil on earth.

Change of Season (1) - End of the World?

Many Christians believe that we are getting close to the second coming of Jesus and the end of the world. Those who believe that the end of the world is near tend to believe that we have entered the “end times” or “last days”. They are right to think that we are getting close to a season change, but because they do not understand the times and seasons, they are looking for the wrong event. The problem is that most Christians just assume that God’s plan has the following steps.

Jesus ministry =► Church age =► End times =► End of World

This outline is incorrect. It produces confusion about what is happening in the world.

Firstly, the end of the world is not the next big event on God’s timetable. He has many things to do before his plans for this earth are complete, so the end of the world is a long way off. A far more important and more significant epochal event is much closer.

Secondly, a season called the “end times” is never mentioned by the scriptures as part of God’s plan. The only place where the words “time” and “end” are used together is in Daniel 12:9.

Daniel has asked, if he would see if he would see the things that he prophesied.
Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up
and sealed until the time of the end.

Daniel’s was told not to expect his vision to be fulfilled during his life time, as they were for a time way in the future. This time is called the time of the end. This leaves a big question: the end of what. The answer can be found in the content of Daniel’s vision. He did not see the world coming to an end, so it is not the world that is ending. Daniel sees the end of the season when empires dominate the world. He also sees the end of the season when his people are shut out of God’s blessing. It follows that when Daniel refers the time of the end, he is not referring to the end of the world, but to the end of the times of the Gentiles.

Middle East Stirred (3) - Massive Demonstrations

Daniel explains that the insurgency against the United States in Iraq would be followed by an even greater stirring up of the Middle East. Daniel 11:12 is quite difficult to interpret. A more literal translation follows:

The King of the South will stir up a great multitude and a great multitude will be given into his hand. As this multitude is raised up, their heart will heart will be lifted high, but tens of thousands will fall and he will not prosper.

The Hebrew word translated "multitude" means "roar, crowd or tumult". It speaks of a tumultuous and noisy crowd. Words are doubled in Hebrew for emphasis. The word multitude is used twice to emphasise the size of the crowds. Daniel saw an immense crowd or tumult.

The phrase “given into his hand” could refer to a defeat in battle, but more likely means “placed under his command”. This massive noisy crowd will be controlled by the King of the South (we must remember that the King of the South is a spiritual force and not a human ruler). An alternative translation suggests that he will “cause a great multitude to stand”.

The reference to their “heart being lifted high” could refer to pride or arrogance. In this context, it means to courage. When these huge crowds gather together, people who have been passive for decades will be stirred to a new courage. Bold resistance against security forces will boost their pride.

The first few months of 2011 were marked a gigantic stirring right across the Middle East and North Africa. It began in Tunisia, where the government was forced to resign. From there, the stirring spread to Egypt where huge crowds of young people protested in Cairo for two weeks, forcing President Murabak to resign from the position he had held for thirty years. Since then huge demonstrations have taken place in the cities of Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain. A tumultuous crowd has been “caused to stand” and protest against their rulers.

Bahrain is interesting because the majority of the population is Shiite, but is ruled by a Sunni King. This small country in the Persian Gulf is now the home of the American sixth fleet, but it was once a province of Iran. The Iranians would like their province back. If a democratic government was elected, a Shiite majority government might be more sympathetic to Iran than American economic and political interests. The United States might be tempted to back a minority monarchy in order retain control of a key military base.

In Libya, hundreds of demonstrators were shot in the struggle. The Gadhafi forces initially lost control of much of the county, but are now fighting back. The political struggle has morphed into a civil war.

In some of the countries where the people have demonstrated, the rulers are American puppets, propped up because they maintain the stability needed for global business to prosper. Some of the kings belong to dynasties put in place by the British at the end of the First World War. These demonstrations are a reaction against the King of the North (currently manifesting through the United States).

The people of the Middle East have been made bitter by their treatment by the Western powers. In the months ahead, the entire Middle East could be stirred up. Saudi Arabia is particularly vulnerable, as its rulers are old conservative Sunnis, while the population is young and radical. A large, oppressed Shiite lives and works among the Saudi oilfields, but have received any of economic benefits.

Middle East Stirred (2) - Iraq War

When George Bush the King of the North invaded Iraq with his little helpers in 2003 (described in Dan 11:10), they were not just attacking a third rate Middle Eastern nation, but was taking on the enormous spiritual forces of the King of the South (he is a spiritual entity). The King of the South did not just roll over, but struck back hard. The people of the United States were surprised by the ferocity of these spiritual forces and lack the spiritual strength to resist (see United States invades Iraq).

Daniel describes the consequences of the United States invasion of Iraq.

The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North (Dan 11:11).

The invasion of Iraq caused the King of the South to stir up resistance against the United States forces. This part of the prophecy was fulfilled by the insurgency that erupted in Iraq after the Ba’athist government collapsed. Conquering Iraq was relatively easy, but maintaining control proved to be extremely difficult. The concentration of American forces in Iraq made them vulnerable to terrorist attack, leading to large-scale losses. A variety of Islamic groups emerged to fight against the United States in Iraq in fulfilment of this prophecy.

The Shiite Iraqis were stirred up first. In April 2004, a militia controlled by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took control of the holy Shiite city of Najaf and fortified themselves in the centre of the city near the Iman Ali Shrine. This led to the widespread insurgency in southern Iraq.

Sunni Moslems were stirred up when the United States forces Al Fallujah and killed several unarmed demonstrators. A year later, Sunni forces were able to re-claim the city, before being ousted by a siege and two re-invasions by US forces. These events stirred up opposition throughout the Sunni regions of Iraq and the insurgency.

Iraq was well and truly stirred up by the invasion. It is still being destroyed by violence, despite democratic elections.

Obstacles to the Kingdom (9) - Daniels Vision

Daniel saw Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom (Dan 7:13,14).

Jesus is the Son of Man, but this is not a description of the second coming. Daniel saw Jesus arriving in heaven, so this must be his ascension and enthronement, not his second coming. After ascending into heaven, Jesus came into the presence of the Father where he was given the power and authority that he had earned through this death and resurrection.

Jesus victory will be worked out in four steps.

1. Human political powers will be swept away.
2. Authority will be returned to families and local communities.
3. The spiritual forces of evil will be disarmed.
4. The Kingdom of God will reach a new level of fullness.

This seems impossible, but an angel explains these four steps.

Prophetic Distractions (6) - The Big Gap

Looking for a gap in Daniel 9:24-27 is another prophetic distraction. This gap is used to twist Daniel's vision to justify the belief that there will be a seven year tribulation, just prior to Christ’s second coming. Those with this view see the passage as a description of the activities of the anti-christ. Careful study will show that it is really a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

The seventy "sevens" are seventy weeks of years. The expression describes a period lasting 490 years (70x7). The starting point is given in verse 25. Daniel is told that the seventy "sevens" will begin "from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem". This decree was issued by Artaxerxes King of Persia in the time of Nehemiah (Neh 2:1-9), so it would have been issued in about 445 B.C.

Six events are decreed for the seventy "sevens". They were all fulfilled through the ministry of Jesus. It is generally believed that Jesus was crucified soon after A.D. 30, so his ministry falls at the end of the seventy "sevens". The six events decreed are:

1. "to finish the transgression". The Jews filled up their cup of iniquity by condemning Jesus to death. The transgressions of the nation were filled up.

2. "to put an end to sin". Jesus was the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

3. "to atone for wickedness". Jesus’ death on the cross was an atonement for wickedness.

4. "to bring in everlasting righteousness". Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30), so his people have an eternal righteousness in him.

5. "to seal up vision and prophecy". With the coming of Jesus the vision and prophecy of the Old Testament period was brought to completion. It was sealed up in Jesus.

6. "to annoint the most holy". The word Messiah means "annointed one", and Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled this part of the vision.

The angel was promising Daniel that the Messiah would come within 500 years of the decree to restore Jerusalem. The birth and ministry of Jesus fulfilled the promise.

A number of events are specified for the last "seven" (Dan 9:26,27). A number of commentators say that a seven year tribulation just before the second coming is being described. To support this view, they put in a gap between sixty-ninth and the seventieth "week", which coincides with the church age. This allows them to place the events of the last week thousands of years after the events of the earlier "weeks". There is no justification for this. Daniel makes no mention of a gap, and there is no precedent for one in any other part of the Bible. An examination of the events described shows that they all occurred within about 500 years of the decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This is what we would expect from the statement that seventy "sevens" were decreed.

Four events are decreed for the last "seven" (vv.26,27)

1. "The Annointed one will be cut off and will have nothing". This is a description of the death of Jesus. His life was "cut off". At his death he was deserted by all his disciples, and left with nothing.

2. "The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: war will continue to the end and desolations have been decreed". This very vividly describes the destruction of Jerusalem. The people of the ruler was the Roman army. They destroyed the city and the temple. There was war to the end, which came like a flood of terrible desolation.

3. "He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’, but in the middle of that ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering". The person referred to here is not the coming ruler, who would destroy the city, but the Messiah mentioned in verse 26. Jesus established a covenant which has brought salvation to great numbers of people. During the last "seven" which covered his whole life, from birth to ascension, Jesus confirmed a covenant which would last for ever. The effect of the new covenant is to put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The perfect sacrifice of Jesus makes them unnecessary.

4. "and one who causes desolation will come on the wings of abominations until the end that is decreed is poured out on the desolate". This is a more literal translation than is usually given. Misleading translations have caused a lot of misunderstanding about this verse. The subject of this verse, the one who makes desolate, is not the one who made the covenant, but the Roman ruler, who would destroy Jerusalem. His coming was an abomination for the Jewish people. The desolation is not poured out on a person, but on those who are desolate. The Jews were a desolate people once they had rejected the Messiah. Jesus was referring to this when he told them that their house would be left desolate (Matt 23:38).

The vision given to Daniel is a description of the events surrounding the life of Jesus. He was told of the salvation that Jesus would bring. And although he may not have understood it, he was also told that his people would reject the Messiah and be destroyed. If the Jews had understood this passage, they would have known the time when the Messiah would come and what would happen to them. Perhaps Simeon and Anna did understand this passage and realise that they lived in the time when the seventy sevens would be complete.

The vision is not a description of the manoeuvrings of the anti-christ or a tribulation that is yet to come. It is a description of the ministry of Jesus, his rejection by the Jews, and their consequent destruction.

Beast Day?

People celebrating Independence today may actually be worshipping the terrible beast of Daniel's vision.

After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time (Dan 7:7,8,23-25).

This frightening kingdom devoured the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing everything that stood in its way. This is a description of a powerful military empire that will dominate most of the earth.

Not Europe
Most biblical commentators say that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the European Union transforms into a super-state, like a restored Roman empire. There are real problems with this view. Disagreement between the EU members means that they will be unlikely to hand over full sovereignty to the European parliament. Europe is economically weak and its population is declining. European military forces are very limited and the anti-war sentiments of the population would make a military build-up difficult. Therefore, if this prophecy is being fulfilled in our time we need to look outside Europe.

A Union of States
The most obvious interpretation of the beast with the ten horns is that a number of independent nation states hand over their sovereignty to become part of a single united nation. One third of these nations refused to hand over their sovereignty and are forced to join under threat of military force.

America is only once place where this has happened in recent history. The thirteen states that gained independence from Britain were each independently governed, autonomous nation states. They joined together to fight for their independence, but they remained politically independent. After the war of independence, these nation states came together and established the United States. They created a federal system in which they handed over very limited powers (mostly defence) to the federal government. All other powers were retained by the states.

We sometimes get confused by the use of the word state in this context. These states were not provinces of a greater state, but independent nations that gave some power to a federal government. Because they joined freely, many states considered that they could also withdraw from the Union. At the beginning of the civil war, the southern states attempted to withdraw from the Union and establish a separate confederacy.

The civil war was primarily fought over the right of these states to secede from the Union. The army of the twenty northern states (two thirds) destroyed the armies of the 11 southern states (one third). The victory of the union forces enabled them to maintain the union, eliminating the power of the states to secede. This opened the way for a gradual shift of power to from the states to the federal government.
During the following century, the United States became the most powerful nation in the entire world and the states are now just provinces of this greater entity.

Commentators are looking for a powerful confederacy of nations. They forget that a powerful union called the "united states" already exists. Daniel saw a group of nations (ten horns) joined together to become one nation (a single horn). At first the federal government had very limited power (a little horn). The federal government defeated a group of states that tried to withdraw from the union (three horns) and then the federal government became very powerful (little horn becomes large beast).

The numbers ten and three should not be taken literally. Ten symbolises completeness, indicating that all the states joined freely. The number three indicates that 3/10 of the states would be defeated in their attempt to secede. The number also symbolises God. At the time of the civil war, the southern states were the more godly, whereas the northern states were dominated by a heresy called Unitarianism.

Ten minus three is seven. Seven symbolises divinity. This indicates that the conquering states would take attempt to take on sovereignty that belongs only to God. The beast attempts to "try to change the set times and the laws". This is a reference to a rejection of God’s laws.

Since the civil war, the United States government has become increasingly secular and humanistic. The Supreme Court has forced through a separation between church and state that has shut the influence of Christianity out of the corridors of power. Whereas the thirteen original states had laws directly based on the bible, American law is now dominated by pragmatism and humanism.

More at Terrible Beast.

What Happens Next (11) - Fourth Generation Church

To cope with the collapse of human government, churches will have to become fourth generation entities. Our weapons are spiritual and our goal is different, but our structures and organisation will have to be more like 4GW entitities.

Many years ago, I shared a vision of a the church as a commando army. I did not fully understand this at the time, but I now realise that if Christians are willing to take up this challenge, the the legitimacy of the state will be undermined. We can get ready for the time when,

the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever (Dan 7:18).

What Happens Next (10) - Collapse of the Beast

Daniel’s great insight is that all human government is evil. All human political power will have to be swept away, before the Kingdom of God. The good news in his message is that first three beasts are signs that the collapse of human government is getting close. The time when the the Holy Spirit is able to bring in the Kingdom of God is also near.

The collapse of the fourth beast will be very messy. The Bible refers to this as the Time of Distress. This will be a very short period of time, but it will be quite unpleasant. The world economy will go into decline causing much pain for everyone. Christians will rejoice in these trials, because will they see the fullness of the Kingdom of God springing fourth.

Christians do not need to fight human political power. God will sweep away human political power by bringing judgment against it. The four winged leopard will contribute to the destruction of the fourth beast.

William Lind recently commented about the impact of economic troubles on fourth generation warfare on the legitimacy of the state.

We must remind ourselves that the root and origin of Fourth Generation war is a crisis of legitimacy of the state. One of the functions the state is now expected to perform, in free market as well as socialist countries, is to ensure that the economy functions as well. A world-wide financial panic followed by a world recession or depression would mean the state was failing in one of its core functions. That in turn would further diminish the legitimacy of the state.

He notes that a state’s legitimacy is a not a function of elections, but depends on the ability of the state to provide vital services. Fourth generation warfare will play an important role in undermining human faith in human government.

Intelligent Fourth Generation entities, ranging from some drug gangs through organizations such as Hezbollah, are competing directly with the state for people’s primary loyalty. If those Fourth Generation entities can provide basic services, including food, when the state can no longer do so, they will gain the legitimacy that state is losing. In Fourth Generation war, that is a bigger win than any potential military victory.

In terms of 4GW theory, the lessons here are two. First, a global economic crisis is likely to lead to a much deeper crisis, a widespread existential crisis of the state itself. Second, the Fourth Generation entities that benefit from this crisis will be those that provide basic services more effectively than can the state. Once again, just as from a military perspective, we see that the "Hezbollah model" is the most promising model for Fourth Generation, non-state organizations. That model includes a highly competent military that can defeat state armed forces. But it employs its military capability sparingly, fighting only when attacked or when a low-risk, high-payoff military opportunity presents itself, which will be seldom.

For 4GW entities, the outcome of wars will remain unpredictable. Instead, the Hezbollah model focuses day-to-day on providing services to the people, building its legitimacy vis-à-vis the state and gaining the population’s primary loyalty. At some point, that loyalty will become so strong that not even military defeat by a state’s armed forces will destroy it.

The four winged leopard will undermine the empire set up to defeat it by undermining its legitimacy. People will wake up and realise that their governments are not delivering the security that they promised. They will resent paying taxes to a government that does not deliver. Human government will eventually collapse when people no longer trust it to care for them.

What Happens Next (9) - Fourth Beast

The fear and uncertainty created by the first three beast opens up the way for the emergence of the fourth beast. This beast is different from the rest because it represents the climax of human poltical power. The people of the world hand over their freedom to human governments in the hope of finding peace in a troubled world. Political leaders submit to its ways, because they believe it can protect them.

At the moment, the American government is doing its best to become the Beast of Daniel. The American people believe that their form of democracy is the best method of government that exists. George Bush is tramping round the world, try to impose American methods of democracy and government wherever he can. This sounds like the angel that spoke to Daniel.

He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing crushing it’ (Dan 7:23).

John McCain and Barack Obama both want to expand America’s leadership role in the world, so there is no sign that these efforts will end.

Political leaders in countries like Georgia, Ukraine and Poland are submitting to American leadership, believing that this will protect them from the first three beasts. Unfortnately their submission is helping to create a more dangerous empire to emerge.

Daniel’s message is telling. The first three beasts are bad, but the fourth beast worst. Althought it is started by good men to resist the first three beasts, it actually strengthens human political power and becomes an opponent of the Kingdom of God. America is in danger of becoming a greater obstacle to the Kingdom of God than Islam, Russia, or fourth generation warfare. Many Christians support American leadership of the world, because they see it as the only way of the resisting the first three beasts.

Fighting evil human government with better human government is dangerous, because it produces greater human government. The greater the evil confronted, the greater the human government becomes. Evil cannot be overcome evil.