Each phrase in this verse will be explained below. But before we look at that, let's see the pattern that is set here. It is an action-reaction sequence. First the king of the south pushes. Then the king of the north comes against him like a whirlwind. As we will see, this sequence starts at the very beginning of the period known as "the time of the end."
It appears that this action-reaction pattern becomes a recurring process throughout the time of the end. Through this process, the king of the north gains increasing strength. Our comments will focus first on the initial application of this sequence.
"And at the time of the end"
According to verse 35, the supremacy of the papacy, specifically its ability to persecute dissenters, would extend until "the time of the end." "The time of the end," therefore, would begin when the medieval papacy lost its supremacy. The next phrase in this verse will identify the conquering power, which our comments will show to be the nation of France. "The time of the end" therefore would begin when France put an end to the temporal power of the papacy. That event took place in February of 1798, as we shall see in the comments on "push at him" below.
"Shall the king of the south"
At this point it is important for us to discuss a principle of prophetic application. Symbols of ancient nations which are applied to end-time periods must be understood in the spiritual application of that nation. For example, prophecies concerning Israel which met their fulfillment in Biblical times, applied to literal Israel; but prophecies concerning Israel which are to be applied in the last days, must be understood as referring to spiritual Israel. The same is true with prophecies about Babylon, Egypt, and other ancient nations. Edom, for example, is mentioned in Daniel 11:41. But there is no nation of Edom today. It must therefore be understood spiritually. The ancient city of Babylon no longer exists, yet Revelation prophesies much about Babylon in the last days. Those prophecies must be applied to spiritual Babylon, which is identified below.
A significant change of application, therefore, takes place when we come to Daniel 11:40. The king of the south and the king of the north must from that point forward be understood as applying to spiritual, rather than to literal, Egypt and Babylon.
Spiritual Egypt is mentioned in Revelation 11:8. Comments on that passage will show that it applied to the atheistic revolution which took place in France in the 1790's. How did France in the 1790's resemble Egypt? One commentator put it this way:
"Of all nations presented in Bible history, Egypt most boldly denied the existence of the living God and resisted His commands. No monarch ever ventured upon more open and highhanded rebellion against the authority of Heaven than did the king of Egypt. When the message was brought him by Moses, in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh proudly answered: 'Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.' Exodus 5:2, A.R.V. This is atheism, and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God and would manifest a like spirit of unbelief and defiance." The Great Controversy, p. 269.
The spirit of unbelief and defiance against God, characteristic of ancient Egypt, was in the 1790's most demonstrated in the nation of France, where by the action of the legislative assembly the entire nation repudiated the existence of God. So spiritual Egypt in 1798 was France.
"Push at him"
"Push" is the word used in Daniel 8:4 to describe the military activity of the Medes and Persians as they conquered other nations.
"Him," is the king which has been under discussion since verse 36, namely, the papacy. This pushing of the king of the south against the papacy at the time of the end, refers to the capture of the pope and the removal of the temporal power of the papal office by French military action in February of 1798. See documentation. That act inflicted the deadly wound of Revelation 13:3, and brought to an end the 1260 years of papal supremacy.
"And the king of the north"
Throughout Daniel 11, the king of the north is the one who holds jurisdiction over Babylon, which prophecy associates with the north. But in the time of the end, the symbol applies to spiritual Babylon. Spiritual Babylon is the false religious confederacy of the last days. Revelation presents two great religious systems at the end of time. Both are symbolized as women and as cities. The true church is described as a pure woman (Revelation 12:1) and as a holy city (Revelation 21). The false church is symbolized as a harlot woman bearing the name of "Babylon" (Revelation 17:5), and as a great city that also is called "Babylon" (Revelation 14:8). Babylon is not a single denomination, but rather the union of worldly religious powers.
In Revelation, a church becomes a harlot by developing an illicit union with the kings of the earth. In Revelation 17:1, 2, for example, we read of "the great whore ... with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication." Spiritual Babylon may thus be defined as apostate Christianity in an illicit union with the kings of the earth.
"Shall come against him"
"Him," in this phrase refers to the king of the south who, in the last reference, had pushed against the papacy. In order to properly understand this prophecy, we must trace the development of the king of the south in the time of the end.
The brief experimentation with atheism in France was continued in the longer enduring atheistic philosophy of modern communism. Communism also has links with ancient Egypt. While Mesopotamian governments were based on law, to which the king himself was subject, Egypt's only law was the will of the Pharaoh. Similarly, communist dictators are above law. In ancient Egypt the king owned all the land, the cattle, and the people. The government told the people where to live and how to work (Genesis 47:18-26). Only in communist countries today do such extreme conditions exist.
So the king of the south's "push", which began in 1798, continued on through the mid-20th-century communist build-up. Now the prophecy says here that the king of the north will come against him.
"Like a whirlwind"
This statement predicted that spiritual Babylon would come against spiritual Egypt like a whirlwind. The 1989 fall of communism in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union can be traced directly to the work of Pope John Paul II in alliance with United States President Ronald Reagan (See "The Holy Alliance", Time magazine's cover story, February 24, 1992). This union of religious and political powers fulfills the symbol of the king of the north in the prophecy. The swiftness and unexpectedness of their success in overthrowing the communist regimes was reported in the secular press with headlines such as "Days of the Whirlwind" (Newsweek, December 25, 1989).
"With chariots, and with horsemen"
In identifying these symbols, 1 Kings 1:5 and 1 Kings 20:1 will be of help.
"And with many ships"
"And he shall enter into the countries"
The breakup of the Soviet Union involved the overthrow of communism in many countries which had formerly been confederated together under the USSR.
"And shall overflow and pass over"
That is much the way the press described it. For example:
"The Triumph of John Paul II - The tide of freedom washing over Eastern Europe answers his most fervent prayer." Life, December, 1989 (empasis supplied).
"He shall enter also into the glorious land"
The glorious land was earlier mentioned in verse 16. The glorious, or goodly (Jer. 3:19), land is the land which, above all others, God has blessed, and where the light of His truth has shown most abundantly. In the time period of verse 16 that land was Palestine, the home of God's people Israel. But in verse 41, in the time of the end, the land of God's special blessing is America, which, incidentally, plays a significant role in end-time Bible prophecy (See comments on Revelation 13:11-17). Just as Palestine was situated at the crossroads of ancient civilizations where Israel could influence all the surrounding nations, so God has prospered America with material blessings and has commissioned her to carry the light of the gospel to all the dark regions of earth.
The Hebrew word translated "glorious" here is tsebi, Strong’s #6643 with the following definition: "From 6638 in the sense of prominence; splendor (as conspicuous)." The Hebrew word for "land" used here is translated "country" 140 times, and "nation" once, in the Bible. So "glorious land" could be translated, "The prominent country", or "the nation of prominence." Certainly, in the 20th and 21st centuries, that would be the United States.
This prophecy of spiritual Babylon entering "also into the glorious land," reveals that the United States would at the time indicated come under the sway of the end-time religious confederacy known to Bible students as spiritual Babylon. In other words, unified false religion would gain a controlling influence in America.
Comments on Daniel 8:10 directed us to two phases of Rome described in Daniel's prophecy: Phase I was the civil government of Rome. That phase ultimately gave way to Phase II in which the church came to dominate the state. Revelation 13 describes a parallel transition taking place in the United States, where the beast's character becomes imaged or replicated, and popular religion gains the controlling hand in politics and legislation.
We mentioned above that the pattern set in verse 40 would be repeated, and that through this action-reaction sequence spiritual Babylon would gain power. In fact, it is precisely this process which turns the lamb-like beast of Revelation 13:11 into a dragon-like beast. A recent example of this sequence.
"And many countries shall be overthrown"
The word "countries" is italicized in the KJV, indicating that the word was supplied by the translators. Its insertion actually obscures the correct meaning of the text. The phrase simply says, "And many shall be overthrown," implying many people.
The fact that many people are overthrown by this act indicates that the entrance of the controlling presence of spiritual Babylon in the United States brings a singular crisis to the people of God there. This crisis is described in Revelation 13:11-17.
"He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries"
"As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example." "The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 18; The Great Controversy, p. 588.
"And the land of Egypt shall not escape"
See comments on Egypt and Ethiopia in verse 43.
"Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps"
"The Catholic Church and several ancient Eastern Churches ... have begun the second phase of an ecumenical dialogue leading toward full unity. The Eastern churches involved are the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Orthodox Coptic Patriarchate of Egypt, the Syro-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Orthodox church of Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, and the Syrian Orthodox Church of Malankar." Signs of the Times, May 2003, p. 4.
"But tidings out of the east and out of the north"
These are tidings of the sealing of God's people. They come out of the east and out of the north. Notice the following passages, both of which describe the end-time sealing of God's people:
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:2, 3.
"And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: . . . And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Ezekiel 9:2-4.
As each line of prophecy in the book of Daniel moves toward its climax, this high point in God's plan is brought into focus. Compare the visions to see how each one gives emphasis to the sealing of God's people during the closing scenes of history.
"Shall trouble him"
"Therefore he shall go forth with great fury"
"And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace"
The Hebrew word used here for "tabernacle," generally denoting the idea of a tent, is sometimes translated, "dwelling," or "dwelling place." For example:
"Between the seas"
"Seas" are a common symbol in Bible prophecy (See, for example, Daniel 7:2 and Revelation 13:1). Seas are "the gathering together of the waters" (Genesis 1:10). Waters represent "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Revelation 17:15). So these are gatherings, or groups, of people in the "glorious holy mountain."
"In the glorious holy mountain"
God's holy mountain is Jerusalem, or Zion:
But we must remember that in the time of the end, to which
this prophecy points, the terms "Jerusalem" and "Zion" no longer
designate the ancient city of the Jews, but now, in their spiritual
application, represent God's chosen people, His true church:
So the glorious holy mountain in this verse refers to God's true
church in the last days. The prophecy says that Babylon will plant
the tabernacles of his palace between the people
in God's true church.
This is a strategic move on the part of Babylon, positioning
himself between
those who serve God and those who serve Him not, among God's professed
people. This will be easily accomplished through the religious oppression
described in the second half of Revelation 13.
It has ever been Satan's aspiration to sit "upon the mount of the congregation." Isaiah 14:13. Here is his opportunity to accomplish a final takeover of those in the church who hold a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. At last, he establishes his very palace among those professed people of God who, having become subjects of Satan, are now his most useful human agents against God's loyal few.
When this takes place, "the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Matthew 10:21, 36.
"Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him"
In spite of this aggressive conquest, spiritual Babylon will be defeated. The words, "Yet he shall," indicate that Babylon's end will come, but not necessarily right at this point in the narrative. That this phrase is looking just a little into the future is proven by the fact that it is under the sixth plague that Babylon's support is removed (See Revelation 16:12). But at this point in Daniel's prophecy, just as Babylon makes its boldest advance, and while it appears that God's church is about to fall, the people of God are given the assurance that Babylon will very soon be defeated.
"None shall help him" because, by the sixth plague, Babylon's disguise will have been torn away, and the whole world will see, although too late, that they have been following cunningly devised fables. Those who would not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts had heaped to themselves teachers, having itching ears, will at that time turn against their ministers who have spoken unto them smooth things and who have turned them from the truth. "These shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." Revelation 17:16.