July 22: PROPHETIC PARALLEL #13
He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. Daniel 11:42
The two sections of Scripture in which we have found the last dozen prophetic parallels are Daniel 11:40 - 12:3 and Revelation 13. Now we continue with parallel #13: both of these prophetic passages predict a return to worldwide power for the papacy. We have been shown the nature and character of this power through the history of the Dark Ages, the seven unique listings of this particular period in Scripture, and multiple descriptions of the existence of the Roman power from 168BC until the Lord’s return.
The “he” of our opening verse is the king of the North (the end-time term for the papacy used by Daniel) and corresponds to the first beast of Revelation 13, the beast out of the sea. The return to worldwide power will rapidly escalate to menacing proportions, with the full support and aid of the second beast of Revelation 13, the beast out of the earth, once the first beast’s deadly wound is fully healed. The attack against the papacy in 1798 was a humiliation, to be sure, but the “comeback” is gaining traction with every passing day. Though replacement popes were chosen, the healing of the wound to the papacy’s political power didn’t begin until 1929 when Mussolini allowed the Vatican to become an autonomous state.
The idea of regaining power and control is repeatedly stated by Daniel: …and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through (Daniel 11:40b) He shall enter the Glorious Land and many countries shall be overthrown (v.41a) He shall stretch out his hand against the countries (v.42a). Since much of today’s world has chosen unbelief in this age when there is unprecedented availability of God’s word, the second half of today’s verse is a bombshell: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. Papal power will also gain a strong foothold among the atheists of the world. The economic control regained over the treasures of gold and silver will also include all the precious things of Egypt (v.43). Egypt, as the symbol for atheism, holds a vast amount of the world’s wealth. The coming one-world government will center on a “green” plan of conservation that will lure the interest of atheists as well as every sort of religious group.
The regaining of worldwide power for the king of the North will be restored to unprecedented heights when he exercises his authority as the world’s religious leader with the backing of the world’s leading political, military, and economic powers. Daniel’s prophetic statement that many countries shall be overthrown gains clarity through John’s observation of the second beast who begins to speak like a dragon (Revelation 13:11): telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived (v.14b). Individual countries will join in making an image to the beast by combining the power of church and state to ‘strongly encourage’ people to fall in line with “the plan.” The comparison to the command to bow to the image (Daniel 3:15) and pray to someone who is not God (6:7-8) is beyond striking. Jesus said:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…” Matthew 24:15-16 (see also Proverbs 18:10)