Rival Kings in Conflict

6. What two kings are discussed in Daniel chapter 11, and what questions arise concerning them?

⁶ Before “the end” comes, however, other 20th-century developments merit our consideration. For instance, the prophecy of Daniel declares: “In the time of the end the king of the south will engage with [the king of the north] in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm.” (Daniel 11:40) Who are these battling kings, and of what significance are their foretold actions?

8. (a) How do we know that there were to be 20th-century developments involving the two kings? (b) When was “the appointed time” for “the king of the north” to come against the south? (c) With what powers earlier in this century can the two kings be identified?

⁸ In the spring of 33 C.E., Jesus Christ gave a marvelous prophecy on “the time of the end.” He quoted from Daniel 11:31 and thus indicated that there would be dramatic 20th-century developments involving “the king of the north” and “the king of the south.” (Matthew 24:15) It had been foretold that “the king of the north” would come against the south “at the time appointed.” (Daniel 11:29, 30) When was that? Why, in 1914​—the very year in which the Gentile Times ended and the Kingdom of God was established in heaven! In that year a Germanic “king of the north” began fighting against “the king of the south,” the Anglo-American World Power. Germany and her allies were defeated in World War I and again in the second world war. “The king of the north” then assumed a new identity.

9. (a) What position do Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain as regards political affairs? (b) Does this prevent them from seeing certain political developments in advance?

⁹ Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain strict Christian neutrality. They are no part of this world and do not involve themselves in its political affairs. (John 17:16) Nevertheless, they do heed God’s prophetic word, and this has enabled them to see how Daniel’s prophecy now moves into its final stage of fulfillment. (Isaiah 42:9) Again, in the post-World War II period, two superpowers hold the center of the stage, each vying with the other in a suicidal arms race that has forced the world’s annual military budget up into the $800 billion (U.S.) bracket.

10. (a) What is the “disgusting thing” of Daniel 11:31? (b) How have both kings treated Jehovah’s people, and why?

¹⁰ Speaking of Daniel’s prophecy concerning “the disgusting thing that causes desolation,” Jesus said: “Let the reader use discernment.” (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 11:31) “Discernment” of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy has shown that “disgusting thing” to be the UN organization, which has been brought forth in opposition to God’s Kingdom. “Discernment” also leaves no question as to the identity (at this climax of the prophecy’s unfolding) of “the king of the north” as he competes with “the king of the south” in their final all-out power struggle. Neither he nor “the king of the south” is willing to relinquish sovereignty to God’s heavenly Kingdom, now being announced earth wide by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both kings have shared in the persecution of the Witnesses.​—Daniel 11:36-39; Matthew 5:10-12; John 15:19, 20.

11. (a) What claim does “the king of the north” make? (b) How does this “king” speak against Jehovah?

¹¹ Concerning “the king of the north,” the prophecy says: “He will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god; and against the God of gods he will speak marvelous things. . . . Over everyone he will magnify himself.” (Daniel 11:36, 37) This atheistic “king of the north” claims that the State has the right to demand much from its subjects. Moreover, this “king” speaks against Jehovah by aiming for world domination to the exclusion of God’s Kingdom. Of course, “the king of the south” wants nothing to do with that Kingdom either, any pious Bible-quoting by his political spokesmen notwithstanding.​—Revelation 11:17, 18.

“King” With an Unusual God

12. To what god does “the king of the north” give glory?

¹² As irreligious as “the king of the north” may seem to be, however, he does have a god. Says the prophecy: “But to the god of fortresses, in his position he will give glory.” (Daniel 11:38) Has this “king” paid homage to “the god of fortresses,” exalting modern, scientific militarism as the savior of the peoples of his bloc of nations?

13. Why can it be said that both of these kings are ‘putting their trust in war chariots’?

¹³ Indeed he has! According to The Military Balance 1981-1982, The International Institute for Strategic Studies placed the armed forces of the principal nation in the realm of the ‘northern king’ at more than 4,000,000, compared with over 2,049,000 for the leading nation of the “south.” In mid-1982, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) reported that the “south” was capable of delivering 9,540 nuclear warheads having a total explosive power of 3,448 megatons, compared with 8,802 warheads of the “north” with a force of 4,535 megatons. How potentially devastating, since one megaton alone has an explosive force equal to that of a million tons of TNT! Clearly, both rival kings are ‘putting their trust in war chariots.’​—Isaiah 31:1.

14. (a) What “pushing” is now taking place? (b) Can you give evidence that mankind is imperiled?

¹⁴ “The king of the south” is now “pushing” his rival politically, even militarily. (Daniel 11:40) In progress today is a relentless arms race that threatens mankind with nuclear holocaust. Highlighting the peril, the SIPRI Yearbook 1982 warned:

“The balance between the two great powers in intercontinental nuclear weapons is becoming unstable. . . . Instead of what might once have seemed to be a stable system of deterrence​—a balance of mutually assured destruction (MAD)—​we have the fear of a first strike being used as the rationale for the very big increases now in prospect in strategic weapon programmes and procurement. Between them, the two great powers, with the nuclear weapons at their command, have a total destructive power which is probably equivalent to about half a million Hiroshima bombs: but that is not enough. There can be no better example of the way in which developments in weapon technology​—in this case the increasing accuracy of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)—​lead to a reduction rather than to an increase in security.”

15. (a) Would these kings ever use their weapons against each other? (b) But what does God’s prophetic word make clear?

¹⁵ “Pushing” by “the king of the south” was to cause “the king of the north” to ‘storm against him with chariots, horsemen and many ships.’ Yes, the kings would have some occasion to use at least their conventional weapons against each other. “The king of the north” would also gain control of many “desirable things” of this world. (Daniel 11:40-43) By 1981 “the king of the north” wielded authority over some 1.5 billion people in 16 nations, and time alone will tell how far this “king” will extend his power. But the judgment of destruction upon these kings comes from another source. God’s prophetic word makes that clear.

Disturbing Reports​—And Then the End!

16. Where do the ‘disturbing reports’ originate, and how do they reach “the king of the north”?

¹⁶ This dramatic prophecy concludes: “But there will be reports that will disturb him, out of the sunrising and out of the north, and he will certainly go forth in a great rage in order to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. . . . And he will have to come all the way to his end, and there will be no helper for him.” (Daniel 11:44, 45) These disturbing reports really issue from Jehovah through Jesus Christ. The Scriptures locate God relatively in the north, and he and Christ are symbolically called “kings from the rising of the sun,” the east. (Revelation 16:12; Psalm 48:2; 75:6, 7) But how can these “reports” reach “the king of the north”? Why, through God’s earthly organization, Jehovah’s sanctuary class and their companions of the “great crowd”!

17. (a) Because of the “reports,” what will “the king of the north” do? (b) Will “the king of the south” stand idly by? (c) What will Jehovah then do in behalf of his loyal witnesses?

¹⁷ God will determine the contents of these “reports.” Whatever their nature, however, they will so infuriate “the king of the north” that he will act to destroy Jehovah’s people. In fact, Satan the Devil, the symbolic Gog of Magog, will maneuver both “the king of the north” and “the king of the south” into his full-scale assault upon God’s true servants. (Ezekiel 38:10-12) But Jehovah’s loyal witnesses need not fear annihilation. The Most High will rescue them, and both kings will be among those destroyed in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon.​—Revelation 16:14-16; Ezekiel 38:18-23.a