As Seventh-day Adventists, our eschatological outlook is distinctive; our understanding of Bible prophecy is unique from any other Christian denomination. However, as God’s Remnant who have the spirit of prophecy, we often find ourselves struggling to connect events in the Middle East to prophecy in the Bible. While several factors contribute to this prophetic disconnect from the Arab world, two factors will be discussed here:

1) Seventh-day Adventist eschatology is Papal centric.

There’s no doubt that since the Dark Ages, the Papacy has been prophecy’s main villain. As Satan’s forerunner, the Man of Sin remains the focus of end-time prophecy until he decreases, and Satan increases to personate Christ. In essence, our interpretation of prophecy should be Papal-centric because of the organization’s role in these final events. However, because our prophetic view is so heavenly focused on the Papacy, we often treat events unrelated to the Papacy as prophetically irrelevant, or we attempt to make those events connected to the Papacy without proof. It is this Papal centricity that unfortunately has driven many of us to remain prophetically silent when events occur in the Muslim world.

2) Seventh-day Adventist eschatology avoids any references to Israel.

As Adventists, we understand that when Paul said, “if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise,” that God’s chosen were no longer based upon a specific ethnicity or heritage. Thus, Israel has been rebranded as Spiritual Israel which includes Jews and Gentiles who are also known as the Church. This means that Biblical references to Israel in the latter days cannot refer to the small group of people living between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, but rather it refers to the worldwide fellowship of those who follow Christ. While our position on Spiritual Israel is correct, we unfortunately project that same logic onto the land of Israel.

As Seventh-day Adventists, it’s important to understand the prophetic difference between the people of Israel and the land of Israel. Unlike Babylon and Sodom and Gomorrah which were literal in the Old Testament, but spiritualized in the New Testament, Israel still exists as a literal nation today and references to it should not be automatically spiritualized without following our most basic prophetic principle. This principle declares that prophecy should be interpreted literally unless the context deems that it must be symbolic. However, because this principle has gone unheeded, many of our members have adopted a contradictory theory that suggests that any prophecy having occurred before the cross should be taken literally, but any prophecy that occurs after the cross should be interpreted figuratively. While this theory may seem Biblically accurate, it clearly is contradicted by the prophecy Jesus gave in Matthew 24. In this chapter, Jesus not only referred to literal disasters that will occur after the cross, He even referred to the destruction of literal Jerusalem which also happened after the cross. If the wars and the destruction of Jerusalem were literally fulfilled in Matthew 24, then it’s not beyond the pale that the wars and the reference to Israel can also be literally fulfilled at the end of Daniel 11.

WHERE ARE WE IN DANIEL 11?

Using a literal application of Daniel 11:40-45, we should see that we are currently living between verses 40 and 41. In order to understand how this was determined, see the below symbolic key for the components of verses 40 - 41.

SYMBOLS OF VS. 41

King of the North - The United States of America (supported by the Papacy)

King of the South - The Arab League headquartered in Egypt

Glorious Land - Israel or Palestine

Edom, Moab, Chief of the Children of Ammon - Jordan and its government

THE KING OF THE NORTH = UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The King of the North must refer primarily to the United States and secondarily to the Papacy. Revelation 16 reveals that there is a city called Spiritual Babylon. According to verse 19, this city has three parts. Those three parts, according to verse 13, are the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet. As students of prophecy, we understand that these three components represent Pagan Rome, Papal Rome, and Protestant America. Regarding these three symbols, Ellen White referred to them as a “three-fold union” (GC88 p. 588).

Knowing that the False Prophet (Lamblike Beast) speaks with the voice of the Dragon and revives the Beast from the sea, we can see that this threefold union comes together under the dispensation of the United States of America. Thus, even though Revelation 13 refers to the Mark of the Beast, it’s the United States of America that leads the world to accept this mark. Therefore, the King of the North in Daniel 11:40 refers to the third phase of Spiritual Babylon—the United States of America, which is led by Papal principles at the end of time.

THE KING OF THE SOUTH = THE ARAB LEAGUE

The King of the South, until it was conquered by Rome, originally referred to Ptolemaic Egypt. Rome, after absorbing Egypt, ruled both the north and south territories of the Empire until the Vandals invaded and conquered Carthage and parts of North Africa. The establishment of a Vandalic kingdom in North Africa made the Germanic tribe the King of the South for approximately a decade. After the fall of the Vandals, the Ottoman Empire would later conquer much of the North Africa and Middle Eastern territories until it was partitioned in 1922. However, in 1945 the King of the South would return as Egypt which formed a league of Middle Eastern nations called the Arab League. This league is who Adventists should see as the current King of the South.

GLORIOUS LAND = THE LAND OF ISRAEL/ PALESTINE

Regarding the land of Israel, Ezekiel 20:6 calls it a place “…flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.” The Glorious Land is Palestine and the state of Israel.

EDOM, MOAB, AND THE CHIEF OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON = JORDAN

According to most Bible scholars, the land God gave to the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites is the modern country of Jordan. While the original people were likely destroyed, their territory is where Jordan is situated today.

THE INTERPRETATION OF VERSE 40-41

Understanding the symbolism shown above, Daniel 11:40 can be interpreted as follows:

In 2001 AD, nations of the Arab League will attack the United States of America; however, the United States will retaliate against many of those nations like a hurricane, with airplanes, tanks, soldiers, and many ships; and the United States forces shall enter into many of these countries, and shall overwhelm them. (Vs. 40 paraphrased)

History confirms that the September 11th terror attacks and the retaliatory battle known as the War on Terror accurately describe the events of verse 40. It should be understood that the terrorists who participated in the September 11th attacks were all citizens of countries within the Arab League. The “push” was the attack, and the whirlwind response was the War on Terror initiated by a campaign that George W. Bush called Shock and Awe.

Understanding that there could be years or even decades between these verses, we should now see that we are past verse 40 but have yet to enter into verse 41. However, although the War on Terror has ended, the events that are currently unfolding within Israel may be God’s way of revealing to us that we may be entering into verse 41.

Here is how verse 41 should be understood in light of current events:

Years later, the United States will be prompted to send its military into the Palestinian region. In order to protect Israel, from its enemies, American armed forces will go into the region resulting in the fall of many nations in that region. However, because of the promise God gave to Edom, Moab, and the Chief of the Children of Ammon, the United States will avoid attacking Jordan. (Vs. 41 paraphrased)

Understanding the events unfolding in front of our eyes, we know that if the United States of America militarily enters within the State of Israel, we will have prophetically entered into verse 41. If the war cools off and the United States sends its ships back home, then we know this is what Ellen White meant when she said, “At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, the nations will be angry, yet held in check, So as not to prevent the work of the third angel.” (Maranatha p. 259)