| When taking on
Iraq, the United States was not just invading a third rate
Middle Eastern nation. It is was taking on the enormous
spiritual forces of the King of the South. The King of the South
will not just roll over, but will strike back. The people of the
United States will be surprised by the ferocity of these spiritual
forces and will lack the spiritual strength to resist.
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. Then the
latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will
be given into the hand of the former. When the multitude is
carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause
tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail (Dan
11:11,12).
The attack from the west will stir up the
Middle East (we must remember that the King of the South is a
spiritual force and not a human ruler). This passage from Daniel
is quite difficult to interpret. A more literal translation is:
The King of the South will become
embittered and will go out to fight against the
King of the North. He will raise up a great multitude and a
great multitude will be given into his hand. Having
carried away this multitude, his will heart will be high, but
tens of thousands will fall and he will not prevail.
The fulfilment of this passage has two
stages. The first stage is the insurgence that emerged in
respose to the United States invasion of Iraq. The second
stage will be the resurgence of Iran resulting from the destruction
of its most serious enemy, Iraq.
First Multitude
The Hebrew
word translated "multitude" means "roar, crowd or
tumult". It speaks of a tumultuous and noisy crowd.
Daniel refers to two different multitudes. The first
great multitude is stirred up by the King of the South when they
become bitter about their treatment by the King of the North. The defeat
by the United States has stirred up the population of Iraq.
Conquering Iraq was relatively easy, but
maintaining control was extremely difficult. The concentration of
American forces in Iraq made them vulnerable to terrorist attack,
which resulted in large-scale losses. A variety of Islamic
groups are currently fighting against the United States in Iraq in
fulfilment of this prophecy.
The Iraqi Shi-ite
Moslems were also stirred up. In August 2003, a million
Shi-ites marched into Karbala,
whipping themselves into a bloody frenzy in commemoration of Imam Ali.
In April 2004, a militia controlled by Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr have taken control of the holy Shi-ite city of Najaf and
fortified themselves in the centre of the city near the Iman Ali
Shrine. There was increasing pressure for an Islamic Republic to be established
in Iraq.
At the same time Sunni forces were also been
stirred up against the United States. Sunni forces took
control of Al Fallujah, forcing the US marines to withdraw and hand
control over to a Sunni militia led by a Baathist general. The
United States invasion of Al Fallujah stirred up opposition through out the entire Sunni area of Iraq.
That insurgency has continued for several years. Iraq has been
really stirred up and is being destroyed by violence.
The presence of the United States in Iraq
will also stir up the rest of the Middle East. The
Prince of Persia might be stirred up allowing Iran to re-emerge as an
important player on the world stage (see next page).
The war between Israel and Hezbollah might
be part of this stirring up.
The Second Multitude is the United States
The second multitude is given into the hands
of the King of the South. This suggests that the United
States will experience a serious defeat at the hands of Middle Eastern
powers.
Daniel may be propheysing that another
terrorist attack on the United States. A possible translation of Dan 11:11 is:
The King of the South will
break out and fight among the King of North.
Daniel could be suggesting that these
spiritual forces will fight "among" the United States.
Some embittered people might
attack the United States directly and a great multitude might
be given into their hands.
Terrorist strikes against the
homelands of the United
States might deliver a multitude into the hand of the King of the
South. The bombing in Madrid might be the first stage of this
attack.
The news media tend to blame all terrorist attacks on Al
Qa'ida. The common factor is not Al Qa'ida, but the spiritual
force called the King of the South. Most terrorism is
done by independent groups, but they are inspired by the same spirit,
the King of the South. They are all controlled by the same spiritual forces.
Alternatively, Daniel may be describing an
economic attack on the United States. Islamic countries might
withdraw their investments from the United States and stopped trading
in the dollar bringing financial disaster for a multitude of Americans.
Either a military attack or an economic
challenge would fill the Middle Eastern nations with pride and cause their
"hearts to be lifted up". A military or financial strike against the United
States would be a huge psychological victory.
The primary reason for building up military
forces in the Middle East and invading Iraq was to defeat terrorism
and maintain world order. However, the presence of a foreign army may
just increase the hatred of the United States leading to more frequent
and more terrible terrorist attacks. It has also strengthed the
power of Iran
They will not Prevail
Disaster might strike the
United States, but Daniel is clear. The king of the North
will not be defeated. The forces of the Middle East will be
stirred up, but they "will not prevail". The great multitude will be defeated and "tens of
thousands will fall". Despite the current troubles, the
United States will eventually dominate the Middle East. .
More Battles
The invasion of Iraq is not the end of the
struggle between the king of the North and the king of the South. Daniel 11 describes four further battles between the
King of the North and the King
of the South (vv. 13, 25, 29, 40). The United States will invade the Middle East
again several times. Some of the invasions all come
through Israel causing that nation to be "trampled by the
gentiles" (Luke 21:24).
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