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| 1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. |
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| 2 And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. |
And the fourth – Darius 111, Codomanus. C26
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| 3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. |
A mighty king – Alexander the Great of Greece. C26
Shall rule – Alexander conquered the world in the short period of 13 years. C27
With great dominion – The High Priest of Israel showed Alexander this prophecy and interpreted it to foreshow that the Persian power should be overthrown by Alexander. C27
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| 4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. |
The four winds – Among his four Generals: Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus in Asia, Lysimachus in Asia Minor and Cassander in Macedonia. C27, C31
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| 5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. |
King of the south – Egypt. C27
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| 6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. |
King of the north – The Grecians, and afterwards, the Romans. C27
Not an individual monarch, but the Roman empire's representative. C32
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| 7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: |
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| 8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. |
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| 9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. |
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| 10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
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| 11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. |
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| 12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. |
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| 13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. |
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| 14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. |
To establish – To seemingly fulfil. C25
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| 15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. |
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| 16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. |
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| 17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. |
Daughter of women – Cleopatra. C28
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| 18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. |
After this – The following verses merely touch prominent characters down to Papacy and then, identifying it, pass on to the end of its power to persecute, and a detailed account of Napoleon Bonaparte. C28
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| 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. |
Then he – Mark Antony. C29
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| 20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. |
A raiser of taxes – "Caesar Augustus sent forth a decree that all the world should be taxed." (Luke 2:1) C29
Augustus was the first ruler to introduce to the world a systematized taxation. C29
In the glory – The most glorious epoch, Rome's "Golden Age." C29
Another translation reads, "the glorious land of the kingdom," applying specially to Palestine and fitting in exactly with the record in Luke 2:1. C29
Of the kingdom – The Roman empire. C29
But within few days – Within a few years after he reached the zenith of his power. C29
Nor in battle – Augustus died a quiet death, whereas his predecessor and his seven successors in imperial power died violent deaths. C29
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| 21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. |
A vile person – Tiberius, a cruel, sensual, despicable tyrant. C30
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| 22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. |
Shall they – All opposers. C30
Be overflown – Be swept away. C30
Also the prince – Christ Jesus. C30, C126
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| 23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. |
Made with him – The Senate recognized him as Emperor. C30
With a small people – The Praetorian Guards, 10,000 picked troops organized by Tiberius and kept by him continually at Rome to overawe the people and Senate and abolish elections and assemblies. C30
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| 24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. |
He shall scatter – Divide. C31
Among them – Among local governors. C31
The prey, and spoil – Of the countries tributary to Rome. C31
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| 25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. |
And he – Aurelian, Emperor of Rome in the days of Zenobia, 272 AD. C33, C32
King of the south – Egypt. C32
Forecast devices – Treacherously devise plans. C32
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| 26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. |
Shall destroy him – Aurelian was assassinated by his own Generals. C34
Shall overflow – His army was successful. C34
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| 27 And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. |
Both these kings' – Imperial power slowly dying and clerical power slowly coming to life and ambition. C34
But it – The league of the clergy and the civil power. C35
Shall not prosper – Then, in Aurelian's time. C35
Even Constantine was hindered by the temper of the people from accomplishing at once and as rapidly as was desired a union of the forces of church and state. C35
For yet – "Because as yet the end is unto another time." The union between clergy and civil power could not prosper because the 1260 years, counted from that date, would bring the end too soon. C34
The end – Of the 1260 years of papal persecution. C35
The time appointed – In 1799 A.D., and could not, therefore, have begun in Aurelian's day as it would then have terminated before the time appointed. C35
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| 28 Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. |
Then shall he – Aurelian, after the overthrow of Zenobia. C33
Return into his land – Rome. C33
With great riches – Zenobia was confined in fetters of gold and nearly fainted under the weight of jewels when led captive into Rome. C33
Shall be against – Aurelian ascribed his victory over Zenobia to the sun. As the Christian deemed the sun unworthy of worship, it is presumed that their refusal to participate in this sun-worship provoked his sudden and violent opposition. C34
The holy covenant – Christianity. Aurelian, on his return, began a persecution of all Christians. C34
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| 29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. |
At – This verse and the verse following should be in parenthesis. C35, C46
The time appointed – The Time of the End. C46
He – Napoleon. C47
Shall return – Verses 25 to 28 refer to a previous invasion of Egypt, verses 29 and 30 intimating that the next great invasion of Egypt would be at the Time of the End. C46
And come toward – And invade. C47
The south – Egypt. C47
It shall not be – Not be as great a victory as. C47
The former – Invasion against Cleopatra. C47
Or as the latter – Invasion against Zenobia. C47
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| 30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. |
For – The reason Napoleon's invasion of Egypt was not as successful as were other invasions was because. C47
Ships of Chittim – Of the Romans. England was once a part of the Roman empire, against the fragments of which Napoleon at this time was fighting. C47
The holy covenant – The truth, by establishing the Concordat with the Pope. C47
So shall he do – And he shall succeed. C47
Shall even return – Change about. C47
Have intelligence – Devise, scheme, operate. C47
With them – Against them. C47
That forsake – That have forsaken the apostate church in Rome. C47
Taking away, not only Charlemagne's gifts of territory 1000 years after they were made; but afterward Papacy's civil jurisdiction in Rome, which was actually recognized from AD 539, 1260 years before AD 1799. C58
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| 31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. |
And arms – Strong ones (Young's translation); heady ones. C36
Stand on his part – Stand up out of him, out of the Papacy. C36, C64
They shall pollute – Undermine, defile. C36, C25
Sanctuary of strength – Both the sacred precincts of civil authority, undermined by those in the church who sought for present dominion; and the sanctuary of God, the Church, defiled and degraded by the ambitions of these strong ones. C36
The daily sacrifice – The continual sacrifice, Christ's sacrifice. This does not refer to the interruption of the Temple worship by Antiochus Epiphanes. C25, C36; R1484:3
They shall place – 539 AD is the point in time from which we should reckon the Desolating Abomination set up. C76
The Papacy in embryo schemed to set itself up in power as a sacerdotal empire. C36
The abomination – The central item of this prophecy of Dan. 11. C25
That Wicked One (2 Thes. 2:8); the Man of Sin (2 Thes. 2:3); the Mystery of Iniquity (2 Thes. 2:7); the Antichrist (1 John 2:18); the Son of Perdition (2 Thes. 2:3); the Little Horn (Dan. 7:8); the Papacy (Matt. 24:15). B271; 272; 277; C64; 76; A258
Particularly its doctrine of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass, supplemented in our day by various theories of self-atonement. C36; D572; F471
The sacrifice of the Mass--a gross error introduced about the third century. R3750:3, R1484:3, R2822:6
That maketh desolate – The result of its overspreading influence would be the desolation of rejected Christendom. D571
By turning people away from the one atonement sacrifice for sins and having their gaze attracted to the priest, the Mass, the blessings and the holy water. R3750:4; C36
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| 32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. |
And such – Of the reformers and the reform movements. D31
Of the host class. C37
The covenant – Their covenant with the Lord. C37
Shall he – The Papacy. C37
By flatteries – Honors, titles, etc. C37
But the people – The Sanctuary class. C37
Do know their God – His character and plan. R2570:1
Shall be strong – Valiant; strengthened by persecution. R2570:1; C37
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| 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. |
And they – The Reformers at the end of the Dark Ages. B357
Shall instruct many – That the Papacy is the Antichrist, the Man of Sin. C37
Yet they – Those who oppose the Papacy, the faithful few. C37
Days – Here another parenthesis of verse 34 and part of verse 35 interrupts, until the phrase "to the time of the end, because it is yet (future) for a time appointed." C38
Although the length of this persecution is not here stated, we learn from other scriptures that it is 1260 years, ending in 1799 AD. C38
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| 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. |
Now when they – The true Church. OV417:1
Shall fall – When falling, in the 16th century, before the end of Papacy's power. C38; B357; R5911:4
God granted a little help to those falling because of fidelity to his Word; notwithstanding some would fall through persecutions. C38
With a little help – The Reformation movement. C38; OV417:1; B357
The teachings of a few saintly ones gained sufficient headway to bring about the Reformation. R5911:4
But many – Kings and princes; tares. C38, C154
Shall cleave to them – To Protestantism; to the wheat. C38, C154
With flatteries – Honors and titles; promises of help and success if they would shape their courses according to the wisdom of this world. C37, C110
Succumbing, in a considerable degree, to the desire to gain power and influence among the nations. R5911:4
Receiving the favor of the world at the expense of their virtue, their fidelity to Christ. D31
It was flattery of the leaders of the great Reformation that stayed the progress of that good work and caused many to fall from their steadfastness. R1895:2
The kings and princes offered their backing in return for support of their kingdoms. OV417:1
Overcome by flatteries, each reform movement, after accomplishing a measure of cleansing, stopped short. D31
No marks or badges of distinction or flattering homage may be tolerated in the Body of Christ. R1895:2
Had the reformers and their descendants continued faithful to the truth and not succumbed to flatteries, God's grand design might have been accomplished through their honored instrumentality. C50
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| 35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. |
Of understanding – Leaders, reformers, teachers, who had been able to instruct many concerning Papacy's errors. C38
Shall fall – Flattery caused many to fall; but let it not be so among us. R1895:2
From being leaders of reform they became leaders into temptation. C48
"A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand." (Psa. 91:7) R414:6
To try them – The faithful few. C38
The checking of the reform movement served, as Papacy's error had done, to further test the saints, to prove whether they were really followers of men or of God. C48
And to purge – Shake loose from all earthly support and confidence in man's wisdom. R414:6
Make them white – Verses 34 & 35, down to and including these words, should be in parenthesis. C38
Even to the time – The fixed time. C25
Of the end – AD 1799. C38
The overthrow of the Papal dominion in 1798 by the French Revolution marked the beginning of the "Time of the End" and opened the way for a multitude of improvements and the increase of knowledge. R24:5
It is yet – A full and correct interpretation of the vision could not be had until the Time of the End. C25
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| 36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. |
And the king – Napoleon was not a king, but the term king is a general one to indicate a powerful ruler. C40
Napoleon, the instrument employed by providence to break Papacy's power and to begin her torture which will end in utter destruction at a later date. C39
France had been, of all nations, most faithful and subservient to Papal authority. Therefore no other nation could have struck Papacy so stunning and destructive a blow as the French. C39
To his will – He was noted for his wilfulness and determination. C40
Above every god – Every mighty one. C40
Marvellous things – Commanding his obedience as a servant, thus shocking the superstitious of the world. C40
The God of gods – The ruler of rulers, the Pope, by fining him ten million dollars, organizing the Papal territory into a republic and taking a Pope as a prisoner to France. C40, C42, C56
Shall prosper till – When Napoleon boldly ignored both the blessings and the curses of Papacy and yet prospered phenomenally, he weakened not only Papal influence over civil governments but also the influence of Protestant systems in matters civil and political. C49
Until he had accomplished his mission of scourging the Papacy and breaking its influence over the minds of the people. C41
Shall be done – The Pope was brought to the verge of ruin in 1797 AD, taken prisoner to France in 1798 and died there the following year. His successor, Pius VII, in 1800, declared that all, including himself, should obey established governments. C42
Since AD 1799 there have been separations between empires and churches, but no new unions. This date marks a new reformation on a more substantial basis--no less thorough than that of Luther and his colleagues. C49
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| 37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. |
God of his fathers – The Papacy. C42
The desire of women – Protestant sects. C42
Nor regard any god – Any ruler. C42
Magnify himself – Nothing but his own personal ambition controlled Napoleon. C42
Himself above all – In opposition to all. C42
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| 38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. |
But in his estate – Instead of any of these gods. C42
The God of forces – Military power. C42
His fathers knew not – Other great warriors made acknowledgment to some supernatural powers for victories achieved; but Napoleon ascribed his success to himself and his genius. C43
And pleasant things – The treasures of Europe were taken to France as spoils of war. C43
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| 39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. |
In the most strong – To strengthen his. C43
Holds – Hold. C43
With a strange god – With the strange (new) god. C43
Whom he shall – Whoever will. C43
Acknowledge – Acknowledge him. C43
And increase – Him will he give much honor. C43
He shall cause them – Shall cause such. C43
The land for gain – Gratis, among his relatives and favorites. C43
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| 40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. |
And at the time – The fixed time. C44
"The time pre-fixed." (Douay) C46
Of the end – AD 1799. C38, C68
King of the south – Egypt. C44
Push – Marking the particular event that is to be understood as the exact date of the beginning of the Time of the End--Napoleon's invasion of Egypt from May 1798 to Oct. 9, 1799. C44
King of the north – England. C44
Like a whirlwind – Nelson's attack on the French fleet was conducted with a degree of vigor never surpassed. C45
And with horsemen – The Egyptian Mamelukes. C45
With many ships – The English forces consisted of a navy under Admiral Nelson. C45
And he – Napoleon. C45
And pass over – And pass through victoriously. C45
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| 41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. |
The glorious land – Palestine. C45
Children of Ammon – Napoleon kept to the coast and did not enter, but passed by these lands. C45
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| 42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. |
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| 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. |
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| 44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. |
Out of the north – The second coalition, composed of England, Russia, Naples, Turkey and Austria. C46
Make away many – Many nations. C46
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| 45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. |
Of his palace – His palatial tents. C45
Holy mountain – Mt. Tabor, the mount of transfiguration, where one of his most important battles was fought. C45
Or Mt. Sinai, visited by Napoleon and his scientific corps. C45
Come to his end – Death as an exile. C46
None shall help him – He was forsaken by all. C46
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