The US, Israel & The King of the North

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

Examining the history of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires is a daunting task but it can be simplified for the purpose of seeing the patterns YHVH for us at the end of days. What we are witnessing right now is the King of the South (Egypt and the US and Israel) provoking the heretofore, at least for the last 2300 years, unseen or unrecognized King of the North, Iran.

The designation, “King of the South” and “of the North,” is in relation to Judea that was in the center between the 2 Kings and which caught Israel in their battles until finally came Antiochus IV who not only caught Israel in battle but came to specifically destroy Israel. More on that later. 

Historians call the wars between the Seleucids and Ptolemies the “Syrian wars” for convenience.

The Seleucids north of Israel in the territory running east and west, and the Ptolemaic territory south of Israel, also running east and west has Israel trapped.

I have been told that the Kings of the North and South must lie directly north and south of Israel. The assumption for this notion is that the King of the North will be Europe because it lies directly north of Israel. However, this still leaves no viable King of the South directly south of Israel. This interpretation is nonsense, not only geographically, but politically, as well. YHVH was talking about huge empires that were “to the north of” and “to the south of” Israel in the general directional sense. But both of those empires extended west and east, as well. This is important to understand who today’s Kings of the North and South are.

The world is now witnessing two the resurgence of 2 ancient factions – the Seleucids and Ptolemies – fighting over control of Jerusalem.

But wait! The Seleucids and Ptolemies no longer exist! So how are we watching the Seleucids and Ptolemies fighting? The entire chapter of Daniel 11 is entirely about the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires fighting with each other. They are called the Kings of the South and North.

This same attribution of Kings of the South and North comes to us from YHVH in the end of days in the still unfulfilled verses of Daniel 11:40-45. He uses the exact same terminology for this time, the end of days. Why? So we can recognize the patterns from the 3 prior Kings of the South and North and know where we are in the timeline of the Tribulation and Yeshua’s return.

The prophecies are not so much about their origins and names as the patterns their warring set up and which pattern will happen one more time during the Tribulation. Names are just names. It is the actions of the descendants of Jacob’s enemies that count no matter what their modern names are.

Here is an example of names being just names: Elam; Persia; Iran. These are the same area and people over a period of 4,000 years. The Ptolemies and Seleucids, introduced to the world stage 2300 years ago are the same Greek people still trying to rule Egypt as the King of the south (south of Israel) and the area north of Israel (the King of the North) today. The names have changed. Time is the enemy of names but changed names do not erase the players; time only obscures understanding of who they are.

The reason YHVH gave Daniel the chapter 11 prophecy was not just for the end of days. It was prophecy for the interim period of about 400 years when the Jews had returned from Babylon and would be facing their enemies with no prophets around to bring YHVH’s messages to them. In the end of days, it will be the King of the South which now includes Israel who will provoke the King of the North. It is in this way that the final prophecy of Daniel 11 is different.

An angel appeared to Daniel in chapter 10 to introduce the vision he would describe in chapter 11. But before he told Daniel the vision, he also explained the 21 days of fighting the “prince of the Kingdom” of Persia to get to Daniel. Thus, Daniel 10 and 11 should be read together as one episode.

Now let’s go to chapter 11.

Daniel 11:1  “As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

This prophecy expands on Daniel 8:1-14, the chapter prophesying about the rise of Alexander the Great, the “great horn” and the 4 generals who would rule his empire after he was dead.

It is not certain whether it was Daniel or the angel who stood to confirm and strengthen Darius as King of Babylon.

Daniel 11:2  “Now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings will stand up in Persia; and the fourth will be far richer than all of them. When he has grown strong through his riches, he will stir up all against the realm of Greece.

Xerxes/Ahasuerus, the Purim King, was the last of the Persian Kings. This was the time in Persia’s history where the country had the greatest riches in its history but it was weakened politically. Persia was rich and it existed but it had become weak. This is the place where America is now, especially since Trump and Netanyahu decided to fulfill Daniel 11:40 and provoke Iran, the remnant of ancient Persia.

Daniel 11:3  A mighty king will stand up, who will rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.

This was the “great horn” from Greece (the Edomite goat) who destroyed the Persian Empire (the “ram”) named Alexander the Great in history.

Daniel 11:4  When he stands up, his kingdom will be broken, and will be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom will be plucked up, even for others besides these.

Alexander’s dominion failed when he died at the age of 32. Four generals divided the Kingdom between them: Ptolemy (Egypt), Seleucus (Asia/Persia), Cassander (Macedonia/Greece), and Lysimachus (Thrace/Asia Minor). The two regions this prophecy speaks of are Ptolemy and Seleucus. Notice these are the only 2 Kings of the 4 who are mentioned in scripture. The other 2, Cassander and Lysimachus, are not important to YHVH’s pattern and narrative.

Daniel 11:5  “The king of the south will be strong. One of his princes will become stronger than him, and have dominion. His dominion will be a great dominion.

The King of the South, the Ptolemaic dynasty, was Egypt. I will show how the same pattern persists and see a resurgence today. Iran is the remainder of the Persian empire and it was part of the Seleucid empire.

Verse 5 says “one of his princes will become stronger than Ptolemy, the King of the South. Ptolemy (whose name stuck on the Egypt-centered southern kingdom) was strong at first but one of Alexander’s “princes”/generals became stronger than Ptolemy. That was Seleucus, the King of the North (whose name got stuck onto the northern Middle East empire even though other men would rule after him).

There became a back and forth struggle to overcome each other’s empires. This is a struggle still today though most people don’t recognize it because it seemingly ended when the Roman empire conquered both the King of the South and North.

Here is where Daniel 11:40-45 comes in because, in the end of day, the ancient Seleucid empire under the auspices of Iran (with the help of Russia and China (political realities of our day)) and no longer named Elam or Persia, will finally capture and retain the King of the South’s, the Ptolemaic region, and will thus control the entire Middle East for the first time in history. In other words, the ancient Greek Seleucid empire will finally win everything that Antiochus IV tried to conquer, but his end-times reign will be very short as there will be another empire coming who will conquer the end times Seleucid King of the North. That empire is the coming Kingdom of YHVH ruled over by its God and King, Yeshua.

Because the Ptolemies and Seleucids could not overcome each other militarily at that time, they made a political marriage.

Daniel 11:6  At the end of years they will join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she will not retain the strength of her arm. He will also not stand, nor will his arm; but she will be given up, with those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.

This daughter was Berenice. She and her infant son were murdered through political intrigue which is too long and not relevant to go into here.

Daniel 11:7  “But out of a shoot from her roots one will stand up in his place, who will come to the army, and will enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and will deal against them, and will prevail.
Daniel 11:8  He [Berenice’s brother (King of the South), Ptolemy III] will also carry their gods, with their molten images, and with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold, captive into Egypt. He will refrain some years from the king of the north.

In retaliation, Berenice’s brother Ptolemy III (King of the South, the one that was “out of the shoot from her roots” which is her father)), attacked the King of the North in retribution, captured Seleucid fortresses, and carried treasures and idols back to Egypt. This is important for prophecy because Daniel 11:43 says the modern-day King of the North “will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt”. This is also a retribution fulfilled in the end of days which comes from time. The northern Middle Eastern Seleucids want their treasure back!

Daniel 11:9  He will come into the realm of the king of the south, but he will return into his own land.
Daniel 11:10  His sons will wage war, and will assemble a multitude of great forces, which will come on, and overflow, and pass through. They will return and wage war, even to his fortress.

The King of the North, Seleucid II and his son, Antiochus III, rebuilt and amassed a massive army and attacked the Ptolemaic Egyptian King of the South but they were not able to conquer Egypt or take back any of the plunder gotten by Ptolemy III.

Then comes a new Ptolemaic ruler, Ptolemy IV, many years later.

Daniel 11:11  “The king of the south [Ptolemy IV] will be moved with anger, and will come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north [Seleucid II and his son, Antiochus III]. He [Ptolemy IV] will send out a great multitude, and the multitude [of the Seleucids] will be given into his hand.
Daniel 11:12  The multitude will be lifted up, and his heart [Ptolemy IV] will be exalted. He will cast down tens of thousands, but he won’t prevail.

Ptolemy IV saw that the Seleucids were expanding their army in the north and so he made a preemptive strike against the Seleucids which he won. But Ptolemy IV’s victory was temporary.

Also notice that while was in the middle, the anger was not toward Israel; it was toward the Seleucids. Israel was simply the fulcrum on a teeter totter. Israel was not the aim or goal of the Kings of the South and North.

Daniel 11:13  The king of the north [the Seleucid Antiochus III] will return, and will send out a multitude greater than the former. He will come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.

This is not saying this will happen at the end of days. It happened at the end of Antiochus III’s days because this was specifically his battle for that time. He returned with a much larger, better-equipped army and he defeated the King of the South’s Ptolemy V, recapturing the “Glorious Land” (Israel), but Israel was not yet the aim or goal. Israel just happened to be the fulcrum of the teeter totter because it was the land which the armies must travel through to get to each other.

Daniel 11:14  “In those times many will stand up against the king of the south. Also the children of the violent among your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they will fall.

The Seleucid King of the North made an ally of Philip of Macedon which was not part of the Seleucid empire. Also, some Hellenized Jews in Israel allied with the King of the North. These were rebellious, “children of the violent among your people”, seeking greater freedom for allying with the Seleucid King of the North.

This particular battle is not playing out prophetically today because there are no Jews in Israel who stand with Iran, the end times remnant of Persia and the Seleucid empire that came out of Alexander the Great’s war with Persia.

Daniel 11:15  So the king of the north will come and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city. The forces of the south won’t stand, neither will his chosen people, neither will there be any strength to stand.
Daniel 11:16  But he who comes against him will do according to his own will, and no one will stand before him. He will stand in the glorious land, and destruction will be in his hand.

The Egyptian general, Scopus (who has a hill in Jerusalem named after him), was defeated at Sidon, a city in Lebanon which the Seleucids controlled, but this was not the end of the Seleucid Antiochus III’s plans. He now controlled the area all the way to the Egyptian border, including Israel, but he did not yet control Egypt.

His solution to this was another political marriage route (55 to 60 years after the first attempt) with an eye toward taking Egypt that way.

Daniel 11:17  He [Antiochus III] will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions (speaking nicely to the Egyptians for making the political marriage). He will perform them. He will give him (Ptolemy V) the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she will not stand, and won’t be for him.

The Seleucid King of the North’s Antiochus III attempted a political marriage, giving his daughter, Cleopatra I, in marriage to Ptolemy V. She was called “the daughter of women” because she was 11 years old and still under the care of nursemaids. This failed, even through the “equitable conditions” he offered, because, when it all came to a head, she wanted to remain queen of Egypt. Helping her Seleucid King of the North father to take power over Egypt through her would also have meant she would no longer be queen, and might even have been killed by her own father after the takeover.

Daniel 11:18  After this he [King of the North Antiochus III] will turn his face to the islands, and will take many; but a prince will cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Yes, moreover, he will cause his reproach to turn on him.

Antiochus III shifted his military campaigns westward after his efforts in Egypt failed. He took Asia Minor, Thrace, and Greece and its islands, Samos and Euboea. Israel was not a target for takeover during this time, either.

Daniel 11:19  Then he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he will stumble and fall, and won’t be found.

The Seleucid King of the North’s empire now begins to fail. He could not conquer Egypt through intrigue or military force, and now Rome threatens his empire. Rome took all the territory north and west of the Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor, which is in modern-day Turkey’s north and west, following Antiochus III’s defeat in the Roman-Seleucid War of 190-188 BC.

The Romans also turned Antiochus III away from his westward expansion, forcing him to retreat back to his capital, the city of Antioch in southern Turkey. He died 1 year later in battle trying to plunder a temple in Elymaïs, Persia, 187 BC. Also, Rome was now extracting tribute from Antiochus III and the King of the North Seleucid empire was short on money to pay.

Antiochus III was succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV.

Here is where the famous Antiochus Epiphanes IV (the one who is known for the abomination of desolation and for targeting and persecuting the Jews) comes in. Seleucus IV, brother of Antiochus IV, reigned from 187 to 175 BC. He was assassinated by a man named Heliodorus, his chief minister seized power for a very short time but Antiochus IV took the throne in 175 BC.

Daniel 11:20  “Then one who will cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory will stand up in his [Seleucus IV’s] place; but within few days he shall be destroyed, not in anger, and not in battle.

Antiochus IV immediately began taxing the Jews to pay for the Seleucid empire’s debt to Rome. This is why he began targeting Israel and it is why he was the first of the Kings of the South and North to do so. He maximized the empire’s revenue by putting the High Priest’s office for sale to the highest bidder which made the wealthier Hellenized Jews like Jason and Menelaus, who promised higher tributes wealthier than the Biblical High Priests. John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was in that line but would not buy the office that was to pass to him Biblically. This, along with other taxes, led to severe economic pressure in Judea.

Now the scripture describes the diabolical turn that Alexander the Great’s successor made.

Daniel 11:21  “In his [Seleucus IV’s] place a contemptible person [Antiochus IV] will stand up, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom; but he will come in time of security, and will obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

Why was Antiochus IV not given the honor of the Seleucid Kingdom? He was not the rightful heir to the Seleucid throne any more than Heliodorus was. Seleucus IV had 2 sons who were the rightful heirs. But Antiochus IV had seized power by removing Heliodorus and did not have the integrity to give the throne to one of Seleucus IV’s sons. In fact, he had the true heir, Demetrius held hostage in Rome to get him out of the way.

Daniel 11:22  The overwhelming forces will be overwhelmed from before him, and will be broken. Yes, also the prince of the covenant.

The covenant mentioned here is one which had been made between Cleopatra, Antiochus III’s sister, and Ptolemy V who was joined in covenant with the Seleucid empire. Cleopatra 1 was already dead. But rather than keep the treaty with Egypt, Antiochus IV attacked and defeated the Egyptian army.

Daniel 11:23  After the treaty made with him he will work deceitfully; for he will come up, and will become strong, with a small people.

After defeating Egypt, Antiochus IV made a different treaty with the Ptolemies to turn Egypt into a vassal state to the Seleucids.

Daniel 11:24  In time of security he will come even on the fattest places of the province. He will do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers. He will scatter among them prey, plunder, and substance. Yes, he will devise his plans against the strongholds, even for a time.

Here we see the first elements of the end times Antichrist prophesied by Daniel, Yeshua and Yeshua’s apostles. He came to Israel to do what his fathers had not done, nor his father’s fathers. Antiochus, the Seleucid King of the North, entered Israel expressly in war. This is the same Antiochus IV that desolated YHVH’s altar. This is why the 2nd “he” of Daniel 9:27 will be from the modern Iranian King of the North. Iran will follow this Seleucid Antiochus IV’s pattern.

Daniel 11:25  “He will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south will wage war in battle with an exceedingly great and mighty army; but he won’t stand; for they will devise plans against him.
Daniel 11:26  Yes, those who eat of his dainties will destroy him, and his army will be swept away. Many will fall down slain.

Despite Atniochus’s massive efforts and epic battles, he eventually not stand in Egypt, and his army was defeated. This happened because of Roman intervention on behalf of Egypt as Rome, battle by battle, was spreading in the region.

Daniel 11:27  As for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table; but it won’t prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.

Antiochus IV and Ptolemy V both lied to each other when they made the treaty. Antiochus planned to rule over Egypt; not to merely make battle and leave (read US and Israel here through the 1979 Israel-Egypt treaty for this is how the US became a political part of the end times remnant of the Ptolemaic King of the South empire). In return, Ptolemy planned to defeat Antiochus IV by appealing to Rome to expel him.

Daniel 11:28  Then he [Antiochus IV] will return into his land with great wealth. His heart will be against the holy covenant. He will take action, and return to his own land.

He had gotten himself plunder in Egypt. Remember the plunder which Egypt had taken from the Seleucids by Berenice’s brother, King of the South, Ptolemy III in Daniel 11:8 but there was still more plunder to take which would not be taken until Daniel 11:40-45 is fulfilled. And, in the taking of Egyptian plunder, the wicked thought of destroying the agreement, the bought-and-paid-for High Priests, came to his mind. He would not enter Israel with the notion of converting the Jews to worshiping Greek gods and leaving YHVH, the Torah and everything culturally Jewish behind. Remember, there were already Hellenized Jews in Judea. Antiochus IV may have counted on their power to convince all the Jews to leave YHVH’s ways entirely.

Daniel 11:29  “He will return at the appointed time, and come into the south; but it won’t be in the latter time as it was in the former.

Antiochus IV will attack Egypt again in the future but he will fail to take Egypt. Keep thinking about the pattern here. The Seleucid/Ptolemaic wars will play out again in our time. The Seleucids Iran today, still want to plunder Egypt and they will accomplish that when they attack Israel, Jordan all the countries in the attack described in Daniel 11:40-45. YHVH is now establishing the pattern that will play out in our time.

Daniel 11:30  For ships of Kittim will come against him. Therefore he will be grieved, and will return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and will take action. He will even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.

The island of Cyprus came to Egypt’s rescue. In his anger, because he has been defeated by the Ptolemaic King of the South and his ally Cyprus, rage caused him to desolate YHVH’s altar. The end times spiritual heir of Antiochus IV now has reason to be enraged with the King of the South, the US-Egypt-Israel axis, doesn’t he?

Daniel 11:31  “Forces will stand on his part, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and will take away the continual burnt offering. Then they will set up the abomination that makes desolate.

See the scenario today. The US, Israel and Egypt are the King of the South because of Jimmy Carter’s Israel-Egypt treaty in 1979. The US was the facilitator, but the facilitator is also an active enforcer and thus part of the treaty. This creates an axis for the end of days which fulfills Daniel 11:40-45 King of the South.

Antiochus IV set the pattern of the Seleucid King of the North plundering of modern Egypt. Over time, other factors have come into play, as well. Time always adds to the burdens of war.

Daniel 11:32  He will corrupt those who do wickedly against the covenant by flatteries; but the people who know their God will be strong, and take action.
Daniel 11:33  “Those who are wise among the people will instruct many; yet they will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, many days.

“The people who know their God” and “those who were wise” were the Maccabeans.

Daniel 11:34  Now when they fall, they will be helped with a little help; but many will join themselves to them with flatteries.

It is estimated that Antiochus IV killed 80,000 Jews, took 40,000 more as prisoners, and sold another 40,000 as slaves. He also plundered the temple, robbing it of approximately $1 billion worth of its treasures. The Jews were given a “little help” in the Maccabeans. The number of those who revolted and then defeated Antiochus IV was small just like the very small 144,000 army yet to be raised who will help Yeshua defeat the entire world.

Daniel 11:35  Some of those who are wise will fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.

Our own coming persecution will refine and purify us. 2 Maccabees chapter 7 is the account of a mother, Solomia, and her 7 sons who were tortured and killed in front of her, one by one, slowly and deliberately, while she tearfully encouraged them to stay true to YHVH. It is this family and others like them who were persecuted and killed by Antiochus IV which this verse refers to who are the type and shadow of our martyrs yet to come.

Paul refers to this next verse in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 when he talks about the Antichrist who will exalt himself above God by sitting in God’s temple.

Daniel 11:36  “The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is accomplished; for that which is determined will be done.
Daniel 11:37  He won’t regard the gods of his fathers, or the desire of women, or regard any god; for he will magnify himself above all.

Antiochus IV set the pattern for the end times Antichrist who will sit in the temple showing himself to be God. This will not be a Jew. This will an outsider from the Shia of Iran. Why won’t this be a Jew? Because Jews believe the messiah is only a man and not God. They won’t put up with another Jew saying he is their God like Yeshua did in the 1st century!

The “desire of women” is a reference to the many virgins/maidens awaiting to give birth to Yeshua, the Messiah. There was an expectation among Jewish maidens of possibly being chosen as “the one”. Their desire was for this.

Daniel 11:38  But in his place he will honor the god of fortresses. He will honor a god whom his fathers didn’t know with gold, silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things.
Daniel 11:39  He will deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. He will increase with glory whoever acknowledges him. He will cause them to rule over many, and will divide the land for a price.

The “god of fortresses” was not Zeus as some scholars think. Zeus was already worshiped by the Seleucids. Verse 37 says Antiochus IV worshiped none of the Seleucid deities. He honored some unknown deity of warfare which is not identified today. The meaning of this likely also refers to Antiochus IV putting his faith in chariots and horses (Psalm 20:7). The nations warring in the Middle East today are also putting their faith in military hardware.

Daniel 11:40  “At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. He will enter into the countries, and will overflow and pass through.

The US, Israel and Egypt today are the King of the South. Why? I have explained it already but will reiterate it here. It has to do with Egypt as the central part of the political axis. The minute Jimmy Carter facilitated and witnessed the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty on March 26, 1979 in Washington, D.C., he set the stage for associating the US and Israel with the ancient Ptolemaic empire which has battles that are not yet finished. Those battles have one more round, according to Daniel 11:40-45.

The pattern was set in Daniel 11. Two factions created by 2 of Alexander’s generals after his death have been going at each other since he died. This is just one factor in the wars between the Elamites of Genesis 14, which later became the Persians, which later became the Iranians. The first factor was when the Elamites put together a coalition with other nations in the northern part of the Middle East, the same territory where the Seleucids and the Iranians now sit. Abraham drove his army from the south to retrieve lot and the plunder they took from Kings located in Israel and Jordan.

Do you see how the pattern was established in Genesis 14, continued through the Persian empire and into the Seleucid/Ptolemaic empires? YHVH used Alexander the Great, the Great Horn of Daniel 8:8, to let the pattern play out into the end of days after which Yeshua will wrap it up.

Daniel 11:41  He will enter also into the glorious land, and many countries will be overthrown; but these will be delivered out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Daniel 11:42  He will also stretch out his hand on the countries. The land of Egypt won’t escape.
Daniel 11:43  But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his steps.
Daniel 11:44  But news out of the east and out of the north will trouble him; and he will go out with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many.
Daniel 11:45  He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

In the end of days, the Egyptian axis of the US, Israel and Egypt will again provoke the King of the North as they are now doing (Daniel 11:40). The remnant Iranian/Seleucid/Persian empire will act decisively and will conquer the entirety of the Egyptian Ptolemaic empire which includes territory no longer within Egypt or the Middle East. That territory is the US, in the West, outside the Middle East.

Iran has 2 huge allies: China and Russia. Keep this in mind when you think Daniel 11:40-45 will be contained in the Middle East for it will not.

But we have read the end of the Book, Revelation, and we will be blessed for it no matter what happens to us. Yeshua will prevail over all His enemies! Hallelujah!