The High Water Mark
Daniel: A Call to Worship--Part 38
AI image of the extent of “Pickett’s Charge” at Gettysburg (hopefully the picture is at least somewhat historically accurate). The furthest reach of this attempt is often called, “The High Water Mark of the Confederacy.”
And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:45).
On July 3, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, General Lee authorized a Confederate offensive known as “Pickett’s Charge.” General Longstreet, among others, was sure the effort would be doomed for failure and strongly opposed it. But General Lee overruled the objections and gave the order to proceed.
Of the roughly 12,000 Confederate troops that began the walk across the open field, the South lost about 5,000 in a single hour. The Union artillery cut through the lines of advancing troops, leaving dead and wounded all over the battlefield.
Some Confederate troops did make it across the field and temporarily broke through the Union lines, but the Union pushed back and the remaining able-bodied Confederate forces were compelled to retreat. The next day, the Confederate forces evacuated Pennsylvania.
A thousand miles away, General Grant gained control of the entire Mississippi River by defeating Vicksburg. Two huge concurrent victories for the Union. The Confederacy would spend the balance of the Civil War simply playing defense hoping the Union would lose its resolve to win. The South never had another opportunity to win the war outright.
The furthest extent of the Confederate forces into the Union lines at Gettysburg has been called, “The High Water Mark of the Confederacy.” The national park service has an excellent website and video on the moment that can be accessed by clicking here.
https://www.nps.gov/places/the-high-water-mark.htm
At the end of Daniel 11, we see a similar scenario in the spiritual battle between Christ and Satan. Instead of a Civil War within the boundaries of the United States, Daniel 11 prophesies a high-water mark for the enemies of God just before the return of Jesus.
At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:40-45).
As we study the last few verses of Daniel 11, we need to reiterate some principles of Bible prophecy we have studied in the past.
Bible prophecy is better understood looking back through history rather than predicting specific future events. This increases a believer’s faith that the other prophecies are just as reliable.
There are some details of Bible prophecy we will not understand until Jesus decides His people need that specific message.
Jesus Himself said that He was prophesying the events leading to His death for the purpose that, when it came to pass, the faith of the disciples would be strengthened rather than shattered.
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He (John 13:19).
Had Jesus not warned the disciples of His upcoming betrayal and death, they would have wondered how the Messiah wouldn’t have seen it coming. By warning them ahead of time, Jesus gave them ample evidence of His Divinity in that even though things didn’t work out the way they expected, He was fully aware of what would happen and made the choice to walk to Calvary anyway.
As for some prophecies we won’t figure out until they have occurred, we have seen some prophesies simply made no apparent sense when given. Yet when they were fulfilled, they were proven entirely correct.
One such prophesied event was the money the priests bribed Judas with. Zechariah’s prophecy specified thirty pieces of silver being thrown into the temple for the potter.
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter (Zechariah 11:13).
An initial read would make one think such a claim was ridiculous. Who throws money into the temple? Why would it be going into the temple for a potter? And yet it was fulfilled precisely.
Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” 7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day (Matthew 27:3-8).
The book of Daniel was declared to be sealed until the time of the end. The prophecies were true, and yet they would not be understood as a cohesive whole until Jesus determined that His people would benefit by opening the message to their understanding. The passage this presentation covers begins with the start of “the time of the end.” As these prophesied events play/played out, the prophetic mysteries hidden in Daniel are/were to be opened and shared with the world.
At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him (Daniel 11:40).
“The time of the end” is said to begin when “the king of the South” would attack the king of the North. We have studied that the king of the North at this point in the prophecy refers to the Vatican church/state power. The last time the chapter mentioned the king of the South was the passage about the love triangle playing out in Egypt between Antony, Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar (Daniel 11:17-19).
So who is this new king of the South that would arise to attack the papacy at the time of the end? The best way to determine this is to allow the Bible to interpret itself.
“The time of the end” would begin when the papacy was attacked by the king of the South (Daniel 11:40).
The papal power would receive a deadly wound at the end of the 1260-day prophecy (Revelation 13:3).
“The time of the end” must therefore begin in 1798.
Another power Revelation refers to as “spiritual Egypt” was prophesied to be given special power at the end of the 1260-day prophecy (Revelation 11:1-8).
If it can be determined historically who dealt the papacy its mortal wound in 1798, we can identify the king of the South as described in this passage.
Here’s part of the story from a Catholic source:
https://www.catholictextbookproject.com/post/the-pope-dragged-from-rome-february-20-1798
Berthier demanded that the pope abandon his temporal authority over Rome and the Papal States and leave Rome itself for good. Pius replied that his authority had come to him from God, and he could not justly abandon it. Berthier resorted to force. He declared the pope deposed and proclaimed Rome a republic. The 80-year old Pius was banished from the city, and on February 20, 1798, French soldiers dragged him from Rome.
France, more than any other single Western European power, had been instrumental in protecting the papacy’s political power in the early years of its 1260-year reign. While the Reformation gained adherents throughout much of Europe in the 1500s, France doggedly supported the papacy against the so-called “heretics.” Massacres were planned and executed. Huguenots who survived were driven from France. France’s middle class disappeared, leaving only the wealthy, the aristocracy and clergy, along with the very poor and uneducated.
Having been the first barbarian nation that militarily supported the papal power, it was almost fitting for France to be the nation that struck the mortal wound against it. But how was France to be compared spiritually to Egypt? If you trace through the line of prophetic kingdoms in Daniel, there is a thread of spiritual consistency.
Nebuchadnezzar set up his image on the Plain of Dura to signify that he was greater than the God of heaven. He didn’t ask the Hebrews who their God was. It was their God who had given the prophetic dream that Nebuchadnezzar was fighting when he commanded the false worship. Instead of questioning God’s very existence, Nebuchadnezzar simply didn’t believe any God could deliver from the power of Babylon.
Darius signed a decree that all who prayed to anyone but himself would be killed. He didn’t deny Daniel’s God. He simply set himself as more worthy of worship.
Antiochus of the Greek Empire, and the process of sacrificing pigs in the temple at Jerusalem followed the same pattern.
The Roman demand to offer incense to Caesar or face being shut out of society or killed was not, in the Roman mind, a command to deny the existence of Jehovah. It merely demanded the Caesar be added to the list of gods a conquered people must worship.
The papacy didn’t deny the Divinity of Christ. It actually used this truth as a weapon to claim they had the power from Christ to change the law He wrote on stone with His own finger.
Egypt, however, was a different story. When called upon to let Israel go, Pharaoh denied to even acknowledge the existence of the God of Israel.
Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:1,2).
France, to a greater extent than any modern nation preceding it, denied the existence of Almighty God with a bold defiance that makes a Christian heart shudder. France declared the Bible to be fable, compelled the clergy to either deny Christ, leave France, or die. The French Republic then set up the “goddess of Reason” to replace the God of heaven.
Revelation 11 gives additional identifying characteristics:
the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Revelation 11:8).
Like Sodom, France’s denial of God’s sovereignty led them to the most debasing practices of sexual immorality. Like Jerusalem who killed the Lord of glory, France, led by the religious leaders supposedly doing the work of God, had previously killed untold thousands of God’s servants for simply choosing to worship Christ according to the Bible rather than the dictates of the church.
In the centuries since, other nations have carried the banner of atheism. Most notably the Soviet Union and then China have both officially declared that God does not exist, actively persecuting those who desire to worship the God of heaven and share the message of salvation. Not only have these atheistic nations blocked the spread of the Gospel, but they have also been roadblocks against the expansion of papal power, enslaving massive swaths of the earth’s population in their own spiritual infidelity instead of Rome’s.
Godlessness has also invaded much of the capitalist West. Even though not often directly inhibited by the laws of the land, forces opposing the spread of the Gospel can be found in nearly every aspect of life. From entertainment to financial markets to social programs to education, the original lie is repeated: in spite of your sin, “you shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).
But as powerful as the attack by atheism was, dealing the papacy the deadly wound, Daniel 11 only grants it half a verse. The power of the king of the North would strike back with ferocity. The deadly wound would be healed (Revelation 13:3).
At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through (Daniel 11:40).
Before just reading this passage and moving on, do a quick Bible search on the word “whirlwind.” Almost always it is referring to the power of God, most often in retribution for rebellion against His government.
When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation (Proverbs 10:25).For behold, the Lord will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire (Isaiah 66:15).The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook (Psalm 77:18).The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).
This counterattack by the king of the North appears to the world to be the power of God’s judgment against sin. Claiming to be the Vicar of Christ, the papal power claims as its own the right, even the Divine duty, to punish those who do not accept her voice as the voice of Christ.
in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
There is one specific Biblical reference to “whirlwind” that is very pertinent to the counterattack by the king of the North.
Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire (Ezekiel 1:4).
Who did Ezekiel see?
And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 1:26-28).
Ezekiel saw the pre-incarnate Christ, the King of the universe, the true King of the North, seated on the sapphire throne. It was the same heavenly vision that Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel saw at Mount Sinai.
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God (Exodus 24:9-11).
It was the same throne from the north that Lucifer had coveted before he was expelled from glory.
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High’ (Isaiah 14:13,14).
As the deadly wound is progressively healed and papal power extends across the planet, Paul’s prophecy of the “man of sin” will become more and more complete as the deception becomes more and more difficult to discern. The papal response to the king of the South will appear to be the spiritual equivalent of the Throne of Christ coming in the whirlwind toward Ezekiel.
the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
The words of Daniel continue to describe the power of the king of the North as it extends around the globe.
He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels (Daniel 11:41-43).
It is very tempting to read apocalyptic prophecies and interpret them as if the Biblical prophecies from thousands of years ago automatically apply to political boundaries of today. The “Glorious Land” must be the political nation of Israel formed in 1948. “Ammon” must be Jordan, with its capitol city being Amman. “Egypt” must be modern Egypt as it currently occupies the map of North Africa.
But we have studied more than enough Bible prophecy to know that cannot be the Biblical standard for prophetic interpretation.
Literal Babylon was prophesied to never be rebuilt.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged (Isaiah 13:19-22).
Yet Babylon is a key last-day player according to the book of Revelation.
“Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues (Revelation 18:2-4).
Literal Babylon cannot be prophesied to both be forever in ruins and yet rising as the chief end-time antagonist against God and His people. If the only acceptable interpretation is entirely literal, then the prophecies are mutually exclusive, the Bible contradicts itself, and we can’t trust the Bible. Many dear Christians determined to claim they are interpreting it literally will fudge a bit and say it just means the modern nation of Iraq instead of Babylon. But that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says, “Babylon.”
The same prophetic line of reasoning believe “the 144,000” are 144,000 literal Jews from the political nation of Israel founded in 1948. “Jews” are so named because they are from the southern kingdom called “Judah.” The term may fairly be applied to Benjamites and Levites who were part of the southern kingdom of Judah. A few other tribes were represented that either from the northern tribes before they fell to Assyria. But the end result is that most of the twelve tribes no longer exist. The Bible says there will be 12,000 from each of the listed tribes, most of which are not at all part of today’s nation of Israel.
And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed (Revelation 7:4-8).
If literally translating the prophecy, there is no way the modern nation of Israel could possibly fulfill the prophecy. Popular prophetic interpretation simply ignores this reality and claims the prophecy fits anyway.
To be true to the text, we must allow the Bible to interpret itself rather than imposing our conceptions and ideas upon the text. When James addressed his letter to Christians around the known world, he addressed it to “the twelve tribes.”
James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings (James 1:1).
According to James’s understanding, prophetic spiritual Israel is not a political entity in the Middle East. Biblically, prophetic spiritual Israel is whoever has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Paul’s writings agree.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).
Similarly, allowing the Bible to interpret itself tells us that the prophecies of the rise of “Babylon” refer to spiritual Babylon, not literal a literal Babylon rebuilt in defiance of God’s prior prophecy concerning the literal city in present-day Iraq. When Peter talked of the congregation of Christians in “Babylon,” he was speaking of his Christian brothers and sisters where he was a prisoner in the city of Rome.
She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son (1 Peter 5:13).
With that understanding, let’s take another look at the passage of nations and see what can be understood from a Biblical approach rather than a 2026 world map.
He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels (Daniel 11:41-43).
“Entering the Glorious Land” sounds prophetically similar to “sitting as God in the temple of God.” The papacy planted itself inside God’s church, His New Testament “spiritual house” on earth.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4,5).
We have already seen that spiritual Egypt is prophetically used in Revelation to represent France specifically and atheism generally.
While we won’t try to identify the other specific nations in the passage in this study, the Bible does give indications as to what they might represent. A very basic defining point is that there are only two groups at the end. One group worships the king of the North. The other group has their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 13:8).
The nations listed as being overtaken by the king of the North will spiritually represent people who accept the counterfeit worship of Christ as directed by the papacy rather than remaining true to the Biblical worship of King Jesus.
Conversely, the nations the king of the North could not overcome represent those who, regardless of their national or spiritual background, choose to truly worship Christ in defiance to human commands to worship the king of the North.
Moab and Ammon were nations that descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19:36-38). Edom was a nation descended from Esau (Genesis 36:9). All three nations worshiped idols and generally were a thorn in Israel’s flesh. But God would not allow Israel to destroy them when they came out of Egypt because they were descended from Lot and Esau (2 Chronicles 20:10).
Why these specific nations, historically idolators, are listed as spiritual representatives of those end-time peoples not being overcome by the king of the North, I confess I am not sure. But we can know that whoever the Bible is referring to here are people that will in the end choose to trust in Christ and His Word rather than human guidance for their salvation.
But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:44,45).
The language is designed to have the reader study the initial literal king of the North, ancient Babylon. We can learn about the fall of spiritual Babylon by studying the fall of the literal city of Babylon.
Why did Belshazzar throw a wild party the night before Babylon fell? Because Cyrus the Persian was camped outside the city with the combined armies of the Medes and Persians. Media was located north of Babylon. Persia was to the east. Belshazzar was worried because of the news coming from the east and north.
Who is the last-day spiritual King that literal Cyrus represented?
Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held (Isaiah 44:28-45:1).
Who is our true Shepherd?
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
Who is the Lord’s true Anointed One?
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38).
Cyrus was a picture of Jesus. As Cyrus’s advance troubled Belshazzar, the glory and. power of the Gospel of Christ and the call to follow Christ no matter the cost will trouble the leaders of spiritual Babylon.
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities (Revelation 18:1-5).
In response to the message that calls the people of God out of her communion, the papacy will “go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Daniel 11:44).
Ultimately, it will be proclaimed throughout planet earth that refusing to falsely worship God by following the dictates of the papal power will be considered a capital crime.
He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Revelation 13:15-17).
The final verse describes the high-water mark of this papal bid to stand against the King of glory.
he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain (Daniel 11:45).
What do “seas” represent in Bible prophecy?
Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (Revelation 17:15).
Bodies of water in apocalyptic prophecy represent masses of people. The beasts of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13 rise out of the sea (Daniel 7:2; Revelation 13:1).
Comparing the voice of Jesus in Daniel vs Revelation reveal the same representation.
the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude (Daniel 10:6).
His voice as the sound of many waters (Revelation 1:15).
The waters represent the masses of humanity that the papal power claims as its own.
authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:7,8).
It was to this same group of people, claimed by the papacy as its own, that the final message to “come out of Babylon” will be given.
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Revelation 14:6-8).
What is the “glorious holy mountain”?
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it (Isaiah 2:2).
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Revelation 14:1-4).
The “glorious mountain” is where the redeemed follow the Lamb wherever He leads. It is where the throne of the true King of the North, Jesus Christ, sits in ultimate glory. It is the throne that Satan sought to usurp from the very beginning, and now Satan is using human forces to attempt to accomplish the same goal.
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north (Isaiah 14:13).
The high-water mark of the papal power will be reached and the mortal wound will be fully healed, when and only when the papacy will have successfully set itself between humanity and the throne of God. Through a universal human edict in direct rebellion to God’s Ten Commandment law, promising death to the offender, the papacy will have compelled the world to make a decision to either follow the Commandments of God and be killed (John 14:15; Revelation 14:12) or accept the false sabbath of human origin and presumably be allowed to continue life as usual (Daniel 7:25).
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16).
What Daniel covers in just a couple verses is the setup for the Battle of Armageddon.
Demonic powers at work
Papal power and her sidekick the “false prophet” working under Satan’s lead
Miracles performed by demons
Bringing together the civil and religious powers of earth
Way prepared for the return of the Messianic King Jesus that Cyrus prefigured
Jesus says He is coming quickly
The world is brought to “Armageddon,” “the mountain of Megiddo,” “the mount of the congregation”
Like the Confederates who successfully crossed the stone wall on Cemetery Ridge, the high-water mark reached by the papacy will be short-lived.
yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:45).
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come’ (Revelation 18:9,10).
Jesus wins.
If you are new to this series, you may need to read some earlier posts to have the Biblical foundation necessary to have this presentation make sense. That’s OK. Please do go back and learn.
If you’ve been studying with us for some time, you know the players. You know the issues. You know the stakes.
The devil is using both demonic and human agencies to assemble the world in rebellion against God, with the Vatican as its visible leader. The call, the command will be given to reject God’s Law in order to worship a false sabbath that does not recognize Christ as Creator and Redeemer.
Which side will you be on? Will the Vatican stand between you and Christ? Or will you spiritually walk upon that mountain where the 144,000 “follow the Lamb wherever He goes”?
Please accept Jesus today. Accept His forgiveness. Accept His righteousness. Accept His Lordship of your life.
Don’t delay. The crown of glory awaits the overcomer.
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
https://www.youtube.com/live/sQDMVTMOSrM?si=vdwA9HNtAaF9onww
Quite a catchy and clever intro with the analogy of Pickett's charge as the high water mark to Satan's attempt to take over the world.
From my reading of Spectrum and Adventist Today, a lot of Adventists stop believing a future Sunday law precisely because they forget this point of Satan's desire to rule the world.